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Birds Of A Feather (Carmen McRae Album)
''Birds of a Feather'' is a 1958 album by Carmen McRae. The album was arranged by Ralph Burns, and features the saxophonist Ben Webster. All the songs on the album reference birds in some way. Reception John Bush reviewed the album for Allmusic and wrote that "Fortunately, there are plenty of good songs on the subject, and it's not so narrow that all the focus hinges on birds themselves." Bush praised Ben Webster's solo on "Bob White (Watcha Gonna Swing Tonight?)". Webster's biographer, Frank Buchmann-Moller, wrote that his performances on the album alternate between "routine and inspired", and likened his work on "Flamingo" to the "beating wings of a landing bird". Track listing # " Skylark" ( Hoagy Carmichael, Johnny Mercer) # "Bob White (Watcha Gonna Swing Tonight?)" (Bernie Hanighen, Johnny Mercer) # " A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square" (Eric Maschwitz, Manning Sherwin) # "Mister Meadowlark" ( Walter Donaldson, Johnny Mercer) # " Bye Bye Blackbird" (Ray Henderson, Mo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Carmen McRae
Carmen Mercedes McRae (April 8, 1920 – November 10, 1994) was an American jazz singer. She is considered one of the most influential jazz vocalists of the 20th century and is remembered for her behind-the-beat phrasing and ironic interpretation of lyrics. Early life and education McRae was born in Harlem, New York City, United States. Her father, Osmond, and mother, Evadne (Gayle) McRae, were immigrants from Jamaica. She began studying piano when she was eight, and the music of jazz greats such as Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington filled her home. When she was 17 years old, she met singer Billie Holiday. As a teenager McRae came to the attention of Teddy Wilson and his wife, the composer Irene Kitchings. One of McRae's early songs, "Dream of Life", was, through their influence, recorded in 1939 by Wilson’s long-time collaborator Billie Holiday.Brian Berger"Carmen McRae" HiLobrow, April 8, 2015. McRae considered Holiday to be her primary influence. Early career In her l ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eric Maschwitz
Albert Eric Maschwitz OBE (10 June 1901 – 27 October 1969), sometimes credited as Holt Marvell, was an English entertainer, writer, editor, broadcaster and broadcasting executive. Life and work Born in Edgbaston, Birmingham, England, and descendant of a traditional German family, Maschwitz was educated at Arden House preparatory school, Henley in Arden, Repton School and Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge. As a lyricist, Maschwitz wrote, often credited to his pseudonym "Holt Marvell," the screenplays of several successful films in the 1930s and 1940s, but is perhaps best remembered for his lyrics to 1940s popular songs such as "A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square" (music by Manning Sherwin) and "These Foolish Things" (music by Jack Strachey, reinterpreted in 1973 by Bryan Ferry on his first solo album of the same name). According to the ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Maschwitz had a brief romantic liaison with British cabaret singer Jean Ross, and their r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Johnny Marks
John David Marks (November 10, 1909 – September 3, 1985) was an American songwriter. He specialized in Christmas songs (although he himself was Jewish and did not celebrate Christmas) and wrote many holiday standards, including "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" (a hit for Gene Autry and others), "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" (a hit for Brenda Lee), "A Holly Jolly Christmas" (recorded by the Quinto Sisters and later by Burl Ives), " Silver and Gold" (for Burl Ives), and "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day" (introduced by Bing Crosby). He is also credited with writing "Run Rudolph Run" (recorded by Chuck Berry) but this is due to his trademark of the Rudolph character, rather than any input in the writing of the song. Personal life Marks was born in Mount Vernon, New York. A graduate of McBurney School in New York, NY, and Colgate University and Columbia University, Marks later studied in Paris. He earned a Bronze Star and four Battle Stars as an Army Captain in the 26th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Harry M
