Morning Dew

Morning Dew certainly isn't a song that remained popular for decades. It was a child of the 60's and for the most part has remained there, but it did go through an interesting transformation in a brief 6 years.

Written and performed by Toronto folk singer Bonnie Dobson in 1962, it was inspired by the film On The Beach and the "morning dew" said to be a reference to nuclear fallout. Of course, those were the days of the Cold War and the Cuban Missile Crisis happened in October 1962....50 years ago next month. If you didn't experience it, you could never appreciate the seriousness of it. At the time I was residing in what would have certainly been a prime target for Soviet nuclear missiles, at the time the leading technology corridor in the US, and we also had a few Nike sites in the area as well as a SAC base.

 

A couple years later folk-circuit veterans Vince Martin and Fred Neil took to the song, making some changes to lyrics and offered up some duo harmony and what sounds like a zither.

 

As noted in the previous posting about the song Hey Joe, Tim Rose, another veteran of the northeast folk circuit, headed west in the mid-60's and got signed by Columbia and started recording for them in 1966. One of the songs he recorded was Morning Dew and both the song and his LP made a big impact in both the US and UK. Tim gave the song a nice driving rhythm and the melody played by the left hand of the pianist and bassist gave the song its new signature sound. Tim also copyrighted the song crediting himself as co-writer and got away with it. In fairness, if he didn't make his recording of the song, I wouldn't be writing about it now.

 

In late 1966 Tim played at the Fillmore West a couple of nights, sharing the bill with the Grateful Dead.

When the Dead entered the studio in January 1967 to record their first LP, they recorded their well-known version of the song. A few months later, across the Atlantic in England, the Episode 6 recorded it. This is from a live performance.

 

Before 1967 was over, Lulu recorded Morning Dew and it made the singles charts in early '68.

 

In 1966, after being dismissed from The Yardbirds, Jeff Beck began making solo recordings. Sessions to complete a LP took place in May 1967 and on the 14th Morning Dew was recorded with Rod Stewart doing the vocals, Ronnie Wood on bass, Nicky Hopkins on piano and Mick Waller on drums....and Beck on guitar. It would be over a year before the LP, Truth, hit the stores, but when it did it was perfect timing to become a favorite on the many 'underground' FM AOR stations that hit the airwaves in the USA in 1968.

 

Beck's LP became very popular in the US and a few guys were listening in Jacksonville, Florida that were playing in a band called the 31st of February. They immediately recorded the song but nothing came of it, the band fell out, and a few months later those guys, Duane Allman, Gregg Allman and Butch Trucks, were on the road as the Allman Brothers Band and went on to perhaps make the greatest impact on rock music in the USA in the early 1970's.

 

People continued to record the song in later years, but it would be a stretch to say it remained a popular item. Former Led Zep vocalist Robert Plant did a nice version in 2002.

Let's Face The Music And Dance

February 20, 1936 - a new movie hits the silver screen called Follow the Fleet starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers with Randolph Scott and Harriet Hilliard (who would later become a famous TV mom of the 1950's and 1960's known as Harriet Nelson on the Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet). Also appearing in the film in a minor role is Lucille Ball. Music for the film was by Irving Berlin and one of the songs featured is Let's Face The Music And Dance from a now famous Fred & Ginger dance scene. It's been over 76 years since and the song remains somewhat well known and popular with singers that have both a first and last name and can actually sing more than 4 notes.

It could be that the most well-known version of the song is one recorded by Nat King Cole in 1963 so let's take a look at the song leading up to that point. Fred Astaire sang it in the movie (which leads up to the famous dance scene).

 The dance scene was filmed in the first take. I don't know dance from France, but am very impressed, especially with Ginger Rogers who is wearing heals and a long dress. Early into the scene one of Ginger's flowing, and heavy with beads, sleeves caught Fred in the face but they continued. Because of that slight imperfection they tried doing the scene another 23 times but were never able to duplicate the 99.9% perfection of that first take. You can watch the song and dance on youtube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMuKRbJa3O8

A popular movie with a popular song usually means a bunch of records and so it was in 1936 for Let's Face The Music And Dance. One of the first to record the song was Bob Crosby who had his own orchestra -  the Bear Cats. Bob had an older brother named Henry who was known as Bing.

