Come up and See Me Sometime

iving Era presents a beautifully constructed tribute to Mae West, the archetypal cinematic saucepot. Born and raised in Brooklyn, Mary Jane West was the daughter of a pugilist and a corset maker. After developing her act on-stage as Mae West, she began a tumultuous career in motion pictures, wittily expressing her own whimsical philosophy of hedonism and celebrating human sexuality in a cheerfully smutty manner that was completely unacceptable to certain self-appointed guardians of public morality. What so provoked persnickety presbyter-turned-politician Will Hays and his pack of Hollywood censors was West's spectacularly sensuous appearance, her marvelously bawdy lyrics, and her amazing habit of moaning and growling like a Siamese feline in heat. This magnificent compilation maps Mae West's career with chronological precision, following a trail of films beginning with "She Done Him Wrong" and "I'm No Angel" (1933) through "Belle of the Nineties" (1934), "Goin' to Town" (1935), "Klondike Annie" to "Go West, Young Man" (1936) and "My Little Chickadee" (1939). Much of this material comes directly from vintage motion picture soundtracks. Picking up where Sophie Tucker left off, West's remarkably amiable relationship with jazz and African-American culture is spelled out in songs composed by W.C. Handy, Shelton Brooks, James P. Johnson, and Harvey Brooks. Many will consider tracks seven through ten to be the most precious, for here Mae West performs in collaboration with Duke Ellington, his piano and orchestra. "My Old Flame" was issued as a Victor phonograph record; the other three Ellington/West selections were culled directly from the soundtrack of "Belle of the Nineties." Mae West's postwar period is well represented by eight Mezzotone recordings from 1947, and four sultry selections with accompaniment by Sy Oliver's Orchestra that were released on the Decca label in 1954. A delicious parcel of 30 arousing performances that could make a dead man sit up and take notice. ~ arwulf arwulf|