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Showing posts with label art: music. Show all posts
Showing posts with label art: music. Show all posts
Living Era releases George Formby 2-CD set
Oh MAN!!! Am I the only person under 60 to be flipping over this? George Formby is fantastic. I can't wait to get this collection. (Thanks, Guy, for the tip!)
From Sanctuary Classics -
George Hoy Booth (1904-1961), otherwise “George Formby”, endeared himself to his audiences with his cheeky Lancashire and folksy Northern England persona to such an extent that he has become an icon.
With a toothy grin and playing his banjolele (hybrid banjo/ukelele) to accompany his postcard-style risqué songs, he became, along with Gracie Fields, Britain’s best-loved, and highest paid entertainer, and the top box-office attraction from 1934-1945, starring in 16 films. Today only Elvis Presley copiers can boast greater numbers than the legion of George Formby impersonators!
52 George Formby classics are collected together on Living Era’s double CD Leaning On A Lamp Post.
These include every single one of his familiar favourites. Hearing When I’m Cleaning Windows, With My Little Stick Of Blackpool Rock, Chinese Laundry Blues, Auntie Maggie’s Remedy and all the others conjures up a vivid picture of this utterly unique figure; a crucial piece of Britain’s heritage.
Playing the old folks' home
I hear there are only about 50 Golden Age of Jazz buffs in the world today. This music has always appealed deeply to me. Over the years, I’ve built a respectable collection. As the people who were in their heyday during the 20s and 30s fade away, I find myself desperately wanting to connect with them for greater insights into the music. So I got this idea: I’d become an old folks’ DJ of sorts, taking my laptop into care homes and playing this music for the people who’d lived through its prime. It would be great. I imagined their faces lighting up, them singing along, nodding as the words came back to them. Annette Hanshaw! They’d swoon. They’d be dazzled as I recounted how Ruth Etting’s gangster boyfriend had edged her out of the number one spot in the popular jazz scene. After a little while, they’d start requesting singers, and songs. Things might get boisterous between the Helen Kane fans and detractors. There might even be a little mistiness when I slowed us down a bit, into the romantic ballads. Afterward, they’d tell me how wonderful it was to hear these old favorites again, how they triggered memories from their lives, and we’d fall into rich conversations about the prewar atmosphere. I would learn so much from them, and grasp the soul of the music in a way I never could have before.
So I just got back from my first gig at the old folks’ home and am writing it down to really capture the experience while it’s fresh. They were finishing up making beaded bracelets when I started playing. The first song I played was "We'll smile again" - Flanagan and Allen. Everyone went silent. Then I introduced myself and started bridging the songs with brief narration. No one spoke. Many closed their eyes. No one smiled, and no one responded to me when I tried to get them involved, trying to solicit preferences and requests. After 15 minutes of this, one little old lady in a wheelchair, wearing a pink blouse and a long string of fake pearls, holllered "How long can you stand it? Don't you get tired of listening to that?" Seven minutes later, I got my second comment from the lady sitting next to her. "Too loud!" More people got wheeled in, preparing for lunch, for the next 15 minutes. They too got silent, and most closed their eyes. One woman fell asleep. I have played all kinds of crowds in my theater days, and this was one of the roughest I'd ever had. The last five minutes, I was actually starting to sweat. I abandoned the narration and just led one song into the next. Finally I finished with a Lew Stone medley. Deanna, the activities director, came over and started talking to me, smiling, assuring me that "this is how they are." She said everyone she'd asked said they were enjoying it. Ten minutes into our conversation, a Korean woman shouted, "Play some Western." I scurried for Patsy Montana. She said she liked all Western, even modern.
Deanna is going to work me into the regular schedule, and agreed to store my sound system so I wouldn't have to carry it back and forth. This is going to be great. After all, I know things weren't easy during the Golden Age of Jazz.
Sita sings the blues
This is one of the best things I've ever run across on the internet. Possibly genius animator Nina Paley's labor of love: "Sita Sings the Blues" is an animated feature based on Sita's adventures in the ancient Indian epic the Ramayana. It is posted in bits that actually played for me without any problems, instantly, no lags or buffering.
...Words fail me. Go see this.
black coffee blues by Jill Rice Robinson
It is my honor to present blues lyrics by my old friend, renaissance woman Jill Rice Robinson - musician, poet, versatile writer, drawing artist, woodworker, yogi, regional planner, mother, a woman with wise eyes and a wicked-strong furnace of creative energy.
black coffee blues
by Jill Rice Robinson
there were tears in my coffee
tears on my pancakes
tears on my eggs
on the day you left me we were drinking coffee
but tell you what
that was some of the best damn coffee I ever did have
I kept on drinking coffee all that day
I like it hot and dark and bitter
I don’t want the sugar
I don’t want the cream
I just want the coffee baby
when the morning’s still in darkness and everything’s still quiet
I love the feeling of the craving
I love the anticipation
the way the first hot sips will feel
passing over my lips and flowing through me
I like the little curls of steam
And the way it warms my hands
when I hold my coffee
you were real good
most of the time, and
oh yeah, I’m sad to see you go
sometimes I think about you and you rush through me
hot and dark and wonderfully bitter
like a big old swig of coffee
George Formby
Today is the anniversary of the death of Lancashire-born, legendary showman George Formby. His unique singing style and masterful playing of the Banjo Ukelele are superb, IMO. If you haven't heard him, try Leanin' on a Lamp Post or A Farmer's Boy. The society (below) posts entire songs free for the listening and downloading.
