with all your heart
So my retro music phase continues in full force, to the point of leaving even me faintly bemused.
It started with Dean, then went to Peggy Lee cos I freaking adore her definitive cover of Fever --- who doesn't, seriously? --- and so I bought a greatest hits out of sheer curiosity. She's really quite remarkably feminist, isn't she? Not just with a song like I'm A Woman, the words of which just leave me gobsmacked and exhausted and feeling like a totally inadequate slothful specimen of womanhood even though part of me is like "Yeah! Yeah!" *lol* But the other songs too which are so wonderfully confident and sexually liberated without compromising her emotional integrity or intellect. Mind you, those are just the hits and most are covers, of course. The other week, I went to put the album on the stereo and was quite distressed to find I've utterly lost it in the morass of my collection.
There are certain covers of hers I really don't like. Mack The Knife, for instance. Really doesn't work for me, what with her dropping the 'dear's and that annoying little questioning hook of her voice on every line. Bah. And sometimes yeah she's a bit too bubbly for my liking, a bit too Sixties facade. Which is a little unfair cos god she does darkness quite well on songs like The Days Of Wine And Roses and wistfulness on songs like The Folks Who Live On The Hill. And I absolutely adore the rewriting of The Lady Is A Tramp to the first person. Hee! *claps gleefully* It's so much more empowering and satirical when sung by a woman about herself rather than a man singing about a woman.
Some of the musical arrangements are a bit too crap Sixties swing/jazz for my liking but I guess that's to be expected from the popular music of then. *shrug* I try to focus on her voice and the words, then.
And from there, I totally fell over Julie London. Which is a werid enough story in itself. Cos man, almost ten years ago when I arrived in Sydney, I bought these two jazz compilations that never really engaged my interest. About once a year, I'd get them out, spin them for a few hours, get bored and turf them out. But I never could bring myself to throw them out, prolly in the hope that one day I will actually learn the language of jazz and be able to fully appreciate them.
So with this whole retro phase and really enjoying the easy jazz stuff from Dean and Peggy and being quite frustrated by not being able to find Dean's jazz/swing albums in physical format, I got them out again. And this time, zomg. It's like I never heard them before! And holy fuck, there was this incredibly sultry version of Light My Fire sung by a woman ... *passes out*
Instant obsession. Practically leaped out of bed to look at the tracklisting. Julie London who? Then followed about two nights of voracious searching and downloading through Hype Machine. And an impromptu detour into JB Hi-Fi resulted in walking out with one collection and one double album, all of the greatest hits. And ooooooohhhh, the image of her definitely did not disappoint ...
Yet another female Libran to catch my interest. Honestly, what is it? It's never this intense and this frequent with Gemini women or, argh, even Aquarian women! Hell, I can't stand Virginia Woolf!
Oddly enough, I really don't care for her most famous Come On A My House. It bores me, man. And admittedly I can't listen to Julie for long stretches of time cos she's so subtle and so low-key, so detached and lazy that I either end up depressed or comatose. *lol* But when I need that, zomg she's awesome. And I love the coolness of her voice, especially the way she slurs Light My Fire considering her perfect diction on other songs. And yay, now I know the English words to Desafinado which I'd only ever heard sung in Spanish by George Michael and Astrid Gilberto. Awesome awesome words, man. *shivers happily*
Mind you, I now have three versions of Blue Moon --- Dean, Frank, and Julie London. And seriously, Dean's wins hands down every single time. Julie's version is a bit too flat, not emotional enough. Frank's version is so bizarre I don't even know! I mean, it's all upbeat and boppy. Wtf. How can you sing Blue Moon like it's a happy energetic song? *boggles* One thing I'll say for Dean: in all the albums I own of his --- er, five now --- he displays impeccable taste in his musical arrangements. We'll just ignore that abomination of a compilation shared with Connie Francis wot my Aunt owns.
That's what I really like about the Fifties/Sixties music I'm listening to: the sparse elegance of the musical arrangements. You wouldn't necessarily expect that, especially with the Sixties stuff. But even when there are strings and choral harmonies, they're so well restrained and timed they're like gentle touches to the arrangement rather than bogging the whole damned thing down like the songs on that ghastly compilation. Oh god, my ears! Nightmarish Sixties cliche.
