Endless Love-Part XIII

Perhaps the most romantic band of the '70s was the rock group, Bread. From Los Angeles, California, the band placed 13 songs on the Billboard Hot 100 chart between 1970 and 1977 and were a primary example of what later was labeled soft rock.

The band consisted of David Gates (vocals, guitar, bass, keyboards, violin, viola, percussion), Jimmy Griffin (vocals, guitar, keyboards, percussion), Robb Royer (bass, guitar, flute, keyboards, percussion, recorder, backing vocals), Mike Botts (drums; joined in 1970), and Larry Knechtel (bass, guitar, keyboards, harmonica; replaced Royer in 1971).

The group's number one single, Make It with You is a song written by David Gates. The song first appeared on Bread's 1970 album On the Waters. Released as a single in June 1970, it would become the group's first top ten and only number-one single on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in the U.S., spending the week of August 22, 1970, at the top spot. It was certified gold by the RIAA for sales of over one million copies.

The song was well-received by easy-listening stations at the beginning of the singer-songwriter driven soft-rock era, reaching number four on the Billboard Easy Listening Top 40. Aretha Franklin, Earth, Wind & Fire, Dusty Springfield, The Originals, The Main Ingredient, The Whispers, Marc Anthony, Teddy Pendergrass, Don Julian & The Larks, Let Loose, Dennis Brown, Andy Williams, and Marc Cohn are among those who have recorded cover versions of the song.

Watch this live performance from the 1977 telecast of the TV show, The Midnight Special. 

Endless Love-Part XII

The subject of today's blog is a song from a thirteen minute suite by the group, Chicago. I remember the first time I heard it. Needless to say, it blew me away.

The song, Make Me Smile, was written by band member/trombone player James Pankow. Part of Pankow's Ballet for a Girl in Buchannon song cycle/suite, it was recorded for their second album Chicago II (1970). Guitarist Terry Kath sang the lead vocal.

A radio-friendly edit of Make Me Smile (incorporating the end of Now More Than Ever, another track from the Ballet) was released as a single in March 1970, becoming the band's first Top 10 record, peaking at number nine on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart.

Ballet for a Girl in Buchannon, is nearly thirteen-minutes long. It was the group's first attempt at a long-format multi-part work. Pankow got the inspiration to write the Ballet from his love of long classical music song cycles. The Buchannon in the title is actually a misspelling of Buckhannon, West Virginia. Ballet takes up three-quarters of side two of Chicago II and consists of seven tracks, three of which are instrumentals:

1.  Make Me Smile

2. So Much to Say, So Much to Give

3. Anxiety's Moment (instrumental)

4. West Virginia Fantasies (instrumental)

5. Colour My World

6. To Be Free (instrumental)

7. Now More Than Ever

The final track, Now More Than Ever, is a single-verse reprise of the suite's opening song, Make Me Smile. The vocal songs within the suite can be viewed as telling the story of a man searching for a far away lost love and attempting to rekindle the love they had shared. In addition to Make Me Smile (Now More Than Ever)(#9, 1970), Colour My World (#7, 1971)reached the top ten on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100.

Watch an early video of Chicago, performing Make Me Smile. The footage was filmed on July 21, 1970, only 3 months after the song hit the Top 10.  The concert was at Tanglewood in Lenox, MA.

Endless Love-Part XII

In yesterday's blog, we talked about how Berry Gordy of Motown fame, almost kept Stevie Wonder's For Once in My Life off of record shelves. Today's song subject was co-written by Gordy.

You've Made Me So Very Happy is a song that was written by Brenda Holloway, Patrice Holloway, Frank Wilson and Berry Gordy, and was released first as a single in 1967 by Brenda Holloway on the Tamla label. The song was later a huge hit for jazz-rock band Blood, Sweat & Tears in 1969.

By 1967, Brenda Holloway had been recording for Motown Records since 1964 and had struggled with Berry Gordy over control of her music, alleging that Gordy had forced her to sing Mary Wells' "leftover tracks" after the Motown singer left the label in 1964. Some of the songs in question included modest hits such as When I'm Gone and Operator. Holloway was planning to release her long-awaited second album, Hurtin' & Cryin, which had released Just Look What You've Done as the leading track, but for unknown reasons, the record was eventually shelved. Along with her sister Patrice, using music provided by Frank Wilson and with additional help from Gordy himself, Holloway co-wrote You've Made Me So Very Happy. Ironically, Holloway recorded the song after a breakup with a former boyfriend.

