When I survey the music scene, I  cannot help but to be struck by the different levels of talent that have managed to lead to successful musical careers. 

There are some musicians would seem by sheer luck and happenstance, end up with a hit or two, based largely on novelty.

Then, there are solid journeyman musicians who, by hard work, solid craftsmanship, clever marketing and good business practices, court a successful career in music.

Then there are those rare musicians are absolutely transcendent.  From them, music flows as though some irresistible internal compulsion compels the artist to create the melodies, and maybe also to perform with a luminance few can match.

In my musical world, just off the top of my head, I think of artists like Oscar Peterson, James Taylor, Louis Armstrong, and Stevie Ray Vaughan. 

I think of composers like, Mozart, Fredrick Chopin, Sergei Rachmaninoff, and Richard Rodgers.

George Gershwin, both as a composer and a performer, was one of these. 

And I cannot help but think of these two gentlemen, Ray Charles, and Stevie Wonder.

The linkage between the last two artists is not coincidental. They are not only just both blind and black.  12 years old Stevland Hardaway Judkins was renamed “little Stevie Wonder” by Berry Gordy, who signed the young man to a recording contract in 1963.  One of his first albums released on his new label was “A Tribute to Uncle Ray” with the young artist introducing some new songs, but mainly covering hits of his idol, Ray Charles.

 His early albums did not do well. In 1963, his breakthrough hit “Fingertips”, propelled 13 year-old “Little Stevie” him to considerable success.  Multiple hit albums in the late sixties, seventies, and eighties established  a now adult Stevie Wonder, as a musical icon.

I have never seen Stevie Wonder live.  I have however, seen Ray Charles onstage.  This occurred several years before his death.  I recall a frail old man being helped out to his instrument by rather sturdy looking assistant.  He looked so diminished that it was natural to wonder whether he would be able to give much of a performance.

I was wrong. 

The moment that he touched the keyboard, he seemed to come alive.  For 90 minutes  Ray Charles was 30 years younger, with his characteristic swaying , his unique phrasing, and his ability to transform a song you thought you knew, into a completely different musical experience.

I’ve come upon several recordings of these men and thought I would share them with you.  They feature Stevie’s song: “Living For The City”.  First recorded by the author in 1973, it was the only song I know of, written and performed by the younger man,  but also covered by “Uncle Ray” who in  1975 released his own very distinctive recording (title video).

The next clip is of a young Stevie Wonder in an extraordinarily well restored video of a performance for a European television show recorded in 1974. I actually don’t think he was as good a performer as he became in later years.  At least in this session, he lacks the incredible vocal agility that has later become his trademark. Maybe he was tired. I do wonder whether it took Stevie some time to adapt to his adult vocal range.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99gNYaz6YaM&feature=player_detailpage

The second video was probably shot sometime in the 1990s or the early “ought’s”.  It’s a live concert featuring Stevie and Ray in the song they both have in common.  The performance showcases the unique approach to the song taken by both men in their separate recordings.  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=XJYUSdX-Rps

Probably not long after this, Ray Charles died from liver failure; likely the consequence of a life that included some bad choices.

It is wonderful to watch two such talented musicians, who in some ways were competitors, meld their styles together so beautifully. 

We are lucky to have had the genius of Ray Charles grace the music scene for 40 plus years.

 And we are fortunate still to have a talent such as Stevie Wonder still performing at a very high level even in the seventh decade of his life.

Here’s a gem from You Tube.

The cut is from A Song is Born an otherwise forgettable movie  from MGM (though directed by Howard Hawks).

The plot involves the girlfriend of a gangster who needs to disappear, when her boyfriend attracts the attention of the authorities. She hides by associating with Danny Kaye, and his friends, a group of nerdy music professors, working to document the history of Jazz.

When I first encountered this clip,   did not remember the movie. I realized finally, that I seen it perhaps forty years ago, when I was not particularly interested in swing-era jazz.

The clip starts out as a history of jazz music, it portrays the contribution of African-American and Latin music  to the evolution of this musical form.

Honestly, I don’t really like the score that much. It seems dated to my ears.

  But it’s when the entire ensemble starts to play, you start to notice the incredible assembly of legends that were brought together for this musical production.

Professor Magenbruch on the clarinet, for instance, is  played by the incomparable Benny Goodman. His old band mate, Lionel Hampton plays vibes. The patriarch of New Orleans Jazz, Louie Armstrong  is familiar to our eyes on trumpet, but this should not diminish his legendary musical prowess.

Less well know perhaps to our generation, but equally extraordinary musicians present include bandleader Tommy Dorsey on trombone and jazz greats Charlie Barnett, and Mel Powell, on sax and piano duties respectively.  The beat is maintained by a young-looking  Louis Belson on the drum set and Harry Babasin on bass.