Which is exactly why I adore Dean's version of Blue Moon. The musical accompaniment is so subtle, just the barest brush of percussion and trickle of bass, that you could be totally forgiven for thinking it was purely a capella. And christ, the intonation and inflection of Dean, that effortless way he has of pausing or holding a note or deepening to his lower register. The way he inflects to gold gets me Every Single Time. Gah.
And who is that absolutely vivacious charming woman he duets with on I Was and I'm In Love With You and We Never Talk Much? I swear to god I am absolutely in love with her without knowing her name or what she looks like. She's so humourous and they have such a great rapport and they're such wonderfully witty songs which they both perform to hilarious perfection. I mean, the way she audibly scowls on to his wife in I'm In Love With You makes me laugh every time.
*googles*
Helen O'Connell.
Dear Helen O'Connell ---
I adore you. Where have you been all my life?
Regards,
dri
Ha, I knew these were Fifties songs! We Never Talk Much is 1951. Ha! Sammy Cahn and Nicholas Brodszky wrote it, apparently. I should know that name, Sammy Cahn, shouldn't I? From where? Ah! Anchors Aweigh and Love And Marriage and ah, so so many! *nods*
Cos oh man, the words he wrote for We Never Talk Much just delight me so much. It's like a fabulous unexpected precursor to Spiritualized's Don't Just Do Something. *lol* Celebrating the ironic joy and defiance of sloth. Hee hee hee.
Like the wit of I'm In Love With You which is such a pathetic title for such a clever unusual song full of that sly Fifties raciness! *lol* Argh, no lyrics online. Okay, I'm going to type them up.
I'm In Love With You
Sung by Dean Martin and Helen O'Connell
D: I'm in love with you
But you're in love with Jim.
H: I am? Mmm mm. Jim's in love with Joan
But Joan is gone on Slim.
D: Slim just goes for May
And May idolises Fred.
H: But Fred dreams of the day
That he and Kay will wed.
D: We're on a carousel
Turning at a dizzy pace.
H: Well, everyone's in love
And no one's getting any place.
D: What's this I hear about Kay?
H: Oh, Kay's in love with Dan
But Dan's in love with Sue.
D: Sue says I'm her man ---
H: This is a man?!
D: --- but I've got news for Sue.
I'm in love with you.
(awesome horns and piano)
D: I went out with Sue
So Dan went back to Kay.
H: Fred became so blue
That he went back to May.
D: Then May got on the phone
To kind of patch things up with Slim.
H: Slim went back to Joan.
But she'd gone back to Jim.
D: Jim figured you and Joan
Complicated normal life.
H: I know what you mean.
So he said goodbye
And then he went back --- to his wife!
D: Then when you could see
That you and Jim were through
You came back to me
And I've got news for you
Both: I'm in love with ---
Yes, I'm in love with you!
Ah, I wish I knew who wrote it. If it was called something like A Dizzy Carousel or Carousel Of Love, I'm sure I could find it. *lol* And if I was still doing that Song A Day project, I would totally be uploading this. Along with my other favourite Dean/Peggy/Julie --- oy vey! the image I just got! --- songs.
Like his absolutely exquisite phrasing on You Belong To Me. Oh dear god. I think I fell in love with that song the moment I heard it and am still utterly married to it. *sighs and falls across it* I found a slightly odd version which I think he performed on The Colgate Comedy Hour where his phrasing is totally off but aahhhh, here we go.
Ooh, Tori did a cover? *listens* Oh god, Tori, what are you doing?! *shakes head* And you can fuck off, Michael Boobly. I still haven't forgiven you for murdering Sway.
Truly, there are just so very many songs of Dean's that totally surpass the hype and prove exactly why the man is so enduringly popular. And yes, I can totally hear Elvis in his voice which kind of amazes me how a younger singer can totally transcend an older singer even though the young one practically copies the sincerity and intonation of the older.
Also, yes, am totally unashamed to say I fucking adore Mambo Italiano ... it's like the song's been totally re-invented for me and god it's so exhilarating. Always makes me want to dance and yell out the final phrase with the hugest grin. I love the way he sings 'paysano' and the effortless breath control of those lower lines.
Like Volare. Omigod. When I first got the album, I gave it a very wide berth but ack, it just glommed onto me. Just the wonderful space and ease of it. And the joy, that rising joy. I did find a line-by-line Italian to English translation which I want to study and memorise cos I do love the sound of those words. I only remember that the last line or stanza has words to the effect of painting things blue.