Reaction to the song was stronger than Holloway's previous offerings, rising to number 39 on the Billboard Hot 100 and becoming Holloway's third Top-40 pop single. The song also peaked at number 39 on the Billboard R&B singles chart. Shortly after the release of the song, Holloway left Motown and the song was eventually featured on the "second" Holloway album, The Artistry of Brenda Holloway. After two more years singing background for acts like Joe Cocker, Holloway retired to marry a preacher and have a family. Holloway would eventually return to music full time by the mid-1990s. Meanwhile, Holloway's song got a boost when the jazz-rock group Blood, Sweat & Tears covered it in 1969. The song became one of the group's biggest hits, reaching number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States in April 1969 and number 35 in the United Kingdom in May of that year. The song was also covered by fellow Motown acts such as Edwin Starr and Blinky in 1969, The Temptations in 1970, The Miracles, also in 1970, and Diana Ross in 1994 on a Berry Gordy tribute album. Lou Rawls also covered the song. It also been covered by Pop international superstar Gloria Estefan. She included the song on her album Hold Me Thrill Me Kiss Me in 1994, which was a collection of covers who inspired her musical career.

Watch a 1993 performance of the song by BS&T.

Endless Love-Part XI

Although written in 1967, today's blog subject is such a great song, it sounds like it has been around for years. It has truly become a pop standard. Despite Berry Gordy's unequivocal role as the mastermind behind Motown, he actually vetoed the most popular version of the song. Read on.

For Once in My Life was written by Ron Miller and Orlando Murden for Motown Records' Jobete publishing company in 1967. The composition was originally recorded by Jean DuShon, while other artists, such as Tony Bennett and The Temptations, recorded slow-ballad versions of the song.

The most familiar and successful version of For Once in My Life is an uptempo hit version by Stevie Wonder, recorded immediately after DuShon's original. Wonder's version, issued on Motown's Tamla label in 1968, was a top-three hit in the United States in late 1968 and early 1969.

Stevie Wonder's version was recorded at about the same time as The Temptations' in the summer of 1967. However, Berry Gordy did not like Wonder's version, an upbeat rendition produced by Henry Cosby. Gordy vetoed the single's release, and the recording was shelved. Billie Jean Brown, the head of the Motown Quality Control department, finally coerced Gordy into allowing Wonder's version to be released in October 1968.

Contrary to Gordy's instincts, For Once in My Life was a highly successful record, peaking at number-two on both the Billboard Pop Singles and Billboard R&B Singles (it was held off from the number-one spot on each chart by another Motown single Gordy had originally vetoed, Marvin Gaye's I Heard It Through the Grapevine). For Once in My Life, issued by Tamla with Angie Girl as its b-side, was later included as the title track on Wonder's For Once in My Life album.

Wonder's version of the track is often singled out by bassists as the greatest example of James Jamerson's playing style, with no two bars of music played alike during the whole song; a completely improvisational line that is both melodic and complementary to Wonder's vocal.

Watch Stevie Wonder sing the hit.

Endless Love-Part X

A trumpet player singing a pop song? Yes. And I'm not talking about Louis "Satchmo" Armstrong. I'm talking about the "A" in A&M records. Mr. South-of-the-Border himself. Herb Alpert. What's more amazing is that his record went to number one on the charts.

This Guy's in Love with You was written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David and recorded by Herb Alpert. Although known primarily for his trumpet playing as the leader of the Tijuana Brass, Alpert sang lead vocals on this solo recording, arranged by Bacharach.

Alpert originally sang This Guy's in Love with You on a 1968 television special, The Beat of the Brass. In response to numerous viewer telephone calls, the song was released as a single and reached #1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 in June of that year, remaining in the top position for four weeks. It was not only Alpert's first #1 single, but it was also the first #1 single for his A&M record label. The song also spent ten weeks at #1 on the Easy Listening chart. For the single's B-side, Alpert chose A Quiet Tear, an album track from his first album in 1962, The Lonely Bull.

