[Shaughnessy]

Irving Berlin - "Always"


""Always" is a song written by Irving Berlin in 1925, as a wedding gift for his wife Ellin Mackay whom he married in 1926, and to whom he presented the substantial royalties.

Although legend (and Groucho Marx) claims Berlin wrote the song "Always" for The Cocoanuts he never meant for the song to be included in that musical, and it was not. Thematically, it serves as a sequel to Berlin's earlier song "When I Lost You" which pertained to the death of his first wife Dorothy.

The song entered into the public domain on January 1, 2021."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Always_(Irving_Berlin_song)

"Always"

Everything went wrong,
And the whole day long
I'd feel so blue.
For the longest while
I'd forget to smile,
Then I met you.
Now that my blue days have passed,
Now that I've found you at last -

I'll be loving you Always
With a love that's true Always.
When the things you've planned
Need a helping hand,
I will understand Always.

Always.

Days may not be fair Always,
That's when I'll be there Always.
Not for just an hour,
Not for just a day,
Not for just a year,
But Always.


Note: This is a two-part contest

Part One - Tony Bennett - Billy Eckstine and Sarah Vaughn - Marvin Gaye - Billie Holiday - Frank Sinatra (1947)

Part Two - Bobby Darin - Ella Fitzgerald - Mandy Patinkin - Frank Sinatra (1961) - Kiri Te Kanawa​

Tony Bennett​

Billy Eckstine and Sarah Vaughn​

Marvin Gaye​

Billie Holiday​

Frank Sinatra - (1947)​

 

[Bulldog]

I'd like to vote on this one, but no can do. I really dislike this song, and none of the versions took me over the hump.

 

[jegreenwood]

"Although legend (and Groucho Marx) claims Berlin wrote the song "Always" for The Cocoanuts he never meant for the song to be included in that musical, and it was not. "

Hmm . . . George S. Kaufman wrote the book for The Cocoanuts. His official web site states:

Originally, Berlin had written "Always" for the show, but Kaufman convinced him to cut the song in Atlantic City. "I don't know, Irving," he said, "'Always' is a long time—shouldn't it be I'll be loving you Thursdays?"

In any event, I do like the song. And I like it as a ballad. So Sinatra first and Vaughan and Eckstine second. I have the latter as well as Ella in the Songbook and Sinatra's later version (about both of which I will comment later).

 

[Shaughnessy]

I'd like to vote on this one, but no can do. I really dislike this song, and none of the versions took me over the hump.

That's cool - You came, you played, you expressed your honest opinion - That's the whole point of the thread - and you have my thanks for your participation.

 

[Belowpar]

Before I listen and vote, once again I'd like to digress and ask a question.

When I was young this kind of music was not 'cool' with my friends. I always watched and loved the musicals they used to show on the TV. The first inkling I had that these were 'cool' songs, was finding covers by Motown artists and other black artists like Aretha. At that stage Rock and Rollers wouldn't touch them with a barge pole. At the time the link seemed pretty obvious to me; Motown songs were just so well written. Strong melodies and well crafted lyrics. Proper songs like "the classics".

Since then I've also wondered if Berry Gordon made his artists cover these to expand their market? Does anyone know if that was the case?

Either way I still think that e.g. the best of Smokey Robinson, stands alongside the standards in the Great American Songbook.


PS Thanks for including the Marvin Gaye cover - it prompted these recollections and I really look forward to hearing it.

 

[jegreenwood]

Before I listen and vote, once again I'd like to digress and ask a question.

When I was young this kind of music was not 'cool' with my friends. I always watched and loved the musicals they used to show on the TV. The first inkling I had that these were 'cool' songs, was finding covers by Motown artists and other black artists like Aretha. At that stage Rock and Rollers wouldn't touch them with a barge pole. At the time the link seemed pretty obvious to me; Motown songs were just so well written. Strong melodies and well crafted lyrics. Proper songs like "the classics".

Since then I've also wondered if Berry Gordon made his artists cover these to expand their market? Does anyone know if that was the case?

