tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8983107378850855589.post4498764834348699953..comments2023-11-30T12:28:03.884-08:00Comments on Still a Brooklyn Kid: When Irving met MildredStill a Brooklyn Kidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08374474348068027217noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8983107378850855589.post-55564198932178225472012-10-20T06:05:00.646-07:002012-10-20T06:05:00.646-07:00Dear Kid, I would guess Roy -- if you hum the ope...Dear Kid, I would guess Roy -- if you hum the opening phrase of the YLAM record, it is a standard bluesy phrase that he might have played -- part of the common language of 1937. (Compare the issued Vocalions by his small band and the airshots once on lp.) But who knows what inspiration strikes at a record session? God bless Connee Boswell is all I can say. And those movies were so delicious precisely because they convinced us, for a few minutes, that everything was possible. You, too, could be formally dressed in a public park, have a powerfully beautiful voice, and have Madeline Carroll go from skepticism to nestling in the course of three minutes. How beautiful the fiction is! We wish we could be those people and be so happy (without the dry-cleaning bills). Thanks for the wondrous time-travel!Hassenfefferhttp://www.dumplingsareus.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8983107378850855589.post-42273225815338610312012-10-20T05:29:57.202-07:002012-10-20T05:29:57.202-07:00Dear Has: Thank you for your comment. I'd love...Dear Has: Thank you for your comment. I'd love to hear what Ruby and Ellis do with this tune. On Mildred's record, Scoops Carry doesn't seem too comfortable with it as a vehicle for improvisation. I think the song isn't one of Berlin's most beloved because it's too difficult for the public to sing, or to whistle. You're right, it is a Fred & Ginger scene without Fred & Ginger. ("Whatsername" is, I think, Madeleine Carroll.) Berlin once said, "I'd rather have Fred Astaire introduce one of my songs than any other singer I know -- not because he has a great voice, but because his delivery and diction are so good that he can put over a song like nobody else." Berlin's favorite female singer of his songs: Connie Boswell. I'd appreciate your educated guess on this question: Who do you think made the nifty head arrangement for Mildred's "You're Laughing at Me"? Roy Eldridge? Herbie Haymer or someone else from the Norvo band? Dan Barrett? It sounds like Dan's handiwork, but somehow I don't think he was present at that session. I'm enclosing a self-addressed stamped envelope and hoping for your reply by return post. SABKStill a Brooklyn Kidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08374474348068027217noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8983107378850855589.post-18265636690507791572012-10-19T14:44:04.174-07:002012-10-19T14:44:04.174-07:00It is SUCH a lovely song -- with Berlin's magi...It is SUCH a lovely song -- with Berlin's magical way of melding the commonplace phrase with the nearly-poetic in a manner that doesn't call attention to his cleverness (as opposed to the brilliance of Mercer, who sometimes wants the song to stop so we can applaud his wit) and that melody. It occurs to me that the Dick Powell -- and Whatshername -- tryst in the park is someone's version of Fred and Ginger, although Powell couldn't dance and had a far more powerful voice. There's a late version of this by Ruby and Ellis (reunited for the last time on record) for Arbors . . . I am going to play it now and see if it stands up. Mildred, though, is queen: sweet, serious but not too serious, wry. I think that she knew something about not being taken seriously in love. Perhaps? A wonderful posting: I had never seen this clip. Hassenfefferhttp://www.passthekrautboys.comnoreply@blogger.com