FROM THE PRODUCER, ON IRVING BERLIN AND THIS ALBUM…
This album includes recordings of some songs by Irving Berlin that are so rare—in some cases, Berlin himself did not retain complete copies—they’ve never before been recorded. These rarities help us to better understand the artistic growth of the songwriter that such master fellow writers as George Gershwin and Jerome Kern said was the greatest of them all.
With almost no formal education, Berlin rose from poverty to become the most popular songwriter in the world. He wrote more hits—and made more money—than any of his colleagues in the Golden Age of Popular Music. He created the scores for 18 Broadway shows and 19 Hollywood musicals. He wrote more than 1,200 songs. Berlin—along with the Gershwins, Cole Porter, Jerome Kern and a few others—represents American songwriting at its very best.
Growing up, I learned Berlin’s music all sorts of ways. As a boy, I was mentored by an ex-vaudevillian, Todd Fisher, who taught me vintage Berlin songs like “You’d be Surprised” and “Mandy,” and directed me in shows he presented. I found more Berlin songs on old 78 rpm records in our basement that my parents, grandparents, and a great-aunt had enjoyed when they were younger. I savored Hollywood musicals I saw on TV that included Berlin songs; I set up our family’s tape-recorder in front of the TV and taped numbers from films like “White Christmas,” “Easter Parade, “Blue Skies,” “Top Hat,” “Mammy,” “Kid Millions,” and more. I taped, too, the gala Irving Berlin 80th birthday celebration that Ed Sullivan presented.
In New York, I got to see Ethel Merman stop the show with an irresistible new number,
“An Old-Fashioned Wedding,” that Berlin—who was then nearly 80--wrote for Merman’s 1966 Broadway revival of “Annie Get Yor Gun.”
Berlin’s songs—like George M. Cohan’s songs before them—just seemed to get to me, right away. (They’re classic Americana.) I learned Berlin’s songs quickly in my youth. I enjoyed singing them. (Still do!) I began collecting Berlin sheet music, just as I’d been collecting Cohan sheet music. And I was delighted to discover fine “unknown” songs by these greats that had never before been recorded. Eventually I wound up writing and directing shows about both Cohan and Berlin, and producing recordings of their music.
Today I’ve produced more recordings of Cohan songs and of Berlin songs than anyone living. I count my blessings. I’m certainly glad there are people who appreciate these songs. And I’m glad there are some radio hosts—led by the dean them all, David Kenney at WBAI—who champion the Great American Songbook and its creators.
I really enjoy producing these albums. I relish these songs and want to share them. And I’m getting to do work that I love, with people I really love. Can’t beat that.
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In preparing this ongoing series of albums celebrating Irving Berlin, I’ve carefully examined every song that Berlin is known to have written—more than 1,200 in all. On this album, “Rare and Unrecorded Irving Berlin Songs,” you’ll find some wondrous numbers that will surely be new to you. Oh, I’ve also included a few famous Berlin numbers I’ve gotten some requests for. And they’re great. But I really like shining a spotlight on the rarer items--songs that you won’t find anywhere else. I think you’ll find some appealing, intriguing surprises in this collection.
And you’re going to hear some very talented performers on this album. Some are seasoned pros who’ve starred memorably for years on Broadway; some are younger artists, who may have only starred, thus far, on smaller stages; but all have contributions to make.
It means the world to me that Tony Award-winner Betty Buckley—my favorite Broadway diva—closes this album (just as she did my last Berlin album). Accompanied by her current pianist/music director, Christian Jacob, she sings “White Christmas” as beautifully as I’ve ever heard it sung.
I am delighted that Anita Gillette, who’s enlivened a dozen different Broadway shows (as well as many films and TV shows), is joining us once again. And she helped introduce songs by Berlin himself as a star of his final Broadway musical, “Mr. President.”
Stephen Bogardus has a baker’s dozen Broadway shows to his credit. On Broadway, he’s starred in musicals by such masters as Cole Porter (“High Society”) and Irving Berlin (“White Christmas”). But whether singing old songs or new ones, he’s been knocking me out since he was 19, decades ago!
Steve Ross (“the Crown Prince of Cabaret,” as the New York Times calls him), has been a great favorite of mine for more than 40 years. He is a master at interpreting lyrics. He has in his repertoire more Berlin songs than anyone else.
And Jon Peterson, that peerless song-and-dance man, has performed brilliantly in so many of my projects, starring internationally in my show “George M. Cohan Tonight!,” as well as its new film adaptation, among many other credits.
I’m proud of all f the seasoned pros on this album: Ray DeMattis, Carl Kissin, Joan Jaffe, Ann Kittredge, Barbara Fasano, Eric Comstock, Luis Villabon, Michael Townsend Wright…. But I’m also proud of the carefully chosen younger artists who add life and color.
I’m talking about such performers as Jackson DeMott Hill (from Broadway’s “Finding Neverland”) and Mariah Hill (from Wingspan Arts productions)--talented siblings who are natural performers.
And there’s singer/songwriter/musician Jack Corbin, who has as lovely a voice as any male singer his age. And the kindness in his spirit comes through in his singing. He’s currently attending Berklee College of Music. Jack has sung at Carnegie Hall, and has appeared on TV in such shows as “How to Make it in America” and “Mr. Robot.”
And wonderful Analise Scarpaci, who sings with such appealing grace, is a first-rate younger artist. She has a superb work-ethic, to boot. She’s already been in three Broadway productions: “A Christmas Story,” “Matilda,” “Mrs. Doubtfire.”
And I can’t forget Alexander Craven, who first wowed me when he was just nine. Now in his 20s, these days he’s busy creating new musicals not just performing. I’m proud that he’s an important, longtime member of my theatrical family.
Every singer—young or old--whom I’ve invited to be part of this project was chosen with care.
I’m grateful, too, to our extraordinarily dedicated music director/pianist, Richard Danley, who’s worked with me on so many shows over the years, and to my favorite violinist in the world, Grammy-winner Andy Stein. They love this music, too; you can hear it in their playing.
I might add, I’ve also enjoyed revisiting a couple of little-known Berlin songs that I’ve relished singing since I was a child performer working with ex-vaudevillian Todd Fisher, who’d played the Palace Theater way back in 1913 and had saved every picture and clipping from his career. He made show business seem so glamorous to me as a boy! His enthusiasm was contagious, as was his belief that singing is good for you. We’d listen to old records, read “Variety,” and sing together. He told me we were part of the elite, the elect---we were part of this age-old community of entertainers, past and present. And Todd Fisher sure had faith in me—even when I was a young, green kid, talk/singing (as he taught me) old-time songs that I barely understood. We need people who believe in us. I still remember how good he made me feel, as he shared early Berlin songs he loved, from sheet music that he’d had since the songs were new.
