Artist: Doris Day
LP: Latin For Lovers
Song: "Be True to Me (Savor a Mi)"
[ listen ]
Song: "Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars (Corcovado)"
Song: "Be True to Me (Savor a Mi)"
[ listen ]
Song: "Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars (Corcovado)"
[ listen ]
I knew it would happen someday, and Doris had already been on Earth for 97 years, but some people live to be 113, right? I heard the sad news of Doris' death in the way I'd always I imagined I would. My radio alarm clock, set to NPR news, came on at 6:15am on Monday, May 13th, like any other day. After some other news I don't remember now, the morning host announced, "It's being reported that actress and singer Doris Day has died." My heart sank. I don't remember what came next, but later that morning, as I drove to work, I heard a more extensive biographical tribute to Day, one of my favorite ladies in the history of music, the movies, and the world.
It's a little strange to me that I became one of Doris Day's biggest fans. It all started about 20 years ago when I picked up a used paperback copy of her 1976 biography "Doris Day: Her Own Story" at a little junk shop in Raymond, WA on a road trip with my friend Marisa. I read the book, then began watching her movies, and started to look for her records and CDs. Her movies are not all excellent; some of her albums aren't all that great. But some of them are. And Doris is always superb. Her warmth, emotion, and an overall sense of enjoyment of life radiate from everything she does.
My film recommendations would of course include hits like "Pillow Talk" (1959), "Love Me or Leave Me" (1955), "Send Me No Flowers" (1964), "It's a Great Feeling" (1949), Hitchcock's "The Man Who Knew Too Much" (1956), and "Calamity Jane" (1953). But I'd also suggest lesser-known titles like "Romance On the High Seas" (her first, in 1948), "Storm Warning" (a small-town noir from 1951 in which Doris turns up at a KKK rally in the woods - no kidding!), the bizarre and entertaining "Billy Rose's Jumbo" (1962), and "Move Over, Darling" (1963).
My favorite Doris Day LP is this one, "Latin For Lovers," recorded in November of 1964 and released in the spring of 1965. By this time, Day's voice had matured into beautifully aching, purring, liquidy, velvety bliss. She really is at her best here; her voice is simply gorgeous. It's really a shame that this record was one of her last.
For me the sky may have lost one of its brightest stars, but it certainly has been a pleasure spending so much time on Earth along with Doris Day. You can read all about her life and career here, and find her obituary in The New York Times here.
It's a little strange to me that I became one of Doris Day's biggest fans. It all started about 20 years ago when I picked up a used paperback copy of her 1976 biography "Doris Day: Her Own Story" at a little junk shop in Raymond, WA on a road trip with my friend Marisa. I read the book, then began watching her movies, and started to look for her records and CDs. Her movies are not all excellent; some of her albums aren't all that great. But some of them are. And Doris is always superb. Her warmth, emotion, and an overall sense of enjoyment of life radiate from everything she does.
My film recommendations would of course include hits like "Pillow Talk" (1959), "Love Me or Leave Me" (1955), "Send Me No Flowers" (1964), "It's a Great Feeling" (1949), Hitchcock's "The Man Who Knew Too Much" (1956), and "Calamity Jane" (1953). But I'd also suggest lesser-known titles like "Romance On the High Seas" (her first, in 1948), "Storm Warning" (a small-town noir from 1951 in which Doris turns up at a KKK rally in the woods - no kidding!), the bizarre and entertaining "Billy Rose's Jumbo" (1962), and "Move Over, Darling" (1963).
My favorite Doris Day LP is this one, "Latin For Lovers," recorded in November of 1964 and released in the spring of 1965. By this time, Day's voice had matured into beautifully aching, purring, liquidy, velvety bliss. She really is at her best here; her voice is simply gorgeous. It's really a shame that this record was one of her last.
For me the sky may have lost one of its brightest stars, but it certainly has been a pleasure spending so much time on Earth along with Doris Day. You can read all about her life and career here, and find her obituary in The New York Times here.
Doris Day
[ April 3, 1922 — May 13, 2019 ]
Golly, how we will miss you, Doris.
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