09 June 2009

Happy Birthday Cole



If you love American Standards or you love musical theater or you just love great wit and humor, this is a day for celebration. Cole Porter would have been 118. If life were truly fair, he would still be around being brilliant, witty, charming and creative. Since he's not, we have to settle for the genius he left behind.

If you aren't familiar with the man or his music (Does anyone like that exist?), you can go to Cole Wide Web for just about anything and everything you might want to know. There are any number of biographies written about him available on Amazon, and the movie De-Lovely starring Kevin Kline as Cole and Ashley Judd as Linda is quite well done and really focuses on the music even more than the man. It also has the plus of hearing John Barrowman singing Night and Day. John has since gone on to do a CD, John Barrowman Swings Cole Porter, but no need to stop there since virtually every performer with vocal chords has at one time or another sung Porter.

I'll let you go to You Tube to play all the delovely love songs and dance away the night in a fond embrace to Begin the Beguine. For now, one of my favorite "witty" songs:

Well Did You Evah from High Society, Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby



And as the perfect end to everything:

Everytime We Say Goodbye, Natalie Cole

5 comments:

This Eclectic Life said...

OK, I like "der Bingle" as my ex-father-in-law called Bing Crosby. I like the old standards ...and I love that you always bring us something I don't remember.

Mo and The Purries said...

Cole Porter ranks up there in the top 5 song writers for me, and the De-Lovely soundtrack is one of my favorite CD's.
The John Barrowman sings Cole Porter is on my wish-list for sure! (Torchwood is coming! Torchwood is coming!)
What a great post! Makes me want to pop in De-Lovely into the DVD player tonight.
Cheers,
Mo

Billie Greenwood said...

A Cole Porter Love-Fest? Count me IN! De-Lovely is my favorite. Begin the Beguine, Night and Day...I'm swept away. What a great mind and creative soul he was! We're on the same page, Jamie.

Linda said...

Even some of us who can't carry a tune in a wooden bucket have attempted Cole Porter from time to time!

Even though he's no longer with us, his music will keep him alive as long as people have taste in good songs. Hopefully that will be for a long, long time to come!

By the by, I love the new picture at the top of your blog!

Travis Cody said...

I keep meaning to watch that movie De-Lovely. Thanks for the reminder.