Release Date: 30 April 2006
Label: Naxos - Nostalgia / Naxos Nostalgic
Packaging Type: Jewel Case
No of Units: 1
Barcode: 636943282922
Genres: Jazz
Description
Say It Isn't So' - Songs of Irving Berlin Original 1919-1950 Recordings Irving Berlin once wrote a song called 'Say It With Music' and even though it's not one of the 21 selections on this recording, its title does serve as a kind of mission statement. Berlin always did 'say it with music' and this selection of tunes provides some revealing insights into the life and career of the man born Isadore Baline in Russia in 1888.Alexander's Ragtime Band At the age of 23, Berlin had his first big hit. He claims the melody 'came to him out of the air' in 1911 and he wrote it first as an instrumental. Then he set words to it, vaudeville star Emma Carus launched it, numerous other entertainers picked it up and it sold over 2,000,000 copies. This 1947 version features Al Jolson & Bing Crosby.A Pretty Girl is Like a Melody This was written during the tryout of the 1919 Ziegfeld Follies. The 'great glorifier' wanted a song to link five interludes where his finest showgirls appeared in stunning costumes, each to a piece of classical music. Berlin penned this as a throwaway tune, but it endured and became the anthem of the Follies.What'll I Do? / All Alone Both of these songs are from 1924 and were used in Broadway and touring editions of Berlin's popular series, The Music Box Revues, often thought of as the intimate antidote to Ziegfeld's excess. These reflections of deep personal longing came from the period after Berlin's first wife, Dorothy, tragically died of typhoid during their honeymoon in Cuba.Always This was written in 1925 to socialite Ellin Mackay, whom Berlin fell in love with despite her father's objections. The elder Mackay sent his daughter to Europe to get her away from Berlin, but love triumphed and the two finally married. He gave her this song as a wedding present.Remember Also from 1925, this number initially failed to catch on, but Berlin's song-plugger, partner and friend Max Winslow kept circulating the piece. By the end of the year, three separate recordings of it were all on the charts simultaneously, including this one by 'Cliff Edwards and His Hot Combination'.Blue Skies In 1926, vaudevillian Belle Baker was starring in a show called Betsy, but unhappy about the songs Rodgers and Hart had written for her. She turned to Berlin for help and Baker herself claims he penned the tune the very night before the opening. Copyright information indicates he actually wrote it a few weeks earlier than the 28 December premi?â?¿re, but it makes a good story - and a great song.Puttin' On the Ritz Harry Richman made this a No. 1 hit for Berlin in 1929. Its lyric about 'Lenox Avenue' refers to the custom of Broadway denizens heading up to Harlem for late-night merriment. Later on, Berlin would eliminate the topical (and racial) tinge from the song by changing the locale to 'Park Avenue'.Say It Isn't So / How Deep is the Ocean? Berlin often suffered from periods of depression and inactivity in his life. The early 1930s found him in such a state until cr
Tracklisting
Various
Wisdom:Grenfell:Murray
Whiteman
Various Artists
Various Artists
Various Artists
Various Artists
Various Artists
