Song Of The Day 8/17/2012: Lena Horne and Eddie "Rochester" Anderson - "Life's Full O' Consequence"

You all know who Lena Horne was. Eddie Anderson was probably best known as the porter Rochester on the Jack Benny radio show in the '30s. He became so popular with the radio audience that Benny convoluted to write him into the show permanently as Benny's personal valet. The two comedians' relationship was an unusual and friendly one that endured until Benny's death in 1974, and their work together parallelled and informed the evolution of race-based comedy in the 20th century. It's a very interesting story that I encourage you to look up.

But that's not what we're talking about here. We're talking about this brief but astounding duet from the 1943 movie musical Cabin In The Sky, a spin on Faust that was one of the very few movies of its time with an all-black cast. It's likely these are the two most wildly different vocal styles ever caught on one recording. I love this piece.

Again, pinched from Monica's show on WFMU from last weekend.