DAD'S FAVORITE SONGS

SINGER/SONGWRITERS
Unmistakably, Dad's first love was Anne Murray.

It was the late 1960s that I found myself riding with my dad in his '62 Volkswagen bug he bought from some guy in Monterey Park.  And one of dad's first order to his sons was "Don't climb in the back."  Well, what do you think kids 7 and 8 years old did the minute he had his back turned?  Anyway, as year ran onto 1967, 1968, 1969, and beyond, I sat in the front passenger seat next to my dad, and he played his favorite radio stations, which ranged between KFI 640 on the left and 1330 AM at the right.  The station name was KFAC, and I will never forget the terrific host, Tom Dixon (1916-2010).  I liked what Jim Svejda said about Tom Dixon, 

Jim Svejda, an announcer at classical station KUSC-FM (91.5) who knew Dixon, said he "was a total pro and a consummate gentleman of the old school. 

Wikipedia has the history   

KFAC was a commercial classical music radio station in Los Angeles, broadcasting for most of its life on 1330 kHz AM, and subsequently in both simulcast and separate programming on 92.3 MHz FM as well. "Only 41 of nearly 9,000 commercial radio stations in the United States play classical music" and KFAC was considered one of the best.^[1] On September 20, 1989 at 2 p.m., new owners changed both its name and its format, depriving Southern California of a major cultural institution. During its heyday, the station was arguably the most important cultural organization in the Los Angeles area, having greater influence on lovers of classical music than even the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Announcers such as John Conte,^[2] Howard Rhines, Dick Crawford, Thomas Cassidy, Carl Princi, Fred Crane, Steve Allen, Alfred Leonard, Tom Dixon, Bill Carlson, Dick Joy, Tom Franklin, Ed Stoddard, Bernie Alan, Rodger Layng, John Santana, Steve Markham and Doug Ordunio were featured on the station. For several years, the station also carried the daily syndicated Adventures in Good Music with Karl Haas. Other regularly scheduled programs were hosted by Leonora Schildkraut, Werner Klemperer, and Gussie Moran.^[3][4]

 Whereas Tom Dixon did classical music, Carl Princi did opera.  

And since much of Dad's modern music was the music of the 60s and 70s, no way can any list of favorite songs be without something by Burt Bacharach.  What's funny is that when I started driving in the hills above Hollywood for UPS in 1983, one of the first stars that I'd deliver to was Burt Bacharach . . . actually, to his wife, Carole Bayer Sager.  Had forgotten that he was married to Angie Dickinson.  Not bad, Burt, not bad.  Of course, Burt had hit after hit.  What is interesting, particularly with the song "I Say a Little Prayer," is that it was sung both by Aretha Franklin and Dione Warwick.  Aretha Franklin [who recently passed] may have been all about RESPECT, but Dionne Warwick had the chops, the more resonate voice by far in my opinion.  But these were not Dad's favorites.  

These were Dad's favorites.  He loved Glenn Miller's Chattanooga Choo Choo.

He loved the Lennon Sisters.  Another song that Dad enjoyed was Mr. Sandman, sung by the Chordettes.  The song was released in 1954 and performed that May. 

There was another song with a reference to sand pebbles or the crusty sand in one's eye upon wakening. 

The Andrew Sisters singing Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy, 1941.

Though she was not of my Dad's era, she did have a stunningly beautiful voice.  Few voices, in fact, could make me pause or be sad or cry.  Roberta Flack could freeze my attentions unlike any other voice of her time.  Though I did like Petula Clark.  About Roberta Flack's rendition of "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face," 1972, one commenter wrote here "When I marry I would choose this song as my dance song with my wife."

Her 1973, "Killing Me Softly With His Song" is good but not nearly as powerful.  Her other song, "Bridge Over Troubled Water," 1970, seemed to be sung by everyone from Simon & Garfunkel to Elton John to Elvis Presley to Arethra Franklin and Roberta Flack.  But Flack's voice is best I think.

I know that Dad liked Doris Day.  So he must have loved her Sentimental Journey.  This does not sound like Doris Day at all.  