“Ya got the show business in your blood, kid,” he’d tell me in that deep rasp of a voice he had. “Enjoy it!” And I do! Every bit of it.
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THE SINGERS AND THE SONGS….
1. THE GIRLS OF MY DREAMS … This beautiful, long-forgotten song was a highlight of the Ziegfeld Follies of 1920. It’s sung here by Eric William Morris, whose rich, resonant voice has added luster to musicals on Broadway (starring in “King Kong”), Off-Broadway (“White Girl in Danger”), and regionally (the world premiere of “Be More Chill”). Andy Stein’s violin adds a lot. And--making this recording even more special--Morris sings the song first the way that it was heard in the Ziegfeld Follies (“The Girls of My Dreams”) and then the way that Berlin originally conceived the song, drawing upon Berlin’s unpublished, handwritten first manuscript of the song (“The Girl of Your Dreams”).
In Berlin’s first version of the song, one man was singing of his one dream girl. But master showman Flo Ziegfeld, thinking of what would look best on his stage, wanted the song to be about one man’s dream girls (plural). And that’s what the song became. Famed Ziegfeld tenor John Steel sang of all the different girls of his dreams while Ziegfeld showgirls paraded by in a lavish production number. Audiences loved it, and Steel’s 78 rpm record (I have a copy) sold well.
2. I’M PLAYING WITH FIRE is an excellent “unknown” Irving Berlin song from 1932. It was not written for any film or show score; it’s a stand-alone song that Berlin wrote during the depths of the Great Depression--a time when not too many people were buying records or sheet music. This fine song deserves to be better known. Keith Anderson and Katherine Paulsen—who always sound so good together—sing “I’m Playing with Fire” with conviction.
Keith Anderson’s singing has touched me since I saw him in the Off-Broadway musical “Fairy Tales” (and heard him on the fine cast album) about a quarter-century ago. Among his unusually diverse credits: he’s sung “The Star Spangled Banner” for the Cubs; narrated “Billy Idol” for TV’s Biography Channel; performed at the Kennedy Center; enlivened my “Irving Berlin Ragtime Revue” at the 13th Street Rep (as well as our original cast album); and has toured with Perry Como. His sterling tenor voice has been heard on far more albums of mine than I can list in full here, including: “Irving Berlin: Love Songs and Such,” “The Chip Deffaa Songbook,” “The Johnny Mercer Jamboree,” “Mad About the Boy,” and “Irving Berlin Revisited….”
And I always love working—on stage or in the recording studio--with singer/actor Katherine Paulsen, whose Yale University training has served her well. With her warmth and wit, she enlivened my show "Mad About the Boy." You can hear her on that show’s cast album, as well as on such albums as “Irving Berlin: Love Songs and Such,” “Chip Deffaa’s Tin Pan Alley,” "The Irving Berlin Songbook,” "Irving Berlin Revisited,” "The Chip Deffaa Songbook,” "Irving Berlin: Ragtime Rarities,” “Say it with Music,” and “The Irving Berlin Duets Albums.”
3. GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES … Here’s a real rarity! This little-known song was written by Berlin expressly for Groucho Marx when the Marx Brothers were starring on Broadway in “The Coconuts”-- a huge hit in 1925 and 1926. Berlin added this song to the show late in its run, in the summer of 1926. It was never recorded.
When I came across this song, I thought immediately of Carl Kissin. Oh, I’d enjoy hearing Carl sing most anything. He’s got that old-school showmanship I like. And he certainly understands comedy. (His rendition of Berlin’s early comic hit “Sadie Salome Go Home,” on my album “Irving Berlin Rediscovered,” is terrific.) But he’s also quite a Groucho Marx devotee. And his instincts on how to interpret this song are just right. He’s not doing an imitation of Groucho per se; but he’s giving us just enough Marxian inflections to evoke the spirit of the comic genius for whom Berlin originally wrote this song.
Carl Kissin’s credits are many and varied. They include Eric Bogosian’s Pulitzer Prize-nominated play “Talk Radio” at the Public Theater, and Oliver Stone’s motion picture adaptation of that play; television’s “The Today Show,” “The Joan Rivers Show,” “The Jackie Mason Show,” “Mouth to Mouth,” and more. He’s won the Manhattan Monolog Slam three times. He’s written plays. A master improv comic, he’s done more than 4,000 shows with the famed improv comedy troupe “Chicago City Limits.”
4. MEDLEY: NO STRINGS / I GOT THE SUN IN THE MORNING … It made me so happy just to see Anita Gillette (accompanied by her musical director, Paul Greenwood) walk into our recording studio with that beautiful smile of hers. She’s a great favorite of mine. And because I’ve enjoyed her work for so long—and because she actually knew and worked with Irving Berlin himself—I always tell her she’s welcome to record any Berlin song she likes, any time. (Only she and Steve Ross have that privilege.) I’ll have the studio’s Yamaha Grand Piano freshly tuned for her; she can sing whatever might strike her fancy.
She sang this medley “live” in one take—no overdubs. Just her singing a couple of Berlin songs that she likes: “No Strings” (which Berlin wrote for the 1935 film “Top Hat”) and “I Got the Sun in the Morning” (which Berlin wrote for the 1946 Broadway musical “Annie Get Your Gun”). And she’s got charm-aplenty.
Anita Gillette’s Broadway career—which began some six decades ago!—includes appearances in “Gypsy,” “Carnival,” “All American,” “Mr. President,” “Kelly,” “Guys and Dolls,” “Don’t Drink the Water,” “Cabaret,” “Jimmy,” “Chapter Two,” “They’re Playing Our Song,” and “Brighton Beach Memoirs.” She was also a longtime regular on TV panel quiz shows such as “What’s My Line?” and “The Match Game.” Over the years, she’s found time to make guest appearances on one TV show after another: “Quincy,” “Frasier,” “30 Rock,” “Law and Order: SVU,” “Elementary,” “Modern Family,” “Blue Bloods.” Her film credits include “Moonstruck,” “Boys on the Side,” “She’s the One….”
She’s the last surviving artist who had a strong link to Berlin himself. As a star of his final Broadway show, “Mr. President” (1962), Anita Gillette got to introduce Berlin songs—on the stage of the St. James Theater and on the original Broadway cast album. When she appears in a supper club these days, whether in NYC or London, she’s always glad to sing some songs by the man she still respectfully calls “Mr. Berlin.”
5. YOU’VE GOT YOUR MOTHER’S BIG BLUE EYES—an early sentimental ballad of Berlin’s—hasn’t been heard in well over a century. Written in 1913, it’s the work of a songwriter still in the process of finding himself. As Berlin acknowledged, it took him longer to gain mastery of writing slower numbers than it took him to gain mastery of writing lively ones. His greatest early songs—like “Alexander’s Ragtime Band” in 1911 and “When the Midnight Choo Choo Leaves for Alabam’” in 1912—were high-spirited numbers. His most fully realized ballads—like “Always” and “What’ll I Do”—didn’t begin coming along until the 1920s.
