Louis Armstrong & Velma Middleton: "Baby It's Cold Outside"

Chicago woke this morning to a dusting of snow on the ground. The onset of winter can no longer be ignored. In celebration, I give you possibly my favorite live recording of all time.

The song, "Baby It's Cold Outside," was written in 1936 by Frank Loesser, the composer of Guys & Dolls as well as How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. He and his wife performed it together at Christmas parties for more than a decade before he sold the rights to the song to MGM in 1948. The following year it appeared in the film Neptune's Daughter, for which it won the Academy Award for Best Original Song. A number of other recordings were made that year including this one by the hilarious and affable Louis Armstrong and Velma Middleton, who spent most of her jazz singing career traveling with Armstrong's big and small bands.

In the score, the parts are labeled "wolf" and "mouse" -- appropriate given the classic gender roles of the characters and their tongue-in-cheek sexual innuendo. The wolf is trying to convince the mouse to stay the night with him, using the harsh weather as justification for her captivity.

There's no picture -- home video was just a glimmer in your grandmother's eye at the time -- but we really don't need it, as the performers' voices are more than enough to make even the Grinch crack a grin. The more liberty Louis takes with the words, cajoling Velma to stay juts a bit longer (and we all know why), the more giddy the audience becomes. ("You just stay here three more days and then you go back to your people.") After one ripple of laughter, while Velma is singing, Louis says under his breath: "It ain't even started yet." And he's right -- his pleadings become more and more ridiculous, but somehow (winky face) Velma becomes more and more convinced to stay.

Tune in on Monday for the first of Daijams' 12 Days of Christmas, ending with special weekend posts on December 24th and 25th. In the meantime, enjoy the first round of holiday parties this weekend (at least in my case)! My roommates and I finally finished decorating our apartment last night, and the cookie supplies and holiday cocktail bar are set out and ready to go. 'Tis the season!