PRESENTING
A FRONT RANK INTERPRETER
OF THE AMERICAN POPULAR SONG
STEVE CLAYTON At His Very Best
Movie producers have long been calling
on Steve Clayton for his superior vocal
talents. In recent years, audiences have
heard his "wonderfully rich and flexible
voice" behind the scenes in TUNE IN
TOMORROW (Wynton Marsalis' She Loves
Me), MILLER'S CROSSING {Runnin' Wild),
Neil Simon's BRIGHTON BEACH MEMOIRS
{You and the Night and the Music,
Whistling in the Dark), Woody Allen's
ZELIG and BROADWAY DANNY ROSE, THE
VERDICT, THE FAN, ANNIE and THE WIZ.
In STEVE CLAYTON AT HIS VERY BEST,
we've brought our "front rank" vocalist
front and center to entertain and please
the listener with 17 songs selected from
the albums, INNER SPARK ("Best Vocal
LP of the Year"), ALL AGLOW AGAIN
("Clayton sings up a storm") and The Lew
Anderson Big Band's FIRED UP ("Clayton's
warm, rich baritone is a real find"—Bill
Spilka, The Brass Player, Winter '92).
(All quotes, except the one relating to Fired Up are from
reviews of Inner Spark and All Aglow Again in the March
1985 and February 1987 issues of Cadence Magazine.)
• ••PRESENTiNC***
"A FRONT RANK INTERPRETER OF
THE AMERICAN POPULAR SONG"
THf DEREK SMITH TRIO
Milt Hinton ‘ Bobby Rosongarden
THE LEW ANDERSON BIG BAND
0 9634 - 43273-2 3
0111
DIGITAL AUDIO
Sovereign Records
CDSOV-505
Vocals for 1939 and TYPICAL OF YOU are
with The Lew Anderson Big Band; all oth¬
ers are with The Derek Smith Trio featur¬
ing the leader on piano. Milt Hinton on
bass and Bobby Rosengarden on drums.
1 Jazz at the Fair 3:21
2 The Dolphin 4:21
3 Two for the Road 4:37
4 Sunday in Soho 3:33
5 Spring Never Came 4:35
6 Ski Party 3:08
7 Where Are You 5:21
(Excerpt "It Never Entered My Mind" as intro)
8 1939 4:05
9 Typical of You 3:15
10 The Jazz Buff 3:27
11 Too Late Now 4:28
12 You Haunt Me, Brazil 2:52
13 Fired by an Inner Spark 3:09
14 Sure Thing 5:04
(Excerpt "Love Walked In" as intro)
15 Jazzland 2:52
16 Dancers in the Rain 4:16
17 Gimme a Toe-Tapper 2:23
Total Time 64:59
Produced by Ruby Fisher. Re-mastered by
Dick Charles using Sonic Solutions. Booklet
and label design by Susan Huyser.
©©1995 Sovereign Records, a division of
Aloft Music Enterprises, Inc., 1501 Broadway,
New York, NY 10036, USA.
All rights reserved. Unauthorized duplication is
a violation of applicable laws. Made in USA.
STEVE CLAYTON At His Very Best
Think I'm about to levitate!
Long ago those two could surely have been
you and I.
Dancing in the puddles-once upon a time.
Weren't we as crazy, wasn't it sublime?
Oh, but see! They're very close, they're kissing.
People watch but they don't care.
Years from now I'll find
The picture in my mind still there
Like a lovely painting, dancers in the rain.
Look at them, they're waltzing!
Once upon a time.
Weren't we as crazy, wasn't it sublime?
Oh, but now I see the dance is over.
They're just dashing off somewhere.
Years from now I'll find
The picture in my mind still there
Like a lovely painting, dancers in the rain.
GIMME A TOE-TAPPER
Gimme a toe-tapper, gimme a swing thing.
I like it, I love it, c'mon, c'mon!
I feel so good, I feel so great.
Gimme a piano, gimme a string bass.
An' gimme a drummer!
Now, stop right there!