Either way I still think that e.g. the best of Smokey Robinson, stands alongside the standards in the Great American Songbook.


PS Thanks for including the Marvin Gaye cover - it prompted these recollections and I really look forward to hearing it.

I have a CD of The Supremes singing Rodgers & Hart. My recollection is that it grew out of a 60s TV special where a number of Motown artists sang Rodgers & Hart.

 

[MAS]

Tony Bennett’s arrangement is too “jazzy” for me;
Sinatra’s fiddle distracts and it’s too slow overall.
Billy Eckstein and Sarah’s Vaughn have gorgeous voices, but I’d like them to have sung the song solo; the tempo and arrangements, though, are right for me.
Marvyn Gaye (is he?) is too noisy for the lyrics, IMO.
Surprisingly, Lady Day lays a egg. Too noisy.

I don’t like any of them, but if I have to vote, Eckstein and Vaughn!

 

[Shaughnessy]

Tony Bennett’s arrangement is too “jazzy” for me;
Sinatra’s fiddle distracts and it’s too slow overall.
Billy Eckstein and Sarah’s Vaughn have gorgeous voices, but I’d like them to have sung the song solo; the tempo and arrangements, though are right for me.
Marvyn Gaye (is he?) is too noisy for the lyrics, IMO.
Surprisingly, Lady Day lays a egg. Too noisy.

I don’t like any of them, but if I have to vote, Eckstein and Vaughn!

"Before the release of his first single, Gaye started spelling his surname with added "e", in the same way as did Sam Cooke. Author David Ritz wrote that Gaye did this to silence rumors of his sexuality, and to put more distance between himself and his father."

Unfortunately, on April 1, 1984, there wasn't quite enough distance between Gaye and his father -

Gaye intervened in a fight between his parents on the afternoon of April 1, 1984, in the family house in the West Adams neighborhood of Los Angeles. He became involved in a physical altercation with his father, Marvin Gay Sr. who shot Gaye twice, once in the chest, piercing his heart, and then into Gaye's shoulder. The shooting took place in Gaye's bedroom at 12:38 p.m. The first shot proved fatal. Gaye was pronounced dead at 1:01 p.m. after his body arrived at California Hospital Medical Center, one day short of his 45th birthday.
After Gaye's funeral, his body was cremated at Forest Lawn Memorial Park-Hollywood Hills, and his ashes were scattered into the Pacific Ocean. Gay Sr. was initially charged with first-degree murder, but the charges were reduced to voluntary manslaughter following a diagnosis of a brain tumor.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marvin_Gaye

 

[Shaughnessy]

"Although legend (and Groucho Marx) claims Berlin wrote the song "Always" for The Cocoanuts he never meant for the song to be included in that musical, and it was not. "

Hmm . . . George S. Kaufman wrote the book for The Cocoanuts. His official web site states:

Originally, Berlin had written "Always" for the show, but Kaufman convinced him to cut the song in Atlantic City. "I don't know, Irving," he said, "'Always' is a long time—shouldn't it be I'll be loving you Thursdays?"

In any event, I do like the song. And I like it as a ballad. So Sinatra first and Vaughan and Eckstine second. I have the latter as well as Ella in the Songbook and Sinatra's later version (about both of which I will comment later).

I would be more than willing to accept that - It sounds more than plausible - I didn't realize that I left off the Wikipedia citation and so I edited the first post to reflect that. The only information that I can add is that "Groucho always felt that Berlin cheated him (and his brothers) out of the royalties on a song they commissioned."

Irving Berlin's "Always" That Groucho Complained was for the Marx Brothers play "The Cocoanuts." - The Life & Times of Hollywood

One of the most recorded songs ever, was the haunting tune, “Always” by Irving Berling. Irving Berlin forever claimed that he wrote the song…

thelifeandtimesofhollywood.com

 

[Shaughnessy]

Before I listen and vote, once again I'd like to digress and ask a question.

