The song of the day for Saturday, November 12, 2016 is “Old Devil Moon.”
About This Song
“Old Devil Moon” was written by Burton Lane, with lyrics by Yip Harburg, for the 1947 musical Finian’s Rainbow, which also gave us “How Are Things in Glocca Morra?” While Alec Wilder was no fan of “How Are Things in Glocca Morra?”, in America Popular Song, he praises “Old Devil Moon” as “a well-written, wholly convincing song. It drives, and its initial intensity is sustained throughout.”
About This Version
I felt the need for a Yip Harburg song today and “Old Devil Moon” is a great song. I picked Bennett’s version from 1967 for the album Tony Makes It Happen! The excellent arrangement is by the excellent Marion Evans, who still arranges for Tony Bennett, lately on Cheek To Cheek.
“Old Devil Moon,” as well as Tony Makes It Happen!, is available from iTunes.
About Today
Our video this Saturday is Tony Bennett singing today’s song from his 1995 MTV Unplugged concert. The album from show won the Grammy’s coveted award for Album of the Year. You’ll get no argument from me on this.
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