TONY BENNETT -LOST " BETWEEN THE DEVIL AND THE DEEP BLUE SEA."

Tony Bennett-Lost -" BetweenThe Devil and The Deep Blue Sea."

For the 1931 Cotton Club " Rhythmania", Arlen and Ted Koehler wrote a song about someone who doesn't know whether to fish or cut bait when it comes to a love relationship.  The lyrics tell of " The well-known runaround you're giving me" " I forgive you because I can't forget you" and finally " I should hate you but I guess I love, You've got me in between  the devil and the deep blue sea."
   
Originally sung as an up tempo number by the dashing Cab Calloway, this Tony Bennett version features  a more relaxed and slightly rueful style as well as the seldom heard introductory verse setting the scene for the lament to follow. Given Bennnett's positive outlook on life, the song is not as gloomy as the words themselves might suggest.

https://youtu.be/zWfK07vMjXU

ANY PLACE I HANG MY HAT IS HOME -FROM ST.LOUIS WOMAN - ARLEN/MERCER

Any Place I Hang My Hat Is Home-From St. Louis Woman

The 1946 production involved a a female called Della Reese, a free-spirited, independent woman who makes her own choices. In this vocal version , Audra McDonald, the Broadway Diva,  sings her ode to independence with the song Any Place I Hang My Hat Is Home.

https://youtu.be/2__AEcVZC0A 


 

AIN' IT DE TRUTH " LENA HORNE SINGS A SONG THAT SUGGESTS LIVING IT UP WHILE YOU CAN

Ain' It De Truth"  Lena Horne sings a song that suggests living it up while you can.

Lena Horne and Harold Arlen had a long professional and personal relationship going back to the Cotton Club in the 1930's. Originally written for the 1943 film, Cabin In The Sky, the song was considered too risque. It was later showcased in the 1957 musical Jamaica, a star vehicle for Lena Horne.

This is a saucy and irreverent song sung by a liberated woman with an infectious rhythm and swing.


https://youtu.be/TOM13I_FkmA

Ac-Cent-tchu-ate The Positive-A SERMON IN SONG

Ac-cent-tchu-ate The Positive-A sermon of positive thinking.

For the 1944 movie, Here Come The Waves, Arlen and Mercer wrote a rousing sermon exhorting the audience to " Latch on to the affirmative and don't mess with Mr, In-Between." Written in a style that would emulate black church singing and clapping, it uses biblical references like "Jonah in the whale." and Noah in the ark"
to further sound like a Sunday preacher sermonizing to the congregation.
In the film itself, Bing Crosby and Sonny Tufts do a blackface routine that is embarrassing by today's standards. 
In this performance. Johnny Mercer sings his own lyrics and demonstrates his comfort with Southern idioms . His is a charming and beguiling performance in a vernacular that is quite authentically Southern.

https://youtu.be/f3jdbFOidds