Compare and Contrast — Tonight You Belong To Me

Awhile back I posted a few videos making the rounds on the YouTube of the live collaborations of Fiona Apple and Nickel Creek. One of the best songs I found was an old ditty “Tonight You Belong To Me.” I enjoyed the song so much I tried to find the origins.

According to ‘reputable’ sources buried in ancient tomes long since forgotten (Wikipedia), the song was written in 1926 by Billy Rose and music writer Lee David. Over the years it has been performed by Irving Kauffman (1926), Gene Austin (1927), and Lawrence Welk and saw revival with Prudence and Patience in 1956 (heard in this eBay commercial), and even later the Chipmunks. The song reached its biggest peak when reached #30 on the Hot Country songs list in 1977 when it was recorded by country legend Dottie West.

Most people though will remember “Tonight” as it was famously performed by Steve Martin and Bernadette Peters in “The Jerk,” (which is hands down my favourite Steve Martin movie of all time in case you were wondering…which you probably were not.) Martin’s surprising skill at the ukelele (a common feature of his stand-up act at the time) is only barely overshadowed by Peter’s hilariously random fluegelhorn solo (obviously overdubbed, but no less awesome).

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=slnYYmi0SKs[/youtube]

Recently though, it seems the song has had yet another revival with Fiona Apple’s version (below with Jon Brion and Nickel Creek), indie popsters Viva Voce, Nancy Sinatra, a duet with Erin McKeown and Josh Ritter (complete with mouth fluegel), and even Eddie Vedder with Janet Weiss (of Sleater Kinney fame).

The song’s intertwining vocal call and response is the easily the the most charming feature with its contrapuntal movement of the melody (when one part goes up, the other down) and the tightly harmonized unison singalong quality. The other key aspect of the song, no matter the version, is the sprightly strum of ukelele (or often mandolin), perhaps* a contribution to the canon by its appearance in “The Jerk.”

Check out a few of these performances and I guarantee you’ll be humming and singing along in no time.

Lawrence Welk with the Lennon Sisters:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ld5umaGZrWg[/youtube]

Prudence and Patience:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ufzIano8D8[/youtube]

Fiona Apple, Jon Brion and Nickel Creek:

[youtube]nQddapeaIRw[/youtube]

*Note… it remains unknown to me whether the ukelele is part of the original recordings. I am still trying to dig up recordings of these older versions (let me know here in the blog if anyone has copies out there).

On My Way to Internet Celebrityness – Step 1 – Increase “Google” Exposure.

It was brought to my attention today that I have moved one step closer to internet stardom. The Google Street Team happened to be driving by one fateful day outside my office when a coworker and I happened to be moving a case from a ups truck. This sequence of events has led to my immortalization in the land of the internet (or at least until they update their street images)

As you all know it’s hard becoming an internet celebrity. You really have to do something to make yourself stand out from the rest of the yokels out there. And Google street view is my ticket to riches!

Check it out here:

Or on the actual google street view site:1,