The Great American Songbook-What Are Your Favorites?

[broadwaysfguy]

Posted: 2/1/17 at 11:11am

I'm compiling a top 100 songs playlist  of the Great American Songbook (GAM).

Most authors define these songs that become "the standards" of pop and jazz from the 1920's-1950's that came mostly (but not always) from musicals and movie musicals. GAM contributors include Irving Berlin, Cole Porter, Jerome Kern, The Gershwin's, Rodgers & Hart, Rodgers & Hammerstein, Johnny Mercer, Harold Arlen and others.

What song (or songs) and recording(s) from the Great American Songbook do you feel MUST be included in a Top 100 Great American Songbook Songs Playlist? 

Updated On: 2/3/17 at 11:11 AM

[Ado Annie D'Ysquith]

Posted: 2/1/17 at 1:02pm

This is so hard, but if I had to contribute 10...in no particular order...

1. "I Get a Kick Out of You" (Porter)
2. "You'll Never Walk Alone" (Rodgers/Hammerstein)
3. "What'll I Do?" (Berlin)
4. "Shaking the Blues Away" (Berlin)
5. "Ol' Man River" (Kern/Hammerstein)
6. "The Man I Love" (Gershwin)
7. "Over the Rainbow" (Arlen)
8. "Anything Goes" (Porter)
9. "Some Enchanted Evening" (Rodgers/Hammerstein)
10. "Singin' in the Rain" (Brown/Freed)

[Kad]

Posted: 2/1/17 at 1:24pm

"God Bless the Child" - Billie Holiday

"It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)" - Duke Ellington & Irving Mills

"At Last" - Mack Gordon and Henry Warren

"Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?" - Yip Harburg & Jay Gorney

"Ain't Misbehavin' " - Fats Weller

 

[John Adams]

Posted: 2/1/17 at 1:30pm

Teach Me Tonight - music by Gene De Paul, lyrics by Sammy Cahn

[broadwaysfguy]

Posted: 2/1/17 at 4:50pm

wow ado annie..thats a pretty awesome 10

it may sound corny, but i NEVER get tired of hearing over the rainbow, some enchanted evening, or Anything goes!

[Someone in a Tree2]

Posted: 2/1/17 at 10:17pm

Johnny Mercer deserves at least 5 or 6 selections on his own, including:

"Com Rain or Come Shine" with Arlen

"Blues in the Night" also with Arlen

and "Moon River" with Henry Mancini.

Other personal favorites from the movies:

"I'll Be Seeing You" 

"Que Sera Sera"

"Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas"

"White Christmas"

And for at least one song written since 1960-- how about "Sounds of Silence" or "The Boxer"?

 

 

[temms]

Posted: 2/1/17 at 11:01pm

These first two, no question about it.  The others I submit as possibilities.

"All The Things You Are"

"Stardust"

"Love Is Here To Stay"

"So In Love"

"Taking a Chance On Love"

"Come Rain Or Come Shine"

"I Got Lost In His Arms"

"Stand By Me"

"Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow"

"Send In The Clowns"

"Tonight" (Bernstein/Sondheim)

Definitely a Rodgers, but which?  "Where Or When"?  "Some Enchanted Evening"?  

[OlBlueEyes]

Posted: 2/2/17 at 4:39am

"The Lady is a Tramp" Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart from Babes in Arms (1937)

Ella Fitzgerald and Ol' Blue Eyes   Geez, what a tough way to earn a living.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xafBWOxqssg

"I Won't Dance"  Jerome Kern and Dorothy Fields from the film Roberta (1935)

Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Trabvs0aqFM

"Begin the Beguine"  Cole Porter Jubilee  Broadway Musical (1935)

Known for unusual 108 bar, AABAC1C2 structure

Fred Astaire and Eleanor Powell  For Tap Fans Only!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=37XhIuqsWVk

"Take the 'A' Train"  Billy Strayhorn with Duke Ellington  1939

Duke Ellington and his Orchestra  A jazz classic.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cb2w2m1JmCY

 

 

Updated On: 2/2/17 at 04:39 AM

[broadwaysfguy]

Posted: 2/2/17 at 1:18pm

thanks ol blue eyes...knew youd have some great choices...surprised you only have one suggestion being sung by Frank Sinatra...imagine there are a few other frank covers on the must include list (mine includes his version of Night and Day for sure!)

