Spring Will Be a Little Late This Year

Last updated

"Spring Will Be a Little Late This Year" is the title of a 1943 traditional pop composition by Frank Loesser, written for and introduced in the 1944 movie Christmas Holiday , the song was largely overlooked for some ten years before being rediscovered in the mid-1950s to become a pop and jazz standard much recorded by vocalists and instrumentalists.

Contents

Composition / theme

An early instance of Frank Loesser writing his own music for his lyrics, [1] "Spring Will Be a Little Late This Year" has been described by singer Michael Feinstein - the "foremost expert on the music of the Great American Songbook" - [2] as "a perfect example of that heart-on-your-sleeve quality evident in so many [Loesser songs]." [3] The composer's daughter: Susan Loesser, classes the song as a rare "melancholy" item in her father's songbook, but one whose lyric is "not without hope". [4] "Spring Will Be ..." belongs to a sub-genre of songs which treat springtime as a metaphor in an ironic context, [5] the most extreme exemplars such as "Spring Is Here" and "Spring Can Really Hang You Up the Most" "upend[ing] the conventional view of spring as the season of rebirth [to instead] use spring as the setting for expressions of disenchantment or remorse": [6] however "Loesser's lyric ... follow[s] a middle course, evoking a state of mind neither breezily cheerful nor trite; but not unremittingly dark either." [7]

First recordings and Christmas Holiday

"Spring Will Be a Little Late This Year" was written for the film Christmas Holiday to be sung by the female lead Deanna Durbin, a movie musical star from the age of 14 who at age 23 was making a career shift with an essentially dramatic role as a fallen woman working a taxi dance hall near New Orleans. The film discreetly posits Durbin's character as a singer who is first seen singing "Spring Will Be ..." at the dance hall in a performance which eschews Durbin's established "perky upbeat operetta persona" in favor of a "downbeat bluesy jazz" style. [8] The lyrics of "Spring Will Be ..." touch on the film's plot: Dean Harens plays a serviceman who, just after receiving a Dear John letter, is flying home for Christmas when a storm mandates a layover in New Orleans. Meeting Durbin at the dance hall, Harens treats her chivalrously, and she eventually confides her sad history. Once married to a charming roué (Gene Kelly) who has been jailed for murder, Durbin is now self-indentured at the dance hall as penance for failing to somehow save her husband from himself. Subsequent to a denouement which frees Durbin from her thralldom, with imminent romance with Harens implied, Christmas Holiday ends with Durbin gazing up at an overcast sky whose clouds drift apart as she watches. [9] [10]

Completed in February 1944, Christmas Holiday would be released June 1944 to become a box office hit while making only a transient impression on the public consciousness, suggesting that moviegoers anticipating the lighter fare associated with Deanna Durbin and Gene Kelly were disappointed by Christmas Holiday and preferred to forget the film, [11] whose few critical notices virtually ignored "Spring Will Be a Little Late This Year" (Margaret Bean of the Spokesman-Review dismissed the film's "new song" as "not too appealing"). [12] The song had already had three recorded versions prior to the film's release, beginning with that by Johnnie Johnston with the Paul Weston Orchestra, released March 1944 (the song serving as B-side to a 78-rpm single entitled "Irresistible You"), followed by recordings by Percy Faith (recorded April 24, 1944), as an instrumental) and Morton Downey (recorded May 8, 1944, for June 8, release). Also recorded in 1944 by Eddy Howard, "Spring Will Be ..." was recorded by Deanna Durbin - in her signature soprano - [13] in a December 1944 session in which Durbin also recorded the other song she'd sung in Christmas Holiday: "Always", with the tracks being paired on a March 1945 single release (on which "Always" was designated as A-side). Durbin's studio recording of "Spring Will Be ..." is the first evident instance of the song's two verses being preceded by a four line song intro which has rarely been included in subsequent recordings of the song. (See sidebox below.)

Rediscovery

As with its parent film, "Spring Will Be a Little Late This Year" seemed to soon lose such attention as it had garnered, the first evident recording of the song subsequent to 1944 being a 1950 release by the Ralph Flanagan Orchestra with vocalist Harry Prime. The song seems to have come to the fore due to its being recorded in the mid-1950s by Sarah Vaughan, who was evidently the first female vocalist to record "Spring Will Be ..." since Deanna Durbin in 1944, Vaughan also evidently being the song's first jazz-influenced interpreter. Vaughan first recorded "Spring Will Be ..." in a January 5, 1953, session with the Percy Faith Orchestra - Faith having made one of the earliest recordings of the song; the track being released as a single March 3, 1953, and appeared on the 1955 album Sarah Vaughan in Hi-Fi . Subsequent to Vaugahn's version, "Spring Will Be ..." has been recorded on a constant basis mostly by jazz-influenced and/or traditional pop vocalists, mostly female. ("Nearly all the best songs about spring are about disappointment, and all the best versions are by tuned-in women who know the score.") [14]

