"The Nearness of You" - by Haogy Carmichael (1941) 2 Versions

There are two ways in which I wanted to approach this post. The first was through Keith Richards’ autobiography “Life”; which I am in the process of re-reading. I wanted to simply compare the original version of this song by Hoagy Carmichael with the one recorded by Mr. Richards along about 1979. It was written in 1941 and has been recorded by just about every major name in show business. But it’s not a song you would usually associate with Keith Richards.

The second approach was more along the lines of “look what happens to the Rolling Stones whenever Mick Jagger leaves the stage.” In the video above the band backs Keith in his rendition of “The Nearness of You”, and towards the end he performs a beautiful guitar solo in the way in which only he can.

It’s a bit like the performance of “You’ve Got the Silver” in the “Shine a Light” concert at the Beacon Theater. (I was actually on the list for the $25 tickets and didn’t go!) There was all this high rock and roll energy filling the air one moment and then this beautiful, cooling performance by Keith and Ron Wood; mesmerizing the audience with the song.

The best part of watching the performance of this Hoagy Carmichael song is the back story. In the book “Life” the author recounts having made a tape of himself, along with Bobby Keys, doing a version of the song.  He then gave it to an associate who forwarded it on to Mr. Carmichael. This is about 6 months before Mr. Carmichael passed away in 1981. He actually listened to it and took the time to phone Keith Richards in Barbados to tell him how much he admired it.

As a matter of fact he claimed that Keith Richards version was closer to the way he had originally conceived the song! To say that Keith was bowled over by the phone call would be a major understatement. So, here are the Stones; sans Mick Jagger; doing a wonderful version of the song written by Mr. Carmichael over 70 years ago.

And here is the link to Hoagy’s version; I was unable to find any live footage and I couldn’t get the big machine to allow me to download the audio except by a link.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B5nInrZdcVs

Mr. Carmichael circa 1953

"You Can't Get a Man With a Gun" - Betty Hutton (1950)

This scene, from the film version of "Annie Get Your Gun", is a wonderful example of the exuberance with which Betty Hutton performed. Her facial expressions, as well as her over exaggerated moves, both served to bring across; with verve; whatever musical number she ever performed. I have featured Ms. Hutton on here before, and was surprised at the amount of interest she still generates. Though she passed away in 2007; her videos and recordings will allow her to live forever in the hearts of her fans. And, in case you haven't guessed, I'm one.

The video below, which I have posted before, is of Ms. Hutton performing one of my favorite songs of all time; Hoagy Carmichael's buoyant, "Doctor, Lawyer, Indian Chief." This was also one of the very first records I actually remember playing on a phonograph. It was one of my Mom's 78 RPM acetates, and I was about 3 years old at the time. I suppose my attraction to the record was due to the war whoops employed by Ms. Hutton as she sang her heart out while putting across the vivid lyrics written by Mr. Carmichael. I'm not sure if the song is "politically correct" any longer, but then again, I really don't care.

"Hoppity Goes to Town" by Max and Dave Fleischer (1941)

If you have never seen this wonderfully idealistic cartoon before, then here's your chance. Max and Dave Fleischer, my favorite cartoonists of all time, collaborated on this 1 hour and 12 minute feature in 1941. The story takes place in New York City, in a weed patch known as Bugville. The inhabitants of this tiny weeded lot are making an attempt to live peacefully amongst themselves, as well as their human hosts, with all sorts of problems.

The myriad of characters are a sheer joy; there is Hoppity the grasshopper, the dreamer; Mr. Bumble Bee, who owns the honey shop, and his daughter Honey Bee; C. Bagley Beetle, a businessman, who schemes for greed, and enjoyment; Smack, the aptly named Mosquito; and Swat the common fly. Last, but not least is Little Buzz, a "young bee" who is a member of the Bee Scouts.

Long before contemporary animated films such as "Avatar", with all of its technology; or "Wally", with its politically correct message, would attempt to tackle the problems of mankind, Max and Dave Fleischer were already taking note of the human condition. Then, with the comparatively primitive technology available to them at the time, they played it back to us in the form of simple animation, hoping that we would see ourselves more clearly.

