Try A Little Tenderness

Composed by three English songwriters, Jimmy Campbell, Reg Connelly, and Harry M Woods in 1932, first recorded by the Ray Noble Orchestra before Bing Crosby made it a hit the following year, and twice recorded by Frank Sinatra, it is Otis Redding's 1966 recording that is the definitive interpretation.

Produced by Isaac Hayes and backed by Booker T & the MGs, along with the Stax house horn section.

Otis was one of the greatest of soul singers and this is one of his best efforts.  He pays attention to every phrase, word, and syllable.  It may seem a strange connection but it reminds me of Joni Mitchell's vocal on A Case Of You where she differentiates her phrasing throughout the song to appropriately reflect the content of the lyrics.

And the arrangement is splendid.  Every little musical touch is perfect.  Pay attention to the little guitar riffs, keyboard touches, and horn flourishes.  They all fit.

This video gives a taste of Otis performing the song.  It's from his breakout performance at Monterrey Pop in July 1967.  The first part is the audio over video of concert goers but he appears in the last minute.

Revisiting Bing

This morning's Wall St Journal contained an interesting assessment of Bing Crosby, of whom I wrote yesterday, commenting that his emotional remoteness limited his appeal to me.  Today's Book Review section of the Journal (which is wonderful every Saturday) contains a review of Bing Crosby: Swinging On A Star: The War Years, 1940-46 by Gary Giddins.  Ted Gioia's review provides a counterpoint to my comment, quoting a 1945 letter from an unnamed U.S. military commander to Bing, in which the officer informs Crosby his music possesses the:

"power to soften the hearts of the man who so shortly after goes back to shoot down his brother man . . .  [yet keeps] our boys from turning into the beasts they are asked to be . . . [because his voice] strikes to the bottom of the hearts of men.  I have watched it happen, often, not just in the rare case but in many many thousands of men - sitting silent, retrospective, thoughts flying back to home and loved ones . . . [as his voice tapped into the] power of music, put into humble, throbbing words, as these fellows want it, need it, bow to it."

Gioia goes on to write:

"Gary Giddens . . .  calls this aspect of his singing 'a zone of emotional safety'  You could even claim that Bing Crosby invented emotional restraint in popular music.  As leader of the first generation of singers to take advantages of the improved microphones of the late 1920s and early 1930s, Crosby grasped better than anyone the potential of conversational delivery."

It was during the war years that Crosby's recording of White Christmas became the best-selling record of all time (and remains so) and won an Oscar for his first serious film role, as a priest in Going My Way.  He also devoted enormous time to traveling and entertaining troops in the U.S. and abroad.  In a public opinion poll, conducted at end of the war, to pick the most admired man alive, Bing easily won, beating President Truman, and Generals Eisenhower and MacArthur.

From 1944, Out Of This World, composed by Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer:

Brother, Can You Spare A Dime?

Once I built a railroad, I made it run
Made it race against time
Once I built a railroad, now it's done
Brother, can you spare a dime? 

I admire Bing Crosby's vocals but they've always struck me as more emotionally remote compared to Sinatra.  And I can't imagine Bing singing a torch song like Frank.

Brother, Can You Spare A Dime? is an exception.  With lyrics by Yip Harburg, music by Jay Gorney, and recorded in 1932 at the height of the Depression, Bing perfectly captures the pathos of the time, and the personal tragedies. As we progress through verse and chorus the narrator becomes more desperate, transitioning from speaking of his "brother" to the more impersonal "buddy", as friendship shatters in the ruins:

Say, don't you remember, they called me Al
It was Al all the time
Why don't you remember, I'm your pal
Say buddy, can you spare a dime?

Harburg, best known as composer of Somewhere Over the Rainbow, and Gorney were songwriting partners for several years until Yip ran off with Gorney's wife.

Pennies From Heaven

If you want the things you love
You must have showers

Bing Crosby from the 1936 movie of the same name.  As mentioned in Pops, Crosby insisted on adding Louis Armstrong to the cast and giving him special billing, unusual for a black American at the time.

Crosby was the first popular singer to realize the transformational opportunities of microphones and originated the more subtle and conversational style of what became known as crooning. If you are interested in a very, very relaxed Crosby/Armstrong collaboration you can listen to them in Gone Fishin'