I tend to not know the names of songwriters. So I did not know until he died recently that Jerry Lieber was behind the lyrics to so many of the greatest songs of my youth. An old interview on Fresh Air of Lieber with Mike Stoller, who wrote the music, played excerpts of one great hit after another. Here’s a sample showing their range.
The silly Yakety Yak by The Coasters:
The poignant On Broadway by The Drifters:
And the ultimate ennui song, Is that all there is? by Peggy Lee:
I usually don’t like covers of Beatles songs but this version of John Lennon’s song performed by Rufus Wainwright, Moby, and Sean Lennon is really well done.
Five-time Oscar-winning composer John Barry died recently. He was the man who orchestrated (though did not compose) the famous James Bond theme and also composed the soundtrack for eleven of the Bond films and numerous other acclaimed films.
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As a follow up to the previous post, the great film O Lucky Man (1975) is the story of Mick Travis, a Candide-like character played by Malcolm McDowell, poor but ambitious, who wants to get ahead and is willing to do anything that he thinks capitalism requires of him but is manipulated by rich people who take advantage of his naivete to serve their own ends.
The film has a wonderfully cynical sound track by Alan Price, especially this song Look Over Your Shoulder.
If you didn’t follow it, the last verse goes:
Hope springs eternal in a young man’s breast
And he dreams of a better life ahead
Without that dream you are nothing, nothing, nothing
You’ve got to find out for yourself that dream is dead.
