ON THE RECORD: Texas, L'il Darlin' and "Brel Infinement"
By Steven Suskin
This week's column discusses Johnny Mercer's 1949 musical Texas, L'il Darlin' and the Jacques Brel collection, "Brel Infinement."
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TEXAS, L'IL DARLIN' [Decca Broadway B0003437]
Texas, L'il Darlin' was an amiable little musical comedy that opened somewhere between
South Pacific and
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes , displaying none of the craft or expertise of either. It arrived without fanfare, received a mixed-to-moderately favorable reception, and closed at a loss after a middlin' run of 293 performances. It was described at the time as a mixture of
Of Thee I Sing and
Oklahoma! without the attributes of either, a label that pretty well fits.
The plot concerned a senatorial campaign between Hominy Smith and Easy Jones — which gives you an idea, doesn't it? There's also a Henry Luce-like big-shot publisher of a weekly pictorial magazine "Trend" (read "Life"), who backs Smith and tries to manipulate the election. The likable hero, Jones, is a returning war hero. Oh, and Easy falls for a swell gal named Dallas Smith, played by one of the replacement Laureys from that musical about Texas's northern neighbor. If you've already guessed that Dallas is the daughter of Hominy, I wouldn't be surprised. Mary Hatcher played Dallas, taking the role from the girl who played it in the Westport summer-stock tryout four months earlier, one Elaine Stritch.
Texas, L'il Darlin' was one of lyricist Johnny Mercer's seven attempts at a Broadway musical. He met with success, moderately, only once; in 1956, with L'il Abner (which has as top-notch a set of comedy lyrics as you're likely to find.) Mercer's other musicals were all troubled, which in some ways illustrates the difference between pop and theatrical writing. Mercer was unquestionably one of the very best American lyricists ever; not only in the comic/charm vein ("Hooray for Hollywood," "Jeepers Creepers," "Moon River") but with searing, self-contained dramatic studies ("One for My Baby," "Blues in the Night"). And, mind you, these song titles are pulled at random; Mercer wrote great songs by the dozen. But musical comedy calls for character-generated lyrics extended over the course of 15-or-so songs; while some of Mercer's show tunes are as good as his non-show tunes, he was frustratingly unable to sustain a full-length score. This was a sore disappointment for Mercer, but there you have it.
Composer Robert Emmett Dolan was one of those Broadway music men who returned after finding fame in Hollywood. Dolan began as a pit musician in such musicals as Good News and Of Thee I Sing . He interpolated a song into the 1930 musical Princess Charming ; the show wasn't much, but the song — "I Love Love" — was something of a hit at the time (and it is still pretty good). By the late thirties he was Broadway's top musical director, with credits including Arlen's Hooray for What? Porter's Leave It to Me , Kern's Very Warm for May and Berlin's Louisiana Purchase . When B.G. DeSylva — the ex-songwriter turned-producer of the latter — became studio head at Paramount, he took Dolan along. Dolan conducted and wrote the underscoring for thirty musicals in ten years. (These included "The Major and the Minor," "Holiday Inn," "Lady in the Dark," "Going My Way," "The Road to Utopia," "Blue Skies," "The Bells of St. Mary's" — and the list goes on like that.) He picked up eight Oscar nominations along the way, too.
But Dolan was, for all of this, a Broadway guy. He teamed with Mercer for two musicals; the second, Foxy (1964), had a far better score than Texas, L'il Darlin' though it met with less success. Texas features a yodel song, if you like yodel songs, and a hootin' owl song, and a caustic duet about "Politics" that looks forward to "The Country's in the Best of Hands" (without the sparkle). I am, as always, glad to get yet another one of these rare musicals on CD, but that's about as much enthusiasm as I can muster. Decca Broadway has Look Ma, I'm Dancin' on deck, for which I can generate considerably more excitement.
The relatively brief, eight-track Texas, L'il Darlin' has been paired with an abbreviated version of the soundtrack album from "You Can't Run Away from It." (They give us the songs without the underscoring, which is fine by me.) This was a poorly realized 1956 update of the classic "It Happened One Night," with a handful (but only a handful) of songs. The fading cinema star June Allyson played Claudette Colbert opposite the up-and-coming Jack Lemmon as Clark Gable; go figure. (Allyson's husband, Dick Powell, directed.) Mercer wrote the songs with composer Gene de Paul, his collaborator on Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954); L'il Abner came next. The four "You Can't Run Away from It" songs are minor efforts, not up to the level of "7B47B" or Abner . However, Stubby Kaye — the future Marryin' Sam — sparks "Howdy Friends and Neighbors," and there's a June/Jack duet called "Temporarily" which looks forward to "I'm Past My Prime." Continued...