 

It quickly crossed over the Atlantic to England where it was recorded by the Ray Noble Orchestra with Al Bowlly singing.

 

Al, a native of South Africa, had also achieved great popularity in the USA. He was killed in 1941 during the Blitz when a German parachute mine exploded outside his bedroom as he slept.

Another early British recording was by Harry Roy & His Orchestra. I don't know when this was done, but it sounds like a pre-war recording.

 

After 1936 when record companies and orchestras cashed in on the popularity of the movie, the song seems to have been largely forgotten. I can't find any information on any recordings of it in the 1940's. In 1956 Mel Tormé recorded a very slow and somewhat limp version and then in 1957 Anita O'Day did it and changed everything. She turned it into an up-tempo showpiece for singers with great range and dynamics. Anita seems to pop up a lot in the short life of this blog. That's not intentional, it's just the way it is.    

 

After that it didn't take long for others to realize the potential in the song. Tony Bennett and Doris Day both recorded it within a year of Anita's recording, but I find their versions a little uninspiring and will pass it to Ella.

Ella Fitzgerald 1958

 

**********************
Jennie Smith 1958

 

**************************************

Ruth Brown 1959

 

 **************************

Frank Sinatra 1960

 

**************************************

Damita Jo 1961

 

******************************

Matt Monro 1961

 

****************************************

Shirley Bassey 1962

 

Which brings us up to 1963 and Nat King Cole. This recording was recently used as the theme for the excellent UK comedy mockumentary Twenty Twelve (about the preparation for the Olympics).

 

How High The Moon

In 1939, the first of a series of three musical revue shows opened on Broadway. It was called One For The Money and on Feb. 8, 1940 the second, Two For The Show, opened at the Booth Theatre and after 124 performances it closed on May 25. The fifth sketch of Two For The Show, reportedly the only non-comic one, was the song How High The Moon sung by 8 actors including Alfred Drake, who went on to a long and successful career. Both Eve Arden and Betty Hutton appeared in Two For The Show but were not in the High How The Moon sketch. Music by Morgan Lewis and lyrics by Nancy Hamilton, the song was recorded the day before the show opened by the Benny Goodman Orchestra with Helen Forrest on vocals.

 

A second recording was made the next day, this one by Mitchell Ayres & His Fashions In Music with the vocal by Mary Ann Mercer.

 

The song didn't see much action on records for the next five years (largely due to the long AFM recording strike) and neither recording gave any indication of the jazz and pop standard it was about to become. That began to change in 1945 when these two permitted live recordings were made. They make me suspect that during the war the song remained a popular performance piece and was evolving away from its original Broadway show tune. The first is by the Delta Rhythm Boys.

 

Around this time the song became as popular as an instrumental as it was a vocal. In November 1945, the Les Paul Trio made this live V-Disc recording for the troops.

 

1947 changed everything for How High The Moon. With a second AFM strike looming, one that would last nearly all of 1948, there was a lot of recording being done in 1947. That summer a popular instrumental recording of the song was done by the Nat King Cole Trio.

 

Three vocals were also recorded that included scat singing and completed the transition of the song to a jazz standard. The first was by Anita O'Day.

 

 On October 22, 1947 the Stan Kenton Orchestra recorded it with June Christy.

 

and on December 20, Ella Fitzgerald cut it. It would become one of her signature songs.

 

With the strike over in late 1948, Charles Brown showed what could be done with the song in a more intimate setting and slowed down considerably.

 

In 1950, the song remaining a popular instrumental number, Pupi Campo gave it a rhumba workout.

 

In 1951 Les Paul and Mary Ford recorded what may be the most well known version of the song ever.

 

The mid-1950's saw two very different releases of How High The Moon. One extremely slowed down by Pat Suzuki

 

and one done in 4th gear by Sarah Vaughn.

 

In 1964 it received the pop vocal group treatment from the Royal Robins.

 

Gloria Gaynor gave us a disco Moon in 1975. You can hear it on youtube. 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsT5AbxFZ3k

Emmylou Harris did it countryfied on her 1981 Evangeline LP.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2cgpNr-dpo 
and here's a 1989 live performance.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KtibPrLOzQY
I believe the guitarist/singer in the pink shirt is Barry Tashian who back in 1965-1966 had a smoking band in Boston called The Remains.