Yeah, tho I love Big Band pizzazz,
I wanna hear some trio jazz.
(OPTIONAL 2ND VERSE)
Gimme a piano, gimme a string bass.
An' gimme a drummer!
But don't stop there!
Yeah, tho a trio's got pizzazz,
I wanna hear some Big Band jazz!
Gimme an eye-ope'ner when I'm just gropin'.
Gimme a rib-tickler when I start mopin'.
(2x-Gimme a heart-warmer when I am weary.
Gimme a spine-tingler when life gets dreary.)
But gimme a toe-tapper out o' the cool school.
Just easy and breezy when I'm this way.
Don't let the beat slow down and die.
Not till you see me flyin' high!
St0V@ ClSiytOn^ at the age of nine, was already singing on
radio in Scranton and Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. He headed for New
York at 17 and soon became the production singer at the Roxy Theater.
In the years that followed, he guested on the Ed Sullivan, Mike
Douglas, Kate Smith, Milton Berle and Frank Sinatra shows. He had his
own program, as well, on the WNEW and WINS radio stations in New York.
Steve headlined at Frank Dailey's Meadowbrook in New Jersey, Cafe
Society in New York and many more top nightclubs throughout the coun¬
try...he sang with several of the big bands such as Bobby Byrne and the
Buddy Morrow-led Tommy Dorsey Orchestra...made commercials for Pepsi,
Eastern Airlines, Palisades Amusement Park and dozens of other spon¬
sors...performed on stage with Peggy Lee in the Broadway production,
PEG... recorded for Decca, London, Columbia and, more recently, for
Sovereign (INNER SPARK, ALL AGLOW AGAIN, FIRED UP) and Stash (LOVE IS
SAID IN MANY WAYS)... caught the attention of movie producers, vocalizing
in TUNE IN TOMORROW (with Wynton Marsalis), MILLER'S CROSSING,
BRIGHTON BEACH MEMOIRS, ZELIG, BROADWAY DANNY ROSE and several other
theatrical and television films.
On this album, in addition to singing such long-time favorites as
Bricusse and Mancini's TWO FOR THE ROAD, Adamson and McHugh's WHERE
ARE YOU, Lerner and Lane's TOO LATE NOW and Gershwin and Kern's SURE
THING, Steve prominently features the songs of the album's producer, com¬
poser-lyricist Ruby Fisher. Fisher's songs have drawn critical praise through
his work for LIONEL HAMPTON, CONCORD JAZZ, CBS-TV'S CLIMAX, ABC-TV'S
GENERAL HOSPITAL and WARNER BROTHERS' BABY DOLL, among others.
JAZZIZ described his songs in The Lew Anderson Big Band's album, FEELIN'
GOOD, YEAH, as "originals that entertain and satisfy like a set of carefully
chosen classics" and in the band's follow-up album, FIRED UP, as "ballads that
would have been major hits in the days when melody counted for something ."
Pianist Derek Smith and his cohorts, bassist Milt Hinton and drummer
Bobby Rosengarden, are known throughout the world as the finest of jazz
musicians. With the exception of 1939 and TYPICAL OF YOU, both of which
were arranged by Lew Anderson for the FIRED UP album, all the songs in
STEVE CLAYTON AT HIS VERY BEST were arranged by Derek Smith.
#
Sovereign Records
CDSOV-505
©© 1995 Sovereign Records, a division of Aloft Music Enterprises, Inc.,
1501 Broadway, New York, NY 10036 USA.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. UNAUTHORIZED DUPLICATION IS A VIOLATION OF APPLICABLE LAWS.
^mith Trio featuring the leader on piano, Milt Hinton on bass and Bobby Rosengarden on drums.
Vocals for 1939 and Typical of You are with The Lew Anderson Big Band; all others are with The »—
1. Jazz at the Fair
(Inner Spark)
3:21
Ruby Fisher,
John Warrington
8( Bill Titone
Songsellers Co.
