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The Intimate Keely Smith
''The Intimate Keely Smith'' is a 1964 album by Keely Smith. Reception The initial ''Billboard'' magazine review from January 30, 1965 awarded the album their 'Pop Spotlight' pick for that week and commented that "Keely is warm all over...Backed by a combo, she keeps the mood intimate and thoroughly mellow from start to finish". In a 2016 review of a reissue of the album, Marc Myers wrote for All About Jazz that "the quality of the work is, frankly, astonishing. Smith's song choices are off-beat and perfectly tailored for her voice, and her delivery is confessional and pure saloon. What's more, we hear Smith's voice completely exposed, with little to mask her intonation or articulation. Both are heart-melting". Myers praised Smith's accompanists writing that "The group frames her sensitivity, and Smith's voice is so breathy and cozy, she seems snuggled on someone's shoulder while singing" and concluded that "This is a flawless album and a perfect way to get to know a Las Vegas sin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Keely Smith
Dorothy Jacqueline Keely (March 9, 1928The reference work ''The Encyclopedia of Native Music: More Than a Century of Recordings from Wax Cylinder to the Internet'' gives Smith's date of birth as March 9, 1932. – December 16, 2017), professionally known as Keely Smith, was an American jazz and popular music singer, who performed and recorded extensively in the 1950s with then-husband Louis Prima, and throughout the 1960s as a solo artist. Smith married Prima in 1953. The couple were stars throughout the entertainment business, including stage, television, motion pictures, hit records, and cabaret acts. They won a Grammy in 1959, its inaugural year, for their smash hit, "That Old Black Magic", which remained on the charts for 18 weeks. Early years Smith was born in Norfolk, Virginia; her ancestry was Irish and Cherokee. Jesse Smith, her stepfather, was a carpenter, and her mother took in laundry to earn money to buy gowns for Smith to wear when she performed. Career When Smi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Edward Heyman
Edward Heyman (March 14, 1907October 16, 1981) was an American lyricist and producer, best known for his lyrics to " Body and Soul," "When I Fall in Love," and " For Sentimental Reasons." He also contributed to a number of songs for films. Biography Heyman studied at the University of Michigan where he had an early start on his career writing college musicals. After graduating from college, Heyman moved back to New York City where he started working with a number of experienced musicians like Victor Young ("When I Fall in Love"), Dana Suesse ("You Oughta Be in Pictures") and Johnny Green (" Body and Soul," " Out of Nowhere," "I Cover the Waterfront" and "Easy Come, Easy Go"). From 1935 to 1952, Heyman contributed songs to film scores including '' Sweet Surrender'', ''That Girl from Paris'', ''Curly Top'', '' The Kissing Bandit'', ''Delightfully Dangerous'' and ''Northwest Outpost''. Arguably Heyman's biggest hit is his lyric to " Body and Soul", written in 1930, which was often ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
God Bless The Child (Billie Holiday Song)
"God Bless the Child" is a song written by Billie Holiday and Arthur Herzog Jr. in 1939. It was first recorded on May 9, 1941, by Billie Holiday and released by the Okeh Records in 1942. Holiday's version of the song was honored with the Grammy Hall of Fame Award in 1976. It was also included in the list of ''Songs of the Century'', by the Recording Industry Association of America and the National Endowment for the Arts. Billie Holiday recording sessions Billie Holiday recorded the song three times. First recording (Session #44, Columbia/Okeh): Columbia Studio A, 799 Seventh Avenue, New York City, May 9, 1941, Eddie Heywood and his Orchestra with Roy Eldridge (trumpet), Jimmy Powell and Lester Boone (alto saxophone), Ernie Powell (trumpet), Eddie Heywood (piano), Johan Robins (guitar), Paul Chapman (guitar), Grachan Moncur II (bass), Herbert Cowans (drums), Billie Holiday (vocal). Second recording (Session #65, her final Decca session): Los Angeles March 8, 1950, Gordon Jenk ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Charles Mitchell (songwriter)
Charles Mitchell is a songwriter, best known as a collaborator with Jimmie Davis. Davis's best-known composition, "You Are My Sunshine "You Are My Sunshine" is a song published by Jimmie Davis and Charles Mitchell on January 30, 1940. According to Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI), the song has been recorded by over 350 artists and translated into 30 languages. In 1977, the Louis ...", published in 1939 was co-written by Mitchell. References Year of birth missing Year of death missing American country singer-songwriters American male singer-songwriters {{songwriter-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jimmie Davis
James Houston Davis (September 11, 1899 – November 5, 2000) was an American politician, singer and songwriter of both sacred and popular songs. Davis was elected for two nonconsecutive terms from 1944 to 1948 and from 1960 to 1964 as the governor of his native Louisiana. As Governor, Davis was an opponent of efforts to desegregate Louisiana. Davis was a nationally popular country music and gospel singer from the 1930s into the 1960s, occasionally recording and performing as late as the early 1990s. He appeared as himself in a number of Hollywood movies. He was inducted into six halls of fame, including the Country Music Hall of Fame, the Southern Gospel Music Association Hall of Fame, and the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame. At the time of his death in 2000, he was the oldest living former governor as well as the last living governor to have been born in the 19th century. Early life and career Childhood and birth date confusion Davis was born to a sharecropping couple, th ... [...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] |
Phil Silvers
