DORIS DAY: The Doris Day Christmas Album

DORIS DAY
A vida de Doris Day, ao contrário do que sugeriam seus coloridos filmes dos anos 50, não foi um "marshmallow". Doris, literalmente, "comeu o pão que o diabo amassou": quebrou as pernas na infância e durante muito tempo existiam dúvidas se voltaria a andar. No início da carreira, cantando na banda de LES BROWN, percorreu os USA, viajando de trem, e ônibus, fazendo um show por dia: vida dura...Casou várias vezes, sempre com os homens errados. Seu filho, Terry, foi - injustamente - envolvido no massacre promovido pela "família Charles Manson" contra a atriz Sharon Tate. Aturdido, Terry começou a se drogar, sofreu um acidente gravíssimo e esteve entre a vida e a morte por longo tempo. (Terry morreu aos 62 anos, vítima de câncer). Pra coroar a série de provações, depois que seu último marido Martin Melcher- um escroque - morreu, Doris descobriu que toda a fortuna que amealhara durante sua carreira, desaparecera, e ainda lhe restava uma dívida enorme. Conseguiu recuperar boa parte do patrimônio, aproximadamente, 23 milhões de dólares, no processo que moveu contra o advogado Jerome Rosenthal, cúmplice de seu marido nas trapaças que dilapidaram sua fortuna. E o pior: foi massacrada pela crítica norte-americana, que a martirizou pelos seus papéis de virgem. Mas queriam o que? O galã de Doris era ROCK HUDSON, cuja preferência sexual não era exatamente "desvirginar donzelas". Donzelas? Nessa época Doris já passava dos 30...O fato é que foi cometida uma cruel injustiça contra uma grande cantora e atriz, como provou em vários discos e em filmes, como "Ama-me ou esquece-me". Quando o erro foi reparado, Doris foi incluida numa lista dos cinco melhores cantores de jazz (sim, é isso mesmo: de jazz!) dos USA de todos os tempos, pelo respeitado crítico de jazz, WILL FRIEDWALD.  Mas aí já era tarde: ela desistiu da carreira e foi cuidar da preservação de animais domésticos.

(*) Eu não concordo com a tal lista do Friedwald, que considera  Doris Day, Frank Sinatra e Bing Crosby cantores de  jazz - coisa que nenhum deles, definitivamente, foi. O critério do Friedwald é ter "swing" - o que, para mim, é muito pouco. Além do mais, uma lista de "melhores" contendo apenas cinco nomes, comete injustiças contra dezenas de outros grandes nomes. Eu prefiro considerar DORIS DAY como uma das grandes cantoras norte-americanas de todos os tempos.