Look closely, and somewhere in this cartoon you will see yourself, as well as all of the problems with which we still live today. Throw in a couple of cool songs by Hoagy Carmichael and Frank Loesser, and this is a really entertaining piece of work. The film was also released under the title "Mr. Bugs Goes to Town."

The Greatest Music Stories Never Told" by Rick Beyer

This little 214 page book covers the greatest moments in musical history beginning in 1400 BC. That was when an unknown resident of Syria wrote a hymn in praise of the Moon God. It was recorded on a stone tablet. It is the oldest song known to man, but it wasn't until the 1970's that it was recognized for what it was. Anne Kilmer, a Professor at Berkeley University recognized some of the cuneiform writing as musical notation. From that she was able to reconstruct the tune, which had been written for a lyre. From there the stories continue, all the way to 2007's "Rocking the Cosmos", which talks about Brian May, a former college student in the 1970's, who finally completed his degree in Astrophysics. In the 30 odd years between he was the guitarist for the Rock Group "Queen." Along with lead singer Farrokh Bulsara, aka Freddie Mercury, they became known as the rock and roll band "Queen".

In between the author introduces us to the invention of leotards, which were brought on by a French trapeze artist who needed something more flexible to wear while performing his act. He became known as "The Daring Young man on the Flying Trapeze".

Sports lovers will not be disappointed by this book, as there are a couple of great stories concerning music and sports. Take the Boston Red Sox as an example. Harry Frazee, the owner of the team, was more interested in show business than he was in baseball. So, in 1919 he sold his star player, Babe Ruth, to the New York Yankees for $100,000 and a $300,000 loan. This enraged the fans in Boston, but placed Mr. Frazee in a position to pay back all of his debts and open a small play in New York. That play, "My Lady Friends" became a huge success. He then used the profits from that play to turn it into a musical in 1925. The song "Tea for Two" came from that show. The show? "No, No, Nanette". Mr. Frazee went on to become a great producer, while the Red Sox would not win a pennant for the next 80 years.

Walter Boyd, the blues guitarist was doing a 30 year stretch for murder on a Texas prison farm when the Governor came to visit. Walter was known as the hardest working man on the farm, as well as being a genius on his guitar, which he often used to entertain his fellow prisoners. On the night the Governor came to visit, Boyd was asked to entertain him with a song. He sang the following words;

"If I had the Governor
Where the Governor has me;
Before daylight
I'd set the Governor free.

I beg you Governor
Upon my soul;
If you won't give me a pardon
Won't you give me my parole?"

The Governor was impressed, and amused. And Boyd got his pardon. Walter Boyd's real name? Leadbelly, aka Huddie Ledbetter. He would later go on to write "Good Night Irene."

During the Civil War, "drummer boys" marched into battle, playing their drums to communicate orders. They played for hours upon hours without a break. In the 1920's a drummer named Sanford Moeller went around to every nursing home, where there was an old Civil War drummer, in order to learn how they drummed so loudly for such long periods of time. He wrote a book about it called "The Art of Snare Drumming". Then he passed his knowledge along to his best student, who went on to become the drummer for Benny Goodman, inventing the modern drum solo in the 1937 hit "Sing, Sing, Sing". His name; Gene Krupa.

Isidore Hochberg was the owner of an electrical appliance business, until the Great Depression came along and wiped him out. He decided to write a poem about it. He called up an old childhood friend, who happened to be in the music business, and soon the two were working together. The friend's name? Ira Gershwin. The result of their collaboration? "Brother Can You Spare a Dime". Hochberg would go on to change his name to Yip Harburg, and also write the lyrics for every tune in "The Wizard of Oz".

Speaking of "Oz", there is one song which almost didn't make it into the film. Studio head Louis B. Mayer considered the song too slow for the film, and so he simply ordered that it be cut from the final version of the film, just prior to its release. Associate Producer Arthur Freed challenged this decision, and along with the song's composer, Yip Harburg, they were able to keep the song in the film. The song? "Somewhere Over the Rainbow".

