I Love a Waltz*
"The Christmas Waltz," by Sammy Cahn and Jule Styne, sung by She and Him (Zooey Deschanel & M. Ward):
Video posted by SheandHimOfficial
According to Sammy Cahn, it was written during a hot California summer, because Frank Sinatra called and asked for a Christmas song. Wanting to at least not compete directly with Irving Berlin's "White Christmas," they wrote a waltz. And since Sinatra used it as the B side to "White Christmas," it was just as well.
As I have mentioned before (and as is strongly suggested by their names), both Sammy Cahn and Jule Styne (pronounced "Julie Stine") were Jewish, with Styne writing mostly for Broadway, Cahn writing mostly for movies, and both writing SO MANY SONGS, both with each other and with others.
Lyricist Sammy Cahn was born on the Lower East Side of New York to Jewish immigrants. He started writing lyrics at about age 16, which (spoiler alert!) ended well: He won four Oscars for Best Song and picked up another 22 Oscar nominations along the way, more than any other songwriter, AND he won an Emmy for "Love and Marriage." (The partial list of his other songs on Wikipedia goes on forever.) Oh, and he was president of the Songwriters' Hall of Fame for many years.
Composer Jule Styne was born in London to Jewish immigrants, and his family moved to Chicago when he was eight. In college he switched from classical piano prodigy-hood to popular music and that also ended well--he went on to write over 1500 songs, most famously for Broadway, and is best known for his scores for Gypsy and Funny Girl. He also won an Oscar--for writing "Three Coins in a Fountain" with Sammy Cahn, and, like Cahn, won the Songwriters' Hall of Fame's highest honor, the Johnny Mercer Award.
And here's another song written by this pair during a hot California summer, this one to take their minds off the heat: "Let it Snow," sung by Rod Stewart in a, um, snazzy jacket:
Video posted by Rod Stewart
Or if you prefer, by Captain Picard and crew:
Video by James Covenant. Note that only first minute and eleven seconds are song, the rest is an ad which you can safely skip.
***
* Yes, it's a Sesame Street reference!
Video posted by sawing14s
According to Sammy Cahn, it was written during a hot California summer, because Frank Sinatra called and asked for a Christmas song. Wanting to at least not compete directly with Irving Berlin's "White Christmas," they wrote a waltz. And since Sinatra used it as the B side to "White Christmas," it was just as well.
As I have mentioned before (and as is strongly suggested by their names), both Sammy Cahn and Jule Styne (pronounced "Julie Stine") were Jewish, with Styne writing mostly for Broadway, Cahn writing mostly for movies, and both writing SO MANY SONGS, both with each other and with others.
Lyricist Sammy Cahn was born on the Lower East Side of New York to Jewish immigrants. He started writing lyrics at about age 16, which (spoiler alert!) ended well: He won four Oscars for Best Song and picked up another 22 Oscar nominations along the way, more than any other songwriter, AND he won an Emmy for "Love and Marriage." (The partial list of his other songs on Wikipedia goes on forever.) Oh, and he was president of the Songwriters' Hall of Fame for many years.
Composer Jule Styne was born in London to Jewish immigrants, and his family moved to Chicago when he was eight. In college he switched from classical piano prodigy-hood to popular music and that also ended well--he went on to write over 1500 songs, most famously for Broadway, and is best known for his scores for Gypsy and Funny Girl. He also won an Oscar--for writing "Three Coins in a Fountain" with Sammy Cahn, and, like Cahn, won the Songwriters' Hall of Fame's highest honor, the Johnny Mercer Award.
And here's another song written by this pair during a hot California summer, this one to take their minds off the heat: "Let it Snow," sung by Rod Stewart in a, um, snazzy jacket:
Or if you prefer, by Captain Picard and crew:
* Yes, it's a Sesame Street reference!
Video posted by sawing14s
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