Behold a very rare and significant MGM short film from 1929 called ‘The Song Writer’s Revue’. The film features a half-dozen songwriting legends–including Gus Edwards, Fred Fisher, Arthur Freed, Fred Ahlert and Nacio Herb Brown–sitting glumly at a clutch of grand pianos. Before playing examples of their own work, they’re
Yesterday I posted a 1972 interview with songwriting great Harry Warren. Today let’s look backwards forty years from that time to 1933 and watch a Vitaphone “Pepper Pot” short called “Harry Warren; America’s Foremost Composer’. In it, Warren appears at a piano in a beautiful art deco setting, surrounded by
In 1972, Ian Whitcomb–singer, songwriter, music historian and show-biz gadabout–interviewed the great songwriter Harry Warren. Above is fifteen minutes of that video and it’s a real delight. Warren tells stories in his off-the-cuff, gruff Brooklyn manner and plays and sings a few of his songs. At the end, he and
Have you ever heard Ira Gershwin speak? Neither had I. But here he is in 1970 chatting on a pre-recorded radio show, sounding out-of-breath and not exactly happy talking about the past. Still, labored though it is, this interview’s a valuable addition to any Gershwin affiicianado’s (spelling?) collection of Gershwin-iana.
Okay, I took a week’s vacation from posting and now I’m back. I was with family and, much as I love them, I kind of wish I was George Gershwin in the spring of 1937 on vacation with Paulette Goddard. The two of them were discreetly involved in a romance
Here’s a couple of precious minutes showing Judy Garland during a run-through for an appearance on ‘Hollywood Palace’, singing ‘What the World Needs Now (Is Love Sweet Love)’. Her listless performance is a hell of a lot more fun than many singers all out, full-blown performances though its hard to
Aired on April 28, 1966, this one-hour special featuring Tony Bennett at the peak of his (first) career was sponsored by Singer Sewing Machines and NBC and is–in my opinion–the best television musical special ever made. In addition to Tony the starry supporting cast includes Buddy Rich, Paul Horne, Milt
Let’s put a button on this bizarre, embarrassing and absurd week–I speak of events on the world stage–with something that makes absolute, delicious sense. Here’s Fred Astaire and Rita Hayworth doing the ‘Shorty George’ from ‘You Were Never Lovelier’ (1942). Watching this perfection is like drinking a long, cold glass
Ronald Neame was a distinguished English cinematographer who worked with David Lean on their earliest films–‘Great Expectations’, ‘The Happy Breed’, ‘Oliver Twist’ etc. He then moved into directing and had a relatively good–if perhaps a bit spotty–run, directing a diverse set of films which included ‘The Poseidon Adventure’ (which he
Thomas ‘Fats’ Waller was born on May 21, 1904, thus making today his 122nd birthday. Waller was a singular figure in the music world. Nobody had a career remotely like his–he was a brilliant composer, superb pianist, innovative jazz organist, swinging singer, delightful comic personality and purveyor of infectious joy