''Laughin' to Keep from Cryin is a 1958 studio album by
Lester Young
Lester Willis Young (August 27, 1909 – March 15, 1959), nicknamed "Pres" or "Prez", was an American jazz tenor saxophonist and occasional clarinetist.
Coming to prominence while a member of Count Basie's orchestra, Young was one of the most ...
featuring the trumpeters
Harry "Sweets" Edison
Harry "Sweets" Edison (October 10, 1915 – July 27, 1999) was an American jazz trumpeter and a member of the Count Basie Orchestra. His most important contribution was as a Hollywood studio musician, whose muted trumpet can be heard bac ...
and
Roy Eldridge
David Roy Eldridge (January 30, 1911 – February 26, 1989), nicknamed "Little Jazz", was an American jazz trumpeter. His sophisticated use of harmony, including the use of tritone substitutions, his virtuosic solos exhibiting a departure from ...
.
Reception
Scott Yanow reviewed the album for
Allmusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...
and wrote that "...this date apparently had a lot of difficulties but the recorded results are excellent. Young takes rare clarinet solos on two of the selections with his emotional statement on "They Can't Take That Away from Me" being one of the highpoints of his career."
Track listing
# "Salute to Benny" (
Lester Young
Lester Willis Young (August 27, 1909 – March 15, 1959), nicknamed "Pres" or "Prez", was an American jazz tenor saxophonist and occasional clarinetist.
Coming to prominence while a member of Count Basie's orchestra, Young was one of the most ...
) - 8:32
# "
They Can't Take That Away from Me
"They Can't Take That Away from Me" is a 1937 popular song with music by George Gershwin and lyrics by Ira Gershwin. It was introduced by Fred Astaire in the 1937 film ''Shall We Dance'' and gained huge success.
Overview
The song is performed b ...
" (
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 ' ...
,
Ira Gershwin) - 6:02
# "Romping" (Young) - 11:42
# "
The Gypsy in My Soul
"The Gypsy in My Soul" is a popular song written for the 50th anniversary of the University of Pennsylvania Mask and Wig show in 1937 by two Penn graduates, Clay Boland and Moe Jaffe. Boland wrote the music and Jaffe the lyrics. Although both men ...
" (
Clay Boland
Clay Boland was a dentist and composer of popular songs. He was born October 25, 1903, in Olyphant, Pennsylvania, United States.
He studied dentistry at the University of Philadelphia. In 1924, he won a university competition for a prom song with ...
,
Moe Jaffe
Moe Jaffe (October 23, 1901 – December 2, 1972) was a songwriter and bandleader who composed more than 250 songs. He is best known for six: "Collegiate" (which was played by Chico Marx in the movie ''Horse Feathers''), "The Gypsy in My Soul", " ...
) - 4:14
# "
Please Don't Talk About Me When I'm Gone
"Please Don't Talk About Me When I'm Gone" is a song published in 1930. It was written by Sam H. Stept with lyrics by Sidney Clare. The original publication also credited singer Bee Palmer as co-composer.
Background
The lyrics are an admonishm ...
" (
Sidney Clare
Sidney Clare (August 15, 1892 – August 29, 1972) was an American comedian, dancer and composer. His best-known songs include "On the Good Ship Lollipop" (introduced by Shirley Temple), " You're My Thrill" (recorded by Billie Holiday), and "Ple ...
,
Sam H. Stept
Samuel Howard Stept (aka Sammy Stept; 18 September 1897 – 1 December 1964) was an American songwriter who wrote for Broadway, Hollywood and the big bands. He became known simply as Sam Stept or Sam H. Stept – he rarely used his full middle n ...
) - 6:11
# Ballad medley: "
The Very Thought of You
"The Very Thought of You" is a pop standard that was recorded and published in 1934 with music and lyrics by Ray Noble. The song was first recorded by Ray Noble and His Orchestra with Al Bowlly on vocals for HMV in England in April 1934. This re ...
"/"I Want a Little Girl"/"
Blue and Sentimental Blue and Sentimental is a song written by Count Basie, Jerry Livingston, and Mack David. It was written in 1938 and recorded by the Count Basie Orchestra on 6 June that year.
Other recordings
*1947 - Count Basie recorded the song again on October 1 ...
