Thursday, 7 January 2016

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

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