Charmaine
Charmaine is the title of a song by Ernö Rapée and Lew Pollack from 1926, which is best known for its instrumental interpretation by Mantovani .
History of origin and early recordings
1926 originated in the United States of silent film What Price Glory? , a drama based in occupied France during the First World War based on the play of the same name by Maxwell Anderson . As music to accompany the screenings of the film, Ernö Rapée and Lew Pollack composed, among other things, the waltz Charmaine , named after the main female character in the play ("Charmaine de la Cognac") , which they published commercially in 1927.
Within a few months, the song, written in E major (in the form AA'A''B), was picked up by various vocalists and orchestras of the time. Charmaine’s first recordings include the version of the then very popular tenor Lewis James and the recording by Guy Lombardo with his "Royal Canadians" and the singing of his brother Carmen Lombardo (both 1927).
The recording that Nathaniel Shilkret made with the Victor Salon Orchestra in 1927 gives today's listeners a good impression of how the piece might have sounded in the silent movie theater .
Other popular recordings were made by the Jimmy Lunceford (1935) and Harry James (1944) orchestras . In the field of jazz , the song was u. a. Covered by Lud Gluskin , Harry James, Nappy Lamare , Pud Brown , Hal Singer , Neal Hefti , Gene Ammons , Arnett Cobb , Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson , Tommy Dorsey , Billy May , Helmut Brandt , Dorothy Ashby and Earl Bostic ; the discographer Tom Lord lists a total of 160 (as of 2015) cover versions in the field of jazz .
With the film, the song became known in Germany in 1927. There the orchestra of Dajos Béla and the “Jazzband-Kapelle” Lewinnek recorded it. There is also a recording of Egon Kaiser (as “Mario Elki Dance Orchestra”).
Mantovani
Charmaine became known to a worldwide audience mainly through Mantovani , who first released the song with an arrangement by Ronald Binge in 1951 in the typical sound of " Cascading Strings " as a single in Great Britain and thus for a total of five months in the US Billboard charts were represented. For Mantovani, Charmaine became a kind of signature tune, which he later recorded again several times, for example for An Album In Waltz Time (1955).
More artists
In the wake of Mantovani, numerous other vocal and instrumental versions were created as early as 1951, including by the Paul Weston Orchestra with the Norman Luboff Choir , by Vaughn Monroe and by Gordon Jenkins with vocals by Bob Carroll ; In 1952 an instrumental recording by Billy May followed , and in 1953 the version by Helmut Zacharias .
Frank Sinatra released his recording of the song, arranged by Gordon Jenkins, on his album All Alone in 1962 .
In 1958 Bill Haley & His Comets recorded a version that was no longer in waltz time. Irish singing group The Bachelors made it to # 6 on the UK charts in 1963 with their Shel Talmy- produced recording of Charmaine .
The performers of the piece include Tex Beneke , Vic Damone , Tommy Dorsey , The Four Freshmen , Erroll Garner , James Last , Michel Legrand , Lou Rawls and Jim Reeves , among others .
use
- In the 1963 NDR television production of the sketch Dinner for One, which is particularly popular in Germany due to its annual broadcast on New Year's Eve, an instrumental version by Charmaine can be heard at the beginning , while Heinz Piper speaks the introductory words. The recording was made by the Victor Silvester Orchestra .
- The Charmaine version was used twice by Monty Python's Flying Circus :
- in the sketch "Seduced Milkmen" in the first season;
- in a sketch about gay footballers in season two.
- A version of Mantovani is used in the series Twin Peaks in episode 10 of season 3 (2017).
- The piece is also used in the following films:
- The cabinet of horrors of Dr. Phibes (1971)
- One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)
- The Green Mile (1999)
- The Island (2005)
- Cheyenne - This Must Be the Place (2011)
- The Rum Diary (2011)
Web links
- On the history of the song "Charmaine" with German translation of the lyrics
Individual evidence
- ↑ Charmaine (Ernö Rapée. Victor Salon Orchestra, Nathaniel Shilkret Director. Victor 20 924-B, released. August 24, 1927 in New York, can be heard on YouTube )
- ↑ Tom Lord: Jazz discography (online)
- ↑ cf. Charmaine. Waltz Song from 20th Century Fox Movie "What Price Glory" (Ernö Rapée, Lew Pollack), Dajos Béla Dance Orchestra. Odeon O-2376 (Matr. Be 6604). Berlin, spring 1928, to be heard on YouTube ; Charmaine. Waltz (Rapée-Pollack) Lewinnek jazz band. Eltag 2053 (mat. 4491-3)
- ↑ Charmaine. Waltz (Ernö Rapée - Lew Pollack) dance orchestra Mario Elki. Tri-Ergon TE 5245 (Matrijs nr. 01622), opgenomen 08.28, to be heard on YouTube