Friday, February 14, 2014

Top 10 Love Song Requests for the Piano Player

The pianist can take two love birds down memory lane and help them remember their nuptials or celebrate their love.  I spent 2012 - 2013 playing for a lot of weddings and anniversary parties where I did just that.  Then I became the living room (lobby) pianist for Salamander Resort & Spa.  Young and old, many couples choose the resort to celebrate their anniversary or just enjoy a romantic getaway.  Couples often come over and request a song from their wedding; perhaps the song from their first dance.  This means that love songs are a staple of my repertoire.  It's so wonderful to look up from my playing and see couples embracing and smiling as I play, often swaying to the music.  Once I had an older couple get up and start dancing to "All I Ask Of You" from Phantom of the Opera.  There was no one else around at the moment, and it's not really a danceable song, but they didn't care!

I hear that reservations at the resort are at an all-time high this Valentines weekend, so I'm expecting a lot of requests.  I generally expect requests for love songs sung by Frank Sinatra, Barbara Streisand, Etta James, Billy Holiday, Harry Connick, Jr, Celine Dion, and Michael Buble.  If I don't know the song, I download it to my musicnotes.com library on my iPad and play it for them.  It costs me a couple of bucks, but it's permanently in my collection and I can print it or read the music straight from my iPad at any time.  Here are the most-requested love songs:

  •  As Time Goes By (from Casablanca) - Herman Hupfeld
  • At Last - (sung by Etta James and many others) - Harry Warren/ Mack Gordon
  • It Had to Be You - (from Casablanca and When Harry Met Sally) - Isham Jones and Gus Kahn
  • My Funny Valentine (from Babes in Arms) - Rodgers and Hart
  • The Shadow of Your Smile  (Love Theme from "The Sandpiper") - Webster and Mandel
  • Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars (also known as Corcovado) - Antonio Jobim
  • They Say It's Wonderful (from Annie Get Your Gun) - Iving Berlin
  • I've Got You Under My Skin (from Born to Dance) - Cole Porter
  • All I Ask of You (from Phantom of the Opera) - Andrea Lloyd Webber
  • My Heart Will Go On (from Titanic) - James Horner and Will Jennings (sung by Celine Dion)
It's kind of  interesting to note that most of these songs come from Broadway musicals or classic movies.  I'd love to have your input on the above list.  What are your favorite love songs?

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