One night a man named Stuart Gorrell got to help write a song. This was unusual, as he was a retired banker. He had a roommate, a former fraternity buddy from Indiana University, who had come to New York to try and realize his musical ambitions. They sat up together that night and wrote a song called "Georgia on My Mind". The roommate? Hoagy Carmichael. And Georgia? Although the song is mostly associated with the State of Georgia, it was written for Carmichael's sister, who was named Georgia. Ray Charles would go on to record the signature version of this song in 1960. It is often attributed to him, as well as to another singer, Willie Nelson.

The FBI comes into play around 1964 with their intense investigation of some song lyrics. The words on the record were virtually unintelligible. With rumors spreading that the lyrics were somewhat bawdy, the FBI sprang into action, in order to ascertain whether or not the public was being offended. They slowed the song down, and sped it up. Still no clear lyrics emerged. The song became #1 on the charts and J. Edgar Hoover was blazing mad. Thousands of man hours, and hundreds of agents, were involved in trying to decode the lyrics. The truth behind it all? The song was recorded by Jack Ely, along with his group "The Kingsmen". Ely was wearing braces on his teeth and standing on tip toe in order for the overhead mike to pick up his voice. The result was unintelligible. The record was "Louie, Louie", a song about a Jamaican fisherman who wonders if his woman is really in love with him.

The history of ukuleles, long thought to be a Hawaiian instrument, is also explored here. Prior to 1879 there were no ukuleles in Hawaii. As a matter of fact, no one in Hawaii had ever heard of one. In August of that year, a Portuguese ship named the Ravenscraig came to the islands. Within a few days the island was abuzz with news of the sailors serenading the natives with their ukuleles. By 1915, after the ukulele was featured in the Panama-Pacific Exposition in San Francisco, it was forever more associated with Hawaii.

But my all-time favorite piece in this book concerns the man who would turn music on its head. He is often credited as the first jazz musician, and was directly responsible for Louis Armstrong picking up the cornet, and later the trumpet. Although no recordings of the man were ever made; he was committed to an asylum in 1907, where he would die in 1932; he influenced every jazz player of his era, and many in ours. His name was Buddy Bolden, and to quote Louis Armstrong, "He blew so hard, that I used to wonder if I would ever have enough lung power to fill one of those cornets." Mr. Armstrong, at the age of 5, used to listen to Buddy Bolden as he played at The Funky Butt Hall in New Orleans. From such humble beginnings, legends are born.

A quick and informative read, this book is entertaining, and in many cases will have you running to You Tube to see, or hear, the musical history described within its pages.

Keith Richards - Mailer Award Winner

"This is one for the books, if you get my drift - you hacks," the 67-year-old Rolling Stones guitarist joked Tuesday as he accepted the Mailer Prize for Distinguished Biography, a prize earned by his million-selling memoir "Life." Wearing tinted glasses, a long scarf around his neck and a wide red band around his sprawl of salt and pepper hair, Richards stood before hundreds dressed in suits and gowns at the Mandarin Hotel in Manhattan and loosened up as if presiding over a celebrity roast. He chuckled. He swore. He reasoned that since he had been writing - songs - since age 16, his appearance at a literary event was not a total "intrusion."

Read the entire article here;

http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/industry/publishing/keith-richards-life-wins-mailer-book-prize-1005490752.story

It always pleases me when I have read a book which goes on to win an award. It makes me feel as if I really do know a good book when I read one. Keith Richards, who just last week won the Mailer Award for his autobiography "Life", is a good example. I reviewed that book last January, a few months after its release. It was a very credible work. So, I was not too surprised to see that it garnered the Mailer Award last week in New York City. The Mailer Award, is of course, named after Norman Mailer, the iconic news columnist, and author, who passed away in 2007. I grew up on his columns in the New York Daily News. He was the workingman's writer, a journalist who saw more of the underbelly of New York City than almost anyone else in the 1960's.

