Connie Francis
Melissa Manchester
Mandy Patinkin
Jackie Wilson
The Showtunes Sing-Off - Arlen & Harburg - "Over the Rainbow" - Part 1 of 3
Harold Arlen and Edgar "Yip" Harburg - "Over the Rainbow"
"Over the Rainbow" is a ballad by Harold Arlen with lyrics by Yip Harburg. It was written for the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz in which it was sung by actress Judy Garland in her starring role as Dorothy Gale. It won the Academy Award for Best Original Song and became Garland's signature song.
In March 2017, "Over the Rainbow" sung by Judy Garland was entered in the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress as music that is "culturally, historically, or artistically significant". The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) ranked it number one on their Songs of the Century list. The American Film Institute named it best movie song on the AFI's 100 Years... 100 Songs list.
Note: This is Part One of a three part competition
Judy Garland
Tony Bennett
Ray Charles
The Four Freshmen
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I had never heard of them - cultural and generational differences - We didn't have "glee clubs" in secondary school in Ireland (at least mine didn't) - and had to research them -
"Soon, the Four Freshmen drew the admiration of jazz legends such as Dizzy Gillespie and Woody Herman. On March 21, 1950, Stan Kenton heard the quartet at the Esquire Lounge in Dayton, Ohio. He "had been told at his own show earlier that night about a quartet in town that sounded like his 43-piece ensemble", and was sufficiently impressed that on April 14, he arranged for an audition with his label, Capitol Records, which signed them later that year."
According to The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians: -
The group represented a modernizing force in the sphere of close harmony quartets in American popular music, moving away from the barbershop style to introduce elements of jazz. In doing so, they influenced younger groups such as the Hi-Los and the Beach Boys.
The Oxford Companion to Popular Music says:
They sing with great variety, in quiet unison or full-throated harmony, using modern jazz harmonies and varied dynamics, a considerable advance on the typical close-harmony quartets that had preceded them.
The Four Freshmen have won Jazz Times magazine's Readers Poll for Best Vocal Group multiple years.
The group won DownBeat magazine's Readers Poll for Best Vocal Group in 1953, 1954,1955, 1956,1958, 2000, and 2001.
The Freshmen have been nominated for a Grammy Award six times.
They were inducted into the "Vocal Group Hall of Fame" in 2001.
"The Four Freshmen were the most innovative and imitated jazz vocal quartet ever to grace vinyl. Innovative because of their unique concept of singing “open” harmony, moving the third and fifth notes of a chord an octave higher or lower, or using ninths and elevenths while dropping root notes of a chord. Emulated because every type of artist heart something fresh and exciting in their sound not only jazz groups, but acts as diverse as The Harptones in the 50’s, The Beach Boys of the 60’s, and The Manhattan Transfer in the 70’s heard a redefinition of harmony that stirred their own imaginations. That doesn’t count The Hi-Lo's, The Hilltoppers, The Lettermen, Spanky and Our Gang, and The Mamas and the Papas.
In 1960 the group recorded the masterful “Their Hearts Were Full of Spring.” It so enchanted a young Brian Wilson that he lifted the vocal arrangement note for note, fist as “A Young Man Is Gone” (Little Deuce Coupe LP) and then under the original title for the Live Beach Boys ’69 LP. (Wilson even dropped by the Freshmen’s office in Hollywood during the Beach Boys’ formative years to secure copies of their vocal charts.) The Beach Boys ultimately found their niche playing Chuck Berry rhythms with Four Freshmen harmonies, but they did direct credit to the Freshmen.
Vghf.org
vghf.org
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