These Foolish Things (Remind Me of You)

Last updated

"These Foolish Things (Remind Me of You)"
Song
Published1935 by Boosey & Hawkes
Composer(s) Jack Strachey
Lyricist(s) Eric Maschwitz as Holt Marvell

"These Foolish Things (Remind Me of You)" is a standard with lyrics by Eric Maschwitz, writing under the pseudonym Holt Marvell, [1] and music by Jack Strachey, both Englishmen. Harry Link, an American, sometimes appears as a co-writer; his input was probably limited to an alternative "middle eight" (bridge) which many performers prefer. [2]

Contents

It is one of a group of "Mayfair songs", like "A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square". [3] Maschwitz wrote the song under his pen name, Holt Marvell, at the behest of Joan Carr for a late-evening revue broadcast by the BBC. [4] The copyright was lodged in 1936. [5] According to the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography , British cabaret singer Jean Ross, [6] [7] with whom Maschwitz had a youthful liaison, was the muse for the song. [6] [7] [8]

Creation

Jean ross.jpg
Jean Ross, a British singer and actress, purportedly inspired Maschwitz's lyrics. [6]

Although Maschwitz's wife Hermione Gingold speculated in her autobiography that the haunting jazz standard was written for either herself or actress Anna May Wong, [9] Maschwitz himself contradicted such claims. [4] Maschwitz instead cited "fleeting memories of [a] young love" as inspiring the song. [4] Most sources, including the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, posit cabaret singer Jean Ross, [6] [7] with whom Maschwitz had a youthful romantic liaison, as the muse for the song. [6] [7] [8]

When the song was written, Maschwitz was Head of Variety at the BBC. [10] It is a list song (Maschwitz calls it a "catalogue song" in his biography), in this case delineating the various things that remind the singer of a lost love. The lyrics – the verse and three choruses – were written by Maschwitz during the course of one Sunday morning at his flat in London between sips of coffee and vodka. [4] Within hours of crafting the lyrics, he dictated them over the phone to Jack Strachey, and they arranged to meet the same evening to discuss the next step. [4]

Rise to popularity

The song was not an immediate success, and Keith Prowse, Maschwitz's agent, refused to publish it, releasing the copyright to Maschwitz himself – a stroke of luck for the lyricist. Writing in 1957, he claimed to have made £40,000 from the song. [11] Despite being featured in Spread it Abroad, a London revue of 1936, [12] it aroused no interest until the famous West Indian pianist and singer Leslie Hutchinson ("Hutch") discovered it on top of a piano in Maschwitz's office at the BBC. "Hutch" liked it and recorded it, whereupon it became a great success and was recorded by musicians all over the world. [11] This first recording by "Hutch" was by HMV in 1936. Popular versions in the USA in 1936 were by Benny Goodman, Teddy Wilson with Billie Holiday, Nat Brandywynne, Carroll Gibbons and Joe Sanders. [13] Billie Holiday's rendering of the song with Teddy Wilson's orchestra was a favorite of Philip Larkin, who said, "I have always thought the words were a little pseudo-poetic, but Billie sings them with such passionate conviction that I think they really become poetry." [14] Holiday's version of the song peaked at No. 5 on the Billboard Pop Songs chart. [15]

French version

The song was translated into French under the title Ces petites choses ("These small things") and recorded by Jean Sablon in 1936 and by Ann Savoy in 2007.

Interpretations

"These Foolish Things"
Single by James Brown
B-side "(Can You) Feel It Part 1"
Released1963 (1963)
Genre Rhythm and blues, traditional pop
Length2:51
Label King
Songwriter(s)
James Brown chartingsingles chronology
"Prisoner of Love"
(1963)		"These Foolish Things"
(1963)		"Signed, Sealed, and Delivered"
(1963)

Various other versions have been recorded including vocal arrangements featuring:

Related Research Articles

Albert Eric Maschwitz OBE, sometimes credited as Holt Marvell, was an English entertainer, writer, editor, broadcaster and broadcasting executive.

"What Is This Thing Called Love?" is a 1929 popular song written by Cole Porter, for the musical Wake Up and Dream. It was first performed by Elsie Carlisle in March 1929. The song has become a popular jazz standard and one of Porter's most often played compositions.

"Red Sails in the Sunset" is a popular song. Published in 1935, its music was written by Hugh Williams with lyrics by prolific songwriter Jimmy Kennedy. The song was inspired by the "red sails" of Kitty of Coleraine, a yacht Kennedy often saw off the northern coast of Northern Ireland and by his adopted town Portstewart, a seaside resort in County Londonderry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Way You Look Tonight</span> 1936 song by Jerome Kern and Dorothy Fields

"The Way You Look To-night" is a song from the film Swing Time that was performed by Fred Astaire and composed by Jerome Kern with lyrics written by Dorothy Fields. It won the Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1936. Fields remarked, "The first time Jerry played that melody for me I went out and started to cry. The release absolutely killed me. I couldn't stop, it was so beautiful."

"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">A Fine Romance (song)</span> 1936 song composed by Jerome Kern, lyrics by Dorothy Fields; from the 1936 film "Swing Time"

"A Fine Romance" is a popular song composed by Jerome Kern with lyrics by Dorothy Fields, published in 1936.

"Pennies from Heaven" is a 1936 American popular song with music by Arthur Johnston and lyrics by Johnny Burke. It was introduced by Bing Crosby with Georgie Stoll and his Orchestra in the 1936 film of the same name.

"Just One of Those Things" is a popular song written by Cole Porter for the 1935 musical Jubilee.