In case you missed that review, and to give myself a day of rest, I am re-posting it. If you still haven't read this book, give it a whirl. It's well worth the time.

"Life" by Keith Richards

One of the hardest, and most enjoyable aspects of reviewing this book by Keith Richards, is the enormous amount of information he has to impart to the reader. There are, for instance, the names of many musicians who influenced Mr. Richards, but who are totally unrecognizable to those of us on this side of the Atlantic. Take "Wizz" Jones as an example. Mr. Richards cites him as an early influence. Mr. Jones was a British folk singer along the lines of our own Bob Dylan, and he used to drop by the toilet at the art school where all the kids would hang out and play guitar. This was in Chapter 2, so I had to stop reading and get acquainted with "Wizz" Jones. And thanks to our good friend You Tube, it's not that hard to do. Here is Mr. Wizz Jones, on BBC in 1960;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDsQSOf6_ow

Don't take me wrong, I'm not complaining. This is just the type of book I love! One that will stretch my knowledge of the music I love and where it came from. And this book starts giving on page one! Then it keeps on delivering until the very last page.

I have been a Keith Richards fan since I first heard him singing "Connection" with the Stones in 1966. And when he wrote and sang "You've Got the Silver" on "Let It Bleed" in 1969, I was hooked on Keith Richards for life. The man is a human musical note. He sees most things musically, lyrically. That he is able to then translate these visions and craft them into music that rocks the entire world is amazing. That he has done it for almost 50 years is astounding!

I won't bore you with a review of this book and a rehashing of some of the wilder exploits. It would only cheapen this incredible work by Mr. Richards. Let's just say that there is enough sex, drugs and rock and roll in the book to keep the more voyeuristic amongst us very happy. And to that end, the book delivers very well.

But for those looking to read a more serious side of the man known to millions as "Keef", this book is THE place to be. The author explores every aspect of his life, from growing up in post war England, which was still on rations through 1954, his days at art college, an examination of how the British primary schools worked at the time, and everything else you will need to know in order to measure the man.

Musically, the book is a treasure. Mr. Richards explains his method of guitar playing and song writing, right down to the five string open G tuning which he uses on many of The Rolling Stones records, as well as in concert. This portion of the book was so inspiring that I immediatley retuned one of my guitars so that I could check it out myself. I'll keep you posted on that one!

Exploring his sometimes volatile relationship with Mick Jagger is also a very interesting part of the book. How fame affects different people is fascinating, and even more so when told by someone who has lived it.

From the early Bohemian days of the Rolling Stones, founded by Ian Stewart, to the chaotic days of Brian Jones death, and then on through the politics and drug scandals of the late 1990's and beyond, this book is a ticking bomb. Each page explodes with information about the music business, touring, and the petty differences that can plague old friendships on the road.

Many people will be interested in the history of Keith Richards drug use, and on this subject, once again, he dishes up the full story. He does not, as I have read in other reviews, glorify drug use at all, rather he just tells it the way it is. You make the choices for yourself. This whole topic of hard drug use is an education in itself, and written honestly by someone who has been through it all, several times.

The legal problems of the 1970's, when Mr. Richards was under indictment in Canada for trafficking, is of special interest. It is the typical story of a Government catching a tiger by the tail and not knowing what to do with it. And the story of the blind girl, who helps to influence the decision of the judge, will really let you in on who Keith Richards is beneath the surface. I'm no spoiler, so you'll have to read the book if you want to hear that one.

This book holds nothing back. Mr. Richards is completely candid about his family life and the book contains just enough photos to let you peek inside of that world. When dealing with the loss of his infant son Tara, in 1979, he moved me to tears, no exaggeration, and I'm a pretty hard case when it comes to that sort of thing.

His stories are, at times, interspersed with an account of the same event, told from someone else's point of view. This lends credibility to many of the more amazing stories. And there are many!

