#The Great American Songbook

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

"If there was a magical quality to Mr. Bennett’s life, as suggested by David Evanier in a glowing 2011 biography, “All the Things You Are: The Life of Tony Bennett,” it is encapsulated by a story Mr. Bennett told to Whitney Balliett in 1974.

“I like the funny things in life that could only happen to me now,” he said. “Once, when I was singing Kurt Weill’s ‘Lost in the Stars’ in the Hollywood Bowl with Basie’s band and Buddy Rich on drums, a shooting star went falling through the sky right over my head and everyone was talking about it, and the next morning the phone rang and it was Ray Charles, who I’d never met, calling from New York. He said, ‘Hey, Tony, how’d you do that, man?’ and hung up.”

[cancmbyn]

My mum is gonna be devastated…

I left my heart in San Francisco… 😩

[thesobsister]

The great cabaret performer Hildegarde (born Hildegarde Loretta Sell in Adell, Wisconsin) never married, working and living with her partner Anna Sosenko for decades.

In 1955, after nearly a quarter century together, Hildegarde broke things off due to what she perceived as innuendo being printed in the paper about them after they appeared together on Edward R. Murrow's Person to Person TV show.

While that may have been the spark, the breakup had a long fuse, given that, reportedly, Sosenko was, for years, abusive, controlling and manipulative toward Hildegarde and pretty much everyone else around them. (See: Monica S. Gallamore, "Introducing the Incomparable Hildegarde: The Sexuality, Style, and Image of a Forgotten Cultural Icon." PhD diss. Marquette University 2012. pp. 253 ff.)

In this 1935 performance for British Pathé's cameras, Hildegarde performs "Darling, Je Vous Aime Beaucoup," a charming Frenglish love song written by Sosenko, whose mix of languages echoes that used by Hildegarde and Sosenko in their personal correspondence. (ibid., pp. 261-2)

Hildegarde, along with Mabel Mercer and Bobby Short, is on the figurative Mount Rushmore of New York cabaret. Nominations are currently open for the fourth slot.

A rare photo of Hildegarde and Anna Sosenko together.

[feeling-and-form]

Tony Bennett and Andy Williams singing a city medley, including “I Left My Heart in San Francisco.”

[the-birth-of-art]

March Song Challenge, 2023

Day 20: A love song

"Tenderly", Sarah Vaughan (1958)

[cimness]

Writers of Stranger Things fanfiction after season 4 like to include humorous and ritual curses of the brothers Duffer, the writer/creators of the show, in the notes and tags of their fanfiction, and they tend to be quite creative.

So that's why I'm fully confident that none of them are aware that "Duffer" is actually antique slang for an incompetent or dull person (because if they knew they'd have gotten a LOT of mileage out of it):

Definition of duffer

1a : a peddler especially of cheap flashy articles

b : something counterfeit or worthless

2 : an incompetent, ineffectual, or clumsy person especially : a mediocre golfer

3Australia : a cattle rustler [Merriam-Webster]

Further,

Did you know?

Duffers have never really been straight shooters-on or off the golf course. The original duffers of the mid-18th century were shysters of the first order, merchants who palmed off trashy goods as if they were highly valuable (they often implied to unwary buyers that the goods had been smuggled and were very rare). Over time, the meaning of duffer was extended from a no-good peddler to anyone who was "no good," not just because the individual had low morals, but because he or she was incompetent or stupid. The term has been applied to hopelessly bad golfers since the late 19th century. [Merriam-Webster]

You can hear this word in the wild in an authentic context with this recording of the divine Ella Fitzgerald singing the Gershwin standard "The Half of it, Dearie, Blues", from the 1924 Broadway musical Lady, Be Good.

[cto10121]

So apparently Laufey has teen girls cheering to standards like “Misty.”

The children long for the swing.

[lazycowboynerd]

Goal for September: listen to The Great American Songbook in all of its entirety

[myimaginaryradio]

That's Life - Frank Sinatra - 1966

[independentartistbuzz]

Celia Berk Releases Her 3rd Album, ‘Now That I Have Everything’

Award winning vocalist from New York City, Celia Berk, has attracted fans from all over the world for her covers of songs from the Great American Songbook. She is praised by some of the most prominent champions of that genre and era. In 2015, she even won the BroadwayWorld Award for Best New York Cabaret Debut and The 2015 Margaret Whiting Award.

Her 3rd studio album, Now That I have Everything, revives the classic format of the Nat King Cole trio with music director/pianist Tedd Firth, bassists David Finck and Jay Leonhart, guitarist Matt Munisteri, and percussionist Rex Benincasa on several tracks.