From The George Formby Society webpage:
The show business career of George Formby spanned exactly FORTY YEARS, beginning in 1921 until his death on March 6, 1961. During that period he appeared in 21 hit films, cut over 230 records, made hundreds of stage performances, appeared in two Royal Command Performances and entertained an estimated THREE MILLION Allied Servicemen and women during World War II throughout Europe and the Middle East. Although he never performed in the U.S.A. he did make personal appearances and was quite popular in Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.
By 1939, George Formby was the most popular and highest paid entertainer in the British Isles and was estimated to be earning over £100,000 a year. The secret of his success was a unique combination of personality, natural ability and talent coupled with the driving force of his wife, Beryl as his Manager. With his natural human warmth and friendliness, George could hold a live audience in the palm of his hand as he sang and played the ukulele in his own inimitable style. He seemed to have the ability to make people enjoy what he did, and his audiences always called for more.
If he were alive today, he would be 101 years old.
Photo also from the society website
Beautiful music
I've been sorting out what I consider to be some of the most beautiful music in the world. I selected these as being beautiful, important in music history (some), coming to mind quickly and being pieces I like to hear often. Hence, it is a practical list, not pretentious. I post it in an effort to keep this music circulating, especially with the younger generations.
Song Title - Length - Album - Artist
The Mission soundtrack by Ennio Morricone
Ladies Of The Canyon 3:41 No More "I Love You's" Annie Lennox
The Rainbow Connection 3:45 Muppet Movie Kermit
I'm going to go back there someday 2:52 Muppet Movie Muppets - Gonzo
Lover Come Back To Me 3:05 The Girl Next Door (TT408CD) Annette Hanshaw
Blue Moon - a good version 3:17 Pennies From Heaven II Greta Keller
What'll I Do 3:13 Album 454 Georgia Gibbs
Always 3:08 Deanna Durbin
Body and Soul 3:08 Annette Hanshaw
Mean To Me 3:24 From CD - orig. Columbia 1762 Ruth Etting
Dream A Little Dream Of Me 3:09 The Nelson Touch Ozzie & Harriet Nelson
Leaning On The Lamp Post 3:03 The Window Cleaner - Go 3804 George Formby
You Sweet So And So 2:56 Pennies From Heaven (Disc 2) Jack Buchanan, Debroy Somers Band
In A Little Rocky Valley 3:10 We'll Smile Again Flanagan & Allen
Barbara Allen 4:41 Songs Our Daddy Taught Us (P) 1958 The Everly Brothers
Your Cheatin' Heart 2:40 Hank Williams
Cold, Cold Heart 2:45 Legendary Country Singers Hank Williams
I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry 2:48 Hank Williams
Blue Eyes Cryin In The Rain 2:39 Hank Williams
Dream A Little Dream Of Me 3:21 Sentimental Journey 36 Wayne King
A Kiss To Build A Dream On 3:04 All-Time Greatest Hits Louis Armstrong
Chances Are 3:04 The Ultimate Hits Collection Johnny Mathis
Since I Fell For You 2:55 1988-Greatest Hits The Righteous Brothers
Unchained Melody 3:40 1988-Greatest Hits The Righteous Brothers
What'll I Do 2:57 Johnny Mathis
Edelweiss 2:16 Now the day is over The Innocence Mission (except for the title, 100% pure English words)
Silent Night 3:09 A Christmas Together John Denver & The Muppets (includes narration on how this song came to be)
Delirium 5:02 Euphoria Euphoria
Love Song For A Vampire 4:20 Annie Lennox (words by Bram Stoker)
Cavalleria Rusticana, for a classical piece
and an unlikely candidate I'm toying with: Your untouchable face by Ani Defranco.
Photo from the Columbia River Gorge, by me
Golden Age music
I love music from the 1920s, '30s, and around there. Here are names of particular artists I enjoy.
Helen Kane (a favorite!), Deanna Durbin, Ruth Etting, Annette Hanshaw, Frances Langford, Al Bowlly, Lew Stone, Billy Merrin, Georgia Gibbs, Greta Keller, Phyllis Robins, Patsy Montana.
Then into WWII there's Flanagan & Allen (description & 20 tracks free for the QT listening).
As for the hillbilly and blues coming out of the Appalacian Mountains at the time, I especially run to black blues - Robert Johnson, Elmore James, Lightnin' Hopkins, Bessie Smith. Dear Johnny Cash was in his formulation stages.
I'm forever searching for a certain mystery voice that remains in my head, a female soprano along the lines of Gertrude Lawrence. I can imagine her on Lover Come Back to Me and Always. The voice is immediately striking in its surreal timbre of a child or fairy (and don't ask me how I know what a fairy sounds like. I just do.) The voice could well be that of Adriana Caselotti (Snow White). Altho Walt Disney effectively owned her, with her family's musical background, I can't believe there aren't any earlier recordings of her languishing in someone's cellar or attic. Anyway, her voice is phenomenal, and it's a damn shame Disney restricted the world from hearing more of her.
David Garrick's website is an amazing labor of love. An approachable fellow via email, he's put his knowledge to good organization here at the Jazz Age, a great resource.
Here's a series of radio shows by "Jimmy Jazz" Jim Baldwin He broadcasts out of Vermont. He has an Annette Hanshaw show. He's linked from David's site, above.
Here's an internet radio station with music from 1925 - 1935 A Live 365 show that's free but annoys you with commercials to join for commercialfree access.
Left Cindy Ball as Helen Kane from helenkane.com
Below Bee Palmer, from David Garrick's great Jazz Age website.
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