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ON THE RECORD: Cook's "Rainbow," Chaffin's "Wind Blows South," Plus "Carols for a Cure"
By Steven Suskin
23 Nov 2008
Listening to Barbara Cook's newest album, "Rainbow 'Round My Shoulder"; a Southern-flavored set from Philip Chaffin; and this 2008's "Carols for a Cure" from BC/EFA.
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RAINBOW 'ROUND MY SHOULDER [DRG 94782]
Far be it from me to suggest what songs Barbara Cook should sing. She has run the proverbial gamut in her dozen CDs on DRG since 1993, with an understandable concentration on the works of Mr. Sondheim. Song selection has been wide and varied, with the choices apparently coming upon close consultation between Ms. Cook and her arranger. (For many years, this was the accomplished and much-missed Wally Harper; presently, Lee Musiker is on the piano bench.) Cook & Co. have picked many familiar titles, some obscure; some obvious, some unlikely; most theatrical, some contemporary. It is safe to say, though, that just about everything Ms. Cook sings sounds good, and is enhanced by the singer's treatment.
All of which is by way of saying that this year, on "Rainbow 'Round My Shoulder," she has picked some true winners. That title tune, for example. "There's a Rainbow 'Round My Shoulder" is an old Jolson song from the singer's heyday, when he was powerful enough to take his pick of the many songs auditioned for him and claim co-authorship credit. If he launched the song to stardom, why shouldn't he get a share of all the royalties to come when any other singer (like Barbara Cook) decided to sing it? The authors were game; if you were a young songwriter, a Jolson hit could make you. (Billy Rose doesn't owe his fame to "There's a Rainbow 'Round My Shoulder," certainly; but at the time, which was 1928, it sure made a big difference to his burgeoning career.) George Gershwin was mighty lucky with "Swanee," which Jolson heard and liked and turned into a worldwide standard. But Gershwin and his heirs were especially fortunate that the song had already been used in a negligible stage show, and duly published, before Al wrapped his lungs around it; otherwise it might have gone down in the books as a song by Jolson-Gershwin-Caesar, with a one-third reduction in royalties.
At any rate, the Al Jolson-Billy Rose-Dave Dreyer "There's a Rainbow 'Round My Shoulder" is an exuberant tune, in the very same vein as Irving Berlin's "I Love a Piano" and "Let Me Sing and I'm Happy." And one that you don't hear all that often. Ms. Cook takes it up and sings the blazes out of it, after which she immediately turns to "Where or When." This is a song that Ms. Cook recorded for her 1959 LP "From the Heart," which remains one of the best things of its kind (and which you can still get, as DRG reissued it in 1988). But here we have another "Where or When," and 50-odd years adds depth and experience to the rendition. Those first two tracks, right there, are about as good as you can get. Far be it from me to suggest what songs Barbara Cook should sing, not when she goes and picks 'em like this.
Other effective items include a sunbeam rendition of "Lucky to Be Me," fitting in perfectly (and merely coincidentally) with this fall's Bernstein celebration and this week's Encores! production of On the Town; a heartbreaking rendition of John Bucchino's "If I Ever Say I'm Over You"; and a melancholy version of George and Ira's "He Loves and She Loves," interweaved with one of the Preludes. This last was a favorite of Jerry Kravat, the legendary musical booker and manager who shepherded and virtually created Cook's cabaret-concert career over 28 years. Kravat died on March 31, and "Rainbow 'Round My Shoulder" is dedicated to his memory.
Also on tap are some older items from the Cook repertoire. "Cookin' Breakfast for the One I Love" is heard in a perky arrangement from the Wally Harper days. This is another Rose song, written (with Henry Tobias) to order for Mrs. Rose (i.e. Fanny Brice Arnstein Rose). "Be Yourself," the 1930 movie for which this little item was devised, was released on DVD last year; if this is typical of Ms. Brice's performances, she was an ethnic comedienne whose charm does not carry over the years. In any event, this explains the joke built into the line about Fanny "makin' bacon"; and where else are you going to hear Barbara Cook sing "oy gevalt!" (and rhyme it with oatmeal-with-salt). Ms. Brice, on film, mugs her way through the number; Cook makes it a breezy morning's interlude. "Sooner or Later," a risqué old tune from Charles Wolcott and Ray Gilbert, is another one of Wally's, revamped by Musiker. Also included are two arrangements from the recent period when Eric Stern was at Cook's piano, combining "I'm Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter" with Passion's letter song, and merging Kurt Weill's "Lost in the Stars" with "No More" from Into the Woods. Continued...
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