I hadn’t until recently until Marty Thau hooked me up with a copy of “Carl Sigman Songs”. A 3 cd set of material he wrote over a long, illustrious career. This has been put together by his sons to celebrate their father and they’ve got a lot to be proud of. I’ve been digging this stuff for weeks now. Always escaping back to it when I’d simply had enough of the countless mp3’s I get sent by acts that quite simply aren’t up to the task of writing anything approaching a real song, let alone perform one. Maybe that’s a bit harsh but once you’ve tasted the primo stuff and all that…
How does this grab you? “Pennsylvania 6-5000” (Glen Miller), “It’s Square But It Rocks” (Count Basie), Buena Sera (Louis Prima), the theme to Robin Hood (The Richard Greene TV show), “Ebb Tide” (Sinatra/The Platters), the fantastic “The Day That The Rains Came Down” (Jane Morgan), “It’s A Marshmallow World” (Darlene Love) and “It’s All In The Game (The Four Tops) to take but the tip of the proverbial iceberg.
When he passed away, in September 2000, he was 91 years old. I guess they call that a good innings. What a legacy to leave. Irrespective of things not being like they used to be in some kind of rose-tinted rear view mirror, this consistent quality of work is surely a benchmark. I can’t even begin to tell you how captivated I am by these songs. The fact that they capture an era that came before anybody could pastiche, or beat the life out of a song in the name of authenticity.
Things weren’t sullied by bean counters or would be experts. This was a job of work. And that job was to write songs and record them. Did they think they would last? Probably not, but so much of this mans work has entered the dimension of “the standard”. He kicked off his career in 1936 when he co-wrote “Just Remember” with Johnny Mercer. From 1940, he penned words and music of songs that were covered by artists as diverse as Aretha Franklin, Elvis, Louis Armstrong and Dean Martin. Relative youngsters are probably familiar with “Enjoy Yourself (It’s Later Than You Think)” by The Specials? Mr Sigman came up with that one in 1950.
When all is said and done, and the production is laid on thick with a dirty great trowel – it all comes back to the songs and this man is responsible for a shed load of the greatest ever written. Carl Sigman had the chops and his work will just go on forever. There’s not much coming out in today’s crop that will stand this test of time. I’ll cut out now, before I start to sound too much like my granny.
“Majorsongs… one of the top US music catalogues” might just be an understatement.
(Sincere thanks to Michael and Randy Sigman for kindly acquainting me with their dad’s work)
One Response to Did you ever hear of Carl Sigman?
Don’t forget “Crazy He Calls Me.”
It was Johnny Mercer who nudged Sigman into the lyric writing game. Early on, Sigman had been primarily a melody writer. Mercer recognized that Carl had a flair for words, and told him that he’d get more songs published as a lyricist. He was right.
Sigman also fashioned English lyrics for a few international hits, most notably the lovely ballads, “What Now, My Love” and “A Day In The Life Of A Fool.”
Carl – like Howard Dietz, Leo Robin, Richard Whiting, Burton Lane, Eddie De Lange and other underappreciated geniuses – is just one of the hundreds of amazing writers who plied their craft in the golden age of American song.
Glad to hear that his sons are carrying on his good name.