Teasing the Korean

They keep trying to get rid of me, but I refuse to leave. There is at least one version like this, can't remember the artists.

Well, my wife opened her radio show this evening with "Baby It's Cold Outside" and she ended up getting a few pledges for her show (between pledge drives). And I sincerely hope that the people who are offended by this song will be inspired to mix better cocktails with high-end ingredients. Avoid corn syrup, if possible.

We need to write an additional stanza, in the form of a duet between the male character and his lawyer.

I never said anything about a slippery slope. Maybe the multi-quote feature is not working.

If they served Martini and Rossi, they may be Burt Bacharach fans, so at least they may play good music, and I could always sneak in a flask. As for legal or illegal options, a guest may be tempted to shoot them, because Marty Robbins glorified murder on his Gunfighter Ballads album. That album's no longer available, right?

And therein lies the problem. People who drink Pabst Blue Ribbon do not understand cocktail culture. And if any of those people invited me over for drinks, I would be as disappointed by their drink choices as I would by their record collections.

Pedophiles? "Vehicle" by Ides of March, "I Saw Her Standing There" by the Beatles, and "Only 16" by Sam Cooke. How do feel about songs glorifying murder, something we all disapprove of? There must be hundreds of those. Thousands? Marty Robbins's entire Gunfigher Ballads album, for starters. "Thin Line Between Love and Hate" by the Persuaders, "Tom Dooley" by the Kingston Trio, "Folsom Prison" by Johnny Cash, "Baby Let's Play House" by Elvis (Presley), "Run for Your Life" by the Beatles. Etc. Etc. Etc. And back to "Baby It's Cold Outside," where exactly does the crime occur?

The debate over this song is part of a broader conversation over what is acceptable in art and entertainment, and there are indeed people advocating for "banning" the song. (I can provide links if helpful.) Good to hear from you, Porcy!

Well, there is a grey area between craft and art. If we agree that jazz is art - and I assume that most of us here do - then many, many artists over the years have found enough in that body of "craft" to continually interpret and explore.

The song is brilliant lyrically, two songs in one, each functioning on its own and rhyming with itself as was the standard, and then rhyming with the other song at key points. Not many lyricists could pull this off. If "Baby It's Cold Outside" is not art, then I would argue that the Great American Songbook in general is not art.

The concept is also in another holiday/winter song, "Let it Snow," although it is more implied than explicit.

Or, for that matter, Jo Stafford's version which omits (accidentally or deliberately) the line everyone is freaking out over.

Here's an angle that has not been discussed and that may be of interest to jazz listeners: How many Great American Songbook tunes are remembered by the general population anymore? With each passing year, that era and style of songwriting recedes further into the past. At the holidays, at least people will hear an Irving Berlin song ("White Christmas") one song with a pretty hip progression ("The Christmas Song") and similar things like "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas." "Baby it's Cold Outside" is perhaps the only Frank Loesser song that is known by the general populace. Granted, a few may know "Let's Get Lost," because Chet Baker still has a shred of hipster currency left. But who remembers, for example, "I Believe in You?" So by banning - or selectively avoiding - "Baby It's Cold Outside," one of last standards standing gets eliminated. That's all. And how many people remember "That's All?"

Check out the Johnny Mercer/Margaret Whiting version. The Sammy with Carmen McRae is very good also. (This is the version my wife is playing on her radio show.)

Let's agree to disagree. I consider it to be a political act to ban (or to try to ban) art. And I don't believe that awareness of a topic retroactively changes the meaning of a lyric written to convey something else. My wife, who a very much a feminist, is opening her annual Holiday radio show with this song. She thinks the entire controversy is as absurd as I do.

Please read my post. Banning the song is political.

No apology necessary, but how else could the conversation have progressed? Banning art for political reasons is inherently a political topic.

Keep your history out of my memory hole unless you have my consent.

I've seen a number of Jazz Scene USA episodes, but never this one with Nancy Wilson. Lou Levy is on piano, Al McKibbon on bass, and Kenny Dennis on drums.

The beauty of literature is that we can interpret what we read however we want. However, we can't force everyone else to agree with our interpretations. Nor should we try. IMO.

Not many of her vintage left. Tony, Jack, Johnny. I have so many of her Capitol albums. RIP.

Ha ha!

https://www.villagevoice.com/2012/12/17/charles-mingus-secret-eggnog-recipe-will-knock-you-on-your-ass/

Congrats! I played with Sonny Rollins, Ray Brown, and Shelly Manne when I turned Way Out West into a quartet session. My comping is very tasteful and varied, and luckily for all involved, there was no space for me to solo.

Not yet, but it's on my list!