When I was young this kind of music was not 'cool' with my friends. I always watched and loved the musicals they used to show on the TV. The first inkling I had that these were 'cool' songs, was finding covers by Motown artists and other black artists like Aretha. At that stage Rock and Rollers wouldn't touch them with a barge pole. At the time the link seemed pretty obvious to me; Motown songs were just so well written. Strong melodies and well crafted lyrics. Proper songs like "the classics".

Since then I've also wondered if Berry Gordon made his artists cover these to expand their market? Does anyone know if that was the case?

Either way I still think that e.g. the best of Smokey Robinson, stands alongside the standards in the Great American Songbook.


PS Thanks for including the Marvin Gaye cover - it prompted these recollections and I really look forward to hearing it.

I don't have the same cultural or generational reference points that most people here have and so "coolness" isn't a factor in any decision that will ever be made within these threads - The only criteria I use when selecting the tunes is "listenability" - I try to surround a "conventional standard" with interpretations that feature the best vocal renditions that I can find and, when able, to find those that add an extra dimension - something unique - to the standard.

My understanding of Berry Gordon is that he viewed music as product to be moved as quickly and efficiently as possible - A quick search reveals that most artists on his label released some variation of a "Best of Broadway" compilation of songs - From what I've heard, few of them are anywhere near being "memorable" - The traditional pop arrangements did the acts no favor - The interpretations tend to be awkward - Trying to overlay an R&B vocal groove over a standards sensibility results in a release which favors neither one nor the other.

This Four Tops album "4 Tops on Broadway" is an example of the type of material that the label's acts were pushed into producing - They did what they were told to do when they were told to do it.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_lknmi9DgyFAFkhhBjMO6bIKbhPIzVJajQ

When Marvin Gaye cut this tune in 1961 he saw himself as a performer of jazz music and standards, having no desire to be an R&B performer.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marvin_Gaye

 

[jegreenwood]

I don't have the same cultural or generational reference points that most people here have and so "coolness" isn't a factor in any decision that will ever be made within these threads - The only criteria I use when selecting the tunes is "listenability" - I try to surround a "conventional standard" with interpretations that feature the best vocal renditions that I can find and, when able, to find those that add an extra dimension - something unique - to the standard.

My understanding of Berry Gordon is that he viewed music as product to be moved as quickly and efficiently as possible - A quick search reveals that most artists on his label released some variation of a "Best of Broadway" compilation of songs - From what I've heard, few of them are anywhere near being "memorable" - The traditional pop arrangements did the acts no favor - The interpretations tend to be awkward - Trying to overlay an R&B vocal groove over a standards sensibility results in a release which favors neither one nor the other.

This Four Tops album "4 Tops on Broadway" is an example of the type of material that the label's acts were pushed into producing - They did what they were told to do when they were told to do it.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_lknmi9DgyFAFkhhBjMO6bIKbhPIzVJajQ

When Marvin Gaye cut this tune in 1961 he saw himself as a performer of jazz music and standards, having no desire to be an R&B performer.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marvin_Gaye

Interesting track selection on the Four Tops album. Mame.?

One strange thing about the Supremes' Rodgers & Hart CD is the sequencing. The first track has the slowest tempo and the tempo then builds from track to track over the entire album.

 

[mbhaub]

I couldn't vote: I despise all of those versions. But I love the song; it has special meaning for me and is quite dear to my heart. The best ever version, IMO, was a really old 78 shellac right here:

Jazz singers screw it up with their "interpretations" and the arrangements suck. THis oldie is quite respectful and honest to Berlin's original.

Here's another classic:

 

[Shaughnessy]

I like Tony Bennett - He's one of my favorite singers and I'm fairly certain that I have most everything that he's ever recorded - But I couldn't place this version any higher than 4th if they were to be ranked in order - This up-tempo version certainly swings but his interpretation of the song itself couldn't be further off the mark - There is this sense of joy - of exuberance - that is so out of keeping with the theme of the tune which is "as you were there for me, I will be there for you" - and "we're in this together, you're not alone" because when hard times come - and they will indeed come - you won't have to face them alone.

First vote went to Billy Eckstine and Sarah Vaughn - I thought that this was superb and that both performers genuinely understood the underlying sentiment of the song and that is was approached not just as a duet in which lines are traded back and forth but rather as a dialogue between two people each of whom is attempting to reassure the other that they will face together whatever fate brings their way.

