Irving Berlin

Not to say that he didn't have his brilliant moments, and they are aplenty on Annie Get Your Gun. Search: I Got The Sun In The Morning (and the moon at night), My Defenses Are Down, Blue Skies, White Christmas, I Love A Piano, They Say It's Wonderful, Cheek to Cheek. Destroy: The patriotic songs (aka God Bless America, Give Me Your Tired...), Always, Puttin' On The Ritz, How Deep Is The Ocean.

In a sense, I'd argue Berlin is the godfather of modern pop, insofar as he understood that a song can just be a hook, and the rest can be production (or in his case, arrangement, which he farmed out to people who actually could read/write music). But.. I mean, compare "There's No Business Like Show Business" to Porter's "Another Openin' Another Show" and you'll see the difference between the two. One's all flash and melodrama, while Porter has emotional heft and a deft lyrical/melodic touch which lend themselves to a more compelling narrative.

Bill

Yes, he wrote "God Bless America" but he also wrote "Oh, How I Hate To Get Up In The Morning" about his years in military service, and his audience knew both of these things, and I think that it's a bit myopic to lose sight of this. Besides, the former directly inspired "This Land Is Your Land", so what's to complain about? Avoid the one, and you lose part of the richness of the other.

There's a similar problem with skipping "How Deep Is The Ocean?" if you have any sympathy for (or interest in) the Beach Boys' "'Til I Die". And I think it's hard to overlook what Peggy Lee and Benny Goodman did with "How Deep" anyway. A brilliant recording.

As for collections of his work--that's tough. I like Ella Fitzgerald's songbook, but it misses many of his best songs, and I think Norman Granz's sequencing is haphazard at best. Verve has several nice songbooks, but the Verve label was a bit more, oh, genteel than I generally hear Berlin to be. Besides which, you want to find "I Love A Piano" and "Let Me Sing And I'm Happy" and many of the songs from Annie Get Your Gun, not to mention "White Christmas" and "Easter Parade."

So...Enjoy!

Bill

>>> As for collections of his work--that's tough. I like Ella Fitzgerald's songbook, but it misses many of his best songs, and I think Norman Granz's sequencing is haphazard at best. Verve has several nice songbooks, but the Verve label was a bit more, oh, genteel than I generally hear Berlin to be.

Have you, or anyone heard him sing his own songs? (I haven't.)

he's a chihuahua, actually

I first read that as "handclap" and puzzled over why karaoke versions of Porter songs would have a greater number of handclaps than Berlin songs, and whether this would be a good or bad thing. "Night and day *clap-clap-clap* you are the one *clap* *clap*..."

TITLE: I GOT THE SUN IN THE MORNING
ARTIST: Doris Day & Les Brown
ALBUM: Doris Day - The Essential Collection
NOTES: AVID

TITLE: LET'S FACE THE MUSIC AND DANCE
ARTIST: Nat King Cole
ALBUM: Capitol Sings Irving Berlin
NOTES: Capitol

TITLE: YOU'RE JUST IN LOVE
ARTIST: Sarah Vaughan & Billy Eckstine
ALBUM: Blue Skies - The Irving Berlin Songbook
NOTES: Verve

TITLE: HOW ABOUT ME
ARTIST: Ella Fitzgerald with Paul Weston Orchestra
ALBUM: The Complete Ella Fitzgerald Songbooks
NOTES: Verve

TITLE: A COUPLE OF SWELLS
ARTIST: Judy Garland & Fred Astaire
ALBUM: Judy Garland - Over The Rainbow.. and Beyond
NOTES: Living Era

TITLE: BLUE SKIES
ARTIST: Dr John
ALBUM: Music From And inspired By The Motion Picture 'Glengarry Glen Ross'
NOTES: Elektra

TITLE: CHEEK TO CHEEK
ARTIST: Peggy Lee w. Nelson Riddle Orchestra
ALBUM: Things Are Swingin'/Jump For Joy
NOTES: Capitol CD

TITLE: COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS
ARTIST: The Swingle Singers
ALBUM: Nothing But Blue Skies: The Swingle Singers
NOTES: TRAX

TITLE: THE SONG IS ENDED
ARTIST: Tony Bennett w. Ralph Sharon Trio
ALBUM: Tony Bennett Sings Irving Berlin
NOTES: Columbia

It's his birthday, 110 years!

Russell Davies is celebrating: Listen Again this week:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/shows/davies/playlist.shtml

'A Pretty Girl Is Like A Melody'

Can Geir back this up?

"A Pretty Girl Would Have Been Better With Some Synths And Drum Machines (E.g. Simmonds)"