|
Things Ain't What They Used To Be (And You Better Believe It)
''Things Ain't What They Used to Be'' is a 1970 studio album by the American jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald - the final album that Fitzgerald recorded on the Reprise Records label. The album was re-issued on CD with alternative artwork in 1989. It was released together on one CD with Ella's first album recorded for Reprise label, ''Ella''. Track listing For the 1970 LP on Reprise Records; RS 6432; Re-issued by Reprise-Warner Bros. in 1989 on CD; Reprise 9 26023-2 Side One: # " Sunny" (Bobby Hebb) – 5:18 # " Mas que Nada" (Jorge Ben Jor, English Lyrics by Loryn Deane) – 3:49 # "A Man and a Woman (Un Homme et une Femme)" (Pierre Barouh, Francis Lai, Jerry Keller) – 3:17 # " Days of Wine and Roses" (Henry Mancini, Johnny Mercer) – 2:22 # " Black Coffee" (Sonny Burke, Paul Francis Webster) – 4:28 # "Tuxedo Junction" (Julian Dash, Buddy Feyne, Erskine Hawkins, Bill Johnson) – 3:17 Side Two: # "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" (Barrett Strong, Norman Whitfield) – 3: ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Jane Fitzgerald (April 25, 1917June 15, 1996) was an American jazz singer, sometimes referred to as the "First Lady of Song", "Queen of Jazz", and "Lady Ella". She was noted for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phrasing, timing, intonation, and a "horn-like" improvisational ability, particularly in her scat singing. After a tumultuous adolescence, Fitzgerald found stability in musical success with the Chick Webb Orchestra, performing across the country but most often associated with the Savoy Ballroom in Harlem. Her rendition of the nursery rhyme "A-Tisket, A-Tasket" helped boost both her and Webb to national fame. After taking over the band when Webb died, Fitzgerald left it behind in 1942 to start her solo career. Her manager was Moe Gale, co-founder of the Savoy, until she turned the rest of her career over to Norman Granz, who founded Verve Records to produce new records by Fitzgerald. With Verve she recorded some of her more widely noted works, particularly he ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Francis Lai
Francis Albert Lai (; 26 April 19327 November 2018) was a French composer, noted for his film scores. He won the 1970 Oscar for Best Music, Original Score and the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score for the film '' Love Story''. The soundtrack album went to No. 2 in the ''Billboard'' album charts and the film's theme, " Where Do I Begin", was a hit single for Andy Williams. Life and career Lai was born on 26 April 1932, in Nice, France, the son of market gardeners of Italian origin. From a very early age, Lai was fascinated by music and he played first in his local regional orchestras. In Marseilles he discovered jazz and met Claude Goaty, a singer of popular songs in the 50s. While in his twenties, Lai left home and followed Goaty to Paris, where he became part of the lively Montmartre music scene. The "Taverne d'Attilio" on the Place du Tertre in Montmartre, was a favorite place for the young talented with whom Lai composed his first song. Their song-writing part ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
I Heard It Through The Grapevine
"I Heard It Through the Grapevine" is a song written by Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong for Motown Records in 1966. The first recording of the song to be released was produced by Whitfield for Gladys Knight & the Pips and released as a single in September 1967. It went to number one on the ''Billboard'' R&B Singles chart and number two on the ''Billboard'' Pop Singles chart and shortly became the biggest selling Motown single up to that time. The Miracles were the first to record the song in 1966, but their version wasn't released until August 1968 when it was included on their album '' Special Occasion''. The Marvin Gaye version was the second to be recorded, in the beginning of 1967, but the third to be released. It was placed on his 1968 album '' In the Groove'', a year and a half later, where it gained the attention of radio disc jockeys, and Motown founder Berry Gordy finally agreed to its release as a single in October 1968, when it went to the top of the ''Billb ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bill Johnson (reed Player)
