Todd Decker
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- March 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780199389186
- eISBN:
- 9780199389223
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199389186.003.0007
- Subject:
- Music, Popular, History, American
This chapter considers popular music icon Frank Sinatra’s fifty years singing “Ol’ Man River.” He first sang the song in the early 1940s, when it was an unlikely addition to his repertoire of love ...
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This chapter considers popular music icon Frank Sinatra’s fifty years singing “Ol’ Man River.” He first sang the song in the early 1940s, when it was an unlikely addition to his repertoire of love ballads. In these years, “Ol’ Man River” functioned as a showpiece for Sinatra’s voice and a display of masculinity: some listeners didn’t think the tune worked for a crooner but Sinatra kept on singing it. Across his career, he framed the song as a “classic” or “great” piece of popular art. Sinatra took two approaches to “Ol’ Man River,” which can be characterized as the bombastic and the intimate. Central to both was a choice of phrasing that pulls the listener’s attention toward Sinatra’s technical ability to sustain a long musical line on a single breath. This idiosyncratic approach to the tune hints that Sinatra conceived of “Ol’ Man River” primarily as an opportunity for vocal display.Less
This chapter considers popular music icon Frank Sinatra’s fifty years singing “Ol’ Man River.” He first sang the song in the early 1940s, when it was an unlikely addition to his repertoire of love ballads. In these years, “Ol’ Man River” functioned as a showpiece for Sinatra’s voice and a display of masculinity: some listeners didn’t think the tune worked for a crooner but Sinatra kept on singing it. Across his career, he framed the song as a “classic” or “great” piece of popular art. Sinatra took two approaches to “Ol’ Man River,” which can be characterized as the bombastic and the intimate. Central to both was a choice of phrasing that pulls the listener’s attention toward Sinatra’s technical ability to sustain a long musical line on a single breath. This idiosyncratic approach to the tune hints that Sinatra conceived of “Ol’ Man River” primarily as an opportunity for vocal display.
Buddy Rich
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195157628
- eISBN:
- 9780199849468
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195157628.003.0008
- Subject:
- Music, History, American
During his career in jazz, Buddy Rich was a much-admired yet controversial figure. Because of a unique relationship between his hands and feet, and a natural connection to the music, Rich continually ...
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During his career in jazz, Buddy Rich was a much-admired yet controversial figure. Because of a unique relationship between his hands and feet, and a natural connection to the music, Rich continually created ideas, patterns, and a time feeling that were his alone. With drum history as his foundation, he evolved an approach to music that links jazz drumming's beginnings to what's happening today. Rich's drumming continued to be valid almost fifty years after he started because he took his cues from what the music unleashed within him. Rich changed the view and conception of drums as had other great players of the instrument.Less
During his career in jazz, Buddy Rich was a much-admired yet controversial figure. Because of a unique relationship between his hands and feet, and a natural connection to the music, Rich continually created ideas, patterns, and a time feeling that were his alone. With drum history as his foundation, he evolved an approach to music that links jazz drumming's beginnings to what's happening today. Rich's drumming continued to be valid almost fifty years after he started because he took his cues from what the music unleashed within him. Rich changed the view and conception of drums as had other great players of the instrument.
Jon Lewis
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- January 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780520284319
- eISBN:
- 9780520959910
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520284319.003.0004
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
The gossip industry underwent a fundamental transition after the war, from the gawking clatter of the classical era fan magazines to the gossip columns of Hedda Hopper and Louella Parsons and scandal ...
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The gossip industry underwent a fundamental transition after the war, from the gawking clatter of the classical era fan magazines to the gossip columns of Hedda Hopper and Louella Parsons and scandal sheets that so successfully harried the Hollywood community after the war. Movie stars were lucky and pretty, rich and famous. But they were as well political neophytes and their everyday lives were, thanks to the columnists after the war, lumbered with undue consequence. It was one thing for the columnists to bemoan the unearned privileges of celebrity, and then to cut folks so lucky and full of themselves down to size. But it was quite another to cast the private and personal lives of these celebrities as fundamentally anti-social and un-American, to subject the lives and loves of movie stars to a narrow and frankly unrelated notion of patriotism, one that asked movie stars to behave, or at least pretend to behave, like the rest of us.Less
The gossip industry underwent a fundamental transition after the war, from the gawking clatter of the classical era fan magazines to the gossip columns of Hedda Hopper and Louella Parsons and scandal sheets that so successfully harried the Hollywood community after the war. Movie stars were lucky and pretty, rich and famous. But they were as well political neophytes and their everyday lives were, thanks to the columnists after the war, lumbered with undue consequence. It was one thing for the columnists to bemoan the unearned privileges of celebrity, and then to cut folks so lucky and full of themselves down to size. But it was quite another to cast the private and personal lives of these celebrities as fundamentally anti-social and un-American, to subject the lives and loves of movie stars to a narrow and frankly unrelated notion of patriotism, one that asked movie stars to behave, or at least pretend to behave, like the rest of us.
