Eydie Gorme, RIP

[Teasing the Korean]

[Hardbopjazz]

RIP Eydie

[sgcim]

Wow! That was great, especially the octave jumping at the end.

In a perfect world, every woman would look and sing like EG.

Just a few days ago on the way to a gig, either a trumpet plaey or sax player that used to do her and SL's show was telling a story about EG lecturing the band about how to play something, and SL came into the room and told her to shut the fuck up, and get the hell out of there.

RIP EG

[Brad]

She and Steve Lawrence were a heck of great entertainers.

[Teasing the Korean]

Too bad all the obits focus on "Blame it on the Bossa Nova," a terrible record that is not even a bossa. I can't believe that is the tune she's remembered for:

http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-eydie-gorme-20130811,0,174833.story

[GA Russell]

RIP. Eydie was one of my favorites. And I lusted after her too!

[MartyJazz]

Recently JazzWax posted a few clips in a column extolling Steve Allen. One of the clips featured what must have been the longest tracking shot in television history for a performance of Allen's "This Could be the Start of Something Big". It's a lot of fun to watch and of course Eydie Gorme is one of the featured performers along with Steve Lawrence, Dinah Shore, Ann Southern and a Sinatra impersonator. Check it out:

[Teasing the Korean]

That was amazing. Is it me or does Steve Lawrence sound kind o like Dino in that clip?

I miss those days.

[JSngry]

[JSngry]

[Teasing the Korean]

The Eydie Gorme "Blame It On the Bossa Nova" LP is great, as long as you skip the title tune. It is conveniently located at the end of a side, so it is easy to just flip it over at that point.

Hilarious SCTV spoof of Steve and Eydie:

Edited August 11, 2013 by Teasing the Korean

[Mark Stryker]

That Steve Allen clip is one of the more remarkable things I've seen in a long time. Presumably one mic, one dolly, one take. I've watched it a bunch trying to figure out exactly how it might have been done. Yes, Lawrence sounds a LOT like Dean Martin at that point in his career, Re: Gorme -- she's sounds fabulous in that clip of "I'll Take Romance." Very elongated phrasing, good time, gets at the heart of the song. Like many of the pop singers of her generation, she had real skills and musicianship, and when her taste antennae were engaged, she brought real value to a performance.

Edited August 11, 2013 by Mark Stryker

[Teasing the Korean]

Re: Gorme -- she's sounds fabulous in that clip of "I'll Take Romance." Very elongated phrasing, good time, gets at the heart of the song. Like many of the pop singers of her generation, she had real skills and musicianship, and when her taste antennae were engaged, she brought real value to a performance.

Agree 100%. I've inadvertently gotten into some arguments about "jazz vocalists" vs. "pop vocalists" on this board. I think Eydie falls into a category of "pop" singers who, given another set of circumstances, may have had very different careers, given the right material, arrangements, and instrumental backings.

Eydie really kills it in that version of "I'll Take Romance."

Edited August 11, 2013 by Teasing the Korean

[mjzee]

The difference might lie in the ability to improvise. In the thread on "Midnight Train to Georgia," Gladys Knight, who I think everyone would agree is a great singer, confessed to an inability to improvise.

[Quincy]

Nicely done all. When I was growing up I just thought of Steve & Eydie as too frequent "square" guests on Carol Burnett and Johnny Carson. Thanks for the great clips showcasing her talent. R.I.P.

[Teasing the Korean]

The difference might lie in the ability to improvise.

If the right singer is singing the right song with the right backing and the right arrangements, I could care less whether he or she can improvise or not.

I suppose that some bass players or drummers are better improvisers than others, but I prefer the ones who can groove in a group setting.

Edited August 11, 2013 by Teasing the Korean

[JSngry]

The Steve/Eydie/Luiz Bonfa (Columbia, 1967(?)) album is a very nice "Brazilian-ish American Pop" album with arrangements by Eumir Deodato. Not for everybody's tastes, but I enjoy it as a very good example of what could have been something very non-enjoyable.

Also, Steve/Eydie had Don Costa as Musical Director when they were on ABC-Paramount. And no matter how "bad" Costa was with later Sinatra, that was one thing. His work with them was quite another.

[sgcim]

The difference might lie in the ability to improvise.

If the right singer is singing the right song with the right backing and the right arrangements, I could care less whether he or she can improvise or not.

I suppose that some bass players or drummers are better improvisers than others, but I prefer the ones who can groove in a group setting.

Well put. There's endless idiocy by non-musicians in regard to music, but the phrase, "It's the singer, not the song", made me want to kill anyone that used to say that...

[JSngry]

You gotta admire a dynamic canary who can face a Copa crowd without proper clothes - but with solid songsmanship.