This episode looks at a momentous Carnegie Hall concert — the 1961 tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. — and the roles that the Rat Pack and many other artists played in supporting Dr. King and his Southern Christian Leadership Conference at a pivotal moment of growth for the organization and the Civil Rights Movement.
Guests featured in this episode include Jonathan Eig, author of “King: A Life,” a 2023 biography of Dr. King; Tom Santopietro, author of “Sinatra in Hollywood”; Will Friedwald, author of “Sinatra! The Song Is You” and “The Great Jazz and Pop Vocal Albums”; Emilie Raymond, author of “Stars for Freedom: Hollywood, Black Celebrities, and the Civil Rights Movement”; and Davóne Tines, path-breaking artist and singer. Members of Carnegie Hall’s Rose Museum and Archives team—including director Kathleen Sabogal, assistant director Rob Hudson, and founding archivist Gino Francesconi—are also featured.
If This Hall Could Talk is available wherever you get podcasts. New episodes are released every other week.
Music featured in this episode includes:
“I Can’t Believe That You’re in Love with Me”
Written by Jimmy McHugh and Clarence Gaskill
EMI Mills Music, Inc. (ASCAP) / Cotton Club Publishing (ASCAP)
Performed by Dean Martin
Courtesy of Capitol Records
Under exclusive license from Universal Music Enterprises
“Sweety Cakes”
Written by Count Basie
WC Music Corp. (ASCAP)
Performed by Count Basie and His Orchestra
Courtesy of the Verve Music Group
Under exclusive license from Universal Music Enterprises
“Just One of Those Things”
Written by Cole Porter
WC Music Corp. (ASCAP)
Performed by Carmen McRae
Courtesy of the Verve Music Group
Under exclusive license from Universal Music Enterprises
“I’ve Got the World on a String”
Written by Harold Arlen and Ted Koehler
SA Music LLC (ASCAP) / EMI Mills Music, Inc. (ASCAP) / BMG Gold Songs (ASCAP) / Redwood Music Ltd. (PRS)
Performed by Frank Sinatra
Courtesy of the Rose Archives and Museum
“Please Don’t Talk About Me When I’m Gone”
Written by Bee Palmer, Sam Stept, and Sidney Clare
WC Music Corp. (ASCAP) / Bourne Co. (ASCAP)
Performed by Sammy Davis Jr.
Courtesy of Capitol Records
Under exclusive license from Universal Music Enterprises
“Mr. Bojangles”
Written by Jerry Jeff Walker
Cotillion Music, Inc. (BMI) / MIJAC Music (BMI)
Performed by Sammy Davis Jr.
Courtesy of Capitol Records
Under exclusive license from Universal Music Enterprises
“Got a Great Big Shovel”
Written by Richard Elliot
Beechwood Music Corporation (BMI)
Performed by Sammy Davis Jr.
Courtesy of Capitol Records
Under exclusive license from Universal Music Enterprises
“The Birth of the Blues”
Written by Ray Henderson, Buddy DeSylva, and Lew Brown
Warner Chappell North America Ltd. (PRS) / Redwood Music Ltd. (PRS)
Performed by Sammy Davis Jr.
Courtesy of Capitol Records
Under exclusive license from Universal Music Enterprises
“Until I Met You (Corner Pocket)”
Written by Freddie Green and Donald Wolf
EMI Longitude Music (BMI)
Performed by Count Basie and His Orchestra
Courtesy of the Verve Music Group
Under exclusive license from Universal Music Enterprises
Theme from “New York, New York”
Written by John Kander and Fred Ebb
EMI Unart Catalog (BMI)
Performed by Frank Sinatra
Courtesy of the Rose Archives and Museum
“Go Tell It on the Mountain”
Arranged by John W. Work II
Performed by Mahalia Jackson
Courtesy of Apollo Records
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