Marvin Gaye - interesting jazz standard take on a traditional standard tune - This cut is from his 1961 debut album - He's obviously been inspired by Nat King Cole but it's also readily apparent that even at that stage, he felt restrained by the format and in response, he delivers a full-voiced rendition which shadows the transition that he would eventually make from Nat Cole acolyte to vintage 60's soul singer and then continuing on to redefine and expand upon a genre with a series of albums which still resonate five decades after their release. He comes in third place...

Billie Holiday - I listen to this and think... She sees the words as notes to be sung and not as words that are meant to be spoken - Words that have actually meaning and were meant to convey a very specific emotion - Her voice is her instrument - She can certainly swing a tune - but it comes at the expense of phrasing. She comes in at 5th place...

Frank Sinatra - Got the next of my two votes - Vintage '47 Columbia Sinatra - Still has his pipes - the hard-living lifestyle hasn't quite caught up to the voice and so he still has a much wider range of tonal colors - and while the voice still leans towards the lighter side, at this point, you can start to hear the beginning of the changes in his approach towards phrasing which will become fully manifest in his next transition to Capitol Records in 1954.

Two votes - Eckstine/Vaughn and Sinatra - 1A and 1B with an edge for neither - Each is great in their own unique way.

 

[Tsaraslondon]

I liked Sinatra best, followed by Eckstine and Vaughan, so accordingly they got my votes. I didn't care for the overly jazzed up versions. It seems to me that they miss the point of the song.

 

[fluteman]

Frank Sinatra wins this half of the draw very easily, for me. The early Sinatra style fits this old type of song (pre-Jazz, pre-Swing) very well. Little wonder mbhaub goes back to Lewis James and irving Kaufman, who sing in a classic early 20th century style (probably late 19th century too if we had the recordings) that today is long gone but doubtless what Berlin had in mind in 1925.

However, once we get to the other half of the draw, it's Ella for the win.

 

[Belowpar]

Just a gorgeous song. One of those you've absorbed internally since before you could even sing and it comes as a shock to discover the fact that someone, not anon., actually wrote it!

Tony Bennett - I want to say that the night I saw him at the ROH when he got to the part where he always said
"This is where the band demand a break and so why would I need a mic, when I started before they were a thing?" ...he sang "Always". (but my memory is shocking and it's probably just wish fulfilment). I'd prefer that versions to this.
Would I have guessed that was Marvin? I'd have agreed I'd heard the voice and its style before but no, I'd never have guessed. But hearing it once is probably enough.
Seems to me the smaller the group the more I love Lady Day.
Normally I prefer the slightly later Frank, but does a lovely job and comes close.

Sarah and Billy. I have this and now I'm off to find the CD. Truly gorgeous. 1 vote.

 

[jegreenwood]

I don't have that Vaughan/Eckstine album, but I have a Verve Records Berlin compilation disc, which has several tracks by them. They do a very nice job with "You're Just in Love," barring one sour note by Eckstine.

 

[Belowpar]

I don't have that Vaughan/Eckstine album, but I have a Verve Records Berlin compilation disc, which has several tracks by them. They do a very nice job with "You're Just in Love," barring one sour note by Eckstine.

You don't need analyzing...

 

[Shaughnessy]

I don't have that Vaughan/Eckstine album, but I have a Verve Records Berlin compilation disc, which has several tracks by them. They do a very nice job with "You're Just in Love," barring one sour note by Eckstine.

Here's a link to the complete label authorized recording -

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_ls3DMBI0HMqLgY4KjeO_1vtWmwM7jUti8

 

[starthrower]

Not my favorite Berlin song. I'm not normally a Tony Bennett fan but that's a great sounding record and he's in good voice. Also love Sarah and Billy even if it's a tad too polite sounding. And Billie Holiday is great! I'm not a fan of early Sinatra. It's too mannered and polite. Did he re-record this later on? If so I'd have listen to a more mature rendition.