Daily Sparkle CD - A Review of Famous Songs of the Past “Fascinating Facts” May 2018 Track 1 My Very Good Friend The Milkman Johnny Burke was a lyricist, widely regarded as one of the finest writers of popular songs in America between the 1920s and 1950s. In 1934, he and Harold Spina wrote "My Very Good Friend, the Milkman" which was a novelty hit for Fats Waller. Fats Waller (May 21, 1904 – December 15, 1943), born Thomas Wright Waller, was a jazz pianist, organist, composer, singer, and comedic entertainer. Waller was one of the most popular performers of his era, finding critical and commercial success in his homeland and in Europe. He was also a prolific songwriter and many songs he wrote or co-wrote are still popular, such as "Honeysuckle Rose", "Ain't Misbehavin'" and "Squeeze Me”. He was once ‘kidnapped’ by friends of Al Capone where he was taken at gunpoint to Al Capone’s birthday party where he was the surprise guest. Once he’d realised the gangsters weren’t going to kill him he played for 3 days earning thousands of dollars in tips! He enjoyed success touring the United Kingdom and Ireland in the 1930s. He appeared in several feature films and short subject films, most notably Stormy Weather in 1943, which was released July 21, just months before his death. Track 2 Hound Dog Hound Dog is a twelve-bar blues song by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. It was recorded by Willie Mae "Big Mama" Thornton in 1952. The song has been recorded more than 250 times with the best-known version being the July 1956 recording by Elvis Presley. From the 1970s onward, the song has been featured in numerous films, in Grease, Forrest Gump and Indiana Jones. Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977) was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is commonly known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King". Born in Tupelo, Mississippi, Presley moved to Memphis, Tennessee, with his family at the age of 13. He began his career there in 1954, working with Sun Records owner Sam Phillips, who wanted to bring the sound of African American music to a wider audience. His energised interpretations of songs, many from African American sources, and his uninhibited performance style made him enormously popular—and controversial. In November 1956, he made his film debut in Love Me Tender. Drafted into military service in 1958, Presley relaunched his recording career two years later with some of his most commercially successful work. In 1968, after seven years away from the stage, he returned to live performance in a celebrated comeback television special. Prescription drug abuse severely compromised his health, and he died suddenly in 1977 at the age of 42. Presley was also one of the first ‘celebrities’. At the age of 21, within a year of his first appearance on American network television, he was one of the most famous people in the world. Track 03 The Biggest Aspidistra On The World Her most famous song, which became her theme, Sally, was worked into the title of her first film, Sally in Our Alley (1931), which was a major box o ce hit. Ironically, the final few lines of the song Sally were written by her husband's mistress, Annie Lipman, and Fields sang this song at nearly every performance she made from 1931 onwards – claiming in later life that she wanted to "Drown blasted Sally with Walter with the aspidistra on top!" Dame Gracie Fields, DBE (born Grace Stansfield, 9 January 1898 – 27 September 1979), was an English-born, later Italian-based actress, singer and comedienne and star of both cinema and music hall. One of her most successful productions was at the Alhambra Theatre, London, in 1925. She made the first of ten appearances in Royal Variety Performances in 1928, following a premiere stint at the London Palladium, gaining a devoted following with a mixture of self-deprecating jokes, comic songs and monologues, as well as cheerful "depression-era" songs all presented in a "no- airs-and-graces" Northern, working class style. At one point, Fields was playing three shows a night in London's West End. Fields had a great rapport with her audience, which helped her become one of Britain's highest paid performers, playing too sold out theatres across the country. Track 04 Is You Is Or Is You Ain’t My Baby Is You Is Or Is You Ain't My Baby is a 1944 song co-written by Jordan and Billy Austin. The phrase "Is you is or is you ain't" is dialect, apparently first recorded in a 1921 story by Octavus Roy Cohen, who wrote humorous black dialect fiction. Glenn Miller recorded this song on a radio broadcast from Europe during World War II. The Andrews