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VERY informal survey (NO poll)

Posted: Fri Nov 12, 2021 4:44 pm
by bloke
I'm in my 60's...(' will probably croak, soon...)

Who here - who's approximately my age - has NEVER heard (or has no memory of) this song?

It's OLD...but not "ancient" (WWII era) and (though corny, and it's NEVER been called on an gig I've played - though I could play the tune, if called, as - well - it's not very complicated) I don't consider it to be "obscure".

Mrs. bloke reports (after me making up some offensive substitute words to the tune) that she has never heard the tune, before. :smilie6:

Here's (probably...??) the first release of it...Bing and Les Paul:



You HAVE heard it before...yes...??
:bugeyes:

Re: VERY informal survey (NO poll)

Posted: Fri Nov 12, 2021 4:52 pm
by matt g
I’m roughly 2 decades younger than you and I’ve heard that song before. If I remember correctly, it was used recently in a blockbuster film.

Edit: It’s used in the MCU, just the Harry James version.

Re: VERY informal survey (NO poll)

Posted: Fri Nov 12, 2021 5:14 pm
by tokuno
Yep, Avengers Endgame
https://youtu.be/IztjGOPMCwU

I hope you're not expecting to croak any time soon - my 95-year old mother joined me for an afternoon in the sunshine at my children's marching band rehearsal yesterday & trotted up and down the bleacher stairs unassisted. Folks are living longer these days, dontcha know.
Incidentally (perhaps because she lived through the WW2 era) I'm pretty sure I've heard her singing It's Been a Long, Long Time in the past, along with Andrews charts and other old timey songs.

Re: VERY informal survey (NO poll)

Posted: Fri Nov 12, 2021 6:34 pm
by Ace
That's a lovely song. The lyrics are great. I was born in 1936, so that was the kind of quality music that kids grew up with in my time. However, one thing has always bugged me: Why did singers take great liberty about singing the rhythm of the notes as written? That is, why sing a first beat note on the second beat. Or, a forth beat note on the first beat. Etc. Those alterations were called "styling" in those days, but I found them annoying. Hrumph!

Re: VERY informal survey (NO poll)

Posted: Fri Nov 12, 2021 6:42 pm
by hrender
I know it, but I have a small collection of Bing Crosby recordings, so I'm probably an outlier.

Some tunes are surprisingly obscure. For my wedding reception back in the 90s, the DJ we had hired asked us for a list of requests several weeks before the event. I included a favorite Harry Warren tune. At the reception, he claimed he not only didn't know it but couldn't find a recording. Still surprises me. I had a couple recordings I could have brought if I had known.


Re: VERY informal survey (NO poll)

Posted: Fri Nov 12, 2021 6:47 pm
by the elephant
This is on the "A" Set List in a band I have played with on and off for many years.

And I first heard this tune as a child and then regularly through my life as my grandparents and my mother all played various recordings of it. I had no idea it was in any way "rare" but I guess my tastes (and familial exposure) are somewhat odd to the "regular folk" of the world…

Re: VERY informal survey (NO poll)

Posted: Fri Nov 12, 2021 7:09 pm
by bort2.0
No matter what he sings, to me, it always sounds very... Vermonty...

Re: VERY informal survey (NO poll)

Posted: Fri Nov 12, 2021 7:11 pm
by bloke
Ace wrote: Fri Nov 12, 2021 6:34 pm That's a lovely song. The lyrics are great. I was born in 1936, so that was the kind of quality music that kids grew up with in my time. However, one thing has always bugged me: Why did singers take great liberty about singing the rhythm of the notes as written? That is, why sing a first beat note on the second beat. Or, a forth beat note on the first beat. Etc. Those alterations were called "styling" in those days, but I found them annoying. Hrumph!
I had a friend (a trumpet player) who - regarding popular music singing - consistently offered the same rant.
Curiously, I never cared for his trumpet playing.

