Friday, December 5, 2014

Lullaby in Rhythm (Two Versions)

I bought "The Happy 'Bird'" as a $1.98 cut-out in Missoula back in 1973. This was my favorite track, labeled incorrectly as "I May Be Wrong." It is, in fact, "Lullaby in Rhythm," done up in the new day of bebop, with long solos by Wardell Gray. 
I was reading Kerouac at the time, nursing all of our innocent dreams of a sprawling country you could travel around in with some semblance of freedom--and believe me, we did indeed have that for a while. I racked up some serious miles hitching and riding Greyhounds and seeing all those little out-of-the-way places. For me this tune was a kind of anthem. 


Here's Benny Goodman's version of "Lullaby in Rhythm," from 1937-1938. I wanted to post something decent from the past, from a world of people creating something, a kind of country without borders, a country never declared, and without flags, and no need to conquer anyone.