1. YESTERDAYS SUNG BY IRENE DUNNE-1933
I have to say I do like this song which has been done many times over since Irene Dune Sung it in the film, “Roberta” which also stars Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers plus Randolph Scott. It was written by Jerome Kern with lyrics by Otto Harbach. I think it’s a nice song even though I do love “Smoke Gets Into Your Eyes” from the same film.
2. TRY TO REMEMBER SUNG BY JERRY ORBACH-1982
This song, written by Harvey Schmidt with lyrics by Tom Jones, is from the Broadway show, "The Fantasticks” in 1960 and was introduced by Jerry Orbach known more for Law & Order and Baby's Daddy from “Dirty Dancing”. This version might be from a, "Night of a 100 Stars", which I'd like to see again. I actually love the simple way he sings these lyrics as it makes me think nostalgic.
3. TAXI SUNG BY HARRY CHAPIN-1972
My brother mentioned this song last week in his comments and I listened, remember it well and really like it so I thought I would present it here. Funny, Harry Chapin debuted this on the Johnny Carson Show and so many called and wrote in( must have been fast mail) that he came back the next day for an encore performance which was very rare on the Carson show also known as The Tonight Show.
Let’s see what other songs you can think up.
Hi, Birgit!
ReplyDeleteThanks for introducing Lucy, your smart cat. I'm thinking she might have gotten that clever idea to hide pills from watching Jack Nicholson in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. :)
Irene Dunne singing "Yesterdays" in Roberta instantly reminded me of a similar scene in Deanna Durbin's 1940 film It's A Date. Watch and listen as Deanna's character sings to her mother, played by Kay Francis, as the mother reclines on a living room sofa:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRpwQx8BIrA
Lennie Briscoe sings!!! Yessum, I appreciate Jerry Orbach's simple rendition of "Try To Remember." I also enjoyed Jerry's performance as a character on the opposite side of law & order playing a gangland hit man in Delusion (1991).
Yessum, I remember Harry Chapin's story songs including this one, "Taxi." I was working nights at an NBC-TV affiliate at the time and always joined the director and sound engineer in the control room to watch the Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. I recall seeing Harry's performance of the song on the Carson show.
For my pick, I'll go with "When I Was Young" by Eric Burdon And the Animals, a giant of the jukebox at the Shady Dell in York, PA.
Have a wonderful Wednesday, dear friend BB. I'll see you tamale in the balcony "At The Movies!" (I'll bring booze.)
Oh I love that Durbin song and she had such a beautiful voice that could have gone to the Met Opera House but she declined and then she left Hollywood behind and never talked about it again. Kay Francis was THE bees knees in the early 30s and considered the best dressed woman in cinema. It was a shame what happened to her in later years. I have not seen Delusion but it's going on my list to see movies. That's pretty cool that you remember when you saw Chain on Johnny Carson. I forgot all about that song from The Animals. It's a great song. Wishing you a great day and I will bring the vodka!
DeleteHopefully Lucy keeps loving on you in the middle of the night for many more years to come.
ReplyDeleteYes, well, we just cherish her now even when she wakes me up with her claws.
DeleteAww what a sweet cat!
ReplyDeleteShe is and she is quite smart!
DeleteSweet kitty! ♥ I don't recall the first song, but Irene Dunn did it well. Jerry Orbach had a good voice, but I keep seeing Lenny from Law and Order; the singing cop! ☺ Taxi is a favourite of mine. Such a haunting tune. Thanks for adding this lovely musical interlude to a dreary afternoon, Birgit!
ReplyDeleteYes it is blah out there eh? I'm glad you liked listening to the tunes. Funny that Jerry Orbach got his start in musical theatre but we know him as a grizzled cop.
DeleteLoved seeing Lucy. Such a cutie and photogenic, too.
ReplyDeleteI LOVE Jerry Orbach and always have. He was fabulous as a pool hustler and great as a cop, but I was glad you showed him in a very different light to how most of us remember him.
Lucy is a model for sure. I'm glad you like seeing Jerry Orbach in this light..He was the candlestick in the animated "Beauty & The Beast."
DeleteOhhhhhhhhh....Taxi. I love that song. Coming out the same year I turned 14, it's evocative of the time I stood poised at the precipice of puberty. Certainly, it has an adult theme, but it takes me back fifty (dear Lord) years ago. Incidentally, I also loved "Cats in the Cradle." I may be unusual (well, that's a given) in that I don't think the song is sad or that he was a bad father. Oh sure, it IS sad, but in a good way. Since I was gone for much of my son's first thirteen years, I can relate. And "my boy was just like me" brings a tear to my eye. He IS like me, but taller. Which is good for him.
ReplyDeleteIf you're looking for a song looking back, I can think of very few more appropriate than "100 Years" by Five For Fighting. I certainly can relate to that one. It really is a "holy crap, where did the time go?" song.
As far as Lucy......WHAT a sweetie!
I am shocked at how songs and movies can be 50 years when they don't seem that old to me. I love that song "100 Years" which I had no idea what it was until I played it on Youtube. It seems all kids are taller than their parents. I always thought that we should be 15ft tall by now.
DeleteBirgit,
ReplyDeleteYour kitty hiding the pills reminds me of a time I found a stash of vitamins. The kids deposited their vitamins behind a refrigerator that was up against the wall. When we removed it a few years back there was quite a pile. Of course, this isn't the only place they put them. Before that I found them under the sofa or behind the stereo speakers and I'm sure there were a few more places I forgot. Once they were big enough refusing still to take them, I just don't take them. It's for your health. Now that they are adults, they take their vitamins without being prodded. lol Your last two songs I knew. Thanks for sharing. I'm continuing to put up songs on Wednesday with the hope Mary returns to her mid-week host. Have a good day, my dear!
I will be visiting for sure as I am behind. I am laughing that your kids did the same thing with the vitamins. My mom bought Flintstones vitamins so I liked eating them.
DeleteDon't remember the first one, but remember the other two very well. The first time I heard Jerry Orbach sing "try To Remember," I remember playing it over and over, amazed that "Lenny Briscoe" could sing so beautifully. The first time I heard "Taxi" was on a new radio station in Chicago that mixed in some jazz with the Adult Contemporary and had all female DJ's. I was really amazed at how full it sounded, and when I discovered that all that music was coming out of four guys, I couldn't believe it.
ReplyDeleteHe has a great voice doesn't he? I do find it amazing how 4 people can create amazing sounds when one thinks it must be 6 or 8 people.
DeleteI love Yesterdays but not Irene Dunne's voice. Streisand did a gorgeous version on her Color Me Barbra special.
ReplyDeleteTry to Remember is a lovely song but I couldn't get into The Fantasticks.
Taxi is such a melancholy song, dispiriting really if you think about it, but well performed.
I think Stardust works though it's not specifically a song about memory it is about how love is often tied up in memories. Beautiful song, one of my favorites.
Then there's Those Were the Days which was a one hit wonder for Mary Hopkin.
And there's also Photographs and Memories by Jim Croce.
I always liked Dunne's voice but Streisand does a great version of this song too. I have never seen the show "The Fantasticks" so I don't know much about it. Taxi is sad but I really like it and thought it fitting.
DeleteStardust is really a nice song and, I think, it belongs to memories. The other 2 songs are also great ones and glad you are commenting here :)
Taxi is one of my all-time favourite songs and I've long suggested it may be the best story ever told to music. Funny, but some have told me they find it sad or depressing but I don't see it that way. Really, it just tells a life story/theme so many of us can relate to.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad, Jesus, you visited here...nyuck, nyuck. Taxi is sad but not depressing to me. I guess you are right that this happens to so many of us.
Delete