NOTABLOG
MONTHLY ARCHIVES: 2002 - 2020
| SEPTEMBER 2006 | NOVEMBER 2006 |
Song
of the Day: Danse
Macabre (Opus 40), composed by Camille
Saint-Saens, is one of those Halloween staples.
Listen to an audio clip featuring the London
Philharmonia Orchestra, another featuring Eugene
Ormandy conducting the Philadelphia Orchestra, and also a performance
by pianist Vladimir
Horowitz. Happy
Halloween!
Song
of the Day: Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered, a
great Rodgers
and Hart tune from "Pal
Joey," kicks off our mini-tribute in honor of Halloween week
(okay, so the song has nothing to do with witches and goblins, even if it has
"bewitched" in the title... but I love it!). Listen to audio clips of renditions
recorded by Doris
Day, Ella
Fitzgerald, Linda
Ronstadt, Benny
Goodman (with Helen Forrest), Rod
Stewart and Cher, Barbra
Streisand, and Oscar
Peterson and Stan Getz.
Didn't Sinatra record Bewitched?
Posted by: Chris Grieb | October
30, 2006 10:50 AM
Chris, I couldn't find any links to a Sinatra version, but a
little digging turned up this information:
Bewitched, Bothered And Bewildered
08/13/57 Arr: Nelson Riddle
Capitol,
Studio
CD: Pal Joey Soundtrack (OOP)
02/20/63 Arr: Nelson Riddle
Reprise, Studio
CD: Concert Sinatra
04/00/94 Arr: Patrick Williams
With: Patti LaBelle (Electronic Duet)
Capitol, Special
CD: Duets II
Note: Orch recorded 5/17-18/94, vocal from April 1994 concert
So, yes, he certainly did record it. Check out Songs
by Sinatra for what appears to be a definitive listing of all his
recordings. It's quite a list!
Chris
Posted by: Chris
Matthew Sciabarra | November
8, 2006 09:55 AM
Song
of the Day: Just
for Love, words and music by Peter
Murphy (see "Subway")
features the scintillating violin work of Hugh Marsh and the rhythmic pulse of tabla
player Shankar.
This superb track, with its Middle
Eastern influences, is an innovative highlight of Peter's 'luminescent' album, "Dust"
(audio clip at that link).
"There is no 'try'!
You truck, or you do not!"
Chris: Keep on Truckin'!
MTFBWY and LLAP
J:D/Rowlf/Morg
Posted by: John Dailey | October
27, 2006 11:32 PM
I've been following your songs of the day for a long time now,
and I just wanted to thank you for opening up my mind to so many different
genres of music. Thanks especially for turning me onto Peter Murphy. I had no
idea who he was or what he was about, but the two songs you highlighted gave me
incentive to purchase the CDs and they are both wonderful. Thank you, thank you,
thank you!!!!!!!!!
Posted by: Nancy | October
29, 2006 12:56 PM
Nancy, you're welcome. I confess that I knew nothing about
Peter Murphy until a couple of years ago, and my exploration of his body of work
has made me a real fan. There is a lot to explore, so enjoy!
And, JD, nice to see you around these parts again; thanks for your encouragement
and support.
Chris
Posted by: Chris
Matthew Sciabarra | November
8, 2006 09:52 AM
Song
of the Day: Night in Tunisia, written by birthday boy Dizzy
Gillespie, has been recorded by many jazz artists, including Sonny
Rollins, Art
Blakey, Manhattan
Transfer, and, of course, Dizzy
and Bird.
Song
of the Day: Pradizer
Adeus (To Say Goodbye), words and music by Edu
Lobo, Torquato Neto, and Lani Hall, is a sensitive bossa nova, which
has been recorded by Brasil
66 and the incomparable Sarah
Vaughan (audio clips at those links).
| Permalink | Comments
(2) | Posted to Music
Geez. I hope the choice of song here isn't indicative of the
future of notablog...it's been a few days...:-(
Posted by: Peri Sword | October
19, 2006 11:48 PM
Hey, Peri, yes, it has been more
than a few days. Deadlines, deadlines, deadlines for me... but I'll continue my
posting here as time allows. Thanks for all your support, as always,
Chris
Posted by: Chris
Matthew Sciabarra | November
8, 2006 09:51 AM
Song
of the Day: Give
Me the Simple Life, words and music by Harry
Ruby and Rube
Bloom, was first heard in the 1946 film, "Wake
Up and Dream." Listen to audio clips from renditions by Ella
Fitzgerald, Julie
London, Tony
Bennett, Rosemary
Clooney, and Mel
Torme and George Shearing.
