Slouching Towards Birdland (Will Friedwald's SubStack)

“HOT COFFEE” (NOVELTY FOX-TROT SONG) Words by BARTLEY COSTELLO Music by BENNIE KRUEGER Arranged by Merle T. Kendrick Copyright 1926 by Triangle Music Pub. Co. Inc., 1658 Broadway, New York City Special thanks to Colin Hancock and Harry Arends. And always to Elizabeth Zimmer. I had never paid much attention to the song “Hot Coffee” until I heard Bryce Edwards perform it at Jim Caruso’s Cast Party last week.

I was in the middle of writing this—and intending it for the next Substack—last Saturday, August 29th, when the news broke of Gene Bertoncini’s passing. I had just spoken with Meredith D’Ambrosio about Silent Passion, her classic album with Gene from 1997 (which I regard as a milestone in both of their discographies) a few days earlier. This post started as an appraisal of an important individual album, but I then spun it out slightly into an appreciation of a major artist, who 1.

I was in the middle of a piece on Gene Bertoncini (no surprise, I have been working on a book about him and with him, for the last year) when Josh Marcum reached me with news of his passing on Saturday night. I’ll deliver that new piece in a day or two. In the meantime, I hope that readers will enjoy some recent pieces of mine from the New York Times and The New York Sun.

Music by David Raksin Lyric by Johnny Mercer Introduced instrumentally as the theme from the 1944 Otto Preminger film Laura Introduced vocally by …. See below! Special thanks to Nick Rossi for helping with this column and also for suggesting it to begin with. Nick is writing what promises to be an even more comprehensive story about the song “Laura” for the journal Noir City, and I am really looking forward to reading that.

Music by David Raksin Lyric by Johnny Mercer Introduced instrumentally as the theme from the 1944 Otto Preminger film Laura Introduced vocally by …. See below! Special thanks to Nick Rossi for helping with this column and also for suggesting it to begin with. Nick is writing what promises to be an even more comprehensive story about the song “Laura” for the journal Noir City, and I am really looking forward to reading that.

Most of us of my generation grew up with peak Mad through the reprint paperbacks that were omnipresent in the 1970s. That’s where I first encountered my all-time personal favorite piece, “If Famous Authors Wrote the Comics” from Mad #46 (April 1959), text by Frank Jacobs, and artwork by Wally Wood.

Quite possibly the ballgame that Nat and Sweets attended on the evening of August 15, 1956, before they recorded the first session of AFTER MIDNIGHT. This was roughly two years before the Dodgers (and their stadium) came to Los Angeles, but there were still local teams and a local Pacific Coast League.

This time special thanks to the very great Mark Cantor, as well as to Michael Lavine for finding the “Flying Home” (Sid Robin edition) sheet music, and as usual to Elizabeth Zimmer, Daniel Weinstein & Nick Rossi.

Very special thanks this week (in particular) to the indefatigable Rob “On the Job” Lester for his very special help, not only in proofing but in researching this week’s entry. Way to go, Rob! Thanks also, as always, to Elizabeth Zimmer.

THE CHEVY SHOW: “SWINGIN’ AT THE SUMMIT” (NBC January 29, 1961) Host: Kay Starr Guests: Tony Bennett, Louis Armstrong, George Shearing, Harpo Marx Restoration (in b&w and color) from multiple sources by STEVE KRAMER Tony Bennett was never shy about giving props to his heroes and inspirations: Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, Louis Prima, Ella Fitzgerald, but also Miles Davis and Erroll Garner, as well as Judy Garland and Jimmy Durante.