As sung by Deanna Durbin in the film Christmas Holiday, "Spring Will Be a Little Late This Year" featured two verses of four lines. A musically distinct four-line introduction to these two verses evidently debuted on disc on the studio recording of "Spring Will Be ..." made by Durbin in December 1944 (although this musical intro was heard as early as March 31, 1944, in a performance of "Spring Will Be ..." by Georgia Gibbs on the radio program Camel Caravan ). Generally omitted by the song's performers, this intro may be heard in the recordings of "Spring Will Be ..." made by Helen Merrill, Eydie Gormé, the Randy Van Horne Singers, Joanie Sommers, Audrey Morris, Lina Nyberg, Barbara Lea and Seth MacFarlane.

Recorded versions

Vocal versions of "Spring Will Be a Little Late This Year" include those recorded by (album titles in italics):

Loesser's widow, singer-actress Jo Sullivan on her favorite Frank Loesser song: "For me, I think it would have to be "Spring Will Be a Little Late This Year" ... It's a hell of a song." [15]

The song has also been established as a favored piece by pop and jazz instrumentalists, exemplified by recorded versions by (album titles in italics):

[16]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1958 in music</span> Overview of the events of 1958 in music

This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1958.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1956 in music</span> Overview of the events of 1956 in music

This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1956.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1950 in music</span> Music related events during 1950

This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1950.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1938 in music</span> Overview of the events of 1938 in music

This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1938.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Deanna Durbin</span> Canadian singer and actress (1921–2013)

Edna Mae Durbin, known professionally as Deanna Durbin, was a Canadian-born actress and singer, who moved to the U.S. with her family in infancy. She appeared in musical films in the 1930s and 1940s. With the technical skill and vocal range of a legitimate lyric soprano, she performed many styles from popular standards to operatic arias.

Hugh Martin 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.

<i>Christmas Holiday</i> 1944 film by Robert Siodmak, Felix Jackson

Christmas Holiday is a 1944 American film noir crime film directed by Robert Siodmak and starring Deanna Durbin and Gene Kelly. Based on the 1939 novel of the same name by W. Somerset Maugham, the film is about a woman who marries a Southern aristocrat who inherited his family's streak of violence and instability and soon drags the woman into a life of misery. After he is arrested, the woman runs away from her husband's family, changes her name, and finds work as a singer in a New Orleans dive. The film received an Academy Award nomination for Best Musical Score for Hans J. Salter.

<i>Ella Sings Broadway</i> 1963 studio album by Ella Fitzgerald

Ella Sings Broadway is a 1963 studio album by the American jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald, with an orchestra arranged and conducted by Frank DeVol. Shortly before the sessions for Ella Sings Broadway, Ella had recorded two singles with Marty Paich, the Antonio Carlos Jobim song 'Desafinado' and a Bossa Nova version of the jazz standard 'Stardust'. This prompted many Ella Fitzgerald fans and scholars to conclude that these sessions were also led by Paich. However, the original scores and parts exist in Ella Fitzgerald's library and it was determined that all the music was arranged by Frank DeVol. In fact, DeVol had previously worked with Ella Fitzgerald having written arrangements for Hello Love (1957), Get Happy (1957), Live Someone in Love (1957), Ella Sings Sweet Songs For Swingers (1958), and Ella Wishes You A Swinging Christmas (1960).

"Moonlight in Vermont" is a popular song about the U.S. state of Vermont, written by John Blackburn (lyrics) and Karl Suessdorf (music) and published in 1944. It was introduced by Margaret Whiting in a 1944 recording.

"Oh, Lady Be Good!" is a 1924 song by George and Ira Gershwin. It was introduced by Walter Catlett in the Broadway musical Lady, Be Good! written by Guy Bolton, Fred Thompson, and the Gershwin brothers and starring Fred and Adele Astaire. The song was also performed by the chorus in the film Lady Be Good (1941), although the film is unrelated to the musical.

"Too Marvelous for Words" is a popular song written in 1937. Johnny Mercer wrote the lyrics for music composed by Richard Whiting. It was introduced by Wini Shaw and Ross Alexander in the 1937 Warner Brothers film Ready, Willing, and Able, as well as used for a production number in a musical revue on Broadway. The song has become a pop and jazz standard and has been recorded by many artists.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fascinating Rhythm</span> Song composed by George Gershwin with lyrics by Ira Gershwin performed by Cliff Edwards

"Fascinating Rhythm" is a popular song written by George Gershwin in 1924 with lyrics by Ira Gershwin.