There's a long,
long way to go, but yesterday the postseason started off with a bang
for Yankee fans. The Yanks took the opener of their division series against the
Detroit Tigers, 8-4. MVP candidate Derek
Jeter was terrific, going 5
for 5, with a solo homer, and some sparkling defensive plays as well.
Whatever path these Yankees take this October, I still marvel at the record-setting
production of this great Yankee ballplayer.
Go
Jeter. Go Yanks.
| Permalink | Comments
(16) | Posted to Sports
Jeter is simply amazing. Good
write-up here.
Posted by: Aeon J. Skoble | October
4, 2006 09:06 AM
One down, ten to go. But it's a long way to Tipperary. ;-)
Posted by: Andre Zantonavitch | October
4, 2006 08:33 PM
My sympathies, Chris.
I
understand how it feels to have your heart broken by the Detroit Tigers.
Posted by: Peri Sword | October
8, 2006 02:21 AM
Detroit played the better game and its time for the Yankees to
start losing. Michigan teams are winning all across the board. They've dominated
in football, (pro and college) baseball, and all the other sports. because they
are the GREATEST.
Posted by: Mike Brown the Detroit Fan | October
8, 2006 03:44 PM
I think it's fair to say, that not many tears are being shed
in Boston over the fate of the NY Yankees.
Posted by: Jim Farmelant | October
8, 2006 08:28 PM
...and now I know how a team from St. Louis can break MY heart
too. :-(
Posted by: Peri | October
9, 2006 10:30 AM
My tears will shed for Boston!
Posted by: Edugree | October
9, 2006 05:22 PM
Overpaid bums!
Posted by: Mark D. Fulwiler | October
10, 2006 01:04 PM
With the prospect of a Subway Series derailed because the
Yankee season came to a crashing end, the New York Mets begin their quest for
the NL pennant tonight.
But for Yankee fans, there is no better time than now to contemplate the
importance of "Cleaning House."
I
largely agree with Bill Madden's take on this (see his article, "Cleaning
House Has Nice Ring to It"). The Yankees have become a lumbering (and
very expensive) group (not quite a "team"). I've said it before, and I'll say it
again: They are not going to recapture the World Series (or advance much beyond
the first or second round) if they pursue the policy of signing All-Stars, who
may be great individual players but who don't constitute a team. This is the
policy that kept them from winning a World Series from 1979 through 1995 (a
period during which they made it to the Fall Classic only once, when they
fell to the Los Angeles Dodgers, in 1981... led by another anemic All-Star, Dave
Winfield, who went 1 for 22, and who was dubbed by The Boss as "Mr. May," in
contrast to Reggie "Mr. October" Jackson).
In
terms of the recent past, the most successful Yankee teams were those peppered
with seasoned veterans acquired from the free agent market and young players who
had earned their pinstripes through the Yankee farm system. Today, the most
consistent players are those such as Jeter, Posada, or even Bernie Williams, who
came up through that farm system and who are among the last vestiges of the
cohesive Yankee dynasty that dominated baseball in the late 1990s. And the
current crop of young players with the most heart (e.g., Melky Cabrera) also
happen to be farm system products. These guys kept the team afloat during a year
plagued with physical setbacks (to players like Matsui and Sheffield) and
psychological ones (for high-maintenance players like A-Rod).
Speaking of A-Rod: Yes, he's a great player. But, for me, he has yet to prove
himself in the clutch. I should state, however, that I'm sick and tired of
hearing how it's all Jeter's fault that A-Rod hasn't performed up to his
potential, that the Yankee Captain should have extended an olive branch to his
old buddy and stood up for him when the Stadium crowd was booing A-Rod for his
poor showings at the plate or on the field (see, for example, John
Harper's essay in the New York Daily News).
Whatever the failings of the Jeter-Rodriguez relationship, I often think back to
the frosty relationship between Captain Thurman Munson and Reggie Jackson.
Munson didn't have to embrace Jackson to inspire the latter to performance
heights. Both of these players did great in the regular season and in the
postseason. And their Yankee team, from the late 1970s, was combative,
combustive, and crazy. But it also had chemistry, and it won back-to-back World
Series in 1977 and 1978.