I don’t know of any other occasion where so many jazz luminaries were brought together.

Against this assembly of talent, Virginia Mayo,  seems to handle the vocals nicely. Her singing however, was likely dubbed.

 Though not evident here, Danny Kaye was also a gifted vocal performer.

 Clips like this make me yearn for days gone by when performers, by and large, were actually masters of their craft, and elevated to stardom on that basis, rather than on the marketing of their sexual exploits and tawdry behavior.

Forty years ago, at least to me, an assemblage of talent like this like this, was not particularly noteworthy.

It seems noteworthy now.

 

Certainly one of the most beautiful, and unique compositions of the traditional Christmas songbook is the lovely: Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, penned by songwriting team Hugh Martin and Ralph Blaine (though Blaine’s actual contributions to this particular song are in doubt).

The song was written for the MGM musical Meet me in St Louis which was an adaptation of a Broadway musical of the same name.

The interesting history of the song is worth reviewing. In the movie, the song is sung by older sister Esther (Judy Garland), to younger sister Tootie (Margaret O’Brien). It is offered in an effort to cheer the five-year-old, who is positively despondent at the prospects of moving from their home in St Louis, where they are extremely well established, to New York City.

The first version offered to movie’s producers was to say the least, rather dark:

Have yourself a merry little Christmas, it may be your last,
Next year we may all be living in the past
Have yourself a merry little Christmas, pop that champagne cork,
Next year we will all be living in New York.

No good times like the olden days, happy golden days of yore,
Faithful friends who were dear to us, will be near to us no more.

But at least we all will be together, if the Lord allows,
From now on we’ll have to muddle through somehow.
So have yourself a merry little Christmas now.^[5]

As the tale is told, many of those involved with the movie including Ms. Garland herself balked at using these less-than-cheery lyrics. Reluctantly, Hugh Martin reworked the lyrics to the version Ms. Garland eventually sang in the 1944 release.

 Released as a single, the song understandably became a sentimental favorite among troops overseas. Still the song failed to achieve the success and notoriety of the movie’s big hit: The Trolley Song.

The song was not exactly forgotten afterwards but a glance at the list of those who recorded it shows that between 1944 and the early 1960’s there was a decided lack of interest among singers for Martin’s tune.

One person who was interested was Frank Sinatra. He first recorded the” Garland” lyric in 1947 on Columbia Records.

In 1957 contemplating song choices for his album, A Jolly Christmas, Frank, now with Capitol records, is said to have decided that the song was still too dark. He asked Hugh Martin, who must have been weary of this, to rewrite it again. The composer again complied, among other things, purging the song of the “muddle through”  line, substituting the  “Hang a shining star above the highest bow” lyric that most of us, I think, sing today.

A Jolly Christmas was rereleased in 1963 as The Sinatra Christmas Album, with the song intact. You’ve all heard it; it’s the one everyone plays. Personally, I don’t like this version nearly as much as the 1947 version, which is beautifully sung, much less syrupy, and most important,lacks the annoying background singers. You can find it here, but I’m not posting it.

Here’s the 1947 version:

Another glance at the recording history shows that, starting in the early sixties, singers interest in the song began to increase: on the strength of the latest”Sinatra” lyrics it became the Christmas standard it is today.

In article from the San Diego Union-Tribune dated 12/14/10, the 96-year-old writer has apparently gotten over whatever writer’s regret he felt about the multiple edits. He describes the success of the song as: “out of this world exciting.”

Now, here’s Judy Garland and little Margaret O’Brien. As a physician, I am concerned that little “Tootie”, is seriously depressed:

(It won’t embed, so click in the middle)

As if this weren’t enough, Martin, who worked later in life as an accompanist for Christian ministries, wrote an entirely new set of lyrics entitled: Have Yourself a Blessed little Christmas.

It is lovely song, but in the long run, among all the iterations, I prefer the “movie” version which has the right mix of pathos and hopefulness.

At any rate, gotta go, still gotta shop.

To all of my faithful readers… do what the song says, and have a happy New Year as well.

P.S. The printer’s still here, as yet unopened.

 

 

 

 

How little we know,

How much to discover

What chemical forces flow

From lover to lover…

Even in the Seventies, when my LP and eight-track tape collection included artists like Neil Young, Elton John, Billy Joel, Emerson Lake and Palmer, and the Doobie Brothers, I always had a soft spot for Frank Sinatra.

I’ve featured his music elsewhere on the site. And I suspect I’ll be featuring it in the future.

