Mrs. Miller POX

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This is one of the toughest ever, but here goes:

1. A Lover’s Concerto
2. Downtown
3. Strangers In the Night
4. Bill Bailey, Won’t You Please Come Home?
5. Moon River
6. Second Hand Rose
7. Let’s Hang On
8. Monday, Monday
9. A Groovy Kind of Love
10. The Girl From Ipanema

― My Son Calls Another Man Dadaismus (Dada), Friday, 19 November 2004 11:12 (twenty-one years ago)

A Lover's Concerto is the indisputable #1 on any Mrs. M list, IMHO.

For an alternate #2-10:

2. Renaissance of Smut
3. Queen of the House
4. The Shadow of Your Smile
5. Anything Goes
6. I've Got a Tiger by the Tail
7. Waitin' in your Welfare Line
8. The Roach
9. Up, Up and Away
10. Granny Bopper

― Dr Benway (dr benway), Friday, 19 November 2004 15:31 (twenty-one years ago)

What, no "Sweet Pea"? No "Mary Jane"?

― mottdeterre (mottdeterre), Friday, 19 November 2004 18:25 (twenty-one years ago)

what, she did "Sweet Jane" mott? she could have done anything and should have done more.

I don't think I've really heard her work except for "Downtown." It's better than Cathy Berberian doing "I Want to Hold Your Hand," anyway, as covers of songs from the same era. Mrs. Miller, Berberian, Carmen Miranda, Linda Sharrock, Betty Carter, Yoko Ono--it's all in the same bag. She ought to be played on oldies radio and the management need to disregard all caller complaints, because people need to hear this kind of thing to disabuse them of their nostalgia.

― eddie hurt (ddduncan), Friday, 19 November 2004 19:43 (twenty-one years ago)

Bones to pick. Mrs. Miller ?‚ Mrs. Lennon, just as The Shaggs ?‚ Conor Oberst. Betty Carter? That's downright blasphemous, son! As for Carmen Miranda, give "Manuelo," her song about cock fighting, a whirl and then get back to me. It's brilliance worthy of a genius who kept her Peruvian marching powder in her stack heels. And she invented the Sharon Stone crotch shot.

― mottdeterre (mottdeterre), Friday, 19 November 2004 20:04 (twenty-one years ago)

That box thingy should be a does not equal sign.

― mottdeterre (mottdeterre), Friday, 19 November 2004 20:05 (twenty-one years ago)

that cathy berberian record is deeply terrifying and not good for people

http://discosantigos.com/Early%20Sixties/CathyBerberian_Revolution.html

http://www.franklarosa.com/vinyl/Exhibit.jsp?AlbumID=73

― (Jon L), Friday, 19 November 2004 20:13 (twenty-one years ago)

Fuck. Something else I have to go look for on eBay.

― mottdeterre (mottdeterre), Friday, 19 November 2004 20:15 (twenty-one years ago)

― (Jon L), Friday, 19 November 2004 21:18 (twenty-one years ago)

Yeah--no, god no mott.

Betty Carter isn't as mannered as Mrs. Miller, but I bet they were checkin' each other out as is jazz vocalists' wont, after hours...and Carmen Miranda, do not forget Yma Sumac, which grows wild down here.

― eddie hurt (ddduncan), Friday, 19 November 2004 23:25 (twenty-one years ago)

"No" only eggs me on, you know. See, I don't think of Mrs. Miller as mannered, just delightfully inept. However, the thought of her and Betty "checkin' each other out" makes the spinster librarian in me wanna let down his chignon and check out the Kama Sutra to dog-ear a few more pages.

Gee, all this chat about the first ladies of ludicrous lounge and we've been artfully avoided the "D" word. I'll say it and no one can stop me:

DARLENE EDWARDS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

― mottdeterre (mottdeterre), Saturday, 20 November 2004 00:24 (twenty-one years ago)

N.B. to all spinster librarians on ilXor: no offense meant, really.

― mottdeterre (mottdeterre), Saturday, 20 November 2004 00:26 (twenty-one years ago)

The terrifying thing about the Berberian record is that she is far from inept, just entirely wrong. It's worth hearing in the same way that the recording of the Challenger black box tape is worth hearing -- very very unpleasant. Unlike the Mrs. Miller record which is kind of endearing and happy.

― (Jon L), Saturday, 20 November 2004 01:11 (twenty-one years ago)

Cathy Berberian's covers of popular music employ an overwhelming amount of technical expertise to, essentially, suck everythiing that's enjoyable about the tune out of it, but she achieves her very clear objectives. Mrs. Miller brings very little in the way of technical expertise to popular standards, but the end result is that the listener can hear them afresh. It's like they're the anti-matter versions of each other.

And in response to the excellent reference to Darlene Edwards, I say ... LUCIA PAMELA.

― Dr Benway (dr benway), Saturday, 20 November 2004 11:01 (twenty-one years ago)

I guess I should have started the above by saying "I agree," since I basically say the same thing as the person before me, don' I?

― Dr Benway (dr benway), Saturday, 20 November 2004 11:14 (twenty-one years ago)

you said it more slightly more tastefully I think

― (Jon L), Saturday, 20 November 2004 22:36 (twenty-one years ago)

six years pass...

man I can't get enough of her insane "whistle" solo on "Downtown", followed by botching the very next line, trying to hurry it up, mashing all the words together, than the backup singers chiming in, fantastic

would have been awesome if someone actually wrote music to match her voice. could have been the next Beefheart (but a little more pleasant)

― frogbs, Wednesday, 9 November 2011 15:05 (fourteen years ago)

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