“Love for Sale” (Cole Porter): Louise Howlett (vocals), Albert Combrink (Piano), Charles Lazar (Double Bass)

Recorded Live at Alexander Bar, Cape Town

Read more about Louise Howlett HERE:
http://www.louisehowlett.com

Read more about Albert Combrink HERE:
https://www.albertcombrink.com

Buy their CD “Night Sessions” HERE:
https://www.cdbaby.com/cd/combrinkhowlett

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@albertcombrink

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http://alexanderbar.co.za/shows-upstairs/

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Poster Design: Bryn van Wyk (bryn@brynvanwyk.com)

More about the song “Love for Sale” (Cole Porter)

“Love for Sale” is a song by Cole Porter, from the musical The New Yorkers which opened on Broadway on December 8, 1930 and closed in May 1931 after 168 performances. The song is written from the viewpoint of a prostitute advertising various kinds of “love for sale”: “Old love, new love, every love but true love“.

The song’s chorus, like many in the Great American Songbook, is written in the A-A-B-A format. However, instead of 32 bars, it has 64, plus an 8-bar tag. The tag is often dropped when the song is performed. The tune, using what is practically a trademark for Porter, shifts between a major and minor feeling.

“Love for Sale” was originally considered in bad taste, even scandalous. In the initial Broadway production, it was performed by Kathryn Crawford, portraying a streetwalker, with three girlfriends (Waring’s Three Girl Friends) as back-up singers, in front of Reuben’s, a popular restaurant of the time. As a response to the criticism, the song was transferred from the white Crawford to the African American singer Elisabeth Welch, who sang with back-up singers in a scene set in front of Harlem’s Cotton Club.

Despite the fact the song was banned from radio airplay, or perhaps because of it, it became a hit, with Libby Holman’s version going to #5 and the “Fred Waring’s Pennsylvanians” version going to #14, both in 1931. (All other 1931 recordings of the song were as an instrumental.

Composer and Lyricist Cole Porter

Cole Albert Porter (June 9, 1891 – October 15, 1964) was an American composer and songwriter. Born to a wealthy family in Indiana, he defied the wishes of his domineering grandfather and took up music as a profession. Classically trained, he was drawn towards musical theatre. After a slow start, he began to achieve success in the 1920s, and by the 1930s he was one of the major songwriters for the Broadway musical stage. Unlike many successful Broadway composers, Porter wrote the lyrics as well as the music for his songs.

After a serious horseback riding accident in 1937, Porter was left disabled and in constant pain, but he continued to work. His shows of the early 1940s did not contain the lasting hits of his best work of the 1920s and 30s, but in 1948 he made a triumphant comeback with his most successful musical, Kiss Me, Kate. It won the first Tony Award for Best Musical.

Porter’s other musicals include Fifty Million Frenchmen, DuBarry Was a Lady, Anything Goes, Can-Can and Silk Stockings. His numerous hit songs include “Night and Day“, “I Get a Kick Out of You“, “Well, Did You Evah!“, “I’ve Got You Under My Skin“, “My Heart Belongs to Daddy” and “You’re the Top“. He also composed scores for films from the 1930s to the 1950s, including Born to Dance (1936), which featured the songs “You’d Be So Easy to Love” and “I’ve Got You Under My Skin”; Rosalie (1937), which featured “In the Still of the Night“; High Society (1956), which included “True Love“; and Les Girls (1957).

The New Yorkers; 1930

The New Yorkers , written by Cole Porter (lyrics and music) and Herbert Fields (book). Starred Jimmy Durante also wrote the words and music for the songs in which his character was featured.

The musical premiered on Broadway in 1930. It is based on a story by cartoonist Peter Arno and E. Ray Goetz. The musical satirizes New York types, from high society matrons to con men, bootleggers, thieves and prostitutes during Prohibition. The musical includes Porter’s famous, sad song about a prostitute, “Love for Sale”. The original Broadway production received some good reviews, but the song was banned from the radio for its frank lyrics, and the show closed after 168 performances.

” Love For Sale” (Cole Porter): Download Free Sheet Music (Chord Chart)

Charles Lazar (Double Bass)

” Love For Sale” (Cole Porter): Lyrics

When the only sound on the empty street
is the heavy tread of the heavy feet
that belong to a lonesome cop
I open shop

The moon so long has been gazing down
on the warward ways of this wayward town
my smile becomes a smirk, I go to work

Love for sale
appetizing young love for sale
love thats fresh and still unspoiled
love thats only slightly soiled
love for sale

who will buy
who would like to sample my supply
who’s prepared to pay the price
for a trip to paradise
love for sale

let the poets pipe of love
in their childish ways
I know every type of love
better far than they
if you want the thrill of love
I have been through the mill of love
old love
new love
every love but true love

love for sale
appetizing young love for sale
if you want to buy my wares follow me and clime the stairs
love for sale