September Song

September Song was written to oblige the actor Walter Huston. He was about to take a leading role in a Broadway Musical and felt he ought to have at least one solo spot. Huston’s voice was poor and his vocal range limited, but the song survived the treatment and is now a much-loved standard. It has been performed and recorded innumerable times. The composer, Kurt Weill, also wrote The Threepenny Opera with the German playwright Bertolt Brecht. It included another now-famous song – Mack the Knife.  Piano - Roberton Publications 53201 (please order direct)- price code X - duration c.2'45"

Side by Side

Harry Woods contributed many songs to the Hollywood musicals of the Twenties, and many of them have stood the test of time. I’m looking over a four-leaf clover; When the red, red robin comes bob, bob, bobbin’ along; Try a little tenderness, etc. He normally composed both words and music, as in Side by Side, which  is one of his shorter titles! It is a song about friendship and is (appropriately?) a two-part arrangement. Piano - Roberton Publications 53196 (please order direct)- price code X - duration c.2'25"

The Sound of Silence

The Sound of Silence was the song that launched the careers of the folk music duo Simon and Garfunkel. Paul Simon wrote it in 1963 in the aftermath of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. He conceived the song as a way of articulating the emotional trauma felt by many Americans. Piano - Roberton Publications 53170 (please order direct)- price code Y - duration c.3'20"

Stormy Weather

“Stormy Weather” was written in 1933 by Harold Arlen and Ted Koehler. Its most famous recording was by Lena Horne in 1941. Two years later, she recorded another version for the movie of the same name. In all, she recorded the song at least five times during her career. The original handwritten lyrics were featured on the US version of the Antiques Roadshow in 2011, where they were valued as between $50,000 and $100,000. This arrangement is for two parts. Piano - Roberton Publications 53202 (please order direct) - price code Y - duration c.2'30"

Swinging on a Star

Arranged for three parts (TBB). The film was Going My Way (1944) and the singer Bing Crosby. Song writer Jimmy van Heusen was at Crosby’s house for dinner one night to discuss a song for the movie. During the meal one of Crosby’s children complained that he didn’t want to go to school the next day. His father turned to his son and said, ”If you don’t go to school, you might grow up to be a mule. Do you wanna do that?” Van Heusen thought this rebuke would make a good song for the movie and thus it happened. The song won an Oscar for the best original song of that year. Piano - Roberton Publications 53207 (please order direct) – price code X – duration c.1'50"

Tea for Two

This famous song first saw the light of day in the 1925 Musical No, No Nanette.This arrangement updates the original by setting it in the rhythm of a Cha cha. The text box at the bottom of the first page of the music explains more.   Piano – Roberton Publications 53197 (please order direct) – price code X – duration c.2’15”

That Lucky Old Sun

The original recording of the song was by Frankie Laine (in 1949) and was an instant hit. Its success prompted many others – Louis Armstrong, Frank Sinatra, Ray Charles, Johnny Cash, etc. Brian Wilson premiered a song cycle entitled That Lucky Old Sun at the Royal Festival Hall in 2007, so it is still going strong!  In the 60s it was translated into Russian and presented to Soviet audiences to explain how a Western man suffers the hardships of  capitalism! Piano – Roberton Publications 53208 (please order direct) – price code X – duration c.3’10”

They Call the Wind Maria

If it’s any help, much of this song is in unison! It was written for the Broadway Musical Paint your wagon,(1951) a show  set in gold rush era California. This song is descriptive of  the hardships that gold prospectors endure. “Away out here they got a name for wind and rain and fire. The rain is Tess, the fire is Joe and they call the wind Maria”. Piano – Roberton Publications 53191 (please order direct) – price code X – duration c.1’50”

The Trolley Song

“Clang, clang, clang went the trolley. Ding, ding, ding went the bell”  sang Judy Garland in the 1944 film Meet me in St. Louis.The song invites you to join her “to the end of the line”. Piano – Roberton Publications 53192 (please order direct) – price code X – duration c.1’50”

The Way We Were

From the film of the same name (starring Robert Redford and Barbra Streisand), the song won the Academy award for the best original song and the best original score by Marvin Hamlisch. Well worth considering, especially if you are into nostalgia! Piano – Roberton Publications 53193 (please order direct) – price code X – duration c.2’20”

Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines

For ever associated with the film of the same name (and Terry Thomas!) the song celebrates the historic 1910 London-to-Paris air race. Piano – Banks Music Publications PCS 17 –£1.60 – duration c.2’25”. Please order direct from Banks Music Publications, The Granary, Wath Court, Hovingham, York YO62 4NN. Email: banksmusic@tiscali.co.uk

What a Wonderful World

Initially not a hit in the USA, What a wonderful world reached No.1 in the UK charts and was the biggest-selling single in 1968. The song was written specifically for Louis Armstrong and it details the singer's delight in the simple pleasures of everyday life. Piano - Roberton Publications 53182 (please order direct)- price code X - duration c.2'55"

The White Cliffs of Dover

For ever linked to “The Forces’ Sweetheart” Vera Lynn, The White Cliffs of Dover was first heard in 1942.  It was written at a time when British and German aircraft had been fighting over the cliffs of Dover in the Battle of Britain - it became a sensational hit.  Vera Lynn has remained popular ever since. In 2009 she became the oldest living artist to make it to no.1 on the British album chart at the age of 92. Interestingly, bluebirds  are not indigenous to the British Isles and Nat Burton, the lyricist, was an American who had not been within 3000 miles of the place!  Piano - Roberton Publications 53209 (please order direct)- price code X - duration c.2'30"

The Wind Beneath my Wings

The Wind Beneath my wings was named Record of the Year and Song of the Year at the Grammy Awards of 1990. Originally recorded in 1983 by American country music singer Gary Morris, it only reached the number-one spot when Bette Midler started performing it. Piano – Roberton Publications 53194 (please order direct) – price code X – duration c.2’30”

Young and Sentimental - A Sinatra medley

The songs in this medley are You make me feel so young and Sentimental Journey. Between 1939 and 1993 Frank Sinatra recorded over 1200 songs, many of them becoming massive hits. Many consider him the greatest singer of popular songs in the 20th century. The very successful LP Songs for swinging lovers (1956) included You make me feel so young. Sentimental Journey was one of the titles on another big-seller called Come Swing with me (1961). Commercial recording in stereo had arrived comparatively recently (in 1956) and was exploited to the full on this LP. Piano - Roberton Publications 53177 (please order direct) - price code Y - duration c.2'55"