There are a couple of extra special portions of the book for me. One is the description of the making of the film "Hail, Hail, Rock and Roll", made in 1988. Keith Richards had always been a big fan of Chuck Berry's, but felt that Chuck had been touring for so long, using only "pick up" bands in each town, that he had lost his edge. So he put together a group to back Chuck Berry, with Jesse Ed Davis on guitar, Bobby Keys on sax, and a host of others, including Chuck Berry's original piano player, Johnnie Johnson. Actually, it had been Mr. Johnson's band until Chuck Berry took it over. That film has always been very special to me and it was nice to hear how it all came together.

But the most impressive thing to me was the phone call from Hoagy Carmichael, the man who wrote "Stardust" and a million other songs back in the 1930's through the 50's. The man who was friends with Bix Biederbicke. The man who co-starred with Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall in "To Have and Have Not." He called to say that he had heard a version of Keith doing "The Nearness of You", which had been written in the 1940's. It was a slow song, but Keith had done a tape of it for his lawyer, and had stepped it up to a barrelhouse piano number. He was knocked for a loop when Mr. Carmichael told him that this was the way he originally had envisioned the song.This was only 6 months before Hoagy Carmichael died, and Mr. Richards relishes that call to this very day.

I could go on and on about this book. But it would be better if you'd just read it. This is the side of Keith Richards that so many of his fans have embraced over the years. It is also a side of him that many do not know. Great book.

Hoagy Carmichael - "Hong Kong Blues"

This is a song which I have been singing since I was about 10 years old and saw Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall in "To Have and Have Not", the brilliant re-write of Ernest Hemingway's very dry novel of the same name. As a matter of fact, the film came about only after an argument between Howard Hawks, the director, and Ernest Hemingway, while the two were on a fishing trip. Hawks opined that he could make a good film from Hemingway's worst novel. Hemingway offered up "To Have and Have Not", which was his least favorite. Hawks enlisted the aid of William Faulkner, and a bottle of bourbon, to write a new screenplay in about 1 night. This is the only time in film history in which a Nobel Prize winning author has worked on the script of another Nobel Prize winning author.

Hoagy Carmichael's musical inspiration was Bix Beiderbecke, a jazz musician who drank himself to death at age twenty-eight. They had been in a band together while in college; Carmichael had planned on a career in law; but the music of the times sidetracked him.

Hoagy Carmichael penned over 600 songs in his lifetime. Many of them are still performed today. "Georgia on My Mind", "Stardust", "In the Cool, Cool, Cool of the Evening" and "Rocking Chair" all come to mind. Even George Harrison recorded "Hong Kong Blues", which is also known as "Buddha's Gong". Bob Dylan recorded it back in 1962, or thereabouts, as did Ramblin' Jack Elliott. Even I play it on my guitar. It's very simple, having only 3 chords to it. But the song is clearly a piano number, and so no-one has ever topped this version of it.

The band which Mr. Carmichael assembled for this number is mind boggling, with it's unusual array of musical instruments. There is a banjo, mandolin, the piano, drums and even a violin, all combining to make a most unusual, and pleasing sound. This type of musical ensemble was not that rare in the islands back in the early part of the 20th century, as ships from all nations came and went, carrying their own brand of music with them. Sometimes, these sailors, and musicians, deserted the ships, electing to remain in the islands, combining their separate talents, and cultures, to form new sounds. "Hong Kong Blues" is a perfect example.

Somewhat of an enigma, Carmichael was a dyed in the wool Republican, hated FDR and the New Deal, and blamed the President for the fact that he couldn't see over the dashboard of his Lincoln Continental, even though he was only slightly over 5 foot tall.

Hoagy Carmichael was a rural, midwestern boy, and so "right wing" that he once challenged Humphrey Bogart to a fistfight for his "leftist" views. In his autobiography "The Stardust Road", Carmichael writes of the times before smoking marijuana, which he called muggles, was illegal;

"It's the summer of 1923. We took two quarts of bathtub gin, a package of muggles, and headed for the black-and-tan joint where King Oliver's band was playing.

The King featured two trumpets, piano, a bass fiddle, and a clarinet. As I sat down to light my first muggle...taking the first chorus was that second trumpet, Louis Armstrong. Louis was taking it fast.

