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on March 27, 1924
Sarah Vaughan had an amazing number of albums and I had a difficult time deciding which one I would feature in tribute to her birth. I chose Crazy and Mixed Up for many reasons: there are some great songs on it, there is some serious scat singing by her, the liner notes were written by Norman Granz, and the "Divine One" herself produced the album, chose the album cover as well as the title.
She was one of the most respected of all jazz singers, known among her close-knit circle of musician friends as 'Sassy' and among her worldwide fan base as 'The Divine One'. She had a remarkable range and her smoky contralto voice was truly, "Divine." From 1944 to 1945, she sang with Billy Eckstine and it was during this period that she earned the nickname.
Sarah Vaughan – Crazy and Mixed Up
vinyl LP album cover photo by Carol Friedman
photo of album cover by Styrous®
vinyl LP album cover photo by Carol Friedman
photo of album cover by Styrous®
Norman Granz was a fundamental figure in American jazz from about 1947 to 1960. He was the founder of five record labels: Clef, Norgran, Down Home, Verve and Pablo. He has been acknowledged as "the most successful impresario in the history of jazz"; the list of artists he promoted to legendary status is astonishing and include: Ella Fitzgerald, Cannonball Adderley, Louis Armstrong, Count Basie, Louie Bellson, Ray Brown, Benny Carter, Buck Clayton, Paulinho da Costa, Buddy DeFranco, Roy Eldridge, Duke Ellington, Herb Ellis, Tal Farlow, Stan Getz, Dizzy Gillespie, Lionel Hampton, Bill Harris, Coleman Hawkins, Johnny Hodges, Billie Holiday, Milt Jackson, Illinois Jacquet, Hank Jones, Barney Kessel, Gene Krupa, Howard McGhee, Thelonious Monk, Bill Evans, Gerry Mulligan, Anita O'Day, Charlie Parker, Joe Pass, Oscar Peterson, Flip Phillips, Bud Powell, Buddy Rich, Charlie Shavers, Sonny Stitt, Art Tatum, Ben Webster, Lester Young and many, many others.
Sarah Vaughan – Crazy and Mixed Up
vinyl LP album back cover photo by Carol Friedman
photo of album cover by Styrous®
vinyl LP album back cover photo by Carol Friedman
photo of album cover by Styrous®
This is what Granz had to say about Crazy and Mixed Up by Vaughan,
"In this venture Sarah Vaughan, a singer of many years experience (she recently celebrated her fortieth year in show business) elected to produce her own album."
"My dream", as she put it, "to do whatever I want without any interference from the record company."
"Well, Sassy, as she is called by intimates and her devote cult-like fans, chose the songs musicians, the etc., etc., etc., for this, HER VERY OWN PRODUCTION."
Sarah Vaughan – Crazy and Mixed Up
vinyl LP album back cover detail
album photo by Carol Friedman
detail photo of album cover by Styrous®
vinyl LP album back cover detail
album photo by Carol Friedman
detail photo of album cover by Styrous®
The songs include some well-known standards. First up is, I Didn't Know What Time It Was, from the 1939 musical, Too Many Girls, written by Richard Rodgers with lyrics by Lorenz Hart. The song was also sung by Frank Sinatra in the 1957 film, Pal Joey.
Sarah Vaughan – Crazy and Mixed Up
vinyl LP album back cover detail
album photo by Carol Friedman
detail photo of album cover by Styrous®
vinyl LP album back cover detail
album photo by Carol Friedman
detail photo of album cover by Styrous®
That's all is a 1952 song written by Alan Brandt with music by Bob Haymes. It has been covered by many jazz and blues artists. The first recording, by Nat King Cole in 1953, achieved some popularity but was not among that year's top 20 songs. It was the Bobby Darin version in his 1959 album That's All that introduced the song to a wider audience. It is usually sung as a ballad; the Vaughan version is upbeat, jazzy and sassy.
Sarah Vaughan – Crazy and Mixed Up
vinyl LP album back cover detail
album photo by Carol Friedman
detail photo of album cover by Styrous®
vinyl LP album back cover detail
album photo by Carol Friedman
detail photo of album cover by Styrous®
Autumn Leaves was originally a 1945 French song, Les Feuilles mortes (literally "The Dead Leaves"), with music by Hungarian-French composer Joseph Kosma and lyrics by poet Jacques Prévert. However, Vaughan ditches the lyrics and cuts loose with some stellar scat signing and sounds at times like Ella Fitzgerald.
Sarah Vaughan – Crazy and Mixed Up
vinyl LP album back cover detail
detail photo of album cover by Styrous®
vinyl LP album back cover detail
detail photo of album cover by Styrous®
Love Dance is slow, dreamy and exquisitely showcases the beauty and range of The Divine One's voice. It was written by composer, bandleader and inventor Raymond Scott who was among the unheralded pioneers of contemporary experimental music. He invented the Electronium, one of the first synthesizers ever created.
His music is familiar to millions because Carl Stalling adapted it in over 120 classic Bugs Bunny, Porky Pig, Daffy Duck, and other Warner Bros. Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies animated shorts.
His music is familiar to millions because Carl Stalling adapted it in over 120 classic Bugs Bunny, Porky Pig, Daffy Duck, and other Warner Bros. Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies animated shorts.
Sarah Vaughan – Crazy and Mixed Up
vinyl LP album back cover detail
detail photo of album cover by Styrous®
vinyl LP album back cover detail
detail photo of album cover by Styrous®
Sarah Vaughan was born in Newark, NJ, her parents were Asbury, a
carpenter, and Ada, a laundress. She began studying music when she was
seven, taking eight years of piano lessons and two years of organ. As a
child she sang in the choir at the Mt. Zion Baptist Church in Newark and
played piano and organ in high school productions at Arts High School.
