The following contains about 30 links; some names are broken into
several links. Some of the links have a tenuous connection to the name,
and some jump to very valuable resources. Many lead to bios in the TUNESMITHS database,
the self-proclaimed "world's First, Largest, and Finest Online COMPOSERS
and LYRICISTS DATABASE." Have fun.
I finally got to see the broadcast of PBS' Great Performances "Ira Gershwin at 100: A Concert at Carnegie Hall" (note: those were 3 separate links). Here are some thoughts I had viewing the show (with associated links).
- It seems nowadays that in most current shows, even the simplest ballads
have to have some kind of big, socko finish. But -- thinking about some
of the great songs that have taken a foothold in my brain -- this has not
always been the case. Once upon a time a great melody or some excellent
lyrics or some indefinable greatness was enough to make us love the song,
not a splashy arrangement.
Think of:
"They Can't Take That Away From Me" -- Ira (lyrics) & George Gershwin (m)
George and Ira Gershwin Archive, George Gershwin Educational Fanpage
"September Song" -- Maxwell Anderson (l), Kurt Weill (m)
"Oh, What a Beautiful Morning" -- Oscar Hammerstein II(l), Richard Rodgers (m)
"Never-Never Land" -- Betty Comden & Adolph Green (l), Jule Styne (m)
"The Way You Look Tonight" -- Dorothy Fields (l), Jerome Kern (m)
"Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?" -- E.Y. Harburg (l), Jay Gorney (m)
"The Nearness of You" -- Ned Washington (l), Hoagy Carmichael (m)
"They Say It's Wonderful" -- Irving Berlin (l & m)
"Just One of Those Things" -- Cole Porter (l & m)
-- I could go on all day -- and I'm sure you could too!, just make sure to add the links.
- I think that Rosemary
Clooney's
success came mostly because of that "girl-next-door" quality
of her voice. She still has it -- even though now it's more of a "mother-of-the-girl-next-door"
kind of thing.
- If the only way to actually see the credits as they scroll by is to
videotape the shows, who's going to watch to money-raising segments? (TV Guide online!)
- Who is it who actually likes Michael Feinstein's performance?
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