1950s Belt

[classicalmusicplayer2]

Posted: 4/17/16 at 11:37pm

Does anyone know of a resource where it categorized songs by type (ballad, pattern, belt etc.) I'm looking for a 1950s belt song that is preferably a "11oclock/showstopper/bringthehousedown" type (but it can't be from Gypsy lol) for a recital and am having trouble. 

 

 

Thanks!

Updated On: 4/17/16 at 11:37 PM

[Mr. Nowack]

Posted: 4/18/16 at 12:55am

"Ooh My Feet" from MOST HAPPY FELLA is a classic. Not an 11'O'clock but still.

Not from the 50's (1964) but the title song from I HAD A BALL is a great song in the belting style popular form the 50s.

[Soaring29]

Posted: 4/18/16 at 3:32am

Do  I'm Going Back from Bells Are Ringing! That's the definition of a belted 11:00 number! 

[Mike Costa]

Posted: 4/18/16 at 4:17pm

I second Mr. Nowack's I Had A Ball.

Treat yourself and give a listen to the incomparable Karen Morrow.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5vtTNnWHwa0

[tazber]

Posted: 4/18/16 at 4:22pm

Oddly enough I've been playing I Had A Ball a lot recently.

 

Karen Morrow is indeed amazing!

 

 

[Mr. Nowack]

Posted: 4/18/16 at 6:40pm

Morrow's voice gives me LIFE!

She's also amazing in the "Babylove Miracle Show" number from THE GRASS HARP but that's a weird one to do divorced from its context (unless a little oddball is welcome) plus it's from the early '70s.

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 4/18/16 at 7:18pm

I taught at the same university as Karen (lovely lady) and saw her do CALL ME MADAM about 15 years ago. Still had the same iron pipes, rust-free.

I also play the OBC recording of I HAD A BALL obsessively; between the recording and YouTube clips, BALL seems like the epitome of a "show about nothing". That being said I am curious about a couple of rhymed couplets in the title number:

"Cottage small
Or wall-to-wall"

"Enchanted blissville
In Old New Kissville"

I was alive at the time of the show and only remember "wall-to-wall" used to refer to carpet. WTF?

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 4/18/16 at 7:32pm

Back to the subject of 1950s belt songs, Jule Styne was the master of the form.

"I'm Going Back" is a great example (even though technically it's a pastiche of a vaudeville-type number from an earlier age).

FADE OUT, FADE IN has a number of belt songs written for Carol Burnett (see "Go Home, Train". It's from 1963 or 64, but the style didn't disappear overnight. Burnett songs like "Happily Ever After" from ONCE UPON A MATTRESS would also work.

If you want something 1950s and Mermanesque, but less well known than her Irving Berlin standards, try "Gee, But it's Good to be Here" from HAPPY HUNTING. Be warned: all the high notes in the song fall on words with "r" in them. It requires a singer who can handle words like "here" and "warm", etc.