Spread A Little Happiness: The Music and Songs of Vivian Ellis_音乐专辑
Spread A Little Happiness: The Music and Songs of Vivian Ellis
表演者: Vivian Ellis
介质: CD
发行时间: 1998-06-23
唱片数: 2
出版者: Happy Days (UK)
条形码: 0793515025728
专辑简介
Ellis was born in Hampstead, London in 1903, not 1904 as is usually stated.[1] He studied the piano with Myra Hess and began a musical career as a concert pianist, but became a composer and lyricist. Initially he contributed pieces for several revues in the 1920s. He became well known in the London West End Theatres for providing the music and collaborating in the production of a large number of musical shows, spanning from 1925 to 1958. In fact he was to dominate the theatre of the 1930s having one to three shows run most years of this decade. However, in spite of his music being both pleasant and catchy, few of his compositions were recorded (with the exception of "I'm On A See-Saw" by Fats Waller), so his name became less well known after his last London production. He wrote some songs used in British films of the 1930s.
By the 1950s musical comedy had begin to fall out of fashion, and his last full-length musical, Half in Earnest, appeared in 1958. He contributed to revues for a few more years and then turned his hand to writing a series of amusing books such as How To Enjoy Your Operation. Ellis became the President of the Performing Right Society and in 1984 the society instituted an annual event - the Vivian Ellis Prize - to encourage young composers and lyricists to write for the musical stage. Ellis gave all the writers the same advice: "Try and put at least one hit song in every musical you write." Several of the promising writers featured in the competition went on to success, including Charles Hart who wrote lyrics for Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical of The Phantom of the Opera, and Philip Glassborow whose comedy musical The Great Big Radio Show! was a personal favourite.
Ellis as a composer was "rediscovered" in the 1980s when his 1929 musical "Mr. Cinders" (featuring the hit song, "Spread A Little Happiness") was revived at the King's Head Theatre in London. The song also charted again in a version by Sting, following its ironic use in the film Brimstone and Treacle. His song This is My Lovely Day also appeared in the John Cleese comedy Clockwise in 1987.
Ellis's composition "Alpine Pastures" was used as the theme song for the long-running BBC radio series My Word and another light music composition of his, "Coronation Scot," was the signature tune for the Paul Temple series.
His grandmother was the composer Julia Woolf. His autobiography, published in 1953, is entitled "I'm on a See-Saw", named after the hit song from his musical Jill Darling.
In December 2008, the King's Head Theatre in London will present the world premiere of "Godiva", a previously unproduced musical (book by Guy Bolton) written in the 1950s.
曲目
Disc: 1
1. Little Boy Blues [Clowns in Clover] - Bobby Comber, Bennis Cowles, Chick Endor, June, Chorus
2. Spread a Little Happiness (Mr. Cinders) - Binnie Hale
3. Ev'ry Little Moment (Mr. Cinders) - Binnie Hale, Bob Howes
4. On the Amazon (Mr. Cinders) - Bob Howes
5. I Don't Know How [A Yankee at the Court of King Arthur] - Leslie Hutchinson
6. My Heart Is Saying [The House That Jack Built] - New Mayfair Orchestra, Ray Noble
7. Wind in the Willows [Cochran's 1930 Revue] - Leslie Hutchinson
8. Follow a Star - Sophie Tucker
9. I Can Never Think of the Words (Follow a Star) - Sophie Tucker
10. If Your Kisses Can't Hold the Man You Love (Follow a Star) - Sophie Tucker
11. First Week-End in June (Follow a Star) - Betty Davies, Jack Hulbert
12. Don't Wear Your Heart on Your Sleeve (Follow a Star) - Betty Davies, Jack Hulbert
13. Let's Be Sentimental [Little Tommy Tucker] - Jack Hilton & His Orchestra, Pat O'Malley
14. Within My Heart Song of the Drum - Marie Burke
15. Song of the Hillmens Song of the Drum - Male Chorus, Raymond Newel
16. Put That Down in Writting [Out of the Bottle] - Clifford Mollison, Polly Walker
17. Flies Crawled up the Window (Jack's the Boy) - Jack Hulbert
18. I Want to Cling to Ivy (Jack's the Boy) - Jack Hulbert
19. Sweep (Falling for You) - Jack Hulbert, Chorus
20. You Don't Understand (Falling for You) - Jack Hulbert, Joan McLaren
21. Mrs. Bartholomew (Falling for You) - Cicely Courtneidge, Leo Sheffield
22. Kiss Me Dear [Streamline] - Florence Desmond
23. Be Yourself (Impersonations) [Streamline] - Florence Desmond
Disc: 2
1. I Will/The First Waltz [Streamline] - Esmond Knight, Meg Lemonnier, Naunton Wayne, Chorus
2. Other People's Babies [Streamline] - Norah Howard
3. You Turned Your Head [Streamline] - Esmond Knight, Meg Lemonnier, Chorus
4. Speech Day [Streamline] - Esmond Knight, Meg Lemonnier, Naunton Wayne, Chorus
5. Let's Lay Our Heads Together [Jill Darling] - Frances Day, Arthur Riscoe
6. I'd Do the Most Extraordinary Things [Jill Darling] - Frances Day, Arthur Riscoe
7. Nonny, Nonny No [Jill Darling] - Louise Brown, John Mills
8. I'm on a See-Saw [Jill Darling] - Louise Brown, John Mills
9. Faint Harmony [Jack and Jill] - Al Bowlly, Lew Stone Band
10. Medley: The Professional Diner Out/The Trees in Bloomsbury ... - Vivian Ellis
11. There Never Was a Girl Like Mary (The Town Talks) - Arthur Riscoe
12. Me and My Dog (Public Nuisance, No. 1) - Frances Day
13. Swing (Public Nuisance No. 1) - Sam Costa, Jay Wilber & His Band
14. When a Woman Smiles [O Misteress Mine] - Pierre Fresnay, Yvonne Printemps
15. Two Little Princesses [#] - Vivian Ellis
16. She's My Lovely [Hide and Seek] - Bob Howes
17. How Do You Do, Mr. Right? [The Fleet's Lit Up] - Flanagan & Allen
18. Medley: Doing an Irish Jig/Take Your Partners for the Waltz/When ... - Vivian Ellis
19. Together Again (Under Your Hat) - Cicely Courtneidge, Jack Hulbert
20. Empire Depends on You (Under Your Hat) - Cicely Courtneidge
21. Let Me Play [Medley] - Vivian Ellis