John Howland
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520271036
- eISBN:
- 9780520951358
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520271036.003.0007
- Subject:
- Music, History, American
From roughly 1940 to 1945, a number of prominent big band leaders expanded their ensembles by adding strings and other orchestral instruments. Capitol Records stood at the forefront of this movement ...
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From roughly 1940 to 1945, a number of prominent big band leaders expanded their ensembles by adding strings and other orchestral instruments. Capitol Records stood at the forefront of this movement in the late 1940s and 1950s, releasing a variety of richly orchestrated, urbane, jazz-inflected recordings, including acclaimed releases by Frank Sinatra and Nelson Riddle. While the postwar period saw the decline of the traditional big band as a commercial force in popular culture, these jazz-pop ventures reinvented swing for the hi-fi era. Through close study of select arrangements, contemporary cultural discourse, and marketing and promotion, this essay articulates the larger aesthetic issues and cultural conditions that shaped the hybrid, middlebrow ideals of these jazz-with-strings subgenres.Less
From roughly 1940 to 1945, a number of prominent big band leaders expanded their ensembles by adding strings and other orchestral instruments. Capitol Records stood at the forefront of this movement in the late 1940s and 1950s, releasing a variety of richly orchestrated, urbane, jazz-inflected recordings, including acclaimed releases by Frank Sinatra and Nelson Riddle. While the postwar period saw the decline of the traditional big band as a commercial force in popular culture, these jazz-pop ventures reinvented swing for the hi-fi era. Through close study of select arrangements, contemporary cultural discourse, and marketing and promotion, this essay articulates the larger aesthetic issues and cultural conditions that shaped the hybrid, middlebrow ideals of these jazz-with-strings subgenres.
Brent Phillips
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- May 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780813147215
- eISBN:
- 9780813151502
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Kentucky
- DOI:
- 10.5810/kentucky/9780813147215.003.0021
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
The Walters-Darrow relationship ends, yet they retain a close friendship. Chapter 21 takes a comprehensive look at the creation of the screen comedy The Tender Trap (1955) and Walters’ work with ...
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The Walters-Darrow relationship ends, yet they retain a close friendship. Chapter 21 takes a comprehensive look at the creation of the screen comedy The Tender Trap (1955) and Walters’ work with Frank Sinatra and Debbie Reynolds. The Sinatra-Walters association continues with High Society (1956), a Cole Porter musical version of The Philadelphia Story. This chapter presents a detailed study of that production, including the casting process that brought together Sinatra, Bing Crosby, Louis Armstrong, and Grace Kelly, the creation of Porter’s original score, Kelly’s engagement (and wedding) to Prince Rainier III of Monaco, and the film’s runaway success.Less
The Walters-Darrow relationship ends, yet they retain a close friendship. Chapter 21 takes a comprehensive look at the creation of the screen comedy The Tender Trap (1955) and Walters’ work with Frank Sinatra and Debbie Reynolds. The Sinatra-Walters association continues with High Society (1956), a Cole Porter musical version of The Philadelphia Story. This chapter presents a detailed study of that production, including the casting process that brought together Sinatra, Bing Crosby, Louis Armstrong, and Grace Kelly, the creation of Porter’s original score, Kelly’s engagement (and wedding) to Prince Rainier III of Monaco, and the film’s runaway success.
Tom Mankiewicz
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780813136059
- eISBN:
- 9780813141169
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Kentucky
- DOI:
- 10.5810/kentucky/9780813136059.003.0005
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
Tom attends Yale. Gets his first film job as a production assistant on a John Wayne film directed by Michael Curtiz. Curtiz fires Tom but Tom is rehired by the Duke. Tom visits his dad's set in Rome ...
