“My Bluebird’s Singing the Blues”

For the past few months I have let life’s daily demands get in the way of posting a new blog. Tonight, however, I’m jumping back in with a nod to one of my favorite songs of the 1930s. It was introduced by Baby Rose Marie in the 1933 Paramount picture, INTERNATIONAL HOUSE. Baby Rose (the future "Sally Rogers" on THE DICK VAN DYKE SHOW) appears just long enough to sing the song, but she does so atop a grand piano in a musical interlude being broadcast on a television machine. You read that right: there‘s a television in a motion picture made in 1933. Of course, it’s a 1933 envisioning of what a television will look like once it’s invented, but the contraption is a central plot element. The stars of the flick are W.C. Fields, George Burns, Gracie Allen, Bela Lugosi and Rudy Vallee.

Ralph Rainger (1901-1942) worked on many film scores, and was responsible for well-known songs such as "Moanin' Low" and "Love in Bloom". His principal collaborator was composer lyricist Leo Robin (1900-1984). Together they became one of the leading film songwriting duos of the 1930s and early 1940s, writing over 50 hits, including the Oscar-winning "Thanks for the Memory". Robin's other contributions to American song include "Beyond the Blue Horizon" and "Prisoner of Love", with Broadway contributions such as GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES, and THE GIRL IN PINK TIGHTS. Robin and Rainger worked together until Rainger's untimely death in a plane crash in 1942 near Palm Springs.

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If you click on the title of this blog entry, you'll be taken to YouTube where you can see Baby Rose Marie performing this song. Below you can view my own take on it. As with all the songs profiled on my blog, the chord/lyric sheet for “My Bluebird’s Singing the Blues” can be yours just by sending me an email with your request: tims.email@yahoo.com

Smiley Face and Uke

Today on a whim I created a uke-friendly smiley-face "favicon" to use as my display image on Yahoo IM. Feel free to download it and put it to use if you wish.

"Just Like a Melody From Out of the Sky"

The prolific Walter Donaldson wrote this sentimental but achingly beautiful ballad in 1934. The high tenor voice of Cliff Edwards is a perfect vehicle for it, and he can be heard singing it in a video on YouTube. Access the video by clicking on the title of this blog.

Donaldson wrote more than 600 songs, including the hits "Makin' Whoopee", "My Baby Just Cares for Me", "Little White Lies", "Love Me or Leave Me" and "You're Driving Me Crazy". His film scores include movies from 1927 (LOVE) up until 1965 (A THOUSAND CLOWNS), even though he died in 1947. Most notable are FOOTLIGHT PARADE, THE GREAT ZEIGFELD, and DUBARRY WAS A LADY.

"I See Your Face Before Me"

The largely forgotten musical comedy Between the Devil opened on Broadway on December 22, 1937, running for only 93 performances before it closed on March 12, 1938. As with many musicals, a few of the songs have gone on to enjoy very healthy lives, with this torch song there among them. The other two standouts, also by Howard Dietz and Arthur Schwartz, are "By Myself" and "Triplets", both of which surfaced in the 1953 film The Bandwagon.

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Traditionally, the song is performed as a ballad, complete with a slow, morose tempo. Adapting it to the upbeat tone of a ukulele, however, does not damage the song, in this uke player's opinion. In fact, I prefer the brisker tempo as it seems to tone down the "woe is me" vibe that can burden some performances.

"I'm Gonna Wash My Hands of You"

One of the joys of the internet is finding little video treasures to download. Such is the case with this curious musical short from about 1934 featuring a girl trio credited as "The Radio Three". I have done some web research on the trio and the song, but have found nothing of note. I am posting it to introduce you to the site from which I acquired it, British Pathe, which you can reach by clicking on the song title above. The site contains "3500 hours of video, 12 million stills, 75 years of British Pathe". If you can offer any insight into these girls or the number, let me know.