On what would have been Les Paul's 95th birthday, Jeff Beck and Imelda May honored him with this performance in New York City.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAUAAn46ji0

and, of course, it's been recorded and performed by hundreds of jazz artists and singers for over 70 years.

Georgia On My Mind

82 years and 5 days ago today, Hoagy Carmichael recorded a new song he wrote the music for and it was called Georgia On My Mind. 52 years ago this month the best known recording of the song was released and that was by Ray Charles. Ray set the standard for the song and I'm not going to even look at the hundreds of recordings of the song that have been made since September 1960, but let's take a look at the first 30 years of the song leading up to Ray's recording.

It's been written that bandleader Frankie Trumbauer suggested to Hoagy Carmichael that he compose  a song called "Georgia" as songs about the South seemed to do pretty well at that time. Carmichael took his suggestion to heart and composed the song and when his college buddy Stuart Gorrell heard the melody he wrote the lyrics to it. Gorrell never wrote another song and went into a long career in banking. Think about it.....the song has been around 82 years and remains popular today and it was his one and only stab at writing a lyric. Carmichael had a sister Georgia and Gorrell stated that it was written about her but intentionally made ambiguous to sound like it could be about both the state and a woman.

Carmichael's orchestra recorded it in New York City on Sept. 15, 1930 with Hoagy doing the vocals. Featured on the recording is the famous cornet of Bix Beiderbecke. It was his last recording session before his untimely death.

 

Hoagy's recording didn't do much. Frankie Trumbauer, the guy that suggested to Hoagy he write a song called Georgia, recorded it in Chicago with his orchestra on Sept. 24, 1931. It came out on the Brunswick label and was the first big hit of the song. To be honest, I haven't a clue as to who did the vocals on the recording. Frankie, a sax player, had a lot of success in the 1920's and 1930's in the flourishing field of jazz. He was also a highly skilled aviator and during the war pretty much walked away from music to work for the Civil Aeronautics Authority, be a test pilot for North American Aviation and to be a flight trainer for the B-25 bomber. He died suddenly in 1956 at the age of 55.

 

Two other famous recordings of Georgia were made in November of that year (1931). On Thursday, November 5, Louis Armstrong cut it and for the first time it received a more relaxed and flowing interpretation although it still had that steady "boom-boom-boom" rhythm.

 

On Tuesday, the 24th of November, the Paul Whiteman Orchestra cut it with Mildred Bailey handling the vocals which was the first female take on the song. What makes this recording unique is it opens with a verse not heard before, or since, where other recordings start it off with the chorus.

In 1936 famed French jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt recorded it.

 

During the first 30 years of Georgia On My Mind it was almost recorded as an instrumental as often as a vocal. Here's the 1940 recording by the Glenn Miller Orchestra.

 

In March 1941, only 9 days apart, two very influential recordings were made of Georgia On My Mind and both featured female singers. The first, on March 12, was done by the Gene Krupa Orchestra featuring Anita O'Day. This is a very nice up-tempo take on the song showing the potential for things to come after the war when it became a favorite of many jazz-flavored singers.

 

On March 21 the Eddie Heywood Orchestra recorded it with Billie Holiday on vocals. A very bluesy performance and with these two March 1941 recordings the song finally lost that steady 1-2-3-4 clipped rhythm.

 

In 1946 the song was cut by Jo Stafford for Capitol. Very bluesy, it was no doubt a big influence on Ray Charles 14 years later. For that matter, it appeared on a Jo Stafford "78" album with 5 other songs in 1946, one of which was Carry Me Back To Old Virginny which was also the b-side of Ray's recording of Georgia in 1960. 

 

In the 1950's there were many recordings of Georgia On My Mind including some done by some of the biggest singers of the decade. A lot of them were pretty horrible too. I won't name names. If they weren't singing it as a finger-snapping Vegas lounge debacle, they were singing it minus anything Anita, Billie and Jo gave it in the 40's. I was going to add a couple examples, but why ruin it? In September 1960 Ray's recording was issued and in the 52 years since it has remained a favorite of singers in all genres.