Name that tune… “Grey Gardens” edition!

Many of you have inquired about the song that Big Edie sings in the Maysles documentary, and that is also featured in the HBO movie as a duet between Big Edie (Jessica Lange) and Gould (Malcolm Gets).

The song is called “We Belong Together,” and is the closing tune from the relatively obscure 1932 Broadway musical, Music In The Air. The lyrics to this number were written by Oscar Hammerstein II, with music composed by Jerome Kern.

Coincidentally, the musical teaches the age-old lesson, ‘there’s no place like home’- a message that Big Edie certainly tried to reinforce in Little Edie to keep her from leaving Grey Gardens.

Have a listen: http://www.library.yale.edu/musiclib/hsr/hsr_ind_brunswick_6517.html

The other famous ‘GG’ number is “Tea for Two.”  This song is from the 1925 musical No, No, Nanette with music by Vincent Youmans and lyrics by Irving Caesar.  One famous interpretation of the song is Tommy Dorsey’s cha-cha-cha version, which became a top ten hit in 1958.  The song has become a reliable standby for dance routines that call for “soft shoe” bits – a light form of tap dance performed in soft-soled shoes.

The Beale music repertoire also includes classic American songs by Irving Berlin, George Gershwin, Harold Adamson, Victor Young, Dana Suesse, Edward Heyman, and Richard Rodgers.