song | It Rains… You Get Wet

May

In Praise of Her Bond Groove: Shirley Bassey

It’s clear to me, with the release of Bond 23 (AKA the next James Bond film), Skyfall, later this year, and its recently unleashed teaser trailer, I needed to get this post finally out of my Draft’s bin. I’ve been busy of late, and a little lazy about getting it online. Still, when you have wonderful periodic content on the topic in general already available, there’s been no hurry. I mean, my friend Ruth’s Bond threads are the stuff of blog comment heaven and my colleague Fogs’ thoughts and judgements on the subject seem to follow closely with mine, who can compete with that? But, since I’ve been on a music bent lately, I guess there’s no better time than the present.

As the longest continually running film series in history, Ian Fleming’s character of James Bond continues to press on with distinct style (if not a different face every few years). It’s little wonder that our own American Cinematheque Los Angeles is offering up the entire 22 films in a retrospective to “licensed to kill” fans next month. My son is on record that he wants to attend every single movie and double-feature offered. For which I say, “How will you be able to afford this, and have you started working yet?” I’m sure I’ll be attending some of my favorites and avoiding my least-loved (cough… A View to a Kill).

Generally, this piece is meant as an appreciation of the music for the long-time film series, and one stunning vocal artist in particular. Let’s be honest, in the 50 years covering twenty-two films so far in the series there is a wide range in sweet-sounding quality when it comes to its title theme songs. Sure, there are fans for each and every song out there. More power to them, I say (well, maybe not the Madonna crowd who may somehow like the horrid one for Die Another Day, which I honestly consider the worst in the canon). Without question, the impact of composer/film scorer John Barry cannot be minimized among all of those who’ve contributed musically to the Bond series. And yet, there’s only been one singer in that five-decade period who has belted out more OO7 theme songs in number while simultaneously setting the standard: that would be the Welsh music icon, Dame Shirley Bassey.

Shirley Bassey easily was one of the most popular singers in Britain over the last decades of the 20th century. She possesses one of the most distinct and powerful voices in the music world. And we have John Barry to thank for bringing this talent into the Bond universe, beginning in 1964. Out of the three theme songs she’s recorded, I’d have all of them in my Top Ten. Not a bad batting average out of twenty (in reality, those for Dr. No and On Her Majesty’s Secret Service are purely John Barry instrumental pieces). So, here then are those song rankings and thoughts on each including the films, the actor portraying Bond, and that all important villain. Read more

May

Same Song, Different Movie: Gayne’s Adagio by Aram Khachaturian

Continuing my thoughts from February regarding the use of song in film, “needle dropped” tunes are not officially considered part of a film score — those orchestral, choral, or instrumental pieces some consider background music. I think both are utilized as cues by filmmakers for a specific purpose or to elicit certain reactions by the audience. I’m fascinated by this in general, and movie soundtracks have specifically intrigued me. They represent a convergence of the music and film arts I’ve allocated much time toward. Some movie soundtracks (many my favorites) have incorporated those songs the director or music programmer have showcased in their movie along with the film’s score.

A few filmmakers have made it part of their filmography to incorporate popular song as a regular element in their work. Martin Scorsese, Wes Anderson, and others do this very well. So, I’ve claimed this use of music, whether others like it or not, is very much a part of the movie experience and related to its composition. It is something I continue to watch out and listen for it in my movie viewing. Giving credit where it is due, I never would have started anything like this series if not for my blogging colleague over at Fog’s Movie Review. It was his excellent, Tossin’ It Out There: What’s YOUR Favorite Song From a Movie?, that kicked it all off:

“… there’s a deep connection between the two arts, and sometimes that winds up creating an inseparable bond between the two in the viewer’s mind.”