Will Friedwald describes Celia’s new album as such: “I think of Celia as a musical explorer who sallies forth in search of amazing songs that the rest of the world has either ignored or forgotten. Then, having excavated the raw material, she switches from adventurer to artisan, crafting each arrangement in careful collaboration with her essential aide-de-camp and music director, Tedd Firth.”

The album boasts 13 cover songs from The Great American Songbook, the term given to the jazz standard, popular songs, and show tunes of the early 20th century. Artists you may recognize are Cole Porter, Oscar Hammerstein, Irving Berlin, and Ira Gershwin. Celia’s version of these songs are delicately crafted. Her voice is nothing short of precise and grounded. She handles these songs with care and respect while also bringing her style to the table that adds value to the music rather than takes away.

Listen here:

https://open.spotify.com/album/7nSiUate6DzRBHhEkPWqBM?si=tpm914JZRXmTsOo-EAHV0Q

Connect with Celia Berk via: Website / Instagram / Twitter / Facebook / YouTube / Spotify

[citizenscreen]

‘The way you wear your hat,

The way you sip your tea,

The mem'ry of all that --

No, no! They can't take that away from me!’

- Ira Gershwin, #botd in 1896

[pluckysidekick]

It’s Wednesday, my fellow Drewds! Going into the holidays I can’t help thinking about how our favorite Crew are celebrating the holidays. Can’t wait for all of the @secretsleuthexchange fics, gifsets, and fanvids we’re going to get!

In the meantime, I was inspired by a poll from @burningblake about which classic “standard” song best represents Nace (all excellent choices). I wound up making a Season 4 playlist of standards from the Great American Songbook, and a few other classic tracks, that represent their Season 4 journey for me. If you’re interested in this sort of thing, here we go!

I’ll be linking the Spotify tracks, but you should be able to find them all on Apple Music or YouTube. If you want a link to the full playlist, just hit me up here or on Discord.

1. The Nearness of You - This Hoagy Carmichael classic brings to mind Nancy and Ace’s inability to stay apart every time they’re near each other in Episode 401 🥺. I love the Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong duet, but I picked Norah Jones’ version from her 2002 debut album because it’s just so perfectly wistful.

2. Is You Is or Is You Ain’t My Baby - this so so cool track was written by Louis Jordan, but I first heard it on Tom and Jerry (that’s the fighting cat and mouse cartoon in case you’re too young to remember them). I immediately envision the back and forth argument Nancy and Ace have throughout Episode 402 in the lyrics of this song. Ace just wants to know! I adore Joe Jackson’s version, but I went with Dinah Washington and Quincy Jones from 1956 because it is absolutely perfect.

3. Night and Day - I like to imagine that Nancy and Ace stayed up all night talking at the end of 402. This song perfectly embodies their relationship at this stage 🥹. It was written by Cole Porter for Fred Astaire to sing in the original ‘The Gay Divorce’ Broadway musical (catch the film, a classic Fred and Ginger madcap musical romcom with such amazing dancing🕺🏼). But I had to go with Frank Sinatra from 1957’s ‘A Swingin Affair’ because it’s such a classic swing tune.

4. April in Paris - I’m not crying, you’re crying. Warning, there’s going to be a lot of crying in this playlist. Nancy telling Ace the story of her parents’ honeymoon in Paris in Episode 403, that shy smile when she tells him she always wanted to recreate it with someone, GAH. I had to pick the wonderful Sarah Vaughan with Clifford Brown on trumpet, simply exquisite. I’m going to have to take a break to sob quietly in the corner. “What have you done to my heart” indeed.

5. Fever - There was only one song, and only one version of this song, that matches the heat Nancy and Ace generated in the infamous Sigil scene. Peggy Lee burned the house down in 1958 with this track. “What a lovely way to burn” - Nancy can relate.

6. So in Love - Another genius Cole Porter song, written originally for Kiss Me Kate, but sung here by the incomparable Ella Fitzgerald (my personal hero). I had to pick it for THE KISS. They are just so in love 😭. A beautiful song and a beautiful rendition worthy of Nancy and Ace’s love. The fact that Kiss Me Kate is a musical about bickering exes who eventually find love again makes it even more perfect.

7. Crying - Roy Orbison, 1962. Need I say more? I may never recover from the final scene of 403. This song at least helps a little with the pain by naming it. Roy hits some insane notes in this song—the intensity matches both Nancy and Ace’s misery in that moment.

