Albert Hague, recognizable for his role in the original “Fame” movie and the 1980s TV series, also wrote the music for the beloved Christmas classic, “How the Grinch Stole Christmas!”
If you were around in the 1980s, you likely remember the movie Fame (1980), which also became a TV series that ran from 1982 until 1987. One of the actors in Fame had earlier found success writing music for a beloved Christmas animated special, Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas!
Albert Hague as Mr. Shorofsky
The movie Fame was later remade in 2009, but both the 1980’s version of the movie and of the series featured the character of Benjamin Shorofsky. Mr. Shorofsky was a teacher with more traditional ideas of music who sometimes butted heads with the more “hip” students. The actor who played Mr. Shorofsky, Albert Hague, was also an established musician in his own right. He wrote music for several Broadway musicals, even winning the Best Score Tony Award in 1959 for Bob Fosse’s musical Redhead. But his music that you most likely recognize is what he wrote for the Christmas 1966 animated special, Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas!
In this scene from the original movie, Mr. Shorofsky debates about the future of music with Bruno (Lee Curreri), a student at the New York City High School for the Performing Arts.
Below is a scene from the second season of the Fame TV series. In it, Hague, as Shorosfsky, sings “Did I Ever Really Live?” as the same student, Bruno, again played by Lee Curreri, looks on.
Hague had earlier written the music for the popular song.
Music for The Grinch
As for Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas!, Hague is credited with composing the music for the 1966 special, long before his work on Fame. While songs like “You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch” feature lyrics by Dr. Seuss, the music comes from Hague. In the special, that song is performed by Thurl Ravenscroft.
And Hague also wrote the music for the featured song “Welcome Christmas.” The Who’s perform the song in the special.
Hague was born in Berlin, Germany on October 13, 1920 as part of a Jewish family. As Hitler rose to power, Hague moved to America, earning a music scholarship at the University of Cincinnati. After graduating in 1942, he served in the United States Army’s special service during World War II.
During his music career Hague often collaborated with his wife, Renee Orin. She passed away in 2000, and Hague followed her on November 12, 2001.
The next time you enjoy How the Grinch Stole Christmas, say a little thanks to Mr. Shorofsky.
On more than one occasion, Townes Van Zandt made what seemed like an odd choice in performing an Elvis Presley song about a shrimp.
At more than one performance, the great singer-songwriter Townes Van Zandt covered a song about a shrimp. I do not know if he ever fully explained why he chose to perform “Song of the Shrimp” (aka “Shrimp Song”). At first, the selection seems an odd choice. Elvis Presley sang the unusual song in the 1962 film Girls! Girls! Girls! Why would Van Zandt choose what seems like one of the throwaway Elvis movie songs from a lightweight musical?
Perhaps it was part of a joke to Van Zandt. He famously had a dark sense of humor that came through in his songs, many of which are about death. And “Song of the Shrimp” is funny, not just for being a sea shanty originally heard from Elvis. The song also finds humor in a shrimp’s boast that will most likely lead to his own death.
Townes Van Zandt did seem to recognize that “Song of the Shrimp” was an unusual song choice for him. He even cracks up while performing the song on the live recording Live at McCabe’s. By contrast, when he once performed another song about an animal that Elvis Presley also recorded, the song was “Old Shep.” And instead of invoking laughter the song about a dog’s death seemed to make Van Zandt choke up.
The Shrimp’s Story
“Song of the Shrimp,” written by Roy C. Bennett and Sid Tepper, tells the story of a little shrimp saying farewell to his parents. He plans to jump into a shrimp boat net to catch a ride to Louisiana where he can come out of his shell.
The song is a parable about the young leaving their parents to go off on their own adventures, facing their own dangers. The twist is that we know the shrimp’s adventure most likely will end with him being served in a restaurant in New Orleans. But the shrimp does not know that.
Goodbye mama shrimp, papa shake my hand; Here come the shrimper for to take me to Louisian’; Here come the shrimper for to take me to Louisian’.
Townes performed the song as early as October 1990, with his version of “The Shrimp Song” appearing on the live albumLive in Berlin: Rain on a Conga Drum(1991). Townes Van Zandt recorded the version below live at McCabe’s Guitar Shop in Santa Monica, California on February 10, 1995.
Elvis’s Movie Song
“Song of the Shrimp” is often cited as illustrating the fact that Elvis was lost in a musical wasteland during his movie-making 1960’s. In the abstract, it is somewhat shocking that the man who contributed so much to the rebellious birth of rock and roll ended up singing a ditty about a shrimp in a film called Girls! Girls! Girls!
But on the other hand, the song fits the scene in the movie. After all, it appears in a musical film. Elvis did not choose the song for a rock and roll record.
In the film, Presley sings the song aboard a fishing boat. The sound of the song and the setting remind one of an old sea shanty. In other words, it fits the movie. And, as Townes Van Zandt knew, it is a funny song.