Lots and lots of memories.  

Back on October 2, 2011, I wrote the following:

Songs That Dad Loved: 

Few things give me as much pleasure as seeing Dad sing and dance, whether with my mom or having fun by himself.  One of my Dad's favorite songs was Chattanooga Choo-Choo, a song written by Glenn Miller and performed by many.  Here is a version that I am sure he loved, for he expressed affection for the Andrew Sisters.  However, I think that Dad would have also loved the version played by the Glenn Miller Orchestra and sung by Dorothy Dandridge and her two dancing companions, the Nicholas Brothers.  My dad loved Glenn Miller but he also enjoyed Benny Goodman.  Another tune that Dad used to enjoy was Glenn Miller's Pennsylvania 6-5000.  I don't remember Dad listening to too many Benny Goodman tunes, like "Sing, Sing, Sing."  I think that Dad liked the slower, rhythmic tunes, like "These Foolish Things." I'm sure that Dad loved Margaret Whiting's song "What Are You Doing New Year's Eve."

There was Glenn Miller's Pennsylvania 6-5000.  There's the song and the hotel.  

Named apparently after the Hotel Pennsylvania:

At that time, the biggest and hottest nightclub in town was the Pennsylvania Hotel’s Café Rouge, where such Swing Era icons as Goodman, the Dorsey Brothers and Artie Shaw performed. Glenn Miller and his Orchestra, who played the club more than anyone else, were showcasing a tune — not much more than a riff, really — whose precise origin is lost in the mists of musical lore. (In those days an orchestra leader frequently took credit for tunes written or arranged by his players. Miller’s name, along with that of arranger Jerry Gray, appears on the recordings.)

The Andrew Sisters, however, made it their own.

Here are their lyrics:

Hel-looooo, Operator.  Give me Pennsylvania 6-5000 . . . 

Numbers I've got by the dozen

Everyone's uncle and cousin

But I can't live without buzzin'

Pennsylvania Six, Five Thousand

I've got a sweety I know there

Someone who sets me aglow there

Gives me the sweetest "hello there"

Pennsylvania Six, Five Thousand

We don't say "how are you"

And very seldom ask "what's new?"

Instead, we start and end each call with

"Baby confidentially I love you"

Maybe it sounds a bit funny

When I'm away from my honey

Here's what I do with my money

Pennsylvania Six, Five Thousand

Numbers I've got by the dozen

Everyone's uncle and cousin

But I can't live without buzzin'

Pennsylvania Six, Five Thousand

I've got a sweety I know there

Someone who sets me aglow there

Gives me the sweetest "hello there"

Pennsylvania Six, Five Thousand

We don't say "how are you"

And very seldom ask "what's new?"

Instead, we start and end each call with

"Baby confidentially I love you"

Maybe it sounds a bit funny

When I'm away from my honey

Here's what I do with my money

Pennsylvania Six, Five Thousand

I know that Dad loved Tommy Dorsey's song "As Time Goes By" sung by him and by the beautiful Frances Langford, whose specialty, it seems, were songs of romance and longing.  There are songs for which my dad loved the lyrics, songs that made him happy and songs that activated him, revived wonderful moments in his life, and made him dance.. are other songs that spoke to him personally but may not have made him dance or made him feel particularly happy, maybe even rueful, songs with melancholy tones.  This is one of those songs, "I'll Be Seeing You" sung by Frances Langford.  Here, she sings "Nothing But Blue Skies."  Here she sings her signature piece, "I'm in the Mood for Love," though this tune was sung by so many from Doris Day to Louis Prima.  "It Might As Well Be Spring" is another one of Frances Langford that makes think that Dad and Mom would have enjoyed. I could imagine the two of them listening to this song on a Saturday morning as they begin their weekend chores.  I think that Harry James' song "Sleepy Lagoon" was background music to Mom and Dad's war years.  "Sleepy Lagoon" could be the song that they could go to to forget their concerns and worries.  

