FREE AND EASY / BLUES OPERA

FREE AND EASY
(aka "Blues Opera")

Composer: Harold Arlen
Lyricist: Johnny Mecer

Opened: December 17, 1959, Carre Theatre, Amsterdam, Holland
Performances: 9 or less

Note: An instrumental suite of material intended for FREE AND EASY was created under the title BLUES OPERA. No attempt has been made to provide discological information for material from ST. LOUIS WOMAN or from other Arlen shows and films.

Augie's Entrance:

1. Harold Arlen: Blues Opera Suite, Columbia CL-1099 (M) (Andre Kostelanetz and his orchestra) [reissued as CD/DRG 19044]

A Baby's Born (possibly the introduction to "Leavin' Time"):

1. Harold Arlen: Blues Opera Suite, Columbia CL-1099 (M) (Andre Kostelanetz and his orchestra) [reissued as CD/DRG 19044]

Cake Song:

1. Harold Arlen: Blues Opera Suite, Columbia CL-1099 (M) (Andre Kostelanetz and his orchestra) [reissued as CD/DRG 19044]
2. The Hollywood Bowl On Broadway, CD/Philips 445 404-2 ("Free And Easy: Concert Suite From Blues Opera" conducted by John Mauceri)

Cakewalk Turns: Blues (inst.):

1. Harold Arlen: Blues Opera Suite, Columbia CL-1099 (M) (Andre Kostelanetz and his orchestra) [reissued as CD/DRG 19044]

Cakewalk Turns: Boogie (inst.):

1. Harold Arlen: Blues Opera Suite, Columbia CL-1099 (M) (Andre Kostelanetz and his orchestra) [reissued as CD/DRG 19044]

Cakewalk Turns: Minuet (inst.) (same music as "American Minuet" commissioned for Meredith Willson's radio show):

1. Harold Arlen: Blues Opera Suite, Columbia CL-1099 (M) (Andre Kostelanetz and his orchestra) [reissued as CD/DRG 19044]
2. The Music Of Harold Arlen, Walden 306 (Harold Arlen, piano solo) [reissued as CD/Harbinger HCD 1505]
3. Hooray For Love, CD/Centaur Records 2741 (Richard Glazier, piano)

Cakewalk Turns: Soft-Shoe, Sword Dance (inst.):

1. Harold Arlen: Blues Opera Suite, Columbia CL-1099 (M) (Andre Kostelanetz and his orchestra) [reissued as CD/DRG 19044]

Champagne Fo' De Lady:

1. Harold Arlen: Blues Opera Suite, Columbia CL-1099 (M) (Andre Kostelanetz and his orchestra) [reissued as CD/DRG 19044]

Della's Entrance (Whatcha Sayin' Della?):

1. Harold Arlen: Blues Opera Suite, Columbia CL-1099 (M) (Andre Kostelanetz and his orchestra) [reissued as CD/DRG 19044]

Easy Street:

1. Songs I Like, Command 860 (Dick Van Dyke with the Ray Charles Singers and Enoch Light & His Orchestra) [reissued as CD/ABM ABMMCD 1217]
2. I Wished On The Moon, CD/Concord Jazz CCD-4284 (Ed Bickert Quartet)
3. Oh Baby!: Best of, Vol. 1, CD/Acrobat ACMCD-4030 (The Four Knights)
4. The Four Freshmen And 5 Trombones/4 Freshmen And 5 Trumpets, CD/Collectors' Choice Music 91752 (The Four Freshmen)
5. Glengarry Glen Ross, CD/Elektra 61384 (Georgie Fame)
6. Dinosaurs Run In Circles, CD/Megaforce 0222 (James Luther Dickinson)
7. Horn-A-Plenty, CD/RCA 74321357462 (Al Hirt)
8. The Big Bands Of Hollywood, CD/Laserlight 15767 (Amanda Lane)
9. Easy Street, CD/Concord 4657 (Dave McKenna)
10. Happy, CD/Orchard 802519 (Will Porter)
11. Meant For You, CD/Sue Tucker (Sue Tucker)
12. Destination Moon, CD/Michael Andrew 75 (Michael Andrew and Swingerhead)

