Gertrude Lawrence - Poor Little Rich Girl

Описание: Gertrude Lawrence - Poor Little Rich Girl

Gertrude Lawrence was one of Great Britain's brightest theatrical stars during the first half of the 20th century. A lifelong friend and colleague of Noel Coward, Lawrence's forte was sophisticated musical comedy, where she exuded a lively, charismatic stage presence that easily overcame her shortcomings as a singer. She was sometimes criticized for a small vocal range and a tendency to sing flat, but her emotional commitment and flat-out star power earned her the approval of most of the musical legends she worked with (Coward, the Gershwins, Cole Porter, Kurt Weill, Rodgers & Hammerstein, etc.). Her recorded legacy is somewhat limited, as she was most in her element on-stage in theaters or cabarets, but enough documentation exists to bring her talents into focus for modern listeners.

Gertrude Lawrence -- or Gertie, as she was affectionately called -- was born Gertrud Alexandra Dagmar Klasen on July 4, 1898, in the Newington area of London. Her father was a Danish-born singer and actor who worked under the name Arthur Lawrence, and her mother also had a strong interest in the theater. According to legend, Lawrence spent much of her childhood in poverty; while it was true that her father didn't earn much of an income, his alcoholism led to a divorce early in Lawrence's childhood, and her mother soon remarried into a more comfortable life. In 1908, supported by her mother and grandmother, Lawrence made her first stage appearance as a child dancer in the show Babes in the Wood. She subsequently trained as an actress with Italia Conte, who helped iron out her Cockney dialect, and landed chorus roles in several plays over 1911-1913. As part of the London-based Liverpool Repertory Company, Lawrence met the similarly teenaged Noel Coward during a 1913 production of Hannele, and the two quickly forged what would become a lifelong friendship that bore considerable creative fruit. (According to legend, Lawrence first caught Coward's attention by telling him dirty jokes.)

Lawrence made a splash on Broadway by co-starring with Beatrice Lillie in André Charlot's Revue of 1924, in which she introduced the perennial standard "Limehouse Blues" (though she would not record it until 1931). Two years later, in Charlot's Revue of 1926, she introduced the standard "A Cup of Coffee, a Sandwich and You" (a Top Five hit when she recorded it), and sang two Coward compositions previously heard only in England, "Russian Blues" and "Poor Little Rich Girl." In November 1926, Lawrence became the first British actress ever to originate a role in New York before performing it in London, when she co-starred in George and Ira Gershwin's hugely successful Oh, Kay!. Her version of the show's "Someone to Watch Over Me" nearly topped the U.S. charts in 1927, and recordings of "Do-Do-Do" and "Maybe" were successful as well. Now a star in America as well as England, Lawrence made her motion picture debut in the 1929 talkie The Battle of Paris. [AllMusic.com]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This Is Art Deco
Genre: Jazz, Pop
Style: Vocal, Swing
Year: 1993

Tracklist

– Bert Williams Nobody
– Al Jolson Swanee
– Cliff Edwards Fascinatin' Rhythm
– Gertrude Lawrence Poor Little Rich Girl
– Sophie Tucker With The Ted Lewis Orchestra Some Of These Days
– Bing Crosby With The Paul Whiteman Orchestra If I Had A Talking Picture Of You
– Eddie Cantor Look What You've Done
– Guy Lombardo And His Royal Canadians I Guess I'll Have To Change My Plan
– The Boswell Sisters Minnie The Moocher's Wedding Day
– The Mills Brothers I Can't Give You Anything But Love Baby 2:45
– Mae West A Guy What Takes His Time
– Ethel Merman I Get A Kick Out Of You
– Fred Astaire They Can't Take That Away From Me
– Marlene Dietrich Lili Marlene
– Mary Martin All Through The Night
– Judy Garland The Man That Got Away
– Judy Holliday What'll I Do
– Jack Lemmon Let's Fall In Love
– Helen Humes If I Could Be With You One Hour Tonight
– Alberta Hunter You Can't Tell The Difference After Dark

This CD is from my collection.
Songs on this record are linked in consecutive order. The next piece is linked in a window at the end of the video.