Lost in the Stars: The Music of Kurt Weill
Encyclopedia
Lost in the Stars: The Music of Kurt Weill is a 1985
tribute album
to German-American composer Kurt Weill
. It was executive-produced by Hal Willner
and John Telfer, and produced by Hal Willner and Paul M. Young.
1985 in music
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1985.-January–March:*January 1 - The newest music video channel, VH-1, debuts on American cable. It is aimed at an older demographic than its sister station, MTV...
tribute album
Tribute album
A tribute album is a recorded collection of cover versions of songs or instrumental compositions. Its concept may be either various artists making a tribute to a single artist, a single artist making a tribute to various artists, or a single artist making a tribute to another single artist.There...
to German-American composer Kurt Weill
Kurt Weill
Kurt Julian Weill was a German-Jewish composer, active from the 1920s, and in his later years in the United States. He was a leading composer for the stage who was best known for his fruitful collaborations with Bertolt Brecht...
. It was executive-produced by Hal Willner
Hal Willner
Hal Willner is an American music producer working in recording, films, TV and live events. He is best known for assembling tribute albums and events featuring a wide variety of artists and musical styles...
and John Telfer, and produced by Hal Willner and Paul M. Young.
Track listing
- "Introduction from Mahagonny-SongspielMahagonny-SongspielMahagonny-Songspiel, also known as The Little Mahagonny, is a "small-scale 'scenic cantata'" written by the composer Kurt Weill and the dramatist Bertolt Brecht in 1927...
" – Steve WeisbergSteve WeisbergSteve Weisberg, born 1963 in Norfolk, Virginia, is a composer/arranger/pianist and international recording artist/producer. In the 80's, after studying with Michael Gibbs at Berklee College in Boston, Ma., he recorded the XtraWatt/ECM release "I Can't Stand Another Night Alone ," produced by Carla... - "The Ballad of Mac The KnifeMack the Knife"Mack the Knife" or "The Ballad of Mack the Knife", originally "Die Moritat von Mackie Messer", is a song composed by Kurt Weill with lyrics by Bertolt Brecht for their music drama Die Dreigroschenoper, or, as it is known in English, The Threepenny Opera. It premiered in Berlin in 1928 at the...
" (from The Threepenny OperaThe Threepenny OperaThe Threepenny Opera is a musical by German dramatist Bertolt Brecht and composer Kurt Weill, in collaboration with translator Elisabeth Hauptmann and set designer Caspar Neher. It was adapted from an 18th-century English ballad opera, John Gay's The Beggar's Opera, and offers a Marxist critique...
) – Sting and Dominic MuldowneyDominic MuldowneyDominic Muldowney is a British composer.-Biography:He studied at the universities of Southampton and York , and took private lessons with Harrison Birtwistle. From 1974 to 1976 he was composer-in-residence to the Southern Arts Association... - "The Cannon Song" (from The Threepenny Opera) – The Fowler BrothersBruce FowlerBruce Lambourne Fowler is a prominent American trombone player and composer. He notably played trombone on many Frank Zappa records, as well as with Captain Beefheart, and in the Fowler Brothers Band...
and Stan RidgwayStan RidgwayStanard 'Stan' Ridgway is an American multi-instrumentalist singer-songwriter known for his distinctive voice, dramatic lyrical narratives, and eclectic solo albums and was the original lead singer of the band Wall of Voodoo... - "Ballad of the Soldier's Wife" – Marianne FaithfullMarianne FaithfullMarianne Evelyn Faithfull is an award-winning English singer, songwriter and actress whose career has spanned five decades....
and Chris SpeddingChris SpeddingChris Spedding is an English rock and roll and jazz guitarist, best known for his session work. Allmusic states - "Spedding is one of the UK's most versatile session guitarists, and has had a long career on two continents that saw him tackle nearly every style of rock and roll, as well as... - "Johnny Johnson MedleyJohnny Johnson (musical)Johnny Johnson is a musical with a book and lyrics by Paul Green and music by Kurt Weill.Based on Jaroslav Hašek's satiric novel The Good Soldier Švejk, it focuses on a naive and idealistic young man who, despite his pacifist views, leaves his sweetheart Minny Belle Tompkins to fight in Europe in...
" – Van Dyke ParksVan Dyke ParksVan Dyke Parks is an American composer, arranger, producer, musician, singer, author and actor. Parks is perhaps best known for his contributions as a lyricist on the Beach Boys album Smile....
