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).
I think without a doubt, the best version of all of these is from the jerk… their soft voices and strum of the ukelele are absolutely perfect.
You know, this would be a great thing to take to the Marr Sound Archives on the UMKC campus, run by Chuck Haddox. I have no doubt that they would have several versions. I’m shooting him an email right now to see what he knows about the song…
I once interviewed Chuck Haddox about Charlie Parker for a project in high school. Maybe I could take a field trip to their archives over Thanksgiving.
Just found a YouTube clip of the full version by Prudence and Patience and posted here. I might be the preeminent authority and expert on this song. I don’t know if that is a good thing or bad thing.
So linked above is the newly found (on YouTube that is) Gene Austin version of the song. Here is the link here too: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ey1xAK9HRtc
And for good measure, a cheesetastic (if it’s possible to get more cheesey on this song), a rendition by The Bird and the Bee: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YumbG7vpxS4