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Tom attends Yale. Gets his first film job as a production assistant on a John Wayne film directed by Michael Curtiz. Curtiz fires Tom but Tom is rehired by the Duke. Tom visits his dad's set in Rome - Cleopatra - dines with Liz Taylor, hangs with Richard Burton. The film nearly kills his dad and bankrupts 20th Century Fox. Tom gets his first writing job on a TV show, writes his first feature, writes two Emmy-winning TV specials with Nancy Sinatra and Herb Alpert.Less
Tom attends Yale. Gets his first film job as a production assistant on a John Wayne film directed by Michael Curtiz. Curtiz fires Tom but Tom is rehired by the Duke. Tom visits his dad's set in Rome - Cleopatra - dines with Liz Taylor, hangs with Richard Burton. The film nearly kills his dad and bankrupts 20th Century Fox. Tom gets his first writing job on a TV show, writes his first feature, writes two Emmy-winning TV specials with Nancy Sinatra and Herb Alpert.
John Franceschina
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199754298
- eISBN:
- 9780199949878
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199754298.003.0009
- Subject:
- Music, Dance, Popular
Hermes Pan continues at M-G-M with Kiss Me Kate in which he permits Bob Fosse to choreograph a portion of “From This Moment On.” He continues turning out musicals—The Student Prince, Jupiter’s ...
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Hermes Pan continues at M-G-M with Kiss Me Kate in which he permits Bob Fosse to choreograph a portion of “From This Moment On.” He continues turning out musicals—The Student Prince, Jupiter’s Darling, in which he designed an underwater ballet for Esther Williams, Hit the Deck, and Meet Me in Las Vegas for which he created the spectacular “Frankie and Johnny” ballet for Cyd Charisse and John Braccia. He assisted Fred Astaire with the choreography for “Clap Yo’ Hands” in Funny Face before moving on to Silk Stockings with Astaire and Charisse and Pal Joey at Columbia Pictures with Frank Sinatra, Kim Novak, and Rita Hayworth. Pan choreographs Un Paio d’Ali (A Pair of Wings) in Milan and falls in love with dancer Gino Malerba.Less
Hermes Pan continues at M-G-M with Kiss Me Kate in which he permits Bob Fosse to choreograph a portion of “From This Moment On.” He continues turning out musicals—The Student Prince, Jupiter’s Darling, in which he designed an underwater ballet for Esther Williams, Hit the Deck, and Meet Me in Las Vegas for which he created the spectacular “Frankie and Johnny” ballet for Cyd Charisse and John Braccia. He assisted Fred Astaire with the choreography for “Clap Yo’ Hands” in Funny Face before moving on to Silk Stockings with Astaire and Charisse and Pal Joey at Columbia Pictures with Frank Sinatra, Kim Novak, and Rita Hayworth. Pan choreographs Un Paio d’Ali (A Pair of Wings) in Milan and falls in love with dancer Gino Malerba.
Burt Korall
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195157628
- eISBN:
- 9780199849468
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195157628.003.0010
- Subject:
- Music, History, American
As the 1940s began, there was little evidence of the changes that were to dominate the next ten years. The music business was still built around the big bands. With the advent of World War II, music ...
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As the 1940s began, there was little evidence of the changes that were to dominate the next ten years. The music business was still built around the big bands. With the advent of World War II, music began to turn increasingly romantic. By the time the guys and gals began coming home from the war in 1945, music and the music business were quite different. After the great success of the Woody Herman First Herd in 1944 and 1945, it was clear that the public was moving away from the music and the musicians of the 1930s. Much of the music of the middle and late 1940s was not really appropriate for dancing. The choice in 1945, and for a few years thereafter, was between two polar opposites: the modem-jazz movement and the pop singers.Less
As the 1940s began, there was little evidence of the changes that were to dominate the next ten years. The music business was still built around the big bands. With the advent of World War II, music began to turn increasingly romantic. By the time the guys and gals began coming home from the war in 1945, music and the music business were quite different. After the great success of the Woody Herman First Herd in 1944 and 1945, it was clear that the public was moving away from the music and the musicians of the 1930s. Much of the music of the middle and late 1940s was not really appropriate for dancing. The choice in 1945, and for a few years thereafter, was between two polar opposites: the modem-jazz movement and the pop singers.
