HOWARD KEEL BLESS YORE BEAUTIFUL HIDE
A Centenary Tribute
His 28 Finest Soundtrack Recordings
1950-1955
RETROSPECTIVE RTR 4348 [79.36]
Annie, Get Your Gun
1. My Defences Are Down (3:20)
2. The Girl That I Marry (2:32)
3. They Say It’s Wonderful (2:59)
4. Anything You Can Do (3:14)
Pagan Love Song
5. Pagan Love Song (2:55)
6. House Of Singing Bamboo (3:05)
Show Boat
7. Make Believe (3:29)
8. You Are Love (3:25)
9. Why Do I Love You? (2:38)
Texas Carnival
10. Young Folks Should Get Married (2:58)
Lovely To Look At
11. Lovely To look At (1:55)
12. You’re Devastating (2:43)
13. The Touch Of Your Hand (2:02)
Calamity Jane
14. Higher Than A Hawk (2:13)
15. I Can Do Without You (1:44)
Kiss Me, Kate
16. So In Love (3:14)
17. Were Thine That Special Face (2:13)
18. Wunderbar (3:00)
19. I’ve Come To Wive It Wealthly In Padua (2:08)
20. Where Is The Life That Late I Led? (4:29)
Rose Marie
21. The Right Place For A Girl (1:49)
22. Rose Marie (3:15)
Seven Bride For Seven Brothers
23. Bless Yore Beautiful Hide (2:01)
24. Sobbin’ Women (3:16)
25. When You’re In Love (3:42)
Deep In My Heart
26. Your Land And My Land
Kismet
27. The Olive Tree (3:05)
28. The Sands Of Time (1:49)
TOTAL PLAYING TIME: [79:36]
Howard Keel (1919-2004) was a popular singer and actor who made his mark
performing in MGM musicals during the 1950’s. He was born in Gillespie,
Illinois, grew up in California, and started his music career moonlighting
as a singing waiter. Howard was tall and handsome with a rich, booming basso cantate singing voice, and his jovial stage persona
contributed to his enormous success. In 1945 he appeared in productions of Carousel and Oklahoma! running concurrently on Broadway,
and once played the lead for both shows on the same day. This disc features
28 songs from his musical film career.
The 1950 film Annie, Get Your Gun was Howard’s first American
film. The movie was based on the 1946 stage play and featured music by
Irving Berlin. The film won the Academy Award that year for the team of
Adolph Deutsch and Roger Edens for Best Original Score. Howard co-starred
with the vivacious Betty Hutton and they sing several duets, including the
clever hit tune Anything You Can Do, accompanied by Adolph Deutsch
and the MGM Studio Orchestra & Chorus. The 1951 film Show Boat featured music by Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II.
The show was the first of three musicals that co-starred Kathryn Grayson.
Kathryn was an opera-trained coloratura soprano, and their voices
beautifully blend singing three romantic duets; Make Believe, You Are Love, and Why Do I Love You. In 1953 they
collaborated again in the 1953 musical Kiss Me, Kate.
With Andre Previn leading the MGM Studio Orchestra, they sing
Wunderbar
, a Viennese-style waltz number, and So In Love, one of Cole
Porter’s best-loved standards. Another 1953 musical, Calamity Jane, featured Howard co-starring with Doris Day. The
songwriting team of team of Sammy Fain and Paul Francis Webster provided
the score, and one of Howard’s best solos is Higher Than A Hawk, a
warm ballad and reflective soliloquy,
accompanied by Ray Heindorf and the Warner Brothers Studio Orchestra.
The 1954 musical Seven Brides For Seven Brothers won the Oscar for
Best Picture and featured music by Gene DePaul and lyrics by Johnny Mercer.
Howard’s signature solo Bless Yore Beautiful Hide is a happy trail
tune accompanied by banjo and orchestra. He also sings a fine duet, When You’re In Love, with co-star Jane Powell. One of my favorite
songs on this disc is House of Singing Bamboo, written by Harry
Warren and Arthur Freed. Howard sings the tune in the 1950 film Pagan Love Song, accompanied by the lovely sound of a marimba
while holding a pig on his lap.
This music was compiled by Ray Crick, and restored and remastered by Martin
Haskell.
The 12 -page booklet includes comments by Peter Dempsey. The sound quality
is excellent.
Bruce McCollum