William Luther Johnson (September 30, 1912 – July 5, 1960) was an American alto saxophonist, clarinetist, and arranger. Early life and education Johnson studied piano as a child and began playing the alto saxophone at the age of 16. After working with lesser-known bands he studied in conservatories in Wisconsin and Illinois, then attended Marquette University. Career While in Milwaukee, Johnson played with Jabbo Smith and others. He worked with Baron Lee and Tiny Bradshaw, and in 1936 joined Erskine Hawkins, with whom he performed into the early 1940s. His recordings with Hawkins include "Uptown Shuffle"' (1939, Bb 10504) and " Bear Mash Blues" (1942, Bb 30-0813); he also arranged the former title, as well as " Uncle Bud" (1941, Bb 11372), and he composed "Tuxedo Junction "Tuxedo Junction" is a popular song written by Erskine Hawkins, Bill Johnson, and Julian Dash with lyrics by Buddy Feyne. The song was introduced by Erskine Hawkins & His Orchestra, a college dance ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Erskine Hawkins
Erskine Ramsay Hawkins (July 26, 1914 – November 11, 1993) was an American trumpeter and big band leader from Birmingham, Alabama, dubbed "The 20th Century Gabriel". He is best remembered for composing the jazz standard "Tuxedo Junction" (1939) with saxophonist and arranger Bill Johnson. The song became a hit during World War II, rising to No. 7 nationally (version by the Erskine Hawkins Orchestra) and to No. 1 nationally (version by the Glenn Miller Orchestra). Vocalists who were featured with Erskine's orchestra include Ida James, Delores Brown, and Della Reese. Hawkins was named after Alabama industrialist Erskine Ramsay. Early years Erskine Hawkins was named by his parents after Alabama industrialist Erskine Ramsay who was rewarding parents with savings accounts for them for doing so. Hawkins attended Councill Elementary School and Industrial High School (now known as Parker High School) in Birmingham, Alabama. At Industrial High School, he played in the ban ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Buddy Feyne
Buddy Feyne (born Bernard Feinstein, June 9, 1912 – December 10, 1998) was an American lyricist during the swing era. He wrote the lyrics for "Tuxedo Junction", which went to No. 1 on the ''Billboard'' chart in 1940 when Glenn Miller recorded it, "Jersey Bounce", which was No. 15 on the ''Cash Box'' Hit Parade of 1942., and "Jumpin' with Symphony Sid". Feyne's songs have been recorded by Ella Fitzgerald, Joe Jackson, The Manhattan Transfer, Sarah Vaughan, Joe Williams, Louis Armstrong, Gene Autry, Frankie Avalon, The Andrews Sisters, George Benson, Nat King Cole, and Boz Scaggs. Biography Feyne was born in New York City, the youngest son of immigrants Solomon and Sarah Feinstein. His older brother, Irving, befriended Milton Berle, who advised Bernard that a Jewish name would prevent him from succeeding in the music industry, and summarily changed his name to Buddy Feyne. Feyne was based at the Brill Building in New York, writing songs for Lewis Music Publishers, one of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Julian Dash
Julian Dash (April 9, 1916 – February 25, 1974) was an American swing music jazz tenor saxophonist born in Charleston, South Carolina, United States, probably better known for his work with Erskine Hawkins and Buck Clayton. Dash was a member of the Bama State Collegians, which later became the Erskine Hawkins Orchestra. He is recognised, with Hawkins and fellow sax player Bill Johnson, in composing the swing tune "Tuxedo Junction", which became an immense hit when recorded by other (mainly white) bands, notably that of Glenn Miller. In the late 1940s and early 1950s, Dash recorded for the Sittin' in With label and later was on Vee-Jay Records with his sextets. His renditions of "Devil's Lament" and "Dance of the Mother Bird" on Sittin' In With and his "Zig Zag" on the Vee Jay label were hits in the black community. Dash can be heard at his best in 1953 on two of the Buck Clayton Jam Sessions, in which extended versions of songs ("The Huckle-Buck" to 63 choruses) were recorde ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tuxedo Junction
