Why this tune?
This week’s tune is a classic written by Anthony Newley and Leslie Bricusse in 1962 for the musical “Stop the World – I Want to Get Off.” Sammy Davis Jr. recorded it that same year, scoring a hit record and a Grammy for Song of the Year in 1963.
I found the tune on the Billboard charts for the week I was born. I looked that up when I celebrated my birthday a couple of weeks ago. That was quite a week for music; Stan Getz and Charlie Byrd’s landmark recording of “Desafinado” was at number 15, and “The Monster Mash,” which we still hear at Halloween time, was at number 12, on the way down from its number one spot. Tony Bennett’s “I Left My Heart in San Francisco” was still on the chart after 16 weeks at number 38.
Newley and Bricusse’s works may not be Top 50 material these days, but their songs are still being recorded and performed, along with other lush movie and musical ballads from the 60s by Mancini, Mandel and others. I still play many of them, and have performed “What Kind of Fool…” many times with Aaron Myers in the DC area.
Tunes On Tuesday Reel
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Sammy Davis Jr.
Oren Levine, jazz pianist and songwriter 