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WXDU 88.7 FM
PO Box 90689
Duke Station
Durham, NC 27708
919-684-2957
wxdu@duke.edu
WXDU 88.7 FM
PO Box 90689
Duke Station
Durham, NC 27708
919-684-2957
wxdu@duke.edu
Artist | Song | Album | Label | Comments | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Hoagy Carmichael and His Orchestra | Georgia On My Mind | Hoagy Carmichael: First of the Singer Songwriters | Proper UK | Carmichael was the song's composer, this 1930 recording was a "who's who" of hot jazz with Bix Bieiderbecke, Frankie Trumbauer, Joe Venuti and Eddie Lang | |||
Ray Charles | Georgia On My Mind | The Genius Hits the Road | Concord | on today's show: "Two Takes on the Standards": two versions of 17 classic songs. Charles' 1962 recording of this song was a high point in American popular music, in my not-so-humble opinion | |||
Hoagy Carmichael | Georgia On My Mind | Hoagy Sings Carmichael | Blue Note | inst. Today's show is pre-planned so no requests today, sorry! | |||
Fred Astaire | Night and Day | American Songbook Series, Cole Porter | Smithsonian Collection | many songs in the Great American Songbook were originated by Fred Astaire because he was the favorite male vocalist of so many composers. This song was written for the play The Gay Divorce starring Astaire, and also appeared in the movie remake The Gay Divorcee (starring Astaire and Rogers) | |||
Frank Sinatra | Night and Day | A Swingin' Affair | Capitol | Sinatra looms large over this program because he recorded so many "definitive" versions of so many songs. It's hard to imagine "Night and Day" without Sinatra | |||
Libby Holman | Body and Soul | Something to Remember Her By | Jasmine | in 1930 Holman sang this song in a hit Broadway revue, and her recording reached #3 on the charts even though the song was banned from radio for being too sexually suggestive | |||
Sarah Vaughan | Body and Soul | Swingin' Easy! | Polygram | masterful 1954 recording by Vaughan, backed only by a jazz trio featuring drummer Ray Haynes | |||
Cliff Edwards | It's Only a Paper Moon | The Song Is ... Harold Arlen | ASV Living Era | song was written in 1932 for Broadway, Edwards and Paul Whiteman both charted with recordings in 1933 | |||
Nat King Cole | It's Only a Paper Moon | The Complete After Midnight Sessions | Blue Note | the After Midnight Session in 1956 was a high point in Cole's amazing career, every song on it is near perfection. includes Stuff Smith, Harry "Sweets" Edison, Juan Tizol and Willie Smith | |||
Django Reinhardt | It's Only a Paper Moon | Jazz Tribune: The Indispensable | RCA | inst. | |||
Ben Bernie & His Orchestra | Sweet Georgia Brown | Sweet Georgia Brown and Other Hot Numbers | Retrieval Records | rec. 1925, Bernie was one of the song's composers & this recording was on the charts for 13 weeks | |||
Anita O'Day | Sweet Georgia Brown | Pick Yourself Up | Polygram | O'Day rocked the 1957 Newport Jazz Festival with this song (though we're hearing a studio recording using the same arrangement). check out her performance in the movie Jazz On a Summer's Day | |||
Larry Clinton & His Orchestra v/ Bean Wain | Love Is Here to Stay | The Golden Age of American Sweet Bands | Jasmine | from 1938, this was the first charting recording of this song, written by George & Ira Gershwin for the movie The Goldwyn Follies | |||
Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong | Our Love Is Here to Stay | Ella and Louis Again | Verve | hard to imagine a more beautiful, assured performance of this song than Ella and Louis in 1956, backed by Oscar Peterson. Ira Gershwin originally wanted the song's title to be "Our Love is Here to Stay" but it was shortened at first to "Love Is Here to Stay." Gershwin finally changed it back in 1960 | |||
Louis Armstrong | I've Got the World on a String | Jazz Tribune: Young Louis Armstrong | RCA | this song was written in 1932 for Cab Calloway who was the Cotton Club house band at the time, but I went with Armstrong's marvelous 1933 recording. features piano solo by a very young Teddy Wilson | |||
Frank Sinatra | I've Got the World on a String | The Complete Capitol Singles Collection | Capitol | 1956. like so many songs in this show, Sinatra made this his own | |||
Oscar Peterson | I've Got the World on a String | Plays the Harold Arlen Songbook | Verve | inst. - I hate talking over this, it's a noteworthy recording of the song in its own right | |||
Hal McIntyre v/ Ruth Gaylor | My Funny Valentine | The Very Best of | Master Classics Records | this song was written in 1937 but didn't become a charting hit until McIntyre's 1945 recording | |||
Chet Baker | My Funny Valentine | The Best of Chet Baker Sings | Blue Note | without a doubt this 1954 recording is the definitive one | |||
