“Ol’ Blue Eyes” and “Ted” February 18, 2015
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Pop Culture.Tags: album, All The Way, Can I Steal A Little Love, Capitol, Charlie McCarthy, Come Fly With Me, Damon MacFarlane, Edgar Bergen, Frank Sinatra, Mark Wahlberg, records, single, Super Bowl, Ted, Tom Brady, Where Are You?, Witchcraft
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After three years, fans of the Seth MacFarlane comedy “Ted” are about to be relieved from suspenseful waiting, as a sequel, “Ted 2,” is about to debut in theatres come late June. In case the reader is unaware, the protagonist is a live, talking teddy bear, who is foul-mouthed, lecherous, super-lascivious, and given to bouts of indolence, drunken revelry, and pot-smoking, yet altogether strangely endearing nonetheless. Basically, he is a modern, crude adaptation of Charlie McCarthy (or, to put it another way, MacFarlane’s Ted is analogous to Edgar Bergen’s McCarthy), and needless to say, it has proven to be most amusing!
This commercial-length preview — which debuted during the Super Bowl, no less — alone is enough to have one rolling in the aisles. Once the dear reader has recovered from hysterics, though, re-run the ad again and listen to the tune used for background music. That’s right, they are using Frank Sinatra’s “Can I Steal A Little Love?” which has, er, interesting implications, given the sub-theme this part of the movie explores!
“Can I Steal A Little Love” was released in 1957, and one of Sinatra’s many wonderful swinging singles from that year. Indeed, that year turned out to be yet another banner one for Ol’ Blue Eyes, who not only had a spate of hit singles, ranging from “Witchcraft” to “All the Way,” to three albums produced as well, such as “Where Are You?”, “Come Fly With Me,” (both title cuts remain famous in his repertoire) and his ever-popular, ever-timeless, ever-wonderful Christmas album. But as a brief summation, “Can I Steal A Little Love” is one of a plethora of great examples of why not only was 1957 a banner year for Sinatra, but also why his body of work at Capitol Records remains so timeless to this day, as is evident by its use in a major movie commercial 58 years later.
The Top Three Greatest Christmas Albums December 18, 2014
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Pop Culture.Tags: album, Baby Please Come Home, Bethlehem, Bing Crosby, Bob B. Soxx, Capitol, Christmas, Darlene Love, Dean Martin, Deck the Halls, Frank Sinatra, Gordon Jenkins, Hark, Herald Angels, Jingle Bells, Judy Garland, king, Mistletoe and Holly, music, Nat Cole, Nelson Riddle, Phil Spector, Ronettes, Santa Claus is Coming to Town, Sleigh Ride, The Christmas Song, The Christmas Waltz, The Crystals, White Christmas, Winter Wonderland
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No. 1: Nat King Cole: The Christmas Song. What merits this as number one? Start with the fact that the title cut of the album is perhaps the most iconic recording of a secular Christmas song. Add in the fact that A) this is Nat “King” Cole, whose vocal talents just feel perfect for music to promote Yuletide cheer, and B) this is a Capitol Records album, produced at the time (1960, specifically) when the label included not only Cole, but also both Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin as his stablemates and thus the label pretty much owned the mainstream popular music market in that era. But Cole mixes well the secular and religious songs, making fun, upbeat versions with some (e.g., “Deck the Halls” and “Hark! The Herald Angels”) and poignant versions with others (e.g., “O Tannenbaum” and “O Little Town of Bethlehem”), making for a compilation that spans the proper emotional gamut during this sentimental time of year.
The only irony is that it does not contain the best version of “The Christmas Song,” a tune that Cole himself would record officially at least three different times, but that is a discussion for another day.
No. 1a: A Jolly Christmas from Frank Sinatra. Make no mistake about it, this album was cut in 1957, when Ol’ Blue Eyes was on top of his game, only a year or so removed from recording his two greatest albums ever (“Songs for Swinging Lovers” and “A Swingin’ Affair”). It shows in this album, too. Just as the previously mentioned album introduced me to Nat “King” Cole, so too did this particular album introduce me to Sinatra at a very early age.
Certain songs grab you in such a way that you remember where you were the first time you heard them. For me, it was Christmastime while I was in kindergarten when I first heard the opening track, “Jingle Bells,” on this album, and it stuck with me ever since. The song is so well-known as to be trite, but every once in a while, one hears a version that is so well-rendered as to rise above the triteness. This is one of those songs.
