Buds won't Bud--------- Catchy, Clever Arlen/Harburg Ditty
This is a Two for One Arlen offering since he first wrote the song and then sings it in his unique swinging manner that Will Friedwald described as " He swings with an abandon I can't imagine coming from any other white band singer of the era
( the 1930's) other than Bing Crosby and Cliff Edwards." On numerous occasions, people thought that the singer they were listening to was black, so comfortable was Arlen with the prevailing jazz and blues idioms.
Harburg's lyrics were more in the saucy and clever style of Cole Porter and Lorenz Hart and they effortlessly match Arlen's own zippy melody.
Only Arlen, Hoagy Carmichael and Johnny Mercer among the great songwriters could effectively sing their own material. If you've ever heard Cole Porter , Irving Berlin or Richard Rodgers sing or play the piano you will know what I mean.
https://youtu.be/T0M4Msoz5_k
Saturday 26 December 2015
RIGHT AS THE RAIN-STUNNING HAROLD ARLEN BALLAD SUNG BY LEONTYNE PRICE
Right As The Rain-Stunning Harold Arlen ballad sung by Leontyne Price
For the 1943 show Bloomer Girl, Harold Arlen and lyricist E.Y.Harburg wrote a tender ballad for Evalina, the Southern Girl in love with a rakish Southern gentleman . This is a song that Alec Wilder described as " A lesson in melodic writing that flows from start to finish in a long, increasingly intense and dramatic fashion.
Sung by Leontyne Price, the magnificent opera and concert singer, it proves that even formally trained singers can do justice to a Broadway ballad and coming from the South herself, Ms. Price sings with conviction but without excessive operatic formality.
In contrast, Tony Bennett sings the song as a romantic pop ballad and it is equally effective on its own terms.
A good melody can be interpreted in many ways provided each performance does justice to the melody and the story unfolding in the lyrics.
https://youtu.be/D5PFLogttFE
https://youtu.be/duWWMeHaqfw
For the 1943 show Bloomer Girl, Harold Arlen and lyricist E.Y.Harburg wrote a tender ballad for Evalina, the Southern Girl in love with a rakish Southern gentleman . This is a song that Alec Wilder described as " A lesson in melodic writing that flows from start to finish in a long, increasingly intense and dramatic fashion.
Sung by Leontyne Price, the magnificent opera and concert singer, it proves that even formally trained singers can do justice to a Broadway ballad and coming from the South herself, Ms. Price sings with conviction but without excessive operatic formality.
In contrast, Tony Bennett sings the song as a romantic pop ballad and it is equally effective on its own terms.
A good melody can be interpreted in many ways provided each performance does justice to the melody and the story unfolding in the lyrics.
https://youtu.be/D5PFLogttFE
https://youtu.be/duWWMeHaqfw
Monday 21 December 2015
HAROLD ARLEN'S FIRST RECORDING-SINGING WITH THE BUFFALODIANS
Harold Arlen's first recording as a singer with The Buffalodians.
Having left high school at age 16, Arlen began as a pianist, singer and arranger with the Buffalodians, a hot jazz band playing in Buffalo area speakeasies and Lake Erie boat excursions.
The song is How Many Times by Irving Berlin as arranged by Arlen. You can hear Harold's high-pitched singing that is a preview of much of his later jazz influenced compositions, arranging,playing and singing.
Edward Jablonski, Arlen's first biographer wrote that " Unlike many of the great songwriters of his generation--Burton Lane, Arthur Schwartz- he was initially drawn to and influenced by the music of jazzmen, white and black, before he seriously studied the show music of Jerome Kern and especially George Gershwin." Arlen idolized Gershwin who would later be quoted as saying that " He (Arlen) is the most original of us all."
It's safe to say that of all the major popular song innovators only Harold Arlen, Hoagy Carmichael and Johnny Mercer spent any time playing and singing with jazz groups and orchestras. Certainly Jerome Kern, Cole Porter and Richard
Rodgers , as well-educated , middle and upper class individuals could not be found playing with jazzmen as much as they might have liked this new found musical entertainment. Their own piano playing was not up to such a task.
Arlen's entire career demonstrates his empathy with and mastery of jazz and blues music.
Note: A new Arlen biography " The Man That Got Away" by Walter Rimmer has shed new light on aspects of Arlen's life hitherto undocumented . It has been critically acclaimed by early reviewers.
https://youtu.be/p1N66itSyMY
Having left high school at age 16, Arlen began as a pianist, singer and arranger with the Buffalodians, a hot jazz band playing in Buffalo area speakeasies and Lake Erie boat excursions.
The song is How Many Times by Irving Berlin as arranged by Arlen. You can hear Harold's high-pitched singing that is a preview of much of his later jazz influenced compositions, arranging,playing and singing.
Edward Jablonski, Arlen's first biographer wrote that " Unlike many of the great songwriters of his generation--Burton Lane, Arthur Schwartz- he was initially drawn to and influenced by the music of jazzmen, white and black, before he seriously studied the show music of Jerome Kern and especially George Gershwin." Arlen idolized Gershwin who would later be quoted as saying that " He (Arlen) is the most original of us all."
It's safe to say that of all the major popular song innovators only Harold Arlen, Hoagy Carmichael and Johnny Mercer spent any time playing and singing with jazz groups and orchestras. Certainly Jerome Kern, Cole Porter and Richard
Rodgers , as well-educated , middle and upper class individuals could not be found playing with jazzmen as much as they might have liked this new found musical entertainment. Their own piano playing was not up to such a task.
Arlen's entire career demonstrates his empathy with and mastery of jazz and blues music.
Note: A new Arlen biography " The Man That Got Away" by Walter Rimmer has shed new light on aspects of Arlen's life hitherto undocumented . It has been critically acclaimed by early reviewers.
https://youtu.be/p1N66itSyMY
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