Moanin 'low

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Moanin 'Low is a torch song written by Ralph Rainger (music) and Howard Dietz (lyrics) and published in 1929.

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Libby Holman

Rainger and Dietz wrote Moanin 'Low for the music revue The Little Show , which premiered on April 30, 1929. The song was presented by Libby Holman and Clifton Webb . Libby Holman gave a somber rendition of the song, right after an erotic dance with Webb. The song was adopted (along with Can't We Be Friends? By Kay Swift and James Warburg) for the following show Three's a Crowd (1930). Moanin 'Low was Ralph Rainger's first song release, who had previously worked as an accompanist in Vaudeville . At the same time he promoted Libby Holman's career as a singer.Moanin 'Low is considered to be the "most effective torch song in the blues idiom ".

First recordings and later cover versions

The first recording of the song came from Sophie Tucker (June 27, 1929, Victor 22049). Among the musicians who also recorded the song in the United States from mid-1929 were the Charleston Chasers (Columbia, with Phil Napoleon , Miff Mole and Jimmy Dorsey ), Libby Holman (Brunswick, with the aforementioned studio band), Irving Mills ( Cameo ), The Cotton Pickers (Brunswick, among others with Tommy Dorsey ), Leo Reisman (Victor), Miff Mole (OKeh), Clarence Williams and His Blue Moaners (with Eva Taylor , vocals), Reuben Reeves (vocalion), Annette Hanshaw (OKeh), the Memphis Jazzers (Van Dyke 7801) and Lee Morse and her Blue Grass Boys, in Montréal Willie Eckstein , in London Jack Hylton (with Ella Logan), Spike Hughes and in Berlin Lud Gluskin .

The discographer Tom Lord lists a total of 234 (as of 2015) cover versions in the field of jazz , including from the late 1930s by Teddy Wilson / Billie Holiday , Lena Horne , Roberta Lee , Ella Fitzgerald , Webster Young / Paul Quinichette , Ann Richards , Wally Fawkes , Yank Lawson , Ernestine Anderson , Alberta Hunter / Lovie Austin , Carmen McRae , Turk Murphy , Jackie Cain , Doc Cheatham, and Dan Barrett . In addition to pop singers like Margaret Whiting (1946) and Barbra Streisand , Moanin 'Low has also been covered by many revival and Dixieland bands.

Claire Trevor sang him in the gangster film Gangsters in Key Largo (1949); Trevor's vocal performance is one of the most impressive scenes from Key Largo ; the sad song expressed her love-hate relationship with Johnny, played by Edward G. Robinson . Trevor received an Oscar for best supporting actress for this. The trumpeter Harry James played the song in the film jazz trumpeter (1950). Billie Holiday sang it in July 1958 at Art Ford's Jazz Party (which was recorded on TV).

Web links

  • Inclusion in the catalog of the German National Library: DNB 359419410

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Ken Bloom: The American Songbook - The Singers, the Songwriters, and the Songs - 100 Years of American Popular Music - The Stories of the Creators and Performers . New York City, Black Dog & Leventhal, 2005 ISBN 1-57912-448-8 p. 298
  2. ↑ Philip Furia, Michael L. Lasser: America's Songs: The Stories Behind the Songs of Broadway, Hollywood, and Tin Pan Alley. 2006.
  3. ^ Arnold Shaw The Jazz Age: Popular Music in the 1920's . 1987, p. 245
  4. ↑ Peter Stanfield. Body and Soul: Jazz and Blues in American Film, 1927-63 . 2005, p. 120 ff.
  5. ^ Billboard March 17, 1951, p. 114.
  6. ^ Wilfrid Sheed: The House That George Built: With a Little Help from Irving, Cole, and and a Crew about Fifty . 2008, p. 191.
  7. ↑ Peter Cliffe Fascinating Rhythm . 1990, page 144
  8. ↑ http://secondhandsongs.com/work/129002
  9. ↑ a b Tom Lord: Jazz discography (online)
  10. ^ Robert Beck: The Edward G. Robinson Encyclopedia . 2005, p. 173
  11. ^ Matthias Voller: Parodistic Intertextuality and Intermediality in Postmodern American Fiction . 1997, p. 68.
  12. ↑ Philip Furia, Laurie Patterson. The Songs of Hollywood . 2010, p. 158.