Fugue For Tinhorns - Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, and Dean Martin

Fugue For Tinhorns - Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, and Dean Martin

1:30

single, 1963

Written by Frank Loesser

The opening number from Guys and Dolls, of course, redone by three of the greatest voices of the era.  Singing over one another, they create a cavalcade of words, overlapping so you hear first one snatch of lyrics, then another.  And man, could Loesser — whose songs have been featured on this blog twice —write patter!  "And just a minute, boys / I've got the feed box noise / It says the great-grandfather was Equipoise."  It's charming, it's funny, it's even a little sad when you think how these tinhorns are so convinced of their slim chances to win big,

Hey, Look Me Over - Bing Crosby & Rosemary Clooney

Hey, Look Me Over - Bing Crosby & Rosemary Clooney

2:09

recorded for radio, 1962

Written by Cy Coleman and Carolyn Leigh, 1960

This song was written for Lucille Ball for the musical Wildcat, but I only know it through Louis Armstrong's perfect version.  This one uses bright, metallic percussion, cymbals and probably a xylophone or one of its cousins, and an organ, as a backdrop to Clooney's brassy, expressive voice and Bing's laid-back charm.  It's a fine demonstration of their talents, but they don't exactly make the song their own.

In the Cool, Cool, Cool Of the Evening - Bing Crosby & Jane Wyman

In the Cool, Cool, Cool Of the Evening - Bing Crosby & Jane Wyman

3:22

single, 1951

Written by Hoagy Carmichael and Johnny Mercer

Bing and Jane Wyman have fun with this silly song, originally from a movie called Here Comes the Groom, which stars them both.  The film's plot is "Foreign correspondent Pete Garvey has just five days to win back his former fiancée, or he'll lose the orphans he adopted," which sounds like the epitome of a '50s screwball romantic comedy.  The lyrics seem to be goofy quasi-nonsense, basically some patter about being ready for an outdoor party.  "I like a weenie bake, steak and a layer cake / And you'll get a tummy ache too."  But not every line is so clear.  There's also: "How about your brother Jackass?"  And "If perchance we look a bit peaked / Remember c'est la guerre."  It's also credited to the band "The Five Hits and a Miss."  This song won the Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1951.