Since I seem to be on a cartoon thing lately, here's one of the more luscious animated cinema dames in the past twenty years. Ladies and gentlemen...Miss Jessica Rabbit...Wonderful, salacious rendition of one of the great jazz standards. Of course, having Kathleen Turner sing for you is always a Good Thing. Someday I'll get around to talking about the babes of animated film
going back to Tex Avery's Red (and, of course, Bugs Bunny in drag...)
As a rather bland counterpoint, here's Peggy Lee doing the same tune with Benny Goodman and his orchestra:Ain't the same song, izzit?
3 comments:
I've never seen Roger Rabbit, but that is a splendid animated version of "Why Don't You do Right?" Your tag is innuendo, but there isn't much suggestion in those lyrics: "do right, and get me some money, too."
I love a singer who can properly vamp up a song like that. It doesn't work so well when the hips don't move.
In all fairness to Peggy Lee, there are a few years separating those two versions, and the Benny Goodman vibe didn't exactly promote sinuous siren activity. (Can you just imagine that clarinet breaking over your shoulder during a bump and grind?) But I do love him anyway. I'd say he was swingin' more than she in this clip.
Later on Ms. Lee did have some sultry tunes to her name, though, true?
Lisa: Indeed she did. And there were more than a few sultry songs from the Forties. I just liked the contrast between the upbeat Goodman cover and the bedroom-and-bad-girl way Turner interprets this number for the movie. Which has as much to do with the plot as it does the song itself. Although it DOES make for a great song.
But as Jessica herself says "I'm not bad. I'm just drawn this way..."
It's a fabulous song, and yes, there are lots of steamy tunes from that era. It is funny though to see a nice white girl singing such sentiments in such a ramrod straight way -- bit of a contradiction. You're not going to get money like that I think, unless you're married to a Baptist deacon!
Turner's/Jessica's interp is the only way to go with this one.
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