More Standards to Which We Can Repair

[Roger Bissell]

More Standards to Which We Can Repair

By Roger E. Bissell

I join Robert L. Jones in his toast to the Great American Songbook (“Raising ‘The Standards’,” The New Individualist, Fall 2005). Not only did he give a much-deserved salute to the old-timers who helped keep the standards alive during the rock-dominated era of the latter 1900s, but he also drew our attention to the growing number of rock and pop singers who are introducing new generations to these quintessentially American artworks. Realizing that any such tribute is necessarily selective, I nevertheless have a few more examples to share with TNI’s readers, along with some factual corrections to Jones’s article.

Rocker Rod Stewart has (so far) cranked out four CDs of standards as part of his ambitious “The Great American Songbook” project: It Had to Be You (J-Records, 2002), As Time Goes By (J-Records, 2003), Stardust (J-Records, 2004), and Thanks for the Memory (J-Records, 2005). These are also available as a boxed set from J-Records. And say what you will about his raspy voice and over-the-top body language in his television and video performances of these songs, Stewart has done more than any other single artist in the past 25 years (with the possible exception of Linda Ronstadt) to help today’s young people connect with our American musical heritage.

Another rock-pop artist, Boz Scaggs, recently released what he called But Beautiful: Standards, Volume 1 (Gray Cat Records, 2003). Eschewing the usual lush big-band or orchestral settings, Scaggs instead went with a very sparse orchestration: piano, bass, drums, and saxophone. The arrangements are stylistically imaginative, the jazz solos are top-notch, and Scaggs’s mellow renditions left me eager for more. Two more CDs of standards that fans of Ray Charles will want to know about are The Genius of Ray Charles (Atlantic, 1990) and Standards (Rhino, 1998). And veteran crooner Johnny Mathis has a wonderful compilation of songs by one of my favorite song-writing teams: How Do You Keep the Music Playing? The Songs of Michel Legrand and Alan & Marilyn Bergman (Sony, 1993). (Legrand and the Bergmans are who I want to be when I grow up.)

Female vocalists have been even more prolific in their recording of the standards. “Best of Show” has to go to Maureen McGovern for her many fine CDs, a number of them focusing on particular songwriters. In addition to Another Woman in Love (Sony, 1987), State of the Heart (Sony, 1990), and The Pleasure of His Company (Sterling, 1998; this one performed as a duo with Mel Torme’s pianist, Mike Rienzi), I have to cite Naughty Baby – Maureen McGovern Sings Gershwin (CBS Records, 1989), Out of This World: McGovern Sings Arlen (Varese Records, 1996, reissued 2003), The Music Never Ends: The Lyrics of Alan & Marilyn Bergman (Varese Records, 1997, reissued 2003), and With a Song in My Heart: the Great Songs of Richard Rodgers (Centaur, 2001). A personal recommendation: her recordings of Arlen’s lesser known ballad, “Right as the Rain,” are just what the doctor ordered for rekindling one’s musical and personal romanticism.

Jones mentioned Linda Ronstadt’s recordings with Nelson Riddle: What’s New (Elektra, 1983) and Lush Life (Elektra, 1984), both of which were released before Riddle passed away in 1985, but he failed to mention the third Ronstadt-Riddle collaboration, which was released after Riddle’s death: For Sentimental Reasons (Elektra, 1986). Happily, these three albums were reissued as a double CD entitled Round Midnight. And speaking of “Lush Life,” another CD by the same name was released two years previously to Ronstadt’s by disco queen Donna Summer (Polygram Records, 1982, re-issued 1994). I personally prefer Summer’s rendition to the one by Ronstadt, but it is nothing short of amazing to me that either of them attempted this difficult song and pulled it off as well as they did.

Along with folk-rocker Carly Simon’s 1981 album Torch (Warner Brothers, re-issued in 1990), we should also note her other standards albums: My Romance (Arista, 1990), Film Noir (Arista, 1997), and Moonlight Serenade (Sony, 2005). Pop-jazz singer ToniTenille has released two excellent albums of standards, one in 1988, Do It Again (re-released with additional tracks as More Than You Know (Varese Records, 2003) and, more recently, Incurably Romantic (Varese Records, 2001). I have personally performed with this artist, and her appreciation of jazz music and for the working musician make her a delight to work with.