Todd Decker
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- January 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780199759378
- eISBN:
- 9780199979554
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199759378.003.0007
- Subject:
- Music, History, American, Popular
This chapter considers Show Boat in the post-World War II era by way of the 1946 Broadway revival and two film versions made by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in Hollywood (extended excerpts in Till the Clouds ...
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This chapter considers Show Boat in the post-World War II era by way of the 1946 Broadway revival and two film versions made by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in Hollywood (extended excerpts in Till the Clouds Roll By and the 1951 Technicolor version). The Broadway production remade two black dance numbers by featuring black concert dancers Pearl Primus and LaVerne French. These changes benefitted the careers of a generation of black dancers, including Alvin Ailey. MGM underemphasized the show's black content, using “Ol' Man River” to feature Frank Sinatra and reshaping the role of Julie around screen goddess Ava Gardner. The 1951 film remains the most drastic revision of the show, truncating its historical reach and eliminating black performance as a central element of the story.Less
This chapter considers Show Boat in the post-World War II era by way of the 1946 Broadway revival and two film versions made by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in Hollywood (extended excerpts in Till the Clouds Roll By and the 1951 Technicolor version). The Broadway production remade two black dance numbers by featuring black concert dancers Pearl Primus and LaVerne French. These changes benefitted the careers of a generation of black dancers, including Alvin Ailey. MGM underemphasized the show's black content, using “Ol' Man River” to feature Frank Sinatra and reshaping the role of Julie around screen goddess Ava Gardner. The 1951 film remains the most drastic revision of the show, truncating its historical reach and eliminating black performance as a central element of the story.
Jon Burlingame
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- January 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780199863303
- eISBN:
- 9780199979981
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199863303.003.0013
- Subject:
- Music, Popular, History, American
Because the new Bond film was shot mostly in France, John Barry could return to the franchise and scored Moonraker — about a villain who has built an entire space station above Earth — in Paris. His ...
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Because the new Bond film was shot mostly in France, John Barry could return to the franchise and scored Moonraker — about a villain who has built an entire space station above Earth — in Paris. His grand plans for a 2-LP set to be recorded by the Orchestre de Paris while the film was still being made, however, came to naught. Paul Williams wrote the original lyric to Barry's “Moonraker” melody and were to be sung by Frank Sinatra. Those plans fell through, however, and Johnny Mathis sang the Williams lyric, only to see both words and recording scrapped as subpar. Hal David wrote a new lyric at the last minute, and Shirley Bassey sang the song in Los Angeles just weeks before the premiere of the film in June 1979.Less
Because the new Bond film was shot mostly in France, John Barry could return to the franchise and scored Moonraker — about a villain who has built an entire space station above Earth — in Paris. His grand plans for a 2-LP set to be recorded by the Orchestre de Paris while the film was still being made, however, came to naught. Paul Williams wrote the original lyric to Barry's “Moonraker” melody and were to be sung by Frank Sinatra. Those plans fell through, however, and Johnny Mathis sang the Williams lyric, only to see both words and recording scrapped as subpar. Hal David wrote a new lyric at the last minute, and Shirley Bassey sang the song in Los Angeles just weeks before the premiere of the film in June 1979.
Todd Decker
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- March 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780199389186
- eISBN:
- 9780199389223
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199389186.001.0001
- Subject:
- Music, Popular, History, American
This book tells the almost eighty-year performance history of a great popular song. Examining more than two hundred recorded and filmed versions of Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II’s classic ...