2. The Dolphin
(Inner Spark)
4:21
Ruby Fisher
8< Luis Ega
Group 88 Music
3. Two for the Road
(Inner Spark)
4:37
Leslie Bricusse
& Henry Mancini
Northridge/
20th Cent. Fox Music
4. Sunday in Soho
(Inner Spark)
3:33
Ruby Fisher
Songsellers Co.
5. Spring Never Came
(Inner Spark)
4:35
Ruby Fisher
Songsellers Co.
6. Ski Party
(Inner Spark)
3:08
Ruby Fisher
& Lionel Hampton
Twilight City Music
7. Where Are You 5:21
(Inner Spark)
(Excerpt "It Never Entered My Mind'
Harold Adamson EMI Feist/
Si Jimmy McHugh Harold Adamson Music
'as intro/Lorenz Hart & Richard Rodgers/Chappell & Co.)
8. 1939
(Fired Up)
4:05
Ruby Fisher
Songsellers Co.
9. Typical of You
3:15
Ruby Fisher
Songsellers Go.
(Fired Up)
(TWILIGHT CITY-BMI. ALL OTHER PUBLISHERS-ASCAP)
10. The Jazz Buff
(All Aglow Again)
3:27
Ruby Fisher
Songsellers Co.
11. Too Late Now
(All Aglow Again)
4:28
Alan J. Lerner
Si Burton Lane
Chappell 8< Co./
EMI Feist
12. You Haunt Me, Brazil
(All Aglow Again)
2:52
Ruby Fisher
Songsellers Co.
13. Fired by an Inner Spark
(Inner Spark)
3:09
Ruby Fisher
Songsellers Co.
14. Sure Thing
(All Aglow Again)
(Excerpt "Love Walked In
5:04 Ira Gershwin Polygram Intn'l
& Jerome Kern
"as intro/Ira & George Gershwin/Gershwin Pub. Co.)
15. Jazzland
(All Aglow Again)
2:52
Gladys Neal, John
Warrington Si Ruby Fisher
Songsellers Co.
16. Dancers in the Rain
(All Aglow Again)
4:16
Ruby Fisher
Songsellers Co.
17. Gimme a Toe-Tapper
(All Aglow Again)
2:23
Ruby Fisher
Songsellers Co.
Total Time
64:59
This compilation of Steve Clayton vocals was produced by Ruby Fisher, as were the original albums
from which they were derived: Inner Spark (1984), All Aglow Again (1986) and Fired Up (1992).
Re-mastered by Dick Charles using Sonic Solutions. Booklet and label designed by Susan Huyser.
JAZZ AT THE FAIR
I'm on my way now, goin' to hear
jazz at the fair.
No, I can't stay now, don't wanna
be late gettin' there.
Nothin' but rock and soul and country
music all thru the day.
Gimme a break, I need a little bit of jazz
light away.
There's good vibrations cornin' to me
now thru the air.
I know the band has started to play
jazz at the fair.
What a night! What a delight it will be
Rearin'jazz out at thefair-
that's ecstasy!
THE DOLPHIN
In the night, from somewhere far at sea.
My old friend, the dolphin, calls to me.
Once again, as I sail out across the bay.
Out to where the dolphin loves to play.
you are with me.
Oh, but it's just a dream—I sail alone.
And the truth I must face up to is that
you're gone.
Yet, the dolphin's cry seems to say take heart
and carry on
Until that moment when I fall in love again,
But, see! He's here, here at my side.
True to the end, my dolphin friend.
SUNDAY IN SOHO
I'm lookin' at the girl beside me,
thinkin' she's sweet.
Don't know her name, but I know we gotta meet.
That's why I'm walkin' along down
the same street,
Sunday in Soho town.
I gotta think o' somethin' witty,
\
that's the first rule.
Don't want her lookin' at me like I'm a fool.
Get smart, and hurry it up, say somethin' cool
Now, while she's still around.
She heads for an art gallery. I follow and
then watch her pout.
She looks at this thing, says to me.
Good grief! What is that all about?
I tell her what I'm really thinkin'-that is a fake!
She says, I don't think the artist was awake.
