Songs for Hip Lovers explained

Songs for Hip Lovers
Type:studio
Artist:Woody Herman
Cover:Songs for Hip Lovers.jpg
Released:1957
Recorded:January–March 1957
Genre:Jazz
Length:38:15
Label:Verve MGV 2069[1]
Producer:Norman Granz
Chronology:Woody Herman
Prev Title:Songs for Tired Lovers
Prev Year:1955
Next Title:Early Autumn
Next Year:1959

Songs for Hip Lovers is a 1957 vocal album by the jazz bandleader Woody Herman, arranged by Marty Paich.

Recording and music

The album was recorded in two sessions, in January and March 1957. The material is standards and the arrangements are by Marty Paich.

Release and reception

Songs for Hip Lovers was reissued by Verve Records on CD. Ken Dryden reviewed the album for AllMusic and wrote that "Herman is a swinging, friendly singer heard doing such time-tested standards as the humorous "Makin' Whoopee," a more upbeat than typical "Willow Weep For Me," and "I Won't Dance." The musicians from each of the two sessions provide strong accompaniment: "Sweets" Edison, Charlie Shavers, and Ben Webster are outstanding and Marty Paich's arrangements fit Herman's style rather well". The Penguin Guide to Jazz described it as "a delightful set. Herman's singing was enduring and unpretentious, and he made a lyric line swing without manhandling it." Scott Yanow, in his book Bebop, writes that the album has its "charming moments" but the "horns are missing in its concise performances".[2]

Track listing

  1. "Makin' Whoopee" (Walter Donaldson, Gus Kahn) – 3:26
  2. "I Won't Dance" (Dorothy Fields, Otto Harbach, Oscar Hammerstein II, Jerome Kern, Jimmy McHugh) – 2:39
  3. "I Guess I'll Have to Change My Plan" (Howard Dietz, Arthur Schwartz) – 2:51
  4. "Willow Weep for Me" (Ann Ronell) – 3:37
  5. "Moon Song" (Sam Coslow, Arthur Johnston) – 2:32
  6. "Can't We Be Friends?" (Paul James, Kay Swift) – 3:24
  7. "Comes Love" (Lew Brown, Sam H. Stept, Charles Tobias) – 3:27
  8. "Ev'rything I've Got" (Lorenz Hart, Richard Rodgers) – 3:02
  9. "Alone Together" (Dietz, Schwartz) – 3:07
  10. "Bidin' My Time" (George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin) – 3:27
  11. "Isn't This a Lovely Day?" (Irving Berlin) – 3:21
  12. "Louise" (Leo Robin, Richard A. Whiting) – 3:22

Personnel

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Woody Herman - Songs for Hip Lovers at Discogs. discogs.com. 21 April 2016.
  2. Book: Yanow, Scott. Bebop. 28 December 2017. 2000. Miller Freeman Books. 9780879306083.