“You’ve Got Your Mother’s Big Blue Eyes” is not a masterpiece, but it has its sweet rewards. And I wanted the best possible singer I could find to express its tender sentiments. I asked Stephen Bogardus—a great favorite of mine for decades—if he’d like to sing this long-lost early Berlin ballad. I love the honesty of his singing. He takes us right back to a long-gone, far-more-innocent era.
Stephen Bogardus has performed memorably on Broadway in both musicals and dramas (“Falsettos,” “Love! Valour! Compassion!,” “Grapes of Wrath,” “Les Miserables,” “James Joyce’s The Dead,” “Bright Star,” etc.). He’s enhanced many albums that I’ve produced, including “Irving Berlin: Love Songs and Such,” “The George M. Cohan Songbook,” “Irving Berlin Rediscovered,” “The Boy Next Door,” “Gay Love,” and “The Irving Berlin Duets Album.” He’s been impressing me since he was just 19! All of the Deffaa’s love his work. My parents, my sister, and I have gone to cheer him on in Broadway shows ranging from “Man of La Mancha” to “High Society.”
6. HOW CAN I CHANGE MY LUCK? is, I think , a pretty neat “find.” Berlin wrote it to be sung—as the original chart says---by a character named “Reisman” and “a bunch of bums” in Berlin’s 1932-33 hit Broadway show “Face the Music.” But “How Can I Change My Luck?” was cut before the show opened. The song went back into Berlin’s trunk and was forgotten. It was only recorded once. Had Berlin put this cute number into another Broadway show or a film (Fred Astaire could have done it wonderfully!), perhaps it might have become well-known.
When I came across this song, I thought at once of Alec Deland; I could just imagine him singing it in that fine, wry voice of his. I just knew that he and this song would be a good fit. And, having recently seen him in a show at Princeton University and singing with the Tigertones on ABC-TV’s “Good Morning America,” he was very much on my mind. He does such good work. And Andy Stein’s violin playing is an added treat.
Alec Deland has sung on such albums of mine as “Irving Berlin: Love Songs and Such,” “The George M. Cohan Songbook,” “Irving Berlin: Sweet and Hot,” “The Irving Berlin Duets Album,” “The Chip Deffaa Songbook,” “Gay Love,” “Irving Berlin Rediscovered,” “The Boy Next Door,” “The Irving Berlin Songbook,” “I Must Have that Man,” “Irving Berlin Revisited,” “Irving Berlin: Ragtime Rarities,” and “An Irving Berlin Travelogue.” And these days, he’s making films as well!
7. IT CAN’T BE DID, recorded for this album by Samantha Cunha, is one of the rarest of all Berlin songs. Written in 1909, it was never recorded. I doubt if anyone living has heard this curious little comic number until now.
This song has only survived because Lillian Shaw--the Broadway and vaudeville star for whom Berlin created it—saved the typewritten copy of the lyrics for the first two verses and choruses that Berlin gave her (headed “written expressly for Miss Lillian Shaw”), along with a partial lead sheet. (Berlin himself did not save a complete copy of this song.) After Shaw’s death, typed lyric sheets for this song and two others that Berlin had written for her were found among her papers. They were eventually acquired by a private collector. And still another collector somehow wound up with typed lyrics for a third verse and chorus of this song. Partial lead sheets have survived for this song and for an Italian dialect number, “Angelo,” that Berlin created for Shaw (recorded for the first time as track #24 on this album).
Shaw was a singing comedienne, noted for her character work. (She advertised herself as being the first character singer.) She’d do a turn in dialect—it might be Italian, Irish, German, Yiddish-inflected, etc.—and sought to conjure up a complete personality as she performed. Berlin wrote songs for her to perform in the Broadway show “Jumping Jupiter” and in vaudeville. “It Can’t be Did” is very early Berlin. Not a great number, but one tailored to the abilities of a particular star. Shaw and Berlin signed a contract on December 9th 1909, giving her exclusive rights to perform this song. Because this song was Shaw’s exclusive special material, no sheet music was published for sale to the general public. The only way you could hear this song was to go see her perform on stage.
For me, one of the rewards of doing this ongoing Irving Berlin recording project is hearing some of these long-lost early songs of his. We can witness Berlin’s growth as an artist.
I asked pianist/music director/arranger Richard Danley to create a proper piano/vocal chart for this song. I provided Richard with the lyrics for the two verses and two choruses from the typescript that Shaw had saved; lyrics for another verse and chorus from another typescript, which wound up in the possession of another collector; and a copy of the partial lead sheet. Richard drew upon these materials to create the piano/vocal arrangement we’ve recorded.
And I asked singer Samantha Cunha to take a crack at this rare number. (I appreciate her feel for comedy; check out her work on the Berlin rarity “I Hate You” on my album “Irving Berlin Rediscovered.”) I first took notice of Cunha as a performer in a college production of “Rent” several years ago. I was also impressed by her when–fresh out of college, and testing the waters as a producer–she helped get that production and another college production over to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival; I admire people with moxie.
8. NOBODY KNOWS AND NOBODY SEEMS TO CARE is a song I’ve loved to sing for almost as long as I can remember. It’s short, simple, and catchy—perfect in its own way. Berlin himself introduced it in an appearance at New York’s famed Palace Theater—the Mecca of vaudeville—in 1919. I learned this particular song from an old record we had in our basement by Red Nichols and the Five Pennies, whose exuberant recordings were among the highlights of the Jazz Age and still get lots of play in my home. “Nobody Knows” might be considered an “unknown” Berlin song today, but it’s one I sing often to the deer outside my home as I feed them. I’m delighted that master violinist Andy Stein enriches this recording.
9. YOU’VE GOT ME HYPNOTIZED … Jack Corbin, a wonderfully promising singer I always love working with, sings Berlin’s “You’ve Got Me Hypnotized” (from 1911) with characteristic tenderness, sincerity and heart. Jack is currently a student at Berklee College of Music. My favorite young balladeer, he’s sung everywhere from the Knitting Factory to Carnegie Hall. His acting credits include HBO’s “How to Make it in America,” “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver,” and NBC’s “Mr. Robot.” He’s graced such albums of mine as “The George M. Cohan Songbook,” “An Irving Berlin Travelogue,” “The Irving Berlin Duets Album,” and “Irving Berlin: Love Songs and Such.” And he just shines on the recording of my mini-musical “A French Woods Kind of Love” (which is licensed by Leicester Bay Theatricals).