She entered an amateur contest at the Apollo Theater in the New York City
Harlem area, singing the standard by Johnny Green, Body and Soul, and won the $10 prize and a week's
engagement at the Apollo.
In 1947 she married her manager, trumpeter George Treadwell. In 1953, Treadwell negotiated a unique contract for Vaughan with Mercury Records. She would record commercial material for the Mercury label and more jazz-oriented material for its subsidiary EmArcy. Vaughan was paired with producer Bob Shad
and their excellent working relationship yielded strong commercial and
artistic success. Her debut Mercury recording session took place in
February 1954 and she stayed with the label through 1959. After a stint
at Roulette Records (1960 to 1963), Vaughan returned to Mercury from 1964 to 1967.
Vaughan's commercial success at Mercury began with the 1954 hit, Make Yourself Comfortable, recorded in the fall of 1954, and continued with a succession of hits, including: How Important Can It Be (with Count Basie), Whatever Lola Wants, The Banana Boat Song, You Ought to Have A Wife and Misty. Her commercial success peaked in 1959 with Broken Hearted Melody, a song she considered to be "corny", but, nonetheless, became her first gold record, and a regular part of her concert repertoire for years to come. Vaughan was reunited with Billy Eckstine for a series of duet recordings in 1957 that yielded the hit Passing Strangers. Vaughan's commercial recordings were handled by a number of different arrangers and conductors, primarily Hugo Peretti and Hal Mooney.
Although the professional relationship between Vaughan and Treadwell was quite successful through the 1950s, their personal relationship finally reached a breaking point and she filed for a divorce in 1958. Vaughan had entirely delegated financial matters to Treadwell, and despite significant income figures reported through the 1950s, at the settlement Treadwell said that only $16,000 remained. The couple evenly divided the amount and their personal assets, terminating their business relationship.
Her later husbands included pro football player & taxi cab company owner, Clyde Atkins . . .
Vaughan's commercial success at Mercury began with the 1954 hit, Make Yourself Comfortable, recorded in the fall of 1954, and continued with a succession of hits, including: How Important Can It Be (with Count Basie), Whatever Lola Wants, The Banana Boat Song, You Ought to Have A Wife and Misty. Her commercial success peaked in 1959 with Broken Hearted Melody, a song she considered to be "corny", but, nonetheless, became her first gold record, and a regular part of her concert repertoire for years to come. Vaughan was reunited with Billy Eckstine for a series of duet recordings in 1957 that yielded the hit Passing Strangers. Vaughan's commercial recordings were handled by a number of different arrangers and conductors, primarily Hugo Peretti and Hal Mooney.
Monterey Jazz Festival - 1981
photographer unknown
Although the professional relationship between Vaughan and Treadwell was quite successful through the 1950s, their personal relationship finally reached a breaking point and she filed for a divorce in 1958. Vaughan had entirely delegated financial matters to Treadwell, and despite significant income figures reported through the 1950s, at the settlement Treadwell said that only $16,000 remained. The couple evenly divided the amount and their personal assets, terminating their business relationship.
Her later husbands included pro football player & taxi cab company owner, Clyde Atkins . . .
. . . and American jazz trumpeter, Waymon Reed from 1978 to 1981. He was a bebop soloist who also worked in rhythm and blues (R&B).
Vaughan received many awards, including Esquire magazine's New Star Award for 1947 as well as awards from Down Beat magazine continually from 1947–1952, and from Metronome magazine from 1948–1953. an Emmy in
1981 for a tribute to George Gershwin and a Grammy in 1983.
In 1989, Vaughan's health began to decline. She canceled a series of
engagements in Europe in 1989 citing the need to seek treatment for
arthritis in the hand, although she was able to complete a later series
of performances in Japan. During a run at New York's Blue Note Jazz Club in 1989, Vaughan received a diagnosis of lung cancer and was too ill to finish the final day of what would turn out to be her final series of public performances.
Vaughan returned to her home in California to begin chemotherapy and spent her final months alternating stays in the hospital and at home. She grew weary of the struggle and demanded to be taken home, where she died on the evening of April 3, 1990, in Hidden Hills, California, while watching a television movie featuring her daughter, Deborah Lois Atkins, known professionally as Paris Vaughan. "The Divine One" was 66 years old.
Vaughan returned to her home in California to begin chemotherapy and spent her final months alternating stays in the hospital and at home. She grew weary of the struggle and demanded to be taken home, where she died on the evening of April 3, 1990, in Hidden Hills, California, while watching a television movie featuring her daughter, Deborah Lois Atkins, known professionally as Paris Vaughan. "The Divine One" was 66 years old.
Tracklist:
Side 1:
A1 - I Didn't Know What Time It Was - 3:58
A2 - That's All - 4:04
A3 - Autumn Leaves - 5:30
A4 - Love Dance - 3:26
Side 2:
B1 - The Island - 4:24
B2 - Seasons - 5:16
B3 - In Love In Vain - 3:04
B4 - You Are Too Beautiful - 3:38
Credits:
Bass – Andrew Simpkins
Drums – Harold Jones
Engineer – Dennis Sands, Greg Orloff
Guitar – Joe Pass
Piano – Roland Hanna
Producer – Sarah Vaughan
Barcode and Other Identifiers
Matrix / Runout: 2312-137 PP-2457-1
Matrix / Runout: 2312-137 PP-2458-1
Sarah Vaughan – Crazy And Mixed Up
Label: Pablo today – 2312 137
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album
Country: US
Released: 1982
Genre: Jazz
Viewfinder articles/mentions:
LA Times ~ obit
"When I sing, trouble can sit right on my shoulder
and I don't even notice."
Styrous® ~ Tuesday, March 27, 2018
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