Jazz on A Summer's Day is one of the earliest concert films and one of the best. This movie provides all one could wish for from a film like this, provided a great look at the 1958 Newport Jazz festival. Of course most important to this type of movie is the music and that is fantastic here. The line up of artists is fantastic. Included are Louis Armstrong, Chuck Berry, Thelonious Monk, Gerry Mulligan, Big Maybelle, Chico Hamilton and Mahalia Jackson. All of them are at the top of their game here. Watching Louis Armstrong continue showing that he was one of the world's great entertainers (as he did in many movies) is a pure delight. He and trombonist Jack Teagarden have incredible chemistry and it is a joy to watch them together. Though Monk is in the film only briefly his music leaves quite an impression. Chico Hamilton and Gerry Mulligan show that this type of jazz is just as great today as it was then. Chuck Berry gives his all and shows all the energy and fun that defined early rock and roll. There was no better way to end this movie than gospel singer Mahalia Jackson. If her singing doesn't move you nothing will. Her performance of The Lord's Prayer not only stops the show but glues your ears and eyes to the movie in a way free performers can. Time stands still and all there is are the words, music and her voice creating an incredible experience found in few concert films.
The way this movie is filmed is fascinating. Unlike many concert movies where the camera is always on the performers this film spends just as much if not more time looking at the audience. It is often times just as much fun watching the audience as it is the performers. When you think of jazz in movies, you often think of a dark film noir type setting as well as dark and shady characters. Instead what we get here is a bright summer's day in a nice upscale looking place and a crowd of people who look like they are at a church service. They are mostly a restrained crowd but one that is heavily enjoying the music. Watching the crowd when Chuck Berry is performing is watching musical and cultural history happening. The younger audience members, who are restrained through much of the film are dancing and having tons of fun with the still new rock and roll. Meanwhile the older attendees (who probably came to hear jazz music) are cold and unemotional to this new fangled genre. As well as the scenes with the audience watching the performances, there also scenes simply showing the attendees having wholesome fun, when there are no artists on stage. This makes the movie more appealing today as it becomes a nostalgic time capsule of a time that is very different from how we live today.
If you are a film fan, if you are a music fan or if you are both, this movie is a must watch.
The movies have served as a musical education to me. They have constantly broadened and expanded my musical taste and knowledge and continue to do so. From the cowboy music of The Sons of the Pioneers, Gene Autry and Roy Rogers to the classical music of Fantasia to the musical standards of the Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers musicals to the rock and roll of Elvis Presley and concert films like The Last Waltz (1978) to jazz legends like Miles Davis, Paul Whiteman and Louis Armstrong to crooners like Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra, movies have helped introduce me to so much great music. These Movie Music Monday posts I hope will give you some of the same experience the movies have given me.
Today's song is South of the Border. In Gene Autry's autobiography, he remembered how he first became acquainted with this song. He wrote, "Neither a prison in Nashville nor an airfield in Dallas was the oddest place I ever found a song. That happened during my prewar tour of the British Isles in 1939. Two young Englishmen, Michael Carr and Jimmy Kennedy, visited my dressing room in Dublin between shows. They had written a song with me in mind and hoped I would record it. The song was 'South of the Border.' They had never been to Mexico and had seen it only in my films (which meant they were probably looking at Arizona). How two Englishmen came to write a song about a country they had never seen, for a movie cowboy they had never met is a question I wish I could answer. But 'South of the Border' sold over a million copies." (Autry, 27). Later in the book Gene wrote, "As luck would have it one of the things I brought back was the song written for me by the two British lads Michael Carr and Jimmy Kennedy - 'South of the Border.' There was even time for a script to be written and for the film of the same name to become our last release for 1939." (Autry, 74). The following is an exhibitor's review of that movie from The Motion Picture Herald, "South of the Border: Gene Autry, Smiley Burnette - Here is one exhibitor who is thanking the Almighty that Republic discovered Gene Autry and 'South of the Border is the answer to our prayer. We played it three days to sell out business. Never saw the like of it. Don't know where they came from. Wish we had played it a week. Any exhibitor who hasn't played this one has missed the boat. Did more business than 'Snow White' by $175 in three days against four days. More than 'Boys Town,' 'Jesse James' and 'Kentucky' and that's something. We're going to try it book it for a return showing in a couple months. I didn't think it was possible to do business on this picture like we did. Were the creditors tickled! We gave it a big campaign in advance and it paid; yes sir! If any of our good friends out west haven't played this, do so. - Harold Rankin, Plaza Theatre, Tilbury, Ontario, Canada. General Patronage."
Gene wasn't the only one to record this song in 1939. Guy Lombardo and His Royal Canadians, also did their version.
Shep Fields and His Rippling Rhythm Orchestra also recorded the song in 1939, having one of their biggest hits.
Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys recorded one of my favorite versions of the song in 1948.
Frank Sinatra had a hit off the song in 1953.
Mel Tormé performed the song on his 1959 album, ¡Olé Tormé!: Mel Tormé Goes South of the Border with Billy May.
Pasty Cline did a version for her 1961 album Showcase.
Jazz musician Herb Alpert used the song as the title track for a 1964 album.
Chuck Berry did a cover of the song on his self titled 1975 album. Chuck changed the lyrics more than little.
Willie Nelson recorded this song twice for his 1988 album What a Wonderful World.
