| Artist |
Song |
Album |
Label |
Comments |
| Dinah Washington |
I've Got You Under My Skin |
Night and Day: The Cole Porter Songbook |
|
today's Divaville Lounge: a tribute to gay songwriters |
| Rosemary Clooney & Perez Prado |
You Do Something to Me |
Touch of Tabasco |
|
celebrating great strides forward on 11/6 for equal rights |
| Bing Crosby & Frank Sinatra |
Well, Did You Evah? |
Frank Sinatra in Hollywood |
|
first up: composer/lyricist Cole Porter |
| Anita O'Day o/ Billy May |
Love For Sale |
Anita O'Day Swings Cole Porter |
Verve |
1930 for "The New Yorkers" |
| Sarah Vaughan |
Just One of Those Things |
Live at Mr. Kelly's |
|
written 1935 for "Jubilee," this recording 1957 |
| Les Brown |
Just One of Those Things |
Best of the Big Bands |
|
inst. Porter was married for decades but his sexual orientation was an "open secret" in the show business world |
| Ethel Merman |
You're the Top |
A Kick Out of You |
|
Merman was Porter's favorite female vocalist to sing his songs, she originated many of his best-known songs on Broadway |
| Fred Astaire |
Night and Day |
Fred and Ginger at RKO |
Rhino |
Astaire was Porter's favorite male vocalist to sing his songs due to Astaire's clear phrasing. he felt that Astaire sang his songs exactly as they had been written, & reportedly wanted Astaire to play him in his biopic but had to settle for Cary Grant! |
| Leo Reisman Orchestra |
What Is This Thing Called Love? |
The Golden Age of American Sweet Bands |
Jasmine |
written 1929 for "Wake Up and Dream" avoid the Porter biopic: it has almost nothing to do with Porter's life and they couldn't get any name singers for the movie to perform his songs |
| Cole Porter |
Anything Goes |
American Songbook Series: Cole Porter |
|
Porter himself singing & on piano. he was already hugely successful in 1934 when "Anything Goes" appeared on Broadway & this song was a major hit for him |
| Artie Shaw |
Begin the Beguine |
Begin the Beguine |
Membran |
inst. written 1935 for "Jubilee," this song was such a signature hit for Artie Shaw that eventually he wanted to stop playing it & couldn't |
| Noel Coward |
Let's Do It |
The Noel Coward Album |
|
written 1928 for "Paris". Noel Coward was also a gay composer |
| Ella Fitzgerald |
All Through the Night |
The Cole Porter Songbook |
Verve |
written 1934 for "Anything Goes" |
| Julie London |
You'd Be So Nice to Come Home To |
The Very Best of Julie London |
|
written 1942, relatively late in Porter's career |
| Mel Torme |
It's De-Lovely |
The Bethlehem Years |
Bethlehem Archive |
written 1936 for "Red Hot and Blue" Porter and Monty Woolley met in college, were lifelong friends and had "adventures" together in Europe, where Porter lived with his life Linda |
| Frank Sinatra |
You'd Be So Easy to Love |
Ring-a-Ding-Ding! |
Reprise |
written 1936 for movie "Born to Dance" |
| Blossom Dearie |
Always True to You in My Fashion |
Night and Day: The Cole Porter Songbook |
|
this song was based on an 1894 poem by Ernest Dowson "I have been faithful to thee in my fashion" Dowson also coined the phrase "days of wine and roses" |
| Artie Shaw |
Thou Swell |
Artie Shaw Vol. 1 |
|
next up: lyricist Lorenz (Larry) Hart of songwriting duo Rodgers and Hart |
| Merv Griffin o/ Freddie Martin |
Manhattan |
Radio & Recording Rarities, Vol. 19 |
|
Rodgers & Hart's first hit, written 1925 |
| Judy Garland & Mickey Rooney |
I WIsh I Were In Love Again |
Romantic Duets from MGM Classics |
|
this song is a classic example of the dizzying heights of looniness Hart sometimes achieved in his lyrics ("the faint aroma of performing seals"?) Rooney played Hart in MGM biopic, which of course made no mention of Hart's sexual orientation & invented a girlfriend Hart pined after as an explanation for his depression & alcoholism |
| Nat King Cole |
Thou Swell |
Nat King Cole at the Sands |
|