Once more, I’ve selected a song used in more than one movie. Like the opera aria I noted for the Patrick Cassidy piece in this series, we’re again in the classical music genre. This, another mournful piece, was used in a pair of films by two very different directors and film scorers. Both used the music in equally isolated deep space scenes from two very different sci-fi motion pictures almost two decades apart — I’m referring to the Adagio movement from Aram Khachaturian’s four-act Gayne Ballet Suite. An adagio is the term that refers to the speed the music is played, in this case “slow and stately (literally, “at ease”) (66–76 bpm)”.

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

Stanley Kubrick’s eighth film is well-known to both science-fiction and film aficionados (along with a couple of my friends who still find it hard to sit through ). One of its chief distinctions is that the filmmaker famously (or infamously) used classical music pieces from existing recordings for the soundtrack (throwing out Alex North’s score without his knowledge — he only found out after he saw the film’s première screening). Kubrick’s selections had the effect of making the story, with its breakthrough special effects and the imagined future presented, more relative and relatable to the contemporary audience (then 33 years beforehand). The Adagio sequence heralds the entrance of the Discovery space ship and its small crew on their way to the secretive Jupiter mission. It is simply an elegant and evocative piece of music, one used by Kubrick to denote the lonely and tentative existence these people find themselves in the large cold vacuum of space (which is its own reference to all of human kind on the third rock from the Sun). The scene uses music as dialogue (for a film that hasn’t much of it) and it is one of the most cinematic and amazing sequences ever filmed, IMO.

Aliens (1986)

Director James Cameron and composer James Horner had a number of understandable hurdles to overcome in delivering a sequel to one of the more iconic films and scores that closed the previous decade. Alien was all that, plus it delivered one of the best opening movie titles ever put on celluloid. To their credit, they took Aliens in another direction, yet maintained the core to that film and with a clear homage to another sci-fi classic (the one above). Horner’s score is less subdued than Jerry Goldsmith’s, but it’s in keeping to each of their film’s narratives. Aliens‘ opening titles moved to establish Ripley at the long end of her lonely journey from the previous movie’s finale to this point by dropping in 2001′s musical ship analogy by way of Horner’s reproduced tribute to Gayne’s Adagio. The movement segues in when the shuttle appears on-screen in that segment. Perhaps not coincidentally, the adagio commences as the composer’s credit appears. You’ll note his stamp on his piece is more up-tempo while still maintaining a forlorn mood of the music. It’s a tuneful hint to what’s to come and a nice acknowledgment to the ’68 film.

[note: the only video for this title sequence is at the Art of the Title site and is not available for sharing, but you can view it via this link. YouTube does have the represented music track and is embedded below, the quoted section is from the 1:00 mark to 2:19 by the composer on the soundtrack]

[Wikipedia reports James Horner has quoted from this piece of music three times in his scores: Aliens, Patriot Games and Clear and Present Danger. As well, "The Adagio was also used, among other pieces by Khachaturian, in Tinto Brass's Caligula." For that last notorious film, I was probably distracted by other things to notice that particular musical piece ]

Same Song, Different Movie: Street Life by Will Jennings & Joe Sample

Continuing my thoughts from last February regarding the use of song in film, I’ll reiterate some that I’ve previously said. “Needle dropped” tunes are not considered part of a film score — those orchestral, choral, or instrumental pieces some consider background music. Still, I truly believe those established songs and specially written pieces are utilized as potent cues by filmmakers to elicit certain reactions by the audience. I’m fascinated by this in general, and movie soundtracks have specifically intrigued me. They represent a convergence of the music and film arts I’ve allocated much time toward (my wife can back me up on that regard ). Some movie soundtracks have incorporated songs the director or music programmer have showcased in their movie along with the film’s score.

A few filmmakers have made it part of their filmography to incorporate popular song as a regular element in their work. Quentin Tarantino, Michael Mann and others do this very well. Hell, Tarantino has been known to throw in dialogue from the actual motion picture as a track for the listener to relive. So, I’ve claimed this use of music, whether others like it or not, is very much a part of the movie experience and related to its composition. It is something I continue to watch out and listen for it in my movie viewing. Giving credit where it is due, I never would have started anything like this series if not for my blogging colleague over at Fog’s Movie Review. It was his excellent, Tossin’ It Out There: What’s YOUR Favorite Song From a Movie?, that kicked it all off:

“… there’s a deep connection between the two arts, and sometimes that winds up creating an inseparable bond between the two in the viewer’s mind.”