" (
Ray Noble
Raymond Stanley Noble (17 December 1903 – 2 April 1978) was an English jazz and big band musician, who was a bandleader, composer and arranger, as well as a radio host, television and film comedian and actor; he also performed in the United ...
)/(Murray Mencher, Billy Moll)/(
Count Basie
William James "Count" Basie (; August 21, 1904 – April 26, 1984) was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. In 1935, he formed the Count Basie Orchestra, and in 1936 took them to Chicago for a long engagement and the ...
,
Jerry Livingston
Jerry Livingston (born Jerry Levinson; March 25, 1909 – July 1, 1987) was an American songwriter and dance orchestra pianist.
Life and career
Born in Denver, Colorado, Livingston studied music at the University of Arizona. While there he com ...
,
Mack David
Mack David (July 5, 1912 – December 30, 1993) was an American lyricist and songwriter, best known for his work in film and television, with a career spanning the period between the early 1940s and the early 1970s. David was credited with writing ...
) - 6:38
# "
Mean to Me" (
Fred E. Ahlert,
Roy Turk
Roy is a masculine given name and a family surname with varied origin.
In Anglo-Norman England, the name derived from the Norman ''roy'', meaning "king", while its Old French cognate, ''rey'' or ''roy'' (modern ''roi''), likewise gave rise to ...
) - 6:58
Personnel
*
Lester Young
Lester Willis Young (August 27, 1909 – March 15, 1959), nicknamed "Pres" or "Prez", was an American jazz tenor saxophonist and occasional clarinetist.
Coming to prominence while a member of Count Basie's orchestra, Young was one of the most ...
-
clarinet,
tenor saxophone
The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (while ...
*
Harry "Sweets" Edison
Harry "Sweets" Edison (October 10, 1915 – July 27, 1999) was an American jazz trumpeter and a member of the Count Basie Orchestra. His most important contribution was as a Hollywood studio musician, whose muted trumpet can be heard bac ...
,
Roy Eldridge
David Roy Eldridge (January 30, 1911 – February 26, 1989), nicknamed "Little Jazz", was an American jazz trumpeter. His sophisticated use of harmony, including the use of tritone substitutions, his virtuosic solos exhibiting a departure from ...
-
trumpet
The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...
*
Herb Ellis -
guitar
The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...
*
Hank Jones -
piano
The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keybo ...
*
George Duvivier -
double bass
The double bass (), also known simply as the bass () (or by other names), is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed (or plucked) string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra (excluding unorthodox additions such as the octobass). Similar i ...
*
Mickey Sheen
Mickey Sheen (born Milton Scheinblum, December 13, 1927 – March 25, 1987) was a jazz drummer known for swing and mainstream jazz.
Sheen was born in Brooklyn, New York City. He married Marilyn Feinstein and had two sons, Neil and Brian Shee ...
-
drums
;Production
* Sherniece Smith - art coordinator
* Hollis King, Sheldon Marks - art direction
*
Francis Davis
Francis Davis (born August 30, 1946) is an American author and journalist. He is best known as the jazz critic for ''The Village Voice'', and a contributing editor for ''The Atlantic Monthly''. He has also worked in radio and film, and taught ...
-
liner notes
Liner notes (also sleeve notes or album notes) are the writings found on the sleeves of LP record albums and in booklets that come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or the equivalent packaging for cassettes.
Origin
Liner notes are desc ...
* JoDee Stringham - design
* Kevin Reeves - mastering
* Peter Keepnews - notes editing
* Cynthia Sesso - photo research
*
Burt Goldblatt
Burt Goldblatt (''né'' Burton George Goldblatt; 11 December 1924, in Dorchester, Massachusetts – 30 August 2006, in Boston) was an American art director, graphic designer, photographer, and author. He was best known for designing the covers ...
- photography
*
Norman Granz
Norman Granz (August 6, 1918 – November 22, 2001) was an American jazz record producer and concert promoter. He founded the record labels Clef, Norgran, Down Home, Verve, and Pablo. Granz was acknowledged as "the most successful impres ...
-
producer
* Tom Greenwood - production assistant, research assistant
References
{{Authority control
1958 albums
Albums produced by Norman Granz
Lester Young albums
Verve Records albums