In Dad's retirement years, he enjoyed the Canadian singer, Anne Murray, a lot.  I think, in part, it was her light and lilting voice and the fact that she sang mostly live songs.  Dad loved love songs.  When I asked him once at a stop light on Foothill Blvd in front of Sears in Pasadena, "What's more important: love or respect?" almost without pause, he said love.  So there's that.  i know why.  Was it her rhythm?  Was it her lyrics of "Snowbird," 1970?  The lilting beauty of her voice buoyed his grieving, broken heart.  He loved her upbeat voice.  "Snowbird" was her signature song.  There have been so many Canadian singer/songwriters over the years.  She was one of my dad's favorites.  One time when we were in Denver, Dad wanted to run out to get a paper and some sandwiches.  He pulled over at a park and took out his transistor radio, the sandwiches, and a beverage and we walked over to a picnic table, sat, ate our sandwiches, and listened to his radio--just me and my dad.  "Snowbird" played on the radio, and he flipped over it.  I remember him telling me "Listen to this terrific song."  I did, but I didn't hear what he heard.  He heard a taut lyrical voice and was mesmerized by it.  I don't know which song of hers was his favorite--it probably was "Snowbird."  "Somebody's Always Sayin' Goodbye" is pretty good.  She was kind of the female version of John Denver.  Hearing these songs makes me miss my dad and miss having him share with me what it was that he liked.  It was a privilege that he took me into his confidence.  

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2017
Sunday, November 12, I wrote Charlen to ask her which songs Dad liked.  She wrote me this:

I know he liked Bobby Darin.  Don't know all the others.  It was quite a bit of singers in that era. 

So which Bobby Darin songs did he like I wonder.  Well, he had to have liked Mack the Knife (1959).  Bobby Darin's contribution to this song is that he popularized it.  

Darin decided to perform this song when he saw a production of The Threepenny Opera in Greenwich Village in 1958.  He thought up his own way of presenting the song, and started performing it in his nightclub act, where it was well received.  The song was included on Darin's album That's All, which was released in March 1959.  In May of that year, Darin's "Dream Lover" became a huge hit, and demand was building for "Mack the Knife," which was growing increasingly popular thanks to Darin's nightclub performances and sales of the album.

I know that I liked it growing up.  Maybe because Dad liked it.  Here are the lyrics.  The song was written years ago by Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill for the German Opera, Three Penny Opera.  Get the facts on the song; they will amaze you.  Where does one start?  Let's start with the German word, "Moritat."

The original German version of the song is called "Theme from the Threepenny Opera," or "Moritat," which is the German word for "Murder Ballad."  The lyrics have been translated in various ways on different versions, but the most popular translation was by the lyricist Marc Blitzstein for the 1954 off-Broadway revival of The Threepenny Opera, which ran until 1961 and played in Greenwich Village, New York. 

Oh, the shark, babe, has such teeth, dear

And it shows them pearly white
Just a jackknife has old MacHeath, babe
And he keeps it, ah, out of sight

Ya know when that shark bites with his teeth, babe
Scarlet billows start to spread
Fancy gloves, oh, wears old MacHeath, babe
So there's never, never a trace of red

Now on the sidewalk, huh, huh, whoo sunny morning, un huh
Lies a body just oozin' life, eek
And someone's sneakin' 'round the corner
Could that someone be Mack the Knife?

There's a tugboat, huh, huh, down by the river don'tcha know
Where a cement bag's just a'drooppin' on down
Oh, that cement is for, just for the weight, dear
Five'll get ya ten old Macky's back in town

Now d'ja hear 'bout Louie Miller? He disappeared, babe
After drawin' out all his hard-earned cash
And now MacHeath spends just like a sailor
Could it be our boy's done somethin' rash?

Now Jenny Diver, ho, ho, yeah, Sukey Tawdry
Ooh, Miss Lotte Lenya and old Lucy Brown
Oh, that line forms on the right, babe
Now that Macky's back in town

I said Jenny Diver, whoa, Sukey Tawdry
Look out to Miss Lotte Lenya and old Lucy Brown
Yes, that line forms on the right, babe
Now that Macky's back in town
Look out, old Macky's back.

