| features in: Album Chart of 1942 ● Album Chart of the Decade: 1940s |
Having been seduced by her magnificent reading of “Stormy Weather” in the 1943 movie of the same name, I was intrigued enough to digitally re-assemble a copy of her debut album from a year earlier (recorded in December 1941) which included her first recording of the song. Unsurprisingly, it’s the stand out track here, with not too much to get excited about apart from that. As with “Stormy Weather”, the album delves into past movie soundtracks from the 20s and 30s for material, featuring the so-called “best of the best” songwriters from the American songbook such as Harold Arlen, Ted Koehler, George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin, Lorenz Hart, Richard Rodgers and Cole Porter. I'm yawning even typing that out, to be honest. Still, I won’t deny that Ms Horne has a certain je ne sais quoi which is not entirely unpalatable to Rebel ears, and she is a level above many of her contemporaries in my eyes. To boot, she was clearly a good person; a civil rights activist hampered professionally in "the land of the free" by her skin tone and left-leaning political view. You don’t have to love all of her music to appreciate this fine lady.
The Jukebox Rebel
16–Sep–2015
| Tracklist |
| A | [02:45]  Lena Horne with orchestra conducted by Lou Bring - Moanin’ Low (Howard Dietz, Ralph Rainger) Crooner / Cabaret |
| B | [03:12]  Lena Horne with orchestra conducted by Lou Bring - I Gotta Right To Sing The Blues (Harold Arlen, Ted Koehler) Crooner / Cabaret |
| C | [03:20]  Lena Horne with orchestra conducted by Lou Bring - The Man I Love (George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin) Crooner / Cabaret |
| D | [02:43]  Lena Horne with orchestra conducted by Lou Bring - Where Or When (Lorenz Hart, Richard Rodgers) Crooner / Cabaret |
| E | [03:22]  Lena Horne with orchestra conducted by Lou Bring - Stormy Weather (Harold Arlen, Ted Koehler) Crooner / Cabaret |
| F | [02:31]  Lena Horne with orchestra conducted by Lou Bring - Ill Wind (Harold Arlen, Ted Koehler) Crooner / Cabaret |
| G | [02:55]  Lena Horne with orchestra conducted by Lou Bring - Mad About The Boy (Noel Coward) Crooner / Cabaret |
| H | [02:41]  Lena Horne with orchestra conducted by Lou Bring - What Is This Thing Called Love? (Cole Porter) Crooner / Cabaret |
