iRide.2020.03.26 The folks who live on the hill

There are people whose house looks out over this view. Perhaps I should find out who they are and send them a photo asking if they will allow me to install a webcam. The soundtrack to accompany the view would of course be the Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II song The Folks Who Live On The Hill. The problem would choosing a singer.

The Wikipedia entry for the song lists thirteen notable recordings and it reads like the personnel credits for a heavenly choir. I am going for the Diana Krall version with her playing piano and Charlie McBride playing the the acoustic bass for the fifth track of the Only Trust Your Heart album released in 1995. For an instrumental version there is a strong version by Oscar Peterson (piano) and the Stéphane Grappelli (violin) quartet.

It must be difficult to bring something fresh to a song after decades of it having been recorded by some of the most beloved singers and instrumentalists of their day. The full list of recordings shows that there have been almost as many audio versions of the song recorded as I have recorded photo versions of the view. Krall and Peterson/Grappelli succeed admirably and I only wish I could be half as successful in communicating the subtle nuances that I see every time I ride through the valley and look across to the Pine Valley Mountains.

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