I've been on another Al Bowlly binge lately, and some of his slower tunes are perfect for unwinding and generally just getting some sublime and sentimental tuneage into the day. These two songs in particular just make me feel so full and happy and make me want to stop whatever I am doing to take them all in and just sit and daydream.
"The Very Thought of You"
"Easy Come Easy Go" (really random background images but it was the best quality version I could find.)
On a different note from this post, here's a more positive take on the single life. It's all about attitude!...
...Oh, who am I kidding. I just want to share some more Fred and Ginger.
I can't embed the version from Top Hat that Fred Astaire dances and sings (and you see some gorgeous sleep/lounge wear on Ginger), but if you click on the image (or here) you'll go to it's YouTube page:
And here's a version sung by Ginger - I just love this one!
A couple of months ago Gracie and a few other friends were awesome and helped me do this somewhat last-minute project. I needed to have a small film project to submit as part of an application, and seeing as I had never made a film, I needed to make one while I still had some actors (meaning: friends still in town) available, and before I left for England. So we (Gracie helped much) threw everything together essentially a few days before the shoot, and it was all great except: the location, Gracie and my old high school, could only lend us the classroom we needed to use for three hours on a Saturday morning. Three hours! If any of you have ever done a scripted shoot before, you will understand that this is a VERY small amount of time (especially when you get musical numbers involved), even for a four minute clip. So, it didn't really turn out as we had planned - when we would do takes and there were mistakes or we just wanted to re-shoot, it just kind of had to be pushed through since we had so little time! Also, I had no previous experience, so it was a major learning curve, and in retrospect there is a lot I would do differently. But alas, it is what it is! Even though it doesn't match my ideal, I'm still pleased that we did it, and really grateful to all of our friends who helped out!
Also, Gracie is ridiculously awesome. She put up with my, ahem, quirks of directing, and I think she did a really fabulous job of acting, especially when you realize she's never been in front of the camera before (acting, that is). And of course, she's easy on the eyes (she'll be majorly embarrassed that I am saying this..) and looks great as usual, so... give it a watch here if you'd like! Any comments, (constructive) criticism, what have you - it's all appreciated!
Here's some of the ridiculously wonderful Betty Hutton, being infectiously energetic and entertaining as usual!
I could use some of her pep during my many paper-writing all-nighters that I've had to pull here (and the many more that lay ahead)... I think a dose of Betty ("a vitamin pill with legs!") would do wonders compared to the weak tea I've been throwing back!
I love this lovely scene, how about you?
I love Judy Garland way too much, how about you?
I love impromptu dancing and singing, even though I can't carry a tune...
I love Burton Lane for composing this song, and reportedly discovering young Miss Garland... How about you?
I just emerged from a week-long stretch of essentially non-stop paper writing. Four papers. One week. My reward to myself was a day trip to Whales with two friends! T'was marvelous, I really, really love it there. We went to Tintern Abbey, which was amazing:
Okay, it didn't look quite like that, because the sky was one big cloud all day, but still, it was gorgeous.
Also, here is a shitty Mac Photobooth shot of where I am typing right now:
I wasn't very successful at leaning out of the shot, but I'm in a cafe and don't want to weird out the other people. Point is, I just love the architecture here. Ancient or just really old buildings are everywhere, and far outnumber the occasional 70's construction (which Atlanta is full of - ugly late 20th century architecture, that is).
I'll be sharing some better pictures soon, I just need to transfer them off of my camera!
This song. This song is perfection, to me. I swear I've listened to it at least two-hundred times, and I never get tired of it. And every time I hear it, it still brings forth surprise, emotions that feel fresh, daydreams that never get old. I don't even know what it is. I just love it.
This version is the most popular, and it's wonderful. I actually have a slightly different version on my iPod - it's just barely more uptempo, and half an octave higher, but it's still Al Bowlly singing. It's weird, I got my version off of YouTube but I can't find it anymore. Anyway, this is nearly identical and I still love it. I hope you do too!