Most of my Sinatra recordings are on LP’s.  As a birthday present probably 25 years ago, my wife Cathy presented me with the complete collection of Frank’s Capital recordings, which span the years between 1954, and 1961. Compared to the Columbia label recordings (which I have on CDs) which preceded them, they represent a newly energized and confident Frank, fresh from his Oscar (and Golden Globe) winning performance in From Here to Eternity.

 I maintain among my audio gear, an excellent turntable, tonearm, and cartridge. Listening to these recordings through good electronics and speakers, the ease with which he sings, and the sheer presence of the recordings is absolutely riveting, superior in some ways to their CD versions (and certainly better than their MP3s). I don’t listen to them often, in part to preserve this rare vinyl, and in part because as it’s easier to slip in a CD or turn on my iPod. Because of this, some of the performances have slipped out of my consciousness.

I regret this.

 Among those recordings is this wonderful little composition that I recently re-encountered on You Tube in several different forms.

How Little We Know (How Much To Discover) is a relatively modest song. The lyrics in particular, impress, cleverly scribed by Carolyn Leigh, lyricist for classics such as Young at Heart, and Witchcraft.  The deftness of the writing approaches that of composers like Cole Porter or Lorenz Hart.

 The melody was composed by Phil Springer, author of hits such as the classic, Santa Baby, made famous by Eartha Kitt.

 I offer two versions. Both feature the classic chart as arranged by bandleader Nelson Riddle, one of Sinatra’s frequent collaborators. The first is the studio recording from Frank’s 1958 LP titled: This is Sinatra. The performance is classy, beautifully phrased, near perfectly sung. It’s the version I know best.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6yE2gXIosp4&feature=player_detailpage

The second performance is from a later TV special. I encountered this more recenntly.

 It’s likely from the sixties when traditional singers were struggling to remain relevant in the face of new performers such as the Beatles, The Rolling Stones, and even contrived acts such as the Monkees. This probably explains the Nehru jacket and the beads, which look kind of sad on this iconic performer. Nonetheless, whether he realized it or not, at the time, in some ways he was at the peak of his vocal life, and his performance, though brief, demonstrates an utter mastery of the song.  To me is much more evocative than the earlier recording.

4/5/12  I apologize, this recording has been scoured from the internet.

If you can find it, it’s wonderful.

In this day and age, Frank’s legacy is carried on by such performers as Michael Buble and Michael Feinstein, both who have very polished voices, and are great entertainers. Neither for me conveys the sense of robust masculinity that Sinatra brought to his music. Harry Connick is a little closer, but not quite there yet.

In the meantime I have only to slip the record from the dust jacket, set it in the turntable and gently drop the needle into the lead in groove in the vinyl, and it is 1958 again.

As the music plays, I look across the room at my beautiful wife, who is busily putting the Thanksgiving decorations away.  At that moment I think how perfectly these lyrics convey the feelings of lovers around the world:

             As long as you kiss me, and the world around us shatters

                                                How little it matters

                                                 How little we know…

I love to listen to Judy Garland.

There I said it.

No, I ‘m not gay. In fact, I’m not even a metrosexual. And I freely admit that Barbra Streisand has a better voice. Which is not the same as saying that Barbra sings better.

 Early in here life Judy Garland had a powerful and tonally precise voice. Think of the young Judy singing Over the Rainbow in the Wizard of Oz.

Over the years, booze and smokes took a toll on her career, and her vocal cords.

The song by Burton Lane and Alan Jay Lerner, was written for the 1951 movie Royal Wedding.  It was originally intended that Judy would star and be the singer of this tune, but the role ultimately went to Jane Powell, who costarred with Fred Astaire (Fred rather famously danced with a hat rack in this production).

What is presented here, was from many years later, is recorded from her television show. We see and here is a more mature Judy, her voice muted  and strained by life lived hard. It is her phrasing, her vocal skills and her acting ability that allow her to carry off this simple ballad with a pathos that we seldom witness from today’s talent.

I’ll say it again, I love to listen to Judy Garland.

I think I’ll go out and split some wood now.

By hand.

I love this.

Two icons that I would never have put together. Two of the most talented individuals in show business ever. Both died far too young, both from tobacco.

One of the best singers in Pop music history doing an extraordinarily funny impersonation of one of the other best singers in Pop music history… who also, for good measure, does an impersonation of himself.

Ladies and Gentleman… Nat King Cole and Sammy Davis Jr.

Show me modern entertainers with such talent, humor and joy.

Please.

Sometimes , performances speak for themselves.

So it is with this video of the stunning German pop artist, Helene Fischer, whose voice , when applied to Franz Schubert’s Ave Maria, is a rare tribute by anyone in the entertainment community, to the waning traditions of European Christianity.