Harry may refer to: TV shows * ''Harry'' (American TV series), a 1987 American comedy series starring Alan Arkin * ''Harry'' (British TV series), a 1993 BBC drama that ran for two seasons * ''Harry'' (talk show), a 2016 American daytime talk show hosted by Harry Connick Jr. People and fictional characters *Harry (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name *Harry (surname), a list of people with the surname *Dirty Harry (musician) (born 1982), British rock singer who has also used the stage name Harry *Harry Potter (character), the main protagonist in a Harry Potter fictional series by J. K. Rowling Other uses *Harry (derogatory term), derogatory term used in Norway * ''Harry'' (album), a 1969 album by Harry Nilsson *The tunnel used in the Stalag Luft III escape ("The Great Escape") of World War II * ''Harry'' (newspaper), an underground newspaper in Baltimore, Maryland See also *Harrying (laying waste), may refer to the following historical event ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paul Francis Webster
Paul Francis Webster (December 20, 1907 – March 18, 1984) was an American lyricist who won three Academy Awards for Best Original Song, and was nominated sixteen times for the award. Life and career Webster was born in New York City, United States, the son of Myron Lawrence Webster and Blanche Pauline Stonehill Webster. His family was Jewish. His father was born in Augustów, Poland. He attended the Horace Mann School ( Riverdale, Bronx, New York), graduating in 1926, and then went to Cornell University from 1927 to 1928 and New York University from 1928 to 1930, leaving without receiving a degree. He worked on ships throughout Asia and then became a dance instructor at an Arthur Murray studio in New York City. By 1931, however, he turned his career direction to writing song lyrics. His first professional lyric was "Masquerade" (music by John Jacob Loeb) which became a hit in 1932, performed by Paul Whiteman. In 1935, Twentieth Century Fox signed him to a contract to write lyr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Baltimore Oriole (song)
"Baltimore Oriole" is a 1942 song written by American composer Hoagy Carmichael with lyrics by Paul Francis Webster and Carmichael. Carmichael said it was his favorite of all the songs he had written. Like those of Carmichael's composition " Skylark", the lyrics of "Baltimore Oriole" convey a love affair in terms of a bird–in this case the Baltimore oriole. In the description of his biographer Richard Sudhalter, the song is "one of Carmichael's most evocative of the time" and addresses "the effects of a wayward eye on an avian love relationship". The song was one of three Carmichael compositions due to be featured in the 1944 film ''To Have and Have Not'', starring Humphrey Bogart, Carmichael and Lauren Bacall. According to Bacall, Howard Hawks, the film's director, envisioned the song becoming her signature tune. Instead, Bacall sang the less vocally demanding "How Little We Know", and "Baltimore Oriole" was relegated to serving as background music in the film. Carmichael re ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Harold Arlen
Harold Arlen (born Hyman Arluck; February 15, 1905 – April 23, 1986) was an American composer of popular music, who composed over 500 songs, a number of which have become known worldwide. In addition to composing the songs for the 1939 film '' The Wizard of Oz'' (lyrics by Yip Harburg), including " Over the Rainbow", Arlen is a highly regarded contributor to the Great American Songbook. "Over the Rainbow" was voted the 20th century's No. 1 song by the RIAA and the NEA. Life and career Arlen was born in Buffalo, New York, the child of a Jewish cantor. His twin brother died the next day. He learned to play the piano as a youth, and formed a band as a young man. He achieved some local success as a pianist and singer before moving to New York City in his early twenties, where he worked as an accompanist in vaudeville and changed his name to Harold Arlen. Between 1926 and about 1934, Arlen appeared occasionally as a band vocalist on records by The Buffalodians, Red Nichols, Joe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ted Grouya
Ted Grouya (31 July 1910 – 14 April 2000) born Teodor Gruia in Bucharest, Romania, was a composer who studied composition with Nadia Boulanger. He wrote the jazz standard "Flamingo" (1940), first recorded by Herb Jeffries and Duke Ellington. He also co-wrote the song "I Heard You Cried Last Night." Grouya also wrote the music for the film version of ''Our Hearts Were Young and Gay'' (1944) and other films. In 1949 he married American actress Mary Meade. A one time resident of Palm Springs, California, Grouya had a Golden Palm Star on the Palm Springs Walk of Stars The Palm Springs Walk of Stars is a walk of fame in downtown Palm Springs, California, where "Golden Palm Stars", honoring various people who have lived in the greater Palm Springs area, are embedded in the sidewalk pavement. The walk includes po ... dedicated to him in 1995. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Flamingo (song)
