FYNSWORTH ALLEY FA-2009-SE
FYNSWORTH ALLEY FA-2009
Produced by Bruce Kimmel
Engineer: Vincent Cirilli
Conducted by
Todd
Ellison
Orchestrated by
David
Siegel
Arrangements by
Bruce
KimmelTodd
Ellison
Special Guests
Brent
Barrett on Pitiful Penniless Bums
Alice
Ripley on Here You Come Again
Susan
Egan on Two Lost Souls
Natalie
Toro on I'd Love To Sing a Song
Juliana
A Hansen
Song Listings
1. Pick Yourself Up (from "Swing Time")
2. If I Had My Druthers (from "Li'l Abner")
3. Pitiful Penniless Bums (from "Sugar") (with Brent Barrett)
4. Terminal (Rupert Holmes)
5. She Likes Basketball (from "Promises, Promises")
6. Fallin' (from "They're Playing Our Song")
7. Here You Come Again (Barry Mann-Cynthia Weil) (with Alice Ripley)
8. Marie (Randy Newman)
9. Two Lost Souls (from "Damn Yankees") (with Susan Egan)
10. Chinese Food in Bed (Bruce Kimmel)
11. Ev'ry Street's a Boulevard in Old New York (from "Hazel Flagg")
12. You Must Believe in Spring (from "Les Demoiselles de Rochefort")
13. I'm Glad to See You've Got What You Want (from "Celebration")
14. Gettin' Nowhere Fast (Todd Ellison-Stephen Cole)
15. The Sweetest of Nights and the Finest of Days (from "Alexander and the
Terrible, Horrible, No-Good, Very Bad Day")
16.I'd Love To Sing a Love Song (From Everything's Ducky)*
*This track was originally a bonus on CDs that were sold through the Fynsworth Alley website and not sold commercially in stores.
Guy Haines did Here’s That Rainy Day, and that didn’t make the (album) Guy Haines’s version of Here’s That Rainy Day. That’s certainly always been one of my favorite songs (and one of his), and I had the brilliant jazz pianist Terry Trotter come in and play it – just a trio and a flugelhorn. But Here’s That Rainy Day is a very short song, and in trying to make it longer and to have some substance, it just became boring, and I was never happy with Mr. Haines’s performance – I could just feel the effort. It wasn’t bad, and Terry played beautifully, but it just wasn’t good enough. And that’s what led to recording the piano only version of You Must Believe in Spring, which became one of my favorite tracks on the album.
DAVID LEVY INTERVIEWS GUY HAINES
DL: How did you first meet Bruce Kimmel?
GH: Well, let’s see... How does anyone first meet Bruce Kimmel? He just sort of
shows up and insinuates himself into your life and then he never leaves. We’ve
been friends for as long as I can remember, ever since we were young boys. We
used to sing show tunes together and do performances for our parents. One of our
great successes was the two of us doing the entire "Dance At The Gym" from
West Side Story. Amazing, really, as neither one of us can dance a whit.
DL: Bruce Kimmel has mentioned that your first appearance on one of his albums
[Unsung Musicals] was a happy turn of fate involving another singer's inability
to record. How did Bruce approach you for the album? Did you have any time to
learn the song? Do you have any idea why he asked you to step in rather than
someone with Broadway credits?
GH: Well, that is an interesting story. I guess the original singer of "Her
Laughter In My Life" was not feeling well during the sessions and was having
vocal problems. I know that Bruce tried to put together a usable vocal out of
the ten takes he did, but it just wasn’t working. I happened to be visiting the
studio when all this was happening and finally, in desperation, he turned to me
and asked me if I’d do a new vocal. Since the song only has a range of about
five or six notes I felt comfortable doing it and besides I’d been hearing the
thing for three hours in a row and it was already in my head. I’m sure he would
have preferred someone with Broadway credits, but frankly I was the only game in
town.
DL: Had you recorded previous to Unsung Musicals?
GH: Well, in a way. My parents had a record player that actually recorded
records. You’d put on a blank piece of vinyl, the special needle would actually
start at the inside of the record and work its way to the outside. Then you
would change the needle and play it back the normal way like a normal record.
Unfortunately, all those discs have gone missing, so there’s no way to hear my
versions of "Heartbreak Hotel" and "Honeycomb" (the latter was especially good).
DL: You are best known as a tennis player. Can you compare your strategy on the
court to your strategy in interpreting a song?
GH: Sure. It’s all style. Swinging in the studio, swinging on the courts –
what’s the difference. I also have a pretty good backhand and I frequently take
a backhanded approach to a lyric.
DL: How did you make the transition from athlete to artist?
GH: Well, “artist” is a little strong, don’t you think? Boy singer is fine, but
I don’t know from “artist”. The transition was an easy one. As you get older you
can no longer be as spry and nimble as you once were. Frankly, I’m surprised
more athletes haven’t become singers, it’s such a natural transition.
