This week saw the passing of one of the giants of the comics field -- Will Elder. I should have posted something on this, but quite frankly, it can be a bit depressing to post those obituaries. And let's be honest -- you're all reading Evanier's site anyway, and nine times out of ten, I find out about stuff like this via him.
Will Elder turned out some great comics, though. If you don't mind R-rated fare, I heartily recommend Little Annie Fanny, which he did with his frequent collaborator Harvey Kurtzman. And, of course, Elder (and Kurtzman, for that matter) were responsible for a lot of cool stuff at EC back before the CCA neutered them.
As gifted and talented as Elder was, he did not write any songs. So let's turn instead to another great -- Frank Sinatra, who passed away ten years to the day before Will Elder.
Frank wasn't a song writer, but he was a hell of a singer. In fact, there are probably a couple of dozen songs that are considered his songs, notwithstanding the fact that he didn't write them and he wasn't necessarily the first to perform them. But I always thought it was particularly impressive that he made "Luck Be A Lady" into one of his signature pieces. You might think it's a natural, since the song is from the musical Guys and Dolls and Sinatra starred in the film adaptation -- unless you remeber that "Luck Be a Lady" was actually Brando's song in that movie. Sinatra didn't sing it in the movie, but he sure sang it later.
Brando's and Sinatra's paths would cross again later (sort of) when Branado played Vito Corleone, the mafia Godfather who (among other things) jump-started the stalling career of a thinly-veiled pastiche of Sinatra named Johnny Fontaine by sending his consigliere to convince movie producer Jack Woltz to cast Fontaiane in a movie. I've always wondered what Sinatra thought of that character and that sequence.
Luck Be a Lady
Frank Loesser
They call you lady luck
But there is room for doubt
At times you have a very un-lady-like way
Of running out
Your on this date with me
The pickins have been lush
And yet before the evening is over
You might give me the brush
You might forget your manners
You might refuse to stay
And so the best that I can do is pray
Luck be a lady tonight
Luck be a lady tonight
Luck if youve been a lady to begin with
Luck be a lady tonight
Luck let a gentleman see
Just how nice a dame you can be
I know the way youve treated other guys youve been with
Luck be a lady with me
A lady never leaves her escort
It isnt fair, it isnt nice
A lady doesnt wander all over the room
And blow on some other guys dice
Let's keep this party polite
Never get out of my sight
Stick with me baby, I'm the guy that you came in with
Luck be a lady tonight
A lady never flirts with strangers
Shed have a heart, shed be nice
A lady doesnt wander all over the room
And blow on some other guys dice
Lets keep this party polite
Never get out of my sight
Stick with me baby, I'm the guy that you came in with
Luck be a lady tonight
Posted by Jason Fliegel at May 18, 2008 11:41 PM