Mark Pentleton » 1950s

360/365 Songs: Mary’s boy child

admin — Sun, 26 Dec 2010 17:42:40 +0000

Today’s song was chosen by my son Matthew, who insisted that it should be played after Christmas because, after all, the lyrics are “Mary’s boy child, Jesus Christ, was born on Christmas day”, so it wouldn’t be right to play this song until after Christmas day! It dates from 1956 when it was released by Harry Belafonte in a lovely slow calypso version. Perhaps the most famous cover was the 1978 Boney M version. Hope you enjoy my version today which is more Harry Belafonte than Boney M!

345/365 Songs: Swingin’ Shepherd Blues

admin — Sat, 11 Dec 2010 08:51:18 +0000

Today’s song is a bit of a rarity: I’ve not been able to find a lot of information about the song online, but I know that it was something of a “one-hit wonder” for the Moe Koffman quartet in February 1957, and was included on the 1959 Ella Fitzgerald album Get Happy. I originally heard it on Natalie Cole’s Take a Look album, and it’s not particularly festive. However it featured in our set each year when I took the Mearns Castle Senior Choir to Princes Square in Glasgow to perform for charity at Christmas time, so for me this song always conjures up festive images! And anyway, when else do you sing about shepherds?

339/365 Songs: The Christmas Waltz – Frank Sinatra

admin — Sun, 05 Dec 2010 22:30:46 +0000

I’ve always loved the Frank Sinatra version of this song – it sort of represents an ideal image of Christmas for me: “frosted window panes, candles gleaming inside…”. It was written by Sammy Cahn and Jule Styne and the Sinatra recording dates from 1954.

325/365 Songs: Cry me a river – Julie London

admin — Sun, 21 Nov 2010 09:00:19 +0000

A big song today! Cry me a river was written for Ella Fitzgerald to sing in the 1955 film Pete Kelly’s Blues. However, it was dropped from the film and Ella Fitzgerald didn’t record it until 1961. The most famous early recording of the song was by Julie London in 1955, and it has since been covered by many artists, including a recent popular recording by Michael Bublé.

318/365 Songs: Come fly with me – Frank Sinatra

admin — Sun, 14 Nov 2010 06:32:08 +0000

This song dates from 1957 and was the title song of Frank Sinatra’s album, setting the tone for an album which featured various songs describing exotic locations, including April in Paris, The Isle of Capri, Blue Hawaii and Autumn in New York. Come fly with me must be one of the only songs ever to feature the word “rarified”!

310/365 Songs: Unchained Melody – Righteous Brothers

admin — Sat, 06 Nov 2010 22:52:32 +0000

This is another of those songs which I was sure I’d already played, but it turned out to be You’ve lost that loving feeling. The song was written in 1955 and was originally used in the soundtrack of the film Unchained in that year. However it was in 1965 when the Righteous Brothers recorded it and it became one of the most popular songs of the second half of the 20th century, helped along by its appearance in the blockbuster Ghost.

307/365 Songs: Misty – Ella Fitzgerald

admin — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 22:23:44 +0000

It’s November and since most of December’s 365songs will probably have a festive feel, I’ve been having a look at some of the songs that I really enjoy playing that I want to fit in before the end of the month. I couldn’t believe that I’d not played Misty! This song dates from 1954 and was written by Erroll Garner but has been covered by many artists including Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughn and Frank Sinatra. I recorded this this evening and it was only after I’d played it that I realised that my recorder was still set to mono. Of course when I then rerecorded it in stereo it didn’t quite seem as good. The third and fourth version weren’t much better! I’ve posted my fifth (stereo) version but also the original mono – I’ll be interested to hear what you think! For info, the top player below is the stereo version and the bottom one is the mono.

303/365 Songs: Non dimenticar – Nat King Cole

admin — Sat, 30 Oct 2010 17:18:13 +0000

Today’s song dates from 1951 and was originally written in Italian by P.G. Redi and Michele Galdieri for the movie Anna, released in 1953. Shelley Dobbins wrote an English version of the lyrics and the song was recorded by Nat King Cole in 1958.

280/365 Songs: Love me tender – Elvis Presley

admin — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 07:36:58 +0000

On September 9th 1956 Elvis Presley performed a new song on the Ed Sullivan Show, just before it was due to be released and a month before the launch of the film. Love me tender was based on the melody of the 1861 Civil War ballad Aura Lee, and the following day over 1 million advance orders were received by RCA! I hope you enjoy my performance!

277/365 Songs: My baby just cares for me – Nina Simone

admin — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 20:36:50 +0000

This song is 80 years old this year. It was written for the 1930 film version of the musical Whoopee! The most famous version of the song, however, is Nina Simone’s performance from 1958. I was experimenting with layering sounds on my Roland RD700GX at the weekend and I decided to record a version of this song with a bass and jazz kit. I’m sticking to my live performance rule though – so some of the piano solo in the middle is a bit dodgy! Hope you like it anyway…

261/365 Songs: Young at heart – Frank Sinatra

admin — Sat, 18 Sep 2010 13:02:07 +0000

This song was popularised by Frank Sinatra in 1953 and sold over a million copies, so much so that it was decided that the film that Sinatra was working on at the time should also be called Young at Heart.