10. MOLLY-O! OH, MOLLY! … Alexander Craven, a recent Vassar graduate, performs on cabaret and theater (most recently appearing in a new musical that he wrote himself). He’s been a valued member of my theatrical family since I chanced to see him playing George M. Cohan in a youth-theater production of one of my shows (directed by Marci Elyn Schein) up in Katonah, New York--when Alex was just nine! I was so charmed by his performance, I offered him a role as one of the Foy children in my musical “The Seven Little Foys” at the Fringe Festival. He delivered such an irresistible, show-stealing performance, one of the older boys in the cast got jealous, calling me up at three in the morning to complain Alex was getting all the attention!
It’s always a pleasure to work with Alex. He was most recently heard on my album “The George M. Cohan Songbook,” making the first complete recording of a Cohan song. Here he makes the first-ever recording of a Berlin song. “Molly-O! Oh, Molly!,” which was introduced by Emma Carus in vaudeville in 1915.
11. WAIT UNTIL YOU’RE MARRIED … I needed two excellent singers to record this good mother-daughter duet, and I couldn't do better than Lisa Franklin and Julia Franklin, who are not only solid pros but happen to be mother and daughter in real life.
They're part of an unusual family, in which almost all members are professional singers/actors. Brothers Charlie and George Franklin, who also record with me, both have fine Broadway credits. As I work on these notes, sister Emily Louis Franklin is busy doing a show out in Las Vegas. Julia has enlivened such albums of mine as “Irving Berlin Revisited” and “Irving Berlin: Sweet and Hot.”
Berlin wrote “Wait Until You’re Married” in 1966, when he was 78 years old, for a never-completed musical. It’s a counterpoint number—what Berlin liked to call “a double song.” And no songwriter was better than Berlin at creating counterpoint numbers. (Think of “Simple Melody” and “You’re Just in Love.”) “Wait Until You’re Married” reflects the changing sexual mores of the 1960s, and the “generation gap” that was so much a part of that era. The mother is urging her daughter to wait; the daughter, it seems, may have other ideas.
This largely unknown song has only been recorded once before—and oddly enough, that recording featured a male singer and a female singer, representing a father and his daughter. But Berlin intended the song to be a mother/daughter duet, and it rings much truer that way. Lisa Franklin and Julia Franklin are the first artists to record this song the way Berlin wanted it to be sung.
12. LAZY, written by Irving Berlin in 1924, was a hit in its day, but is largely forgotten now. And that’s a shame, because it’s a lovely number. (I’ve long enjoyed singing it myself.) The words and music are both first-rate. (I love that line: “I want to peep through the deep tangled wildwood, counting sheep till I sleep like a child would.”) I knew I wanted Jackson DeMott Hill, one of the best of my younger singers, to record this song. He’s got such s beautiful unspoiled quality. There’s something very honest, open-hearted, and just plain likeable about his voice. And he always brings such good energy to the studio; I really enjoy working with him.
I gave him the sheet music for this song and asked him to look it over. He liked it. In fact, the next thing I knew he was singing it at the top New York City high school that he was then attending. (I wasn’t able to make that concert performance, but I did get to see him co-star in “The Drowsy Chaperone” at his school, and he just sparkled on the stage.) He’s now graduated from high school and is in college. I’m glad we were able to get him into the recording studio to preserve his interpretation of this song.
Jackson was in the hit Broadway musical, “Finding Neverland.” A lot of talented young performers appeared in that show during its lengthy run. But Jackson and Alex Dreier were the standouts; they had the most presence and personality, and performed with the most conviction of any of the kids. I’m delighted that they’ve both recorded with me, separately and together. I’ve always enjoyed Jackson’s work—he just seems to shine, whether he’s appearing on the New York stage in a play like Tina Howe’s “Singing Beach” or doing a sweet commercial for Brooks Brothers.
13. IF THE MANAGERS ONLY THOUGHT THE SAME AS MOTHER … Here’s a real rarity. Berlin wrote this song in 1910 for Emma Carus to sing in the musical “The Jolly Bachelors,” but both Carus and the song wound up getting dropped from the show before it opened on Broadway, and the song was forgotten. It’s an interesting song, though, with the singer noting that her mother thinks she’s got the makings of a great star, but Broadway’s “managers” (as producers were referred to in that era) don’t quite see things that way. As long as there are pushy stage mothers, this song will remain timely.
It's sung by Mariah Hill, who has enlivened such albums of mine as “An Irving Berlin Travelogue,” “Irving Berlin Rediscovered” and “Irving Berlin: Ragtime Rarities.” She gets well into the spirit of the song. Mariah is a veteran of Wingspan Arts Productions in NYC. She’s gone on to study at UCLA and record with her own band, Dark Dazey. I’ve long liked her easy-going, down-to-earth manner.
14. THEY ALWAYS FOLLOW ME AROUND… Jon Peterson puts across with great elan this delightful rarity which Berlin wrote for his 1914 Broadway musical “Watch Your Step.” The song is written from the point of view of a Broadway matinee idol, and Peterson has great fun with it.
For my money, there isn’t a finer song-and-dance man working today than Jon Peterson. He dazzled audiences in his native England before being brought over to the U.S. to star as the Emcee in the national tour of “Cabaret.” He’s played that role to perfection in countless cities in the U.S., as well as on Broadway.
He’s starred in my own show, “George M. Cohan Tonight!,” in New York, all across the U.S., and in London and in Seoul. He stars in the new film adaptation of “George M. Cohan Tonight!” as well. No one living has recorded more Cohan songs than Jon Peterson.
Irving Berlin, I might add, idolized Cohan; Cohan was an important early role model for Berlin, and Berlin kept a portrait of Cohan in his office all of his life. From time to time, Berlin also managed to work Cohan’s name into lyrics he was writing—as he did with this song.
15. BRING ON THE PEPPER … Jed Peterson, who’s sung on many albums of mine, offers us Berlin’s infectious “Bring on the Pepper.” This number—a high point of Berlin’s “Music Box Revue of 1922”—is seldom heard these days. But this is one of Berlin’s best numbers from the period. Jed Peterson, with whom I’ve worked for more than 20 years, sings “Bring on the Pepper” with great zest. (And if you listen carefully, you’ll note that Berlin slips the name of his pal George M. Cohan into the song—one master songwriter appreciatively tipping his hat to another.)
Jed has impressed me since he was a student at New York’s famed LaGuardia High School of Music & Arts, and the Performing Arts. He’s honed his craft over the years studying with the School of America Ballet, and at Princeton University, and at the Moscow Art Theatre School (which very rarely accepts Americans). He’s won the NFAA youngARTS Award, the Continental Rising Star Award, and the Louis Sudler Prize for Acting.
