Betty Hutton was considered “a brassy, energetic performer with a voice that could sound like a fire alarm,” but here’s a clip of the late chanteuse at a much different register:
For more characteristic mania, see Betty with Dinah Shore.
Betty Hutton, Film Star of ’40s and ’50s, Dies at 86 (NY Times)
Also, in memoriam of the late Ray Evans, some renditions of “Que Sera, Sera”:
The Lords
From Rajkumar Santoshi’s Pukar
Wax Tailor & Doris Day
Bears!
Hollywood lyricist Ray Evans passed away last week. With songwriting partner Jay Livingston, he penned the lyrics to “Mona Lisa,” “Que Sera, Sera,” “Silver Bells,” and the timeless words, “The ole hooty-owl hooty-hoos to the dove.” As sung by Debbie Reynolds in Tammy and the Bachelor:
Ray Evans, Lyricist of Hit Songs From Movies, Dies at […]
“Prisoner of Love/Please, Please, Please,” The T.A.M.I. Show
From Rick Rubin in Rolling Stone:
I remember going to Minneapolis to visit Prince years ago, sitting in an office waiting for him — and there was an endless loop of James Brown’s performance in the 1964 concert film The T.A.M.I. Show running on a screen. That may be […]
One day left to vote for Coverville’s best covers from the 2006 podcasts. Possible contenders:
“Burning Down The House” by Tom Jones with the Cardigans (orig. The Talking Heads)
“I Don’t Like Mondays” by Tori Amos (orig. The Boomtown Rats)
“Save It for Later” by Pete Townshend (orig. General Public)
“Sexual Healing” by Kate Bush (orig. Marvin Gaye)
“Train In […]
Sad news. After 30 years, Danny’s Skylight Room will close its doors on December 31. Danny’s is where I got to see Maude Maggart and Blossom Dearie (twice!)–and Fiona Apple and Margaret Whiting. Those last two were in the audience on the same night.
Booking manager Don Schaffer plans to recreate a new cabaret showroom […]
Belated: In a week that saw the passing of Ruth Brown, Anita O’Day, and Robert Altman, the death of Betty Comden seemed like one more sign that the twentieth century insists on slipping away. Thanks, then, to some twenty-first-century technology: a clip of Comden and Green singing “Carried Away” from On the Town at Art […]
Little Annie (aka Annie Anxiety aka Annie Bandez) and friends will be at Mo Pitkins every Saturday in December.
Visual AIDS hosts a preview party for World AIDS Day tomorrow, Dec. 1, followed by the Postcards from the Edge benefit on Dec. 2 and 3: “the most exciting and affordable way to build a collection of […]
Gene Krupa Orchestra with Anita O’Day on vocals and Roy Eldridge on trumpet.
I’m not a singer because I have no vibrato…. If I want one I have to shake my head to get it. That’s why I sing so many notes — so you won’t hear that I haven’t got one. It’s how I got […]
Some time ago, before the advent of YouTube, I had a stay at the Gaylord Rehabilitation Center, where I was introduced to the work of Harvey Sid Fisher. Whether this expedited my rehabilitation or postponed it, I do not know. I do know, however, that I am grateful beyond words to have Harvey Sid Fisher […]