‘Volare’ really moves at 1:32!
Volare Domenico Modugno Satin Doll Duke Ellington South Of The Border Frank Sinatra Yamaha Tyros 4
Oct 16, 2013
Volare Domenico Modugno Satin Doll Duke Ellington South Of The Border Frank Sinatra Yamaha Tyros 4
“Nel blu dipinto di blu” (English: In the Sky, Painted Blue), popularly known as “Volare” (to fly), is a song recorded by Italian singer-songwriter Domenico Modugno. Written by Franco Migliacci and Domenico Modugno, it was released as a single on 1 February 1958.[1]
Winning the 8th Sanremo Music Festival, the song was chosen as the Italian entry to the Eurovision Song Contest in 1958, where it won third place out of ten songs in total. The combined sales of all the versions of the song exceed 22 million copies worldwide, making it one of the most popular Eurovision songs of all time and the most successful Sanremo Music Festival song ever.
It spent five non-consecutive weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100 in August and September 1958 and was Billboard’s number-one single for the year. Modugno’s recording subsequently became the first Grammy winner for Record of the Year and Song of the Year in 1958.
The song was later translated in several languages and it was recorded by a wide range of performers, including Bobby Rydell, Dean Martin, Al Martino, David Bowie, Cliff Richard, Frank Sinatra, Louis Armstrong, Luciano Pavarotti, Dalida, Gipsy Kings and Barry White.
“Satin Doll” is a jazz standard written by Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn with lyrics by Johnny Mercer. Written in 1953, the song has been recorded countless times, by such artists as Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, 101 Strings, Terry Callier, and Nancy Wilson. Its chord progression is well known for its unusual use of chords and opening with a ii-V-I turnaround.[1]
Johnny Mercer was often asked to write lyrics to already popular songs. The lyrics to “Satin Doll” were written after the song was already a hit in its instrumental version. Ellington used “Satin Doll” as the closing number at most of his concerts.
It is possible that the music was not co-composed by Ellington but solely by pianist-arranger Billy Strayhorn, who worked closely with Ellington.
The Coasters released a version of the song on their 1960 album, One by One.[2]
The popular 1950s group, The Gaylords recorded a version of “Satin Doll” in 1958.[3]
The American vocal group The Stylistics recorded a cover version for their 1976 album, Once Upon a Juke Box
“South of the Border” is a popular song describing a trip to Mexico, written by Jimmy Kennedy and Michael Carr and published in 1939 for the film of the same name starring country star Gene Autry.[1]
In the lyrics, a man looks back with regret and pain for having lied to the woman he can’t forget (“…and now as I wander, my thoughts ever stray…”) and returned for too late, just as she was preparing for marriage. The lyric is in juxtaposition with the music, which swings with syncopated joy.[citation needed]
The song was a hit in 1939 for Shep Fields, vocal by Hal Derwin. It has been recorded by many artists, but the best-known versions are by Gene Autry and Frank Sinatra (1953). Irish-born boxing tenor Jack Doyle recorded it with his then wife, Mexican American movie actress Movita Castaneda. Rockabilly artist Carl Mann recorded the song in October 1959 for Sun Records, which was released on the Phillips International label in 1960. The song was recorded in August 1961 by Patsy Cline for her album Patsy Cline Showcase and appears on Herb Alpert’s Tijuana Brass album South of the Border (1964). The Shadows did an instrumental version on their 1962 album Out of the Shadows
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