Fascinating stuff, Will, and after watching the "You're The Top" clip with Bing and Merman I have to give kudos to Paramount's sound editors for making that one shot where they exchange voices sound seemless. One thing-you forgot to include a button to enable listening to the Helen Ward recording after mentioning it-the other ones are great but would have loved to hear Helen belt that tune, as well. BTW, do you know who the vocalists on the Whiteman recording are? I have the RCA Vintage LP with the recording but they do not mention who does the singing.
BTW, I did manage to get through the "Biographical Guide to the Great Jazz and Popular Singers" and enjoyed every word of it-now, how do I call you about it? Interesting how your opinion of certain singers-the Andrews Sisters, for one-has evolved through various books.
Lastly, I managed to score a real nice first edition hardcover of the Moses book years ago and through A. Scott Berg was able to get in contact with Robert Caro where he signed some books and bookplates for me which I treasure. Hope he publishes the last volume of his LBJ bio sometime before both he and I shuffle off this mortal coil.
Keep up the great work and please tell me a bio of either Ella or Fats Waller is either in your pipeline or someone else's-both deserve a top-notch book.
you would think so, right? No, the Gandhi line is in there! This is the only song that praises Gandhi and Mussolini - not to mention Mickey Mouse - with equal enthusiasm! https://youtu.be/x6S-7Bd5k_I
They were better times and much better music…
Fascinating stuff, Will, and after watching the "You're The Top" clip with Bing and Merman I have to give kudos to Paramount's sound editors for making that one shot where they exchange voices sound seemless. One thing-you forgot to include a button to enable listening to the Helen Ward recording after mentioning it-the other ones are great but would have loved to hear Helen belt that tune, as well. BTW, do you know who the vocalists on the Whiteman recording are? I have the RCA Vintage LP with the recording but they do not mention who does the singing.
BTW, I did manage to get through the "Biographical Guide to the Great Jazz and Popular Singers" and enjoyed every word of it-now, how do I call you about it? Interesting how your opinion of certain singers-the Andrews Sisters, for one-has evolved through various books.
Lastly, I managed to score a real nice first edition hardcover of the Moses book years ago and through A. Scott Berg was able to get in contact with Robert Caro where he signed some books and bookplates for me which I treasure. Hope he publishes the last volume of his LBJ bio sometime before both he and I shuffle off this mortal coil.
Keep up the great work and please tell me a bio of either Ella or Fats Waller is either in your pipeline or someone else's-both deserve a top-notch book.
All the best-Jeff Heise
Great post (as always). I wonder whether Wodehouse removed the reference to Gandhi for the London production of "Anything Goes."
you would think so, right? No, the Gandhi line is in there! This is the only song that praises Gandhi and Mussolini - not to mention Mickey Mouse - with equal enthusiasm! https://youtu.be/x6S-7Bd5k_I