Let's Do It (Let's Fall in Love)
Let's Do It (Let's Fall in Love) is a pop song that Cole Porter wrote and published in 1928. It was the songwriter's first big hit.
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Cole Porter wrote Let's Do It for the musical play Paris , which premiered on October 8, 1928 at New York's Box Theater. The song was presented by Irène Bordoni (1895-1953), the wife of producer E. Ray Goetz, and Arthur Margetson . The following year the song was part of the revue Wake Up and Dream , which premiered on March 27 at London's Pavilion Theater. Let's Do It and Two Little Babies in the wood were the two most successful songs on the piece.
The pop song, which was written in B flat major in the form AA'BA '' , can be played moderately, with a light swing feel , became popular in the United States primarily through the recordings of the Paul Whiteman Orchestra and made a comeback in 1960 when Frank Sinatra played him and Shirley MacLaine in the musical film version Can-Can .
Its first stanza is: Birds do it, bees do it. Even educated fleas do it. Let's do it, let's fall in love. “Porter's Let's Do It derives its comedy from the time difference, from the small moment of shock that passes before the obscene but common meaning of do it ( do it stands for have sex ) shifts to the more harmless but unusual falling in love” .
First recordings and later cover versions
The musicians who covered the song from 1928 onwards included Irving Aaronson (Victor, with Phil Saxe and Jack Armstrong, vocals), The Georgians , (Harmony), the Dorsey Brothers Orchestra (OKeh, with Bing Crosby , vocals), in Paris Ray Ventura (Odeon), in Brussels' Charles "Chas" Remue.
The discographer Tom Lord lists a total of 162 (as of 2015) cover versions in the field of jazz , including a. by Arthur Young , Bunny Berigan , Lee Wiley , Tony Pastor , Billie Holiday / Eddie Heywood (1941), Benny Goodman , Ida James , Big Jay McNeely , Oscar Peterson , Bud Freeman , Eddie Costa / Vinnie Burke , Ella Fitzgerald , Dinah Washington , Tal Farlow , Eartha Kitt , Louis Armstrong , Pearl Bailey , Ruby Braff , Stéphane Grappelli , Jimmy McCracklin , Bernard Peiffer . After the success of the Can-Can film (1960) it was also covered by Charlie Byrd , Rolf Kühn / Klaus Doldinger , Pia Beck , Maynard Ferguson , Diana Ross , and in later years Teddi King / Ellis Larkins , Cybill Shepherd , Milt Buckner , Tony Bennett , Ove Lind , Roy Ayers , Doc Cheatham, and Mary Cleere Haran
Let's Do It also found use in several feature films; Jane Wyman sang it in the Cole Porter biopic Night and Day (1946). Alanis Morissette sang Let's Do It in the soundtrack of the Cole Porter film musical De-Lovely (2004). The song was also performed in the Woody Allen film Midnight in Paris (2011). The song was also covered by Noël Coward (who alluded to his homosexuality in his text version The Belgians and greeks do it / Nice young men who sells antiques do it ) and Tommy Bruce .
Notes and individual references
- ^ A b c Marvin E. Paymer, Don E. Post: Sentimental Journey: Intimate Portraits of America's Great Popular Songs . 1999, p. 132
- ^ Charles Schwartz: Cole Porter: A Biography , Dial Press, 1977
- ↑ Dan Fox: World's Greatest Love Songs: 57 of the Most Popular Love Songs of All Time . P. 79.
- ↑ Katrin Oltmann: Remake / Premake: Hollywood's romantic comedies and their gender discourses. 2015, p. 207 f.
- ↑ The studio ensemble was u. a. from Charlie Spivak (tp), Larry Altpeter (tb), Bob Chester (ts), Lou Calabrese (bj), Johnny Morris (d, vcl) and was in fact the Paul Specht Orchestra.
- ↑ a b Tom Lord: Jazz discography (online)
- ↑ Don Tyler: Hit Songs, 1900-1955: American Popular Music of the Pre-Rock Era . 2007.
- ^ Will Fellows: A Passion to Preserve: Gay Men as Keepers of Culture . 2005, p. 13.
- ↑ Columbia DB 7025, UK 1963