Saturday, July 19, 2014

"And nothing hurts sweeter than a song"

Mondegreen:
"Ain't Nothin' Heard Sweeter Than a Song"
===

"Found" article on the unreleased video of the "Best New Group in Vocal-Jazz-Ease"
(unreleased song found in the university archives).  (The author had very little info and obviously did minimal research.  He/she could not even discover the female singer's name, so it is not confirmed that this is indeed her. It sounds an awful lot like her.  (And there is a program in the archives with PT, her and MD doing a performance at Rose Hall at Jazz at Lincoln Center.  And there is that recurring phrase in her letters, to that "evening by the Park", "sunset" and "the wall of windows", the evening when he proposed to her-the very event he would later deny.

This video session would have been recorded in the afternoon, with a white backdrop behind them, on the very stage they would be performing on. There is mention of a single long shot, which describes this very setup. And includes the gorgeous view of what must be Central Park in full Autumn colors)

(The Bottom Line, Saratoga Springs-place named after ....

==

The article is as follows:

The archival video was edited to include the outtakes.  It clocks in at exactly 3:31, the same length as the released recording.  However, the video has been in the possession of the original recording company and never released to the public.

The entire session is extant (16:08). It includes only 3 attempts at the song, including the first, which was aborted prior to the second verse due to the female singer being overwhelmed by laughter (otherwise known as "cutting up").

The polished video (hereafter referred to Tape #4, as catalogued by the record company) begins with a bridge, which includes various members either laughing to someone off-camera, or flirting directly with the camera.

She begins by snapping directly in front of the camera, which seems to be one of the only clear moments of choreography that was followed.

Everyone seems to either be tipsy, drunk, or just naturally happy.  The two male singers have a known history of working together for 30+ years in another comedy band.  The female singer's name is unrecorded.


She is sandwiched in the center, the bearded male singer behind her standing close and starting with his hand on her downstage hip.  As they sing, he begins to embrace her as they all begin to sway in unison.
In short order, he begins to encircle her waist with his hands, and it is

The second time around, they begin in place.  At the moment which someone, presumably the director ____ (2:08) is heard to say :"Let's go again right away", there is a sudden uncharacteristic (in the rest of the video) motion which the female singer makes to the bearded singer.  She pulls one of his hands off of her waist dismissively, as if it were irritating her.

This action is noteworthy in that the rest of the video explores permissiveness and the three performers seem to be VERY comfortable with each other indeed.

In fact, the overt style of the original song seems to have comedic intent indeed ("Just retain your poise/Sing a pretty noise)

Notes:
Recording of Lambert, Hendricks & Ross, Vocalese

Lyrics:
http://www.gugalyrics.com/lyrics-2390791/lambert,-hendricks-%26-ross-in-a-mellow-tone.html

Video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CVE8bG_YBcg


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