Take Love Easy (song)
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| "Take Love Easy" | |
|---|---|
| Single by Lena Horne | |
| B-side | "I Feel So Smoochie" |
| Released | 1948 (1948) |
| Label | MGM |
| Songwriters | |
| Audio | |
| "Take Love Easy" on YouTube | |
"Take Love Easy" is a song written by Duke Ellington and John Latouche for their 1946 musical Beggar's Holiday.[1][2][3][4]
It has become a jazz standard,[5] notably recorded by Lena Horne (MGM 10108, 1948),[6] by Duke Ellington himself with his orchestra (Columbia 38519, 1949; vocals by Dolores Parker),[7] by Ella Fitzgerald (Take Love Easy, 1974), Shirley Horn (May the Music Never End, 2003),[8][9] Bobby Short, Nancy Wilson,[5] Sophie Milman (Take Love Easy, 2009).
Beggar's Holiday
Reviewing the 1946 Broadway production of the musical, New York Theatre Critics' Reviews noted this song, calling it an "insinuating item", "which, if one is not entirely mistaken, weaves a sinuous course of sous-entendre" and commented Bernice Parks (who played "Jenny the voluptuous Madame") for "[doing] quite well with [it]".[3]
Lena Horne version
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Metronome | B[6] |
Lena Horne's recording (MGM 10108,c/w "I Feel So Smoochie") was reviewed in 1948 in Metronome, that commended her for handling the "superb tune" in "sexy good taste".[6]
Duke Ellington and his orchestra version
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Billboard | 73/100[7] |
| The New Yorker | favorable[10] |
Billboard reviewed Duke Ellington's recording (Columbia 38519, coupled with "I Could Get a Man") in its issue from 9 July 1949, writing: "It's a fine song and is handed excellent treatment by the band, Johnny Hodges' alto and Dolores Parker's vocal."[7] The New Yorker published a favorable review of that single as well, noting: "Miss Parker sings [both songs] engagingly."[10]
References
- ↑ "Billboard". April 1950.
- ↑ "Billboard". 15 September 1951.
- 1 2 "New York Theatre Critics' Reviews". 1946.
.. did quite well with an insinuating item entitled "Take Love Easy," which, if one is not entirely mistaken, weaves a sinuous course of sous-entendre.
- ↑ Franceschina, John (6 July 2017). Duke Ellington's Music for the Theatre. McFarland. ISBN 978-0-7864-5026-8.
- 1 2 Pollack, Howard (2017). The Ballad of John Latouche : An American Lyricist's Life and Work. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-045829-4.
- 1 2 3 "Metronome". Metronome. 1948. Retrieved 22 April 2026.
Take Love Easy, a superb tune by Ellington and Latouche from Beggar's Holiday, is handled in sexy good taste by Miss Horne.
- 1 2 3 "Record reviews". Billboard. 9 July 1949. p. 162. Retrieved 22 April 2026.
- ↑ "Billboard". 12 July 2003.
- ↑ "CMJ New Music Report". CMJ New Music Report. 30 June 2003.
- 1 2 Ross, Harold Wallace; Shawn, William; Brown, Tina; Remnick, David; White, Katharine Sergeant Angell; Irvin, Rea; Angell, Roger (1949). "The New Yorker".