Wednesday I leave for England as I'll be studying there this semester, so I've been running around trying to get everything ready in time! Gracie left my house on Thursday, and since then I've only been on the internet to do school related things and do a few quick read-throughs of my blogger dashboard (I couldn't completely stay away!).
Anyway, here's an aviation-related-ish soundie from 1942 that I just love - super cheesy, but I couldn't care less! Knowing my luck, I'll be sat next to a 180-year-old fart machine the entire ride (as I was when I went to China), instead of honey-voiced Johnny Johnston, but one can dream, right?
I was supposed to be packing yesterday, but did a single stitch of clothing get put in any bags? Nope. Not only was a being a dirty ol' procrastinator, but the weather was making me sleepy and dreamy - it was raining hard most of the day. So I cracked open a window (sacrificing my pincurls to humidity in order to better hear the wonderful sound of rain - which can be had anytime you want, for those of you in drier climates) and lazed around in bed, feeling happy with my comfy little setup and sad that I will be leaving it in just two days.
Anyway, the late-20s/early-30s continue to dominate my playlists, and here are two songs (of many) that played softly in the background all day yesterday. The first is by the adorable and dimple-cheeked Annette Hanshaw, and the second by Connee Boswell (of the Boswell Sisters). The two songs have completely opposite tones - one a light-hearted and gay (in the old-fashioned meaning of the word) celebration of love, and the other a wistful song of failed romance.
"Loveable and Sweet" - Annette Hanshaw
"In the Middle of a Kiss" - Connee Boswell
- Emily
P.S - Tomorrow TCM is playing Three on a Match (1932) at 9:45 pm! I highly recommend it, I saw it a few days ago on TCM's Forbidden Hollywood set, a collection of Pre-Code films, and I really loved it.
Hello!
Gee here, finally doing a post in this series! This is probably my number one car song at the moment, really great for singing along with and listening to over and over again (for me, at least) for my daily half-hour commute into town. It's not the most soulful/deep of blues songs, but I enjoy it and I like the lyrics, even though they're a bit... negative.
I love original blues in general, and am attempting to visit some of the many blues museums in this here state. I actually went to one today, but alas it was not open on weekends - which is not logical to me at all, but hey, who am I to say when they should be open?... okay, I'm a potential customer, so I should have some say, but that's not the point. Anyway, I hope you can see some merit in this post, despite the not-so-appropriate image accompanying this song (it was the only good-quality version I could find).
Here's a cute and funny musical number from the short film Service With a Smile (1934), which I watched in it's entirety on YouTube a few months ago, but can't find anymore. This little song clip, which I suppose is called "Whatcha Gonna Do Now?" is not only charming and a bit intentionally silly, but it features some really cute outfits on the ladies! And one fella wears a cheerful mint green suit and tie.
Once again, blogger wouldn't let me embed the video! So click on the picture to watch it on YouTube. Or click here, in case it doesn't link properly.
Here's my favorite musical number from Stage Mother, 1933. I TiVoed it off of TCM a few months ago solely because I saw Maureen O'Sullivan is in it, not expecting too much since the TV's short "info" description wasn't very good, but I actually really liked it!
I love the intro to this - the choreography is pretty (Maureen's) and eye-catching (the showgirls'), and the ominous storm bit is great.
Here's a song, from 1939, that I absolutely adore. When I first heard this song/saw this musical short, something about it perfectly seized upon my imagination and my aesthetic longing for Romance (in both the capital and lowercase "r"sense of the word), and I was consumed with an obsession for a few weeks. While I have since cooled off on my fervor for this song, I still love it. Not only is Artie Shaw and his Orchestra a wonderful match with Helen Forrest's honeyed voice, but the video accompanying it is great. After a bit of Helen and Artie doing their thing, it segues into a nighttime garden scene and tells a little story that is both beautiful and melancholy.