A little history on some of the terms in the song.  One is the reference to "Scarlet billows," which is an artistic way of referring to blood in the water that a shark might leave behind after his kill.

Mack the Knife is about a gangster and how he kills people without leaving a trace. Comparing him to a shark - the shark leaves behind scarlet billows = blood. But MacHeath wears glows [gloves?] and kills with a knife and doesn't leave any evidence behind. 

Jenny Diver was a notorious pickpocketer. 

Jenny Diver, née Mary Young (1700 – 18 March 1741) was a notorious British pickpocket, one of the most famous of her day. 

Incredible.  Wikipedia offers a different explanation of her character in Threepenny Opera

Jenny ("Spelunken-Jenny"/"Low-Dive Jenny"/"Ginny Jenny"), a prostitute once romantically involved with Macheath; is bribed to turn Mack over to the police 

On Louie Miller, this site asks 

MacHeath killed him and took his cash and is spending it, but again, doesn't leave a trail - so the question is "has he done something rash?"

Who is Suki Tawdry?  

Suki Tawdry is a prostitute who appears in the background through all three books of Century.  Nearly every one of her lines is sung. 

This was interesting--

The song is from the German "The Threepenny Opera" and refers to MacHeath (or Mackie Messer), who was a violent pimp. Jenny Diver. Lucy Brown and Suky Tawdry are other characters in the opera, all prostitutes. Lotte Lenya was in reality the wife of the composer of the opera, Kurt Weill and her name was attached to a character in an off-Broadway production. Louie Miller represents a would-be client of one of the prostitutes, who is murdered by MacHeath after drawing out money.

So far, this is the best commentary I've found on the song:

Why do music questions arise when I am at work and the music stuff is at home?

          I am going by one English translation, from memory.

Jenny Diver, Suki Tawdry, Polly Peacham, and Lucy Brown were names for prostitutes (just as Margery Daw was also a common term for 'prostitute') and 'friends' of Mack. I have not seen a live performance of "Threepenny Opera" (our college did "The Beggar's Opera" on which "TPO" was based, lo many years ago), but it is possible that they were also victims of Mack.

The Darin version was the 'pop/jazz' version and had nothing to do with the original song, the lyrics of which can get pretty gruesome - arson deaths of "sieben Kinder und ein Greis" (7 children and an old man), the raping of a widow, and various other crimes that Mackie may or may not have been connected to.  I remember hearing a version of the song on an episode of the "Ernie Kovacs Show" - "Mack the Knife" is quite dark and sinister if done well and correctly.

I would say that I do like Armstrong's voice better.  Perhaps because he was of Bing Crosby's era.  Perhaps.  Bobby Darrin is famous for his song "Dream Lover."  You can look up the background on that one.  ;-)

Bobby Darrin is famous for his song "Dream Lover."  You can look up the background on that one.  ;-)  

On November 17, 2017, Charlen wrote to tell me not to forget how Dad loved both Frank Sinatra and Perry Como.  And I replied telling her that

You're right.  I do remember that he loved watching the Perry Como Christmas Specials.  And how he used to vocalize a Sinatra tune as it played out on his car radio.  Thanks, Charlen for this.  Well here is one of Como's famous tunes. 

He sounds so close to Dean Martin that it might be difficult to tell who sang the tune.  And if you're not an avid fan how you might altogether forget which songs either artist sang or was known for.  Here is his "Papa Loves Mambo."  

Here is one of his Christmas songs.  I liked Como too, particularly his Christmas pieces, but his more contemporary songs made me sad as though he were massaging the past, praying for some recompense or redemption.  For me, at my tender teenage years, it was too much, too maudlin.  One of his later signature songs is "It's Impossible."  Ugh.  Just shoot me!!!

  

But Perry Como was part of that late '60s, early '70s singers, like The Beatles, Simon and Garfunkel, The Carpenters, B. J. Thomas, Anne Murray and The Partridge Family.  The Partridge Family?  Yep.  They were popular with the teens and certainly not a favorite of Dad's.  Speaking of the Carpenters . . . .