Billy May

[Larry Kart]

I know of May, of course, but always associated him with those brassy, up-tempo charts he wrote for Sinatra, and the "slurpy saxes" thing. Then tonight I listened to a Nancy Wilson album from 1967, "Lush Life," and found myself fascinated by May's writing for strings, French horns and rhythm on, in particular, "You've Changed," "Sunny," "Too Long At The Fair" and a John Benson Brooks tune, "Over the Weekend."

What tickled me is that within the requirements of the task at hand -- to cushion Wilson and serve the romantic mood -- May introduces so many unobtrusive, quite subtle, and in terms of the task at hand, more or less extraneous details in order I would guess to amuse himself. That is, virtually none of these things amplify or heighten the romantic mood, nor do they distract from it; rather these (for want of a better term) "wandering" and typically sotto voce counter-melodies, which also tend to pause (or even break off entirely) in the most unexpected places, seem to be there for May's own benefit, again perhaps to amuse himself (and some of these passages are amusing -- both in themselves and also in the "excess," in this context, of their evanescent delicacy).

If so, what a strange thing this is. A man of great talent doing a piece of work in a framework in which he almost certainly would have been able to satisfy every external requirement of the job in an auto-pilot manner, and yet within this situation (and without disturbing the basic set-up/calling attention to what he's doing) he feels compelled to continually perform semi-hidden feats of musical aerobatics. Perhaps, being the kind of guy he might have been, May just couldn't turn off the bubble machine. And perhaps he wanted to amuse Wilson, too; she's certainly musical enough to have gotten what he was up to.

[JSngry]

What tickled me is that within the requirements of the task at hand -- to cushion Wilson and serve the romantic mood -- May introduces so many unobtrusive, quite subtle, and in terms of the task at hand, more or less extraneous details in order I would guess to amuse himself.

I've always found making and hearing music that's "better" than it has to be - but still is what it has to be - one of the more amusing/uplifting/joyously defiant acts in the whole arsenal of musical choices, be it as a performer or a writer or a listener. You think I keep coming back to Nelson Riddle Conducts 101 Strings because I like hearing 101 strings? No SIR!

It's not just May (or Riddle), it's lots of people, and it's not just in the realm of "adult pop". The world is full (well, ok, far from full, but present enough to reward the effort of looking, if one is so inclined to look) of people making commercial music and making more "meaty" choices than they had to. Just little things here and there, things that tell you that somebody somewhere cared enough to do what they did, knowing full well that only a handful of a handful of people would ever get it. To me, that's character, and I'm all for it.

And, really, it's not just music - everywhere you go in life, you can sometimes find people doing mundane, soul-sucking, even, work and throwing in a liting something extra, something that makes no difference whatsoever in the outcome of their job, but something that speaks to the spirit of their being, lets maybe nobody but themself know that, hey, I'm here, I don't want to succumb, I don't want to be so beat down that I can't rise up, even if it's only for a moment that might not be noticed by anybody, ever. Whe I run across those people, I make it a point to leave a bigger tip, say an extra-friendly word or two, give them a big smile, something to let them know that they're not living in the vaccumn of inanity and mediocrity that "the sytem" is designed to encourage and perpetrate, at least not always. We shouldn't be afraid to let them know this, because at root, they are "one of us", and if we don't take care of our own, you can be guran-damn-teed that nobody else will.

You might also enjoy (and there's a tribute to the back of how many albums?) anther Nancy album on Capitol with May's chart, Tender Loving Care. Ask for it by name.

Edited January 2, 2011 by JSngry

[Larry Kart]

I'm with you all the way on what you said, Jim. I'll never forget (mentioned it here before) the high school girl, working a holiday gig at Famous Footwear about five years ago, who began to bop (and I do mean "bop") her head unobtrusively to "Jingle Bell Rock" to amuse herself/bring some enjoyment to the moment while she was wrapping up a pair of shoes for me. I know -- maybe she was stoned, but I don't think so. She was just putting her own spin on the ball and radiating that spin outwards to all who might pick up on it.

[JSngry]

Speaking of Billy May...if you ever get a chance to hear some of the underscoring he did on the old Capitol children's records, avail yourself of the opportunity, by all means!