A funny thing I have to add: Gracie mentioned to me that TCM recently played this short in between movies, and she was at her grandmother's house when she saw it. So she sat down and was watching it with her grandma, and they were both sitting in silence when the guy comes on with his cravat-ed dapperness. Her grandma turned to her and was like, "If you ever find a guy in a top hat, hold on to him."
Wise words, granny, wise words. We're totally on the same page here. And Gracie told her as much.
This song was actually first published by Peter DeRose as solely a piano composition in 1933, and it was a major hit, being played by the likes of Paul Whiteman. It wasn't until 1938 that lyrics would be penned by Mitchell Parish, after steady sheet music sales for the past five years proved the song had staying power. This probably only increased the song's popularity, as it was covered by tons of major musicians and continued to be covered into the late 70s and still hit the Top 20 charts.
Here's another version, by Larry Clinton and his orchestra, sung by Bea Wain. I don't love it as I do Artie & Helen's version, but I still do like it.
Two features begin in one week! Gee and I have also decided to do a recurring feature on songs that we really love. I know that this won't be everybody's cup of tea, but I also know that I like reading other blogger's music posts who have similar taste, so maybe a few people will enjoy these. I've actually discovered some favorite artists through other blogs, so hopefully this will do the same for at least a few people out there! The music I love is very dear to me and I would love to help keep the wonderful tunes of the past alive!
So, the first song: "Zing! Went the Strings of My Heart" performed and sung by my absolute all-time favorite, Judy Garland. The first is from 1938, and the second from 1935.
Despite Judy's seriously over-plucked eyebrows (she looks like a china doll!), you can see how adorable she was at the start of her career and you get a taste of her magnetism on stage. The funny thing is, this is actually not that good of an example of the typical Judy performance, she is rather held-back and reserved, not overly expressive in this video. I'm sure that has to do with the director or someone behind scenes in the film, because Judy loved to put on a performance, both in technical skill in belting tunes out, and in emotional expressiveness. Still, even in this toned-down performance, she manages to tug on my heartstrings (as she sings about her heartstrings). And the lyrics are simple but wonderfully sweet.
And here's the 1935 radio version, which I recommend for two reasons: first, it changes half-way through into a swing version, which is my favorite version of this song. Secondly, as the description for the video says, this is the version Judy sang on the radio while her father was in the hospital, and she sang with extra effort knowing her dad was listening. Pretty much every other adult relationship she had at the time was toxic or would soon become so (always the adult's fault. She was just a kid, and she was constantly used and/or abused - her mother, managers, perhaps Louis B. Mayer, etc) and her father was the one person she felt she could trust and who actually loved her. So what gives this song an extra heart-wrenching quality is that her father died in the hospital the day after she sang this, before she had a chance to see him again. She was only 13. I imagine she had some very sad/emotional associations with this song whenever she was requested to sing it in the future. Anyway, here it is:
- Emily
Hello chums and chumettes (mostly chumettes, I suppose),
My absence, if at all noted, is due to the fact that I’ve recently moved from Atlanta to Boston. I’ll be in Beantown for the summer doing an internship at a production company and taking a summer course at a nearby college. I’m really excited to be here, and hope that I make the most of it and don’t get city-shy and hide away in my apartment during my free time in order to avoid the confusion of public transport and the unfamiliar busy pace of the streets.
Anyway, I’m still feeling rather lazy in terms of posting (I spend way more time reading other blogger’s posts!) so here’s a quick one. I wanted to share with you a cute little clip “You’re the Cats”, a short musical number with Ben Lyon and Ona Munson from 1931 in the movie “The Hot Heiress”:
I saw this clip a few weeks before Gracie and I started talking about making a blog, and though it is by no means a lyrically sophisticated or musically poignant number, I do love it and think it’s cute. Anyway, as you can see, this is where Gee and I got the idea for the name of this blog!
