French Piano Song About the Day the Dead Can Walk the Earth Again
| Alabama Song | |
|---|---|
| song by Kurt Weill | |
| Text | by Bertolt Brecht translated past Elisabeth Hauptmann |
| Linguistic communication | English, trans. from German |
| Composed | 1927 (1927) |
The "Alabama Song"—too known as "Moon of Alabama", "Moon over Alabama", and "Whisky Bar"—is an English version of a vocal written by Bertolt Brecht and translated from German by his close collaborator Elisabeth Hauptmann in 1925 and set to music by Kurt Weill for the 1927 play Trivial Mahagonny. Information technology was reused for the 1930 opera Ascension and Autumn of the City of Mahagonny and has been recorded by the Doors and David Bowie.
Original version [edit]
| "Alabama-Song" | |
|---|---|
| Single by Lotte Lenya | |
| B-side | Denn wie man sich bettet |
| Recorded | 24 February 1930 |
| Genre |
|
| Label | Homocord |
| Songwriter(s) | Bertolt Brecht, Kurt Weill |
The "Alabama Song" was written equally a High german poem and translated into idiosyncratic English for the author Bertolt Brecht past his shut collaborator Elisabeth Hauptmann in 1925[1] and published in Brecht'south 1927 Home Devotions (German: Hauspostille), a parody of Martin Luther'southward collection of sermons. It was set to music past Kurt Weill for the 1927 play Niggling Mahagonny ( Mahagonny-Songspiel ) and reused for Brecht and Weill'due south 1930 opera Rise and Fall of the Urban center of Mahagonny ( Aufstieg und Autumn der Stadt Mahagonny ), where it is sung by Jenny and her fellow prostitutes in Human action I. Although the majority of all three works is in German, the "Alabama Song" retained Hauptmann'southward broken English lyrics throughout.
Brecht and Weill's version of the song was first performed past the Viennese actress and dancer Lotte Lenya, Weill's wife,[2] in the role of Jessie at the 1927 Baden-Baden Festival's performance of Little Mahagonny. The outset recording of the vocal—by Lenya for the Homocord tape label—came out in early 1930 nether the title "Alabama-Song";[3] it was rerecorded the same year for the Ultraphon tape label for release with the 1930 Leipzig premiere of The Rising and Autumn of the Metropolis of Mahagonny, despite Lenya not being a member of that cast.[four] She continued to perform and record the vocal throughout her life, including for her 1955 anthology Lotte Lenya Sings Kurt Weill ( Lotte Lenya singt Kurt Weill ), released in the U.s. under the title Berlin Theater Songs.[three]
The Doors version [edit]
| "Alabama Song (Whisky Bar)" | |
|---|---|
| Vocal past the Doors | |
| from the anthology The Doors | |
| Released | January 4, 1967[5] |
| Recorded | August 1966 |
| Genre |
|
| Length | 3:20 |
| Label | Elektra |
| Songwriter(s) | Bertolt Brecht, Kurt Weill |
| Producer(south) | Paul A. Rothchild |
The song was recorded in 1966 by the rock grouping the Doors, listed as "Alabama Vocal (Whisky Bar)". According to drummer John Densmore and guitarist Robby Krieger, the song was presented past keyboardist Ray Manzarek to the grouping while recording their debut anthology, and after the other members were dissatisfied with the melody, they changed it.[6] [7] Doors' cover version combine advanced,[6] [8] carnival music influences, with psychedelic and ska stylistics.[x]
Lead singer Jim Morrison reportedly contradistinct the 2d verse from "Evidence us the fashion to the next pretty boy" to "Show me the mode to the adjacent petty girl",[eleven] merely, on the 1967 Live at the Matrix recording, he sang the original unaltered "next pretty male child".[12] For the Doors' recording, Ray Manzarek also contributed Marxophone forth with organ and keyboard bass.
Personnel [edit]
Per sources:[7] [14]
- Jim Morrison – lead vocals
- Robby Krieger – guitar, bankroll vocals
- Ray Manzarek – organ, keyboard bass, marxophone, backing vocals
- John Densmore – drums, backing vocals
- Paul Rothchild – backing vocals
David Bowie version [edit]
| "Alabama Song" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Unmarried by David Bowie | ||||
| B-side | "Space Oddity (1979 version)" | |||
| Released | 15 February 1980 | |||
| Recorded | ii July 1978 | |||
| Studio | Good World, London | |||
| Genre |
| |||
| Length | 3:51 | |||
| Characterization | RCA | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Bertolt Brecht, Kurt Weill | |||
| Producer(due south) | David Bowie, Tony Visconti | |||
| David Bowie singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
Bowie, a Brecht fan, incorporated the song into Isolar II, his 1978 World Bout. He cut a version at Tony Visconti'due south studio after the European leg of the bout, and in 1980 it was issued as a single to hasten the cease of Bowie's contract with RCA.