More honorable mentions: Best Individual Performance goes to Gloria Estefan for her sparkling, romantic rendition of Bernstein and Sondheim’s “Tonight” on Dave Grusin Presents – West Side Story (Encoded Music, 1997). And Shocker of the Decade (for me, anyway) is awarded to Queen Latifah for The Dana Owens Album (Interscope Records, 2004), for her recordings of (yet another version of) “Lush Life,” “Close Your Eyes,” “If I Had You,” and “Moody’s Mood for Love,” the latter being a classic jazz reworking of the great standard, “I’m in the Mood for Love.”

Last, but not quite, is the relentlessly lush 7-CD compilation of recordings originally made in the 70s and 80s by the Singers Unlimited: Magic Voices (Polygram Records, 1998). Their baritone singer, Gene Puerling (along with the other two male singers), was a member of the fabulous mid-20th century jazz vocal group, the Hi-Lo’s, and his arrangements for that group and for the Singers Unlimited are legendary. There are hours and hours of pleasurable basking in these harmonically and rhythmically fresh renditions of the standards.

I said "not quite," because I knew that more examples would come along after I originally wrote this essay in the spring of 2006. And one did – one of the very best, as a matter of fact: Tony Bennett's An American Classic, which debuted in September as a CD and more recently was shown as a television special, now available as a DVD. The format of the CD and DVD is a series of duets, with the likes of Barbra Streisand, Sting, K. D. Lang, Michael Buble, Diana Kral, Stevie Wonder, and many more. (A number appear on the CD who were not included on the DVD, including George Michael, Celine Dion, and the Dixie Chicks.) I highly recommend this recording. Bennett, now 80, is still simply incredible, and his duet partners and he seem to be having a great time together.

[Note: this essay was submitted to The New Individualist in the spring, but the editor felt that too much time had elapsed since the essay to which it was in reply. So, TNI's loss, OL's gain!]

[Rich Engle]

So, I'm right in the thick of this stuff, this music thing. I turned Victor into a mad dog in a meat market so I could use a PAINTING for cover art... It's a labor of love. Love Hurts. I had presuppositions early into reading this article. Roger is a funny guy, so I think he won't put me on punishment for my thoughts... I was thinking "Here's another venerable musician about to do the obligatory talk trash about rock musicians. Here's THAT guy; the music educator type that killed me in my younger years. Here's THAT guy that looked at the instruments like electric guitar, and called them noise makers. That I/"we" didn't know how it was in The Good Old Days."

That I couldn't possibly understand ii/V/I's, or read a chart. Back when musicians were REAL musicians, and all that jazz... Oh, yes, I got my panties in a bunch.

All for no reason. Roger is a real musician, because he's not a bigot-- he listens. His citations alone prove this. Although, unless I'm mistaken, he would've really iced it if he mentioned the new album of standards that Diana Krall put out... But in any event, he raged, and it was good. It was, in effect, a successful crossover attempt.

All that being said, it's why I truly believe that musicians, on the whole, are amongst the most b.s.-free creatures on the planet.

Wonderful piece of work, REB.

rde

Damn I hope I get this record done before I self-combust.

[Chris Grieb]

Roger; Barbara Cook the orginial Marian the Librarian from The Music Man and who in her 80th decade is still preforming. One of her cd's is called As Close as the Pages of a Book. I hope that all goes well and I can see her in 2007 at Kennedy Center. I missed her at one performance in the DC area but I will not again. Miss Cook did two new cds this year including a tribute to her longtime accompanist Wally Harper who died this past year. I feel a sense of urgency about getting to see her live.

[Robert Jones]

Oh, I was wondering where your reply was, and I found it down the list on "Music" when I expected it to be on the IOS page. Oh, well.

I had listened to many of the recordings you noted, but winnowed it down to ten for my survey, trying to get in some "must haves" as well as a few surprises (Danny Aiello, Norah Jones).

I didn't include Carly Simon's new stuff because, frankly, she lost her voice. And, I wasn't aware of the Johnny Mathis recording -- will look it up.

I had wanted to review the Ray Charles "Standards," except it was a reissue and went with his swan song CD instead.

One CD that was released just *days* after Robert Bidinotto went to press with the article was Paul Anka's killer record "Rock Swings," in which he made show-stopper jazz songs out of rock tunes by Billy Idol, Jon Bon Jovi and Nirvana, among others. It's the most innovative recording in the genre I have heard in a long time.

