This is not a test (Holliday with Deschanel)

Following up the last two posts with a video post from SXSW, tambourine and all...

But actually beyond posting this video... a lot of the talk off-Rupert about She & Him between Franny and I, and also in Franny's posts and some of the comments...has been about the bad name given to actors and their musical projects these days compared to the old days and whether or not anyone needs to defend liking the She & Him album, which shouldn't need defending because it's amazing. And the more this is discussed, the more I've been reminded about another album: Holliday with Mulligan.

Judy Tuvin actually gave herself the last name Holliday in tribute to Billie Holiday, adding the extra "L" because she didn't see herself in the same league with Billie. Music was always a part of her life. In 1961, she and Gerry Mulligan recorded an album of covers and originals they had written together called "Holliday with Mulligan." It's one of my favorite albums, and at the time Judy did some TV spots singing the originals, but the album was never released and Judy Holliday would pass away four years later. It was finally released in 1980 and I found it about ten years later not knowing that she'd ever sung beyond the musical Bells are Ringing. She had also released a more standard covers album called Trouble is a Man, but this is my favorite of the two... so here's a look at an earlier "she & him" project, one that was unfairly squashed... "Loving You" - music by Gerry Mulligan, lyrics by Judy Holliday: