Songwriter Leslie Bricusse suggested that “Pure Imagination” was written in a single day, however its enduring legacy can be attributed to the song’s adoption by the city of New Orleans - where “anything you want to, do it” is the way of life.
Read MoreIt is only fitting for “I Wish I Could Shimmy Like My Sister Kate” - a song about hearsay, reputation, and second-hand accounts - to have a questionably curious backstory.
Read MoreArthur Hammerstein’s legacy as a songwriter pales in comparison to his prolific nephew, Oscar Hammerstein II, but his greatest songwriting credit, “Because of You” - a ballad co-written in 1941 with Dudley Wilkinson - was featured in the 1951 wartime film I Was an American Spy but eventually found wider audiences off-screen.
Read MoreThe final track on The Payback, the last James Brown album to feature Fred Wesley as an active member of the organization, was a fitting send off for the musical director.
Read MoreBy the time that The Payback was recorded, perhaps the writing was already on the wall as Fred Wesley relentlessly played his trombone on “Time Is Running Out Fast” as if trombone solos were going out of style, especially with the popularity of disco music on the horizon.
Read MoreWhen Kermit Ruffins left the Rebirth Brass Band to preserve the Danny Barker traditions of New Orleans jazz, the trumpeter must have had the foresight to see his original tunes take on a timeless legacy. Originally recorded in 1999, “Treme Second Line” encapsulates the festive spirit throughout one of the oldest Black neighborhoods in the United States.
Read MoreBorn of The Great Depression, the 1936 song “Pennies From Heaven” offers the promise of riches if you know where to look, perhaps a distant cousin of “On The Sunny Side Of The Street” from 1930 or even a descendent of 1926’s “Blue Skies.”
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