29 August 2011

the problem

with Martha Raye is that she was two distinct performers. the comedienne was too broad for my taste. however the singer cd be superb. no less a jazz great than Anita O'Day claimd Raye was the biggest influence on her style.

I just saw a silly 1937 picture calld "Waikiki Wedding." in Raye's one musical number we see her dilemma at work. the song begins seriously & we hear the skill of which she was capable. then Paramount makes her revert to schtick & she mugs her way thru.

here's a picture I took of MR in Beverly Hills in 1988.


3 comments:

Bill Fogle said...

This was fascinating to read. And how many bloggers could apend their own photo of the subject?

Bill Fogle said...

Meant to type append, of course. The one good thing about Google+ is that they understood you'd want to edit your own feedback/commentary.

Alex Gildzen said...

thx Bill. glad you got yr power back on.