Jerome Kern

The First 100 Years

Louise Gold featured as a Muppet Performer, The Welk Music Group, album produced 1985

Catalogue numbers: WM3003, WM3004, WM3005, DR 27, WM3006

 This album was actually produced to encourage Radio Disc Jockeys to play more Jerome Kern songs.

Cast

Credited:

Julie Andrews

Fred Astaire

Nick Ceroli

Maurice Chevalier

Joyce Collins

Ray Conniff

Bing Crosby

Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis

Angelo DiPippo

Percy Faith

The Percy Faith Orchestra

Four Freshmen

Dave Frishberg

Eydie Gorme

Bill Henderson

Lena Horne (as Julie LaVerne from Showboat)

Lynne Jackson

Michael Jackson

Jack Jones

Stan Kenton

Cleo Laine

Steve Lawrence

The Lettermen

Dave Mackay

Henry Mancini

Johnny Mathis

Wendy Matthews

Carmen McRae

The Muppets

Gary Nesteruk

Anita O’Day

Mike Palter

Joe Pass

Art Pepper

Oscar Peterson

The Platters

George Shearing

Andy Simpkins

Frank Sinatra

“Putter” Smith

Barbara Streisand

Art Van Damme

Sarah Vaughan

Andy Williams

Joe Williams

Nancy Wilson

Groups

The Lettermen - Tony Butala, Bob, Engemann, and, Jim Pike

The Muppets - Louise Gold, Jim Henson, and, Jerry Nelson

The Platters - David Lynch, Herb Reed, Paul Robi, Zola Taylor, and, Tony Williams

Four Freshmen - Don Barbour, Ross Barbour, Ken Errair, and, Bob Flanigan

Production Team

 Producer - The Welk Music Group

All Songs Published by - T. B Harms Company

Compiled and Produced - Dean Kay and Sharon Higgins

Lyricists - Buddy DeSylva, Dorothy Fields, Ira Gershwin, Arthur Hamilton, Oscar Hammerstein II, Otto Harbach, Jimmy McHugh, Johnny Mercer, Herbert Reynolds, Leo Robin, P G Wodehouse,

Track Listing

Jerome Kern And The Legends Of Pop Volume 1 WM3003

Side 1

1. The Song Is You (from Music In The Air) - Frank Sinatra

2. Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Man (from Showboat) - Lena Horne

3. They Didn’t Believe Me (from The Girl From Utah) - Jack Jones

4. Make Believe (from Showboat) - Barbara Streisand

5. Long Ago And Far Away (from Cover Girl) - Henry Mancini

6. Who (from Sunny) - The Muppets (Louise Gold with Jerry Nelson, introduced by Jim Henson)

7. I Won’t Dance (from Roberta) - Wendy Matthews

Side 2

8. Pick Yourself Up (from Swing Time) - Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire

9. Smoke Gets In Your Eyes (from Roberta) - The Platters (David Lynch, Herb Reed, Paul Robi, Zola Taylor, and, Tony Williams)

10. All The Things You Are (from Very Warm For May) - Johnny Mathis

11. She Didn’t Say Yes (from The Cat And The Fiddle) - Maurice Chevalier

12. Can I Forget You (from High Wide And Handsome) - Andy Williams

13. Lovely To Look At (from Roberta) - Ray Conniff

14. Yesterdays (from Roberta) - Carmen Mcrae

Jerome Kern And The Legends Of Pop Volume II WM3004

Side 1

1. All The Things You Are (from Very Warm For May) - Michael Jackson

2. Bill (from Showboat) - Cleo Laine

3. Why Was I Born (from Sweet Adeline) - Wendy Matthews

4. The Way You Look Tonight (from Swing Time) - The Lettermen (Tony Butala, Bob, Engemann, and, Jim Pike)

5. A Fine Romance (from Swing Time) - Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme

6. I’m Old Fashioned (from You Were Never Lovelier) - Julie Andrews

7. The Last Time I Saw Paris (from Lady Be Good [film]) - Four Freshmen (Don Barbour, Ross Barbour, Ken Errair, and, Bob Flanigan)