"I Wished on the Moon" is a song composed by Ralph Rainger, with lyrics by Dorothy Parker. Bing Crosby sang the song in The Big Broadcast of 1936.

"How Deep Is the Ocean?" is a popular song written by Irving Berlin in 1932. The song was developed from an earlier Berlin song "To My Mammy" which was sung by Al Jolson in his film Mammy (1930). In the earlier song, the lyrics include the questions "How deep is the ocean? / How high is the sky?" and this was the genesis of "How Deep Is the Ocean?".

"Isn't This a Lovely Day?" is a popular song written by Irving Berlin for the 1935 film Top Hat, where it was introduced by Fred Astaire in the scene where his and Ginger Rogers' characters are caught in a gazebo during a rainstorm. The lyric is an example of a song which turns a bad situation into a love song, a common style for Irving Berlin, as in I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm and Let's Have Another Cup of Coffee.

"I Cried for You" is a pop and jazz standard with music written by Gus Arnheim and Abe Lyman, with lyrics by Arthur Freed. It was introduced by Abe Lyman and His Orchestra in 1923. The recording by Benny Krueger and His Orchestra the same year peaked at number 2 for two weeks and remained in the charts for ten weeks at large. Also in 1923 another interpretation of the song by the Columbians reached number 14 for one week. 15 years later in 1938 two new recordings peaked both number 13 in the Billboard charts, Bunny Berigan and His Orchestra with Kathleen Lane on vocals and an interpretation by Bing Crosby. Glen Gray and his Casa Loma Orchestra followed the next year, peaking at number 6, and in 1942 Harry James' recording was the last to get into the Billboard charts, peaking at number 19.

"(You'd Be So) Easy to Love" is a popular song written by Cole Porter for William Gaxton to sing in the 1934 Broadway show Anything Goes. However Gaxton was unhappy about its wide vocal range and it was cut from the musical. Porter re-wrote it for the 1936 film Born to Dance, where it was introduced by Eleanor Powell, James Stewart, and Frances Langford under its alternate title, "Easy to Love". The song was later added to the 1987 and 2011 revivals of Anything Goes under the complete title "You’d Be So Easy to Love".

"What's New?" is a 1939 popular song composed by Bob Haggart, with lyrics by Johnny Burke. It was originally an instrumental tune titled "I'm Free" by Haggart in 1938, when Haggart was a member of Bob Crosby and His Orchestra. The tune was written with a trumpet solo, meant to showcase the talents of band-mate Billy Butterfield. Crosby's orchestra recorded "I'm Free" the same day it was written.

"What a Little Moonlight Can Do" is a popular song written by Harry M. Woods in 1934. In 1934, Woods moved to London for three years where he worked for the British film studio Gaumont British, contributing material to several films, one of which was Road House (1934). The song was sung in the film by Violet Lorraine and included an introductory verse, not heard in the version later recorded by Billie Holiday in 1935.

Jack Strachey was an English composer and songwriter.

Harry Link was an American vaudeville actor and songwriter. He wrote and co-wrote several well-known jazz standards.

<i>Billie Holiday Sings</i> 1952 studio album by Billie Holiday

Billie Holiday Sings (MGC-118) is a 10-inch LP album made by jazz singer Billie Holiday, released in the United States by Clef Records in 1952. It was her first album for the label, and her first album of original material, following several compilations of previously released 78rpm sides for Columbia, Commodore, and Decca.

<i>Tormé Meets the British</i> 1957 studio album by Mel Tormé

Tormé Meets the British is a 1957 studio album by Mel Tormé, of British songs, recorded in London.

<i>Bakers Holiday</i> 1965 studio album by Chet Baker

Baker's Holiday is an album of songs associated with Billie Holiday by trumpeter/vocalist Chet Baker which was recorded in 1965 and released on the Limelight label.

References

  1. ↑ "These Foolish Things". Music Notes. Retrieved 23 December 2018.
  2. ↑ De Lisle, Tim (1994). Lives of the Great Songs. London: Pavilion Books. p. 40. ISBN   1-85793-051-7.
  3. ↑ De Lisle, p. 41
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Maschwitz 1957, pp. 77–79.
  5. ↑ 250 All Time Hits (Book 3). London: Wise Publications. 1990. p. 250. ISBN   0-7119-2346-9.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 Parker 2004.
  7. 1 2 3 4 Frost 2013.
  8. 1 2 Brown 2016.
  9. ↑ Gingold 1989, p. 54.
  10. ↑ Took, Barry (2004). "Maschwitz, (Albert) Eric (1901-1969)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Retrieved 18 February 2010.
  11. 1 2 Maschwitz 1957, p. 79.
  12. ↑ De Lisle p. 40
  13. ↑ Whitburn, Joel (1986). Joel Whitburn's Pop Memories 1890-1954 . Wisconsin, USA: Record Research Inc. p.  594. ISBN   0-89820-083-0.
  14. ↑ Desert Island Discs, BBC Radio Four, 17 July 1976
  15. ↑ De Lisle p.42
  16. ↑ "A Bing Crosby Discography". BING magazine. International Club Crosby. Retrieved 9 September 2017.
  17. ↑ Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Record Research. p. 168.
  18. ↑ "Coming Forth by Day". Allmusic . allmusic.com. Retrieved 15 January 2019.
  19. ↑ White, Cliff (1991). "Discography". In Star Time (pp. 54–59) [CD booklet]. New York: PolyGram Records.
  20. ↑ De Lisle p. 43

Bibliography

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.