DL: Your album features four duets. Why so many? Or perhaps the question should
be "why so few," since for years there was rumor of a Guy And Dolls album
of ALL duets.
GH: Yes, Guy and Dolls was in the works for years but then someone else
somewhere else basically did the same thing so we scratched that idea. Four
duets seemed like a good number to me (although one of them, with Natalie Toro,
will only be available on the copies purchased via the internet) and I was
blessed to get to sing with Alice Ripley, Susan Egan, Brent Barrett and Natalie.
Not exactly chopped liver.
DL: How did you choose the songs for your album? In particular, what drew you to
the pop songs "Marie," "Terminal" and "Here You Come Again"? Where did you
discover the new songs, "Getting Nowhere Fast," "The Sweetest of Nights and the
Finest of Days," and "I'd Love To Sing A Love Song"?
GH: Have you noticed that every question you ask is really three questions? Just
asking. I tried to choose songs that I love to sing, songs which have a limited
range and songs that have meant something to me in one way or another. For
example, I wanted to do something by Rupert Holmes, because I feel I was the
first person to buy his first album and discover him – and "Terminal" is just
great Rupert. I fell in love with "Marie" the first time I heard it on Randy
Newman’s Good Old Boys album. Such a beautiful melody. I always respond
to a beautiful melody first. I heard "The Sweetest of Nights and the Finest of
Days" at a party and thought it would close the album nicely, plus I was looking
for a song with a really long title. "I’d Love To Sing a Love Song" I found when
I saw the show Everything’s Ducky. I thought the song was ducky and asked
the authors (Bill Russell and Henry Krieger) if I could do it. Then I got the
star of the show (Natalie) to sing it with me.
DL: What's the early feedback been on your album? Who were the lucky few to hear
it before the release date?
GH: Feedback? I don’t think we had any feedback but you’d have to ask the
engineer, Vinnie. The only people who got it early were Rupert, Harvey Schmidt
and Tony Walton, who all seemed to like it, thank heaven.
DL: What was the biggest challenge in putting this album together?
GH: Narrowing my huge list of songs down to sixteen. Very difficult indeed. It
was also a challenge to get over the flu which I got not once but twice.
DL: Which song was the most fun to record?
GH: "She Likes Basketball" was fun, although it has a few too many notes for my
taste. But it’s impossible to sing that song and not have fun. It’s so joyful
and infectious and has such spirit.
DL: Can you describe your working relationship with Bruce Kimmel? What about
with Vinnie Cirilli?
GH: Well, Bruce and I have a real shorthand. If he doesn’t like a take he
vomits. And I know how to read that, and can make adjustments. Vinnie just sits
there and tries to figure out what he’s going to eat for lunch.
DL: Jason Graae has alluded to a special relationship with you. Would you care
to elaborate?
GH: Oh, Jason alludes to special relationships with everyone. We are very close
friends, though, and he has actually said hello to me on at least five
occasions.
DL: You made a rare live appearance at the STAGE benefit Lerner, Loewe, Lane and
Friends. How did that come about? How did you deal with being seen while
singing?
GH: I think there was some blackmail involved between Bruce, who was going to
record the show, and David Galligan, the director. I was thrilled to be making
my STAGE debut and it was going to be the first time, really, that people could
get a good look at me, and then David and the choreographer, Kay Cole, kept
adding feathers and balloons and I kept getting obscured by chorines and it was
just madness for all concerned.
DL: Are there more live performances in your future? Will Haines His Way
inspire a tour?
GH: Well, we’re going to do a mini-tour for aging tennis pros – it’s going to be
very exciting. We called the Cinegrill, but the only way they’ll book me is if
J.D. Kessler gets a solo album.
DL: Your name appears in tiny print on the album You Never Know. What was your
involvement in that album? Were you in the show?
GH: Yes, what’s up with that tiny print? Apparently, there’s a co-starring
character in the show, but he only sings one line. Rather than track down the
actor who did it, they asked me. I did it for free which might have something to
do with their decision.
DL: Who are your favorite musical theatre writers?
GH: Oh, I love the all the usual suspects and I’ve been lucky enough to sing a
wide variety of different writers. But, among my all-time favorite musical
theatre writers are Stephen Sondheim, Kander & Ebb, Stephen Schwartz, Irving
Berlin, Gene DePaul and Johnny Mercer, Jule Styne, Cy Coleman and Dorothy Fields
and Carolyn Leigh – you know, all those people.
DL: What do you think of the state of musical theatre today?
GH: I find some of it interesting, and some of it a bore. I have said for years
that the first person to write a totally fun musical will have a huge hit.
Apparently that person is Mel Brooks.
DL: Who are your favorite tennis players?
GH: Billie Jean King, Bjorn Bjorg (or is it Bjorg Bjorn), Agassi, and Guy
Haines.
DL: What do you think of the state of tennis today?
GH: It seemed to have more style back when I was playing. Now everyone plays for
the camera and marries TV actors.
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