Side 2

8. Smoke Gets In Your Eyes (from Roberta) - Steve Lawrence

9. Dearly Beloved (from You Were Never Lovelier) - Nancy Wilson

10. Look For The Silver Lining (from Sally) - Andy Williams

11. I’ve Told Ev’ry Little Star (from Music In The Air) - Percy Faith & His Orchestra

12. In Love In Vain (from Centennial Summer) - Lena Horne

13. Ol’ Man River (from Showboat) - Frank Sinatra

Jerome Kern And The Giants Of Jazz WM3005

Side 1

1. Ol’ Man river (from Showboat) - Joe Williams

2. Dearly Beloved (from You Were Never Lovelier) - Art Van Damme

3. The Folks Who Live On The Hill (from High, Wide And Handsome) - Carmen McRae

4.Long Ago And Far Away (from Cover Girl) - Art Pepper

5. Lovely To Look At (from Roberta) - Oscar Peterson

6. They Didn’t Believe Me (from The Girl From Utah) - Stan Kenton

Side 2

7. Bill (from Showboat) - Oscar Peterson

8.Pick Yourself Up (from Swing Time) - Anita O’Day

9. I’m Old Fashioned (from You Were Never Lovelier) - George Shearing

10. Smoke Gets In Your Eyes (from Roberta) - Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis

11. The Touch Of Your Hand (from Roberta) - Sarah Vaughan

12. The Song Is You (from Music In The Air) - Joe Pass

Jerome Kern: Sing Me A Kern Song DR 27

Side 1

1. Sing Me A Kern Song (by Arthur Hamilton) - Lynne Jackson (piano/vocal) and Mike Palter (vocal)

2. Sure Thing (from Cover Girl) - Dave Frishberg (piano/vocal), “Putter” Smith (bass), and, Nick Ceroli (drums)

3. Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Man (from Showboat) - Lynne Jackson (vocal), Gary Nesteruck (piano), Mike Palter (bass), and, Nick Ceroli (drums)

4. A Fine Romance (from Swing Time) - Dave Frishberg (piano/vocal), “Putter” Smith (bass), and, Nick Ceroli (drums)

5. The Folks Who Live On The Hill (from High, Wide And Handsome) - Dave Mackay (piano/vocal), and, Andy Simpkins (bass)

Side 2

6. I Won’t Dance (from Roberta) - Joyce Collins (piano/vocal), Andy Simpkins (bass), and, Nick Ceroli (drums)

7. Long Ago And Far Away (from Cover Girl) - Mike Palter (vocal), and, Lynne Jackson (piano)

8. Make Believe (from Showboat) - Bill Henderson (vocal), Gary Nesteruck (piano), Mike Palter (bass), and, Nick Ceroli (drums)

9. A Kern Medley: I’m Old Fashioned (from You Were Never Lovelier) / The Way You Look Tonight (from Swing Time) / I’ve Told Ev’ry Little Star (from Music In The Air) / Smoke Gets In Your Eyes (from Roberta) / The Last Time I Saw Paris (from Lady Be Good [film]) / Look For The Silver Lining (from Sally) / Pick Yourself Up (from Swing Time) - Lynne Jackson (vocal/piano), Mike Palter (vocal/bass), and, Nick Ceroli (drums)

10. Poor Pierrot (from The Cat And The Fiddle) - Dave Mackay (piano/vocal), and, Andy Simpkins (bass)

Jerome Kern 1985: Kernfusion

All track conductor and arranger - Angelo DiPippo

Side 1.

1. The Song Is You (from Music In The Air)

2. Yesterdays (from Roberta)

3. Look For The Silver Lining (from Sally)

4. The Way You Look Tonight (from Swing Time)

5. Smoke Gets In Your Eyes (from Roberta)

Side 2

6. All The Things You Are (from Very Warm For May)

7. The Last Time I Saw Paris (from Lady Be Good [film])

8. Ol’ Man River (from Showboat)

9. The Folks Who Live On The Hill (from High, Wide And Handsome)

10. The Song Is You (from Music In The Air)

Julie Andrews, Cleo Laine appeared in The Royal Variety Performance (1977).