written 1927 for "A Connecticut Yankee", this recording 1960. at least the movie had lots of star singers, many of whom performed the songs they had originated. worth seeing for that reason if not the plot |
| Johnny Hartman |
Isn't It Romantic |
Unforgettable |
|
Hart's depression and alcoholism were directly responsible for his death from pneumonia in 1943 at age 48 |
| Frank Sinatra |
The Lady is a Tramp |
A Swingin' Affair |
Capitol |
written 1937 for movie "Babes in Arms" |
| Chet Baker |
My Funny Valentine |
The Best of Chet Baker Sings |
|
also written for "Babes in Arms" has been recorded by over 600 different performers |
| Bunny Berigan |
You Took Advantage of Me |
Best of Jazz: An Introduction to Bunny Berigan |
|
inst. written 1928 for "Present Arms" |
| Helen Ward |
There's a Small Hotel |
Queen of Big Band Swing |
ASV Living Era |
rumor has it that Hart found this song too cloying and would ad-lib dirty lyrics when he sang it, which angered Rodgers who had written the song about a real small hotel he had visited |
| Dinah Washington |
This Can't Be Love |
The Complete Dinah Washington Vol 14 |
|
written 1936 arr. Quincy Jones for "The Swingin' Miss D" 1956 |
| Mel Torme |
Blue Moon |
Spotlight on Mel Torme |
Columbia River |
written 1934, Rodgers & Hart's most successful song. After Hart's death, Rodgers felt very possessive of how this song should be recorded. he reportedly threatened to sue the Marcels for their doo-wop version until Oscar Hammerstain convinced him to let them do it |
| Lena Horne |
Where or When |
Stormy Weather |
|
Horne was one of Billy Strayhorn's closest friends, after he died she said she'd had unrequited love for him & would have married him if he would have accepted |
| Duke Ellington Orchestra |
Chelsea Bridge |
The Blanton-Webster Band |
RCA |
finally: composer Billy Strayhorn |
| Duke Ellington Orchestra |
Take the 'A' Train |
The Blanton-Webster Band |
RCA |
Strayhorn lived openly with his partner Aaron Bridgers in the 1940s, often allowed Ellington to take credit for his work; avoiding fame gave Strayhorn more freedom to live the life he wanted |
| Herb Jeffries w/ Duke Ellington Orchestra |
My Little Brown Book |
The Blanton-Webster Band |
RCA |
Strayhorn worked with Ellington for his entire professional career. They often wrote collaboratively but all songs in this set were written by Strayhorn alone |
| Julia Lee |
Lotus Blossom |
Snatch and Grab It |
|
only song in this set not performed by Ellington orchestra |
| Rosemary Clooney o/ Duke Ellington |
Grievin' |
Blue Rose |
|
Clooney and Ellington recorded this album on separate coasts & mixed vocal & instrumental tracks together, one of the first times that had ever been done. Strayhorn wrote all arrangements & flew to CA to work with Clooney |
| Ella Fitzgerald o/ Duke Ellington |
Day Dream |
The Duke Ellington Songbook |
Verve |
Strayhorn wrote this ~1940 as a showcase for Johnny Hodges |
| Duke Ellington Orchestra |
The Star Crossed Lovers |
Such Sweet Thunder |
Columbia River |
original title: "Pretty Girl" at this point in their work, Strayhorn & Ellington often blended their compositions so closely that scholars often can't tell exactly who wrote what. This piece is known to have been written earlier by Strayhorn & repurposed for the Shakespeare suite |
| Duke Ellington Orchestra |
Snibor |
The Duke: The Columbia Years |
Columbia |
inst. written 1949. Strayhorn wanted to be classical composer but in the 1930s that wasn't possible for someone like him (black, gay, grew up in extreme poverty). he was inspired by Art Tatum and Teddy Wilson to see that he could write jazz and be a serious composer |
| Billy Strayhorn |
Lush Life |
Lush Life |
Red Baron |
Strayhorn singing his very personal song, written when he was only a teenager! He hated all other arrangements of it, even the Coltrane/Hartman version that's considered definitive |