Eleven years later Alpert would become the first (and only) artist to reach the top of the Hot 100 with both a vocal performance and an instrumental performance when Rise went to the top of the charts.

Now, all I have to do is get a record deal....

Watch Herb Alpert sing his hit in a rare video.

Endless Love-Part IX

Today's song could have been written as (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Man. Not quite the same ring.

(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman is a 1967 single released by American soul singer Aretha Franklin on the Atlantic label. The record was a big hit for Franklin, reaching number 8 on the Billboard Hot 100, and became a standard song for her.

Co-written by the celebrated writing-producing team of Carole King and Gerry Goffin, the song was inspired by Atlantic Records co-owner and producer Jerry Wexler. As recounted in his autobiography, Wexler, a student of African-American musical culture, had been mulling over the concept of the "natural man" when he drove by King on the streets of New York. He shouted out to her he wanted a "natural woman" song for Franklin's next album. In thanks, Goffin and King granted Wexler a co-writing credit.

It was recorded by Carole King on her landmark 1971 album Tapestry, and by Mary J. Blige, whose 1995 version, from the soundtrack of New York Undercover, also charted. Rod Stewart covered that version in 1974 for his album Smiler. Bonnie Tyler did a successful version of the song on her album It's A Heartache (outside the U.S., known as Natural Force) in 1978. Céline Dion also recorded this song in 1995 for the Tapestry Revisited album. Franklin gave a live performance of the song alongside King, Dion, Mariah Carey, Gloria Estefan and Shania Twain on the first VH1 Divas special in 1998. Whitney Houston also covered the song during her Bodyguard World Tour, as part of a portion of her show that she specifically dedicated to Aretha Franklin. (The Houston cover was never recorded as part of an official album.)

Watch Aretha sing Natural Woman on The Mike Douglas Show from December 1967.

Endless Love-Part VIII

The Turtles

The subject of today's blog was originally a surf-rock group called the Crossfires from the Planet Mars. Not quite the same ring as the name we know them by: The Turtles.
 
The band was formed in 1965 in Westchester, California, (a neighborhood in west Los Angeles) by Howard Kaylan and Mark Volman. With the help of a DJ and club owner, they signed to White Whale Records. Adhering to the prevailing musical trend, they re-branded themselves as a folk rock group under the name "the Tyrtles," the intentional misspelling inspired by the Byrds and the Beatles. The trendy spelling did not survive long. 
 
As with the Byrds, the Turtles achieved breakthrough success with a Bob Dylan cover. It Ain't Me Babe reached the Billboard Top Ten in the late summer of 1965, while their third hit, You Baby, charted in the top 20 in early 1966.
 
After several misses, the band was rescued by a song co-written by Garry Bonner and Alan Gordon. Happy Together had already been rejected by countless performers to the point that the demo recording wore out. The tune became both their biggest hit and their signature song. It replaced the Beatles' Penny Lane at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in the spring of 1967. The Turtles' only No. 1 remained there for three weeks.
 
The following artists also recorded the song:
 
Petula Clark
Captain and Tennille
The Nylons
Donny Osmond
Frank Zappa
Hugo Montenegro
Red Army Choir and the Leningrad Cowboys
Johnny Panic
Curtis Burch and Friends (featured on Orchestra Kentucky's Burchland CD)

Watch a 1967 music video featuring The Turtles.

Endless Love-Part VII

Frankie Valli

Two of the songs to be sung at Orchestra Kentucky's Endless Love concert are from a Jersey boy.

Frankie Valli  was born Francis Stephen Castelluccio on May 3, 1934 in Newark, New Jersey. Valli, Tommy DeVito, Nick Massi, and Bob Gaudio were the original members of The Four Seasons. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990 and the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 1999.

Valli scored 29 Top 40 hits with The Four Seasons, one Top 40 hit under The Four Seasons' alias The Wonder Who?, and nine Top 40 hits as a solo artist. As a member of The Four Seasons, Valli's number one hits included Sherry, Big Girls Don't Cry, Walk Like a Man, Rag Doll and December 1963 (Oh, What A Night). As a solo artist, Valli scored #1 hits with the songs My Eyes Adored You and Grease. Valli's recording of the song Can't Take My Eyes off You reached #2 in 1967.