Other Versions
There does not appear to be a large number of covers of “Song of the Shrimp,” for understandable reasons, I suppose. Not everyone has the sense of humor that Townes Van Zandt had. A few less famous covers appear on YouTube, including one with a ukulele by German artists Preslisa And Körnel Parka Twins and one by Lowlands (feat. No Good Sister, Maurizio Gnola Glielmo).
But another well-known artist who recognized the humor in “Song of the Shrimp” was Frank Black, aka Black Francis (formerly of the Pixies). He came to the song through Van Zandt’s version, which Black described to Uncut magazine as “a really deconstructed but very entertaining version.”
Black recorded his own version of the song, which appeared on his album Honeycomb (2005). Although he originally started playing a live acoustic version of “Song of the Shrimp,” the version he ultimately recorded sounds the most modern of all of the recordings. In it, Black takes Van Zandt’s deconstruction and finds a groove beyond the song’s sea shanty origins. Check out Frank Black’s version:
Whatever happened to the little shrimp, his legendary tale has gone into history as having been recounted by some very talented musicians.
Baz Luhrmann’s “Elvis” movie portrays a dramatic moment where Elvis Presley shows up to perform for a TV special and surprises Col. Parker with “If I Can Dream.” Did it really happen that way?
Austin Butler as Elvis in Baz Luhrmann’s “Elvis”
Having read several books about Elvis Presley, I was caught off guard while watching director Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis movie (2022) as Colonel Parker and others waited for Elvis to sing a Christmas song on a Christmas set for the Singer . . . Presents Elvis 1968 television special. As portrayed in the film, Parker brings executives to watch Elvis sing about Santa Claus on a full Christmas set.
Suddenly, Elvis, shaken by the killings of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy, appears in a white outfit. He faces the Christmas set that is all prepared and instead sings “If I Can Dream,” a “protest” song to close out what would become known as the ’68 Comeback Special. Elvis thereby flashes his independence from Colonel Parker in a last-minute surprise move, showing his dedication to music and to civil rights.
Did it really happen that way? Well, sort of, but not quite. More importantly, why did Luhrmann make the changes he did?
What Luhrmann’s “Elvis” Gets Right?
It is true that Colonel Parker originally wanted Elvis to tape a Christmas special. And it is true that Elvis, supported by producer Bob Finkel and director Steve Binder, instead put together a completely different show. That show, recorded in June 1968 and broadcast in December of that year, featured Elvis singing non-Christmas songs, including staged performances and an intimate sit-down jam before an audience. The TV special ultimately only included one Christmas song (“Blue Christmas“) that Elvis performed on stage with no Christmas decorations.
And it is true that the special re-invigorated Elvis and his music career after a decade of making movies of varying quality. And it is correct that the show closed, as actor Austin Butler portrays, with Elvis giving a powerful performance of “If I Can Dream.”
What Luhrmman’s “Elvis” Gets Wrong?
But there was no Christmas set or surprise Elvis performance of “If I Can Dream” while dancers dressed in holiday garb looked on. By the time Elvis performed “If I Can Dream” on the set, everyone was on board with the scrapping of the Christmas theme. And even though Parker had said that “If I Can Dream” “ain’t Elvis’ kind of song,” he was also on board with the changes by the time Elvis sang the song, realizing how much Elvis wanted to do it.
So nobody at the set was surprised the day Elvis sang “If I Can Dream.” And there was no big Christmas scene all set up, facing Elvis as he sang or anywhere.
Why Did Luhrmann Change the Way the TV Special Happened?
Yes, Baz Luhrmann takes some liberties in his excellent film about Elvis Presley, but the changes highlight the drama and the choices that Elvis made. Even though in real life the original plan was for a Christmas special, Elvis’s desire for something different and his commitment did alter the course of his career.
Having Presley sing “If I Can Dream” facing the alternate reality of the Christmas set in the movie highlights the contrast of what might have been, even if it did not quite occur in exactly the same way. It’s a wonderful visual image to illustrate what really happened. As reviewer Sean Burns has correctly noted, the film takes risks by not following the conventional sameness of TV-style movies we are inundated with these days. And such risks are necessary to illustrate Elvis’s “impact and the power of the dream therein.”
More importantly, the difference between reality and the images in the movie can be explained by the movie’s concept itself. The movie Elvis is narrated by Colonel Tom Parker, played by Tom Hanks. So, everything in the film is shown from the memory of the character Parker. And as we see at several points, Parker is portrayed as an unreliable narrator.
Thus, the images of the “If I Can Dream” performance should be taken, in the context of the film, as Parker’s recollection (or the recollection of the movie “character” of Tom Parker). So, Hanks’s Parker in old age is in 1997 remembering back to the 1968 performance. Thus, it makes sense that the character’s unreliable memory creates a more dramatic moment than reality.
