Monday, February 9, 2009

Blossom Dearie

When Isaac Hayes died last year, there was an entire generation that said "Oh man, Chef died!" The rest of us went "Dude..."

The lady over to the right just passed, and I'm of the generation (which is the same as the above-referenced "dude" generation) that remembers the later pop-culture sensation but not the prior musical legacy.

The voice was instantly recognizable. And she was a talented and versatile singer and songwriter. Her career lasted from the 40s into the 21st century. But in my heart, she'll be remembered for two songs that she recorded for Bob Dorough in the early 70s.

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the late Blossom Dearie. (Her real name, by the way. Didn't know that. Wouldn't have guessed it.)



And for something a bit more somber.

3 comments:

Mrs. Chili said...

DUDE! My world just got a little sadder.

I can still sing damned near ALL the Schoolhouse Rock songs, and Unpack Your Adjectives is one of my favorites (followed closely by "Rockin' and a'Rollin', Splishin' and a'Splashin" in the pilgrim song).

"I unpacked frustrating first / reached in and found the word worst..." Sniff.

Godspeed, Ms. Dearie. You touched far more people than you will ever know.

Kizz said...

I couldn't place why I knew her, when I heard that she'd died. Thanks for putting it in perspective for me.

Was Schoolhouse Rock on for a short period? I was speaking to Audio Girl about this post and she hadn't been exposed to it at all. She's not as much as 10 years younger than me.

MAB said...

I also run into people who aren't that much younger than I am and who stare at me blankly when I sing or otherwise reference Schoolhouse Rock. It's disconcerting.

It was in heavy rotation in the early 70s, sporadic in the mid-to-late 70s, and pretty much gone by 1980.

They were so incredibly brilliant. I bought the whole package on DVD a while back. (All 45 or so fit onto two discs.) And yeah, I remembered and sang along to almost all of them. (Some of the later ones didn't quite meet the gold standard of catchiness and education. "Busy Prepositions"? Come on.)

They deserve to be shared with the young-uns, and the older-uns who missed 'em before, for their entertainment value alone. But also because, heck, I learned stuff from 'em. That's their function.