(**) Ah! "Last but not least": Doris era uma "gostosura"...Quem assistiu sua performance de "Ten Cents a Dance", no filme "Ama-me ou esquece-me" (Love me or leave me) levou um susto - como eu, que quase caí da poltrona do cinema - ao ver seu "corpaço" revelado: seios pequenos, cintura de vespa, pernas longas e torneadas, coxas monumentais e a "derriere" (a nossa preferência nacional) fantástica. Um tesouro!
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DORIS DAY
Doris Day (born Doris Mary Ann Kappelhoff, April 3, 1922) is an American actress and singer, and an outspoken animal rights activist since her retirement from show business. Her entertainment career began in the 1940s as a big band singer. In 1945 she had her first hit recording, "Sentimental Journey". In 1948, she appeared in her first film, Romance on the High Seas. During her entertainment career, she appeared in 39 films, recorded more than 650 songs, received an Academy Award nomination, won a Golden Globe and a Grammy Award, and, in 1989, received the Cecil B. DeMille Award for lifetime achievement in motion pictures. As of 2009, Day was the top-ranking female box office star of all time and ranked sixth among the top ten box office performers (male and female). Day developed an early interest in dance, and in the mid-1930s formed a dance duo with Jerry Doherty that performed locally in Cincinnati. A car accident on October 13, 1937, damaged her legs and curtailed her prospects as a professional dancer. While recovering, Day took singing lessons, and at 17 she began performing locally. It was while working for local bandleader Barney Rapp in 1939 or 1940 that she adopted the stage name "Day" as an alternative to "Kappelhoff," at his suggestion. After working with Rapp, Day worked with a number of other bandleaders including Jimmy James, Bob Crosby, and Les Brown. It was while working with Brown that Day scored her first hit recording, "Sentimental Journey", which was released in early 1945. It soon became an anthem of the desire of World War II demobilizing troops to return home. This song is still associated with Day. In 1959, Day entered her most successful phase as a film actress with a series of romantic comedies, starting with Pillow Talk, co-starring Rock Hudson, who became a lifelong friend. By the late 1960s, the sexual revolution of the baby boomer generation had refocused public attitudes about sex. Times changed, but Day's films did not. Critics and comics dubbed Day "the world's oldest virgin", and audiences began to shy away from her films. As a result, she slipped from the list of top box office stars, last appearing in the Top 10 in 1967 with The Glass Bottom Boat, her final hit film. One of the roles she turned down was that of the iconic Mrs. Robinson in The Graduate, a role that eventually went to Anne Bancroft. In her published memoirs, Day said that she had rejected the part on moral grounds. Her final feature film, With Six You Get Eggroll, was released in 1968. Her husband Martin Melcher died April 20, 1968. Day was shocked to discover that her husband of 17 years and his business partner Jerome Bernard Rosenthal had squandered her earnings, leaving her deeply in debt. Rosenthal had been her attorney since the late 1940s. Day filed suit against Rosenthal and won the then-largest civil judgment (over $20 million) until that time in the state of California: on September 18, 1974, Day was awarded $22,835,646 for fraud and malpractice. Upon her husband's death on April 20, 1968, Day learned that he had committed her to a television series, which became The Doris Day Show. "It was awful", Day told OK! Magazine in 1996. "I was really, really not very well when Marty [Melcher] passed away, and the thought of going into TV was overpowering. But he'd signed me up for a series. And then my son Terry [Melcher] took me walking in Beverly Hills and explained that it wasn't nearly the end of it. I had also been signed up for a bunch of TV specials, all without anyone ever asking me." Day hated the idea of doing television, but felt obligated. "There was a contract. I didn't know about it. I never wanted to do TV, but I gave it 100 percent anyway. That's the only way I know how to do it." The show was successful, enjoyed a five-year run, and functioned as a curtain-raiser for The Carol Burnett Show. The show is remembered today for its abrupt season-to-season changes in casting and premise. In 1975, Day released her autobiography, Doris Day: Her Own Story, an "as-told-to" work with A. E. Hotchner. The book detailed her first three marriages: To Al Jorden, a trombonist whom she had met when he was in Barney Rapp's Band, from March 1941 to 1943. Her only child, son Terry Melcher, was born from this marriage. Jorden, who was reportedly physically abusive to Day, committed suicide in 1967 by a self-inflicted gunshot wound. To George Weidler (a saxophonist), from March 30, 1946 to May 31, 1949. Weidler, the brother of actress Virginia Weidler, and Day met again several years later. During a brief reconciliation, he helped her become involved in Christian Science. To Martin Melcher, whom she married on April 3, 1951. This marriage lasted far longer than her first two. Melcher adopted Terry (thus renaming the boy Terry Melcher), and produced many of Day's movies. After her autobiography was published, Day married one last time. Her fourth and last marriage was to Barry Comden, who was roughly a decade younger, from April 14, 1976 until 1981. Comden was her first husband from outside of show business. Comden was the maitre d' at one of Day's favorite restaurants. Knowing of her great love of dogs, Comden endeared himself to Day by giving her a bag of meat scraps and bones on her way out of the restaurant. When this marriage unraveled, Comden complained that Day cared more for her "animal friends" than she did for him. Comden died on May 25, 2009, aged 74. While promoting the book, Day caused a stir by rejecting the "girl next door" and "virgin" labels so often attached to her. As she remarked in her book, "The succession of cheerful, period musicals I made, plus Oscar Levant's highly publicized comment about my virginity ('I knew Doris Day before she became a virgin.') contributed to what has been called my 'image', which is a word that baffles me. There never was any intent on my part either in my acting or in my private life to create any such thing as an image." Day said she believed people should live together prior to marriage, something that she herself would do if the opportunity arose. At the conclusion of this book tour, Day seemed content to focus on her charity and pet work and her business interests. (In 1985, she became part-owner with her son of the Cypress Inn in Carmel, California.) In May 1983, she became a grandmother. In 1985 she briefly hosted her own talk show, Doris Day's Best Friends on CBN. Despite the worldwide publicity her show received, it was canceled after 26 episodes. Her son Terry Melcher first made a brief attempt to become a surf music singing star, then became a staff producer for Columbia Records in the 1960s, and was famous for producing some latter-day recordings by The Beach Boys and The Byrds. In November 2004, after a long period of illness, he died from complications of melanoma, aged 62. Day's interest in animal welfare and related issues apparently dates to her teen years when she was recovering from an automobile accident and took her dog Tiny for a walk without a leash. Tiny ran into the street and was killed by a passing car. Day promoted the annual Spay Day USA, and on a number of occasions, actively lobbied the United States Congress in support of legislation designed to safeguard animal rights. She also founded The Doris Day Animal League.www.ddal.org which was merged into The Humane Society of the United States in 2006.
~Wikipedia, edited by CB
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ALBUM REVIEW
I had originally heard Doris Day’s version of “The Christmas Song” on a Holiday Compilation album many, many years ago, and that song remained in my head to this day. I recently discovered the source of that gem…her 1964 Christmas Album. As a fan of Chritmas Albums from their “Golden Age” of the ’50’s and ’60’s, it simply doesn’t get any better than this…beautifully orchestrated arrangements with Ms. Day in prime voice. The overall mood of this album is soft, mellow and dreamy, as Ms.Day glides you along from one holiday classic to the next.
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MINHA OPINIÃO
É isso mesmo: "soft, mellow and dreamy" ou seja: OURO EM PÓ!
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DORIS DAY: The Doris Day Christmas Album

TRACKS/FAIXAS:
01. Silver Bells
02. I’ll Be Home For Christmas
03. Toyland
04. Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!
05. The Christmas Song
06. Winter Wonderland
07. Christmas Present
08. Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas
09. White Christmas
10. Be A Child At Christmas Time
11. The Christmas Waltz
12. Deck The Halls With Boughs of Holly
13. Snowfall