My Eyes Adored You  was originally working titled Blue Eyes in Georgia. It was written by Bob Crewe and Kenny Nolan and recorded by The Four Seasons in early 1974. After the MoWest label balked at the idea of releasing it, the recording was sold to Valli for $4000. After rejections by Capitol, Atlantic, and other labels, Valli succeeded in getting the recording released on Private Stock Records, but the owner/founder of the label wanted only Valli's name on the label. The single was released in the U.S. in November 1974 and topped the Billboard Hot 100 in March 1975.

The single was Valli's first number one hit as a solo artist, and remained at number one for one week, being knocked out of the top spot by another Crewe/Nolan-penned song, Lady Marmalade. Although it was released as a Valli solo effort, the song is sometimes included on Four Seasons compilation albums. It is from the album Closeup.

The success of My Eyes Adored You triggered a revival of interest in recordings by Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons. The group was subsequently signed to Warner Bros. Records as Valli's followup single, Swearin' to God was climbing to the #6 position on the Hot 100. Three months later, The Four Seasons visited the Top Ten for the first time since 1967 with Who Loves You.

Watch Frankie Vallie sing Can't Take My Eyes Off of You.

Now watch Valli sing My Eyes Adored You

Endless Love-Part VI

The topic of today's blog is a song written by the Brothers Gibb. It will be sung at Orchestra Kentucky's Endless Love concert on February 11 & 12.

To Love Somebody is the second single released by the Bee Gees from their third LP, Bee Gees 1st. As stated many times by Barry Gibb, their manager Robert Stigwood wanted Barry to write a soul song for Otis Redding for him to record. Barry, along with Robin came up with To Love Somebody, a soulful ballad in the style of Sam & Dave or The Rascals.

The song was written on a boat in Monte Carlo the day the Beatles manager, Brian Epstein was found dead (August 1967). The Bee Gees heard the news from Robert Stigwood's assistant.

This unlikely group of artists covered the song:

Janis Joplin (on the 1969 album I Got Dem Ol' Kozmic Blues Again Mama!)
Joe Cocker
Gram Parsons
Lulu (November 1967)
Rod Stewart with Booker T. and the M.G.'s
Billy "Crash" Craddock (from 1989's Back on Track)
Eric Burdon & The Animals (1968)
Roberta Flack (on the 1971 album Quiet Fire)
The Flying Burrito Brothers
Bonnie Tyler (on the 1988 album Hide Your Heart)
Tom Jones
Michael Bolton (Billboard #11 pop, #1 adult contemporary)
Jordin Sparks
Dusty Springfield
Hank Williams, Jr. (on the 1979 album Family Tradition)

Watch the Bee Gees perform their hit in a 1974 Melbourne, Australia concert. Notice the live orchestra in the background!

Endless Love-Part V

What started as a made-for-TV rock group, inspired by The Beatles Hard Days Night, resulted in four number-one albums in a one-year span. Hey, hey, they're The Monkees!

The Monkees were assembled in Los Angeles in 1966 by Robert "Bob" Rafelson and Bert Schneider for the American television series The Monkees, which aired from 1966 to 1968. The musical acting quartet was composed of Americans Micky Dolenz, Michael Nesmith and Peter Tork, and Englishman Davy Jones. The band's music was initially supervised by producer Don Kirshner.

At the time of the group's formation, its producers saw The Monkees as a Beatles-like band. At the start, the band members provided vocals, and were given some performing and production opportunities, but they eventually fought for and earned the right to collectively supervise all musical output under the band's name. The group undertook several concert tours, allowing an opportunity to perform as a live band as well as on the TV series. Although the show was canceled in 1968, the band continued releasing records until 1970. The group reached the height of fame from 1966 to 1968, and influenced many future artists. In 1986, the television show and music experienced a revival, which led to a series of reunion tours, and new records featuring various incarnations of the band's lineup. The group went on to sell 50 million records worldwide.

The Monkees had many international hits which are still heard on pop and oldies stations. These include I'm a Believer, (I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone, Daydream Believer, Last Train to Clarksville, and Pleasant Valley Sunday.