Jes, I might add, is a terrifically versatile actor. He has portrayed with flair--on stage, screen, and/or recordings--such diverse historical figures as President John F. Kennedy, Rudolf Nureyev, Irving Berlin, Ezra Pound, George M. Cohan, and Stephen Foster!
He has performed with such respected New York theater companies as Prospect Theater Company, the Abingdon Theatre, and New York Theatre Barn. He has starred on stage, Off-Broadway, in such shows as “Hard Times,” “Our God’s Brother,” and “Nevsky Prospect.” He has starred regionally in such shows as “Nureyev’s Eyes,” “Zorro,” and “Sherlock Holmes.” His TV credits include “Madame Secretary,” “Elementary,” and “The Blacklist.”
16. LET’S GO BACK TO THE WALTZ is one of Berlin’s finest later songs. It was the best song from his last Broadway musical, “Mr. President” (1962). It’s not well-known, but it has the timeless grace, simplicity, and honesty of Berlin’s memorable waltzes of earlier years.
I wanted to have Dea Julien sing this number. She’s made so many fine recordings for me.
(Check out her engaging renditions of “Stop that Rag” on my album “Irving Berlin: Ragtime Rarities,” and “Down by the Erie Canal” on “The George M. Cohan Songbook.”) And she really connected with this song. I provided Dea and music director Richard Danley with photocopies of pages from Berlin’s original hand-written score for “Mr. President.”
As I type these notes, Dea Julien is a member of the company of the Broadway production “The Kite Runner.” Dea is one of very few actors I’ve worked with who is equally strong at both musicals (like “West Side Story”–she did the last national tour)--and straight dramatic plays (like “The Kite Runner” on Broadway or “Intimacy,” Off-Broadway). She was a key performer in my musical “The Seven Little Foys” at the Schimmel Center in NYC, and she’s also done assorted readings and recordings for me.
Dea was actually the first actor I approached about doing my one-woman musical play “One Night with Fanny Brice.” And she did the very first reading. (I’ve never heard the part interpreted better.) But then she got cast in the national tour of “West Side Story,” and we had to open “One Night with Fanny Brice” Off-Broadway with a different actress. But someday I’d still love to see Dea do that show. She’d be just great.
17. THE WALTZ OF LONG AGO … Berlin was a master at waltzes, and this long-forgotten waltz--which he wrote for Grace Moore to sing in “The Music Box Revue of 1923”--is lovely. When I found it, I thought immediately of Analise Scarpaci. I like the purity and sincerity in her singing, and she has a feel for older songs which not that many young singers of today have.
(And Andy Stein’s lyrical violin playing adds a lot.)
I love working with Analise. She’s a total pro. She already has three Broadway credits to her name: “A Christmas Story,” “Matilda”,” and “Mrs. Doubtfire.” I don’t know of a better female singer her age in the Broadway community. Even when she was in high school, she amazed me, singing “I Don’t Know How to Love Him” about as well as I’ve ever heard anyone sing it.
You can hear more of Analise’s work on such albums of mine as “Irving Berlin: Love Songs and Such,” “Irving Berlin: Sweet and Hot,” “An Irving Berlin Travelogue,” “Irving Berlin Ragtime Rarities,” and “The Irving Berlin Duets Album.” With more to come!
18. THEY CALL IT DANCING is sung by one of my favorite younger performers from the Broadway community, Charlie Franklin. His Broadway credits include “Tina,” “The Book of Mormon” and “Bridges of Madison County.” He does a great job with “They Call it Dancing,” which Berlin originally wrote for his “Music Box Revue of 1921”—and liked so much that he was still tweaking the lyrics in the 1950s.
Charlie Franklin has a real feel for these older songs. He loves them, and it shows. He may also be heard on such albums of mine as “Irving Berlin Rediscovered,” “Irving Berlin Revisited,” “An Irving Berlin Travelogue,” and “The Irving Berlin Songbook.” He’s part of the celebrated Franklin family of professional singers; his brother George (from Broadway’s “A Christmas Story”) has also recorded for me. And his sister Julia and his mother, Lisa, sing “Wait Until You’re Married” on this album (track #11).
19. I’M A DANCING TEACHER NOW… This cute number—never-before-recorded—is a find. Berlin wrote it for famed dancer Vernon Castle to sing in the Broadway show “Watch Your Step.” Castle enjoyed performing it, but this number was never published as a stand-alone song. Berlin knew this number would give Castle a spirited, humorous, crowd-pleasing moment in the show; but he also knew this was not the type of song that could become a standard. It was written go be a lively diversion in a Broadway show. And that was enough.
But it’s fun to hear it again. And I love Ray DeMattis’s performance here. As always, he gives 100%.
I’ve appreciated Ray’s work for decades. His Broadway credits include: “Grease,” “City of Angels,” “Zoya’s Apartment,” “Fiorello,” and “Little Shop of Horrors.” His Off-Broadway credits include: “The Fantasticks,” “Flora the Red Menace,” “Enter Laughing,” and “The Good Times are Killing Me.” His television credits include: “The Sopranos,” “The Cosby Show,” “Family Business,” and “Law and Order.” He’s recorded for me many times. (It’s worth buying the CD “Irving Berlin: Love Songs and Such” just to hear Ray’s moving rendition of “When I Leave the World Behind.”) It’s always a privilege to record him.
20. LET’S FACE THE MUSIC AND DANCE is one of Berlin’s greatest songs—a masterpiece in the Great American Songbook. And I’m honored to have Barbara Fasano and Eric Comstock here to interpret it. This number (which Berlin originally wrote for Fred Astaire, for the 1936 film “Follow the Fleet”) has long been part of their repertoire; I very much wanted their version to be included on this album.
It made me very happy when they arrived at Slau Halatyn’s BeSharp Studios in Astoria (where we record all of my albums), and Eric sat down at the Yamaha Grand Piano and Barbara stood at the nearby mike to perform this number. Whether working together or separately, they’re important contributors to New York nightlife. They’re resident artists at Birdland Jazz Club. And they’ve won a loyal following.
Barbara Fasano and Eric Comstock are four-time winners of the Manhattan Association of Cabarets and Clubs MAC Award. They’re also recipients of the Donald F. Smith Award, presented by the Mabel Mercer foundation, acknowledging their "immeasurable contributions to the international world of cabaret ... and achieving a rank as preeminent jazz stylists." Eric Comstock—who’s impressed me since I first met him when he was a teenager, several decades ago—sang solo on my last Berlin album, “Irving Berlin: Love Songs and Such.” This is the first time they’ve both recorded for me. I look forward to presenting more of their work in the future.