"Why," I moaned, "why isn't everybody in the world here to hear that?" I meant it. Something as unutterably stirring as that deserved to be heard by the world.

Then the muggles took effect and my body got light. Every note Louis hit was perfection. I ran to the piano and took the place of Louis's wife. They swung into Royal Garden Blues. I had never heard the tune before, but somehow I knew every note. I couldn't miss. I was floating in a strange deep-blue whirlpool of jazz."

The original lyrics for "Hong Kong Blues" had to be changed slightly for the movie. The expression "Buddha's Gong" referred to being addicted to opium. That line was okay, as most Americans were unfamiliar with the term. But the word "opium" would not survive, and so Hoagy sings "sweet local man" in it's place. Here are the lyrics to this wonderful song by a truly legendary American songwriter;

"Hong Kong Blues" by Hoagy Carmichael

It's the story of a very unfortunate coloured man
Who got arrested down in old Hong Kong.
He got twenty years' privilege taken away from him
When he kicked old Buddha's gong.

And now he's boppin' the piano just to raise the price
Of a ticket to the land of the free.
Well, he say his home's in 'Frisco, where they send the rice,
But it's really in Tennessee.

That's why he say,
"I need someone to love me,
Need somebody to carry me home to San Francisco
And bury my body there.

I need someone to lend me
a fifty-dollar billand then,
I'll leave Hong Kong far behind me,
For happiness once again.

Won't somebone believe
I've a yen, to see that Bay again.
But when I try to leave,
Sweet opium won't let me fly away.

I need someone to love me,
Need somebody to carry me home to San Francisco
And bury my body there."

That's the story of a very unfortunate coloured man,
Who got arrested down in old Hong Kong.
He got twenty years' privilege taken away from him,
When he kicked old Buddha's gong.

Louis Armstrong and Jack Teagarden - "Rocking Chair"

I've got a bit of flu, so I'm taking a day off. Meantime, enjoy this wonderful piece of music with Jack Teagarden and Louis Armstrong doing Hoagy Carmichael's "Rocking Chair." It's from sometime around the late 1950's. These two were great friends and admirers, and it really shows.

George Harrison - They Say It's His Birthday!

It's hard to believe that George Harrison, my favorite Beatle, has been dead almost ten years this coming December. Always known as the "serious" Beatle, Mr. Harrison contributed quite a lot to the sucess of the band. And after they broke up, his last recording with The Beatles was done in July of 1969 for the "Abbey Road" album, he went on to establish a quiet, and varied career, touring the world with many different incarnations of a band. His most notable sucess came in the late 1980's when he teamed up with Jeff Lynne, of The Electric Light Orchestra, and old friend Bob Dylan, along with new friend Tom Petty, and an old influence, Roy Orbison, with whom the Beatles had toured Germany in 1962, to form The Traveling Wilbury's. They made two albums, one before Mr. Orbison passed away, for which he received a Best Vocalist Award, and the second one without him.

This song, "Handle me with Care", takes a hard look at the price of fame and fortune. The vocals are tight, and yet both Roy Orbison and George Harrison each come off as distinctly different vocalists in this song. That was the beauty of this band, it's sheer wealth of writing and performance talents, coupled with no egos. This was also a very unique band, centered as it was,around George Harrison, the man whose curiosity about a sitar on the set of the movie "Help" began a radical shift in pop music, as well as a resurgence in the Art of Yoga. We were lucky to have him for awhile. He would have been 68 years old today. Happy Birthday, George!

I hope that if you have the time, and inclination, you will take a few moments today to view the wealth of music that this quiet man left as a legacy. Here's a link to get you in the slip stream. It features George on his favorite instrument, the ukelele. The song is "Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea" by Ted Koehler. Mr. Harrison was a big fan of 1930's music, once responding to a news reporters question about what he had been listening to in his car that day with a very unexpected answer; "Barnacle Bill the Sailor and some Hoagie Carmichael." When asked if he was joking, he looked slightly annoyed as he answered, "No. are you?"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5CkIniOcqs&feature=related