Oh shit, the Aunt's here. Gotta go. To Perth and Adelaide.
It started with Dean, then went to Peggy Lee cos I freaking adore her definitive cover of Fever --- who doesn't, seriously? --- and so I bought a greatest hits out of sheer curiosity. She's really quite remarkably feminist, isn't she? Not just with a song like I'm A Woman, the words of which just leave me gobsmacked and exhausted and feeling like a totally inadequate slothful specimen of womanhood even though part of me is like "Yeah! Yeah!" *lol* But the other songs too which are so wonderfully confident and sexually liberated without compromising her emotional integrity or intellect. Mind you, those are just the hits and most are covers, of course. The other week, I went to put the album on the stereo and was quite distressed to find I've utterly lost it in the morass of my collection.
There are certain covers of hers I really don't like. Mack The Knife, for instance. Really doesn't work for me, what with her dropping the 'dear's and that annoying little questioning hook of her voice on every line. Bah. And sometimes yeah she's a bit too bubbly for my liking, a bit too Sixties facade. Which is a little unfair cos god she does darkness quite well on songs like The Days Of Wine And Roses and wistfulness on songs like The Folks Who Live On The Hill. And I absolutely adore the rewriting of The Lady Is A Tramp to the first person. Hee! *claps gleefully* It's so much more empowering and satirical when sung by a woman about herself rather than a man singing about a woman.
Some of the musical arrangements are a bit too crap Sixties swing/jazz for my liking but I guess that's to be expected from the popular music of then. *shrug* I try to focus on her voice and the words, then.
And from there, I totally fell over Julie London. Which is a werid enough story in itself. Cos man, almost ten years ago when I arrived in Sydney, I bought these two jazz compilations that never really engaged my interest. About once a year, I'd get them out, spin them for a few hours, get bored and turf them out. But I never could bring myself to throw them out, prolly in the hope that one day I will actually learn the language of jazz and be able to fully appreciate them.
So with this whole retro phase and really enjoying the easy jazz stuff from Dean and Peggy and being quite frustrated by not being able to find Dean's jazz/swing albums in physical format, I got them out again. And this time, zomg. It's like I never heard them before! And holy fuck, there was this incredibly sultry version of Light My Fire sung by a woman ... *passes out*
Instant obsession. Practically leaped out of bed to look at the tracklisting. Julie London who? Then followed about two nights of voracious searching and downloading through Hype Machine. And an impromptu detour into JB Hi-Fi resulted in walking out with one collection and one double album, all of the greatest hits. And ooooooohhhh, the image of her definitely did not disappoint ...
Yet another female Libran to catch my interest. Honestly, what is it? It's never this intense and this frequent with Gemini women or, argh, even Aquarian women! Hell, I can't stand Virginia Woolf!
Oddly enough, I really don't care for her most famous Come On A My House. It bores me, man. And admittedly I can't listen to Julie for long stretches of time cos she's so subtle and so low-key, so detached and lazy that I either end up depressed or comatose. *lol* But when I need that, zomg she's awesome. And I love the coolness of her voice, especially the way she slurs Light My Fire considering her perfect diction on other songs. And yay, now I know the English words to Desafinado which I'd only ever heard sung in Spanish by George Michael and Astrid Gilberto. Awesome awesome words, man. *shivers happily*
Mind you, I now have three versions of Blue Moon --- Dean, Frank, and Julie London. And seriously, Dean's wins hands down every single time. Julie's version is a bit too flat, not emotional enough. Frank's version is so bizarre I don't even know! I mean, it's all upbeat and boppy. Wtf. How can you sing Blue Moon like it's a happy energetic song? *boggles* One thing I'll say for Dean: in all the albums I own of his --- er, five now --- he displays impeccable taste in his musical arrangements. We'll just ignore that abomination of a compilation shared with Connie Francis wot my Aunt owns.
That's what I really like about the Fifties/Sixties music I'm listening to: the sparse elegance of the musical arrangements. You wouldn't necessarily expect that, especially with the Sixties stuff. But even when there are strings and choral harmonies, they're so well restrained and timed they're like gentle touches to the arrangement rather than bogging the whole damned thing down like the songs on that ghastly compilation. Oh god, my ears! Nightmarish Sixties cliche.
Which is exactly why I adore Dean's version of Blue Moon. The musical accompaniment is so subtle, just the barest brush of percussion and trickle of bass, that you could be totally forgiven for thinking it was purely a capella. And christ, the intonation and inflection of Dean, that effortless way he has of pausing or holding a note or deepening to his lower register. The way he inflects to gold gets me Every Single Time. Gah.
