KAY STARR - 'My Heart Reminds Me' (1957)
[media=https://youtu.be/12qNOG_1y9Y]
I really hesitated about posting this. Too lush? Too sentimental? Too many hearts and flowers? Too....everything? Well, maybe. But in the end I relented. What, after all, is so terribly wrong with a sentimental song, especially in the hands of a performer like Kay Starr?
The tune is called 'Autumn Concerto' (Concerto d'Autunno). it was composed by an Italian called Camillo Bargoni about whom I know nothing except that he wrote it in 1953. Over the ensuing years bandleaders and vocal performers picked it up. There were many, including Della Reese, Dean Martin, Jane Morgan and (much later on) the Four Seasons. It was a UK instrumental hit for George Melachrino and his orchestra in 1956 - and very good that was too. Kay's version dates from the following year- with a lyric by Al Stillman that didn't stint on sentiment, it was a decent sized hit in the US but didn't chart in the UK. Which is a pity because she does a terrific job on it. That arresting voice, with its purrs and vibrato, really makes it work. In the hands of a lesser singer, this song might sound trivial. But here, that's not the case. That 'I love you' right at the end? You better believe it, pal!
I really hesitated about posting this. Too lush? Too sentimental? Too many hearts and flowers? Too....everything? Well, maybe. But in the end I relented. What, after all, is so terribly wrong with a sentimental song, especially in the hands of a performer like Kay Starr?
The tune is called 'Autumn Concerto' (Concerto d'Autunno). it was composed by an Italian called Camillo Bargoni about whom I know nothing except that he wrote it in 1953. Over the ensuing years bandleaders and vocal performers picked it up. There were many, including Della Reese, Dean Martin, Jane Morgan and (much later on) the Four Seasons. It was a UK instrumental hit for George Melachrino and his orchestra in 1956 - and very good that was too. Kay's version dates from the following year- with a lyric by Al Stillman that didn't stint on sentiment, it was a decent sized hit in the US but didn't chart in the UK. Which is a pity because she does a terrific job on it. That arresting voice, with its purrs and vibrato, really makes it work. In the hands of a lesser singer, this song might sound trivial. But here, that's not the case. That 'I love you' right at the end? You better believe it, pal!
61-69, M
