The
"What's New" Linda Ronstadt and
Nelson
Riddle Concert Page
A listing of the songs in the concert, when they were hits and who originally sang them
In
1984 Linda Ronstadt, known as the queen of rock and roll, made a
gutsy move: at the beginning of the hard-driving Madonna era she
dared to release a series of albums with songs taken mostly from the
1930s and 40s. The gamble paid off because the album was so
successful it sold over 3,000,000 copies resulting in the RIAA
certifying it as triple-platinum, two more albums were released and
were also hits, the concert was a great success and Nelson Riddle
picked up a few Grammys in the process. Linda Ronstadt's courage and
determination to produce these albums exposed a whole new generation
to the sounds of the pre-swing and swing eras.
VHS tapes of a concert featuring many of the songs from the albums are still available from second party dealers on Amazon.com and occasionally on Ebay. While the tape is entertaining I have to admit that I was disappointed that no mention was made either on the cover, during the performance, or in the credits of who originally performed the songs. This information was also impossible to find on the Internet so I decided to create the following page to provide a listing of the song titles, who originally sang them, when they were hits, and their highest chart position. Most of these songs were released several times by different artists. The information came from Joel Whitburn's Pop Memories, 1890-1954, 1986, published by Record Research. The songs are listed in their order on the VHS tape accompanied in three cases with YouTube videos of the songs.
1.
I've Got a
Crush on You (slow ballad)
Originally
performed by: Joe Sullivan,..
1940, top chart position: 30
................................Frank
Sinatra, 1948, top chart position: 21
2.
What's New (slow
ballad)
Originally
performed by: Bing Crosby,......
1939, top chart position: 2
................................Benny
Goodman, .1939,
top chart position: 7
................................Bob
Crosby,
.......1939,
top chart position: 10
................................Hal
Kemp,
..........1939,
top chart position: 11
3. Keep'n Out of Mischief Now (perky)
Originally
performed by: Louis Armstrong,...........
1932, top chart position: 17
................................Coon-Sanders
Orchestra,
1939, top chart position:. 2
4. Guess I'll Hang My Tears Out to Dry (ballad)
Originally performed by: Harry James, 1945, top chart position: 16
5. Falling in Love Again (sassy)
Originally
performed by: Marlene Dietrich,.1930s
(never charted)
.................................Billie
Holiday,
.....1930s,
(never charted)
6. Someone to Watch Over Me (ballad)
Originally
performed by: Gertrude Lawrence, 1927, top chart position: 2
.................................George
Olsen,
.......1927,
top chart position: 3
.................................George
Gershwin,
...1927,
top chart position: 17
7. Daddy (very fast and perky)
Originally
performed by: Sammy Kaye,....
1941, top chart position: 1 (for 8 weeks)
................................Joan
Merrill,
.......1941,
top chart position: 13
................................Frankie
Masters,..1941,
top chart position: 21
8.
Mr. Sandman (fast,
bright, lively - my favorite of the tape)
Originally
performed by: The Chordettes, 1954, top chart position: 1 (for 7 weeks)
.................................Buddy
Morrow,..
1954, top chart position: 20
.................................The
Lancers,
....1954,
top chart position: 28
.................................Four
Aces,
.......1955,
top chart position: 5
9. I've Got a Guy (Girl) in Kalamazoo (Fast, perky - a rewrite of the Glenn Miller hit)
Originally
performed by: Glenn Miller, 1942, top chart position: 1 (for 8 weeks)
10. Dream (When You're Feeling Blue) (ballad)
Originally
performed by: The Pied Pipers,..1945,
top chart position: 1 (for 1 week)
.................................Frank
Sinatra,
...1945,
top chart position: 5
.................................Freddy
Martin,
...1945,
top chart position: 9
.................................Jimmy
Dorsey,....1945,
top chart position: 15
.................................The
Four Aces,...1954,
top chart position: 17
11. Choo Choo Ch'Boogie (very fast)
Originally performed by: Louis Jordan,.1946, top chart position: 7
12. I Don't Stand a Ghost of a Chance (with You) (ballad)
Originally
performed by: Bing Crosby,.1933,
top chart position: 5
................................Ted
Fio Rito,.1945,
top chart position: 12
13.
Lover Man
(slow ballad)
Originally performed by: Billie Holiday,.1945, top chart position: 16
14. Goodbye (very slow ballad)
Originally performed by: Paul Specht,.1923, top chart position: 10
I
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