Miles Davis Highlights from the Plugged Nickel Miles shines here, as do John Coltrane, Cannonball Adderley and Bill Evans. Never has this tune swung harder than in the hands of Miles’ classic, under-recorded sextet. Miles Davis and John Coltrane The Complete Columbia Recordings McElrath - Musicologist for Ĭlick on any CD for more details at The chord becomes a iiø7/III - essentially Rozsa said of Young, “He wrote in the Broadway-cum-Rachmaninoff idiom which was then the accepted Hollywood style.” -JW The song was also set apart from other pop hits of the day because of its A1-B-C-A2 form.Īnother film composer who borrowed from Rachmaninoff was Miklos Rosza (1907-1995) who won Academy Award nominations for his work on The Thief of Bagdad, Sundown, The Jungle Book, and Academy Awards for Spellbound, A Double Life, and Ben-Hur. The song is frequently described as “beautiful” and “rhapsodic,” apt descriptions considering that Young’s compositional influence was Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873-1943) whose melodies are often described in similar terms. “Stella by Starlight” is most often characterized as “haunting” and is usually performed somberly. The lyricist found he could only fit the title one place in the song, and as a result “Stella by Starlight” is unusual in that its title is not at the beginning or end of the song but about three-quarters of the way through. The song had already been titled, and Washington had to incorporate the phrase into his lyrics. When Young turned “Stella by Starlight” over to Ned Washington, he also posed the lyricist a bit of a problem. The addition of lyrics would increase the chances of the song becoming a pop hit, and a vocal hit could promote the film and vice-versa. Two months later, in July, Frank Sinatra’s recording of the song with Axel Stordahl and His Orchestra also reached 21 st place.Ĭhart information used by permission from Joel Whitburn's Pop Memories 1890-1954Īlthough “Stella by Starlight” was composed as a theme song, it was to everyone’s advantage to enhance the Young composition. In May of 1947, “Stella by Starlight,” recorded by Harry James and His Orchestra, rose to number 21 on the pop charts. Allen’s frequent light touches are engaging and keep the film moving at a steady pace. Lewis Allen directed with restraint, using almost no graphic images, demonstrating how effectively chilling a ghost story can be when more is left to the imagination. The Uninvited garnered generally good reviews when it was released and to this day receives high marks from home video consumers. Looking out the window while Rod is at his grand piano Stella asks what he is playing. While Young’s composition was written as the film’s recurrent theme, the song itself became a dramatic focal point when Milland’s character Rod serenades his Stella, played by Russell. Victor Young and His Orchestra introduced “Stella by Starlight” in the 1944 Paramount film, The Uninvited, a ghost story starring Ray Milland, Ruth Hussey and Gail Russell. “The song itself became a dramatic focal point when Milland’s character Rod serenades his Stella.”
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