Jack Jones appeared in The Royal Variety Performance (1982).

Cleo Laine appeared in A Time To Start Living, where she got to sing Why Was I Born, the Side By Side By Sondheim 25^th Anniversary Gala, and, Side By Side By Sondheim 30^th Anniversary Gala. Her recording credits include 100 Hits Musicals.

The Muppets are represented on this album by Jim Henson, Jerry Nelson and Louise Gold, all of whom puppeteered on The Muppet Show., on which Cleo Laine, Julie Andrews, and, Andy Williams were Guest Stars.

The Muppets representatives, Jim Henson, Jerry Nelson, and, Louise Gold also all puppeteered on the film The Great Muppet Caper, and TV special The Muppets Go To The Movies. They featured on the documentary Of Muppets And Men. They appeared with their fellow Muppeteers on The Royal Variety Performance (1977), and in The All Time Get Around Sometimes Play Together Every Other Friday Night Vaudeville Show. Their performance of Who? features on: The Muppet Show 2 (the album on which it originated), For What It’s Worth, Jim Henson Presents Silly Songs, and, Muppet Hits 1. They also sang on: The Muppet Show Music Hall, The Muppet Show Music Album, The Great Muppet Caper (Soundtrack album), John Denver & The Muppets A Christmas Together, John Denver & The Muppets Merry Christmas 45RPM, Favorite Songs From Jim Henson’s Muppets, Put Some Zing In Your Spring, Muppet Music Sampler, Muppet Hits 2, Muppet Music Mix, Elmo’s Lowdown Hoedown, Christmas For Kids, John Denver Christmas, and, Music Mayhem & More.

In addition, Louise Gold and Jerry Nelson have also puppeteered on The Muppet Christmas Carol, The Secret Life Of Toys, and, Muppet Treasure Island; and are credited as singing together on: The Muppet Christmas Carol (Soundtrack album), they also both feature on Born To Add, and are credited on The Count’s Countdown, and, A Green And Red Christmas; and they performed together at Jim Henson’s Memorial Service, and on Sesame Street.

Jim Henson and Louise Gold puppeteered on The Dark Crystal, for which Jerry Nelson did some voice-work.

Jim Henson puppeteered on Labyrinth, and, Tale Of The Bunny Picnic.

Jerry Nelson did voice-work on the UK Co-Production of Fraggle Rock (as well as puppeteering on the main show).

Julie Andrews, Cleo Laine, Jerry Nelson, and, Louise Gold appeared on the documentary I Love The Muppets.

Review

by Emma Shane, 27 January 2005

This is a very strange compilation of often quite strange versions of Jerome Kern songs. Legends Of Pop Volume I seems to contain about the most normal sounding versions of these classic songs in the entire set. The album was apparently compiled with the aim of encouraging DJ’s to play more Kern songs on the radio, which may explain why the album contains such a wide range of rather unlikely artistes. That said it is interesting to discover how widely performed Kern’s songs are, for example I was totally unaware that Smoke Gets In Your Eyes had been a big hit for The Platters in the late 1950s. By and large I’m not too keen on the very pop-oriented takes on some of these classic music theatre songs, in particular Michael Jackson’s version of All The Things You Are, which is not only unrecognisable, it manages to sound absolutely nothing like the late 1930’s song that it actually is. In fact some of these variations were so bizarre, that they put me in mind of the moment in the little musical Two’s A Crowd when the Diva complained about the Jazz Singer’s version of Make Believe, by telling him “If you’re going to sing it, sing it properly” . However, that said, some of the variations are innovative, and worth hearing. So considering each of the five LP’s in turn:

Legends Of Pop Volume I - This is possibly my favourite of the bunch, purely for three numbers. Lena Horne’s Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Man is a poignant reminder of how ironic it was that the law didn’t permit her to play Julie LeVerne on film, and how good she would have been in the role. I particularly enjoyed Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire’s riotous version of Pick Yourself Up, and of course the version of Who billed as being sung by The Muppets, although in fact most of it is sung by British musical theatre actress Louise Gold. I wonder how many DJ’s who’ve played this track actually realised that. I also quite enjoyed Jack Jones’s They Didn’t Belive Me. The rest of the tracks on this Lp are passable, though often uninspiring, Wendy Matthews I Won’t Dance being a good example, it was perfectly satisfactory, but a little dull. While as for Henry Mancini’s Long Ago And Far Away, it was quite alright, but the trouble with that song is that having heard Louise Plowright on the Hot Shoe Shuffle (British cast album), I have yet to find anyone else who can do that song as effectively. I had a similar problem with The Platters’ hit version of Smoke Gets In Your Eyes and Carmen Mcrae’s Yesterdays, because Kathryn Grayson sang them a bit too well in the film Lovely To Look At. All in all some excellent moments, and some less good ones.

Legends Of Pop Volume II - This gets off to a bad start with Michael Jackson’s incomprehensible version of All The Things You Are. But improves dramatically with the second track Cleo Laine’s Bill, which while not to my taste is nevertheless performed very effectively. The album also ends very nicely with Frank Sinatra’s Ole Man River. Julie Andrews does a fine job with I’m Old Fashioned, and most of the other numbers on it are not too bad, although the Four Freshmen’s The Last Time I Saw Paris didn’t work very well, Andy Williams’s Look For The Silver Lining wasn’t much like the Judy Garland version, and Steve Lawrence’s Smoke Gets In Your Eyes just can’t compare to Kathryn Grayson. Overall some dreadful pieces and some which weren’t bad.

Giants Of Jazz - this is one of the more enjoyable Lp’s in the collection. While the style of the numbers are not to my taste, at least the performers seem to appreciate the material they are singing, and perform it with a good deal of professionalism. That said there are moments on it where the songs don’t seem to fit the singers, for example Oscar Peterson’s Bill, and, Sarah Vaughan’s The Touch Of Your Hand. And often I just couldn’t help wishing they’d sing the songs properly.

Sing Me A Kern Song - There was absolutely nothing actually wrong with the performances on this album, all the songs were done pretty properly. I just felt they were actually a bit boring and uninspiring. But perhaps its hard to do the songs properly and put individual feeling into them. There were several occasions when I just kept thinking “yes that’s alright, but its not....” Can’t Help Lovin Dat Man and Make Believe just weren’t as impressive as either the 1951 film of Showboat (Kathryn Grayson, Howard Keel, and, Annette Warren). While I’ve hardly ever heard a version of Smoke Gets In Your Eyes that could, quite compare with the film of Lovely To Look At (Kathryn Grayson), and I’ve never heard a version of Long Ago And Far Away that is anywhere near as impressive as The Hot Shoe Shuffle (British Cast album) (Louise Plowright). In summation, pleasant background, but that’s about it.

Kernfusion - I actually rather enjoyed this, which surprised me somewhat. Its very very jazz oriented. But its purely instrumental. Musically I think that while conductor arranger & accordionist Angelo DiPippo’s arrangements are quite bizarre, they are not without feeling for the music. In some ways DiPippo’s concoctions reminded me a bit of Jason Carr’s work as an arranger. Very individual, and yet is actually works. The arrangements may be weird, but there is a vibrancy. One might have to work quite hard to recognise the original songs, but they still sound like tunes from the era in which they were written. A nice interesting album to play in the background.

So overall a very mixed bunch. I rather wished the collection had included more of the traditional Music Theatre performances of Kern’s songs, if not the early Broadway casts, then how about Hollywood’s wide range of Kern recordings? All we had was Bing Crosby, Fred Astaire, Frank Sinata and Lena Horne, and not much of them. What about: Irene Dunne, Judy Garland, Kathryn Grayson, Howard Keel, Paul Robsen, or, William Wakefield? None of these great singers (all of whom sang Kern songs on film) were represented. Nevertheless, there are a few joyous inclusions, especially: Louise Gold, Lena Horne, Fred Astaire & Bing Crosby, as well as the interesting Angelo DiPippo. While I wouldn’t recommend looking for this album to buy (some of the better recordings on it are quite likely to be available elsewhere), if any DJ’s still have it in their libraries, they might like to consider getting it out and playing some of it on air.

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