We laugh, and then we go have coffee and cake
On Sunday in Soho town.
We stroll for awhile, meeting friends.
In no time at all, we are six.
There's jazz at the loft, I cry out.
Let's all go and have us some kicks!
And, suddenly, the girl beside me kisses
my cheek.
Says, when you're talkin' 'bout jazz, well.
I'm a freak.
All right, now that's what I call startin' the week
On Sunday in Soho town.
SPRING NEVER CAME
Spring never came, winter had gone and yet.
Spring never came the year we met.
No flowers bloomed, no kids came out to play.
And all the birds had just flown away.
Thru winter's cold, our love survived,
grew strong.
But then, one day, it all went wrong.
Tho we hung on, it just was not the same.
The seasons changed, but spring never came.
We stayed apart all that summer,
then tried again in fall.
Love took us back. Now each one understands
The give and take that love demands.
For, here we are caught up in love's bright flame
Long past the year when spring never came.
SKI PARTY
Put up your skis, we're gonna party,
you know everyone.
Join the fun! Let me fix you up a toddy.
That will warm you good just like it should.
Yeah, we got the music goin',
logs are cracklin' on the fire.
It's all you desire. And we're only gettin' started.
Let your mind go free!
Now, don't you worry 'bout tomorrow,
They're predictin' snow-it's a go!
We'll get honey for the money,
feel it in my bones.
Don't laugh, you clones! I have never
been mistaken.
I don't need a weatherman to know
what's at hand.
We'll be out there in the mornin'-
justyou wait and see!
How about a toast? Here's to your host!
Who might that be? You are lookin' at he,
yeah me!'
But, just before I step aside now,
leave you all alone.
On your own, let me tell a funny story-
Someone very dear hijacked me here.
I'm supposed to be in Rio, soakin' up
a lotta sun.
But I'm havin'fun. So enjoy this little party-
Everything's on me!
1939
I keep thinkin' back to nineteen thirty-nine.
The songs that year, today they're vintage wine.
Blue Orchids and Moonlight Serenade,
Deep Purple—
They top my hit parade.
And that girl I loved in nineteen thirty-nine, ^
I never kissed her, she was never mine.
I wooed her with All the Things You Are,
But always alone and from afar.
Yeah, the girl was special, she set
my heart aflame.
So, why do I remember the songs but never
her name?
Like I Concentrate on You from thirty-nine.
And I Didn't Know What Time It Was-divine!
From a sad but sweet I'll Never Smile Again
(And that one said it all for me back then).
On upwards to If I Didn't Care,
Right over to Careless and My Prayer.
I just know I'll treasure very warm refrain.
Like Darn That Dream and Lilacs in the Rain.
And Over the Rainbow-what a pearl!
What's New was a winner like the girl.
Yeah, the girl was special, she set my
heart aflame.
So, why do I remember the songs but never
her name.
I keep thinkin' back to nineteen thirty-nine.
And the songs that knocked me out in
thirty-nine.
And the girl I never kissed in thirty-nine.
TYPICAL OF YOU
If you came to say goodbye, then say goodbye.
Nothing else to do.
Baby, don't put yourself down and
play the clown-
Typical of you.
Look, you warned me from the start
don't lose my heart.
You're just passing thru.
Now I mustn't even claim my share ofblame-
Typical of you.
You say we had something special, and yet.
You're still moving on to search
for something more.
Still not sure at all just what you 're
searching for.
I suppose you 'll never write, you 'll never call.
Well, you know it's true.
But you'll always think of me.
Yes, that would be typical of you.
THE JAZZ BUFF
The jazz buff, he was playin' some BIRD
When he suddenly heard the telephone ring,
it was DIZZY.
Told him he'd call him back 'cause he was busy!
The jazz buff. Every concert I go he's a part
of the show.
Love watchin' him dig the musicians.
Listenin' to his headset intermissions.
You get him started and he'll name his Top 40
big bands.
He'll name the sidemen and the tunes.
And where they played their one-night stands.