Orchestra Kentucky will perform Daydream Believer, one of their number one hits. It was composed by John Stewart shortly before he left the Kingston Trio. The single hit the number one spot on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart in December 1967, remaining there for four weeks, and peaked at number five in the UK Singles Chart. It was The Monkees' last number one hit in the U.S.

Davy Jones wasn't sure of the song's potential at first, and admitted later that he'd recorded the vocal with a hint of annoyance at the ongoing takes. His feelings changed when the song became a hit.

Watch The Monkee's music video of Daydream Believer.

Endless Love-Part IV

Today's song comes from one of the most influential rock albums of all time. It was influenced by The Beatles and also influenced The Beatles. Huh? Read on.

Pet Sounds is the eleventh studio album by the American rock band The Beach Boys, released May 16, 1966, on Capitol Records. It has been widely ranked as one of the most influential records ever released in popular music and has been ranked at #1 in several music magazines' lists of greatest albums of all time, including New Musical Express, The Times and Mojo Magazine. In 2003, it was ranked #2 in Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list.

Pet Sounds was created several months after Brian Wilson had quit touring with the band in order to focus his attention on writing and recording. In it, he wove elaborate layers of vocal harmonies, coupled with sound effects and unconventional instruments such as bicycle bells, buzzing organs, harpsichords, flutes, Electro-Theremin, dog whistles, Hawaiian-sounding string instruments, Coca-Cola cans and barking dogs, along with the more usual keyboards and guitars.

The catalyst for Pet Sounds was the U.S. version of The Beatles' album Rubber Soul, which was released that December in time for the Christmas market. Wilson later recalled his first impressions of the groundbreaking album:

“ I really wasn't quite ready for the unity. It felt like it all belonged together. Rubber Soul was a collection of songs ... that somehow went together like no album ever made before, and I was very impressed. I said, "That's it. I really am challenged to do a great album."

The Beatles have said that Pet Sounds was a major influence on their album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, and Paul McCartney has repeatedly named it as one of his favorite albums – completing a circle begun by The Beatles' influence on Wilson. McCartney stated that:

“ It was Pet Sounds that blew me out of the water. I love the album so much. I've just bought my kids each a copy of it for their education in life ... I figure no one is educated musically 'til they've heard that album ... I love the orchestra, the arrangements ... it may be going overboard to say it's the classic of the century ... but to me, it certainly is a total, classic record that is unbeatable in many ways ... I've often played Pet Sounds and cried. I played it to John [Lennon] so much that it would be difficult for him to escape the influence ... it was the record of the time. The thing that really made me sit up and take notice was the bass lines ... and also, putting melodies in the bass line. That I think was probably the big influence that set me thinking when we recorded Pepper, it set me off on a period I had then for a couple of years of nearly always writing quite melodic bass lines."

Orchestra Kentucky, the Rewinders, and Retro Singers will perform the album's opening track, Wouldn't it Be Nice, at its Endless Love concert on February 11 & 12. The song was composed and produced by Brian Wilson, with lyrics by Tony Asher and Brian Wilson, and the lead vocal was sung by Brian Wilson with Mike Love singing lead vocals on the bridge and the end tag, 'Good night my baby, Sleep tight my baby'.

In the Endless Harmony documentary, Brian Wilson described the song as "what children everywhere go through… wouldn't it be nice if we were older, or could run away and get married".

Wilson was quoted as saying:

"Listen for the rockin' accordions and the ethereal guitars in the introduction. Tony and I had visualized a scene. We had a feeling in our hearts, like a vibration. We put it into music, and it found its way onto tape. We really felt good about that record."

Wilson used the title of the song for the title of his autobiography.

Watch The Beach Boys' '60s music video of the song.

Endless Love-Part III

Roy Orbison

Today's blog subject, Oh, Pretty Woman is a song, released in 1964, which was a worldwide success for Roy Orbison. Recorded on the Monument Records label in Nashville, Tennessee, it was written by Roy Orbison and Bill Dees. The song spent three weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100. The best-known guitar performance was by Wayne Moss, later of Barefoot Jerry. Although the official recording appeared in 1964, the Beatles recalled Orbison's having written and performed the song during a mid-1963 tour of the UK which included both acts.

