Johnny Hartman
Billie Holiday
Frankie Laine
The Platters
Dinah Washington
The Showtunes Sing-Off - Marvell & Strachey - "These Foolish Things" - Part 2 of 3
Holt Marvell and Jack Strachey - "These Foolish Things (Remind Me of You)
"These Foolish Things (Remind Me of You)" is a standard with lyrics by Eric Maschwitz, writing under the pseudonym Hold Marvell, and music
by Jack Strachey, both Englishmen. Harry Link, an American, sometimes appears as a co-writer;
his input was probably limited to an alternative "middle eight" - bridge - which many performers prefer.
It is one of a group of "Mayfair songs", like "A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square". Maschwitz wrote the song
under his pen name, Holt Marvell, at the behest of Joan Carr for a late-evening revue broadcast by the BBC.
The copyright was lodged in 1936. According to the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography,
British cabaret singer Jean Ross with whom Maschwitz had a youthful liaison, was the muse for the song.
The song was not an immediate success, and Keith Prowse, Maschwitz's agent, refused to publish it, releasing the copyright to
Maschwitz himself – a stroke of luck for the lyricist. Writing in 1957, he claimed to have made £40,000 from the song.
Note: This is Part Two of Three
Tony Bennett
Bryan Ferry
Connie Francis
Robert Goulet
Buddy Greco
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Funny, though Dick Haymes was only 5 years older than Johnny Hartman, I would have associated him with an earlier era, as Haymes was known for his work with Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters, while Hartman is probably best known for his work with John Coltrane. A 40s swing man and a 50s and 60s jazz man. New York area members familiar with WBGO, an all-jazz public radio station, likely will have heard Hartman there. But not Haymes, as far as I know.Dick Haymes is in Part Three...
I've been reading it over - Seems fairly well-balanced - Don't really see anything that would make someone burst into tears and run out of the room screaming "I hate you - I hate you"...
I read the last statement several times, not quite certain of the intent as it's the singer who applies the style to the song through the choices made in regards to phrasing... unless you're referring to the critiques of the arrangements themselves which have been made - Some of which are fair, some not - Some production decisions reflect what was au courant for the times in which they were produced but are now being criticized decades later for not having aged particularly well and consequently sounding "dated" e.g. anything with a choral group in the background or a string section routinely gets beaten like a drum - I try not to use 21st century sensibilities when judging vintage recordings made six to seven decades ago - I try to accept them for what they are - They're doing what was done back then for who their audience was at that specific time and place - I'm not entirely convinced that they gave much thought, if any, to their legacy in musical history.
Looking through some of the threads, there doesn't seem to be an outlier present - There always seems to be at least one person who agrees with at least one other person about the merits of any particular artist... except Shirley Bassey - who's never received a single vote from anyone other than me... and Katherine Jenkins who's about 0 for 7 right now -
Well, I'll try to be a bit more clear with an example or two. Sam Cooke is a famous and revered singer and songwriter, known as "the King of Soul", responsible for such landmark early 60s songs as A Change Is Gonna Come and (my personal favorite) Nothing Can Change This Love. But if your tastes run more to earlier British pop classics such as These Foolish Things, We'll Meet Again or A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square, and the earlier stars who made them famous such as Bing Crosby and Vera Lynn, you may not be keen on the soul-inflected version from Sam Cooke, the glam rock approach of Bryan Ferry, the hard-driving gospel / R&B style of Etta James, or whatever James Brown, Michael Jackson, Prince, David Byrne, Steven Tyler, Eminem or Lizzo might do with those songs.I've been reading it over - Seems fairly well-balanced - Don't really see anything that would make burst into tears and run out of the room screaming "I hate you - I hate you"...
I read the last statement several times, not quite certain of the intent as it's the singer who applies the style to the song through the choices made in regards to phrasing... unless you're referring to the critiques of the arrangements themselves which have been made - Some of which are fair, some not - Some production decisions reflect what was au courant for the times in which they were produced but are now being criticized decades later for not having aged particularly well and consequently sounding "dated" e.g. anything with a choral group in the background or a string section routinely gets beaten like a drum - I try not to use 21st century sensibilities when judging vintage recordings made six to seven decades ago - I try to accept them for what they are - They're doing what was done back then for who their audience was at that specific time and place - I'm not entirely convinced that they gave much thought, if any, to their legacy in musical history.
Looking through some of the threads, there doesn't seem to be an outlier present - There always seems to be at least one person who agrees with at least one other person about the merits of any particular artist... except Shirley Bassey - who's never received a single vote from anyone other than me... and Katherine Jenkins who's about 0 for 7 right now -
The examples are endless. Do you prefer the traditional lyrical ballad style of the young Frank Sinatra, or the dry, urbane, cocktail jazz style of the older Sinatra? Yes, no doubt he reinvented himself to keep up with changing fashions and to get the most out of his aging voice, but we all can and certainly do pick and choose which we prefer.
I'm not going to pick out specific posts here, but it's clear that many reject certain versions because they arise from a style or aesthetic that the poster thinks is not right for the song or that is not to the poster's taste generally. That is completely legit, but I say, own up to it.
I do have the sense that you focus on the voice more than the arrangement. I find that the wrong arrangement makes it hard for me to enjoy/appreciate a song, especially one I know, and I've known everyone of these so far.I've been reading it over - Seems fairly well-balanced - Don't really see anything that would make burst into tears and run out of the room screaming "I hate you - I hate you"...
I read the last statement several times, not quite certain of the intent as it's the singer who applies the style to the song through the choices made in regards to phrasing... unless you're referring to the critiques of the arrangements themselves which have been made - Some of which are fair, some not - Some production decisions reflect what was au courant for the times in which they were produced but are now being criticized decades later for not having aged particularly well and consequently sounding "dated" e.g. anything with a choral group in the background or a string section routinely gets beaten like a drum - I try not to use 21st century sensibilities when judging vintage recordings made six to seven decades ago - I try to accept them for what they are - They're doing what was done back then for who their audience was at that specific time and place - I'm not entirely convinced that they gave much thought, if any, to their legacy in musical history.
Looking through some of the threads, there doesn't seem to be an outlier present - There always seems to be at least one person who agrees with at least one other person about the merits of any particular artist... except Shirley Bassey - who's never received a single vote from anyone other than me... and Katherine Jenkins who's about 0 for 7 right now -
I try to set out at the beginning how I imagine a song. If a song does not fit my imagined version, it is unlikely to win my vote. Unlikely but not impossible - see Roy Orbison. For instance, in the last round, you refer to a three way tie among Buddy Greco, Johnny Hartman, and Frankie Laine. I agree their voices were roughly equal. But as I see that as an intimate setting, the small group jazz arrangement put Hartman head and shoulders above the others for me.
But that's what makes it interesting.
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