So, Im wiping myself out writing the readings for my students for a course Im teaching on Jewish songwriters . . . I tried to get it done this summer but I only managed to get a few readings finished, and now I race to stay ahead of the class -- its all I do, its sorta wrecking my health -- but Im having fun and learning a lot. Right now Im writing about Frank Loesser. I hadnt always realized that the man who wrote Guys and Dolls wrote songs my mother loved during WWII like Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition and The Ballad of Rodger Young, as well as songs with Hoagy Carmichael like Heart and Soul and songs with Jule Styne like Jingle Jangle Jingle. Apparently, he wrote Baby, Its Cold Outside for him and his wife to perform at parties. Here are Ricardo Montalban, Esther Williams, Betty Garrett and Red Skelton: https://youtube/watch?v=7MFJ7ie_yGU
Posted on: Sat, 04 Oct 2014 09:41:21 +0000