Regarding your comments: "...factual corrections to Jones’s article" and "ones mentioned Linda Ronstadt’s recordings with Nelson Riddle: What’s New (Elektra, 1983) and Lush Life (Elektra, 1984), both of which were released before Riddle passed away in 1985, but he failed to mention the third Ronstadt-Riddle collaboration, which was released after Riddle’s death: For Sentimental Reasons (Elektra, 1986)."

That was really the only "factual" error in the piece, but only depending on how the reader approaches it. I *knew* at lest I had alluded to it in my comment from the TNI piece, "This is the fourth time Ronstadt has dished out this wonderful music, and Hummin’ to Myself is her answer to those critics who backhandedly complimented her 1980s recordings with Nelson Riddle, complaining that Riddle’s orchestra overpowered her. " That is, mentioning it without mentioning it.

I think what you are referring to is in this paragraph: "Then, in 1983, the standards trickle became a torrent with country-rock singer Linda Ronstadt’s album What’s New—ten scorching torch songs backed with lush orchestral arrangements by Nelson Riddle. Despite too much reverb in the processing, she pulled it off. What’s New and the 1984 follow-up, Lush Life, were Riddle’s final recordings before his untimely death in 1985; fitting that Sinatra’s long-time arranger would play so pivotal a role in bringing back the kind of music he had championed."

The pertinent sentence ought to have read: "What's New and the 1984 follow-up Lush Life, were Riddle's final recordings RELEASED before his untimel death in 1985." That is, there was a modicum of ambiguity present which allows this to be misinterpreted as a sin of omission.

Actually, I left it unsaid for the reason that I was paring down the article for reasons of space, and felt that I didn't need to take a side excursion down CDs released after Riddle's death, as my focus was more on Linda Ronstadt than Nelson Riddle, so I just referred to it instead in passing when reviewing "Hummin' to Myself."

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

Gentlemen and ladies,

I moved this from "Articles" to "Music," but I left a link in "Articles."

Michael

[Greybird]

For fans of The Songbook in and near Los Angeles, a recent rondelay of station-format changes took away one of the last outlets that devoted itself to this music, KKGO-AM 540 (San Diego) / 1260 (Beverly Hills). I was truly disappointed in this, losing a station that was doing brilliantly in pulling forward the new interpreters of these songs that Roger wrote about. Along with bringing out delightful anachronisms of announcing, such as the warm voice of Gary "Laugh-In" Owens in the afternoons.

KKGO changed to country last December, filling a gap left by the powerhouse KZLA-FM having abandoned country. And then, after only two months, commercial classical-music KMZT-FM 105.1 (K-Mozart) and KKGO-AM swapped their frequencies and broadcast bands. It's getting dizzying to try to keep up!

[...] one of my favorite song-writing teams: How Do You Keep the Music Playing? The Songs of Michel Legrand and Alan & Marilyn Bergman (Sony, 1993). (Legrand and the Bergmans are who I want to be when I grow up.)

I hope you'll be pleased to know that the film for which this phenomenal team won a song-score Oscar, "Yentl," is likely to finally be released on DVD this year, after nearly a quarter-century. Barbra Streisand is prone to tweaking (no, really? *sigh squared*) and has been doing so, on the commentary track and the visual quality, between other projects for several years now.

[...] Jones mentioned Linda Ronstadt’s recordings with Nelson Riddle: What’s New (Elektra, 1983) and Lush Life (Elektra, 1984), both of which were released before Riddle passed away in 1985, but he failed to mention the third Ronstadt-Riddle collaboration, which was released after Riddle’s death: For Sentimental Reasons (Elektra, 1986). Happily, these three albums were reissued as a double CD entitled Round Midnight.

That last is especially welcome to read. My copies of those first two as LPs drifted away in my moving across the country, in some vigorous thinning of my music rack ... a hundred of those vinyl suckers get to be heavy. I'd expected to get CDs, but never got around to it. Now I have no reason not to do so!

[...] And Shocker of the Decade (for me, anyway) is awarded to Queen Latifah for The Dana Owens Album (Interscope Records, 2004), for her recordings of (yet another version of) “Lush Life,” “Close Your Eyes,” “If I Had You,” and “Moody’s Mood for Love,” the latter being a classic jazz reworking of the great standard, “I’m in the Mood for Love.”

Methinks you haven't heard Latifah/Owens singing a scorching "When You're Good to Mama" in the well-turned 2002 film version of Kander and Ebb's "Chicago," or you wouldn't have been nearly as shocked! ;)

Edited March 10, 2007 by Greybird