But if you are first grabbed by that opening track, you stay for “Mistletoe and Holly.” To this day, few have attempted to cover it because Sinatra did it so well the first time. But two additional tracks truly cement the album’s timelessness. Sammy Cahn’s “The Christmas Waltz” truly helps define the song collection, and no Christmas season is complete without enjoying this track a few times. Others have tried to duplicate Frank’s efforts with this song over the years, but each time, they keep coming up short.
The other track that seals the album’s greatness for all time is Sinatra’s definitive version of “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.” Sinatra truly captures the essence of the song itself, arguably outdoing the other definitive version by Judy Garland from 1944. Listening to this song proves to any discerning listener why Frank Sinatra was indeed the singing voice of the 20th Century.
The religious songs on the latter part of the album are not too shabby, either. Recent re-releases of the album include an alternative version of “The Christmas Waltz,” which is not quite as good as the official rendition, but it remains a good listen nonetheless (it being a Nelson Riddle arrangement, compared to the Gordon Jenkins arrangements that populate the rest of the track line-up).
No. 3: Phil Spector’s A Christmas Gift For You (1963). One unique aspect of this album is that it does not center on one artist, but rather on several artists/groups that were the talent pool on Spector’s label at the time. The recording effect that defined the legendary producer’s records came to be known as the “Wall of Sound,” (a primer for those unfamiliar with this effect of recorded sound) and while that effect lifted many Spector-produced tracks to legendary status and made for a definitive element in some music from 1960s, one could argue that this effect was perfected on this very album. If that exceeds credibility in the minds of some readers, I invite them to listen to the last several bars of instrumentation of “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” by The Crystals: it’s vintage Phil Spector (this is not to mention that the song’s arrangement has been copied by many artists in the 50+ years since).
There is not a bad track in the line-up, and they include some of the most iconic versions of certain secular Christmas songs. The Ronettes’ version of “Sleigh Ride”, for example, remains the definitive version of this song – in most circles – to this day, though ironically paced with a shuffle beat (one of the oldest rhythmic patterns in popular music). Bob B. Soxx’s rendition of “Here Comes Santa Claus” is a fresh take on that song, too. Indeed, there is a timeless “hipness” to these tracks, which is what makes the album so classic.
Of course, Darlene Love contributed the lion’s share of musical gems. Her version of “White Christmas” is the closest one to rival Bing Crosby’s eternally popular 1942 and 1947 versions. “Baby Please Come Home” has become an iconic song in its own right, and her multi-dubbed vocals on “Winter Wonderland” have made it arguably the best version of that winter-themed song to date. With such a strong line-up of recordings, it almost makes “Marshmallow World” get lost in the mix, but an attentive listen reveals that this track is the most underrated on the album. This is easily the greatest version anybody has made of the song, and the energy that Love puts into the vocals on this track are positively contagious. Moreover, if one focuses just on Love’s contributions to this song compilation, one cannot help but conclude that these make up the very cornerstone to her musical legacy.
Put all three albums together, and you have a solid trifecta of timeless Christmas music that has stood the test of time for more than five decades, which is all too fitting for a holiday season partially defined by timeless traditions.
America’s Greatest Music: The Man/Gal That Got Away November 14, 2013
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Pop Culture.Tags: A Star Is Born, album, Capitol Records, Frank Sinatra, golden age, Harold Arlen, In The Wee Small Hours of the Morning, Ira Gershwin, Judy Garland, Silver Age, The Gal That Got Away, The Man That Got Away, This Is Sinatra
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This tune is something of a break from most American pop standards spotlighted within this series of blog entries in that it is not from the Golden Age of the Great American Songbook (ca. 1920-1945). Nevertheless, it quickly merited a place in the aforementioned Songbook because of its eloquent lyrics that easily compare to those of said Golden Age. The viewing public first heard this from the hit 1954 film “A Star Is Born,” and was broken by none other than Judy Garland. The fact that is was written by Harold Arlen (music) and Ira Gershwin (lyrics) certainly does not hurt, and indeed, accredits the song all the more (they being two songwriting veterans whose penmanship contributed plenty to America’s Greatest Music)!
What is interesting is that the title must be slightly modified depending on whether the person that is singing this is male for female. When Judy Garland broke the tune, the title was “The Man That Got Away”. Not so with Frank Sinatra, who recorded his own version on the Capitol label shortly after the song became a hit off the silver screen. It could not have been recorded any later than 1955, for that was the year that the album “This is Sinatra” was released. Interesting side-note: “This is Sinatra” was no concept album, unlike his “In The Wee Small Hours Of The Morning” album from the previous year. “This is…” was merely a compilation of hit singles he had over 1953 and ’54, not that such a distinction should detract from the collection of masterworks found in one album!
