|
Ring-A-Ding-Ding
''Ring-a-Ding-Ding!'' is a 1961 album by Frank Sinatra. It was the inaugural record on Sinatra's Reprise label and, as the initial concept was "an album without ballads", it consisted only of uptempo swing numbers. The title track was written specifically for Sinatra by Sammy Cahn and Jimmy Van Heusen. The song "Have You Met Miss Jones?" was recorded for the album, though left off the final track listing. ''Ring-a-Ding-Ding!'' reached No. 4; it was given favorable reviews by '' Stereo Review'', and, although a similar album ('' Sinatra's Swingin' Session!!!'') was released by Capitol a mere two months prior, ''Ring-A-Ding-Ding!'' managed to maintain a 35-week stay on the charts. In the UK, the album reached No. 8 and stayed for 9 weeks on the chart. The album was remastered and reissued by Concord Records on June 7, 2011, to mark its 50th Anniversary. The newest CD is an improvement on earlier releases as the original reverberation effect on Sinatra's voice has been decreas ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jimmy Van Heusen
James Van Heusen (born Edward Chester Babcock; January 26, 1913 – February 6, 1990) was an American composer. He wrote songs for films, television and theater, and won an Emmy and four Academy Awards for Best Original Song. Life and career Born in Syracuse, New York, Van Heusen began writing music while at high school. He renamed himself at age 16, after the shirt makers Phillips-Van Heusen, to use as his on-air name during local shows. His close friends called him "Chet".Coppula, C. (2014). ''Jimmy Van Heusen: Swinging on a Star''. Nashville: Twin Creek Books. Jimmy was raised Methodist. Studying at Cazenovia Seminary and Syracuse University, he became friends with Jerry Arlen, the younger brother of Harold Arlen. With the elder Arlen's help, Van Heusen wrote songs for the Cotton Club revue, including "Harlem Hospitality". He then became a staff pianist for some of the Tin Pan Alley publishers, and wrote "It's the Dreamer in Me" (1938) with lyrics by Jimmy Dorsey. Colla ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Chairman of the Board" and later called "Ol' Blue Eyes", Sinatra was one of the most popular entertainers of the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s. He is among the List of best-selling music artists, world's best-selling music artists with an estimated 150 million record sales. Born to Italian immigrants in Hoboken, New Jersey, Sinatra was greatly influenced by the intimate, easy-listening vocal style of Bing Crosby and began his musical career in the swing era with bandleaders Harry James and Tommy Dorsey. He found success as a solo artist after signing with Columbia Records in 1943, becoming the idol of the "Bobby soxer (music), bobby soxers". Sinatra released his debut album, ''The Voice of Frank Sinatra'', in 1946. When his film career stalled in the early 1950s, Sinatra turned to Las Vegas, where he became one of its best-known concert ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Concord Records
Concord Records is an American record label owned by Concord and based in Los Angeles, California. Concord Records was launched in 1995 as an imprint designed to reach beyond the company's foundational Concord Jazz label. The label's artists have won 14 GRAMMY Awards and 88 GRAMMY nominations. The original logo, a stylized eighth note incorporating the C and J of "Concord Jazz", was created by Bay Area graphic designer Dan Buck, who also worked on several album covers for the company. History In 1999, Concord Records was purchased by a consortium led by Hal Gaba and television producer Norman Lear. Its offices were moved from Concord, California to Beverly Hills in 2002. That same year, Concord partnered with Starbucks to release Ray Charles's '' Genius Loves Company'', which won eight GRAMMY Awards, including Album of the Year. Concord Records purchased the Fantasy Label Group in 2004, and in December 2006 announced the reactivation of the Stax Records label as a forum for ne ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Coffee Song
