"Our other beef", Richard Rodgers wrote in his 1975 autobiography Musical Stages of a couple of songs he and Larry Hart wrote for their 1939 musical Too Many Girls in which they took the liberty of expressing their irritations about various things, "was registered in 'I Like to Recognize the Tune', in which we voiced objection to the musical distortions then so much a part of pop music because of the swing-band influence. We really had nothing against swing bands per se, but as songwriters we felt it was tough enough for new numbers to catch on as written without being subjected to all kinds of interpretive manhandling that obscured their melodies and lyrics. To me, this was the musical equivalent of bad grammar."
But, he continued, "once a song has become established I see nothing wrong with taking certain liberties. A singer or an orchestra can add a distinctive, personal touch that actually contributes to a song's longevity. I can't say I'm exactly grief-stricken when something I've written years before suddenly catches on again because of a new interpretation."
Chuck Redd and the Festival jazz unit offer up a selection of Rodgers classics, both from his work with Lorenz Hart and Oscar Hammerstein.
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