Sinatra, Rodgers & Hart, and "I Could Write a Book"! (Pal Joey)

Re-posted by Nicholas Stix
 
I Could Write a Book
Music by Richard Rodgers
Words by Lorenz Hart

If they asked me,
I could write a book,
About the way you walk,
And whisper, and look.

I could write a preface
On how we met,
So the world
Would never forget.

And the simple secret
Of the plot,
Is just to tell them
That I love you a lot.

Then the world discovers,
As my book ends,
How to make two lovers
Of friends.

[Choir, including vocal bridge:]

If they asked me,
I could write a book,
About the way you walk,
And whisper, and look.

I could write a preface
On how we met,
So the world
Would never forget.

Never, never forget.

[Sinatra:]

And the simple secret
Of the plot,
Is just to tell them
That I love you a lot.

Then the world discovers,
As my book ends,
How to make two lovers
Of friends.
 


 

Uploaded on July 2, 2011 by catman916.

"I Could Write A Book" written by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart for the 1940 Broadway musical Pal Joey, was originally recorded by Frank Sinatra for Columbia Records on January 7, 1952 in Hollywood with Axel Stordahl arranging and conducting. In his biography of Sinatra, titled Frank The Voice, James Kaplan writes "..."I Could Write A Book" marked a new artistic peak. Singing with beautiful simplicity and perfect diction, Frank sounded like the artist he was fated to become after he had crossed the valley of the shadow of death. He made a great song sound so believably brand-new ,,, it practically glistened with dew. He was to record it again on August 13, 1957 for the soundtrack of the film version on the Capitol label (previously uploaded).
 

[Previously, in this series:

“Frank Sinatra: My Shining Hour (Video, from Trilogy: Past Present Future)”;

“Hear Frank Sinatra Sing Arlen & Mercer’s Come Rain or Shine”;

“Hear Frank Sinatra Sing the Quintessential Version of Harold Arlen & Johnny Mercer’s ‘One for My Baby (and One More, for the Road)’”;

“Hear Frank Sinatra Sing the Classic Harold Arlen/Johnny Mercer Torch Song, ‘Blues in the Night’”;

“Frank Sinatra: Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer’s Stormy Weather (Video)”;

“Frank Sinatra Live! Medley of The Gal That Got Away and It Never Entered My Mind, Performed in 1980 at Carnegie Hall (Great Quality Video of a Grand Performance!)”;

“Frank Sinatra: Here's That Rainy Day (Jimmy Van Heusen/Johnny Burke)”;

“Frank Sinatra’s Revelatory, 1962 Performance of Kern and Fields’ The Way You Look Tonight”;

“Paul Robeson?! Hear Frank Sinatra Give the Definitive Interpretation of Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II’s Ol’ Man River (1963)”;

“The Greatest Song Ever Written? Hear Frank Sinatra Sing Rodgers & Hammerstein's Soliloquy”;

“Hear Frank Sinatra Sing the Real ‘New York, New York,’ by Leonard Bernstein, Betty Comden, and Adolph Green, from On the Town (1944/1949)”;

“The Swingingest Record You’ll Ever Hear! Fly Me to the Moon, by Frank Sinatra, Count Basie, and Quincy Jones”;

“Frank Sinatra: Autumn in New York, with the Billy May Orchestra (Video)”;

“Hear Frank Sinatra Make Rodgers & Hart Swing! ‘The Lady is a Tramp’; Live at Madison Square Garden/1974”;

“Hear Frank Sinatra and a Bunch of Little Kids Sing the 1960 Academy Award-Winning Song, ‘High Hopes’”;

“If Frank Sinatra were Still Alive, and were Interviewed by Larry King”;

“When Sinatra Ruled: Hear Him Sing ANOTHER Oscar-Winning Song, ‘All the Way,’ from The Joker is Wild (1957)”;

“Hear Frank Sinatra Sing Jimmy Van Heusen and Sammy Cahn’s ‘Love and Marriage’;

“Hear Frank Sinatra’s Unique Presentation of Cole Porter’s ‘I've Got You Under My Skin’”;

“Frank Sinatra Sings ‘Young at Heart’”;

“‘A Man Alone’: How Great was Sinatra? So Great that with a Voice that was Way Past Its Prime, and Less than Stellar Material, He was Still the World’s Greatest Singer—that’s How Great He was!”;

“I'll Never Smile Again: Hear 24-Year-Old Frank Sinatra with the Pied Pipers and the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra in 1940!”;

“Frank Sinatra: ‘In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning’ (1955)”;

“Frank Sinatra: I Didn't Know What Time It was”;

“Sinatra Celebration News: Pennsylvania Music Newspaper Columnist Announces Releases of Rare Radio Broadcasts and Rehearsals from 1935-1955, and Provides a Lovely, Yet Succinct Introduction to the Works of ‘The Voice’”;

“Frank Sinatra: A Swinging Ring-a-Ding-Ding (1961 Recording)”;

“The Day the Music Died (A Photoessay on Frank Sinatra)”;

“Frank Sinatra, Singing Rodgers & Hart’s My Funny Valentine”; and

“Brassy and Sassy! Frank Sinatra Singing Brazil.”]