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Cool Yule
''Cool Yule'' is a first holiday album by American singer Bette Midler. It was released on October 10, 2006, through Columbia Records. The album features many standard Christmas tunes as well as a reworking edition of her Grammy-winning hit " From a Distance". In 2008, ''Cool Yule'' was nominated for a Grammy Award in the Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album category. Critical reception AllMusic editor Marisa Brown found that "the Divine Miss M shows off her stuff (including a very able backing band/orchestra) on all the tracks ..and sounds good the whole time. Because she doesn't add much to the songs that hasn't already been done before, ''Cool Yule'' may not replace anyone's uet partnerJohnny Mathis holiday albums yet, but it's still a pretty strong collection of well-done Christmas standards from a well-known and popular artist." Chart performance ''Cool Yule'' failed to chart upon its October 10, 2006 release. It was not until November 25, 2006, the album made its debut on th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bette Midler
Bette Midler ( ;''Inside the Actors Studio'', 2004 born December 1, 1945) is an American actress, comedian, singer, and author. Throughout her five-decade career Midler has received List of awards and nominations received by Bette Midler, numerous accolades, including four Golden Globe Awards, three Grammy Awards, three Primetime Emmy Awards, two Tony Awards, and a Kennedy Center Honors, Kennedy Center Honor, in addition to nominations for two Academy Awards and a British Academy Film Award. Born in Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii, Hawaii, Midler began her professional career in several off-off-Broadway plays, prior to her engagements in ''Fiddler on the Roof'' and ''Salvation (musical), Salvation'' on Broadway theatre, Broadway in the late 1960s. She came to prominence in 1970 when she began singing in the Continental Baths, a local gay bathhouse where she managed to build up a core following. Since 1970, Midler has released 14 studio albums as a solo artist, selling over 30 milli ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cool Yule (song)
"Cool Yule" is a 1953 Christmas song written by Steve Allen and introduced by Louis Armstrong. It was covered by Roseanna Vitro in 1986 on her album '' The Time of My Life: Roseanna Vitro Sings the Songs of Steve Allen'' (released 1999), by Bette Midler in 2006 for her album ''Cool Yule'', and by The Brian Setzer Orchestra on their 2005 album '' Dig That Crazy Christmas''. Popular culture The song is featured over the opening and closing credits of the 2001 movie ''Serendipity'', starring John Cusack and Kate Beckinsale. It was also heard on the NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ... holiday special '' Merry Madagascar'' when Alex, Marty, Gloria, Melman, and the penguins rush to deliver gifts. In October 2013 the song was used in the UK for a Christmas advert for ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Walter Kent
Walter Kent (born Walter Maurice Kaufman, November 29, 1911 – March 2, 1994) was an American composer and conductor. Some notable compositions are: "I'll Be Home for Christmas", "I'm Gonna Live Till I Die" and "(There'll Be Bluebirds Over) The White Cliffs of Dover". Early life Walter Kent was born to a Jewish family on November 29, 1911, in New York City. He graduated from Townsend Harris Hall High School. Kent studied violin with advanced, private instruction from Leopold Auer and Samuel Gardner. He also enrolled at City College of New York, studying drafting, with the idea of becoming an architect, but never completed a university education. He did some work as a draftsman, but gave it up to pursue song writing. Kent conducted his own orchestra in New York, performing in theaters and on the radio. Career In 1932, Kent co-wrote his first major song with Milton Drake and Abner Silver entitled, "Pu-Leeze, Mister Hemingway". Throughout the 1930s and 1940s, Kent worked bi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kim Gannon
James Kimball "Kim" Gannon (November 18, 1900 – April 29, 1974) was an American songwriter, more commonly a lyricist than a composer. Biography Gannon was born in Brooklyn, New York to an Irish-American family from Fort Ann in upstate New York, but grew up in New Jersey where he attended Montclair High School and was a member of Omega Gamma Delta fraternity. He graduated from St. Lawrence University and, intending to become a lawyer, attended the Albany Law School, passing the bar examination in New York State in 1934. In 1939 he wrote his first song, "For Tonight". His 1942 song, " Moonlight Cocktail", was recorded by the Glenn Miller Orchestra and was the best-selling record in the United States for 10 weeks. In 1942 he began writing songs for films, beginning with the lyrics of the title song for '' Always in My Heart.'' He subsequently contributed songs to other films, including '' The Powers Girl'' and '' If Winter Comes''. In 1951 he turned to the Broadway stage, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
I'll Be Home For Christmas
"I'll Be Home for Christmas" is a Christmas song written by the lyricist Kim Gannon and composer Walter Kent and recorded in 1943 by Bing Crosby, who scored a top ten hit with the song. Originally written to honor soldiers overseas who longed to be home at Christmas time, "I'll Be Home for Christmas" has since gone on to become a Christmas standard. Theme The song is sung from the point of view of a soldier stationed overseas during World War II, writing a letter to his family. In the message, he tells his family he will be coming home and to prepare the holiday for him, and requests snow, mistletoe, and presents "on" the tree. The song ends on a melancholy note, with the soldier saying, "I'll be home for Christmas, if only in my dreams". The flip side of the original recording (Decca 18570B) was " Danny Boy." Writing and copyright The song was written by the lyricist Kim Gannon and composer Walter Kent. Songwriter Buck Ram, known for his hits including " Only You", "The Gre ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jule Styne