Opening Of Act 1:

1. Harold Arlen: Blues Opera Suite, Columbia CL-1099 (M) (Andre Kostelanetz and his orchestra) [reissued as CD/DRG 19044]

Opening Of Act 2 :

1. Harold Arlen: Blues Opera Suite, Columbia CL-1099 (M) (Andre Kostelanetz and his orchestra) [reissued as CD/DRG 19044]

The Song Of The Conjur-Man:

Bees 'n' Flowers
Bettin' Calls
Black Magic (aka "That Old Black Magic" from the film STAR SPANGLED RHYTHM)
Blind Man
Blow de Whistle (L: Unknown)
Blues Boogie
Blues In The Night (from the film "BLUES IN THE NIGHT")
Cakewalk Turns: Dixieland (inst.)
Cakewalk Turns: Genteel Bastard (inst.)
Cakewalk Turns: Pandemonium (inst.)
Cakewalk Turns: Tambourine (inst.)
Cakewalk Turns: Tangissimo (inst.)
Cakewalk Turns: Waltz (inst.)
Cakewalk Your Lady (from ST. LOUIS WOMAN)
Come Rain Or Come Shine (from ST. LOUIS WOMAN)
Curse
De Right Answer
Dis Is De Day
Dissolves (inst.)
Dressing Up Sequence (Riding On The Moon)(inst.) (from ST. LOUIS WOMAN)
Elegy (inst.)
First March (inst.)
Fix Yo'self Up
Flower Vendor
Free And Easy (Any Place I Hang My Hat Is Home) (from ST. LOUIS WOMAN)
High, Low, Jack And The Game (cut from ST. LOUIS WOMAN)
Higher Den De Moon
I Ain't Afraid
I Gotta Right To Sing The Blues (L: Ted Koehler) (from EARL CARROLL'S VANITIES OF 1932)
I Had Myself A True Love (from ST. LOUIS WOMAN)
I Wonder What Became Of Me? (cut from ST. LOUIS WOMAN and reinstated in the 1998 New York City Center revival)
Ill Wind (L: Ted Koehler) (from COTTON CLUB PARADE (1934))
Killing Sequence
Ladies 'n' Gentlemen
Least That's My Opinion (from ST. LOUIS WOMAN)
Leavin' Time (from ST. LOUIS WOMAN)
Legalize My Name (from ST. LOUIS WOMAN)
Like Clouds Up In The Sky
Live Hard, Work Hard, Love Hard (L: Ralph Blane) (from the film MY BLUE HEAVEN)
Look What A Hole You're In
Lookin' Fo' Somebody
Lullaby (from ST. LOUIS WOMAN)
Lumpin'
Many Kinds Of Love (L: Unknown)
Natchul Man (likely "Li'l Augie Is A Natural Man" from ST. LOUIS WOMAN)
News Chant
One For My Baby (And One More For The Road) (from the film THE SKY'S THE LIMIT)
Race
Racin' Forms (from ST. LOUIS WOMAN)
Rainbow (possibly "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" from THE WIZARD OF OZ; L: E.Y. Harburg)
Reap The Harvest
Second March (inst.)
Second Wind
Sleep Peaceful Mr. Used-To-Be (from ST. LOUIS WOMAN)
Snake Eyes
Somethin' Ya Gotta Find Out Yo'self (cut from ST. LOUIS WOMAN)
Sweetnin' Water (from ST. LOUIS WOMAN)
Then Suddenly
Third March (inst.)
Toastin' Sequence
Whatcha Sayin'?
Wheel 'Em And Deal 'Em
A Woman's Prerogative (from ST. LOUIS WOMAN)
Won't Dat Be De Blessed Day
Ya Pushin' Ya Luck