With anarchistic central changes, the track "seemed calculated to disrupt any radio programme on which it was lucky enough to get played".[fifteen] Even so, backed with a stripped-down acoustic version of "Space Oddity" recorded in Dec 1979, the unmarried reached No. 23 in the UK. Although Bowie too inverse the "pretty male child" line similar Morrison, he sang Weill's original melody.
Bowie would appear in a BBC version of Brecht's Baal, and release an EP of songs from the play. He performed "Alabama Song" again on his 1990 Sound+Vision Tour and 2002 Heathen tours.
A concert functioning recorded in jump 1978 during the Isolar Ii Tour was released equally a bonus track on the Rykodisc reissue of Bowie's alive album Stage in 1991 and on the 2005 reissue of that album.
Other releases [edit]
- Information technology was released every bit the B-side of the Japanese single "Crystal Nihon" in February 1980.
- The German release of the unmarried "Ashes to Ashes" in August 1980 had "Alabama Vocal" as the B-side.
- In 1992 it was released every bit a bonus track on the Rykodisc reissue of Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps).
- It appeared on the compilation The Singles Drove in 1993 and on The All-time of David Bowie 1980/1987 in 2005.
- Information technology was included on Re:Telephone call three, part of the A New Career in a New Town (1977–1982) boxed prepare, in 2017.
References in popular civilisation [edit]
- The lyric "Testify me the style to the next whisky bar" is written on the wall of the men's restroom in the Tv set evidence Thanks; information technology tin be seen in episode 9 of Season i "Passenger vehicle Returns to Action".
- In 2013, The Doors' version of the song made an appearance in Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright's collaborative finale to the Cornetto Trilogy, The Earth's Terminate.
- Galgalatz plays this vocal every Friday just before midnight
- The Watergate Hotel lobby whisky bar is named after this song.
- In the internet horror game Sad Satan, a slowed downwardly version of this song can be heard in the background at some points which may crusade the listener to feel nauseous while it plays.
- The political commenter Billmon named his blog Whiskey Bar quoting the song. When he airtight the comments, his followers created some other blog named Moon of Alabama.[sixteen]
Selective list of recorded versions [edit]
The song has been covered often:
- Jazz musicians Eric Dolphy and John Lewis recorded Mack the Knife and Other Berlin Theatre Songs of Kurt Weill, an album of Kurt Weill tunes in 1964. "Alabama Song" was performed by a band consisting of Dolphy on bass clarinet, Lewis on piano, Nick Travis on trumpet, Mike Zwerin on trombone, Richard Davis on double bass, and Connie Kay on drums. The solo order is trombone, piano, and bass clarinet. Zwerin asked Dolphy to "play what [he] felt about Alabama".
- The Mitchell Trio on The Slightly Irreverent Mitchell Trio in 1964
- Dave Van Ronk (of the Greenwich Village folk motility), in 1964 and 1992.
- Jacques Higelin, a French singer, covered the song with Catherine Sauvage, on his LP devoted to Boris Vian in 1966 (French lyrics by Boris Vian)
- Mike Westbrook, a British jazz musician, featured the song in performances of his Brass Band in the 1970s, with lyrics by his wife Kate (formerly Barnard).
- Bette Midler. The song was included in a medley in her 1977 live show and double album Live at Last.
- Abwärts, the song featured in the 1980 EP Computerstaat the High german punk band.
- Dalida, the song was covered by the French chanteuse in English during the 1980s. She changed the lyrics in verses to "Show me the manner to the adjacent little dollar" and "For if we don't find the next petit dollar."[17]
- Električni Orgazam, a Serbian stone ring recorded a version on their 1982 album Lisce Prekriva Lisabon.
- Nina Simone, on her 1987 album Live At Ronnie Scott'due south, recorded at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club in London in 1984.
- It was covered by Ralph Schuckett with Richard Butler, Bob Dorough, Ellen Shipley and John Petersen on the tribute album Lost in the Stars: The Music of Kurt Weill.
- Moni Ovadia, the Italo-Bulgarian actor, in 1997, included the song in his album Ballata di fine millennio [eighteen]
- Ute Lemper in 1991: Ute Lemper Sings Kurt Weill
- The Young Gods covered it on their 1991 release The Young Gods Play Kurt Weill, with the lyrics "Prove us the way to the next fiddling girl".
- Big John Bates covered it as a duet on their 2019 Skinners Cage LP with upright bass, violin, guitar and drums, omitting "testify us the way to the next little daughter" to reflect the change in modern sensibilities.