"The Coffee Song" (occasionally subtitled "They've Got an Awful Lot of Coffee in Brazil") is a novelty song written by Bob Hilliard and Dick Miles, first recorded by Frank Sinatra in 1946. Later that year it was recorded by The Smart Set, and by others in later years. The song caricatures Brazil's coffee surplus, jokingly claiming that no other beverages are available. Snowclones on this phrase have been used in analyses of the coffee industry, and of the Brazilian economy and culture. Sinatra re-recorded the song in 1960 for his inaugural Reprise release, ''Ring-a-Ding-Ding!'' Notable cover versions The song has been performed by (among others) Louis Prima, The Andrews Sisters, Sam Cooke, The Smart Set, Rosemary Clooney, Eydie Gormé, Mike Doughty, Stan Ridgway, Soul Coughing, Osibisa, Hildegard Knef, and the Muppets. Bob Dorough recorded the song for inclusion on ''Too Much Coffee Man'', a CD of music based on the eponymous Shannon Wheeler character. The Muppets performed th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cole Porter
Cole Albert Porter (June 9, 1891 – October 15, 1964) was an American composer and songwriter. Many of his songs became standards noted for their witty, urbane lyrics, and many of his scores found success on Broadway and in film. Born to a wealthy family in Indiana, Porter defied his grandfather's wishes for him to practice law and took up music as a profession. Classically trained, he was drawn to musical theatre. After a slow start, he began to achieve success in the 1920s, and by the 1930s he was one of the major songwriters for the Broadway musical stage. Unlike many successful Broadway composers, Porter wrote the lyrics as well as the music for his songs. After a serious horseback riding accident in 1937, Porter was left disabled and in constant pain, but he continued to work. His shows of the early 1940s did not contain the lasting hits of his best work of the 1920s and 1930s, but in 1948 he made a triumphant comeback with his most successful musical, ''Kiss Me, Kate ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
In The Still Of The Night (1937 Song)
"In the Still of the Night" is a popular song written by Cole Porter for the MGM film '' Rosalie'' sung by Nelson Eddy and published in 1937. Two popular early recordings were by Tommy Dorsey (vocal by Jack Leonard) and by Leo Reisman Leo F. Reisman (October 11, 1897 – December 18, 1961) was an American violinist and bandleader in the 1920s and 1930s. Born and reared in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, he was of Jewish ancestry; from German immigrants who immigrated to th ... (vocal by Lee Sullivan). Dorsey's charted on October 16, 1937 and peaked at No. 3. Reisman's charted on December 25, 1937 and peaked at No. 9. The song has since become a standard and has been recorded by many artists. Notable recordings * Chanticleer - ''Lost in the Stars'' (1996) [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dorothy Fields
Dorothy Fields (July 15, 1904 – March 28, 1974) was an American librettist and lyricist. She wrote over 400 songs for Broadway musicals and films. Her best-known pieces include "The Way You Look Tonight" (1936), "A Fine Romance" (1936), "On the Sunny Side of the Street" (1930), " Don't Blame Me" (1948), "Pick Yourself Up" (1936), "I'm in the Mood for Love" (1935), "You Couldn't Be Cuter" (1938) and " Big Spender" (1966). Throughout her career, she collaborated with various influential figures in the American musical theater, including Jerome Kern, Cy Coleman, Irving Berlin, and Jimmy McHugh. Along with Ann Ronell, Dana Suesse, Bernice Petkere, and Kay Swift, she was one of the first successful Tin Pan Alley and Hollywood female songwriters. Early life Fields was born in Allenhurst, New Jersey, and grew up in New York City. In 1923, Fields graduated from the Benjamin School for Girls in New York City. At school, she was outstanding in the subjects of English, drama, and baske ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jerome Kern
Jerome David Kern (January 27, 1885 – November 11, 1945) was an American composer of musical theatre and popular music. One of the most important American theatre composers of the early 20th century, he wrote more than 700 songs, used in over 100 stage works, including such classics as " Ol' Man River", "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man", " A Fine Romance", "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes", "The Song Is You", "All the Things You Are", "The Way You Look Tonight" and "Long Ago (and Far Away)". He collaborated with many of the leading librettists and lyricists of his era, including George Grossmith Jr., Guy Bolton, P. G. Wodehouse, Otto Harbach, Oscar Hammerstein II, Dorothy Fields, Johnny Mercer, Ira Gershwin and Yip Harburg. A native New Yorker, Kern created dozens of Broadway musicals and Hollywood films in a career that lasted for more than four decades. His musical innovations, such as 4/4 dance rhythms and the employment of syncopation and jazz progressions, built on, rather than rejec ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