21. THE BEST THINGS HAPPEN WHILE YOU’RE DANCING … Brian Letendre has a sound and style that’s just perfect for this lyrical Berlin ballad. And he certainly knows a thing or two about dancing! I’ve admired Brian’s work since he was a student at Juilliard, where he concentrated on both dance and music. He and Cody Green were my favorite Juilliard dancers of that period, and I got a great kick out of eventually seeing them together on Broadway, in Twyla Tharp’s “Movin Out.”
Brian first made his mark professionally as a dancer. But he sings just as beautifully as he dances. (Check out his lilting rendition of “Someone Else May be There While I’m Gone” on my album “Irving Berlin: Love Songs and Such.”) He’s a busy guy, but he was the only person I wanted to record “The Best Things Happen While You’re Dancing,” so I was happy to wait until he was available.
His Broadway credits include “Mary Poppins,” “Urban Cowboy,” and “Movin’ Out.” And I’ve also enjoyed seeing him grace productions at Paper Mill Playhouse of such shows as “Carousel,” “My Fair Lady,” and “A Chorus Line.”
22. IT ALL BELONGS TO ME … was written by Irving Berlin for Eddie Cantor—one of the biggest, brightest Broadway stars of the era—who introduced it in “The Ziegfeld Follies of 1927.” It’s a charming song, but--for whatever reasons (these things happen sometimes)--Cantor never recorded it. I’ve long liked like this little-known song, and I invited entertainer Brian Gari—who happens to be Eddie Cantor’s grandson—to perform it with me.
Brian has a wonderful feel for Eddie Cantor’s songs. (Sometimes he performs Cantor songs with Vince Giordano’s Nighthawks.) And I really enjoy doing Cantor songs with him. Brian and I previously had fun recording one of Cantor’s biggest hits, “Yes Sir, that’s My Baby” for my album, “Chip Deffaa’s Tin Pan Alley.” I hope we can do other Cantor numbers together. Cantor’s one of my all-time favorite entertainers. (My Mom insisted that was because she listened to a lot of Cantor records when she was pregnant with me). And the multi-talented Brian—he’s a singer, songwriter, record producer, author, and co-creator of one Broadway show—is an old friend of mine. It meant a lot to me—more than he knows--to have him join me in recording a fine Irving Berlin song that Brian’s grandfather introduced.
23. TELL ME, LITTLE GYPSY… Michael Townsend Wright and I have worked together for over 20 years. But I was enjoying his work long before we met. He has many credits on stage, on television (“The Uncle Floyd Show,” “Emergency,” “The Naked Brothers Band”), and in films (“Lansky,” ‘The Life and Times of Charlie Putz,” “The Rat Pack,” and Owen Kline’s highly acclaimed “Funny Pages”). He’s starred in such musicals of mine (which I wrote specifically for him) as “The Seven Little Foys” and “Irving Berlin’s America.” He’s sung on many albums that I’ve produced. And you can hear more than 30 performances by him on “The Michael Townsend Wright Album,” available from Amazon, Apple iTunes, Spotify, Tidal, etc.
Largely forgotten today, the song “Tell Me, Little Gypsy,” was the big hit of the Ziegfeld Follies of 1920. (I have a copy of the original 78 rpm record from 1920 in my collection and plan to release it on a future album of early Broadway stars.) It’s a pretty song and I’m glad that Michael keeps it in his repertoire today.
24. ANGELO … Joan Jaffe. “Angelo,” recorded here for the first time ever, is among the rarest of all Irving Berlin songs. Even Berlin did not retain a complete copy of the song, just a partial lead sheet with the words to only the first verse and chorus. The second verse, which you’ll also hear in our recording, is taken from a typed copy of the lyrics that Berlin gave to the Broadway and vaudeville performer Lillian Shaw in 1909 or 1910, with the heading: “written expressly for Miss Lillian Shaw.” She saved her typed copy of the lyrics all of her life. She sang this song in the 1911 Broadway show “Jumping Jupiter,” and most likely in vaudeville as well. Artists liked having songs that were exclusively theirs. Only Shaw had the right to perform this song; sheet music for the general public was never published.
“Angelo” is an Italian-dialect song. Berlin actually first made a name for himself by writing Italian-themed songs, which were enjoyed by Italian and non-Italian vaudeville audience-members alike. Berlin’s first published song was “Marie from Sunny Italy” in 1907; his first commercial success was “Dorando” in 1909, about a celebrated Italian runner. And “Sweet Italian Love” and “Sweet Marie, Make-a Rag-a-time Dance Wid Me” followed in 1910, the same year that Berlin registered for copyright “Angelo.” When George M. Cohan invited a not-yet-famous Berlin to join the Friars Club, Cohan introduced Berlin to everyone as a writer of Italian numbers. Of course Berlin soon proved himself exceptionally versatile, capable of turning out hits in all sorts of styles. And in subsequent years, he grew dramatically as a songwriter. But “Angelo” is a good sample of Berlin’s very early work.
I chose singer/comedienne Joan Jaffe, who can handle seemingly any dialect with aplomb, to make the first-ever recording of “Angelo”--which Joan performs with customary good cheer.
Joan Jaffe’s many credits include Broadway (“Much Ado About Nothing,” Bajour”), national tours (“On a Clear Day...,” “Sweet Charity”), films (“Hello, Dolly!,” “The Producers”), and TV (“Conan O’Brien,” “Orange is the New Black”). She’s won the MAC Award for her work in cabaret. And I’m always glad to have her record. Her earnest performance on “Wasn’t it Yesterday” was a high point of one popular CD I produced, “The Irving Berlin Duets” album. She last sang an Italian-dialect number when she teamed up with Michael Townsend Wright to put over “My Sweet Italian Man” on my album “Chip Deffaa’s Irving Berlin Love Songs and Such.”
Joan Jaffe has portrayed Nellie Cohan (George M.’s mother) in several different shows that I’ve written and directed: “George M. Cohan: In his Own Words,” “Yankee Doodle Boy,” and “The George M. Cohan Revue.” (She’s well captured on our “George M. Cohan Revue” cast album.) Out of all of the actors who’ve worked with me on shows, Joan was my late mom’s favorite. My mom liked the warmth, humanity, and humor Joan brought to any performance. I do, too.
25. PARIS WAKES UP AND SMILES … Luis Villabon. I’ve enjoyed Luis Villabon’s work in clubs (going back to Erv Raible’s sorely missed Greenwich Village nightspot Eighty-Eights) and in theaters—everything from “Naked Boys Singing” to “A Chorus Line” (which he’s done more than a thousand times, in the U.S. and abroad). It was Luis, incidentally, who provided the inspiration for my musical comedy “Theater Boys,” and he was properly credited for that in the programs of our New York productions.
It made me happy to get Luis into the recording studio once again for this charming, atmospheric Berlin song, which suits him well. (And Andy Stein’s evocative violin helps set the mood.) “Paris Wakes Up and Smile” is a fine, largely forgotten song which Berlin wrote for his 1949 Broadway musical, “Miss Liberty.”