Re: VERY informal survey (NO poll)

Posted: Fri Nov 12, 2021 7:14 pm
by bloke
well...His two most well-known movies (Christmastime movies) fictitiously took place in Vermont.
He grew up in Spokane, and (before becoming his own entity) was one of Paul Whiteman's staff crooners.
bort2.0 wrote: Fri Nov 12, 2021 7:09 pm No matter what he sings, to me, it always sounds very... Vermonty...

Re: VERY informal survey (NO poll)

Posted: Fri Nov 12, 2021 7:20 pm
by bloke
In Memphis - when I was growing up - AM 60 (later "600" AM) was formerly a (OK, then...for lack of a better description) "somewhat sophisticated popular music for grownups" radio station (all the way up until the early 1980's...so the first quarter-century of my conscious life). It was the ONLY station that was ever played in my parents' family car, so (possibly...??) that's why I can hum (and play, if asked to) "all of those old tunes" (as "they" are "all" often described). Later, it became a Republican-quasi-conservative-but-not-really-as-neither-are-Republicans'-talking-points blather station. ...so, basically, the best thing on the dial turned to sh!t...just as the (formerly enjoyable) FM classical music stations have all been turned into (the opposite) sh!t.

REALLY...!?!?! "missing low C key"...!?!?!? :smilie4:

Re: VERY informal survey (NO poll)

Posted: Fri Nov 12, 2021 8:40 pm
by tofu
.

Re: VERY informal survey (NO poll)

Posted: Fri Nov 12, 2021 8:43 pm
by Yorkboy
Very popular song in its day; I played in a band for many years where it was one of the singer’s favorite tunes (very un-“trad jazz”, but she was a fan of the 40s stuff)

Re: VERY informal survey (NO poll)

Posted: Fri Nov 12, 2021 9:05 pm
by Three Valves
bort2.0 wrote: Fri Nov 12, 2021 7:09 pm No matter what he sings, to me, it always sounds very... Vermonty...
The whooshing and the shooshing… :thumbsup:

Re: VERY informal survey (NO poll)

Posted: Fri Nov 12, 2021 11:24 pm
by GC
I've always been more familiar with the Harry James/Kitty Kallen version:



According too Wickedpedia it was released the same week as the Crosby/Paul version. The James/Helen Forrest version is really good, too.

Re: VERY informal survey (NO poll)

Posted: Sat Nov 13, 2021 7:10 am
by Paulver
I'm 70. Grew up surrounded by a lot of older folks............. I know that song quite well!! Same for Nat's and Kitty's tunes, too!!

Re: VERY informal survey (NO poll)

Posted: Sat Nov 13, 2021 8:29 am
by Three Valves
These songs I’ve heard. They were not popular when I was growing up but I sought them out.

It was fun to have witnessed the last of the hoofers, crooners and vaudeville acts even if they were quite old.

Now they re all gone and miss them. :smilie6:

Re: VERY informal survey (NO poll)

Posted: Mon Nov 15, 2021 2:28 pm
by Doc
Yes, I know this tune well, and I have played it countless times with a couple of bands I used to play with. Dancers always filled the floor on this tune. :thumbsup:

Re: VERY informal survey (NO poll)

Posted: Mon Nov 15, 2021 6:02 pm
by acemorgan
I'm 67. I know and very much like this song.

More than just being good, this music was the soundtrack of the parents of my generation. For me, it conjures up a Boomer version of hearth and home.

Re: VERY informal survey (NO poll)

Posted: Mon Nov 15, 2021 6:51 pm
by Beyond16
I recognize the title from some sheet music included with a vintage cornet I bought:
Image
Image
Image

Apparently they played it at Ray High School in Corpus Christi TX.

Anyone need a King SilverTone cornet with solid the sterling silver bell and worn out valves? Comes with sheet music shown, ha ha.

Re: VERY informal survey (NO poll)

Posted: Mon Nov 15, 2021 11:57 pm
by bloke
I think I have a King Master (or virtually identical to the Master model) with good valves - on to which that bell could be soldered… But it ain’t worth fooling with.