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Cole: The Complete Works Of Cole PorterEditions
Review
If he can do this to one of the very best collaborative efforts of Messrs. Rogers and Hart, just imagine what chaos he could perpetrate on the peerless precision of Cole Porter, the subject of this handsome volume with the lyrics of 200 of his songs, from his earliest Glee Club days at Yale to the giddiest heights of first nights on Broadway. The book is awash with photographs of his collaborators and friends from stage and screen, Fred and Ginger, Gertrude Lawrence, Bea Lillie, Ethel, Rita, Judy, Bing and Bob, as well as the leading figures from the ritzy world which was his natural habitat, Fulco di Verdura, Elsa Maxwell, the Scott Fitzgeralds and the Murphys. In his biographical essay, Brendan Gill gives us a sketch of Porter’s dazzling but troubled life which produced these brilliant songs, surely the greatest in the annals of the popular song. “You’re a Boticelli, / You’re Keats, / You’re Shelley…. / You’re the top.” - review by Stewart Grimshaw |
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John Sandoe [Books] Ltd |
In my preferred Alpine resort, my only après-ski indulgence is a cocktail in the hotel’s piano bar, where an Italian pianist entertains, nimble of finger, but with a somewhat tentative grasp on English. For example, instead of informing us that “The Lady Is A Tramp” because she “won’t go to Harlem in ermine and pearls”, he warns us “Don’t go to Harlem with airmen in pearls” - and very sensible too!
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