America’s Greatest Music: The Diamond Anniversary of two Artie Shaw Classics November 18, 2013

The legendary Artie Shaw and his band recorded two songs 75 years ago today that personified why he was one of the best of the best of that era or of any era.

Seventy-five years ago today, the great Artie Shaw recorded two of his greatest records.  No, not the greatest of them all, which of course is his venerable, timeless, “Begin the Beguine”, but these two are quite close to the top.

One of which is “Between A Kiss And A Sigh”,

While the other is “Deep In A Dream”.  Both feature the superb lyrics of a young Helen Forrest, who made her major league debut with Shaw’s band before moving on to Benny Goodman at the beginning of 1940.

Both recordings are wonderful in that they personify the difficult combination of music that exudes smoothness while at the same time maintaining a good, bouncy tempo.  These two tunes give the sensation of being in a high-brow Art Deco nightclub in the late 1930s, which is always the ideal of where one wants to be for a night on the town!

As far as the lyrics go, they are relatively simple compared to the unmatched eloquence of something penned by, say, Cole Porter or Ira Gershwin.  This particularly pertains to the former song, though the latter is not devoid of vivid lyrics.  One example:

“The smoke makes a stairway for you to descend:  You come to my arms; my this bliss never end!”

What this shows is that even songs that would by themselves not make the cut for the Great American Songbook are still timeless when given the right kind of arrangement and are paired with the right performer.  Obviously this is the case with both of these records.  But what is also shows is that even if their lyrics cannot match the poignance of Gershwin’s “They Can’t Take That Away From Me” or the vivid metaphors of Porter’s “You’re the Top,” they nevertheless are well-written enough to remind us yet again that when it came to writing songs and making music in general, these tunes were from a time when there was an embarrassments of riches — of great lyrics!

And on top of that, they’re just great records.

But wait, there’s more!  In addition to the two aforementioned hits, he recorded a few others on Nov. 17 , 1938 as well, such as his version of “Softly, As In A Morning Sunrise,” the lyrics of which were written by none other than Oscar Hammerstein II in 1928.  But in typical Artie Shaw fashion, he scrapped the lyrics this time and concentrated on the music itself.

Disclaimer:  Artie Shaw recorded on RCA Bluebird.  What they show in the video is a mid-1950s Mercury label.  Why, I don’t know.  Furthermore, all of these tunes would have been cut and pressed on 78 RPM records, not 45’s, which were not introduced until 1949.

But I digress.  The band also recorded one of their versions of “Copenhagen” during this same session.

If that’s not enough, Artie Shaw and his band also cut a nice ditty in “Thanks For Everything”, surely a sentiment we love to share with friends, loved ones, and significant others alike.  Naturally, Helen Forrest’s vocals add just the right tough to this track.