Original soundtrack of a pseudo biopic inspired on the tragic life of Bix Beiderbecke, a gifted trumpet player who died too young. Incidental music composed by Max Steiner. A lot of standards performed by Harry James with the outstanding singer Doris Day.
Tracklisting:
01. Main Title 4:01
-Melancholy Rhapsody
-Sweet By and By
02. The boy discovers Jazz 3:48
-Chinatown, My Chinatown
-I Gotta Right to Sing the Blues
-Moanin' Low / Pretty Baby
03. First job with a dance band 5:48
-Melancholy Rhapsody
-The Very Thought of You
04. Various excerpts 6:37
-Get Happy
-Sweet Georgia Brown
-Lovin' Sam
-Silent Night
-Too Marvelous for Words
-Blue Moon
05. Various excerpts 6:07
-With a Song in My Heart
-I Only Have Eyes for You
-You Toook Advantage of Me
-I May Be Wrong
06. Various excerpts 5:52
-What is this Thing Called Love?
-With a Song in My Heart
-Can't We be Friends
-'S Wonderful
07. Various excerpts 3:31
-Swing Low, Sweet Chariot
-Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen
-Someone to Watch Over Me
-Limehouse Blues
-I Gotta Right to Sing the Blues
08. Various excerpts 6:22
-With a Song in My Heart
-Bye and Bye
-With a Song in My Heart
09. The Very Thought of You 3:01
10. Get Happy 2:58
11. Too Marvelous for Words 3:15
12. The Man I Love 3:07
13. I May Be Wrong
(But I Think You're Wonderful) 3:02
14. Limehouse Blues 2:19
15. With a Song in My Heart 3:09
16. Melancholy Rhapsody 3:03
Total time: 66:00 min.
Featuring Harry James & His Orchestra
Press reviews
"The soundtrack to Michael Curtiz's 1950 film starring Kirk Douglas, Lauren Bacall, and Doris Day is a landmark in the career of Harry James & His Orchestra. The film was a drama loosely based on the life of Bix Beiderbecke -- though not his death -- this one has a redemptive ending, whereas Beiderbecke died from alcoholism at the age of 28. James himself plays all of the trumpet solos here, and he sounds magnificent in the high register. The music is a mix of popular American tunes from both the standards and jazz canons of the 1930s and early 1940s. Here, Sammy Cahn's "Melancholy Rhapsody," shot through with film dialogue, precedes "Chinatown, My Chinatown," "Moaning Low," and is juxtaposed with "I Gotta Right to Sing the Blues," and Doris Day crooning ever so sweetly on "The Very Thought of You," all in the first five minutes of the disc. The dialogue creates a narrative through the music, and vice versa, and the entire thing swings beautifully. After the soundtrack is played through, the producers clipped on excerpts -- sans dialogue -- as if the cuts from the film were played in earnest by the James band. Yes, it does make for a choppy little ride at first, but the listener quickly becomes accustomed to the drama in the set. The soundtrack factory has done a first-class job of restoring a seminal movie soundtrack to CD, and it stands on its own."
Thom Jurek -All Music Guide