 

[broadwaysfguy]

Posted: 2/3/17 at 2:13pm

LOVE THIS SONG AND VERSION

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ti8GcKBdecQ

The Man I Love

Barbra Streisand

George & Ira Gershwin

[aaaaaa15]

Posted: 2/3/17 at 2:23pm

Anything Rodgers and Hart, particularly Manhattan and I Could Write a Book.

[OlBlueEyes]

Posted: 2/4/17 at 4:02pm

Yes, broadwayguy, I only used one Sinatra because you can see how popular this thread is, I think a majority here would welcome hearing a whole side of Sinatra only on the day that Bob Dylan records a whole album of Sinatra songs.

That Frank and Ella duet is considered to be by many the top recording of that song. Actually, I've heard this song so much now that I'm starting to get tired of it. But it's full of energy with Ella.

I've Got You Under My Skin- Cole Porter 1936 from the film Born to Dance starring Eleanor Powell.

But here is another famous Sinatra recording that is unusual in that it is more known for its Nelson Riddle arrangement, with its raucous  trombone solo, than for the vocal. From the Live at the Sands album, with Count Basie and his orchestra.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8_yPG5I63M

And the Four Seasons did a really original, excellent cover in 1966 I think. They made the Billboard Top Ten in October, 1966.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LH9CzRSYqxg

"isn't It Romantic"  Rodgers and Hart  from the 1932 film Love Me Tonight

Here is the Rodgers and Hart standard "Isn't it Romantic," from  Love Me Tonight, a "pre-code" 1932 film (that meant that it is a little naughty for its time). It starred Maurice Chevalier and the classy and talented Jeanette MacDonald. The sequence at the beginning that introduces this 84 year old standard was admired at the time. Chevalier as the poor Paris taylor, comes up with the melody that is somehow transported all the way to the Princess MacDonald trapped in her wealthy Uncle's mansion.

"Isn't it Romantic" Rodgers and Hart from the 1936 film Love Me Tonight.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-_ksOxbDKQ

Updated On: 2/5/17 at 04:02 PM

[broadwaysfguy]

Posted: 2/5/17 at 2:20pm

someone writing about Rodgers & Hart and comparing the songs to the Rodgers and Hammerstein songs, said: Rodgers & Hammerstein wrote hits; Rodgers & Hart wrote standards!

As I listen to the great songs of both(and I really love both) I have to agree completely and if you are are listening to someone perform a standards oriented set, you are more likely to find Rodgers & Hart's

Where or When

Isn't it romantic

blue moon

my funny valentine

Bewitched bothered and bewildered

than you are to hear Rodgers & Hammersteins

If I loved you

Some Enchanted Evening

You'll never walk alone

It might as well be spring

 

There is a playlist for the great american songbook on spotify that lists 275 songs that are considered part of the great american songbook. I agree with most of the selections, and learned about a number of new songs.  They are very heavy on Harry Warren at 26 songs (At Last, I only have eyes for you) vs 10 songs for the Immortal Jerome Kern, but its a nice selection of songs and top composers

  https://www.shareplaylists.com/playlist/great-american-songbook.html

 

PS to Ol blue Eyes-i dont care if we have 5 or fifty posters on a thread as long as they contribute intelligently and dont insult each other...really appreciate your taste in music and insights about the classics that will be timeless, no matter how many musicals the go-gos or boy george write.....

[TheSongbook]

Posted: 2/6/17 at 12:53pm

This is a great thread. It's wonderful to see people discussing the classic tunes of the Great American Songbook!

I work at the Great American Songbook Foundation, which is based in Carmel, Indiana. Our organization was founded by performer and preservationist Michael Feinstein in 2007. We define the "Great American Songbook" as the music of Broadway and movie musicals, standards, and jazz that were written prior to the mid-1960s. This is the focus of our education and preservation efforts, and the Songbook Archives (the only archives in the world focused exclusively on the Songbook) is presently limited to this historical period.

That said, the "American Songbook" is still very much being written. The music of Alan and Marilyn Bergman, Burt Bacharach, Dionne Warwick, Ann Hampton Callaway, and Larry Kerchner, to name just a few, is exemplary of the new generation of composers who are writing unique American standards. Other quintessentially American artists like Billy Joel, whose music crosses the boundaries of style and genre, will likely be considered significant contributors to the American Songbook by future generations.

