My posts here over the past almost two years usually include at least one song/video and sometimes several or a full Profile in Music of one of the greats. Now I’d like to offer something different—which may be short-running, depending on theresponse. On those many days when I don’t write a full piece (or collect recent political cartoons) I will send along exactly one song/video. Then I will look at the stats here on the percentage of people who chose to open that email. On the one hand, it’s a slim offering—one tune—so why bother opening? On the other hand, amid the flood of newsletter notices showing up in many in-boxes, it may seem like a fast and easy breath of fresh air, especially if you find most of the songs to your liking, or you are somewhat adventurous or your taste is eclectic. So we’ll see how this goes. And note to those skating in for a try—you can still subscribe for free!
Now today’s pick. A couple of nights ago, Emily Blunt took the “Colbert Questionaire,” and when asked to name the one song she could not live without in her daily life, she picked Louis (the King) Armstrong’s, “La Vie en Rose.” Of course, I was familiar with the classic, going back to Edith Piaf, but even as a giant Satchmo fan, I did not know his version. So I checked it out and…wow. It’s from 1950 but very much with the musical and vocal stylings from the 1925-1935 period that made him America’s greatest musical creator and most influential vocalist ever. So here ya go.
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Greg Mitchell is the author of a dozen books, including the bestseller The Tunnels (on escapes under the Berlin Wall), the current The Beginning or the End (on MGM’s wild atomic bomb movie), and The Campaign of the Century (on Upton Sinclair’s left-wing race for governor of California), which was recently picked by the Wall St. Journal as one of five greatest books ever about an election. His new film, Atomic Cover-up, just had its world premiere and is drawing extraordinary acclaim. For nearly all of the 1970s he was the #2 editor at the legendary Crawdaddy. Later he served as longtime editor of Editor & Publisher magazine. He recently co-produced a film about Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony.
The immortal Pops. I like it! Thanks.
How can we measure the genius and contributions of Louis and his colleagues? What a contribution to the human experience!