8. Good Morning, Heartache - More like Good Morning, Sorbet. In Episode 404, Nancy drowns her sorrows in her favorite frozen dessert to deal with the heartache of gaining and losing Ace. And no one does heartache like Billie Holiday, who recorded this song in 1946. Heartache haunts Nancy all throughout S4, and this track represents it perfectly.

9. I had two contenders for the Nace scenes in Episode 405, both from the early 60’s. I Fall to Pieces, released by Patsy Cline and The Jordanaires in 1961, was a country crossover and Patsy’s number one hit—an incredible track that embodies Nancy’s emotions on seeing Ace again. She can’t even look him the eye at the beginning of the episode. Which brings me to my other choice, Walk on By, written by Hal David and Burt Bacharach, and famously sung by Dionne Warwick in 1964. Nancy puts up a brave front for most of this episode, but inside she wants to break down and cry.

10. Episode 405’s speed dating montage is one of my favorite scenes of Season 4. Again I have two contenders—why should I have to choose? Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer’s One For My Baby (and One More for the Road), as sung by Ella Fitzgerald (again ‘cause she’s the best), is an ideal soundtrack for Nancy’s increasingly desperate descent as she spends every would-be speed date talking about Ace and THAT KISS. Equally appropriate is Billy Strayhorn’s Lush Life—velvet-voiced Johnny Hartman and saxophonist John Coltrane’s 1963 track positively drips with ennui, elegantly over cocktails, of course. If you’ve never heard this one, please give it a listen. There’s even a mention of a week in Paris 🥺.

11. Episode 406, with the infamous Spider Prom, is Ace’s episode IMO—we finally get to see how he’s dealing with the loss of the love of his life and his best friend. He so desperately wants to somehow get back to being friends with Nancy, he resorts to spending countless hours with the help of S4 MVP Nick trying to catch Chunky Velez for her. Can’t We Be Friends? is the perfect song for him in this episode, gorgeously sung by Ella and Louis. That is, until he spies Nancy and Tristan dancing, and realizes what he can never have. Etta James’ blistering track I’d Rather Go Blind captures Ace’s feelings in that moment. He may have been the one to halt their attempts to brake the curse, but he’s hurting just as much as Nancy is.

12. I’ve got two seminal songs to represent Episode 407. When Nancy realizes that Ace let Chunky go, and hears his admission that seeing her with Tristan hurt, it positively screams Cry Me a River. No, not the Justin Timberlake song 😅. This epic torch song was famously sung by Julie London in 1955, and expresses beautifully Nancy’s scorn at Ace’s hypocrisy even as she admits that he broke her heart.

Their fight, and Nancy’s subsequent dashed hopes that Ace would call her bluff and come back, makes me think of Ev’ry Time We Say Goodbye. Another Cole Porter masterpiece sung by Ella. What can I say? You can’t top perfection:

Every time we say goodbye, I die a little Every time we say goodbye, I wonder why a little Why the gods above me, who must be in the know Think so little of me, they allow you to go

I dare you to listen to this track without weeping over the Nace of it all. Enjoy!

Well, Drewds, we’re just past the halfway mark of Season 4 and this post is already a novel, so I’m going to stop here for now. What did you think of my picks? Any you think I missed?

I’ll do a Part 2 as long as I get a few notes on this one 😂 . It will feature more classic songs that represent Nancy and Ace as they head into the back half of the season. I know it’s going to get rough ahead, but I promise the music will be sweet.

Update: Part 2 is here!

[nudeartpluspoetry]

Fiona Apple - Why Try To Change Me Now

Music by Cy Coleman, Lyrics by James McCarthy  1952

Recorded by Frank Sinatra in the 1950s

[thesobsister]

Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gormé, "Black Hole Sun"

Lounge singer and Great American Songbook standard bearer par excellence Steve Lawrence, né Sidney Liebowitz, has died, age 88. He joins his wife, Eydie, who predeceased him by 10 years.

I could've gone with one of his solo hits such as "Go Away Little Girl" or even one of their many recordings from the aforementioned songbook, but their cover of Soundgarden captured their ability to interpret even the most diverse material in their style and unironically do a terrific version of it.

The two of them were variety show mainstays and ubiquitous in the '60s. When one said "Steve and Eydie," everyone knew whom you meant. He was also a regular guest on The Carol Burnett Show and made a number of other prime-time appearances.

aav.

[feeling-and-form]

“Fly Me To the Moon” (1954) by Bart Howard, int. Tony Bennett.

[lionofchaeronea]

I Can't Give You Anything But Love

Remembering the great saxophonist Sonny Stitt (Feb. 2, 1924--July 22, 1982) on the centennial of his birth.