“Anything Goes“ is a song written by Cole Porter for his 1934 musical Anything Goes….as many of the lyrics include humorous references to figures of scandal and gossip from Depression-era high society. One couplet refers to Samuel Goldwyn’s box-office failure Nana starring Anna Sten….whose English was said to be incomprehensible to all except Goldwyn….since Goldwyn was from Poland and Sten Ukraine).
Frank Sinatra recorded the song for Capitol in 1956…..as his version was included on Songs for Swingin’ Lovers! album in March 1956. Almost simultaneously, Chris Connor recorded the song in either January or February on her first album for Atlantic…..and months later, Ella Fitzgerald released the first of two versions….which were recorded between February and March of the same year for Verve….as her first version was released on Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Cole Porter Songbook….then iIn 1972, Atlantic released her Ella Loves Cole album….which included the second version….which was arranged by Nelson Riddle. Also on Verve, Stan Getz and Gerry Mulligan released an instrumental rendition of the song in 1957 on their album Getz Meets Mulligan in Hi-Fi….on which they switched instruments. Tony Bennett first recorded the song on January 1959 with the Count Basie Orchestra for his Roulette album. The recording was released on the Basie Swings, Bennett Sings album….which was also known as Strike Up the Band. The Dave Brubeck Quartet recorded the song for the 1966 album Anything Goes! The Dave Brubeck Quartet Plays Cole Porter….as Brubeck and his quartet recorded their version of the song in 1966 for Columbia. The song was recorded by Harpers Bizarre and released as a single in 1967….as the group’s version peaked at # 43 on the Billboard pop singles chart….and at # 6 on the Adult Contemporary charts. Almost two decades later, the song was partially translated into Mandarin Chineese for the 1984 film Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom….presumably with some assistance from John Williams…. who arranged the film score….when the song is performed by Kate Capshaw’s character as the film’s opening scene….when the song is performed with a number of synchronized dancers in a large cabaret number set in a Shanghai night club circa 1935….as the song is included on the original film soundtrack.
In this video seen herewith…..Ella Fitzgerald sings Anything Goes…..which is dubbed over highlights of the history of Major League Baseball….which makes for a very enjoyable combination of sight and sound for any and all MLB fans.