I
don't think the problem here is the Manager, Joe Torre. I think managers can
exert a powerful influence... as long as they have the tools to finish the job.
Casey Stengel managed the Yankees to some of their finest seasons in the 1950s.
He didn't have as much success with the Mets of the early 1960s. From my
perspective, Joe Torre is a class act, and a stabilizing force in a volatile
market (with a volatile boss), and he deserves to work out his contract, which
ends at the conclusion of next season.
Speaking of having the "tools" to finish the job, let us remember that among
those tools is PITCHING. The most successful Yankee teams didn't rely just on
great hitting; Bronx Bombers though they may have been, they sported some of the
finest pitchers the game has ever seen. It's pitching, pitching,
pitching. Not just for the regular season, but especially for the postseason and
its 3 out of 5 and 4 out of 7 short series.
The Yankees need to acquire younger pitchers and, more importantly, more
homegrown young pitchers to carry them through ... not the patchwork quilt of
older, and more brittle, pitchers they've relied on recently. And they need a
long-term strategy to shore-up their bullpen; relief pitcher Mariano Rivera is
not going to be around forever.
The Yankees have had a great history, but they do not have a birthright to the
postseason. Like every other team, they have to earn it. As a Yankee fan, I
sincerely hope they start correcting course immediately.
Well, that's my take. It's Detroit v. Oakland, St. Louis v. the New York Mets,
and I'm still watching baseball.
Posted by: Chris
Matthew Sciabarra | October
11, 2006 07:48 AM
Chris, your analysis is spot-on. But I thought baseball season
ended last week. ;-)
Posted by: Aeon J. Skoble | October
11, 2006 08:39 AM
I had to go online at work to do some research and I just read
the terrible news and just had to check here to see if you are ok! I hope the
Yankee pitcher was spared in the horrible accident this afternoon in Manhattan,
but it doesn't look too good.
My
REAL sympathies now.
Posted by: Peri | October
11, 2006 05:53 PM
I just saw that Mayor Bloomberg annouced Cory Lidle died in
the crash.
I
am so sorry. My heart goes out to those who lost loved ones today.
Posted by: Peri | October
11, 2006 06:06 PM
Thanks for your sweet words, Peri.
In
truth, this scared the daylights out of a lot of us. When the first reports came
on the news, interrupting "One Life to Live" here in the Sciabarra household, it
was pretty scary. We actually know people who live in that building! And
needless to say, a lot of neighbors were immediately thinking that NYC was under
attack again (it didn't help that some fighter jets were scrambled).
It
was a terrible tragedy, indeed; New Yorkers hardly had a chance to really get to
know Cory Lidle, the Yankee pitcher who was killed in the crash. Fortunately,
except for Lidle and his flight instructor, nobody else was injured or killed.
My
sympathies to the families of the deceased.
Posted by: Chris
Matthew Sciabarra | October
12, 2006 09:26 AM
My sympathies to all Yankee fans and New Yorkers. This has
been a hard week.
Posted by: Chris Grieb | October
15, 2006 08:20 AM
Great website! Bookmarked! I am impressed at your work!
Posted by: topicstarter | October
17, 2006 12:48 PM
Thanks for the compliments!
And, yes, Chris, it was a hard week when you posted that note. I'm now looking
forward to some real changes in the offseason, and maybe, a little good news
around MVP time.
Take good care,
Chris
Posted by: Chris
Matthew Sciabarra | November
8, 2006 09:50 AM
Song
of the Day: It's
Only a Paper Moon, music by Harold Arlen, lyrics by E.Y. (Yip) Harburg and Billy Rose, is a song that owes its origins to
the theater. It has also been heard in a few films, including "Take a Chance" (1933), "Paper Moon" (1973), and "Funny Lady" (1975). While you're
celebrating the arrival of the Full
Harvest Moon later this week, listen to audio clips of this song
recorded by Ella
Fitzgerald, Nat
King Cole, and actor James
Caan (from "Funny
Lady").
| Permalink | Comments
(2) | Posted to Music
"Fair Critic" indeed.
Posted by: E.S. | October
2, 2006 09:13 PM
Thanks, E.S. ... though I've no clue what I was "fair" about!
Hope you're enjoying the music...
Posted by: Chris
Matthew Sciabarra | October
12, 2006 09:23 AM