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This book tells the almost eighty-year performance history of a great popular song. Examining more than two hundred recorded and filmed versions of Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II’s classic tune, the book reveals the power of performers to remake one popular song into many different guises. Written for the African American singer Paul Robeson, “Ol’ Man River” enjoyed instant success in the 1927 Broadway musical Show Boat and became a signature song for Robeson, who turned the tune toward his own goals as an activist. Beyond Robeson and Show Boat, “Ol’ Man River” also had a long and rich life in the world of popular music. An astonishing variety of singers and musicians—from pop to jazz, opera to doo‐wop, rhythm and blues to gospel to reggae—all chose to perform or record it. These included Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Judy Garland, Duke Ellington, Sam Cooke, Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, the Temptations, Cher, and Rod Stewart. At the heart of Hammerstein’s lyric is a clear-eyed vision of the black experience in the United States, and performers—black or white—have had to deal with the song’s charged racial content. The book traces this aspect of “Ol’ Man River” through American history, an at-times high-stakes journey where the African American struggle for dignity and equality came down to the lyrics of a popular song.Less
This book tells the almost eighty-year performance history of a great popular song. Examining more than two hundred recorded and filmed versions of Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II’s classic tune, the book reveals the power of performers to remake one popular song into many different guises. Written for the African American singer Paul Robeson, “Ol’ Man River” enjoyed instant success in the 1927 Broadway musical Show Boat and became a signature song for Robeson, who turned the tune toward his own goals as an activist. Beyond Robeson and Show Boat, “Ol’ Man River” also had a long and rich life in the world of popular music. An astonishing variety of singers and musicians—from pop to jazz, opera to doo‐wop, rhythm and blues to gospel to reggae—all chose to perform or record it. These included Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Judy Garland, Duke Ellington, Sam Cooke, Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, the Temptations, Cher, and Rod Stewart. At the heart of Hammerstein’s lyric is a clear-eyed vision of the black experience in the United States, and performers—black or white—have had to deal with the song’s charged racial content. The book traces this aspect of “Ol’ Man River” through American history, an at-times high-stakes journey where the African American struggle for dignity and equality came down to the lyrics of a popular song.
Todd Decker
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- March 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780199389186
- eISBN:
- 9780199389223
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199389186.003.0009
- Subject:
- Music, Popular, History, American
“Ol’ Man River” was frequently heard on television during the height of the civil rights era—from roughly 1957 to the end of the 1960s. This chapter considers eleven televised versions performed by ...
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“Ol’ Man River” was frequently heard on television during the height of the civil rights era—from roughly 1957 to the end of the 1960s. This chapter considers eleven televised versions performed by singers Sam Cooke, Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Judy Garland, Cab Calloway, and Sammy Davis Jr. and a recitation of the lyric by actor Henry Fonda. Analysis of these performances includes both matters of musical style and visual presentation. Discussion of Garland’s two televised versions highlights how one female performer remade “Ol’ Man River” as a personal anthem. Sinatra’s and Davis’s late 1960s versions find these iconic performers altering small details in their respective approaches to the song, drawing attention away from or directly to the confrontational content of Hammerstein’s lyric at a time of heightened racial tension.Less
“Ol’ Man River” was frequently heard on television during the height of the civil rights era—from roughly 1957 to the end of the 1960s. This chapter considers eleven televised versions performed by singers Sam Cooke, Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Judy Garland, Cab Calloway, and Sammy Davis Jr. and a recitation of the lyric by actor Henry Fonda. Analysis of these performances includes both matters of musical style and visual presentation. Discussion of Garland’s two televised versions highlights how one female performer remade “Ol’ Man River” as a personal anthem. Sinatra’s and Davis’s late 1960s versions find these iconic performers altering small details in their respective approaches to the song, drawing attention away from or directly to the confrontational content of Hammerstein’s lyric at a time of heightened racial tension.
Laurence Maslon
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- September 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780199832538
- eISBN:
- 9780190620424
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780199832538.003.0007
- Subject:
- Music, Popular, History, American
The market for single recordings, now on the 45 rpm format, was still huge in the 1950s. Songs from Broadway shows were immensely popular with commercial singers at the time, such as Perry Como, ...
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The market for single recordings, now on the 45 rpm format, was still huge in the 1950s. Songs from Broadway shows were immensely popular with commercial singers at the time, such as Perry Como, Dinah Shore, Peggy Lee, and Rosemary Clooney; their renditions often shot to the top of the pop charts for weeks on end. Often these songs were placed by music publishers with A&R (artists and repertory) divisions in advance of their appearance in the actual Broadway show, as a way to promote both song and show. The LP format had matured by the mid-1950s and artists such as Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald dug deep into the catalog of Broadway songs from the earlier decades of the century to fill out extended “songbook” tributes to great Broadway songwriters, often restoring obscure material to the popular consciousness.Less
The market for single recordings, now on the 45 rpm format, was still huge in the 1950s. Songs from Broadway shows were immensely popular with commercial singers at the time, such as Perry Como, Dinah Shore, Peggy Lee, and Rosemary Clooney; their renditions often shot to the top of the pop charts for weeks on end. Often these songs were placed by music publishers with A&R (artists and repertory) divisions in advance of their appearance in the actual Broadway show, as a way to promote both song and show. The LP format had matured by the mid-1950s and artists such as Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald dug deep into the catalog of Broadway songs from the earlier decades of the century to fill out extended “songbook” tributes to great Broadway songwriters, often restoring obscure material to the popular consciousness.
