The 1952 Walden Sessions

by Ira Gershwin

Overview

In 1952, Edward Jablonski launched Walden Records with the LP Lyrics by Ira Gershwin, a collection of mostly lesser-known songs featuring words by the eldest of the Gershwin brothers, set to music by his younger brother George, Vernon Duke, Kurt Weill, Aaron Copland, Jerome Kern, and Arthur Schwartz, and sung primarily by Broadway star Nancy Walker (then appearing in a revival of Pal Joey), with contributions from her husband, David Craig, and Louise Carlyle, to piano accompaniments by either David Baker or John Morris. Walden was a tiny label that issued only a handful of discs before shutting up, but this 2008 CD reissue by Harbinger Records contains all of the tracks from the original LP (tracks one through ten), followed by selections from a privately pressed recording, Nancy and the Two Davids Sing and Play Gershwin (tracks 11 through 18), which Walker, Craig, and Baker made as a Christmas present for a friend in 1951. Their approach is essentially similar on the added material, and in fact there is some overlap, with an alternate performance of "I Don't Think I'll Fall in Love Today," a Gershwin/Gershwin song from 1928's Treasure Girl that was one of five songs given their first-ever commercial recordings on the Walden LP. The others were "Younger Generation" (sung by what sounds like trio of youngsters), "Sing Me Not a Ballad" from the flop operetta The Firebrand of Florence, "Put Me to the Test" from the movie musical Cover Girl, and "Don't Be a Woman If You Can" from another lost musical, Park Avenue. Given the simple accompaniment and straightforward performances, these versions emphasize Ira Gershwin's intricate lyrics with their clever rhymes, notably in "I Can't Get Started," a delightful patter song for which the lyricist wrote some updated words (referring, among other things, to New York governor and perennial presidential candidate Thomas Dewey), and "The Saga of Jenny." Those songs and the standard "Long Ago and Far Away" demonstrate that not all the tunes were obscure ones, but famous or not, these compositions demonstrate Ira Gershwin's remarkable verbal facility. ~ William Ruhlmann

Product Details

Release Date:	07/29/2008
Label:	HARBINGER
UPC:	0632433250228

Tracks

1. Blah, Blah, Blah
2. My One and Only
3. I Don't Think I'll Fall In Love Today
4. I Can't Get Started
5. The Saga of Jenny
6. Younger Generation
7. Sing Me Not a Ballad
8. Put Me To the Test
9. Long Ago and Far Away
10. Don't Be a Woman If You Can
11. Where's the Boy, Here's the Girl
12. Boy! What Love Has Done To Me
13. I Don't Think I'll Fall In Love Today
14. The Half of It
15. Dearir Blues
16. The Simple Life
17. Where is She?
18. Oh So Nice
19. My Cousin In Milwaukee

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Ira Gershwin   Primary Artist
Patty Hope   Primary Artist
Charlotte Foley   Primary Artist
David Craig   Primary Artist,Vocal Director,Vocals
Rocky Brynner   Primary Artist
Nancy Walker   Primary Artist,Featured Artist
Michael Martin   Primary Artist
Louise Carlyle   Primary Artist
John Morris   Piano
David Baker   Piano
Nancy Celeste Walker   Vocals

Technical Credits

Arthur Schwartz   Composer
Kurt Weill   Composer
Aaron Copland   Composer
Doug Pomeroy   Reissue Remastering
Michael Feinstein   Reissue
Ira Gershwin   Composer
George Gershwin   Composer
Vernon Duke   Composer
Ken Bloom   Reissue Producer,Liner Notes
Jerome Kern   Composer
Al Hirschfeld   Cover Art
Edward Jablonski   Reissue,Liner Notes
Bob Shaver   Reissue
Peter Bartok   Engineer
LuAnn Graffeo   Reissue Art Director
Leon Seidel   Producer,Session Producer