Sunday, June 7, 2020

Sunday music: Hoagy Carmichael and Lauren Bacall - Am I Blue?

When you think of classical music, Florida doesn't quite spring to mind.  What does spring to mind is Ernest Hemingway and his many novels set in the Sunshine State.  "To Have And Have Not" is one of his best, made into a memorable film in 1944 staring Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall.  Their long term romance started here.


At 18 years old, it was her first film.  Her screen test was the unforgettable "You know how to whistle, don't you?"  That wasn't intended to go into the film but, well, the director knew when he had a winner.

There is a persistent rumor that an even younger Andy Williams dubbed the singing for this song.  It isn't true, but Bacall's very low register was (and is) quite unusual.  It really is her singing with the great Hoagy Carmichael here.

3 comments:

  1. libertymanJune 7, 2020 at 11:59 AM

    That is some dame right there, boys. More than seventy years later she still smolders. Wow.

    ReplyDelete
  2. TimJune 7, 2020 at 12:43 PM

    Ian Fleming said James Bond looked like Hoagy.

    ReplyDelete
  3. STxARJune 8, 2020 at 8:01 AM

    That other song, Hong Kong Blues had me gasping when I first heard it. The tempo, rhythm, and wording was just amazing. That man was something else again.

    ReplyDelete

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