Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. DXLII--Bobby Darin: Moon River

 At least I have somewhat of a reason for being late this week....

My introduction to this week's tune was watching the incomparable (i.e., I've had a crush on her since I first saw her) Audrey Hepburn in the classic movie Breakfast at Tiffany's.  My re-introduction to it came because my youngest son was fascinated by outer space when he was young (still is to a degree), and liked me to sing him snippets of songs with planets' (including our moon) names in them as I was tucking him in.  I wanted to come up with a couple more lyrics to this week's song to sing to him and came across this version on YouTube.  That the version I found was by an artist I loved was just icing on the cake....

If you're familiar with this week's tune, you'll know the definitive version is by Andy Williams.  I was all set to use his version until I read his Wikipedia bio and found out that although he campaigned for Robert F. Kennedy and was a companion of his wife Ethel after RFK's assassination, he claimed to be a lifelong Republican, reiterated RWNJ talking points about President Obama, and praised Rush Limbaugh.  In short, fuck him.  Besides, Bobby Darin's version blows his away.  Regular readers (all three of you) may recall that I wrote about Darin in Jukebox CCLXXIX, and as Darin has been playing at The Great Rock and Roll Concert in the Sky since 1973, there isn't anything to add.

"Moon River" was written by Henry Mancini (music) and Johnny Mercer (lyrics) for the aforementioned film.  Bobby Darin had recorded it to be used on an album but passed away before it was started.  His version was not released until 1999, on the compilation The Unreleased Capitol Sides.  Darin's rendition was not released as a single, and near as I can tell, the album did not chart.

Fun Fact(s):  "Moon River" won the Academy Award for Best Song in 1961, and Grammys for Record of the Year and Song of the Year in 1962.  It was also ranked #4 on AFI's list of the top one hundred songs in American movies.

If ever there was a song written about hope that captures hope better than "Moon River," I've yet to hear it.  Mercer has said the song is about the waterways near his boyhood home of Savannah, Georgia, and it certainly grasps the dreams of his youth.  The melody is lovely, embodying a lushness that makes the song unforgettable.  Darin sings it with a wistfulness that leaves you in wonder and avoids the schmaltziness that mars Williams' version.  You'll often hear a song referred to as an American standard, and "Moon River" meets that designation in every conceivable way.  Just a beautiful and touching piece of Americana.

[Aside:  Regardless of my feelings for her, I would be remiss if I did not note that Audrey Hepburn's version in the movie is a wonder in and of itself and certainly adds to the song's rich history.]

Lyric Sheet:  "We're after the same rainbow's end/Waiting 'round the bend/My huckleberry friend/Moon River and me..."

Enjoy:

Fuck Donald Trump

Peace,

emaycee

Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. CCCLXXV--Ray Stevens: Everything Is Beautiful

 Don't know where I was at mentally when I was jotting down songs to feature in the early months of this year at Friday Night Jukebox, but this is the fourth one since New Year's (and next week's will be the fifth) that was one of my Father's favorites.  My Dad liked listening to music as we ate dinner, and we heard this tune (and its respective album) numerous times through the years....

Ray Stevens has had a long and varied (and pretty successful) career making music.  He got his start in 1957, and until the 1980's, alternated between pop/country songs and comedic songs, having hit singles in each genre.  Stevens also produced and wrote music, as well as having his own TV variety show, the creatively entitled The Ray Stevens Show.  Since the eighties Stevens has concentrated on comedy records and continues to perform to this day.  Stevens won a Grammy Award (for this week's tune) and has been inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.  For his career, Stevens has released fifty studio albums, 67 compilation albums, and 125 singles (with two of those singles reaching #1 on the Billboard Hot 100).  I don't usually mention the personal lives of the featured artists, but Stevens was married to his wife Penny for over sixty years until sadly she passed away last December...and I'm pretty sure he's the only FNJ star to have a marriage that lasted that long.

Fun Fact:  The children heard singing in the background on this week's tune were not a professional group, but rather the students at Oak Hill Elementary School in Nashville, Tennessee, which just happened to feature his two daughters.

"Everything Is Beautiful" was released in 1970 and later added to the obligatory album release of a hit single, the ever so surprisingly named LP Everything Is Beautiful.  The single hit #1 (with a bullet) on the singles chart, while the album peaked at #35 on the Billboard 200.

No denying it:  "Everything Is Beautiful" is a sappy ballad calling for love and togetherness, and for opening our minds to see the good in everyone...which is probably just as relevant today as it was back then.  Stevens wrote a catchy as all hell single, sang the hell out of it, and added in the kid chorus to take the good vibes straight on up to the stars.  This is one of those songs that may cause some to shake their heads and drift on back to Coolsville, but as for myself, I've been singing it all week and wondering if fifty years from now we'll still be as divided as we are today...and were fifty years ago, as well.

Lyric Sheet:  "There is none so blind/As he who will not see/We must not close our minds/We must let our thoughts be free..."

Enjoy:

Republican = Traitor

Peace,

emaycee