Once more, I’ve selected a song used in more than one movie. This particular piece featured one stellar and breakthrough jazz vocal. While it would make inroads onto Billboard’s Top 100 for popular song (reached #36) that year, the track simultaneously climbed up Jazz (stayed at the top for an incredible 20 weeks), R&B (hit as high as #17), and even Disco (#75) charts after its source album was released in 1979. Back then, those of us into jazz fusion were introduced to its original 11:18 cut on FM stations known to play long album takes. The tune would power us “decade survivors” out of the 70s as only it could.

Sharky’s Machine (1981)

The Crusaders‘ guest vocalist, Randy Crawford, on that very LP would make her soulful, memorable entrance into U.S. listeners ears and hearts with this song’s first few emotive lyrics. It is the one and only Street Life, lyrics and music by Will Jennings and Joe Sample. As upbeat and exuberant as the tune comes across, with its vibrant vocal and jazz/funk arrangement, the lyrics are essentially quite downcast. The ‘street life’ it professes is one of loneliness, drugs and prostitution. Director Burt Reynolds in his highly underrated and under appreciated film (at least in my opinion), Sharky’s Machine, employed the track in that sense. For the most part, Reynolds shows unforeseen skill as a filmmaker, here. His tracking shot at the start of the thriller is particularly deft (and observe he’ll reverse it for the closing credits). That scene’s progression (right up to the director’s title credit) has a marvelous flow to it. It employed a refashioned take of that Crusaders song convincingly to set the mood for that entire sequence, with Ms. Crawford reprising her vocal in this version.

Jackie Brown (1997)

Given the credibility and reputation I’ve already laid out for director Quentin Tarantino, it shouldn’t surprise I’d have him in at least one of these articles. And Tarantino may have deployed this song even better in this, one of his more mature films from the 90s, Jackie Brown. Like Reynold’s film, it was adapted from an existing novel, one by Elmore Leonard (Burt’s was by William Diehl). As this film represents those on the other side of the thin blue line, Jennings’ lyrics come into more focus as the protagonist, beautifully portrayed by Pam Grier, is about to employ her gamble with the cops and her gun-runner employer, Ordell Robbie. Her risk to get herself out of ‘The Life’ is itself freeing for the character and it comes across effectively in the sequence. Again, Ms. Crawford’s vocal track, in yet another take with the song, brought that forth as no one else could.

Friday Song – Frank Sinatra’s The Way You Look Tonight

Honestly, I’m not that ancient, but I do maintain an affection toward the old love songs that originate from movies. Such is the case with the song used in the 1936 film Swing Time, starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rodgers. Fred famously sings it to Ginger in the film during a scene where he’s at a piano and she’s in another room washing her hair. It’s a lovely song, written by Jerome Kern with lyrics by Dorothy Fields, in a sweet little segment. However, it’s not my favorite version of the tune. Though it’s been covered many times by loads of artists, none in my estimation come close to the one done in 1964 by none other than the Chairman of the Board himself, Frank Sinatra.

Known for singing a number of ballads and standards too many to count or mention in a long singing and acting career, this track regularly makes its way on to a boatload of fans/critics best of lists (like this one). What’s interesting to note is that this was Sinatra’s second, and supreme, crack at the tune. He first recorded it during the WWII years with the Columbia record label. That one comes off as a just okay cover with a similar take of Fred Astaire’s vocal and with a decidedly period arrangement that dates it dramatically. If this was his only version, I’d take Tony Bennett’s, Ella Fitzgerald’s, or even Chad & Jeremy’s cover over that rendition any day of the week. Luckily, two decades later he came back to it.