To learn more about the Great American Songbook, and the Songbook Foundation, please visit us online at TheSongbook.org. We're also active on social media- I've included links below!

Have a great day,

Chris Brush
Great American Songbook Foundation

Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | YouTube

[PalJoey]

Posted: 2/6/17 at 1:05pm

 

Make sure to include some Dorothy Fields lyrics. Female songwriters are often overlooked in lists like these. Any of this bunch would be worth including, but she wrote over 400 songs:

• The Way You Look Tonight
• On the Sunny Side of the Street
• I Can't Give You Anything But Love
• I'm In The Mood For Love
• Big Spender
• Pick Yourself Up
• I Won't Dance
• A Fine Romance

 

[broadwaysfguy]

Posted: 2/6/17 at 2:11pm

So Chris

what are your top songs that MUST be included in a top 100 Great american songbook playlist?

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 2/6/17 at 2:29pm

Smoke Gets in Your Eyes from Roberta (Arlen and Harbach)

[darquegk]

Posted: 2/6/17 at 3:24pm

Two of the most evocative and seductive ballads ever written, which seem stuck in the dark corners of the Songbook today: "Nature Boy" and "Wild Is the Wind."

 

You can argue over the best "Nature Boy," but to me, David Bowie stands in a class of his own with "Wind," overshadowing Johnny Mathis and Nina Simone.

[OlBlueEyes]

Posted: 2/6/17 at 5:20pm

Darq - You should definitely listen to Nat King Cole's "Nature Boy." He introduced the song in 1949 and had a major hit.

Joey - Came within an inch of using "Just the Way You Look Tonight," but I thought that the clip on Youtube had too much dialogue before they got to the song. The Astaire/Rogers film "Swing Time," score by Jerome Kern and Dorothy Fields, also included "Pick Yourself Up" and "A Fine Romance," a self-proclaimed "sarcastic love song." The latter contained Field's lyrics such as this couplet:

You're calmer than the seals in the Arctic Ocean,
At least they flap their fins to express emotion.

Chris - This is the second year that I've had a subscription to Feinstein's Carnegie Hall series. Last year I was introduced to Christine Ebersole there. To me she was just a name that had received many awards, but about thirty seconds after she took the stage I could see her complete command of the stage. She had the complete attention of the audience. 

Next up in the series is a Cole Porter tribute, with Rachel York as one of the guests. I've also been to Feinstein's cabaret, (Studio) 54 Below, a fine venue. I saw Laura Osnes there. Broadway's newest sweetheart, since the former sweethearts have passed the ingenue age limit.

B'WayGuy - Yes, I have to remember that, from the number of thread views, there are are many more lurkers than posters here. Lots of lurkers enjoy probably enjoy our efforts even if they are afraid to post here in fear of being pounced on by some of the regular posters.

"A Fine Romance"  from Swing Time, by Dorothy Fields and Jerome Kern, 1936

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-TKb7JrhJpk

 

[funhamilton_rent]

Posted: 2/6/17 at 5:30pm

"To Break in a Glove" from Dear Evan Hansen

"Something Bad" from Wicked

"Another Day of Sun (The Mumbling Song)" from La La Land

"How to Raise a Child" from Seussical

"Sparkejollytwinklejingly" from Elf the Musical

"A Tree Named Sofia" from The Color Purple

Every song from Spiderman Turn Off The Dark

Every song from Amazing Grace

Every song from Dance of the Vampires

"Turning" from Les Miserables

 

And for pop:

"What Does The Fox Say" by Ylvis

"Sweatshirt" by Jacob Sartorious

and "Gangnam Style (?????)" by PSY

 

[broadwaysfguy]

Posted: 2/7/17 at 1:39am

PalJoey said: " Make sure to include some Dorothy Fields lyrics. Female songwriters are often overlooked in lists like these. Any of this bunch would be worth including, but she wrote over 400 songs"

 

thanks pal joey dorothy fields was a wonderful songwriter, and in addition to those you listed she also wrote favorites of mine

"You Couldnt be cuter"-margaret whiting version

"April Fooled Me" (heidi blikenstaff version) 

and she co-wrote the book for annie get your gun 

[Comden Green]

Posted: 2/7/17 at 7:52am

The best of all time is sinatra/riddle.    I've got you under my skin

 

close behind is   Come fly with me.