David Haven Blake
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- August 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780190278182
- eISBN:
- 9780190278212
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780190278182.003.0003
- Subject:
- History, American History: 20th Century, Cultural History
Ike Day was modeled after the network of polio benefit balls and dinners that honored Franklin Roosevelt’s birthdays in the 1930s and 1940s. The chapter describes the political culture that ...
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Ike Day was modeled after the network of polio benefit balls and dinners that honored Franklin Roosevelt’s birthdays in the 1930s and 1940s. The chapter describes the political culture that Eisenhower inherited and transformed. Before television, celebrity politics relied primarily on advocacy groups organized to support specific candidates and policies. One of the first instances of celebrity politics came when the singer Al Jolson appeared with other Broadway stars in support of Republican presidential candidate Warren G. Harding. Though Franklin Roosevelt regarded them as no more valuable than other labor organizations, he enjoyed the support of Hollywood and Broadway groups that included such stars as Orson Welles, Frank Sinatra, Helen Gahagan Douglas, and Judy Garland. Inspired by the Popular Front, these groups toured on behalf of Roosevelt and appeared in nationally broadcast radio programs during the 1940 and 1944 presidential elections. Eisenhower’s advisers replaced the ideological fervor of a series of pro-Roosevelt radio programs with televised glamour and consensus.Less
Ike Day was modeled after the network of polio benefit balls and dinners that honored Franklin Roosevelt’s birthdays in the 1930s and 1940s. The chapter describes the political culture that Eisenhower inherited and transformed. Before television, celebrity politics relied primarily on advocacy groups organized to support specific candidates and policies. One of the first instances of celebrity politics came when the singer Al Jolson appeared with other Broadway stars in support of Republican presidential candidate Warren G. Harding. Though Franklin Roosevelt regarded them as no more valuable than other labor organizations, he enjoyed the support of Hollywood and Broadway groups that included such stars as Orson Welles, Frank Sinatra, Helen Gahagan Douglas, and Judy Garland. Inspired by the Popular Front, these groups toured on behalf of Roosevelt and appeared in nationally broadcast radio programs during the 1940 and 1944 presidential elections. Eisenhower’s advisers replaced the ideological fervor of a series of pro-Roosevelt radio programs with televised glamour and consensus.
Laurence Maslon
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- September 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780199832538
- eISBN:
- 9780190620424
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780199832538.003.0004
- Subject:
- Music, Popular, History, American
The advent of radio in the early 1920s allowed for the music of Broadway to penetrate even more households with dance bands, variety shows, and interview programs that exploited the rarified ...
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The advent of radio in the early 1920s allowed for the music of Broadway to penetrate even more households with dance bands, variety shows, and interview programs that exploited the rarified atmosphere of Broadway. In the 1920s, personalities such as Eddie Cantor and Rudy Vallee hawked not only the sponsors’ products, but the latest hit songs of Broadway. Songwriters, such as George Gershwin, as well as Rodgers and Hart, wrote original material for radio and appearing on the air as acclaimed celebrities. The Hit Parade program also codified the hit-making potential of Broadway songs. By the 1940s, Frank Sinatra brought the music of Broadway to avid listeners and used the “bully pulpit” of several popular radio series to disseminate the content and context of Broadway.Less
The advent of radio in the early 1920s allowed for the music of Broadway to penetrate even more households with dance bands, variety shows, and interview programs that exploited the rarified atmosphere of Broadway. In the 1920s, personalities such as Eddie Cantor and Rudy Vallee hawked not only the sponsors’ products, but the latest hit songs of Broadway. Songwriters, such as George Gershwin, as well as Rodgers and Hart, wrote original material for radio and appearing on the air as acclaimed celebrities. The Hit Parade program also codified the hit-making potential of Broadway songs. By the 1940s, Frank Sinatra brought the music of Broadway to avid listeners and used the “bully pulpit” of several popular radio series to disseminate the content and context of Broadway.
David Haven Blake
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- August 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780190278182
- eISBN:
- 9780190278212
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780190278182.003.0009
- Subject:
- History, American History: 20th Century, Cultural History
Liking Ike closes with another presidential birthday celebration, John F. Kennedy’s 1962 fundraiser at Madison Square Garden. The event is largely remembered for Marilyn Monroe’s show-stopping ...
