Friday, April 4, 2008
Songbirds review
Peter Wagenaar reviewed the 1999 re-release of Crazy in Love at Songbirds.
Wagenaar hears the unbridled sexiness in Trudy's voice:
She works some of Noel Coward’s more risqué lyrics into Let’s Do It and delivers them with goofy panache. (Coward, with Cole Porter’s permission, rewrote the song entirely for his 1950s nightclub act.) There’s no doubt what’s on her mind when she sings Do it Again: "Do it again…and again…and again…" she growls lasciviously. "Beware!" yells Richards, before launching into There’s Danger in Your Eyes, Cherie, even though she doesn’t seem unduly perturbed herself.
Read the review.
A Few More Tunes from Manhattan Serenade
The More I See You (mp3)
Manhattan Serenade (mp3)
Moonlight in Vermont (mp3)
Rest in peace, Trudy Richards
Trudy Richards passed away this morning. She had a wild ride and a great long life. I'll have her obit up presently.
I've run out of room over here, so I've started putting up some of the Crazy In Love tracks at Myspace. Check out those tracks!
Friday, March 21, 2008
Intro/Gloomy Sunday/Ill Wind
The tracks below, recorded with the Charlie Barnet Band for Capitol Records, are a little rough, but listen to the introduction for an explanation why: "The sounds are slightly imperfect as these were taken from the original records—my first Capitol recordings. By the way, Maynard Ferguson and Doc Severinsen, guys like that, were in the trumpet section. These two numbers, as it turned out ... were played constantly on the radio by the jazz DJs, and they became minor hits."
Introduction (mp3)
Gloomy Sunday (mp3)
Ill Wind (mp3)
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Trudy at AllMusic.com
Here. A number of her recordings have been reissued since the Priscilla track; I'm going to post a few tracks from Crazy In Love, her 1957 recording for Capitol.
The More I See You & Lover Man
Here are two more from Manhattan Serenade:
The More I See You (mp3)
Lover Man (mp3)
Trudy (1977)
From the liner notes to Trudy's unreleased eponymous album:
It started in the fifties and ended in the fifties—I mean the first part of my professional career. Oh, I'd always loved popular music. I played the records of Frank, Ella, Sarah and Billie till they wore out. Then I joined Charlie Barnet's great swinging band and cut my teeth on the ways of the music world. After that, I did my own thing...you know...recordings, night clubs, Catskill Hotels—all of it. Suddenly, it was rock and roll time (not my metier) so I met and married a beautiful, wild French Canadian and bowed out of show biz. Henri and I proceeded to live the "good life". We spent summers in the Hamptons, skied the European Alps in winter, lived it up and settled down in our jazzy Manhattan tower, overlooking the east River. Perfect! Right? Wrong! Something was missing—my involvement in the crazy world of singing popular song...performing! I missed the only real way I was ever able to express myself and be creative.
So I'm back. This is my first time out since the fifties...and oh what heaven to be in a recording studio full of the greatest musicians around...to be carefully guided by the enormously talented producer, arranger, pianist, composer, Jimmy Wisner—all of us, just making music. God! Do we ever hope you like us, our tune selections, the way we've done them—the whole package.
I love you all,
Trudy Richards Moreau
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
I Get Along Without You Very Well
This is my favorite track from Manhattan Serenade.
I Get Along Without You Very Well (mp3)
Last.fm
Listen to "Some Folks Do And Some Folks Don't" and "A Fool" at Last.fm.
Manhattan Serenade
In 1990, Trudy released "Manhattan Serenade" on Beekman Records. It's currently out of print, although there are a few copies swirling around on eBay.
You'd Better Go Now
Actually, I hope you'll stay and listen to the rest of the songs. Here's a track off of Manhattan Serenade: "You'd Better Go Now"
You'd Better Go Now (mp3)
Can't Help Lovin' That Man
Here's a youtube video set to Trudy's version of "Can't Help Lovin' That Man".
The Adventures Of Priscilla Queen Of The Desert (Soundtrack)
The Adventures Of Priscilla Queen Of The Desert (Soundtrack), originally uploaded by stuartguthriemusic.
Contemporary listeners probably first met Trudy Richards through the movie Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. She sang "Can't Help Lovin' That Man" on the soundtrack.