Lester Young "A Nightingale sang in Berkeley square performed by Steve Bone. Day 9 of the JSC

A nightingale sang in Berkeley square performed by Steve Bone. Beautiful ballad played on a P.Mauriat rul66 tenor saxophone."A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square" is a romantic British popular song with lyrics by Eric Maschwitz and music by Manning Sherwin and Jack Strachey. It was written in the (then) small French fishing village of Le Lavandou now a favourite resort for British holidaymakers and second-home owners shortly before the outbreak of the Second World War.[1] According to Maschwitz, the title was stolen from a story by Michael Arlen. The song had its first performance in the summer of 1939 in a local bar, where the melody was played on piano by Manning Sherwin with the help of the resident saxophonist. Maschwitz sang the words while holding a glass of wine, but nobody seemed impressed. [2] In the spring of 2002, at attempt was made to find the bar where this song, which would later become a standard, was first performed with the view to having a blue plaque set up. With the help of the local tourist office, elderly residents were questioned, but it proved impossible to establish the venue. [3]

The song was published in 1940, early in World War II, when it was first performed in the show New Faces by Judy Campbell (later the mother of Jane Birkin) [4]. In the same year it was also performed by both Ray Noble and then — most famously — by Vera Lynn. The tune is a recurring theme in the Fritz Lang film Man Hunt (1941).

Subsequently it has become a standard, being recorded by Frank Sinatra, Rod Stewart on the 2004 album Stardust: the Great American Songbook 3 [5], Nat King Cole on the 1961 album The Touch of Your Lips [6], Carmen McRae [7], Glenn Miller, Stephane Grappelli, Bobby Darin on the 1962 album Oh! Look at Me Now [8], Harry Connick Jr. on the 1990 album We Are in Love and Sonny Rollins on the 2000 album This Is What I Do [9]. A famous version by The Manhattan Transfer won a Grammy in 1981 for its arranger, Gene Puerling. The veteran British musician Ian Hunter, former vocalist for Mott the Hoople, regularly performs it in his concerts; Hunter's rendition appears on at least two of his live recordings [10]. A performance of the song by British actor Robert Lindsay was used as the theme to the British situation comedy series Nightingales [11]. Faryl Smith released a cover of the song on her debut album Faryl in 2009 [12]. The song was also sung in the episode Captain Jack Harkness on Torchwood. Lyrics from the song were also paraphrased in the novel Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett.
Berkeley Square is a large leafy square in Mayfair, an expensive part of London. The Ritz Hotel referred to is also in Mayfair.
The first stanza (which is properly called a "verse" which is often spoken as an intro), and the additional lyrics (properly called the "chorus"), were in the original song as written, but are rarely sung in recordings, (Bobby Darin, Mel Torme, Blossom Dearie, Twiggy, Vera Lynn, and Rod Stewart's recordings being notable exceptions).

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Music

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• Lester
• YoungSteve
• BoneP.Mauriat

[avril2]

Great.

Looks like a scene from 'Gregorys Girl' as the kids are scuttling past the window.

[TwainsBlues]

Wished you had a real pianist that could actually FOLLOW your phrases. Nice job, Steve.