British label ASV/Living Era's The Song Is series presents the work of classic pop songwriters in recordings made around the time the songs were written. This 25-track disc has recordings of most of Harold Arlen's best-known early songs made between 1931 and 1944. Apparently having access to the RCA Victor and MCA vaults, compiler Peter Dempsey usually selects either the biggest hit recording of a song (Arlen's own version of "Stormy Weather," Cab Calloway's "Kickin' the Gong Around," Eddy Duchin's "Ill Weather" with Arlen ...
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British label ASV/Living Era's The Song Is series presents the work of classic pop songwriters in recordings made around the time the songs were written. This 25-track disc has recordings of most of Harold Arlen's best-known early songs made between 1931 and 1944. Apparently having access to the RCA Victor and MCA vaults, compiler Peter Dempsey usually selects either the biggest hit recording of a song (Arlen's own version of "Stormy Weather," Cab Calloway's "Kickin' the Gong Around," Eddy Duchin's "Ill Weather" with Arlen on vocals, Louis Armstrong's "Public Melody Number One," Glenn Miller's "That Old Black Magic") or a recording made by a performer who is identified with the song because he or she sang it in a movie (Cliff Edwards' "It's Only a Paper Moon," Lawrence Tibbett's "Last Night When We Were Young," Dick Powell's "Speaking of the Weather," and Judy Garland's "Buds Won't Bud" and "Over the Rainbow"). When none of these circumstances can be obtained, the recordings are often by prominent performers such as Duke Ellington ("Happy As the Day Is Long"), Benny Goodman ("Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea"), and Billie Holiday ("I Gotta Right to Sing the Blues"). A few of the choices are suspect, notably a 1942 instrumental recording of the 1930 song "Get Happy" by Art Hodes, and there is also the occasional omission of Arlen's best work, most notably "One for My Baby (And One More for the Road)." But with so much of this kind of material otherwise unavailable, like the other volumes in this series, the Harold Arlen number is invaluable and makes for fascinating listening. ~ William Ruhlmann, Rovi
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Add this copy of The Song is...Harold Arlen to cart. $44.07, new condition, Sold by Music Fiendz rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from South Hackensack, NJ, UNITED STATES, published 1995 by Asv Living Era.
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