A Fine Romance (song)
"A Fine Romance" is a popular song composed by Jerome Kern with lyrics by Dorothy Fields, published in 1936. The song was written for the musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, but in some cases, they serve merely as breaks ..., ''Swing Time (1936 film), Swing Time'', where it was co-introduced by Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. Astaire recorded a solo version of the song on July 28, 1936 for Brunswick records (catalog 7716) and it topped the charts of the day for five weeks. Billie Holiday recorded the song for Vocalion Records on September 29, 1936 and this too reached the charts of the day as did versions by Henry King (musician), Henry King and Guy Lombardo. In Hollywood, Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald recorded their version of the song in the summer of 1957. In 1963, Fitzgerald included a solo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ira Gershwin
Ira Gershwin (born Israel Gershovitz; December 6, 1896 – August 17, 1983) was an American lyricist who collaborated with his younger brother, composer George Gershwin, to create some of the most memorable songs in the English language of the 20th century. With George, he wrote more than a dozen Broadway shows, featuring songs such as "I Got Rhythm", "Embraceable You", " The Man I Love" and " Someone to Watch Over Me". He was also responsible, along with DuBose Heyward, for the libretto to George's opera ''Porgy and Bess''. The success the Gershwin brothers had with their collaborative works has often overshadowed the creative role that Ira played. His mastery of songwriting continued after George's early death in 1937. Ira wrote additional hit songs with composers Jerome Kern, Kurt Weill, Harry Warren and Harold Arlen. His critically acclaimed 1959 book ''Lyrics on Several Occasions'', an amalgam of autobiography and annotated anthology, is an important source for studying t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
George Gershwin
George Gershwin (; born Jacob Gershwine; September 26, 1898 – July 11, 1937) was an American composer and pianist whose compositions spanned popular, jazz and classical genres. Among his best-known works are the orchestral compositions ''Rhapsody in Blue'' (1924) and ''An American in Paris'' (1928), the songs " Swanee" (1919) and "Fascinating Rhythm" (1924), the jazz standards "Embraceable You" (1928) and "I Got Rhythm" (1930), and the opera ''Porgy and Bess'' (1935), which included the hit " Summertime". Gershwin studied piano under Charles Hambitzer and composition with Rubin Goldmark, Henry Cowell, and Joseph Brody. He began his career as a song plugger but soon started composing Broadway theater works with his brother Ira Gershwin and with Buddy DeSylva. He moved to Paris, intending to study with Nadia Boulanger, but she refused him, afraid that rigorous classical study would ruin his jazz-influenced style; Maurice Ravel voiced similar objections when Gershwin inq ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
A Foggy Day
"A Foggy Day" is a popular song composed by George Gershwin, with lyrics by Ira Gershwin. The song was introduced by Fred Astaire in the 1937 film '' A Damsel in Distress''. It was originally titled "A Foggy Day (In London Town)" in reference to the pollution-induced pea soup fogs that were common in London during that period, and is often still referred to by the full title. The commercial recording by Astaire for Brunswick was very popular in 1937. Other recordings * Frank Sinatra – ''Songs for Young Lovers'' (1953) *Ella Fitzgerald on her Ella Fitzgerald Sings the George and Ira Gershwin Song Book from Verve Records, 1959. * Charles Mingus – '' Pithecanthropus Erectus'' (1956) * Louis Armstrong with Ella Fitzgerald – ''Ella and Louis'' (1956) * Billie Holiday – ''Songs for Distingué Lovers'' (1957) * Red Garland – ''Red Garland at the Prelude'' (1959) * Frank Sinatra — ''Ring-a-Ding-Ding!'' (1961) * Judy Garland — ''Judy at Carnegie Hall'' (1961) * George Ben ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
