Standards to Love: Singing Up Baby
As I semi-announced last week, our little man made his arrival a week earlier than anticipated. Thankfully his daddy was able to fly in from the Canary Islands to be here in time to welcome his little boy.
Here’s our Judah Ben when he wasn’t even 24 hours old. What a little cutie. (I’m not biased or anything…)
Our Judah Ben is now officially two weeks old and mommy and daddy are still in awe at how our lives are enriched by his daily presence. Honestly, I think back to the time before he came and I wonder what I thought was so important. What did I do with my time before Judah?
One of the things we all tend to associate with newborns is the singing of lullabies. I don’t really know that many lullabies, but the Great American Songbook has been my go-to for songs that I sing to my son.
Today I’m sharing several standards that are entirely appropriate for welcoming a new baby into your world.
With music written by Jimmy McHugh and lyrics by Dorothy Fields, I Can’t Give You Anything But Love, Baby already has a leg up in the catalogue of American Popular Standards. The origin of the song is believed to start one evening when Fields and McHugh were strolling down 57th street and witnessed a couple window shopping at Tiffany’s. Quickly they realized that the couple did not have the means to purchase anything from the jewelry store. While eavesdropping, they overhead the man say,
“Gee, honey, I’d sure love to get you a sparkler from her, but right now I can’t give you nothin’ but love.”
That one line sent the dynamic writing duo’s minds on fire, and while riding the rails from Manhattan into Queens, the two composed this 1928 hit. I was first introduced to the song in the screwball comedy Bringing Up Baby starring Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant (see Films to Love post here). And while I love to hear those two sing it in the film, the version I enjoy the most is by Doris Day.
Johnny Mercer is notably one of the best composers in the Great American Songbook. He just knew how to compose a lyric superbly. You Must Have Been a Beautiful Baby is one such lyric. Collaborating with Tin Pan Alley composer Harry Warren- who gave us a bevy of fantastic hits on his own- Mercer wrote these playful lyrics in 1938. The song was featured in Warner Brother’s film Hard to Get where it was sung by Dick Powell.
I really love these lyrics:
“And when it came to winning blue ribbons, I bet you showed the other kids how. I can see the judge’s eyes as they handed you the prize. I bet you made the cutest bow. Well, you must have been a beautiful baby, cause baby, look at you now.”
My favorite version of this song, bar none, is by Nancy Lamott on her album titled Beautiful Baby.
Now, My Baby Just Cares For Me has enjoyed a rather recent resurgence when it was used in a commercial in 1987 in the UK. Originally recorded in 1957 by Nina Simone, the song was remixed posthumously and skyrocketed to the top ten on the charts after being featured in a perfume commerical. So… you may have actually heard this one in a more modern context.
That being said, the My Baby Just Cares for Me was written by Walter Donaldson and Gus Kahn, two popular and prolific songwriters in the Great American Songbook. They also wrote a song you’ve probably heard called Makin’ Whoopee. My Baby Just Cares for Me was written alongside that song to begin included in the 1930 film Whoopee!
While it has been recorded by a bevy of mega-talented people- Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, Nina Simone, etc.- my favorite version of this song goes to lounge singer, Jacqui Naylor.
Written in 1929 by African-American songwriters Andy Razaf and Don Redman, Gee, Baby, Ain’t I Good to You was a #1 hit on the Harlem Hit Parade and topped out at #20 on the national charts. This bluesy, jazzy number is the perfect song to envision in a smoky speakeasy in Harlem where the dolls lounge about the club in their feathers and fringe and the dudes don cool cat duds and smoke their cigarettes. The song possess atmosphere. And the best recording is a duet by Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong. Love makes me treat you the way that I do, gee, baby, ain’t I good to you!
Here’s a thing we do now. We step out with our baby. This Irving Berlin classic Steppin’ Out With My Baby holds a very special place in my heart. While I can’t recall this completely, my mother assures me that my father used to play his Fred Astaire album and dance with me in his arms to this tune when I was a wee one all those years ago. I wish I could remember those moments with clarity, but I was a baby. That being said, I find myself following in my father’s footsteps with this standards.
Steppin’ Out With My Baby was introduced in the 1948 film Easter Parade starring Judy Garland and Fred Astaire. Obviously, Fred Astaire is the one singing it in the movie. While others did record it, I can only hear Fred Astaire (who might be one of my all time favorites where American Popular Standards are concerned) singing it.
These songs are just perfect if you’re welcoming a new little someone into you life. Heck, even if you’re not, they’re just fantastic listens. That’s why I love the Great American Songbook so much. It has a song for every time of life.
What songs would you or have you sung to the newborn babes in your life?
