THE SPLENDID BOHEMIANS PRESENT: THE SUNNY SIDE OF MY STREET with THE "MIGHTY MEZ" - SONGS TO MAKE YOU FEEL GOOD - EPISODE #34: EVERYTHING I’VE GOT BELONGS TO YOU by Blossom Dearie (Verve, 1957)

Blossom Dearie: what a great name! It was her real name, too. Well, Margrethe Blossom Dearie - she dropped the first part, and that was a good choice for Show Biz, I think. And, that voice: light, breathy, girlish, delightfully witty - I loved it from the first time I heard it. And, not only was she a fantastic vocalist, but considered one of the great jazz pianists - Bill Evans was inspired by her chord work; that tells you something. Everything I’ve Got Belongs to You comes off of her first album for Verve, deriving from the Broadway show “By Jupiter” by Rodgers and Hart, which ran for 427 performances in 1942. The Amazonian lyrics juxtaposed with the little girl voice is kinky perfection. And, her articulation - hilarious and sexy, delivers a delightful confection. Though she was born in Upstate New York, she made her bones in Paris when she formed the vocal group The Blue Stars, which later became the famous “Swingle Singers”. Always entrepreneurial, she started her own label, Daffodil Records in ’74. I immediately recognized her voice from the educational recordings School House Rock and Multiplication Rock (the latter winning her a Grammy in 1973). Blossom Dearie - an unforgettable name for an incomparable singer.