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Post by erik on Jun 2, 2023 13:04:00 GMT -5
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Post by rick on Jun 3, 2023 13:35:27 GMT -5
Joe Marchese over at The Second Disc site wrote the following about Cynthia's passing:
" Joe shares a few words on Cynthia Weil...
In 2004, Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil took the stage of New York's Promenade Theatre with a show they coyly entitled They Wrote That? Indeed, one could hear the audible gasps from the audience members as the down-to-earth, unpretentious couple onstage revealed each successive song which they had written - songs which formed the soundtrack of the lives of every person in that audience. Weil would quip that it felt like she and Mann had been married for 168 years, taking in the fact that they were not only married personally but professionally. A through line and running joke of the show was Mann's desire to be a "singer-songwriter with something to say" rather than "just" a pop tunesmith.
The joke, of course, was on Mann - and he was in on it. Ear candy though many of their songs might have been, they had plenty to say. And the words were Cynthia Weil's, set to her husband's powerfully melodic, unforgettable music. Cynthia, confidently breaking ground as one of a handful of female songwriters in an era in which the field was still dominated by men, captured the frustrations and malaise of the Vietnam era with the visceral "We Gotta Get Out of This Place." She was forceful yet empathetic in begging a dear friend to stop searching for "Kicks." She gave encouragement to those most in need with the empowering admonition to "Make Your Own Kind of Music."
And that's just the tip of the iceberg. "On Broadway," "Here You Come Again," "I Just Can't Help Believing," "Soul and Inspiration," "Somewhere Out There," "It's Getting Better," "Just a Little Lovin'," "Only in America," and the most-played song of the 20th century, "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'"...they wrote that?!? Cynthia occasionally wrote outside of the Mann/Weil team, too, contributing words to Tom Snow's music for Barry Manilow's "Somewhere Down the Road" or trading partners with Gerry Goffin to pen "One to One" with her lifelong friend Carole King.
When a musical about King's life was being mooted, the creators couldn't figure out what was missing. Then they hit on it. Classic Broadway musicals frequently had a secondary couple. Think Oklahoma!, Guys and Dolls, and so on. Barry and Cynthia would be the "secondary couple" supporting the story of Carole King and Gerry Goffin. Not that there was anything secondary about their music. Their presence lifted Beautiful: The Carole King Musical to international success. The words of Cynthia Weil will live forever, amplifying joy, explaining sorrow, and capturing the human condition through the eyes of a wise friend, or as she and Barry once wrote for Gene Pitney, "through the eyes of love." "
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Post by rick on Jun 5, 2023 6:02:38 GMT -5
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Post by eddiejinnj on Apr 23, 2024 16:41:54 GMT -5
known for her pairing up songwriting-wise with Barry Mann. I saw an obit and they did mention that "Somewhere Out There" was a big hit and talked about the other big songs she was involved in. My condolences and deepest sympathies to her family, loved ones and fans.
eddiejinfl
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