For my money, Sinatra’s version is the definitive one, though that ought not to detract from Judy Garland’s heartfelt rendition. Whichever your preference may be, few songs better personify the feeling one experiences when the person-of-the-opposite-sex that they thought was “The One” for them has gotten away from them. That alone should be reason enough why this song belongs in the Great American Songbook, Silver Age or no.
America’s Greatest Music: A love song “twofer” from 75 years ago today. September 15, 2013
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Pop Culture.Tags: 1938, 75, Al Bowlly, Artie Shaw, Babe Russin, Begin the Beguine, Benny Goodman, Billie Holiday, Cadillac, Casablanca, Claude Thornhill, Columbia, Cozy Cole, diamond anniversary, Dinah Shore, Dinah Washington, Doris Day, Ella Fitzgerald, Forever Young, Frank Sinatra, Haven Gillespie, J. Fred Coots, Lena Horne, Louis Armstrong, Marie, Marlene Dietrich, Martha Tilton, Mel Gibson, Nan Wynn, Nat "King" Cole, Packard, Patti Page, Paul McCartney, Peggy Lee, Ray Noble, RCA Bluebird, Rick's Cafe Americain, Sarah Vaughn, Sid Ascher, Teddy Wilson, The Very Thought of You, Tommy Dorsey, Tony Bennett, Vaughn Monroe, Vocalion, You Go To My Head
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A 1938 Cadillac is shown on the right and a 1935 Packard (similar to a 1938 model) is shown on the right. This image montage is included for visual reference to some of the text below. Photos by the author.
Sometimes certain recording sessions prove to be particularly fecund, if not downright one for the ages. That was especially the case, for example, when Artie Shaw and his band cut the legendary record “Begin the Beguine,” in addition to other greats such as “Any Old Time,” “Back Bay Shuffle,” “Yesterdays,” and so on, all on July 24, 1938 for RCA Bluebird. It happens that way in recording sessions, sometimes: things just happen to click, and one great record after another is put to acetate for all of posterity to appreciate.
Such turned out not to be the case with the recording session the Billie Holiday undertook 75 years ago today (Sept. 15) for the Vocalion label (a Columbia subsidiary at the time), this being contrary to that which I wrote in this very article earlier. I apologize for misleading the readers, as I did get my discography information incorrect, which led to the inaccurate info. Nevertheless, these are two incredible, timeless records that were produced in 1938, and both just so happened to be the [arguably] definitive versions of two songs that definitely belong in the Great American Songbook.
One is “You Go to My Head.” Written by the relatively obscure duo of J. Fred Coots and Haven Gillespie — interestingly, the same pair that wrote “Santa Claus is Coming to Town”; seriously! — the song itself has been recorded by numerous artists and has become a venerable pop/jazz standard over the course of three-quarters of a century. Nan Wynn and Teddy Wilson (on piano, naturally) took a stab at the song the same year Lady Day cut her version. Marlene Dietrich recorded a version the following year, and in the years since then, luminaries including Frank Sinatra (1946 and 1960), Lena Horne, Doris Day (1949), Charlie Barnett, Bing Crosby, Peggy Lee, Sarah Vaughn, Tony Bennett, Dinah Washington (1954), Dinah Shore, Patti Page (1956), Louis Armstrong (1957), Ella Fitzgerald (of course; 1960), and many others all have a version under their respective, figurative belts.
An outstanding yet relatively obscure version was done live in 1938 by Benny Goodman and his band during a Camel Caravan radio broadcast from Chicago, with Martha Tilton on vocals. Goodman’s sound and ‘take’ on the tune certainly did it justice, as is the case with most Goodman records. But the one that stands out above all is Billie Holiday’s version from that same year (she actually cut this track on May 11, 1938, not Sept. 15, as originally posted).
How could it not? The very first thing the listener hears — and never forgets it when he/she does for the first time — is a fantastic opening tenor sax solo by Babe Russin (a member of Goodman’s band at the time, though the year prior capped off the legendary Tommy Dorsey record “Marie” with another great solo!) that simply oozes Art Deco imagery in the listener’s mind. For best effect, try hearing the record while beholding the styling craftsmanship of, say, a 1938 Cadillac or Packard! Claude Thornhill on piano and Cozy Cole on the drums make for a nice touch, too.
But that’s just the beginning. Holiday’s expressiveness was practically tailor-made for the lyrics, and how they so accurately personify the incredible sensations one experiences of adoring “the one”, the potential significant other, despite how diligently the rational side of our minds tries to remind us of key apprehensions. Hear for yourself!