"Flamingo" (1940) is a popular song and jazz standard written by Ted Grouya with lyrics by Edmund Anderson and first recorded by singer Herb Jeffries and the Duke Ellington Orchestra on December 28, 1940, for Victor Records (catalog No. 27326B). This briefly reached the Billboard charts in 1941. Versions that charted in the U.S. *Duke Ellington and his Famous Orchestra, vocal refrain by Herb Jeffries. Victor 27326. Charted number 13 in 1941. *Earl Bostic and his Orchestra. King 4475. Charted number 1, R&B in 1951. *The Gaylords (American vocal group). As "Flamingo L'Amore." Mercury 71369. Charted number 98, Pop in 1958. *Little Willie John. King 5503. Charted number 17, R&B in 1961. *Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass. A&M 813. Charted number 28, Pop and number 5, Easy Listening in 1966. Other notable versions *Bob Crosby and His Orchestra - recorded for Decca Records (catalog No. 3752A) on March 28, 1941. *Tony Martin (American singer), Tony Martin - recorded for Decca Records (catal ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gene Austin
Lemeul Eugene Lucas (June 24, 1900 – January 24, 1972), better known by his stage name Gene Austin, was an American singer and songwriter, one of the early "crooners". His recording of " My Blue Heaven" sold over 5 million copies and was for a while the largest selling record of all time. His 1920s compositions "When My Sugar Walks Down the Street" and "The Lonesome Road" became pop and jazz standards. Early life Austin was born as Lemeul Eugene Lucas in Gainesville, Texas (north of Dallas), to Nova Lucas (died 1943) and the former Serena Belle Harrell (died 1956). He took the name Gene Austin from his stepfather Jim Austin, a blacksmith. Austin grew up in Minden, Louisiana. In Minden, he learned to play piano and guitar. He ran away from home at 15. He attended a vaudeville act in Houston, Texas, where the audience was allowed to come to the stage and sing. On a dare from his friends, Austin took the stage and sang for the first time since singing as a Southern Baptist choir ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mort Dixon
Mort Dixon (March 20, 1892 – March 23, 1956) was an American lyricist. Biography Born in New York City, United States, Dixon began writing songs in the early 1920s, and was active into the 1930s. He achieved success with his first published effort, 1923's "That Old Gang of Mine". His chief composer collaborators were Ray Henderson, Harry Warren, Harry M. Woods and Allie Wrubel. His composing output declined in the late 1930s, and he retired early in life to reside in Westchester County, New York. Among his lyrics are: " That Old Gang Of Mine" (1923), "Bye Bye Blackbird" (1926), "I'm Looking Over a Four Leaf Clover" (1927), "Nagasaki" (1928), "Would You Like to Take a Walk?" (1930), "I Found a Million Dollar Baby (in a Five and Ten Cent Store)", "You're My Everything", and "River, Stay 'Way from My Door" (1931), "Flirtation Walk" and "Mr and Mrs is the Name" (1934) and " The Lady in Red" (1935). Dixon is a member of the Songwriters Hall of Fame. He died in Bronxville, New York ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ray Henderson
Ray Henderson (born Raymond Brost; December 1, 1896 – December 31, 1970) was an American songwriter. Early life Born in Buffalo, New York, United States, Henderson moved to New York City and became a popular composer in Tin Pan Alley. He was one third of a successful songwriting and music publishing team with Lew Brown and Buddy De Sylva from 1925 through 1930, responsible for several editions of the revue called ''George White's Scandals'' and such book musicals as ''Good News (musical), Good News'', ''Hold Everything!'', and ''Follow Thru (musical), Follow Thru''. After De Sylva's departure, Henderson continued to write with Brown through 1933. Then, he worked with other partners. In 1934, he composed the musical ''Say When (musical), Say When'' with lyricist Ted Koehler. Music Henderson's biggest hit songs included "Annabelle" (1923), "Bye Bye Blackbird", "Has Anybody Seen My Girl?" (a/k/a "Five Foot Two, Eyes of Blue"), "I'm Sitting on Top of the World", "Don't Bring Lulu" ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