Phil Silvers (born Phillip Silver; May 11, 1911 – November 1, 1985) was an American entertainer and comedic actor, known as "The King of Chutzpah". His career as a professional entertainer spanned nearly sixty years. Silvers achieved major popularity when he starred in ''The Phil Silvers Show'', a 1950s sitcom set on a United States Army, U.S. Army post in which he played Master Sergeant Ernest (Ernie) Bilko. He also starred in the films ''It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World'' (1963) and ''A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (film), A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum'' (1966). He was a winner of two Primetime Emmy Awards for his work on ''The Phil Silvers Show'' and two Tony Awards for his performances in ''Top Banana (musical), Top Banana'' and ''A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum''. He also wrote the original lyrics to the jazz standard Nancy (with the Laughing Face). Early life Born Philip Silver in Brooklyn, New York (state), New York, in the w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
You Are My Sunshine
"You Are My Sunshine" is a song published by Jimmie Davis and Charles Mitchell on January 30, 1940. According to Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI), the song has been recorded by over 350 artists and translated into 30 languages. In 1977, the Louisiana State Legislature decreed "You Are My Sunshine" the state song in honor of Jimmie Davis, a two-time governor of the state. Writing and recording Earliest performances and recordings The Pine Ridge Boys (Marvin Taylor and Doug Spivey) recorded the song under the title "You Are My Sunshine" on August 22, 1939, and released it on October 6, 1939 for Bluebird Records. The song was recorded in Atlanta, Georgia, where the Pine Ridge Boys were from. No songwriter was listed. The Rice Brothers' Gang recorded the song next for Decca, on September 13, 1939, and released it the following month. This group was originally from Northern Georgia, but relocated to Shreveport, Louisiana, where they performed on the radio station KWKH. The songw ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nancy (with The Laughing Face)
"Nancy (with the Laughing Face)" is a song composed in 1942 by Jimmy Van Heusen, with lyrics by Phil Silvers, called, originally, "Bessie (With The Laughing Face)". It was originally recorded by Frank Sinatra in 1944. Many, perhaps most, people—including, for a time, Sinatra himself—wrongly assume or assumed the song was composed specifically for Sinatra's wife or daughter, each named Nancy; the adjustment in name indeed was inspired by Sinatra's daughter. Origin Former broadcast executive and music historian Rick Busciglio tells the story of the song's inception as related to him by Van Heusen: Notable recordings * Pharoah Sanders, William Henderson, Stafford James, Eccleston W. Wainwright - '' Welcome to Love'' (1991) * Cannonball Adderley, Bill Evans, Percy Heath, Connie Kay - '' Know What I Mean?'' (1961) * Karrin Allyson - Ballads: Remembering John Coltrane' (2001) *Tony Bennett - ''Perfectly Frank'' (1992) *Corry Brokken - ''Voor Nancy'' (1971) *Ray Charles - '' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jule Styne
Jule Styne (; born Julius Kerwin Stein; December 31, 1905 – September 20, 1994) was an English-American songwriter and composer best known for a series of Broadway musicals, including several famous frequently-revived shows that also became successful films: ''Gypsy,'' '' Gentlemen Prefer Blondes,'' and '' Funny Girl.'' Early life Styne was born to a Jewish family in London, England. His parents, Anna Kertman and Isadore Stein, were emigrants from Ukraine, the Russian Empire, and ran a small grocery. Even before his family left Britain, he did impressions on the stage of well-known singers, including Harry Lauder, who saw him perform and advised him to take up the piano. At the age of eight, he moved with his family to Chicago, where he began taking piano lessons. He proved to be a prodigy and performed with the Chicago, St. Louis, and Detroit Symphonies before he was ten years old. Career Before Styne attended Chicago Musical College, he had already attracted the attention o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sammy Cahn
Samuel Cohen (June 18, 1913 – January 15, 1993), known professionally as Sammy Cahn, was an American lyricist, songwriter, and musician. He is best known for his romantic lyrics to films and Broadway songs, as well as stand-alone songs premiered by recording companies in the Greater Los Angeles Area. He and his collaborators had a series of hit recordings with Frank Sinatra during the singer's tenure at Capitol Records, but also enjoyed hits with Dean Martin, Doris Day and many others. He played the piano and violin, and won an Oscar four times for his songs, including the popular hit " Three Coins in the Fountain". Among his most enduring songs is "Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!", cowritten with Jule Styne in 1945. Life and career Cahn was born Samuel Cohen in the Lower East Side of New York City, the only son (he had four sisters) of Abraham and Elka Reiss Cohen, who were Jewish immigrants from Galicia, then ruled by Austria-Hungary. His sisters, Sadye, Pearl, Flor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Time After Time (1947 Song)
"Time After Time" is a romantic jazz standard with lyrics written by Sammy Cahn and music by Jule Styne in 1946. First recordings The first recording was on November 19, 1946 for Musicraft by Sarah Vaughan with the Teddy Wilson Quartet: Wilson on piano, Charlie Ventura on tenor saxophone, Remo Palmieri on guitar, and Billy Taylor on double bass. The song was written for Frank Sinatra to introduce in the 1947 MGM film ''It Happened in Brooklyn''. The pianist providing the offscreen accompaniment was André Previn to an arrangement of Axel Stordahl. Later in the film, the song was reprised in full by Kathryn Grayson. The only contemporary recording by a British artist was the one by Steve Conway. Sinatra recorded it again in 1957 with the Nelson Riddle Orchestra. After it emerged as a jazz standard thanks to saxophonists like Getz and Coltrane, 1959 was a banner year for its popularity, being covered by many pop and jazz vocalists. Other versions * Chet Baker, ''Chet Baker Sings ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
