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Last broadcast on Sun, 19 Apr 2009, 21:00 on BBC Radio 2.
This Week's Show
This week’s exploration on the theme of shoes could have filled twelve-month’s worth of shows: It’s astonishing how many songs turn out to have footwear as their theme - more so if we include instrumentals like “Breakin’ In A Pair Of Shoes”. And even some of those have had lyrics added to them, as we discovered with Mel Tormé’s neat vocal version of Gerry Mulligan’s “Walkin’ Shoes”.
“Sand In My Shoes” has long been a particular favourite of ours, thanks in no small measure to Connie Boswell’s classic version – but Becky Kilgore’s interpretation, with the addition of Frank Loesser and Victor Schertzinger’s seldom-heard verse, is the current winner for us!
The splendidly-named lady song-smith Hank Fort, responsible not only for “Put Your Shoes On Lucy” but also for the Andrews Sisters hit “I Didn’t Know The Gun Was Loaded” and a few more delights, was a real discovery and it was even more of a delight to discover the existence of an LP of her performing her own songs.
We were saddened to learn of the death of the great jazz reedman Bud Shank, whose deliciously hot-cool alto licks and pretty flute interpolations have graced – and will continue to grace – many a vocal performance from Ella, June Christy, Mel Tormé and more of our favourite singers in “The Song Show”.
The theme this week: Shoes
Recommendations
The best compilation albums, for our money, are ones that include a few surprises among the expected stuff and such a one is “Two’s Company” on Memoir (CDMOIR 575). Bing & Louis’ “Gone Fishin’”, Flanagan & Allen’as “Underneath The Arches”, Fred Astaire & Judy Garland’s “A Couple Of Swells” are standard fare for a Duets collection but you’ll also find “Lets Put Out The Lights And Go To Sleep” by Peter Lind Hayes & Mary Healy; “We Never Talk Much” by Danielle Darrieux & Ferdinand Lamas and “She’s A Lady” by Perry Como & Betty Hutton – and there are many more joys in this fine 25-track set.
The Acrobat music group put out a whopping 4-CD set devoted to Petula Clark last year and we’ve only now got round to investigating it: all 94 tracks of it, that is! It’s called after the track we wanted – “The Little Shoemaker” – Pet’s first big hit. There are some curiosities here, from her childhood stardom in ‘The Huggetts’ films etc in 1949, and all sorts of early ‘fifties novelties. She duets with Jimmy Young in 1951 but mostly it’s Pet all the way – to 1957 and her first forays into the Continental market (‘Allo Mon Coeur’, ‘Papayer’). It was to be another seven years before she had her first great worldwide hit with ‘Downtown’ but there’s much to admire here and some great songs amidst the pop frivolities. Highlight for us is her 1957 LP “You Are My Lucky Star” reproduced in its entirety. It’s on Acrobat ACQCD 7010. Pet’s websites are at the links above.
Petula Clark
Tracklist
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Rebecca Kilgore & Dave Frishberg — Sand In My Shoes
Arbors, ARCD19356 -
Andy Dickens — Take Your Shoes Off, Baby
F6 Productions, FSP049 -
Hank Fort — Put Your Shoes On, Lucy
Epic, LN3500 -
The Hi-Lo’s — Shoeless Joe From Hannibal, Mo
Jasmine, JASCD433 -
Julie London — Say It Isn’t SoLiberty, 077779980420 -
Tony Bennett — A Shine On Your ShoesColumbia, 4743602 -
Danny Kaye — I’m Hans Christian Andersen
The Entertainers, CD340 -
Paul Robeson — The Cobbler’s SongASV Living Era, CDAJS244 -
Petula Clark — The Little ShoemakerAcrobat, ACQCD7010 -
Mel Tormé — Walkin’ ShoesSepia, SEPIA1113 -
Dinah Shore & Tony Martin — The Old Soft Shoe
Memoir, CDMOIR575 -
Bernard Cribbins — Winkle-Picker Shoes
EMI Gold, 724357865821 -
Phil Silvers & Cast Of “High Button Shoes” — On A Sunday By The Sea
Sepia, SEPIA1048 -
Ella Fitzgerald — Gotta Be This Or ThatVerve, 517535-2
Broadcast
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Sun 19 Apr 200921:00
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