“My Boy Jim”
For some time I’ve been contemplating what musical entry would be appropriate for my blog this month as I’m celebrating my 88th birthday. Songs composed in the year of my birth? My favorite songs (or those of my mother)? Songs with lyrics that rhyme with “eighty-eight”?
A few weeks ago it hit me. There’s one great song (excluding Christmas carols, of course), in which the lyrics focus on the prospective birth of a child. It’s Soliloquy (often referred to as “My Boy Bill”) from the wonderful 1945 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical, Carousel. And although Sinatra and certain others have tried to appropriate it as their own, I knew immediately whose version I wanted to use.
I have a good friend from California named Tom Barton. He’s a lawyer / entrepreneur / venture capitalist / singer, who spends as much time singing as he can, in as many places in the world as he can reach. Tom has a superb voice, which embraces all musical styles.
Tom and I have been making music together for about three decades, and he’s clearly the finest male singer I’ve ever accompanied. In my mind, Soliloquy is Tom’s signature song – no one (including Sinatra) does it better.
Back around the turn of the century, I persuaded Tom to join me at our home in Manhattan to record together. As Tom wrote in the notes of the resulting album titled, Forever, “We spent two beautiful October afternoons looking out over Jim’s garden making this music together. Two old lawyers doing what they love best. It was a delightful experience . . . .” And so it was.
In addition to Soliloquy, I selected a half-dozen other tracks from the album that I find especially appealing, resulting in about a half-hour of music. (There are a dozen other songs on the album, and I can make some extra copies if you’d like to hear the entire repertoire – just write me a note.)
Here are the songs, in the order that you’ll hear them:
1. Soliloquy
2. When I Fall in Love
3. Softly, As in a Morning Sunrise
4. If I Loved You
5. The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face
6. Bring Him Home
7. You’ll Never Walk Alone.
My contribution here as Tom’s accompanist is definitely secondary, but he did bring out the best in me – especially on Soliloquy and Softly, each of which involves a number of changes in tempo and style. As for my personal favorite – the song that brings me almost to tears on each listening – it’s Bring Him Home from Les Miz – the older man praying to God to save the young man who’s on the battlements.
I hope you’ll enjoy this music. Click on the play button below to start listening.
Additional information on the songs is contained in a PDF which you can access (before, after or while listening to the songs) by clicking on this link.