LOVE FOR SALE
Music and lyrics: Cole Porter
Year: 1930
Origin of the song
On 8 December 1930, the musical The New Yorkers was released in the B. S. Moss’s Broadway Theatre of New York. The play, as most musicals of the 30s, had a weak plot and the producers’ hopes were pinned on Cole Porter’s music and a wide cast, led by Jimmy Durante. In the first act, Kathryn Crawford performed ‘Love for Sale’. A white streetwalker singing frankly about her profession was an excessive provocation for the critics and the audience in those times. The next day, the New York Herald Tribune informed: ‘An awful actress sings a lament called ‘Love for Sale’ plays the role of a lady of leisure’. In an attempt to calm down the moral indignation that it caused, the producers changed the girl and the place of the scene. In January of 1931, Crawford was replaced by Elizabeth Welch, a black singer, who performed the same song in the Cotton Club of Harlem. Despite that, the play was only performed a hundred and sixty eight times. Apart from the Great Depression, the bad reviews shooed the public.
Usually, they didn’t sell discs of a song which wasn’t played on the radio; but, although it was banned from radios, ‘Love for Sale’ became very popular. Not only thanks to Walter Winchell, who promoted it in his newspaper column, but also the prohibition, which attracted the public.
Versions in the top charts
|
PERFORMERS |
DATE OF RECORDING |
DAY OF
ENTRANCE |
PERMANENCE WEEKS |
HIGH POSITION REACHED |
|
|
Fred Waring’s Pennsylvanians |
1930.12.24 |
1931.03.14 |
2 |
14 |
Three Waring Girls (voc) |
|
1931.02.02 |
1931.02.21 |
8 |
5 |
Libby Holman (voc), Brunswick Studio Orchestra |
|
|
Hal Kemp Orchestra |
1939.05.19 |
1939.07.08 |
3 |
14 |
The Smoothies (voc) |
Jazz. Outstanding performances
Instrumental
|
PERFORMERS |
DATE OF RECORDING |
MUSICIANS WHO TOOK PART IN THE RECORDING
|
|
1947.07.31 |
Sidney Bechet (ss), Lloyd Philips (p), Pops Foster (b), Arthur Herbert (d) |
|
|
1951.11.25 |
Oscar Peterson (p), Barney Kessel (g), Ray Brown (b) |
|
|
1953.12.28 |
Art Tatum (p) |
|
|
1955.10.?? |
Ahmad Jamal (p), Ray Crawford (b), Walter Perkins (d) |
|
|
1958.03.09 |
Miles Davis (tp), Cannonball Adderley (as), Hank Jones (p), Sam Jones (b), Art Blakey (d) |
|
|
1958.05.26 |
Miles Davis (tp), Cannonball Adderley (as), John Coltrane (ts), Bill Evans (p), Paul Chambers (b), Jimmy Cobb (d) |
|
|
1959.04.15 |
Cecil Taylor (p), Buell Neidlinger (b), Rudy Collins (d) |
|
|
1961.10.09 |
George Shearing (p), Wes Montgomery (g), Buddy Montgomery (vib), Monk Montgomery (b) |
|
|
1962.08.27 |
Dexter Gordon (ts), Sonny Clark (p), Butch Warren (b), Billy Higgins (d) |
|
|
1965.08.30 |
Eddie Harris (ts), Ray Codrington (tp), Cedar Walton (p), Ron Carter (b), Billy Higgins (d) |
|
|
1966.10.21 |
Sonny Criss (as), Walter Davis (p), Paul Chambers (b), Alan Dawson (d) |
|
|
Stéphane Grapelli |
1980.09.?? |
Stéphane Grapelli (vn), Jonh Etheridge, Martin Taylor, (g) Jack Sewing (b) |
|
Joe Pass |
1991.09.15 |
Joe Pass (g) |
|
Lee Konitz & Franco D'Andrea |
1996.05.02 |
Lee Konitz (as), Franco D'Andrea (p) |
|
Benny Green & Russel Malone |
2004.??.?? |
Benny Green (p), Russell Malone (g) |
Vocal
|
PERFORMERS |
DATE OF RECORDING |
MUSICIANS WHO TOOK PART IN THE RECORDING
|
|
1952.04.01 |
Billie Holiday (voc), Charlie Shavers (tp), Flip Phillips (ts), Oscar Peterson (p), Barney Kessel (g), Ray Brown (b), Alvin Stoller (d) |
|
|
1954.02.05 |
Dinah Washington (voc), Clark Terry (p), Eddie Chamblee (ts), Junior Mance (p), Jackie Davis (org), Mickey Baker (g), Keter Betts (b), Ed Thigpen (d) |
|
|
1956.02.08 |
Ella Fitzgerald (voc), Buddy Bregman Orchestra |
|
|
Mel Tormé |
1962.03.24 |
Mel Tormé (voc, p), Ace Tesone (b), Dave Levin (d) |
| Shirley Horn |
1962.09.13 |
Shirley Horn (voc), Jimmy Jones Orchestra |
|
1965.11.?? |
Carmen McRae (voc), Norman Simmons Trio |
On cinemas
The song 'Love For Sale' is included in the soundtrack of the following movies:
|
ORIGINAL
TITLE |
TITLE IN
SPAIN |
YEAR OF
PRODUCTION |
PERFOMERS OF THE SONG IN THE FILM |
|
Casablanca |
Casablanca |
1942 |
|
|
Night and Day |
Noche y día |
1946 |
Danced by a chorus |
|
Young Man With a Horn |
El trompetista |
1950 |
|
|
The Band Wagon |
Melodías de Broadway 1955 |
1953 |
|
|
National Lampoon’s Vacation |
¡Socorro!, llegan las vacaciones |
1983 |
Chevy Chase |
|
Torch Song Trilogy |
Trilogía de Nueva York |
1988 |
Bill Evans |
|
In Too Deep |
Juego de confidencias |
1990 |
Santha Press & The Jextet |
|
Sphere |
Esfera |
1998 |
Arthur Lyman |
|
De-Lovely |
De-Lovely |
2004 |
Vivian Green |
|
Black Dahlia |
La dalia negra |
2006 |
k.d. lang |
|
Chico & Rita |
Chico & Rita |
2010 |
Idania Valdés and Chico & Rita New York Band |