26. RUSSIAN LULLABY … Steve Ross. For a half-century, Steve Ross (“the Crown Prince of Cabaret,” as The New York Times calls him) has been one of the most respected artists in cabaret. He has an encyclopedic knowledge of classic pop and theater music. He performs with understatement, restraint, respect for the songwriter’s intentions, and a deep understanding of the songs he sings. He is a master interpreter of lyrics.
With most artists, I choose the songs they will record. But Steve Ross is an artist who’s free to come out to our studio whenever it fits his schedule, and record any songs he chooses. (Only he and Anita Gillette, who worked with Berlin, have that freedom.) And no one living has more Berlin songs in his or her repertoire than Steve Ross. This performance of “Russian Lullaby”—which Berlin wrote for the opening of New York’s famed Roxy Theater in 1927—captures Ross in peak form.
27. SNOW … Now here is a unusual performance to be savored. You’re hearing Ann Kittredge--a superb cabaret artist--accompanied by Alex Rybeck--one of the most sensitive accompanists in New York. Kittredge is singing “Snow,” which many will know from the classic 1954 film musical, “White Christmas.” But then she segues into a song most people have never heard before--“Free,” which has the same melody as “Snow” but completely different words. Berlin wrote this ode to freedom in 1950 for Ethel Merman to sing in “Call Me Madam.” Merman introduced the song during the show’s out-of-town pre-Broadway tryout. The song “Free”—which was good but didn’t quite fit the lighthearted tone of the musical comedy--wound up getting dropped from “Call Me Madam.” In 1954, when Berlin was creating the score for the film “White Christmas,” he took the melody from the song “Free,” created completely new lyrics for that melody, and “Snow” was born.
I’m proud to have this gorgeous pairing of “Snow” and “Free” in this album. It’s the sort of thing that makes doing this ongoing Irving Berlin project worthwhile for me. And I love the great care that Ann Kittredge and Alex Rybeck took in our studio, to make sure we’d have the very best possible recording. A terrific performance. And if you’d like to hear more of Ann Kittredge’s work, look for her albums “Re-Imagine” and “Romantic Notions.”
28. CHIP DEFFA INTRODUCES BETTY BUCKLEY … I’m just offering a few words about my favorite Broadway diva. It means a great deal to me to have Betty Buckley gracing another one of my albums.
29 WHITE CHRISTMAS is sung here by Tony Award-winner Betty Buckley--“the Voice of Broadway,” as she’s been called. Among her memorable Broadway successes: “Cats,” “1776,” “Pippin,” “Song and Dance,” “The Mystery of Edward Drood,” “Sunset Boulevard,” “Triumph of Love….” I love that strong, clear, immediately recognizable voice of hers. And the way she can find the emotional heart of any song. Her touching rendition of “White Christmas” is pure, honest, succinct. Providing the sensitive accompaniment is her music director/pianist, Christian Jacob. Over the years, I’ve admired his work as a player and arranger with artists as varied as Maynard Ferguson, Phil Woods, Benny Golson, and Tierney Sutton.
I’ve followed Betty Buckley’s career from the start. I was one of many theater buffs who was dazzled in the early years by her sheer vocal virtuosity. Here was this young singing actress—new to Broadway—belting out beautifully bright, ringing high notes, a step-and-a-half higher than any of the Broadway belters who’d come before her. And she belted her high notes so effortlessly and consistently. But there was much more to her than just technical virtuosity.
As her career progressed, I came to recognize that her real genius was the way she had of acting and singing with complete commitment. Sometimes she’d belt out those patented high notes of hers with aplomb. At other times, with equal effectiveness, she chose to sing with great restraint. Her instincts about what best served a particular song in a particular context were superb. But whether she was belting all-out or singing in an understated way, she compelled our attention. And got to us.
In a gala tribute to Buckley that I attended in October of 2023, Academy Award-winner Ellen Burstyn—a tremendous admirer of Buckley’s—recalled how she saw Buckley in “Sunset Boulevard” on Broadway four times, noting: “I was knocked over by her. I thought that was the most astonishing performance I’d ever seen. The acting while singing…..” Betty Buckley brings her skills as an actor, not just a singer, to every song.
Buckley chooses to sing “White Christmas” simply, directly, economically. Just once through the song. And that’s perfect. I can’t imagine anyone living singing it better.
This album is primarily devoted to rare Irving Berlin songs. “White Christmas” is certainly not a rare song. Bing Crosby’s original recording of “White Christmas” became the best-selling record that had ever been released, with sales surpassing 30 million! I wasn’t originally planning to include “White Christmas” on this album. But so many people have requested this beloved song, and so many people have asked to hear more from Betty Buckley (who certainly has fiercely devoted fans), I decided that this album would close with her singing “White Christmas.” Whatever Betty Buckley sings, she gets inside of her material and makes you believe it. And I listen to her interpretation of “White Christmas,” with Christian Jacobs following on piano, and it moves me. She’s one very special singer.
-- CHIP DEFFAA
Garret Mountain, January 2024
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CHIP DEFFAA (producer) is the author of 20 published plays and nine published books, and the producer of more than 40 albums. For 18 years he covered entertainment, including music and theater, for The New York Post. In his youth, he studied at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. He is a graduate of Princeton University and a trustee of the Princeton "Tiger" magazine. He wrote and directed such Off-Broadway successes as "George M. Cohan Tonight!" starring Jon Peterson (the film version of which has just been completed) and "One Night with Fanny Brice." His shows have been performed everywhere from London to Edinburgh, to Seoul. He’s widely recognized as one of the foremost experts on the music of Irving Berlin and George M. Cohan. He is a member of the Dramatists Guild, the Stage Directors & Choreographers Society, NARAS, and ASCAP. He’s won the ASCAP/Deems Taylor Award, the IRNE Award, and a New Jersey Press Association Award. Please visit: www.chipdeffaa.com.
RICHARD DANLEY (music director/pianist) has worked on many shows and/or albums of Deffaa's, including "Irving Berlin's America," “The Irving Berlin Ragtime Revue,” "One Night with Fanny Brice," "The Seven Little Foys," "George M. Cohan Tonight!," “Mad About the Boy,” “Irving Berlin: In Person,” “The Irving Berlin Songbook,” “Irving Berlin: Ragtime Rarities,” and "Theater Boys." Danley has performed everywhere from daytime dramas on television, to cruise ships, to clubs, to Carnegie Hall. He is on the faculty of the American Musical and Dramatic Academy (AMDA).
