So I'm building a new iTunes playlist. My last few have been punk-focused, show-tunes focused, NYC-focused, and then a collection of melancholy jazz -- it's time for something happier, more positive.
My favorite love song of all time is actually a recording that isn't available -- the first time Judy Garland sang the Almost Like Being in Love (Lerner and Loewe)/This Can't Be Love (Rodgers and Hart) medley; was at a private party for MGM and she was about 22, I think. The recording was shown as part of a "from the vaults of MGM" documentary I saw the last time I was stuck at a hotel in Texas -- the most incredible, controlled, hurricane of vocal power I've heard, with all the raw emotional punch that pre-rehab Judy ever delivered. (The Capitol Years recordings don't begin to touch it.)
If I had to pick my favorite within my collection, I'd point to k.d. lang's cover of Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah on her album Hymns of the 49th Parallel. Again, the sheer power of perfectly-controlled pipes -- this time soaring lightly above piano and strings -- just knocks me flat. Click here to listen and judge for yourself.
That said, tell me your favorite love song. Who wrote it? Who performs the version you like best? What made you fall in love with it? Comments are open -- let loose. (I'm hoping some of your choices will inspire me to buy new music. I have a couple of gift cards burning holes in my proverbial pockets.)
First published at NYC to the Nines
Just a few:
ReplyDelete"On My Way to You," (Legrand/Bergman and Bergman). Any performance is wonderful, but I'm partial to Maureen McGovern's, since it is the first one I heard. The lyric turns regret into a cause for celebration, and what could be cooler than that?
"Unusual Way," from NINE (Yeston). It's just so damn classy.
"Touch and Go," (R. Holmes). A bit of a lullaby, but very much a love song. Just a non-traditional one.
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