Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. DLXX--Doris Day: Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be)

Thank you falettinme be...(nine days) late again....

My original introduction to this week's tune came way back in the day before the internet and cell phones when, for entertainment, my family would sing songs around the table after dinner.  It probably sounds incredibly quaint in this day and age, but I have a lot of fond memories and my family singing this tune was one of them.  My actual introduction to this week's version was upon hearing it on the Rhino release Sentimental Journey, a four CD set featuring some of America's best vocalists of the forties and fifties.  Our song of the week will actually be the fourth song featured from that album (one, two, and three)--to say that it's influence on my musical tastes was massive would be an understatement....

Born Doris Mary Anne Kappelhoff (the first bandleader she worked for, Barney Rapp, suggested the name change to Doris Day) in Cincinnati in 1922, she would begin her musical career singing with big bands in 1937 at the ripe old age of fifteen.  By 1945 she'd had her first number one record ("Sentimental Journey," an absolute American standard), and she parlayed her early success into a career that is much too long and varied to cover in a paragraph.  In short, Day would continue recording (though intermittently) until 2011, became a huge box office star in the fifties and sixties, have her own television show in the seventies, and her own talk show in the eighties.  Day became somewhat of a recluse in her later years, turning down several awards and tributes because she didn't want to appear in person.  She was also involved in causes for animals, including founding her own nonprofit, the Doris Day Animal Foundation.  Day died of complications from pneumonia in 2019 at the age of 97.

"Que Sera Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be) was released as a single in 1956.  It went to number two on the Billboard Hot 100 and would reach #1 on the British singles chart.  It is considered Day's signature song.

Fun Fact:  "Que Sera Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be)" was originally introduced in the1956 Alfred Hitchcock film The Man Who Knew Too Much as a plot device.  It won the Academy Award for Best Original Song and was eventually inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.

This one is about as sweet as sweet can be, featuring a woman at three different points in her life.  In the first she's asking her mother, in the second she's asking her sweetheart, and in the third her children are asking her the same momentous questions:  just what the future will hold.  And the answer, amazingly enough, is a quite honest assessment of the ways of the world "que sera sera, whatever will be, will be."  The melody is sugary ear candy, and Day's voice is nothing short of wondrous, carrying the words and music to pop music heaven.  It's a song from a different time that despite our ever-changing world remains timeless.

Lyric Sheet:  "When I grew up and fell in love/I asked my sweetheart, what lies ahead/Will we have rainbows/Day after day/Here's what my sweetheart said..."

Enjoy:

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Peace,

emaycee

Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. CCCLXIX--Jo Stafford: You Belong to Me

 I must be channeling my late father these past couple of weeks--during the pandemic lockdown I redid my record collection, and as I was sorting through them, I found an album by this week's artist (whom I had discovered like previous Friday Night Jukebox stalwarts Johnny Mathis and Vic Damone on the 4-CD set Sentimental Journey) among the records my father had given me shortly before his death.  And as an added bonus, it even had this week's tune on it....

Jo Stafford, who, outside of this week's song I was completely unfamiliar with prior to my weekly half-assed research, turned out to have actually had quite an interesting and varied career.  Born in Coalinga, California in 1917, Stafford began performing at the age of twelve, joined her sisters' trio The Stafford Sisters in her late teens, joined the Pied Pipers in the late 30's, and eventually became part of big band leader Tommy Dorsey's orchestra, performing background vocals with the likes of Frank Sinatra.  As time wore on, Stafford began recording as a solo artist and continued to meet with both critical and commercial success.  In the early sixties, she and her second husband, Paul Weston, formed a parody duo, Jonathan and Darlene Edwards, for which they went on to win a Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album in 1961.  Stafford continued performing into the 1980's before retiring.  For her career, Stafford released 88 singles and some 110 albums (a good many of which are compilations).  Ms. Stafford has three stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, appeared in movies, and had several different TV shows (which mostly featured her singing).  She passed away in 2008.

Fun Fact:  Jo Stafford is the first woman to have a #1 hit on the U.K. Singles chart--which appropriately enough, was this week's featured song.

"You Belong to Me" was recorded by numerous artists after its release in 1952, but Jo Stafford's version was the most popular, reaching #1 in both the United States and (as noted above) Great Britain.  She originally released it only as a single, and it was not on one of her albums until appearing (not surprisingly) on a compilation album, The Hits of Jo Stafford, in 1964.

"You Belong to Me" comes from an era when musicians spent years honing their craft (and that's not an indictment of today's musicians, just a standard from another era), and it's easy to see how fifteen years of singing professionally made Jo Stafford's voice into the perfect instrument for carrying the sentiments of this song into our hearts and minds.  There's a confidence and a smoothness to her singing that allows her sultry performance to stand above the usual fare, and the orchestra behind her hits all the right notes (in more ways than one).  This one's not for everyone--it's a ballad from another time in America's history (it was originally written with a WWII soldier in mind, traveling with the troops), but if you're a fan of female vocalists this one is about as good as it gets.  

Lyric Sheet:  "See the pyramids along the Nile/Watch the sun rise on a tropic isle/Just remember, darling, all the while/You belong to me..."