Sisters were a highly successful close harmony singing group of the swing and boogie-woogie eras. The group consisted of three sisters: contralto LaVerne Sophia Andrews (1911 - 1967), soprano Maxene Angelyn Andrews ( 1916 - 1995), and mezzo-soprano Patricia Marie "Patty" Andrews (1918). Throughout their long career, the sisters sold well over 75 million records. Their 1941 hit Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy can be considered an early example of rhythm and blues or jump blues. The Andrews Sisters' harmonies and songs are still influential today. Track 05 The Story of My Life by Michael Holliday The Story of My Life is a popular song written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David and published in 1957. In the UK a version recorded by Michael Holliday reached Number 1 in 1958. Norman Alexander Milne, known professionally as Michael Holliday (26 November 1924 – 29 October 1963 was a British crooner popular in the late 1950s and early 1960s. He had a string of chart hits in the pre-Beatles era in the UK, including "The Story of My Life" and "Starry Eyed". Michael Holliday was born in Liverpool, and brought up in Kirkdale. His career in music began by winning an amateur talent contest, ‘New Voices of Merseyside’, at the Locarno Ballroom in Liverpool. Holliday's style of singing was heavily influenced by Bing Crosby, who was his idol. The style would earn him the title of "the British Bing Crosby". Holliday had an ongoing problem with stage fright, and had a mental breakdown in 1961. He died two years later, from a suspected drug overdose. Track 06 All Through The Night All Through the Night is a Welsh folksong sung to a tune that was first recorded in Edward Jones' Musical and Poetical Relics of the Welsh Bards (1784). The Welsh lyrics were written by John Ceiriog Hughes, and has been translated into several languages, including English, most famously by Harry Boulton in 1884. Paul Leroy Robeson (April 9, 1898 – January 23, 1976) was an American singer and actor who was a political activist for the Civil Rights Movement. His advocacy of anti-imperialism, affiliation with Communism, and criticism of the US brought retribution from the government and public condemnation. He was blacklisted, and to his financial and social detriment, he refused to rescind his stand on his beliefs and remained opposed to the direction of US policies. Robeson won a scholarship to Rutgers University, where he was a football All- American and class valedictorian. He graduated from Columbia Law School while playing in the National Football League(NFL) and singing and acting in off-campus productions. After theatrical performances in The Emperor Jones and All God's Chillun Got Wings he became an integral part of the Harlem Renaissance. Track 07 I Won’t Forget You I Won't Forget You is a single by American singer Jim Reeves. It was released in 1964 James Travis "Jim" Reeves (August 20, 1923 – July 31, 1964) was an American country and popular music singer-songwriter. With records charting from the 1950s to the 1980s, he became well known as a practitioner of the Nashville sound (a mixture of older country-style music with elements of popular music). Known as "Gentleman Jim", his songs continued to chart for years after his death. Reeves died at age 40 in the crash of a private airplane. Track 8 Moon River Moon River" is a song composed by Henry Mancini with lyrics written by Johnny Mercer. It received an Academy Award for Best Original Song for its first performance by Audrey Hepburn in the 1961 movie Breakfast at Tiffany's. Since its original performance, the song has been covered by many other artists. Patti Page Clara Ann Fowler (November 8, 1927 – January 1, 2013), known by her professional name Patti Page, was an American singer and one of the best-known female artists in traditional pop music. She was the best- selling female artist of the 1950s, and sold over 100 million records. She was often introduced as "the Singin' Rage, Miss Patti Page". In 1950, she had her first million-selling single "With My Eyes Wide Open, I'm Dreaming", and would eventually have 14 additional million-selling singles between 1950 and 1965. Page's signature song, "Tennessee Waltz", recorded in 1950, was one of the biggest-selling singles of the 20th century, and is also one of the nine official state songs of Tennessee. Page had three additional No. 1 hit singles between 1950 and 1953, with "All My Love (Bolero)", "I Went to Your Wedding", and "(How Much Is That) Doggie in the Window". Unlike most pop music singers, Page blended the styles of country music into many of her most popular songs.