In The Wall Street Journal this week, my "Anatomy of a Song" column was on the Carpenters' Merry Christmas Darling (go here). I interviewed Richard Carpenter on the composing of the music and the origin of the words written by Frank Pooler in 1946, the year Richard was born. Twenty years later, Richard met Pooler in college, the Carpenters became successful four years later, a single was needed between albums and rest is holiday history. [Photo above of Karen and Richard Carpenter, courtesy of IMDB]
Here's Karen and Richard Carpenter on the U.K.'s Bruce Forsyth's Big Night, which aired on December 24, 1978. The "Happy Christmas, Brucie" she sings at the end isn't for American radio DJ Cousin Brucie but a shout out to Forsyth...
Also in the WSJ this week, my "House Call" interview was with actress Hayley Mills (go here). Hayley and I talked by video Zoom about how she was discovered and what it was like to win an Oscar at age 14. [Photo above of Hayley Mills courtesy of Grand Central Press]
Here is Hayley is in the trailer for her first film, Tiger Bay (1959)....
Starting on Monday, the return of the JazzWax Film Festival, during which I suspend music coverage to provide you with my favorite films each day between Christmas and New Year's. No matter where you are in the world next week, even if you're stuck indoors due to Zombiecrom, you won't be alone. Get your laptop, blanket and snacks. I'll provide the movies.
Holiday cheer. They're back! Mae and Louise. Last week, I heard from jazz vocalist Louise Alexandra in the Netherlands, who sent along a very funny video of Louise and her daughter, Mae Van Aarsen, singing and acting revised lyrics to Frank Loesser's Baby It's Cold Outside. To be honest, I like their version a lot more than Loesser's, which has come under scrutiny in recent years for its sexist narrative. Mae and Louise are so clever and creative in their rewrite.
Here's mother and daughter and a completely new set of lyrics to Baby, It's Cold Outside that are way funnier than the cringe-worthy original...
From Louise:
It was a big project, not as easy as it looks. When the idea arose, we had so much fun imagining it. Then to find the right moment (and stamina!) to actually do it was another matter. Lots of re-takes, but more laughter! Mae is amazing. She directed the whole thing and put it together.
Jim Hall. Jane Hall, wife of the late guitarist Jim Hall (both above), sent along a lovely holiday card. Here's Jim playing O Tannenbaum...
Petula Clark. I'm still in awe of the large number of emails that arrived after my post last week on British pop sensation Petula Clark.
Here's one from Bill Pauluh:
Marc, in the summer of 1966, I heard the following commercial all over the radio dial. It even won a Clio award. I know because I have the LP compilation of the Clio winners for 1966. Since I haven’t located it yet, this YouTube clip should suffice. Here's Petula Clark singing for Coke...
And here's one from Doug...
Marc, thank you for the marvelous write-up and clips on Petula Clark. I'm a tad older than you (I was 12 in December 1964). But I share the memory of waiting for CKLW (Ontario) and WOWO (Indiana) to play "Downtown." Like you, I absolutely loved that song. However, I really fell in love with Clark's singing when I saw and heard her in the film "Goodbye, Mr. Chips" (1969). She was perfect for that role. I completely wore out two copies of the soundtrack, and consider myself quite lucky to have found the three-CD set that was released in the mid 2000s.
In addition to all the songs I was already familiar with, there were additional songs not included in the film. I find "Tomorrow With Me" to be especially brilliant. Go here...
Book reco. My friend George sent along a link to a book from eight years ago he thought I'd be interested in. It was new to me. So I thought I'd share the reco with you. It's photographer Robert Landau's Rock ’n’ Roll Billboards of the Sunset Strip (Angel City Press). Growing up, Landau took his camera to the Strip and photographed all of the outsized billboards promoting new rock albums. Not until decades later did he re-discover his Kodachrome slides, which collectively is the only known extensive collection of photographs that document the outrageous ads. A different time, a different place, when an album was larger than life and a billboard on the Strip announced its arrival in a high-volume way. For the book, go here.
For a video on the book, go here...
Thelonious Monk. Todd Selbert urged me to give a fresh listen to Thelonious Monk in Paris in 1964. So I did. Now I'm urging you to do the same. Go here...
Denise Perrier died on December 8. The San Francisco jazz singer was 82. When Denise learned she had just a few months to live, she decided to record an album, enlisting saxophonist Howard Wiley to produce. She gathered some of the city’s best musicians: Tammy Hall, George Cables, and Glen Pearson (p), Ron Belcher and Marcus Shelby (b), Darrell Green (d), Howard Wallace (sax) and Abby Harp (harp). [Photo above of Denise Perrier in 2017 by Angela Lilley Bennett, courtesy of Denise Perrier]
They recorded enough tracks for an album, selecting iconic songs such as Body and Soul and 'Round Midnight. Now funding is needed to complete the project, report executive producers Catherine Cusic and Christine Harris. They're closing in on their target of $20,000. To help support Denise’s CD, visit the project's GoFundMe page here.
Learn more about Perrier, go here.
To hear Perrier sing April in Paris with strings, go here...
And finally, let's go back to 2018 and visit the intimate Parlor on Manhattan's East 85th Street to hear JaRon Eames sing a collection of Christmas songs, with Ms. Emme Kemp accompanying him on piano. Go here...