So, in the movie character Parker’s memory of Elvis rejecting his plan for a Christmas special, it all comes to a head with Parker wearing in a Christmas sweater sitting with executives from the sponsore. In Parker’s memory in the film, Elvis was going to sing “Here Comes Santa Claus” right up to the final moments, with the stage all set up.
In reality, though, the closing song at one point was “I’ll Be Home for Christmas.” The movie character’s “memory” of of the more jovial “Here Comes Santa Claus” creates more of a contrast with Elvis’s chosen closer “If I Can Dream.” And Parker’s faulty memory of the song, the stage, and the dramatic moment all highlight the betrayal Parker felt when Elvis rejected his plan.
“If I Can Dream”
The song “If I Can Dream” was written specifically for Elvis and the special. So it would have been difficult to hide the surprise. W. Earl Brown wrote “If I Can Dream” for Elvis Presley once it was decided that the show would close with something other than a Christmas song. The song indirectly echoes some of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s language because the songwriters understood how King’s assassination in Memphis had affected Elvis.
There is reference in Elvis to “If I Can Dream” as a “protest song.” But the words are much more generic than a specific protest or direct call for social justice. The lyrics themselves really cannot be offensive to anyone. But it was a change for Elvis, who had generally avoided anything with a whiff of politics.
There must be peace and understanding sometime; Strong winds of promise that will blow away the doubt and fear; If I can dream of a warmer sun, Where hope keeps shining on everyone, Tell me why, oh why, oh why won’t that sun appear?
So, it is not a strong protest song on its face. We do get “a beckoning candle.” And the singer does “dream of a better land /Where all my brothers walk hand in hand.”
Yet, any vagueness in the lyrics is overcome by Elvis’s impassioned performance. Elvis’s energized vocals on the song, as well as the language that indirectly invokes Martin Luther King Jr., creates a strong statement from someone who did not make strong statements. I love the song and Elvis’s performance.
The movie features another image that reflects another truth about the recording. Before showing Elvis on stage singing the song, Luhrmann has Elvis on his back on the floor singing it while others look on. It is true that at one point during the recording of the record in the studio, Elvis did lay down on the floor, actually in the dark, to get more power in his vocals.
After the ’68 Comeback Special closed with “If I Can Dream,” Elvis went on to make more fantastic music as part of this comeback. During the making of the special, he had told Binder, “I never want to sing any more songs I don’t believe in.” Unfortunately, he could not maintain that faith to the end. But he did create a stunning moment in 1968, even if everyone’s memory of that moment may differ.
Nicolas Cages gives one of his best subdued acting performances in the drama “Pig” from writer/director Michael Sarnoski.
If you are looking for an entertaining and thoughtful drama as a break from explosive super hero films, look no further than Pig (2021), starring a scraggly Nicolas Cage. While the premise and the star may make one expect a certain genre, the film may surprise you.
In Pig, we meet Robin (Cage), living in the woods of Oregon with his only companion, a pig who helps him hung for truffles. The film never fully explains how Robin ended up in these living conditions, but we piece together much of the story, recognizing early on that Robin is grieving a loss.
Before we get to know more about the pig, though, thieves show up and make off with the pig. Thus begins Robin’s trip back to his former environment in the city to try to get his pig back. For much of this journey, Robin is joined by the man who purchases his truffles, Amir (Alex Wolff).
From there, one might expect Cage to go into full action mode to track down the pig-nappers. But the film goes in another, more serious direction as Robin leads Amir on an adventure that is as much about living and grieving as anything else.
The film, which also features Adam Arkin, is an impressive debut from writer/director Michael Sarnoski. I sought out the film after seeing several people on the Internet use superlatives about the film that I will not repeat here. I was perhaps a little disappointed as those comments made me think the film would be life changing. While it did not change my life, it is still a very good film and you should seek it out without me building your expectations too high. Take it for what it is, an excellent story with one of Nicolas Cage’s finest subdued acting performances. If then you find even more from the tale, then that is all good too.
Pig is currently streaming on Hulu and available for purchase or rental through the usual services.
What did you think of Pig? Leave your two cents in the comments.
A new documentary about the life of Guy Clark is being released. Without Getting Killed or Caught recounts the music and life of the legendary Texas singer-songwriter.
Guy Clark is one of my favorite artists, so it is great to see his work getting more attention. One of my favorite all-time songs, Clark’s “L.A. Freeway,” provides the line that is the title of the upcoming film.
The documentary started out and was partially funded as a Kickstarter project. The film features commentary from many of those influenced by Clark, like Steve Earle and Rodney Crowell.
The movie is adapted from Clark’s wife’s writings in The Diaries of Susanna Clark, including the complicated relationship shared by her, Clark, and Townes Van Zandt. In the documentary, actress Sissy Spacek voices Susanna’s narration.