He's into short-wave. He'll get up before dawn,
Turn the radio on. He's groggy but he doesn't
mind it,
Searchin' for jazz around the world—he'll find it.
Livin'for jazz, that's his life just the way
he designed it.
The jazz buff.
If he should pass a record shop.
Well, just watch him, he'll freeze.
Next thing you know he's in the door
And he's checkin' out the jazz CD's.
He loves the ladies. Listen, I know that guy
And I know he gets high on Billie and
Sarah and Ella,
All those gals under that big jazz umbrella.
Livin'for jazz, that's his life, he's
a most happy fella.
The jazz buff.
YOU HAUNT ME, BRAZIL
You haunt me, Brazil. I hear your songs
in my brain.
And, always, Brazil, I walk in your sun
and your rain.
Your magic steals into my reverie.
And it takes me to Rio, to the sand and the sea.
That voice in my heart-Brazil, Brazil, it repeats,
And I see again the carnival crowds
in the streets.
And someone, someone I loved and love still.
Oh, but they're endless, the ways that you
haunt me, Brazil.
FIRED BY AN INNER SPARK
Turn to me, let me look into your eyes.
I'm tryin' hard to understand
That magic in you I'm crazy for.
Come to me, Everytime that you are near
The sweetest music filb my head
Like nothin' I've ever heard before.
You're fired by an inner spark,
an incandescent glow.
And I wanna get to the heart of it.
that's all I know—
I wanna be a part of it, I love you so.
Talk to me, tell me all about your day.
The great adventures and the small.
And how you went sailin' thru them all.
Ah! Your touch! All my senses spring awake.
You kiss me and it's just unreal
How electrically alive I feel.
You're fired by an inner spark,
an incandescent glow.
And I wanna get to the heart of it,
that's all I know-
I wanna be a part of it, I love you so!
JAZZLAND
Why do they call the USA Jazzland?
It started with your jazz in New Orleans,
Jazz in Chicago, spreadin' to every shore.
Even the Russians smile and say
Jazzland, America!
Well, who gave 'em Louis, Lionel and Benny-
Them and aplenty more!
We got lots of varieties.
You can pick what you please in Jazzland.
How would you like to hear Dixie, (2x-Ragtime)
Or how about a little swing? (2x-Bop)
Well, no matter where you may go.
There is always a local jazz band.
Go on and have a good listen-
You don't know what you may be missin'!
People around the world salute Jazzland.
They're loyal to the great kings of rhythm.
They're swingin'with 'em,
Cryin'for more and more!
(Coda): Cryin' for more, dyin'for more
Music from Jazzland, USA!
DANCERS IN THE RAIN
Dancers in the rain, just see them.
Full of life that girl, that boy.
What if they're soaked thru?
The rain is something to enjoy.
Those dancers in the rain, it's funny.
It's so funny I could cry.
THE DEREK SMITH TRIO
B^sengarden
compilation of Steve Clayton vocals
Produced by Ruby Fisher, as were
Wflinal albums from which they
■Lived: INNER SPARK (1984),
Blow AGAIN (1986) and FIRED
|y2). Vocals for 1939 and TYPICAL
|ware with The Lew Anderson
f^d; all others are with
perek Smith Trio.
1 3azz at the Fai^
2 The Dolphin ^ ^
3 Two for the Koad
4 Sunday inciSoho
5 Spring Never Came
6 Ski Party M kl
7 Where Are You \
(Excerpt “It Never Entered My Mind" ai
8 1939
9 Typical of You
1995 Sovereign Records
A division of
Aloft Music Enterprises, Inc.
1501 Broadway, New York
New York 10036 USA.
11 Too Late'^5^
12 You Haunt Me,
13 Fired by an Inner Spark
14 Sure Thing
(Excerpt "Love Walked In" as intro)
15 Jazzland
16 Dancers in the Rain
17 Gimme a Toe-Tapper
Total Time
n COMPACT
All rights reserved. Unauthorized
duplication is a violation of ,
applicable laws. Made in USA. ^
DIGITAL AUDIO
SOVEREIGN
CDSOV-505
