Dorothy Fields

Not me, but, you know.

Your next track is by Dorothy Fields.

You're a great fan of hers.

Yes, I am.

She came out of a very musical Jewish family, and I think that American pop music in the 20s and 30s developed a genuine, distinctive character, partly because of the immigration.

And it shows why immigration is a good thing.

So what have you chosen from Dorothy Fields?

Well, it's this famous song, I Can't Give You Anything But Love.

Pennies from Heaven from the film Pennies from Heaven, music by Arthur Johnston, lyrics by Johnny Burke.

The Way You Look Tonight from the film Swing Time, music by Jeremy Kern, lyrics by Dorothy Fields.

When Did You Leave Heaven (Sing, Baby, Sing), music by Richard A. Whiting, lyrics by Walter Bullock.

The winner here went to The Way You Look Tonight from the film Swing Time.

a handful of random singles, and the autobiography of Louis Armstrong, and that last set of music.

We start off with the Satchmo musical autobiography, the project he did in 1956 on Decca, and we heard him do the wonderful Jimmy McHugh and Dorothy Fields on the sunny side of the street.

Then we heard him do That Lucky Old Son with the Gordon Jenkins Orchestra on Decca in 1949.

Duet with Bing Crosby on Decca in 1951, Gone Fishin', and finally, a good old good one, version of the great Bert Kalmar and Harry Ruby standard A Kiss to Build a Dream On, version he did with Cy Oliver's orchestra, a single for Decca in 1951.

Great ones, You're a Lucky Guy and You're Just a No Accountant and By and By.

And then finally from 1938...

We heard him do the four songs recorded on that day, the singles for Decca, the Harry Barris song, Naturally, James Monaco and Johnny Burks, I've Got a Pocket Full of Dreams, Jimmy McHugh and Dorothy Fields, I Can't Give You Anything But Love, and I Hope I Don't Have to Announce Who's the Composer of Ain't Misbehavin'.

not the most famous versions of lewis or other musicians of these great songs but part of a nice segment of his career in the late 1930s after returning from sojourn in europe and taking some time off in 1935 he performed with the lewis russell orchestra and other aggregations as well for deca for those number of years before of course in the post-war years lewis flourished with his all-stars and all his great popular hits as well So I hope you enjoyed the past hour or so where we sampled some of the singles that he did for Decca in the late 1930s with the Lewis Russell Orchestra.

So we've got three Luke's Picks from one of my favorite Sinatra albums, Come Swing with Me.

Our first featured song was written in 1930, music by Jimmy McHugh with lyrics by Dorothy Fields.

It was introduced in the Broadway musical Lou Leslie's International Revue, starring Harry Richman and Gertrude Lawrence.

And right out of the gate, multiple recordings were out there hitting the airwaves and turntables, and this thing just was well on its way to becoming a standard.

This chart from the very first note, and it goes well with the material, you know.

It's a great matchup between May's arrangement and the song and Frank's performance.

You know, I love the very beginning of it, you know, the lyric from Dorothy Fields, "Grab your coat and snatch your hat.

Leave your worries on the doorstep, and direct your feet to the sunny side of the street." I love the way Sinatra does this.

This is I'm sure you know this tune.

This is Jimmy McHugh and Dorothy Fields on the sunny side of the street.

Take your coat and get your hat Leave your worries on the doorstep Just direct your feet To the sunny side of the street Can't you hear a pitter-pat And that happy tune is your step Life can be so sweet on the sunny side of the street.

I used to walk in the shade with those blue eyes on me.

We started out with Got a Brand New Suit, and then went to I'm in the Mood for Love.

I'm in the Mood for Love was a movie song done by Jimmy McHugh and Dorothy Fields, and, uh, Got a Brand New Suit was a pop tune by Arthur Schwartz and Howard Dietz.

In fact, most of the tunes that Louis recorded for Decca were of the pop variety, and, uh, featured his trumpet playing to a certain degree, but he was more marketed as a crooner, as a singer.

And he was f- uh, backed by his touring band, which was led by a pianist named Louie Russell, and he had recorded with Louie Russell in the late '20s.

Some of the songs he even played both, if I'm sure you caught that.

We heard the six titles recorded, China Boy, old pop number, and then two Jimmy McHugh, Dorothy Fields great ones, Exactly Like You and Sunny Side of the Street.

Sunny Side of the Street, a nice clarinet work by Prez.

Then an original they called The Upright Organ Blues, then a very fast version of Jerome Kern's Who, Prez on clarinet again, and then Jazz Me Blues, a piece they wrote for the date, also has Prez on clarinet, and nice work, if you can get it [laughs] here on the Bird Prez Birthday Broadcast, WKCR-FM New York and WKCR HD.