authors under the influence

[Paul Mackin]

On Oct 20, 2006, at 11:56 AM, Chris Broderick wrote:

> Paul Mackin asked:
>
> What reason is there to think  either Pynchon or the
> Gateses had the English lyrics in mind in naming the daughter?
> It was the NAME of the song in all its exoticness that would have
> been on their minds.
>
> So I sez:
>
> What reason is there to think that Pynchon ignored the lyrics?

None probably. By the time Vineland was written it  was easy enough  
to  research oldies. He was only about 3 of course when the vocal  
versions were playing constantly on the jukeboxes.




>   Sure, they don't seem like any deep insight in to Ms. Gates, but  
> they do seem to fit with her character.  I can't imagine that he  
> wouldn't have at least found out what they were (at least in the  
> English version, the Spanish tune is actually quite a bit  
> different), just to make sure that they didn't fuck things up.  I  
> do agree with you that the Artie Shaw version is probably the one  
> that the Hub & Sasha referred to.
>
> Then he sez:
>
> Shaw actually considered Goodman the better
> clarinetist but himself the better musician
>
> So I say:
>
> I'd agree with that.  Goodman was a more comfortable improviser &  
> certainly swung a lot harder than Shaw ever did, but Shaw was a  
> better arranger & much more harmonically adventurous (Bird was a  
> fan...).  Shaw's autobiography is one of the best jazz  
> autobiographies out there.  It's a shame that he quit playing so  
> many years ago.
>
> -Chris
>
>
>