Monday, December 3, 2007

These Foolish Things 1959


The dated 1959 blog posted reminders of Greenwich Village and "To Know Him" .....made me think of this. Boy if I had only spent some of that idle time learning to play the sax and being
a jazz hipster like this instead of playing the APBA baseball board game...I could have had a whole entourage of Nancy Buellers.
a description of this youtube clip
The Dave Brubeck Quartet in concert at the Univerity of Rome in 1959. In this nice standard there is some wonderful creative alto playing by Paul Desmond. After the piano solo there is some very interesting solo work by bassist Eugene Wright.
Dave Brubeck born in 1920 is one of the most well-known jazz pianists of all time. The classic Dave Brubeck Quartet featuring Paul Desmond's liquid alto saxophone lasted for 17 years, during which time they produced the first ever million-selling jazz tune (Take Five), toured the world many times, and introduced enormous numbers of people to the jazz sound. The two other members of the quartet were Eugene Wright on bass and Joe Morello on drums.
One of the greatest songs of all time, by relatively unheralded writers:
words and music by Harry Link, Holt Marvell (real name: Eric Maschwitz), and Jack Strachey.
Verse
Oh will you never let me be?
Oh will you never set me free?
The ties that bound us are still around us
There's no escape that I can see
And still those little things remain
That bring me happiness or pain
Refrain
A cigarette that bears a lipstick's traces
An airline ticket to romantic places
And still my heart has wings
These foolish things
Remind me of you
A tinkling piano in the next apartment
Those stumbling words that told you
What my heart meant
A fairground's painted swings
These foolish things
Remind me of you
You came, you saw, you conquered me
When you did that to me
I somehow knew that this had to be
The winds of march that make my heart a dancer
A telephone that rings, but who's to answer?
Oh, how the ghost of you clings
These foolish things
Remind me of you
Gardenia perfume ling'ring on a pillow
Wild strawb'ries only seven francs a kilo
And still my heart has wings
These foolish things
Remind me of you
The park at evening when the bell has sounded
The ?le-de-France with all the girls around it
The beauty that is Spring
These foolish things
Remind me of you
I know that this was bound to me
These things have haunted me
For you've entirely enchanted me
The sigh of midnight trains in empty stations
Silk stockings thrown aside, dance invitations
Oh, how the ghost of you clings
These foolish things
Remind me of you
First daffodills and long excited cables
And candle light on little corner tables
And still my heart has wings
These foolish things
Remind me of you
The smile of Garbo and the scent of roses
The waiters whistling as the last bar closes
The song that Crosby sings
These foolish things
Remind me of you
How strange, how sweet to find you still
These things are dear to me
That seem to bring you so near to me
The scent of smould'ring leaves, the wail of steamers
Two lovers on the street who walk like dreamers
Oh, how the ghost of you clings
These foolish things
Remind me of you, just you

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