Once in a while a song comes along that strikes you as totally strange,
completely out of place in Tin Pan Alleydom…this certainly would be one of
that ilk:
And if you think there’s only one version of this unusual “naughty” burlesque
number, you’d be wrong. Here’s the fabulous Pearl Bailey’s rendition:
If after listening to this next example of “She Had to go and Lose It at the
Astor”, you ask “Who the hell is, or was, Mrs. Miller???” your ignorance is
easily quashed with a slender cut of exposition together with a modicum of
scientific/historic inquiry, with her rendition of the psychedelic classic, “It’s
Magic” thus:
http://youtu.be/yZOIsVEwTeE
Sure, at first it sounds bizarre and hilarious, but there’s more behind this
than you’d first imagine. To begin with, I knew Mrs. Miller very well, and it’s
no put-on!!!
It only gets better…it has no other place to go. At this point, you really need
to check out her amazing and quite wonderful back-story:
http://www.mrsmillersworld.
Jimmy Durante fought to get her on his program:
The Beatles never came close to destroying this classic like Mrs. Miller does
here…Yellow Submarine was never better!!!!
And this Mrs. Miller piece that actually made the top of the charts back in
1966!!!
She was a terrific and wonderfully gutsy lady! Here’s to you, Elva!!!
gorby