On a related note is another love song, one just as timeless, and that being “The Very Thought of You.” (And this was recorded on Sept. 15, 1938!) The lyrics focus more so on the pure adoration aspect regarding the feelings one has for a significant other, and how “the one” tends to become the center of one’s focus.
Sid Ascher — later the manager of Tony Bennett — wrote the song in 1934, and sold the rights to the great British bandleader Ray Noble, who cut a fine version of it that year with Al Bowlly providing the vocals. Bing Crosby himself did his own version that same year. Vaughn Monroe recorded his rendition a decade later, and the inclined movie connoisseur can hear a band-accompanied piano instrumental of the song during a scene inside Rick’s Cafe Americain in the 1942 hit film “Casablanca.” Doris Day later sang a version of the song for the 1950 film “Young Man with a Horn.” Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, and Nat “King” Cole all have their respective versions (the latter of which is particularly lovely), and Paul McCartney and Tony Bennett recorded a duet of it together.
But as is the case with the previously-examined song, Billie Holiday’s version stands out above the others.
A rather modern, repeated reference to this record can be heard throughout the 1992 film “Forever Young” with Mel Gibson; the song being used as something of a constant, a source of continuity, a bridge to two very different eras and how certain things were meant to stand the test of time, much like the song itself.
America’s Greatest Music: You Must Have Been a Beautiful Baby August 15, 2013
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Pop Culture.Tags: 1938, Al Jolson, America, Artie Shaw, Baby, Beautiful, Bing Crosby, Bobby Darin, Bobby Vee, Bunny Berigan, caricature, cartoon, Chick Bullock, Dave Clark Five, Dean Martin, Decca, Der Bingle, Eddie Cantor, Edythe Wright, Elmer Fudd, Frank Sinatra, Greatest, Harry Warren, Johnny Mercer, Joni James, Lee Wiley, Looney Tunes, Merrie Melodies, Michael Buble, music, Perry Como, record, Rosemary Clooney, Russ Morgan, song, Songbook, The Crew Cuts, Tommy Dorsey, Vic Damone, Vocalion, Warner Brothers, What's Up Doc, You Must Have Been
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Whenever you meet a girl whom you instantly recognize as a cut above the rest, this tune instantly enters your mind. You know that even further when this tune pops up on the radio (assuming you’re tuned in to the SiriusXM 40s on 4 channel) and without hesitation you start singing along to the record. But the question becomes, along with which version do you sing?
Such is a valid question. After all, like many legendary tunes in the Great American Songbook, it has been recorded by many a legendary artist throughout the ages. At different times, Artie Shaw, Lee Wiley, Perry Como (1946), Rosemary Clooney, The Crew Cuts — who made their mark on the business by doing cover versions of early ’50s R&B and doo-wop hits — Vic Damone, Joni James, Dean Martin, and Frank Sinatra have all taken their individual cracks at this song. Let us also not forget Bobby Vee, Bobby Darin (1961), The Dave Clark Five (1967), or Michael Bublé (2001, which, compared to the years of the previous records, might as well be literally yesterday).
But this does not even acknowledge the spate or recordings made of this song when it was written (1938) by Harry Warren (music) and Johnny Mercer (lyrics — figures!). That year, Tommy Dorsey recorded his version with Edythe Wright on the vocals. Chick Bullock — who provided the vocals for some of Bunny Berigan’s small group recordings on the Vocalion label in 1936 — also rendered his version that same year, as did Russ Morgan.
Yet the version that clearly stands out above all others was also recorded the same year the song in question was written (1938, in case you skipped the previous paragraph), and it was sung by none other than Bing Crosby (recorded on the Decca label, of course!). It is this version that sticks out in one’s mind when a guy meets a girl that stands out from all the rest; it is this version that you joyous sing along with in your car when it comes on the radio….and it swings!
For anybody who doubts that Crosby owns the definitive version of this song, take a moment to notice its reference elsewhere in popular culture. In the Looney Tunes cartoon “What’s Up Doc?” (1950) featuring Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd, an obvious reference to this record surfaces in the middle of the show.
A scene depicts Elmer Fudd coming across, by happenstance, a down-and-out Bugs. Of the four characters that Fudd passes up before reaching Bugs, the first is a caricature of Al Jolson (“mammy” being a lyric often found in some of his songs), the third is a caricature of Eddie Cantor, and the fourth is obviously a satirical depiction of Der Bingle himself, singing a line of from the featured recording of this very article. Watch for yourself!
Such humorous references to contemporary pop culture were a hallmark, and indeed, a distinctive competency (to borrow a business term) of the Warner Brothers’ Merrie Melodies cartoons! But as hinted previously, this very reference also demonstrates that Crosby’s version stands apart from all others, much like that special lady.