247/365 Songs: Tonight – West Side Story

admin — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 12:27:35 +0000

This song, from the Bernstein/Sondheim musical West Side Story was first published in 1956. In the musical it follows Tony’s solo, Maria (which I played in June) and in the song both Tony and Maria profess their love for each other. You may also be interested in my version of Somewhere from back in February.

191/365 Songs: Beyond the sea – Bobby Darin

admin — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 06:01:00 +0000

Based on the French song La Mer by Charles Trenet, this song was recorded in 1959 by crooner Bobby Darin. I’d like to dedicate the song to my wife Catriona who celebrates her birthday today. It’s always been one of her favourite songs, and I hope she likes this version! Happy birthday, Catriona!

171/365 Songs: Three coins in the fountain – Frank Sinatra

admin — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 08:46:39 +0000

Given that today is Fathers’ Day, I asked my dad what song he’d like me to play, so this one is for him! Happy Father’s Day, Dad! I’m sure there’s a photo somewhere of my mum and dad at the Trevi fountain. If not, there’s definitely one of the whole family there in 1980… Dad?

The song comes from the 1954 film of the same name which tells of three American girls looking for romance while employed by the American Embassy in Rome. Despite not being allowed to see the film or read the script, lyricist Sammy Cahn and composer Jule Styne came up with the song in an hour. It was recorded the following day by Frank Sinatra.

Update: Thanks, Dad: here’s a photo from 1980 taken by Mum – from left to right it’s my Dad, me, my sister Clare and my brother Derek at the Trevi fountain. Weren’t shorts short in 1980!?

169/365 Songs: Climb Ev’ry Mountain – The Sound of Music

admin — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 22:09:41 +0000

All this week my friend and former colleague Joan Herald has been starring as Mother Abbess in Mearns Castle’s production of The Sound of Music. I would love to have seen the production but my trip to Denmark this week has made that impossible. I’m sure that Joan did an amazing job, and indeed that the students also performed brilliantly in the production. Climb Ev’ry Mountain is the big number from the end of the first act of the musical, and it’s reprised in the second act. Joan, I hope you enjoy my version!

168/365 Songs: Wonderful Copenhagen – Danny Kaye

admin — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 08:05:10 +0000

I’ve spent the last five days in Denmark working at the annual Apple Teacher Institute in Svendborg in the south of the island of Fyn. I thought therefore that I should really play something with a Danish theme, although this song isn’t really the most authentic option! It comes from the 1952 musical film about the life and work of Hans Christian Andersen (which, as I’ve found out this week is pronounced in Danish more like “ho say annesen”!) with Danny Kaye in the title role.

158/365 Songs: Maria – West Side Story

admin — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 09:23:14 +0000

This song from the Bernstein/Sondheim musical West Side Story, was first published in 1956. It marks the moment when the character Tony discovers the name of the girl with whom he has just fallen in love. Just to make sure he doesn’t forget it, he repeats the name 29 times in the song!

154/365 Songs: Around the World – Nat King Cole

admin — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 06:30:17 +0000

I’ve played this song hundreds, if not thousands of times, but it wasn’t until this morning when I was doing my ‘research’ to write today’s blurb that I found out that the song was actually originally written as the theme tune for the 1956 film Around the World in Eighty Days! The vocal version wasn’t used in the film, but has since been recorded by many artists.

152/365 Songs: Arrivederci, Roma

admin — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 08:12:30 +0000

Today we’re off to Rome. Or rather, we’re off to Rome and leaving already! I decided to play the song Arrivederci, Roma today. The song was first introduced in the 1959 film The Seven Hills of Rome and has been recorded by many artists including Perry Como and Nat King Cole.

147/365 Songs: Nel blu dipinto di blu – Eurovision 1958

admin — Thu, 27 May 2010 11:24:46 +0000

Nel blu dipinto di blu, often referred to as Volare won the Sanremo Music Festival in 1958 and was then chosen to represent Italy at the Eurovision Song Contest. It came third, but nonetheless was voted the second most popular Eurovision song ever, beaten to the top spot by Abba’s Waterloo. Today’s interesting but possibly useless fact is that Benny Andersson himself voted for Nel blu dipinto di blu! This song is for all the Domenico Modugno fans out there, including my former colleague Josephine Buchert who enjoyed my early morning performances to wake up the students during our visit to Tarragona back in 2001.

136/365 Songs: That’s Amore – Dean Martin

admin — Sun, 16 May 2010 07:43:24 +0000

Today’s song was chosen by my son Matthew. It was really his second choice – I’ve suggested that I’ll try to work on a piano version of the Pokémon theme tune for his birthday later in the year! As a pizza lover, Matthew felt this song was the best one to choose for today! Dean Martin’s signature tune was written in 1952 and was brought to a new generation in the 1987 film Moonstruck. Hope you like this, Matthew!