"The Lady's in Love with You" is a popular song which was written by Burton Lane (music) and by Frank Loesser (lyrics). The song was published in 1939 and introduced in the film "Some Like It Hot" (1939) when it was sung by Bob Hope and Shirley Ross. Ms Ross also sang it in the film with Gene Krupa and His Band. The song was sung by Tony Bennett at his final concerts, at Radio City Music Hall, in 2021.

"Laura" is a 1945 popular song. The music, composed by David Raksin for the 1944 movie Laura, which starred Gene Tierney and Dana Andrews, is heard frequently in the movie. The film's director, Otto Preminger, had originally wanted to use Duke Ellington's "Sophisticated Lady" as the theme, but Raksin was not convinced that it was suitable. Angered, Preminger gave Raksin one weekend to compose an alternative melody. Raksin later said, and maintained for the rest of his days, that when, over that weekend, his wife sent him a "Dear John" letter, the haunting theme seemed to write itself.

"There's a Small Hotel" is a 1936 song composed by Richard Rodgers, with lyrics by Lorenz Hart. Originally written for but dropped from the musical Billy Rose's Jumbo (1935), it was used in On Your Toes (1936), where it was introduced by Ray Bolger and Doris Carson, and repeated by Jack Whiting and Vera Zorina in the London West End production that opened on 5 February 1937, at the Palace Theatre.

Lawrence Benjamin Bunker was an American jazz drummer, vibraphonist, and percussionist. A member of the Bill Evans Trio in the mid-1960s, he also played timpani with the Los Angeles Philharmonic orchestra.

Ralph Simon Sharon was a British-American jazz pianist and arranger. He is best known for working with Tony Bennett as his pianist on numerous recordings and live performances.

"Day Dream" is a jazz standard composed by Billy Strayhorn with lyrics by John Latouche and written in 1939. It was first recorded by saxophonist Johnny Hodges and his ensemble on November 2, 1940. Duke Ellington was credited as co-composer on the label of the original 78 RPM release, though he is not generally considered to be one of the song's creators.

The discography for American jazz singer Michael Feinstein.

Charles Curtis Berghofer is an American double bassist and electric bassist, who has worked in jazz and as a session musician in the film industry for more than 60 years, including working on more than 400 movie soundtracks.

References

  1. ↑ The New York Times March 27, 2012. "Overlooked Songwriter Finally Gets His Due" by Stephen Holden
  2. ↑ "Michael Feinstein saves the Great American Songbook". aarp.org.
  3. ↑ (2001) Michael Feinstein with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (liner notes by Michael Feinstein). Los Angeles: Concord Jazz CCD-4987-2 (0 13431 49872 8)
  4. ↑ Loesser, Susan (2000). A Most Remarkable Fella: Frank Loesser & the Guys & Dolls in his life. Milwaukee, WI: Hal Leonard. pp. 60–61. ISBN   978-0634009273.
  5. ↑ "StereoTimes". Stereotimes.com.
  6. ↑ Hajdu, David (22 April 2011). "Why Are There No Great Easter Songs?". The New Republic.
  7. ↑ ""Spring Will Be a Little Late This Year": Song History, Commentary, Discography, Performances on Video". Greatamericansongbook.net. Retrieved 28 May 2023.
  8. ↑ Chinen Bisen, Sheri (2014). Music in the Shadows: Noir Musical Films. Baltimore MD: Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 57. ISBN   978-1-4214-0838-5.
  9. ↑ Greco, Joseph (1999). File on Robert Siodmak in Hollywood, 1941-1951. Dissertation.com. pp. 25–49. ISBN   1-58112-081-8.
  10. ↑ "Christmas Holiday". Notcoming.com. Retrieved 28 May 2023.
  11. ↑ Basinger, Jeanine (2009). The Sate Machine. NYC: Vintage Books. pp. 284–286. ISBN   978-0307388759.
  12. ↑ Spokesman-Review (Spokane) October 1, 1944. "Young Deanna Seems to Prefer Muse of Tragedy: in Christmas Holiday she forsakes her delightful pieces of laughter and song to delve into a heavy dramatic role" by Margaret Bean p.6
  13. ↑ "Deanna Durbin – Femme Fatal: An interview with film historian, Dale Kuntz". Fabulousfilmsongs.com.
  14. ↑ "Lost in a Fool's Paradise". Emscee.com.
  15. ↑ Arizona Republic February 25, 2007. "Frank Loesser: the Guy Behind Guys & Dolls" A&E pp.1-9
  16. ↑ "Original versions of Spring Will be a Little Late This Year written by Frank Loesser | SecondHandSongs". SecondHandSongs.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.