"Tuxedo Junction" is a popular song written by Erskine Hawkins, Bill Johnson, and Julian Dash with lyrics by Buddy Feyne. The song was introduced by Erskine Hawkins & His Orchestra, a college dance band previously known as the Bama State Collegians. RCA released it in 1939 and it climbed to #7 on the American pop charts. The song was a No. 1 hit for Glenn Miller & His Orchestra in 1940. Background In the late 1930s Hawkins and his Orchestra were one of the house bands at the Savoy Ballroom. They alternated with the Chick Webb band and often used "Tuxedo Junction" as their sign-off song before the next band would take the stage so that the dancing would continue uninterrupted. A live -minute version of the song by the Hawkins Orchestra exists, with extended solos from Hawkins on the trumpet, Paul Bascomb and Julian Dash on tenor saxophones, and Haywood Henry on the clarinet. It was recorded as an aircheck in the summer of 1942 at the Blue Room club in New York City. The song was ... [...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] |
Sonny Burke
Joseph Francis "Sonny" Burke (March 22, 1914 – May 31, 1980) was an American musical arranger, composer, Big Band leader and producer. In 1937, he graduated from Duke University, where he had formed and led the jazz big band known as the Duke Ambassadors. Background During the 1930s and 1940s, Burke was a big band arranger in New York City, worked with Sam Donahue's band, and during the 1940s and 1950s worked as an arranger for the Charlie Spivak and Jimmy Dorsey bands, among others. In 1955, he wrote, along with Peggy Lee, the songs to Disney's ''Lady and the Tramp''. He also wrote songs with John Elliot for Disney's ''Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom'', which won the 1953 Oscar for Best Short Subject (Cartoons).Cotter, Bill, ''The Wonderful World of Disney Television: A Complete History'', p. 549, Hyperion, 1997. He wrote the music for number of popular songs, including " Black Coffee" and "Midnight Sun", co-written with jazz vibraphonist Lionel Hampton. The song's lyrics ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Black Coffee (1948 Song)
"Black Coffee" is a song with music by Sonny Burke and words by Paul Francis Webster. The song was published in 1948. Sarah Vaughan charted with this song in 1949 on Columbia; arranged by Joe Lipman, it is considered one of the most notable versions. Peggy Lee recorded the song on May 4, 1953, and it was included on her first LP record '' Black Coffee''. It was included in the soundtrack for the 1960 Columbia Pictures feature ''Let No Man Write My Epitaph'', recorded on Verve by Ella Fitzgerald, also in 1960. The version by Ella Fitzgerald was a favourite song of Polish Nobel Prize laureate Wisława Szymborska who chose it as the song to be performed at her funeral. Relationship to song "What's Your Story, Morning Glory?" "Black Coffee"'s first two measures are nearly identical to Mary Lou Williams' 1938 piece "What's Your Story Morning Glory", and both songs share melodic motifs drawn from blues (including a strong melodic emphasis on the flat third and flat seventh interval ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Johnny Mercer
John Herndon Mercer (November 18, 1909 – June 25, 1976) was an American lyricist, songwriter, and singer, as well as a record label executive who co-founded Capitol Records with music industry businessmen Buddy DeSylva and Glenn E. Wallichs. He is best known as a Tin Pan Alley lyricist, but he also composed music, and was a popular singer who recorded his own songs as well as songs written by others from the mid-1930s through the mid-1950s. Mercer's songs were among the most successful hits of the time, including " Moon River", " Days of Wine and Roses", " Autumn Leaves", and "Hooray for Hollywood". He wrote the lyrics to more than 1,500 songs, including compositions for movies and Broadway shows. He received nineteen Oscar nominations, and won four Best Original Song Oscars. Early life Mercer was born in Savannah, Georgia, where one of his first jobs, aged 10, was sweeping floors at the original 1919 location of Leopold's Ice Cream. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
.jpg "Click for more on -> Ella Fitzgerald")