126/365 Songs: Unforgettable – Nat King Cole

admin — Thu, 06 May 2010 20:49:48 +0000

I had been thinking long and hard about what would be the best song to play for the UK General Election, but I was saved by Jenny O who asked me to play the Nat King Cole song Unforgettable. This song was No. 1 in the UK charts on the day Jenny was born – and since today is Jenny’s birthday it seems most appropriate to play this for her! Feliz cumpleaños, Jenny!

122/365 Songs: Answer me – Nat King Cole

admin — Sun, 02 May 2010 17:06:02 +0000

This song was written by Gerhard Winkler and Fred Rauch and was originally called Mutterlein. However, in 1952, David Whitfield and Frankie Lane recorded an English version, written by Carl Sigman. I have to be honest – I had no idea about the history of this song, and I’ve been playing it for years. It turns out that the English version asked God why the singer had lost his love: “Answer me, Lord above…” This resulted in many complaints and the BBC banned the song! The lyrics were changed to “Answer me, oh my love…” and it became a UK number one single for Frankie Lane and Dean Whitfield. Interestingly the version by Whitfield got to the number one spot first, and was knocked off by Laine’s version! This has never happened since in UK chart history. Answer me was rerecorded by Nat King Cole and it’s this version which is perhaps the most famous, and certainly how I got to know the song.

96/365 Songs: In the wee small hours of the morning – Frank Sinatra

admin — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 20:21:38 +0000

… and it almost is the wee small hours of the morning by the time I’ve got round to publishing this today! This song dates from 1955 and was first recorded by Frank Sinatra, but has since been covered by various artists including Jamie Cullum, Nanci Griffith and Barbara Streisand. I think the version I like best is actually Carly Simon’s recording which was also used on the soundtrack for the film Sleepless in Seattle.

71/365 songs: Ev’ry time we say goodbye – Cole Porter

admin — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 08:26:29 +0000

A beautiful song today – the Cole Porter classic Ev’ry time we say goodbye which was popularised when Ella Fitzgerald recorded it in 1956. I hope you enjoy something nice and calm for the end of a busy week!

365 Songs: I left my heart in San Francisco – Tony Bennett

admin — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 08:12:35 +0000

I’ve never been to San Francisco, so I’m not quite sure if I left my heart there! I’ve been following Don McAllister’s blog and tweets about his experiences at MacWorld in San Francisco this year and it got me thinking that I’d not yet included the Tony Bennett classic in my daily lineup, so I hope you enjoy this song from 1954! I think Don’s on his way back to the UK now to make more of his brilliant ScreenCastsOnline, so I hope you brought everything home with you, including your heart (and your Mifi… been trying to get one of these myself!)

365 Songs: True love – High Society

admin — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 07:14:22 +0000

A very romantic song today, and make sure you click on the links which will help to illustrate my story! True Love was first sung by Bing Crosby and Grace Kelly in the 1956 musical film High Society. The last time I heard this song performed was at the Benny Anderssons Orkester concert last summer in Stockholm when it was song by the wonderful Tommy Körberg and probably my all-time favourite female singer, Helen Sjöholm. It was one of the last songs sung on a beautiful summer evening on the stage at Skansen, looking out over the Stockholm archipelago. The wonderful thing about this concert was that it was performed by a group of friends – Benny Andersson and his band – and the atmosphere was fantastic. As Tommy and Helen sang True Love, couples waltzed around the dance floor, and mums and dads danced with their children in their arms. As the song ended, several hot air balloons sailed over Skansen. What a fantastic evening…

Here’s Bing and Grace from the film, and unfortunately I couldn’t find any footage from Skansen last year, so here’s a 2002 performance of Tommy and Helen singing at Galejan.

365 Songs: When I fall in love – Nat King Cole

admin — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 19:25:22 +0000

Bit late today – sorry! Today’s song is the classic When I fall in love. I’ve always associated this song with Nat King Cole, but it turns out that his was not the original. Doris Day recorded it in 1952 and Nat King Cole’s recording dates from 1956. I hope you enjoy it, even if it is a bit late…

365 Songs: Somewhere – West Side Story

admin — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 07:55:26 +0000

This beautiful song written by Leonard Bernstein with lyrics by Stephen Sondheim is my favourite song from West Side Story, and indeed one of my favourite songs of all time! In addition to featuring on the cast recordings of many productions of the show, Somewhere has been recorded by artists ranging from Johnny Mathis to Josh Groban and Barbara Streisand to Kylie Minogue! The main theme of the song is actually taken from Beethoven’s Emperor Piano Concerto – and I didn’t realise that until I researched today’s blurb!

365 Songs – Mona Lisa – Nat King Cole

admin — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 09:09:53 +0000

This one’s for my mum! I wonder if she’ll post a comment now…

Mona Lisa was first recorded by Nat King Cole in 1950 and since then has been covered by Elvis Presley, Willie Nelson and … Shakin’ Stevens!