You’ve Aged

…hello and welcome to Sunday Liner Notes.

Today’s edition is dedicated to my pal, Kenny “The Fishboy” who is a huge fan of this morning’s artist.

But first, an admission. I love the word, “Zany.” Along with, “Madcap” it describes a group of movies by the iconic Marx Brothers.

The six of them, yes, I said six (Manfred died in infancy) are considered the most influential comedic actors of the Twentieth Century.

From 1905 to 1949 they gave us fourteen feature films. Five of which are on AFI’s top 100 comedies lists and two, “Duck Soup” and “Night at the Opera” are in the top fifteen.

This morning from the 1939 production of, “At The Circus” the Harold Arlen and Yip Harburg’s brilliant, “Lydia The Tattooed Lady.”

“Oh, Lydia, oh Lydia say have you met Lydia

Lydia the tattooed lady She has eyes that folks adore so.

And a torso even more so”

Harburg’s lyrics cleverly capture the pop culture of the late 30s.

“She’ll give you a view of the world

In tattoo, if you step up and tell her where

For a dime you can see Kankakee or Paree

Or Washington crossing the Delaware”

Attached is a clip from, “At The Circus” with Chico at the piano, Harpo on the chandelier and Groucho, well, he’s just on.

Enjoy a bit of, “Zany” on me.