May 09, 2005
TUNES - 24
I have been a bit heavy on the chick singers lately and, though I just gave you something a bit odd a couple of weeks ago, I am in the mood for something fun and a bit....different.
Ike" Edwards.You may know him as the voice of Jiminy Cricket in Pinocchio, but his When You Wish Upon a Star isn't here. Sorry. I found him because he was the first one to sing Singing In The Rain in a movie and I was curious to hear an older version (1929) since I love that film.
In order to augment his performances he started imitating horn sounds, then branched out to other sounds, creating an early version of scatting that would be perfected by later jazz singers. Yes Sir, That's My Baby gives you a good taste of it.
He does a couple of my other favorites like I Can't Give You Anything But Love and If I Had You. He does a take of Somewhere Over The Rainbow, a song that I generally hate to hear cover versions of (you aren't Judy Garland - don't even try it). Fortunately, his presentation is quite different than hers and he captures the hope in the lyric where most singers make it sound like a dirge.
~ Listen ~