Photos at AEAE, Tumblr version.
Songs:
Blowing in The Wind (German, 1965)
Falling In Love Again (English, 1939)
She was never lovelier in The Scarlet Empress; you can watch the whole thing below.
Pt 1
Pt 2
Pt 3
Pt 4
Pt 5
Pt 6
Pt 7
Pt 8
Pt 9
Pt 10
Pt 11
Solo, this time.
Many of her movies of the 1960s are such very beautiful things in and of themselves, that they function like a stunning setting for the jewel she is. The video posted yesterday showed a glimpse of the candy-colored cuteness that’s typical of them. (It must have been wonderful working on a Jacques Demy film.)
Les Demoiselles of Rochefort has much in common, including the director (Demy) and lead actress (Deneuve) with his earlier classic, Les Parapluies de Cherbourg (The Umbrellas of Cherbourg). Every word of Parapluies is sung, not spoken, and the music is Michel Legrand’s. When the story makes you as sad as the sets and costuming make you happy, you’ve found a movie that will really stay with you.
Here’s the ending of Parapluies if you don’t mind having it spoiled:
I also recommend Belle De Jour (of course).
Her singing voice was dubbed in both Parapluies and Desmoiselles, but later on, she had a recording career of her own. Here are a few of her songs:
Oh Soliman
And just for kicks, one of her Chanel No. 5 commercials from the ’70s.
I need something colorful and light and fun after all this gray, joyless winter, something girly and pretty to look at and internalize. I think some of my female readers can probably relate.
As for you fellas, you get to spend the month in the company of Marilyn Monroe, Jane Russell, Catherine Deneuve, Brigitte Bardot, Sophia Loren, Elke Sommer, Rita Hayworth, Eartha Kitt, Marlene Dietrich, Raquel Welch, Ann-Margret, Diana Dors and more.
There will videos, mp3s galore, and maybe I’ll even post up some of my vast collection of photos of these ladies. (Because God knows there ain’t much that’s pretty enough to shoot out there for the next month.) Actually, I’ll just post those where they should be posted: AEAE, the Tumblr version.
Let’s start out with Catherine Deneuve and her sister Francoise Dorleac in two songs (considerately edited together by the poster of this video on YouTube) from the very cute French movie Les Demoiselles de Rochefort (1967):
Here are the songs they performed:
I can’t believe it’s been two weeks since I posted. I want to, I just don’t have the photos to do it. I can only take so many interior shots of my tiny home, and well, outside is a big gray mess.
So, to let you know that I’m still thinking of you all, here’s a little something. It’s one of my favorite Beach Boys songs, and the harmonies are fantastic. Hopefully, if you’re dealing with a little Seasonal Affective Disorder right now, this will dispel it.
I have quite an icicle collection.
Donovan – Sunshine Superman
I’ve never been a particularly huge fan of his, but it’s a rare person who isn’t at least a little bit of a fan. Had he lived, he’d be 75 today.
Had he lived, I wonder what Graceland – no doubt renovated and redecorated many times over by now to fit his changing tastes – would look like today. Would he have done more albums, had more hits, done more movies, more concerts? Would he have ridden out his old age in Vegas or ridden off into the sunset of Branson? Would he be looked at as an elder statesman or a has-been who squandered it all? Would he have written tell-alls (you know he knew where some bodies were buried) or gone to the Betty Ford Center?
Would he have gone on American Idol?
It’s interesting, thinking about him in the context of today’s pop culture. He will always be everywhere, but the Elvis we knew doesn’t seem to fit in here anymore.
As most of us think about him in terms of the ’50s or early ’60s, or the ’70s white jumpsuited years (sideburns ahoy) here’s El in a time period I’m not used to seeing him in the context of either; 1968 (but without a guitar, a mike, or a black leather jumpsuit), singing the original version of my very favorite song of his:
and here’s the version I love, one that he had no hand in besides contributing vocals:
A Little Less Conversation
A few of his other hits:
Viva Las Vegas
Suspicious Minds
Burning Love
Such a Night
Change of Habit
And finally – of course – Mojo Nixon’s Elvis is Everywhere. Because, as I mentioned above, he is.
I can’t believe I forgot! You must hear this if you haven’t already. It’s a live version of Are You Lonesome Tonight in which he starts laughing about halfway through and cannot stop. It’s hilarious.
My side yard
We finally got our share of this.
The Bangles – Hazy Shade of Winter
Empires in a bowl. Apples help make resolutions to eat healthier easy and they are also very photogenic.
Fats Sadi – Little Green Apples
ABBA – Happy New Year
May it be safe and joyous!
Guy Lombardo – Auld Lang Syne
Harry: What does this song mean? My whole life I don’t know what this song means. I mean, ‘Should old acquaintance be forgot”. Does that mean we should forget old acquaintances or does it mean if we happen to forget them we should remember them, which is not possible because we already forgot them!?
Sally: Well, maybe it just means that we should remember that we forgot them
or something. Anyway, it’s about old friends.
So …
What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve?
by Ella Fitzgerald
by Harry Connick, Jr.
by Nancy Wilson
And now for the close of the year.
The Ain’t Superstitious But Autumn mix was a thing of beauty and joy, and the two songs I played most from it (you know, over and over, as I do) were Dusty Springfield’s dramatically bombastic Summer Is Over and Paul Weller’s Don’t Make Promises. If there was a song that somehow captured the essence of the sight and sound of dead leaves crunching along the ground, it is Weller’s. I’m probably not making any sense; it’s okay, it happens a lot.
Lyle Lovett released a new album and on it was Pantry, a song close to my heart for several reasons. One, it’s good. Two, it has his usual witty lyrics. Three, it’s about food. Four, it contains the phrase “the sausage of Gdansk.”
I’ve been Netflixing Mission Impossible, seasons four and five, and therefore I’ve been happy to get to hear Schifrin’s theme music for it four times per DVD. Honestly, I think it may be the best TV theme ever. (Except the season five version – they mortally wounded it during season five.)
Speaking of Netflixing, I watched Zodiac last month, and it was great, but I was really impressed with the use of music, especially in the opening scenes. Three Dog Night’s Easy To Be Hard & Donovan’s Hurdy Gurdy Man set the mood and the time period perfectly,and the latter was very effective in the scene where the Zodiac leaves his victims for dead. Between that, the Billy Batt murder scene set to Atlantis in Goodfellas, and the general eerieness of Season of the Witch, if you hear Donovan coming up on the soundtrack, something dark is about to go down.
I’ve mentioned discovering Oliver Nelson through Greg Ferrera’s Cinema Styles already, but have not shared the excellent Complex City until now. It’s 8 minutes and ten seconds long and when it’s done playing, you’ll be sad to hear it end, promise.
If you know me, or have simply hung around here long enough, you know I’m a big fan of the Monkees, but even so, I wasn’t aware of the existence of Mike Nesmith & the First National Band’s Silver Moon until I found it on Echoes Again. I was never a big fan of Mike’s solo country music, but this ended up being part of the soundtrack to a night of Christmas cookie baking and really lightened my mood. Which was good, because that was the night I ended up throwing away three batches of dough in a murderous rage.
As for other now-beloved earworms to round out the year with, I have already linked them; Lily Frost’s I’ve Got My Love To Keep Me Warm, Aretha’s Kissin’ By the Mistletoe, Nelson’s Greensleeves, and The Gerald Wilson Orchestra’s Light My Fire.
It’s been a good year for music and for that I’d like to thank all my CD mixing & mp3 blogging friends – you’ve hooked me up with some terrific stuff. May 2010 be as fruitful!