Enjoy:

Republican = Racist

Peace,

emaycee

Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. CCCXXX--Vic Damone: On the Street Where You Live

 As noted last week, this week's tune also was introduced to me via a sampler of Sentimental Journey:  Pop Vocal Classics, Vol. 1-4.  Little did I know, though, until just a few weeks ago when I saw My Fair Lady  for the first time, that it's actually a song from...well, My Fair Lady.  And the poor fellow who sings the song doesn't even get the girl in the end (and what a loss that was, as it was Audrey Hepburn... hubba-hubba).

Vic Damone was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1928 and rose from his humble beginnings to become one of the great crooners of the 50's and 60's.  Damone's early career was marked by the releases of numerous singles and playing TV and radio shows that catered to fans of his type of music.  Frank Sinatra at one time said that Damone "had the best set of pipes in the business."  Damone's career ran from 1947 until 2002 at which time a stroke forced his early retirement (though he did do a one off concert in 2011 in Palm Beach, Florida so that his grandchildren could see him perform for the first--and only--time).  Damone scored nine top ten singles in his career, including one number one.  Sadly, Damone died in 2018 at the age of eighty-nine from complications from a respiratory illness..

Fun Fact:  Damone dropped out of high school to help support his family after his father died.  He worked at a theater as an usher, and one evening he spotted Perry Como (a big crooner of the forties and fifties for those not in the know) and stopped his elevator in between floors and sang for Como.  Como was so impressed he got him an audition...and the rest is Damone's history.  Damone would eventually name his first born son Perry.

"On the Street Where You Live" was released as a single in 1956, and rose all the way to #4 (with a bullet!) on the Billboard Hot 100.  While Damone's version has since appeared on numerous compilations, it was originally released only as a single.

If you've ever fallen in love, you know there's a very special feeling when it first begins to happen and when you come anywhere near your newly beloved it can at times feel like you're walking on clouds. And that is exactly the spirit of love that is captured so brilliantly in "On the Street Where You Live."  While the strings and the stand-up bass (I think) add a lush undertone, it's Damone's otherworldly baritone that is the beginning, middle, and end of this classic ballad.  I noted last week that Johnny Mathis' voice conjured the singing of angels, and I'm not exaggerating (too much) when I say that Damone's would conjure the Gods themselves.  It's a beautiful song from a bygone era when ballads were ballads and an electrician's son could sing a tune that made the Gods of music smile--and smile, I assure you, they did for a long, long while.

Lyric Sheet:  "People stop and stare, they don't bother me/For there's nowhere else on earth that I would rather be/Let the time go by, I won't care if I/Can be here on the street where you live..."

Enjoy:

It's Not Just an Infrastructure Bill, It's a Jobs Plan, Too

Peace,

emaycee

Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. CCCXXIX--Johnny Mathis: Chances Are

 About a thousand years ago (actually it was the 1990's) when I was still managing a store for Camelot Music, we got a free sampler of a four CD set featuring classic vocals from the 30's, 40's, and 50's called Sentimental Journey.  I must have been channeling my father (because I'm sure he would have loved it) and I came to really appreciate the artistry of big bands and those blessed with a wondrous singing ability.  I was introduced to this week's tune by the sampler, and next week's as well.

Johnny Mathis was born the same year as my mother (1935) in Gilmer, Texas, and a few years later his family relocated to my hometown of San Francisco.  Mathis began singing at a young age, and got his first recording contract at the ripe old age of twenty-one.  From the mid-50's through the mid 60's Mathis was a hit making machine, and had numerous top ten hits before settling into a fine career of recording and touring with his velvety vocals.  For his career Mathis has released 73 studio albums (with one #1), three live albums, and thirty compilations (also with one #1).  He also has released 113 singles, with (you guessed it) one #1.  Mathis came out as gay in 1982 but backed off from his admission after receiving death threats--eventually he would embrace his sexuality.  Amazingly, even at the age of eighty-five, Mathis still performs 50 to 60 concerts per year.

Fun Fact:  At one time, Mathis was considered the best all around athlete to come out of San Francisco.  He was a starter in basketball in both high school and college (San Francisco State), and was also a world class high jumper in track and field (he competed against NBA legend Bill Russell in the high jump at the collegiate level).  In 1956 Mathis was invited to the tryouts for the Summer Olympics in Melbourne the same week he was asked to audition for a recording contract in New York--Mathis chose the vocal audition and the rest, as they say, is history.

"Chances Are" was released as a single in 1957, and was put on a compilation album, Johnny's Greatest Hits in 1958 (mini fun fact:  often considered the original greatest hits package).  Both the song and the LP hit #1 (with a bullet!) on the Billboard charts.

All you really need to know about "Chances Are" is that when angels sing they sound just like Johnny Mathis when he delivered the performance of a millennium on the song.  It's a syrupy sweet ballad, likely one of the ten best romantic songs ever, and one of those songs that no matter how many times I hear it never ceases to amaze me with the majesty it creates with such simplicity.  I've been singing it since I did my half-assed research in the run up to this post...and I'll be treating my wife and youngest son to my version of it for days to come.  How lucky they are!  "Chances Are" is heavenly proof that on occasion all can be right with this crazy world....

Lyric Sheet:  "Guess you feel you'll always be/The one and only one for me/And if you think you could/Well, chances are your chances are awfully good..." 

Enjoy:  

It's Not Just an Infrastructure Bill, It's a Jobs Plan, Too

Peace,

emaycee