All the difference here, besides Sinatra’s maturation and being a more accomplished artist by this time, is Nelson Riddle‘s orchestral arrangement of this, and all the tunes, on what turned out to be a rich compilation album of Oscar’s Best Songs. The Days of Wine and Roses – Moon River and Other Academy Award Winners remained a heady collection by the Reprise record label to that point in time and one of the all-time best compendiums for Frank Sinatra. Riddle was at the top of his game and his involvement cannot be minimized in this production. The way he changed the singer’s approach with the song from that earlier attempt is like night and day. Joe Viglione over at AllMusic interpreted best why that Los Angeles studio recording, performed on January 27, 1964, was special:

“Riddle certainly had more than a grasp of what Frank Sinatra needed in accompaniment and the voice glides over the subdued but stunningly beautiful orchestration effortlessly. Covered by so many from Fred Astaire to Art Blakely and Dave Brubeck, there’s more than just the cache of being in the Frank Sinatra repertoire for a song, it’s the everyman charm he brings a title, vocalizing with an ease that makes common folk think they can copy him when they dare not approach the skills of a Nina Simone or an Ella Fitzgerald. But that’s where Sinatra surprises because his unique style is more difficult than it sounds to those singing along, and the instrumentation is always worth a million bucks. A Linda Ronstadt’s work with Nelson Riddle is a good singer re-creating memories. Frank Sinatra sets a different standard, the bassline creating a foundation for him to start the song off nonchalantly while building a full bodied vocal workout. It’s not the passion of Cole Porter’s”Night And Day”, it’s more a recognition of the sublime and tender acknowledgment of the object of one’s affection. Nelson Riddle accurately sets the tone and that’s all Sinatra needs to make his point with this Jerome Kern and Dorothy Fields composition.”

That said it all, I think. I probably heard the song on or off through the decades since the album’s release, but paid little attention to it beyond the song’s film connection. That is, until the late 80s, around the time I was courting a certain someone. And it was the 1988 Michelob Beer commercial, the one featuring the old tune, that changed it all for me. The lyrics gained new meaning from that point forward. It’s little wonder that it’s this particular song that comes back to me on a fairly regular basis. Especially, during those moments that happen when I look over at the person I married. I hope you all have a great weekend.

Some day, when I’m awfully low,
When the world is cold,
I will feel a glow just thinking of you
And the way you look tonight.

Yes you’re lovely, with your smile so warm
And your cheeks so soft,
There is nothing for me but to love you,
And the way you look tonight.

With each word your tenderness grows,
Tearing my fear apart
And that laugh that wrinkles your nose,
It touches my foolish heart.

Lovely, never, ever change.
Keep that breathless charm.
Won’t you please arrange it ?
Cause I love you, just the way you look tonight.

Mm, mm, mm, mm,
Just the way you look to-night.

Mar

Los Angeles: Recommended Listening

Previous: Recommended Reading

As I continue my look at the wonderful gift my bride of 23 years gave me for our recent wedding anniversary, this is the next entry that looks at the particularly intriguing addendum titled “Selected Los Angeles Viewing/Listening/Reading” that lies within the publication. The photographic Taschen book, Los Angeles, Portrait of a City is a marvelous work written by Harvard PhD. and USC Professor Kevin Starr and David L. Ulin, books editor for the L.A. Times.

Edited by Jim Heimann, it incorporates some gorgeous history-laden photographs for the City of the Angels, the place my family and I call home. It is its own highlight and worth discussion. For this second entry, I’ll showcase their listening collection, one that has what it is to be L.A. firmly in its sights (and ears). I’ve included links to the songs on YouTube when available. For my faves on their list, I’ve included the authors thoughts on those below on their list entries. What are your thoughts regarding this list? And what would you add, if you could?

For those who are interested, here’s their listening breakdown by calendar period:

Posts from the ‘song’ Category

In Praise of Her Bond Groove: Shirley Bassey