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Liking Ike closes with another presidential birthday celebration, John F. Kennedy’s 1962 fundraiser at Madison Square Garden. The event is largely remembered for Marilyn Monroe’s show-stopping rendition of “Happy Birthday, Mr. President.” Although he had long enjoyed the company of Hollywood stars, Kennedy paid only minimal attention to celebrity endorsements in 1960. The campaign focused instead on Kennedy’s own star quality and the way his friendships with stars such as Frank Sinatra cast him as a leading man. As Norman Mailer remarked, the presence of television cameras transformed Kennedy into a movie star reminiscent of Marlon Brando. Mixing archival research with cultural documents, the chapter explores the ways in which Jack and Jacqueline Kennedy fulfilled and transformed the political culture they inherited from the Eisenhowers. In the process, they created a mode of celebrity politics that a focused less on consensus than on the profusion of desire that one Kennedy adviser, economist John Kenneth Galbraith, saw at the heart of American life.Less
Liking Ike closes with another presidential birthday celebration, John F. Kennedy’s 1962 fundraiser at Madison Square Garden. The event is largely remembered for Marilyn Monroe’s show-stopping rendition of “Happy Birthday, Mr. President.” Although he had long enjoyed the company of Hollywood stars, Kennedy paid only minimal attention to celebrity endorsements in 1960. The campaign focused instead on Kennedy’s own star quality and the way his friendships with stars such as Frank Sinatra cast him as a leading man. As Norman Mailer remarked, the presence of television cameras transformed Kennedy into a movie star reminiscent of Marlon Brando. Mixing archival research with cultural documents, the chapter explores the ways in which Jack and Jacqueline Kennedy fulfilled and transformed the political culture they inherited from the Eisenhowers. In the process, they created a mode of celebrity politics that a focused less on consensus than on the profusion of desire that one Kennedy adviser, economist John Kenneth Galbraith, saw at the heart of American life.
Andy Propst
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- March 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780190630935
- eISBN:
- 9780190630966
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780190630935.003.0006
- Subject:
- Music, Popular
In 1949 Betty Comden and Adolph Green discovered that MGM finally wanted to move forward with a screen version of On the Town. Before it could go in front of cameras, though, there were obstacles to ...
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In 1949 Betty Comden and Adolph Green discovered that MGM finally wanted to move forward with a screen version of On the Town. Before it could go in front of cameras, though, there were obstacles to overcome, particularly the fact that the studio only wanted to use a few of the original songs that they had written with their friend Leonard Bernstein. Eventually all parties were able to negotiate terms, and Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen, making their debuts as co-directors and co-choreographers, were able to start work on the project, which starred, in addition to Kelly, Frank Sinatra, Ann Miller, Vera-Ellen, and Betty Garrett. After they completed work on this screenplay, they attempted to pen a book for the Cole Porter musical Out of This World.Less
In 1949 Betty Comden and Adolph Green discovered that MGM finally wanted to move forward with a screen version of On the Town. Before it could go in front of cameras, though, there were obstacles to overcome, particularly the fact that the studio only wanted to use a few of the original songs that they had written with their friend Leonard Bernstein. Eventually all parties were able to negotiate terms, and Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen, making their debuts as co-directors and co-choreographers, were able to start work on the project, which starred, in addition to Kelly, Frank Sinatra, Ann Miller, Vera-Ellen, and Betty Garrett. After they completed work on this screenplay, they attempted to pen a book for the Cole Porter musical Out of This World.
Peter J. Bailey
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- September 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780813167190
- eISBN:
- 9780813167862
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Kentucky
- DOI:
- 10.5810/kentucky/9780813167190.003.0005
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
The episodes of Radio Daysconstitute Allen’s cinematic act of gratitude to radio shows of the 1940s which demanded that his young self and other listeners visualize what the programs aurally ...