- Marianne Faithfull performed this song (along with several other Brecht/Weill songs) live on her 20th Century Dejection album released in 1996.
- David Johansen covered the vocal on a compilation of Kurt Weill'southward music entitled September Songs – The Music of Kurt Weill, released in 1997.
- eX-Daughter, the Japanese band covered, the vocal on the anthology Big When Far, Modest When Shut in 2000.
- Kazik Staszewski covered the vocal by interpreting the lyrics and adding a new verse. Moreover, the vocal was performed in rock way. The song was published on the album Melodie Kurta Weill'a i coś ponadto (The Melodies of Kurt Weill and Something More than) released in 2001.
- Dee Dee Bridgewater recorded the song on an album This Is New in 2002.
- Marilyn Manson covered the vocal live in a show in Berlin in 2003.
- The Bobs, an American a cappella quartet recorded an organization of the song on their 2005 album Rhapsody in Bob.
- Arthur H., French singer (Jacques Higelin'southward son) and Jeanne Cherhal as well covered the song live in 2007 at the Muzik'Elles festival in Meaux (France). In English language, playing four-hand piano, a video was released.
- Max Raabe and Palast Orchester of Germany performs the song live (as "Moon of Alabama"), albeit merely its kickoff poetry and the chorus, recorded on a 2-CD ready of the Carnegie Hall operation in November 2007 titled Heute Nacht Oder Nie (This evening or Never)
- Amy X Neuburg, an Oakland, California composer, vocalist, and electronic musician recorded a version on Sports! Fries! Booty! in 2000.
- Gianluigi Trovesi and Gianni Coscia recorded a clarinet and accordion version in 2005.
- Dagmar Krause, former Henry Moo-cow member, recorded a version (as well as several other songs written by Bertolt Brecht) on her 1986 solo anthology, Supply and Demand.
- Johnny Logan covered the vocal on his album, Irishman in America (2008).
- Viza released a free download of their recording in 2012.
- Chiara Galiazzo, the winner of the sixth series of the Italian version of The X-Factor, presented a trip the light fantastic version on November 22, 2012.
- Mx.Justin Vivian Bond, the transgender American singer-songwriter, covered the song on 5's 2012 solo anthology Silver Wells.
- Amanda Palmer covered the vocal as a duet with Gavin Friday at her prove in Dublin on July 18, 2013.
Linda van Dyck performed it on Swedish television prove Forsta Samlek on May 10, 1972.
Encounter likewise [edit]
- Other "Alabama" songs
- Other "Whisky Bar"s
References [edit]
- ^ Willett, John; et al., eds. (1990), Bertolt Brecht: Poems and Songs from the Plays, Methuen, p. 223
- ^ Cad, Saint, "Summit 10 Famous Songs With Unknown Originals", Listverse , retrieved 21 June 2013 .
- ^ a b "Lotte Lenya Discography", Kurt Weill Foundation .
- ^ Lenya, Bear Family unit Records, 1998, p. 32 .
- ^ "The Doors – Album Details". Thedoors.com . Retrieved July 29, 2020.
- ^ a b Childed, Serg (Baronial 27, 2018). "German roots of the Moon of Alabama". Music Tales . Retrieved March 23, 2021.
- ^ a b The Doors (2008). Archetype Albums: The Doors (DVD). Hawkeye Rock Entertainment.
- ^ Jones, Dylan (2015). Mr Mojo: A Biography of Jim Morrison. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 52. ISBN978-1408860571.
- ^ Matijas-Mecca, Christian (2020). Mind to Psychedelic Rock! Exploring a Musical Genre. Hardcover. p. 76. ISBN978-1440861970.
- ^ Weidman, Richie (2011). The Doors FAQ: All That's Left to Know Nearly the Kings of Acid Rock. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 141. ISBN978-1617131141.
- ^ "The Doors: Alive at the Matrix 1967". Thedoors.com. Archived from the original on September six, 2015. Retrieved August 31, 2020.
- ^ The Doors (Album notes). The Doors. New York Metropolis: Elektra Records. 1967. Back embrace. ELK-4007.
{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link) - ^ Carr, Roy; Murray, Charles Shaar (1981). Bowie: An Illustrated Tape. p. 108.
- ^ Bernhard. "About Moon Of Alabama". Retrieved 2020-06-19 .
- ^ "Dalida site Officiel - Alabama song" (in French). dalida.com. Retrieved 2013-x-28 .
- ^ "Moni Ovadia Sito Ufficiale". Archived from the original on 23 March 2009. Retrieved 2016-02-09 .
Bibliography [edit]
- Pegg, Nicholas (2000), The Consummate David Bowie, London: Reynolds & Hearn, ISBN1-903111-fourteen-5
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alabama_Song