Orbison posthumously won the 1991 Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance for his live recording of the song on his HBO television special Roy Orbison and Friends, A Black and White Night. In 1999, the song was honored with a Grammy Hall of Fame Award and was named one of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll. In 2004, Rolling Stone magazine ranked it #222 on their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

The lyrics tells the story of a man who sees a pretty woman walking by. He yearns for her and wonders if, as beautiful as she is, she might be lonely like he is. At the last minute, she turns back and joins him.

The title was inspired by Orbison's wife Claudette interrupting a conversation to announce she was going out; when Orbison asked if she was okay for cash, his co-writer Bill Dees interjected "A pretty woman never needs any money."

Watch Roy Orbison sing his hit on a Japanese TV show.

Endless Love-Part II

Lenny Welch

Today's blog subject, Lenny Welch, is most likely not known to most people. It's unfortunate. His biggest hit, one of the songs that will be sung at Orchestra Kentucky's Endless Love concert, has become a jazz/pop standard.

Lenny Welch was born Leon Welch on May 15, 1938, in New York City. He was raised in Asbury Park, New Jersey. His biggest hit, a cover version of the big band standard Since I Fell for You, reached number 4 on U.S. Billboard Hot 100 in 1963. His other hits included Ebb Tide, a1964 recording that was featured in the film Sweet Bird of Youth. He also recorded the first vocal version of A Taste of Honey in 1962.

Since I Fell for You was composed by Buddy Johnson in 1945 and was first popularized by his sister, Ella Johnson, with Buddy Johnson and His Orchestra.

Other notable versions:

Eartha Kitt (1950)

Dinah Washington (1961 sessions with Quincy Jones Orchestra)
Vince Guaraldi (1962)
Doris Day (1963)
Ramsey Lewis (1965)
The Rascals (1967) - from the album "Collections"
Barbra Streisand (1971)
Bonnie Raitt (1971)
Count Basie & Joe Turner (1974)
Charlie Rich (1976)
Tom Waits (various live shows, around 1979)
Al Jarreau, Bob James, and David Sanborn (1986) - This version peaked at number 10 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart.[3]
Michael Bolton (1992)
Natalie Cole and Reba McEntire (1993)
B.B. King (2000) - from the album Makin' Love Is Good for You
Ronnie Milsap (2004) from the album Just for a Thrill
Katharine McPhee (2006) (American Idol)
Gladys Knight (2006) from the album Before Me
Glen Campbell
Van Morrison

Listen to Lenny Welch's original recording.

Endless Love

Today begins a new blog series on Orchestra Kentucky's upcoming Retro Series concert, Endless Love. This all-new concert will feature the Rewinders, Retro Singers, and Orchestra Kentucky in an evening of great love songs from the '60s, '70s, '80s, and '90s.  The concert is Friday and Saturday, February 11 & 12. It's the perfect way to celebrate Valentine's Day.

The first song we will discuss is the 1960 hit, At Last, made popular by Etta James.

Etta James (born Jamesetta Hawkins) was born on January 25, 1938, in Los Angeles, California. She is a singer who covers many genres, including blues, soul, R&B, rock & roll, gospel and jazz. James is the winner of four Grammys and seventeen Blues Music Awards. She was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1993, the Blues Hall of Fame in 2001, and the Grammy Hall of Fame in both 1999 and 2008. In the 1950s and 1960s, she had her biggest success as a blues and R&B singer. She is best known for performing At Last, which has been featured in movies, television shows, commercials, and web-streaming services. James has a contralto vocal range.

At Last was written in 1941 by Mack Gordon and Harry Warren for the musical film Orchestra Wives, starring George Montgomery and Ann Rutherford. It was first performed in the film and on record by Glenn Miller and his orchestra, vocal by Ray Eberle and Pat Friday, although unreleased recordings of the song were made in 1941 for possible inclusion in the film Sun Valley Serenade. It was recorded in Chicago on May 20, 1942 and released by RCA Victor Records. The song was a major hit for Miller, reaching number 9 on the Billboard pop charts in 1942, staying on the charts for 9 weeks, and it soon became a standard. Nat King Cole recorded it in 1957 on his number one album Love Is the Thing. It was James' version that was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999.


