Betty Hutton Tribute

To celebrate the anniversary of Betty Hutton's birthday on February 26, satinsandspurs.com has created this tribute video. The song featured in this video is "Elizabeth June", written and performed by Kristin Hersh, who was a personal friend of Betty's when they both lived in Rhode Island in the 1980s.

To read a story of how they became friends, please visit
http://www.powells.com/blog/?p=2171

Of the song, Kristin says, "This is Bettys song. Her ghost haunts Palm Springs, or at least haunts me in Palm Springs. She died there, lonely. I was too afraid to see her old to go looking for her. But I bet she was beautiful up to and through the end. The track sounds sweet, yet bizarre. Somehow, a B flat crept in, though theres no such note in the chords I was playing. Maybe its Betty, singing along. Betty sure liked to sing. The lyrics hurt my feelings cause I miss Betty and I missed her end, but I like to think of her sweet, yet bizarre self having only palm trees to answer to, after a life fraught with tension. Bullied by the entertainment industry, she was riddled with insecuritya great brain, not given a minute to think. The song says she found some peace."

The lyrics are:

The ground's on fire
And so are you
God left you here, too

You could call for rain
Your new moguls: trees
Some full, some lonely
Both help you think

I'm sorry

And you were right
It was okay
To be scared


For more information, please visit
http://www.kristinhersh.com/
http://www.satinsandspurs.com/

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Betty
• Hutton
• tribute
• Kristin
• Hersh
• Elizabeth
• June

[savida34e]

I sensed that vulnerability too. I want to say, it's as if she saying "please love me" or "don't leave..."

[bluefourhotmom]

I'm old enough to remember seeing her films in the '40s. She was so very, very special. So much talent...perhaps more than anyone, other than Judy Garland. There was an incredible vulnerability you sense about her. God bless, Betty.

[funkstagazza]

loved her films great clips.

[JunkmansDada]

This is wonderful! Very moving. Well done!

[mkrobinson95]

@defundthewar - I'm no fan of Dylan, so I won't argue with you on that one! lol Great song writer, but his body of work is best sung by ANYBODY else : )

[defundthewar]

@mkrobinson95 Good intentions are fine, but it reminds me of the televised tribute to Frank Sinatra near the end of his life, and likely the last time he was on TV. It was an expensive event by former Laugh-In producer George Schlatter. They trotted out all these younger artists to sing a Sinatra song, many of them Frank likely didn't know of. Anyway, out came Bob Dylan, who sounds like you dropped a spoon down the garbage disposal, and Frank made a priceless expression... WTF was THAT?!

[mkrobinson95]

@defundthewar - I am not a fan of this recording AT ALL musically, BUT it is her heartfelt tribute to her old friend, whom she lovingly refers to as BOB (Beautiful Old Betty). I think Betty would have accepted it for what is was, a tribute from her old college pal, performed in the style she knew was thoroughly Kristin's. Who else of note did ANYTHING as a tribute to Betty? None of her old Hollywood peers, w/the exception of Liz Taylor, who was the ONLY celeb to send flowers to her funeral.

[defundthewar]

@noirdamecom Of course, it's always dicy to say, "So-and-so would have liked this music, but not that." I hear some things used as audio over silent films that, to me, see ridiculous and inappropriate, and feel that people like Chaplin, Garbo, Crawford, etc. would have found b------t. Ditto Judy Garland or Frank Sinatra, who had excellent musical tastes. It's just speculation, but from what I know of Betty Hutton, she would have found this alleged song to be horrid, awful, a real drag.

[noirdamecom]

@defundthewar Betty was very supportive of Kristin Hersh's talent, but hoped she would make more straight-ahead popular music, just like Betty had. Still, I think she would have liked the mood this song evokes. It certainly is a poignant video!

[defundthewar]

This off-key dishrag-limp song isn't exactly Betty's cup o' tea, but the video is terrific, a wonderful compilation.

[thesterlingmutt]

What a flower, a fire fly.  Such beauty, and such sorrow, Emptiness though efforts try Your numbing heart forever by. Such a flower, a fire fly, a gift envied and forgotten. overlooked by passerby, my sole aches so to see you cry. What a flower, a fire fly the takers came and took tomorrow they blotted out your reverent sky and stepped up on that wilted flower and all but crushed the fire fly. But fate and faith did soon come by and gather up the fire fly and saved the flower, and kep

[crooner62]

There's so much more to her than I ever realized. Thank you for capturing the different aspects - the depth. She was beautiful and didn't know it...

I hope she felt at least some of the love from the millions of people to whom she brought such happiness.

Doug