- "Overture"
- "Johnny's Melody"
- "Aggie's Sewing Machine"
- "Alabama SongAlabama SongThe "Alabama Song" was originally published in Bertolt Brecht's Hauspostille . It was set to music by Kurt Weill for the 1927 "Songspiel" Mahagonny and used again in Weill's and Brecht's 1930 opera Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny...
" (from Rise and Fall of the City of MahagonnyRise and Fall of the City of MahagonnyRise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny is a political-satirical opera composed by Kurt Weill to a German libretto by Bertolt Brecht. It was first performed in Leipzig on 9 March 1930.-Composition history:...
) – Ralph SchuckettRalph SchuckettRalph Schuckett is an American keyboardist, songwriter, record producer and TV/film composer. He played with Clear Light 1966-68, The Peanut Butter Conspiracy 1968 to 1970, Jo Mama 1969-72, Carole King 1969-1972, Lou Reed 1972-73, Todd Rundgren and Utopia 1972-75, and, as a studio musician in...
with Richard ButlerRichard Butler (singer)Richard Lofthouse Butler is the lead singer of the Psychedelic Furs. He is also the founder and vocalist for the disbanded Love Spit Love.-Musical career:...
, Bob DoroughBob DoroughBob Dorough is an American bebop and cool jazz pianist, composer and vocalese singer.He worked with Miles Davis and Allen Ginsberg, and his adventurous style was an influence on Mose Allison, among other singers...
, Ellen ShipleyEllen ShipleyEllen Shipley, born 24 March 1949 in New York, is a US musician and songwriter.-Biography:Shipley is best known for work with Rick Nowels. Together they've written for Kim Wilde and worked on the Belinda Carlisle albums Belinda, Heaven on Earth, Runaway Horses, and Live Your Life Be Free...
and John Petersen - "Youkali Tango" – Armadillo String Quartet
- "Der Kleine Leutnant Des Lieben Gottes" (The Little Lieutenant of the Loving God) (from Happy EndHappy End (musical)Happy End is a surrealistic three-act musical comedy by Kurt Weill, Elisabeth Hauptmann, and Bertolt Brecht which first opened in Berlin at the Theater am Schiffbauerdamm on September 2, 1929. It closed after seven performances...
) – John ZornJohn ZornJohn Zorn is an American avant-garde composer, arranger, record producer, saxophonist and multi-instrumentalist. Zorn is a prolific artist: he has hundreds of album credits as performer, composer, or producer... - "September SongSeptember Song"September Song" is an American pop standard composed by Kurt Weill, with lyrics by Maxwell Anderson, introduced by Walter Huston in the 1938 Broadway musical Knickerbocker Holiday. It has since been recorded by numerous singers and instrumentalists...
" (from Knickerbocker HolidayKnickerbocker HolidayKnickerbocker Holiday is a musical written by Kurt Weill and Maxwell Anderson ; it was directed by Joshua Logan. Among the songs introduced was the "September Song", now considered a pop standard.- History :...
) – Lou ReedLou ReedLewis Allan "Lou" Reed is an American rock musician, songwriter, and photographer. He is best known as guitarist, vocalist, and principal songwriter of The Velvet Underground, and for his successful solo career, which has spanned several decades... - "Lost in the StarsLost in the StarsLost in the Stars is a musical with book and lyrics by Maxwell Anderson and music by Kurt Weill, based on the novel Cry, the Beloved Country by Alan Paton...
" – Carla BleyCarla BleyCarla Bley, née Borg, is an American jazz composer, pianist, organist and band leader. An important figure in the Free Jazz movement of the 1960s, she is perhaps best known for her jazz opera Escalator Over The Hill , as well as a book of compositions that have been performed by many other...
with Phil WoodsPhil WoodsPhilip Wells Woods is an American jazz bebop alto saxophonist, clarinetist, bandleader and composer.-Biography:... - "What Keeps Mankind Alive?What Keeps Mankind Alive?"What Keeps Mankind Alive?" is a song composed by Kurt Weill with lyrics by Bertolt Brecht for their music drama The Threepenny Opera which premiered in Berlin in 1928 at the Theater am Schiffbauerdamm. The song has been covered by Tom Waits , the Pet Shop Boys, William S...