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The episodes of Radio Daysconstitute Allen’s cinematic act of gratitude to radio shows of the 1940s which demanded that his young self and other listeners visualize what the programs aurally projected. In Radio Days, Allen hasn’t moved very far from the gag-structure of his early films, but the movie nonetheless dramatizes the point that radio trained young Joe/himself to incarnate visually what the characters in dramas and the participants in news reports were doing. The film also dramatizes the point that these radio artists—like all artists—hope to achieve a measure of immortality via their listenership, but, as the older “Joe” points out at the film’s end, “with the passing of each New Year’s Eve, those voices grow dimmer and dimmer.” This chapter also offers the book’s most extended discussion of autobiography in Allen’s movies from Play It through Deconstructing Harry.Less
The episodes of Radio Daysconstitute Allen’s cinematic act of gratitude to radio shows of the 1940s which demanded that his young self and other listeners visualize what the programs aurally projected. In Radio Days, Allen hasn’t moved very far from the gag-structure of his early films, but the movie nonetheless dramatizes the point that radio trained young Joe/himself to incarnate visually what the characters in dramas and the participants in news reports were doing. The film also dramatizes the point that these radio artists—like all artists—hope to achieve a measure of immortality via their listenership, but, as the older “Joe” points out at the film’s end, “with the passing of each New Year’s Eve, those voices grow dimmer and dimmer.” This chapter also offers the book’s most extended discussion of autobiography in Allen’s movies from Play It through Deconstructing Harry.
Andy Propst
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- March 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780190630935
- eISBN:
- 9780190630966
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780190630935.003.0005
- Subject:
- Music, Popular
Betty Comden and Adolph Green, after finishing work on the screenplay for Good News, began work on their third Broadway musical. It became Bonanza Bound, and the tuner, a comedy set in the 1890s in ...
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Betty Comden and Adolph Green, after finishing work on the screenplay for Good News, began work on their third Broadway musical. It became Bonanza Bound, and the tuner, a comedy set in the 1890s in Alaska, closed during its tryout engagement in Philadelphia. Though critics were chilly toward this show, there were warm notices for the film. It prompted MGM to offer them work on two more movies, and Comden and Green returned to Hollywood to work on the Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers picture The Barkleys of Broadway and Take Me Out to the Ball Game, which starred Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra.Less
Betty Comden and Adolph Green, after finishing work on the screenplay for Good News, began work on their third Broadway musical. It became Bonanza Bound, and the tuner, a comedy set in the 1890s in Alaska, closed during its tryout engagement in Philadelphia. Though critics were chilly toward this show, there were warm notices for the film. It prompted MGM to offer them work on two more movies, and Comden and Green returned to Hollywood to work on the Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers picture The Barkleys of Broadway and Take Me Out to the Ball Game, which starred Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra.
Andrew Grant Wood
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- October 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780199892457
- eISBN:
- 9780199345496
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199892457.001.0001
- Subject:
- Music, History, Western
Few Mexican musicians in the twentieth century achieved as much notoriety or had such an international impact as the popular singer and songwriter Agustín Lara (1897–1970). Widely known as “el flaco ...
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Few Mexican musicians in the twentieth century achieved as much notoriety or had such an international impact as the popular singer and songwriter Agustín Lara (1897–1970). Widely known as “el flaco de oro” (“the Golden Skinny”), this remarkably thin fellow was prolific across the genres of bolero, ballad, and folk. His most beloved “Granada,” a song so enduring that it has been covered by the likes of Mario Lanza, Frank Sinatra, and Placido Domingo, is today a standard in the vocal repertory. However, there exists very little biographical literature on Lara in English. This book's informed and informative placement of Lara's work in a broader cultural context presents a reading of the life of this significant musical figure. Lara's career as a media celebrity as well as musician provides an excellent window on Mexican society in the mid-twentieth century and on popular culture in Latin America. The book also delves into Lara's music itself, bringing to light how the composer's work unites a number of important currents in Latin music of his day, particularly the bolero.Less
Few Mexican musicians in the twentieth century achieved as much notoriety or had such an international impact as the popular singer and songwriter Agustín Lara (1897–1970). Widely known as “el flaco de oro” (“the Golden Skinny”), this remarkably thin fellow was prolific across the genres of bolero, ballad, and folk. His most beloved “Granada,” a song so enduring that it has been covered by the likes of Mario Lanza, Frank Sinatra, and Placido Domingo, is today a standard in the vocal repertory. However, there exists very little biographical literature on Lara in English. This book's informed and informative placement of Lara's work in a broader cultural context presents a reading of the life of this significant musical figure. Lara's career as a media celebrity as well as musician provides an excellent window on Mexican society in the mid-twentieth century and on popular culture in Latin America. The book also delves into Lara's music itself, bringing to light how the composer's work unites a number of important currents in Latin music of his day, particularly the bolero.