ANDY STEIN …. This Grammy Award-winning artist’s violin has often been heard on TV (everything from “Great Performances” to “Saturday Night Live”); Broadway (“Anything Goes,” Guys and Dolls,” “Fiddler on the Roof”); and film (“The Hunchback of Notre Dame,” “Tom and Huck,” “The Cotton Club)." In the classical field, he has recorded with Itzhak Perlman, Placido Domingo, and Marilyn Horne. He was a founding member of the popular 1970s rock ‘n’ roll band Commander Cody and his Lost Planet Airmen. He’s long been featured with Vince Giordano’s Nighthawks. And he has worked with artists as varied as Bob Dylan, Dr. John, Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard, Charlie Daniels, Aerosmith, Madonna, Barbara Cook, Audra McDonald, Dionne Warwick, Ray Charles, B. B. King, Eric Clapton, Whitney Houston, Michael Jackson, Paul McCarney, and Tony Bennett. He’s played on several albums produced by Chip Deffaa, who’s long called him “my favorite violinist.”
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THANKS AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS…
I’ve known most of the recording artists on this album for many years. I’m indebted to them all for their dedication and commitment, no less than for their talent. Big thanks, too, for the help provided, in various ways, by Jack Foley, Victoria Leacock Hoffman, Logan Spaleta, Okey Chenoweth, Jon Sonneborn, Seth Sikes, Michael Perry, Michael Biel, Jack Quinn, Cole Williams, Matthew Broderick, Mason Condon, Ryan Condon, David Kenney, Deb Deffaa, Logan Saby, Lawson Saby, Nancy Sasso Janis, Marianna Vagnini-Dadamo, Rob Lester, Bruce Yeko, Liam Leigh, David Marino, and the late John Wallowitch, Jack Gottlieb, and Bob Dahdah. Thank you, Don Brown and Richard Danley for music preparation; thank you, Frank Avellino, for graphic design; and a special thank-you to Betty Buckley and Christian Jacob for your help in getting the project completed just days before Christmas of 2023 (you really made my days feel merry and bright this year!); all work completed for Chip Deffaa on a work-made-for-hire basis. The project was fueled by food from the Savely Lazarev school of cooking. (Thank you, Swally!) My thanks, too, to Andres Mejia, Jason Schachner, Santa Claire Hirsch; Taiyo Marchand, Brody Bett, Benjamin Pajak, Michael Cash; you give me hope for the future.
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Chip Deffaa has written six different musical plays celebrating Irving Berlin. All are available for licensing. “Irving Berlin: In Person” is a one-man play. “Irving Berlin’s America” is a two-character play. “Say it with Music” is written for 3-5 actors. “Irving Berlin & Co.” is a biographical musical written for 12 or more players. “The Irving Berlin Ragtime Revue,” featuring more than 40 ragtime songs, is a revue written for 10-14 players. “The Irving Berlin Story” is a full-sized biographical musical, written for 24 or more players.
Playwright/director/producer Chip Deffaa is represented by The Fifi Oscard Agency (attention: Peter Sawyer, President), New York City; Email: psawyer@fifioscard.com, tel. (212) 764-1100.
For additional information on any of Deffaa’s work, please feel free to contact Chip Deffaa Productions LLC, 50 Quartz Lane, Paterson, NJ 07501-3345, telephone: 973-684-3340; Email: Footloose518@aol.com; www.chipdeffaa.com.
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If you’ve enjoyed this album, you might also enjoy these other Chip Deffaa albums (available from Amazon.com, Ebay.com, Footlight.com, Apple iTunes, Tidal, Spotify, etc.): “Chip Deffaa’s Irving Berlin: Love Songs and Such,” “Chip Deffaa’s The George M. Cohan Songbook,””Chip Deffaa’s Tin Pan Alley,” “Chip Deffaa’s My Man,” “Irving Berlin: Sweet and Hot,” “The Irving Berlin Duets Album,” “I Must Have that Man,” “An Irving Berlin Travelogue,” “The Boy Next Door,” “Gay Love,” “Mad About the Boy: 13th Street Theater Production,” “Mad About the Boy: The Festival Cast,” “Chip Deffaa’s Irving Berlin: Ragtime Rarities,” “Chip Deffaa’s Irving Berlin Rediscovered,” “The Chip Deffaa Songbook,” “Chip Deffaa’s Irving Berlin Revisited,” “Chip Deffaa’s Irving Berlin Songbook: Rare and Unrecorded Songs,” “The Irving Berlin Ragtime Revue,” “George M. Cohan Tonight!,” “Irving Berlin’s America,” “One Night with Fanny Brice,” Irving Berlin: In Person,” “The Seven Little Foys” “Theater Boys,” “Presenting Fanny Brice,” “George M. Cohan: In his Own Words,”“The George M. Cohan Revue,” “Irving Berlin & Co.,” “The Johnny Mercer Jamboree,” “Al Jolson’s Broadway,” “Al Jolson: King of Broadway,” “George M. Cohan: Rare Original Recordings,” “Al Jolson Sings Irving Berlin,” “Fanny Brice: the Real Funny Girl,” “Al Jolson: From Broadway to Hollywood,” “Fanny Brice: Rare and Unreleased Recordings,” and “Chip Deffaa’s Broadway and Vaudeville Legends.”
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Chip Deffaa’s “Rare and Unrecorded Irving Berlin: Love Songs and Such” (p) and © 2024 by Chip Deffaa.
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RARE AND UNRECORDED IRVING BERLIN SONGS
Sung by an all-star New York cast…
Betty Buckley, Anita Gillette, Stephen Bogardus, Steve Ross, Jon Peterson, Ray DeMattis, Eric William Morris, Carl Kissin, Analise Scarpaci, Keith Anderson, Chip Deffaa,
Eric Comstock, Barbara Fasano, Charlie Franklin, Brian Letendre, Jack Corbin,
Michael Townsend Wright, Joan Jaffe, Jed Peterson, Alec Deland, Luis Villabon,
Dea Julien, Ann Kittredge, Katherine Paulsen, Brian Gari, Lisa Franklin,
Julia Franklin, Jackson DeMott Hill, Mariah Hill, Alexander Craven,
Samantha Marie Cunha, Paul Greenwood
Producer CHIP DEFFAA; Musical Director: RICHARD DANLEY; Violin: ANDY STEIN
Associate producers: Steve Garrin, Matthew Nardozzi, and Jessee D. Riehl
Recorded, mixed, and mastered by Slau Halatyn / BeSharp Studios;
music preparation by Don Brown, Richard Danley; graphic design by Frank Avellino;
aides-de-camp: Tyler DuBoys, Sheik Rayan Rahmoun, Casey McCarroll
Chip Deffaa Productions
Garret Mountain Records M1027R0909
Chip Deffaa’s Rare and Unrecorded Irving Berlin Songs”
(P) and © 2024 by Chip Deffaa
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