And who is that absolutely vivacious charming woman he duets with on I Was and I'm In Love With You and We Never Talk Much? I swear to god I am absolutely in love with her without knowing her name or what she looks like. She's so humourous and they have such a great rapport and they're such wonderfully witty songs which they both perform to hilarious perfection. I mean, the way she audibly scowls on to his wife in I'm In Love With You makes me laugh every time.
*googles*
Helen O'Connell.
Dear Helen O'Connell ---
I adore you. Where have you been all my life?
Regards,
dri
Ha, I knew these were Fifties songs! We Never Talk Much is 1951. Ha! Sammy Cahn and Nicholas Brodszky wrote it, apparently. I should know that name, Sammy Cahn, shouldn't I? From where? Ah! Anchors Aweigh and Love And Marriage and ah, so so many! *nods*
Cos oh man, the words he wrote for We Never Talk Much just delight me so much. It's like a fabulous unexpected precursor to Spiritualized's Don't Just Do Something. *lol* Celebrating the ironic joy and defiance of sloth. Hee hee hee.
Like the wit of I'm In Love With You which is such a pathetic title for such a clever unusual song full of that sly Fifties raciness! *lol* Argh, no lyrics online. Okay, I'm going to type them up.
I'm In Love With You
Sung by Dean Martin and Helen O'Connell
D: I'm in love with you
But you're in love with Jim.
H: I am? Mmm mm. Jim's in love with Joan
But Joan is gone on Slim.
D: Slim just goes for May
And May idolises Fred.
H: But Fred dreams of the day
That he and Kay will wed.
D: We're on a carousel
Turning at a dizzy pace.
H: Well, everyone's in love
And no one's getting any place.
D: What's this I hear about Kay?
H: Oh, Kay's in love with Dan
But Dan's in love with Sue.
D: Sue says I'm her man ---
H: This is a man?!
D: --- but I've got news for Sue.
I'm in love with you.
(awesome horns and piano)
D: I went out with Sue
So Dan went back to Kay.
H: Fred became so blue
That he went back to May.
D: Then May got on the phone
To kind of patch things up with Slim.
H: Slim went back to Joan.
But she'd gone back to Jim.
D: Jim figured you and Joan
Complicated normal life.
H: I know what you mean.
So he said goodbye
And then he went back --- to his wife!
D: Then when you could see
That you and Jim were through
You came back to me
And I've got news for you
Both: I'm in love with ---
Yes, I'm in love with you!
Ah, I wish I knew who wrote it. If it was called something like A Dizzy Carousel or Carousel Of Love, I'm sure I could find it. *lol* And if I was still doing that Song A Day project, I would totally be uploading this. Along with my other favourite Dean/Peggy/Julie --- oy vey! the image I just got! --- songs.
Like his absolutely exquisite phrasing on You Belong To Me. Oh dear god. I think I fell in love with that song the moment I heard it and am still utterly married to it. *sighs and falls across it* I found a slightly odd version which I think he performed on The Colgate Comedy Hour where his phrasing is totally off but aahhhh, here we go.
Click to viewOoh, Tori did a cover? *listens* Oh god, Tori, what are you doing?! *shakes head* And you can fuck off, Michael Boobly. I still haven't forgiven you for murdering Sway.
Truly, there are just so very many songs of Dean's that totally surpass the hype and prove exactly why the man is so enduringly popular. And yes, I can totally hear Elvis in his voice which kind of amazes me how a younger singer can totally transcend an older singer even though the young one practically copies the sincerity and intonation of the older.
Also, yes, am totally unashamed to say I fucking adore Mambo Italiano ... it's like the song's been totally re-invented for me and god it's so exhilarating. Always makes me want to dance and yell out the final phrase with the hugest grin. I love the way he sings 'paysano' and the effortless breath control of those lower lines.
Like Volare. Omigod. When I first got the album, I gave it a very wide berth but ack, it just glommed onto me. Just the wonderful space and ease of it. And the joy, that rising joy. I did find a line-by-line Italian to English translation which I want to study and memorise cos I do love the sound of those words. I only remember that the last line or stanza has words to the effect of painting things blue.
Oh shit, the Aunt's here. Gotta go. To Perth and Adelaide.