" (from The Threepenny Opera) – Tom WaitsTom WaitsThomas Alan "Tom" Waits is an American singer-songwriter, composer, and actor. Waits has a distinctive voice, described by critic Daniel Durchholz as sounding "like it was soaked in a vat of bourbon, left hanging in the smokehouse for a few months, and then taken outside and run over with a car."... - "Surabaya Johnny" (from Happy End) – Dagmar KrauseDagmar KrauseDagmar Krause is a German singer, best known for her work with avant-rock groups like Slapp Happy, Henry Cow and Art Bears. She is also noted for her coverage of songs by Bertolt Brecht, Kurt Weill and Hanns Eisler...
- "Oh Heavenly Salvation" (from Mahagonny) – Mark BinghamMark Bingham (musician/music producer)Mark Bingham is an American music producer/composer/musician/engineer.In 1966 , Bingham was signed to a publishing contract with Elektra Records. After a brief stint at Elektra in Los Angeles and one single released on Warner Bros., he returned to Bloomington where he attended Indiana University...
with Johnny AdamsJohnny AdamsLaten John Adams , known as Johnny Adams, was an American blues, jazz and gospel singer, known as "The Tan Canary" for the multi-octave range of his singing voice, his swooping vocal mannerisms and falsetto...
and Aaron NevilleAaron NevilleAaron Neville is an American soul and R&B singer and musician. He has had four top-20 hits in the United States along with four platinum-certified albums... - "Call From The Grave/Ballad In Which MacHeath Begs All Men For Forgiveness" (from The Threepenny Opera) – Todd RundgrenTodd RundgrenTodd Harry Rundgren is an American multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and record producer. Hailed in the early stage of his career as a new pop-wunderkind, supported by the certified gold solo double LP Something/Anything? in 1972, Todd Rundgren's career has produced a diverse range of recordings...
with Gary WindoGary WindoGary Windo was a jazz tenor saxophonist.He came from a musical family in England and by age six took up drums and accordion, then guitar at 12, and finally saxophone at 17. He lived in the United States in the 1960s, but returned to England in 1969... - "Speak LowSpeak Low"Speak Low" is a popular song composed by Kurt Weill, with lyrics by Ogden Nash. It was introduced by Mary Martin and Kenny Baker in the Broadway musical One Touch of Venus . The 1944 hit single was by Guy Lombardo and his orchestra, with vocal by Billy Leach...
" (from One Touch of VenusOne Touch of VenusOne Touch of Venus is a musical with music written by Kurt Weill, lyrics by Ogden Nash, and book by S. J. Perelman and Nash, based on the novella The Tinted Venus by Thomas Anstey Guthrie, and very loosely spoofing the Pygmalion myth. The show satirizes contemporary American suburban values,...
) – Charlie HadenCharlie HadenCharles Edward Haden is an American jazz musician. He is a double bassist, probably best known for his long association with saxophonist Ornette Coleman...
and Sharon FreemanSharon FreemanSharon Freeman is a jazz pianist and French hornist. She also writes musical arrangements.Freeman played French horn for the jazz opera Escalator over the Hill, Gil Evans's 1973 album Svengali, and in 1983 she worked on a piece of jazz Christmas music. Since 1982 she is a member of Charlie Haden's... - "In No Man's Land" (from Johnny Johnson) – Van Dyke Parks
The CD re-release contains the additional tracks
- "The Great Hall" – Henry ThreadgillHenry ThreadgillHenry Threadgill is an American composer, saxophonist and flautist. Threadgill came to prominence in the 1970s leading ensembles with unusual instrumentation and often incorporating a range of non-jazz genres....
- "Johnny's Speech" – Van Dyke Parks
- "Klops Lied" (Meatball Song) – Elliott SharpElliott SharpElliott Sharp is an American multi-instrumentalist, composer, and performer.A central figure in the avant-garde and experimental music scene in New York City since the late 1970s, Sharp has released over eighty-five recordings ranging from blues, jazz, and orchestral music to noise, no wave rock,...
- "Hurricane Introduction" – Mark BinghamMark Bingham (musician/music producer)Mark Bingham is an American music producer/composer/musician/engineer.In 1966 , Bingham was signed to a publishing contract with Elektra Records. After a brief stint at Elektra in Los Angeles and one single released on Warner Bros., he returned to Bloomington where he attended Indiana University...