Though she is not an operatic singer, her tone and clarity are striking, which helps to make this gorgeous liturgical music more  accessable to this public audience.

Such a lovely and talented lady.

I’m back. I was on vacation for a week, camping with my  kids and doing some photography.

And  now, another Bossa Nova tune… in this case featuring the incomparable Dianne Krall, who is a triple threat with her smoky voice, her amazing command of the keyboard, and yes, the fact that she is a pretty hot looking babe. She is here, singing the female version of the classic “Girl from Ipanema”.

I love this clip, not only for Krall’s performance, but for the Brazilian audience’s incredible participation in singing a song they obviously know by heart.

They need little prodding to sing it.

This song was written by Antonio Carlos Jobim with Portuguese lyrics by Vinicius de Moraes. The English lyrics were written by Normal Gimbell.

The song was composed originally in 1962, inspired it is said, while the authors sat at a particular café in Rio. A comely, if for our society, underaged (15y/o), young girl would often walk by during their visits, inspiring the original version of the song.

  Though this sounds vaguely creepy, in the context of current sensibilities, the translation  of the original lyrics reveals an elegant, and entirely proper tribute to youth, beauty, and vitality (rather than the slavering of two older men ogling a barely pubescent young women).

The English version I think, is certainly pleasant, perhaps casting the “girl” (or the “boy” in Krall’s case) as older and more an object of desire. It   is really a different and much less sophisticated lyric.

The “girl” was later identified by Jobim, as the very real and beautiful Heloísa Eneida Menezes Paes Pinto.  Later in life, perhaps in part based on her notoriety, she became a model, business women, and ultimately a plaintiff, when she named her chain of boutiques after the song that made her famous… and was sued (unsuccessfully) by the composers.

To finish this, here’s the song again,  sung in the original language, and much later in time, by  Jobim with a friend. “Tom”Jobim has sadly  since expired.

May he rest in peace. I would thank him for this wonderful song.

  Bluegrass music can be a little raw sometimes.

For fans accustomed to overproduced commercial country, or popular music, bluegrass music can at times, sound unsophisticated and perhaps even, a little shabby, very much the hillbilly cousin you have to acknowledge, but are secretly ashamed of.

For dazzling urban sophisticates, the music is tainted, at times with an unpleasant aroma of religiosity and with a sense of poor rural folk living a life devoid of the things they value.

   They fail to appreciate the beauty of hard work, innocent romance, and devotion to God and family, that is often thematic in Bluegrass music.

  I had little interest in the genre until like many people, I was captivated by the soundtrack of the Coen Brothers film, Oh Brother, Where Art Thou. This wonderful film is a beautifully written allegory to Homer’s Odyssey   set in the deep south of the 1930’s. The  film is populated by wonderful actors such as George Clooney, John Turturro, Tim Blake Nelson, John Goodman, Holly Hunter, and Charles Durning. It  features music by some of the most talented practitioners of the craft, including Allison Kraus, Gillian Welch, Pat Enright, and  Dan Tyminski (who is the true lead vocalist of the movies most memorable hit: “A Man of Constant Sorrows”.

    As a long time fan of Celtic music, I have found much joy in these extraordinary performers, as well as the largely Celtic-based melodies, which after all, have their roots in my beloved Appalachian Mountains.

   Submitted for your approval: a wonderful version of an old gospel tune: “Soldiers of the Cross”, performed by a bluegrass legend, Ricky Skaggs, and his band, “Kentucky Thunder”.

 For the bluegrass newbie, I think it helps a lot that the back up “band” is the Boston Pops Orchestra, with an incredibly congruent and complimentary symphonic treatment. It should be clear from the performance, that these are some incredibly talented and creative musicians, as skilled and polished as any.

This genre is a window into the past, to the rugged individualists who settled the frontier of the eastern mountains from North Carolina, to Pennsylvania.  To me it makes for a wonderful accompaniment to a good book, a porch rocker, and a warm June evening.

I was 12 years old when on AM radio I first heard James Taylor singing his song, “Fire and Rain”.

 This exposure was the first of many to a singer/songwriter that in many ways wrote and sang a part of the soundtrack to my early life.

 I loved his spare arrangements, and the plain but pure vocal performances. His style was unadorned but elegant. Plus, he wrote much of his own music.

In the intervening time, not much has changed.

I’ve seen him live on several occasions; he is a very consistent and professional performer who seems sublimely comfortable in his own skin. His expressions on stage seem to sometimes reflect a joy and  genuine surprise that he can make his large audiences so very happy.

I remember, years ago seeing this performance of “Shower the People”, with this unique way of providing vocal support.  I was delighted to encounter it on one of my late night rambles through You Tube. It’s fun for me to share it here with you.