Music

Category: Music

Happy Birthday, Mister Adler

Monroe DressToday marks the 86th birthday of composer Richard Adler. In 1950 he began composing with Jerry Ross, and a few years later they cranked out The Pajama Game (1954) and Damn Yankees (1955.) The latter show contains the song “Hey There,” the opening of which is said to be based on the first theme of Mozart’s Piano Sonata in C major, K. 545. Judge for yourself.

Grove Music Online has an interesting bit of trivia about Mr. Adler: “He was also the producer and director for various celebrity productions in the Kennedy and Johnson administrations, including Marilyn Monroe’s celebrated appearance in Madison Square Garden singing Happy Birthday to President Kennedy.” But we want to know who sewed her into The Dress.

Listen to or view some Richard Adler.

At Last, More CDs

Here we are already into the second week of July. It just doesn’t seem possible that it’s been over a month since we announced the acquisition of CDs featuring Lee Tomboulian. We’ve got a brand new pile today, and you’ll find him on two of them. We’ve also got some Bach, a Georgian composer, Mario Lanza, LU performances and a mystery CD hiding in the carpeting.

Only 50 Years Ago

Quarry MenWe missed this important anniversary, but it bears relating. On July 6, 1957, a 16-year-old John Lennon and his skiffle band The Quarry Men were playing for a church function in Woolton just outside Liverpool. A mutual friend introduced Lennon to Paul McCartney, then 15 and a pretty good guitar player and singer. A few days later McCartney was invited to join the band. Then they wrote and recorded some stuff.

That’s All Right

On July 5, 1954, Elvis Presley made his first commercial recording, “That’s All Right,” at Sun Studio in Memphis. He’d recorded “My Happiness” a year earlier in the same studio, but didn’t much impress Sam Phillips, Sun’s founder.

Many believe this recording ushered in the rock ‘n’ roll era, but black artists had been recording rock ‘n’ roll at Sun since 1950 and Bill Haley and his Comets were listed on Billboard charts with their song “Crazy Man Crazy” in 1953. This, however, was something new: a startling combination of country, gospel, rhythm and blues, and straight-ahead blues that was quite marketable in both the north and the south.

You can hear a little “That’s All Right” on the Sun Studio home page. And while you’re there, take the audio/video tour.

In Memoriam

Let’s listen to some Beverly Sills today.

The Art of Beverly Sills, includes Marietta’s Lied (“Glück, das mir verblieb”) from Die tote Stadt. Spectacular.

The Ballad of Baby Doe, a 30-year-old Beverly in a reissue of the 1959 recording.

The Barber of Seville, a videocassette of a 1976 broadcast from the New York State Theater.

Handel’s Julius Caesar with the New York City Opera Chorus and Orchestra from 1967.

Manon, videocassette, “Live from Lincoln Center,” 1977.

another Manon, this one from 1970. Compare and contrast.

Roberto Devereux, bel canto, her specialty.

Golly!

Today is the 77th birthday of Jim Nabors. After his Gomer Pyle days, he made somewhat of a career as a singer. Around 1972 a studio recording of Man of La Mancha was released, with Mr. Nabors in the leading role. The rest of the cast is (and we are not making this up) Marilyn Horne as Aldonza, Jack Gilford as Sancho Panza, Richard Tucker as the Padre, and Madeline Kahn as the niece. We are very sad that we do not have this LP in the Mudd’s collection. But we do have the original cast recording on CD.