Jule Styne ( ; born Julius Kerwin Stein; December 31, 1905 – September 20, 1994) was an English-American songwriter and composer widely known for a series of Broadway theatre, Broadway musical theatre, musicals, including several famous frequently-revived shows that also became successful films: ''Gypsy (1962 film), Gypsy,'' ''Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (musical), Gentlemen Prefer Blondes,'' and ''Funny Girl (musical), Funny Girl.'' Early life Styne was born to a Jewish family in London, England. His parents, Anna Kertman and Isadore Stein, were emigrants from Ukraine (then part of the Russian Empire) and ran a small grocery. Even before his family left Britain, he did impressions on the stage of well-known singers, including Harry Lauder, who saw him perform and advised him to take up the piano. At the age of eight, he moved with his family to Chicago, where he began taking piano lessons. He proved to be a Child prodigy, prodigy and performed with the Chicago, St. Louis, Missou ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sammy Cahn
Samuel Cohen (June 18, 1913 – January 15, 1993), known professionally as Sammy Cahn, was an American lyricist, songwriter, and musician. He is best known for his romantic lyrics to films and Broadway songs, as well as stand-alone songs premiered by recording companies in the Greater Los Angeles Area. He and his collaborators had a series of hit recordings with Frank Sinatra during the singer's tenure at Capitol Records, but also enjoyed hits with Dean Martin, Doris Day and many others. He played the piano and violin, and won an Oscar four times for his songs, including the popular hit " Three Coins in the Fountain". Among his most enduring songs is " Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!", cowritten with Jule Styne in 1945. Life and career Cahn was born Samuel Cohen on the Lower East Side of Manhattan in New York City, the only son (he had four sisters) of Abraham and Elka Reiss Cohen, who were Jewish immigrants from Galicia, then ruled by Austria-Hungary. His sisters, Sady ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Richard Bernhard Smith
Richard Bernhard Smith (September 29, 1901 – September 28, 1935) was an American lyricist who wrote the words for the popular Christmas song "Winter Wonderland", which was composed by Felix Bernard. Smith was born on September 29, 1901, in Honesdale, Pennsylvania, the son of Eliza (Brunig) and John H. Smith, a partner with a glass manufacturing plant. His family was Episcopalian. He graduated Honesdale School in 1920 and attended Pennsylvania State College. Smith married Jean Connor, of Scranton, on March 30, 1930. He was diagnosed with tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ... in 1931. He succumbed to the disease on September 28, 1935, at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City. He was 33. He was buried in Glen Dyberry Cemetery in Honesdale. References ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Felix Bernard
Felix William Bernard (April 28, 1897 – October 20, 1944) was an American conductor, pianist and a composer of popular music. His writing credits include the popular songs "Winter Wonderland" (with lyricist Richard Bernhard Smith) and "Dardanella". Biography Felix Bernard (Bernhardt) was born to a Jewish family in New York City on April 28, 1897, and died in Los Angeles, California, on October 20, 1944. A professional pianist from childhood, his early musical studies were with his father, and his formal musical education was from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and CR. Bernard wrote professional one-act musical comedies for vaudeville, and he toured throughout the United States with the Orpheum and Keith Vaudeville Circuit, and also abroad. Bernard worked as a pianist for dance orchestras and music publishers before forming his own band. His also had his own radio show which he produced. Best known as a composer, Bernard found success writing musical material for artists such ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!
"Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!", also known as simply "Let It Snow", is a song written by lyricist Sammy Cahn and composer Jule Styne in July 1945 in Hollywood, California, during a heatwave as Cahn and Styne imagined cooler conditions. The song was first recorded that fall by Vaughn Monroe, was released just after Thanksgiving, and became a hit by Christmas. Other U.S. recordings during the 1945-46 winter season included those by Danny O'Neil (Majestic), Connee Boswell (Decca), Woody Herman (Columbia), and Bob Crosby (ARA). The song makes no mention of any holiday. The lyrics include spending time with a loved one during a snowstorm, enjoying a fireplace and popcorn. When the singer has to leave, feelings of love will keep him warm once he is outside in the cold. The song has come to be regarded as a Christmas song worldwide due to its winter theme, and is often played on radio stations during the Christmas and holiday season. It has been covered by multiple artists ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Winter Wonderland
"Winter Wonderland" is a song written in 1934 by Felix Bernard and lyricist Richard Bernhard Smith. Due to its seasonal theme, it is often regarded as a Christmas song in the Northern Hemisphere. Since its original recording by Richard Himber, it has been covered by over 200 different artists. Its lyrics are about a couple's romance during winter. A later version of "Winter Wonderland" (which was printed in 1947) included a "new children's lyric" that transformed it "from a romantic winter interlude to a seasonal song about playing in the snow". The snowman mentioned in the song's bridge was changed from Parson Brown to a circus clown, and the promises the couple made in the final verse were replaced with lyrics about frolicking. Singers like Johnny Mathis connected both versions, adding a verse and chorus.Lankford, pp. 110-111 History Smith, a native of Honesdale, Pennsylvania, was reportedly inspired to write the lyrics after seeing Honesdale's Central Park covered in s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hugh Martin
Hugh Martin (August 11, 1914 – March 11, 2011) was an American musical theater and film composer, arranger, vocal coach, and playwright. He was best known for his score for the 1944 MGM musical '' Meet Me in St. Louis'', in which Judy Garland sang three Martin songs, " The Boy Next Door", " The Trolley Song", and " Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas". The last of these has become a Christmas season standard in the United States and around the English-speaking world. Martin became a close friend of Garland and was her accompanist at many of her concert performances in the 1950s, including her appearances at the Palace Theater. Early life Martin was born in Birmingham, Alabama, the son of Ellie Gordon (Robinson) and Hugh Martin, an architect. He attended Birmingham-Southern College, where he studied music. He was a member of the Beta Beta chapter of the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity. Career Martin wrote the music, and in some cases the lyrics, for five Broadway musica ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
