Among My Souvenirs: Stage Door Preps “Petula Clark In Copenhagen: 1958-1960” with Previously Unreleased Recordings
Following the 2020 releases of Petula Clark’s Christmas in London and On Air: 1951-1961, the Stage Door label is continuing its series exploring the early days of the superstar’s extraordinary and still-thriving career. On May 21, Stage Door will release In Copenhagen 1958-1960, premiering a disc’s worth of previously unreleased recordings from this largely unexplored period of Petula’s career.
The nearly two dozen recordings here have been sourced from master tapes housed in the archives of the Danish Broadcasting Corporation and were recorded by Petula for use in four television specials recorded and broadcast in Denmark over the course of two years. She was accompanied by the quartet of Danish pianist Bent Fabric (birth name: Bent Fabricius-Bjerre) best-known around the world for his 1962 composition “Alley Cat.” The slinky instrumental traveled far from Denmark to become a Billboard No. 7 Pop/No. 2 AC hit in the U.S. where it also picked up a Grammy Award. Much like Petula continues to do, Bent Fabric (1924-2020) enjoyed a long and successful career including a 2006 revival which found him again in the American charts – this time at No. 7 Dance for a remix of his 2003 Danish hit “Jukebox.”
The recordings featured on In Copenhagen spotlight Petula as an interpretive singer in an intimate jazz milieu. While Petula was actively recording during this period, most of the tracks here were never commercially released on any of her albums or singles, making these discoveries all the more significant. The songs are mostly recognizable American standards including Frank Loesser and Joseph Lilley’s “Jingle Jangle Jingle,” Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II’s “The Folks Who Live on the Hill,” Harry Warren and Al Dubin’s “Lullaby of Broadway,” Sammy Fain and Irving Kahal’s “I’ll Be Seeing You,” and Harold Arlen and E.Y. “Yip” Harburg’s “Over the Rainbow” and “It’s Only a Paper Moon.” (The latter tune features a third songwriting credit for showman Billy Rose.) “The Little Shoemaker,” an English adaptation of Rudi Revil and Francis Lemarque’s chanson “Le Petit Cordonnier,” was Petula’s first chart hit in the U.K., and is reprised here. Also heard anew is “The Little Blue Man,” an early novelty effort from future Broadway legend Fred Ebb (Cabaret, Chicago) and Paul Klein. Petula released her rendition in 1958 on the Nixa label. The bonus track “Mighty Lak a Rose” was a childhood specialty which Petula memorably sung to raise the spirits of servicemen during the London Blitz.
A limited edition of 500 units, In Copenhagen 1958-1960 includes a booklet with a chronology of Petula’s career in Denmark between 1945-1960. While the CD won’t be released to stores until May 21, it’s already shipping from Stage Door Records. You’ll find the complete track listing and links to order below!
Petula Clark, In Copenhagen 1958-1960 (Stage Door STAGE 9083, 2021) (Amazon U.S. Link TBD / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / Stage Door)
- It’s Been a Long, Long Time
- Jingle, Jangle, Jingle
- Smoke Gets In Your Eyes
- Silver Dollar/With All My Heart/Alone
- Among My Souvenirs
- I’ll Be Seeing You
- The Folks Who Live on the Hill
- I May Be Wrong
- The Little Blue Man
- Lullaby of Broadway
- Loch Lomond
- Three Little Words
- Over the Rainbow
- To Be or Not to Be
- Histoire d’un Amour
- The Little Shoemaker
- Don’t Blame Me
- Make Yourself Comfortable
- Tell Him No
- I Only Saw Him Once
- It’s Only a Paper Moon
- Let’s Put Out the Lights and Go to Sleep
- Mighty Lak a Rose (Bonus Track)
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I ordered this Petula cd from Stage Door and it arrived in a matter of days! I haven’t had the chance to play it yet; but like (almost) all recordings by the supremely talented Petula Clark, I am expecting to have a great listening experience.