Feature: “April Child”
Moacir Santos (1924–2006) was a Brazilian composer, multi-instrumentalist and music educator. Baden Powell de Aquino and Wilson das Neves both studied under him. As a composer, Santos worked with Nara Leão, Roberto Menescal, Sérgio Mendes and Lynda Laurence, among others. Even though the collaboration between Livingston & Evans and Moacir Santos was short, it proved […]
Feature: “What’s My Name”
What’s My Name is featured on Saudade, an album by Brazilian composer Moacir Santos recorded in 1974 and released on the Blue Note label. Over the years Livingston & Evans collaborated on a number of songs with Santos, including April Child, Kathy, “The Beautiful Life” and Luanne (aka “Sou Ou”).
Feature: “Let Me Be Loved”
The James Dean Story is a 1957 American documentary. Released two years after Dean’s death, the Warner Bros. Pictures release chronicles his short life and career via black-and-white still photographs, interviews with the aunt and uncle who raised him, his paternal grandparents, a New York City cabdriver friend, and the owner of his favorite Los […]
Feature: “I Was A Little Too Lonely (And You Were A Little Too Late)”
“After Midnight” is the witching hour of music – the time when the old songs bring back the old memories and the time when musicians relax, play the tunes they like and in general settle into what they like to call “a good groove.” Sometimes – if you’re lucky – you can capture this mood […]
Feature: “G’Bye Now
One day in the early 40’s, Ray saw a publicity item stating that Olsen & Johnson, then one of the most powerful acts in show business, were looking for new songs for their hit show “Hellzapoppin’”. Unfortunately, that PR item was only true inside the mind of the misguided publicity hack that planted it. But, […]
Feature: “Mister Ed”
Mister Ed, a TV show starring a fictional talking horse, first aired in syndication from January 5 to July 2, 1961 and then on CBS from October 1, 1961 to February 6, 1966. The theme song was written by the songwriting team of Jay Livingston and Ray Evans and sung by Livingston. After using only […]
Feature: “Tammy”
TAMMY was written by Livingston and Evans for the film, TAMMY AND THE BACHELOR, starring Debbie Reynolds, Walter Brennan, and Leslie Nielsen. The film was not an immediate success. However, after the title song, as recorded by Debbie Reynolds, was released and became the biggest hit of 1957, staying number 1 for 10 weeks, Universal […]
Feature: ‘Round And ‘Round The Christmas Tree
Tis’ the Season To prepare to be Jolly! From the purveyor of Christmas for over 75 years, Bing Crosby, comes “‘Round and ‘Round the Christmas Tree”, written by one of Hollywood’s greatest songwriting teams, Livingston & Evans. By the way, after Bob Hope, Bing Crosby was the first to record another Christmas standard written by […]