Sorting through some old programmes, I found one for a Libby Holman concert at the old Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith in July 1952. She was accompanied by Gerald Cook, who wrote or arranged four of the songs (starred below). She sang: Good Morning Blues Smokey Baby Baby (blues) Handsome Winsome Johnny (from Carolina) Rolly Trudum Barbara Allen Cindy In the Evening When the Sun Goes Down For Sometime Fare Thee Well Careless Love Riddle song Can't go to Heaven Johnny is Gone for a Soldier *Sugar in the Can * (arr) Tornado Blues *Cabin *Lonesome Fool The Blues (Ellington) Buked & Scorned (spiritual) Number Twelve Train (blues) Evil-hearted Me (holler) House of the Rising Sun ('an impolite song') My pencil notes show that she also sang: Came Home Drunk There Ain't no Sweet Man (that's worth the salt of my tears) Can't Use it No More Apart from the last three, the titles given above are just as printed. In most cases there are two or three lines of description. I remember being quite impressed that a long-established torch singer should be able to deliver such pleasing versions (as I judged them to be) of these songs. Her presentation was dramatic, to suit a theatre ambience, but not excessively so. She was good.
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