The Hersch Posted January 25, 2015 Share Posted January 25, 2015 Continuing my series on 20th-century chanteuses, here is the wonderful Lee Wiley singing "Manhattan" (1925) by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart (Rogers and Hart) in a recording from 1951. How anyone can listen to this material and prefer Rodgers and Hammerstein is bewildering to me, but apparently there are such people. The lyric to this song has been commonly "updated" to reflect newer Broadway shows. This version refers to "South Pacific." The original lyric, which is much smarter than any of the subsequent revisions, is Our future babies We'll take to Abie's Irish Rose I hope they'll live to see It close (At the time (1925), this was a comment on the show "Abie's Irish Rose," which was a long-running Broadway hit universally derided by the critics. The early 1970s sitcom stinker "Bridget Loves Bernie" was sort of based on it.) The first line of the chorus is also often changed from "We'll have Manhattan" to "I'll take Manhattan" for unknown reasons. Anyway, listen to Lee Wiley. Her style of singing was already old-fashioned by 1951, but so fresh and lovely and loveable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonRocks Posted February 16, 2015 Share Posted February 16, 2015 Continuing my series on 20th-century chanteuses, here is the wonderful Lee Wiley singing "Manhattan" (1925) by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart (Rogers and Hart) in a recording from 1951. How anyone can listen to this material and prefer Rodgers and Hammerstein is bewildering to me, but apparently there are such people. The lyric to this song has been commonly "updated" to reflect newer Broadway shows. This version refers to "South Pacific." The original lyric, which is much smarter than any of the subsequent revisions, is Our future babies We'll take to Abie's Irish Rose I hope they'll live to see It close (At the time (1925), this was a comment on the show "Abie's Irish Rose," which was a long-running Broadway hit universally derided by the critics. The early 1970s sitcom stinker "Bridget Loves Bernie" was sort of based on it.) The first line of the chorus is also often changed from "We'll have Manhattan" to "I'll take Manhattan" for unknown reasons. Anyway, listen to Lee Wiley. Her style of singing was already old-fashioned by 1951, but so fresh and lovely and loveable. Hersch, what I don't understand is that "Manhattan" (the song) isn't in "South Pacific" (the musical), at least not that I'm aware of. Lee Wiley has a 1954 10-inch record called "Night in Manhattan" - could this have anything to do with it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Hersch Posted February 16, 2015 Author Share Posted February 16, 2015 Hersch, what I don't understand is that "Manhattan" (the song) isn't in "South Pacific" (the musical), at least not that I'm aware of. Lee Wiley has a 1954 10-inch record called "Night in Manhattan" - could this have anything to do with it? Heavens, I must have expressed myself very badly indeed. The song "Manhattan" was written by Rodgers and Hart, and was featured in the 1925 Broadway revue "Garrick Gaieties". The 1925 lyric referred to "Abie's Irish Rose", which was then in a very long Broadway run. When "Manhattan" has been performed more recently, the verse about "Abie's Irish Rose" is often changed to refer to a more recent or current Broadway phenomenon; in this 1951 recording, Lee Wiley sings an altered lyric that refers to "South Pacific", by Rogers and Hammerstein. There's a still later version recorded by Dinah Washington with the lyric changed to refer to "My Fair Lady", by Lerner and Loewe. The "Night in Manhattan" album by Lee Wiley includes this recording, but it's from 1951, not 1954. As long as we're on the subject, here's Lee Wiley singing "I Left My Sugar Standing in the Rain" from 1956. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Hersch Posted April 3, 2015 Author Share Posted April 3, 2015 Lee Wiley singing "Can't Get Out of This Mood" from her 1956 album West of the Moon. (My favorite recordings of her.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now