Watch Etta James sing At Last.

Pop Goes the Orchestra-Part XI

Kurt Anderson, son of Leroy Anderson

Today, we conclude our series of blogs on Leroy Anderson.

Don't miss Monday's concert dedicated to his music.

In 1975, Anderson died of cancer in Woodbury, Connecticut and was buried there. For his contribution to the recording industry, Leroy Anderson has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1620 Vine Street. He was posthumously inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1988 and his music continues to be a staple of "pops" orchestra repertoire. In 1995 the Harvard University Band's new headquarters was named the Anderson Band Center in honor of Leroy Anderson.

Listen to one of Anderson's most beautiful melodies, Forgotten Dreams, written in 1954.
 

Pop Goes the Orchestra-Part X

Anderson with Arthur Fiedler

Anderson would occasionally appear on the Boston Pops regular concerts on PBS to conduct his own music while Fiedler would sit on the sidelines. For The Typewriter, Fiedler would don a green eyeshade, roll up his sleeves, and mime working on an old typewriter while the orchestra played.

Fiedler performed Anderson's Fiddle-Faddle so much that Boston audiences began calling it Fiedler Faddle.


Published in 1947, Anderson wrote the piece as one of a number of pieces commissioned over time by Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops. Written in classic "song-and-trio" form, it is based on the childhood nursery song Three Blind Mice. It was recorded many times in the late 1940s and early 1950s by a variety of musical ensembles. Prominently featuring the violins, as the title would imply, the opening and closing sections rely on rapid sixteenth note passages, followed by pizzicato playing in the trio.

Watch Danny Kaye conduct the New York Philharmonic in Fiddle Faddle. I had the pleasure of playing under Kaye's baton as a music student. It was for an ABC-TV special, celebrating the opening of Disney's EPCOT Center in the early 1980s. For someone who is not a trained musician, he is amazing. And he was a very kind gentlemen, too!

Pop Goes the Orchestra-Part IX

In 1958, Anderson composed the music for the Broadway show Goldilocks. Even though it earned two Tony awards, Goldilocks did not achieve commercial success. Anderson never wrote another musical, preferring instead to continue writing orchestral miniatures.

Goldilocks book is by Jean and Walter Kerr with the lyrics by the Kerrs and Joan Ford.


A parody of the silent film era when directors made quickie one-reelers overnight, it focuses on Maggie Harris, a musical comedy star retiring from show business in order to marry into high society, until producer-director Max Grady arrives to remind her she has a contract to star in his film Frontier Woman. The two battle and slapstick situations ensue as the movie evolves into an epic about Ancient Egypt and filming extends well beyond the amount of time Grady promised it would take to make the movie.

Following tryouts in Boston and Philadelphia, the Broadway production, directed by Walter Kerr and choreographed by Agnes de Mille, opened on October 11, 1958 at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, where it ran for 161 performances, closing on February 28, 1959. The cast included Elaine Stritch, Don Ameche, Russell Nype, Margaret Hamilton, Pat Stanley, and Patricia Birch.

Musicals Tonight! presented the musical in concert in June 2000 in New York City. 42nd Street Moon, San Francisco, California presented the show in a staged concert in 2001.

An original cast recording, orchestrated by composer Anderson and Philip J. Lang, was released by Columbia Records.

Jean Kerr later recounted the trials and tribulations of creating a new musical in her books Please Don't Eat The Daisies, The Snake Has All the Lines, and Penny Candy.

It's no wonder the musical had such a short run. Also playing in New York a the time was The Music Man and West Side Story!

Pop Goes the Orchestra-Part VIII

Erich Kunzel

Happy New Year! Today's blog continues our dicussion of Leroy Anderson. Don't forget to get tickets for next Monday's concert, featuring the music of Leroy Anderson.

Anderson wrote his Piano Concerto in C in 1953 but withdrew it, feeling that it had weak spots. In 1988 the Anderson family decided to publish the work. Erich Kunzel and the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra released the first recording of this work; three other recordings have since been released. It is a conservative Romantic work in sonata form, heavily influenced by Rachmaninoff and American popular music, and somewhat resembles Copland's tonal works in style.

Listen to a movement from Anderson's piano concerto.