Charles Trenet | La Mer | The Immortals | Trenet wrote this song, later translated as "Beyond the Sea," in 1946 | ||||
Bobby Darin | Beyond the Sea | As Long As I'm Singing | Rhino | 1959, this was by far the most popular version of this song in the US and Europe | |||
Fred Astaire | A Foggy Day | Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers at RKO | Rhino | written in 1937 by George and Ira Gershwin for Astaire in A Damsel in Distress. this recording is from the movie | |||
Frank Sinatra | A Foggy Day | Ring-a-Ding-Ding! | Reprise | 1961, this was Sinatra's first album for his own label Reprise. Note how Sinatra omit the "sectional verse," the introduction that sets the theme of the song. Sectional verses were common in songs written for musicals & often left out of later arrangements | |||
Buddy DeFranco, Art Tatum | A Foggy Day | I Got Rhythm: The Music of George Gershwin | Smithsonian Collection | inst. - this is also a standout recording, I hated talking over | |||
Louis Armstrong | Stardust | Satchmo: Ambassador of Jazz | Verve | in 1927 composer Hoagy Carmichael intended "Stadust" to be a fast hot jazz song, and Armstrong here (in 1931) does the definitive version of that interpretation. imo this recording is a watershed moment in early jazz. check out the Proper UK box set Hoagy Carmichael: First of the Singer-Songwriters to learn more about the evolution of this song | |||
Nat King Cole | Stardust | The World of Nat King Cole: His Very Best | Capitol | Cole here in full-on balladeer mode. It was the shift from hot jazz to ballad that made Stardust such an evergreen. The song has been recorded over 1500 times, possibly the most recorded song of the 20th century | |||
Tommy Dorsey Orchestra v/ Edythe Wright | The Lady is a Tramp | Tommy Dorsey and his Clambake Seven | Jasmine | written in 1937 by Rodgers and Hart, this recording from the same year was the first charting hit for this song | |||
Frank Sinatra | The Lady is a Tramp | A Swingin' Affair | Capitol | another signature song for Sinatra, he recorded this many times over the years. Rodgers reportedly hated the way Sinatra would change the lyrics as he went (adding "koo-koo" or changing "girls" to "broads") | |||
Leo Reisman Orchestra v/ Lew Conrad | What Is This Thing Called Love? | The Golden Age of American Sweet Bands | Jasmine | the song was written in 1929, this 1930 recording was the first to chart | |||
Sarah Vaughan | What Is This Thing Called Love? | Sassy Swings the Tivoli | Verve | early 60s live recording in Copenhagen. most modern arrangements of this song are very fast & this is a classic example. check out Clifford Brown & Max Roach's instrumental version for a definitive take | |||
Charlie Parker | What Is This Thing Called Love? | Jazz Masters 28 | Verve | inst. | |||
Glen Gray & the Casa Loma Orchestra v/ Kenny Sargent | Blue Moon | The Golden Age of American Sweet Bands | Jasmine | of the 3 versions of this song we're hearing today, this (from 1935) was the only one composer Richard Rodgers liked | |||
Mel Torme | Blue Moon | Spotlight on Mel Torme: Great Gentlemen of Song | Capitol | Torme sang this song in the Rodgers & Hart biopic Words and Music. Torme and Rodgers fought bitterly over how to arrange the song. Rodgers, being much more influential at the time, won out. Torme did the song his way in 1949, which we're hearing now, and history vindicated Torme as his version became a classic | |||
The Marcels | Blue Moon | Blue Moon | Collectables | Rodgers hated this 1961 version so much he planned to sue the Marcels to force them to remove it from circulation. Rodgers' friend Oscar Hammerstein convinced him to let it go, telling Rodgers that it would make him a lot of money; the recording sold over a million copies. | |||
Dick Powell | I Only Have Eyes for You | Memories of You | Powell originated this Warren & Dubin song in the 1934 Busby Berkeley movie Dames | ||||
The Flamingos | I Only Have Eyes for You | The Fantastic Flamingos | Cherished Records | this 1959 is now the most popular version of the song | |||
Coleman Hawkins Quintet | I Only Have Eyes for You | Jazz Masters 34 | Verve | inst. - 1944 recording featured Roy Eldridge and Teddy Wilson | |||
Fred Astaire | One For My Baby (And One More for the Road) | Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers at RKO | Rhino | written by Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer for Astaire in the movie The Sky's the Limit in 1943, the version in the movie is what we're hearing now | |||
Frank Sinatra | One For My Baby (And One More for the Road) | Only the Lonely | Capitol | this 1958 version with Nelson Riddle is now definitive |