inspiration: the king

ah ha! i knew if i trolled the internet long enough i'd find my favorite version of this song (on disc 5 of the 50s masters). elvis is one of my favorite dancers of all time--i'll take his cool shimmy over gene kelly's happy tapping any day of the week. too bad there aren't any videos (that i can find so far) of him performing this one.

in my experience, this provides a great soundtrack for all the things you don't want to do around the house (dusting, mopping, dusting). chores go a lot quicker when you're dancing. unless you dance too much. then it takes all day...

enjoy

c'mon everybody (it's elvis' birthday tomorrow)

i'm not working tomorrow (not as of yet) and people have been carping about snow that's on the way (?). so my plan for the king's would- be 75th is to enjoy a little of tcm's programming (girl happy, that's the way it is--which will be new to me, blue hawaii, and of course...viva las vegas). and i'll be making the elvis special--a peanut butter, banana, and bacon sandwich--for lunch.

photo of "the elvis sandwich" © anita aguilar, for phoebeworks/piym.

i think you should give it a try, too. it's creamy, sweet, salty, crunchy...bacon-y. it's got all the complexity and contrast that you want in a "dish."

here's a link to jess' recipe and the elvis' birthday episode of PIYM:

celebrate: bewitched, bothered, and bewildered

today is the birthday of lorenz hart-- new yorker, columbia alum, romantic, lovely and lonely lyricist, and lifelong collaborator with richard rodgers. hughson mooney wrote a brief, but interesting bio on hart in which he suggest that hart's lyrics, perhaps even better than cole porter's, reflected the voice of the urban, upper-middle class generation between the first and second world wars. porter was saucier, racier, more urbane--and i favor, on the whole, his work. but boy, can hart ever do love, melancholy, clever yearning:

bewitched, bothered, and bewildered

after one whole quart of brandy
like a daisy i'm awake
with no bromo seltzer handy,
i don't even shake

men are not a new sensation;
i've done pretty well, i think.
but this half-pint imitation
put me on the blink

i'm wild again
beguiled again
a simpering, whimpering child again
bewitched, bothered and bewildered am i

couldn't sleep
and wouldn't sleep
until i could sleep where i shouldn't sleep
bewitched, bothered and bewildered am i

lost my heart but what of it?
my mistake i agree.
he's a laugh, but i love it
because the laugh's on me.

a pill he is
but still he is
all mine and i'll keep him until he is
bewitched, bothered and bewildered
like me.

seen a lot
i mean i lot
but now i'm like sweet seventeen a lot
bewitched, bothered and bewildered am i

i'll sing to him
each spring to him
and worship the trousers that cling to him
bewitched, bothered and bewildered am i

when he talks he is seeking
words to get off his chest.
horizontally speaking
he's at his very best.

vexed again
perplexed again
thank god i can't be over-sexed again
bewitched, bothered and bewildered am i

wise at last
my eyes at last
are cutting you down to your size at last
bewitched, bothered and bewildered no more

burned a lot
but learned a lot
and now you are broke, though you earned a lot
bewitched, bothered and bewildered no more

couldn't eat
was dyspeptic
life was so hard to bear;
now my heart's antiseptic
since you moved out of there

romance-finis
your chance-finis
those ants that invaded my pants-finis
bewitched, bothered and bewildered no more.

when ella sings them, these lyrics that can at first read bluesy or bitter (or maybe even a bit looney), are sweeter and dreamier.

she, like many who have recorded it, made some lyrical changes:

until i could sleep where i shouldn't sleep became when love came and told me i shouldn't sleep

my mistake i agree becomes he is cold I agree

he's a laugh but i love it becomes he can laugh but i love it

he's a pill...becomes he's a fool...

worship the trousers that cling to him becomes and long for the day when i'll cling to him in the first verse (but she brings back the original lyrics for the second)

seen a lot is i've sinned a lot...

and i think she thanks god she can get over-sexed again...

anyway, you get the idea. i hear her version and think she gets the guy in the end. or at least, she gets what she wants. i like that.

***

bewitched, bothered, and bewildered is one of the best known tunes from the musical pal joey. i was surprised to learn that the musical version was based on a series of short stories, written as letters (it can be properly called an epistolary novel, my new favorite term), by john o'hara, which appeared in the new yorker. this bit of news got me very excited, until i read a little more about john o'hara. he sounds awful.

***

blue moon (elvis)

blue moon,
you saw me standing alone
without a dream in my heart
without a love on my own.
blue moon,
you knew just what I was there for
you heard me saying a prayer for
somebody I really could care for.
and then there suddenly appeared before me,
the only one my arms will ever hold
I heard somebody whisper, "please adore me."
and when I looked,
the moon had turned to gold.
blue moon,
now I'm lo longer alone
without a dream in my heart
without a love on my own.

elvis' version of blue moon was the first cross-over/rock and roll hit for rodgers and hart--and it actually was the 4th iteration of the song. the first 3 lyric versions were all written while the duo was under contract to MGM. the first version was to be sung by jean harlow in the film "hollywood party," but ultimately neither jean harlow, nor the song appeared in the film. the second and third versions were written for manhattan melodrama (one of my favorite flicks, starring myrna loy and clark gable).

image via http://www.doctormacro1.info/

image via http://www.doctormacro1.info/

***
my funny valentine (chet baker)

be hold the way our fine feathered-friend
his virtue doth parade.
thou knowest not my dim witted friend,
the picture thou hast made.
thy vacant brow and thy tousled hair
conceal thy good intent.
thou noble upright, truthful, sincere
and slightly dopey gent- you are..

my funny valentine
sweet comic valentine
you make me smile with my heart
you looks are laughable, unphotographable
yet you're my favorite work of art
is your figure less than greek
is your mouth a little bit weak
when you open it to speak, are you smart?
don't change a hair for me
not if you care for me
stay little valentine stay
each day is valentine's day

easter with elvis

elvis and yvonne lime, easter weekend. april 19, 1957. ap photo via cbs.com.

i took walk to and from my yoga class this morning, in the cold rain.

is it possible that park avenue and all the side streets around here look prettier in the rain? the shine of the big, modern buildings runs off. everything, from the bark on the magnolia trees to the heavy, stone buildings, is soaked, saturated. it all seems somehow deeper, more interesting.

this grey, wet city weather came with a soundtrack: elvis, the complete 50s masters ..."ain't that lovin you baby." when i got home, i popped disc 5 (my favorite) into the cd player. i always start with track 20--"loving you" (slow version) and then play the disc through to the end, and go then back to track 7--the unreleased version of "blue moon." dreamy.

then i pulled "last train to memphis" from my bookshelf, to brush up a little. i turned to p 383 of my edition, the chapter on the film "loving you." there is a photo on the facing page of elvis and yvonne lime snapped in front of graceland...on easter weekend, 1957.

the coincidence was just too much.

so, i'll spend the rest of the day and on into tomorrow, listening to elvis, and re-reading parts of this great guralnick book.

*****

the photo of elvis and yvonne lime that i posted is from the cbs site. the better version that appears in "last train to memphis" was photographed by robert williams, who also snapped this one of elvis and one of my favorite actresses:

elvis and natalie wood. october 31, 1956. by robert williams, via the commercial appeal.

you can view (and purchase from) terrific elvis gallery here. the gallery also features another of my favorite elvis photos:

elvis, march 24, 1958. photo by barney sellers via the commercial appeal.

and: happy easter...