Today I will respond to a request by Andrew as he wrote:
Just wanted to say how much this site means to me. You constantly come up with rare or rarely seen clips which are an absolute joy. Your dedication to our favourite Dame is an oustanding achievement. Long may you continue!
I’ve just been watching a 1966 recording of the Dame and wondered if you would consider playing “You Can have Him” for the the DSB community? The sheer raw emotion of this song always sends shivers down my spine.
Hope your well and I expect I’ll be asking for more songs soon.
In admiration of all things DSB.
Andrew
So Andrew here is all the info about ‘You can have him’ that you could possibly want and a great remix-version too.
Also some photographs from the George Webb collection from around the same time and a small newspaper cutting from 1966 about the recording of ‘Who could love me’. (Special thanks to Audrey)
For the video click the picture on the left or the right
You Can Have Him
Written by Irving Berlin
Released 1966 on the album I’ve Got A Song For You. One year before recorded live on Shirley Bassey At The Pigalle. Another great live recording available on Live At The Talk Of The Town from 1970.
Available on CD on the collection Original Gold. The “Live At Talk Of The Town” version has been released on the CD’s Shirley Bassey – The Collection 1993 and on The Gold Collection 1995.
2002 a remix by Guy Gerber and “Whoop!” had been released (12″ maxi WHO68).
This song is from the musical “Miss Liberty”. Premiere was Friday, July 15, 1949 at the Imperial Theatre, New York. This song has been sung also by other artists like for example Ella Fitzgerald, Nina Simone and Doris Day.
Irving Berlin was born in Russia 1888. He was the most successful songwriter of the 20th century. Though he spent the better part of his career writing songs to be used in Broadway musicals (usually both words and music), he is better remembered for the songs themselves than for the shows (and sometimes films) in which they were introduced. He did not read music and could play the piano in only one key and only on the black notes – he used a special piano with a lever that changed keys for him and employed a musical secretary to notate his compositions. He had his first major success 1911 and wrote more than a thousand songs until he retired 1962 (died 1989). Berlin has been his own song publisher and built and owned a Broadway theatre, the “Music Box”, to house his shows. One of the most famous musicals he wrote is “Annie Get Your Gun” from 1946.
Lyrics:
You can have him, I don’t want him
He’s not worth fighting for
Besides there’s plenty more where he came from
I don’t want him, you can have him
I’m givin’ him the sack
So he can go right back, where he came from
I’m afraid I never loved him
He’d be better off with you
I could never make him happy
All I ever wanted to do was
Run my fingers through his curly locks
Mend his clothing, darn his socks
(Live at The Pigalle: Mend his underwear and darn his socks)
Fetch his slippers and remove his shoes
Wipe his glasses when he read the news
Rub his forehead with a gentle touch
Mornings after when he had a little too much
Kiss him gently when he cuddled near
And give him babies one for every year
So you see
That you can have him, I don’t want him
I don’t want him, you can have him
Because he’s not the man for me
Then I close the windows while he soundly slept
Then I’d raid the icebox where the food is kept
I’d fix him breakfast that would please him most
(Live at Talk Of The Town: I’d fix him breakfast he prefers the most
Eggs and coffee and some buttered toast
(crying) Oh, oh, ooh.
Then I go out and buy the papers
And when they’ve been read
Spend the balance of the day in bed
So you see
That you can have him, I don’t want him
I don’t want him, you can have him
Because he’s not my man
I don’t want him, you can have him
You can have him, I don’t want him
I don’t want him, you can have him
Because he’s not the man for me
(Transcribed by Roman and David)
Guy Gerber – You Can Have Him / The Lost DJ
Guy Gerber first came to most people’s attention back in early 2002 with the track ‘Kenny’s Back’, a collaboration between himself and Israeli DJ Sahar Z. Since then he has gone on to do several more productions, including the tracks ‘Flammer’ and ‘Soon’ and has also remixed Ossia and Einhorn’s ‘La Fee’ most recently. As we enter 2003 he delivers the first of several forthcoming singles, this first featuring the tracks ‘You Can Have Him (The Other Woman)’ and ‘The Lost DJ’.
‘You Can Have Him’ may sound familiar to some people but that’s because it features the vocals of one the most famous female artists in the world, Shirley Bassey. Amidst the deep pulsating bass and drum percussion comes that unmistakable vocal that will stand out the first time you hear it and will make you curious as to what it is. As the groove gets funkier and less controlled leading into the middle of the track you find yourself waiting for the vocals to return once more, nodding in time to the beat. Perhaps an odd coupling, but it seems to work very well, but Guy hasn’t quite pulled all of his tracks out of his sleeve just yet..
Lounge style beats kick into action as a funky synth pushes and directs the bass line, light percussion drifting as we slip into a warm groove. The warm pads flutter to the surface as ‘The Lost DJ’ comes into its own. A small vox sample fuses itself with the bass line, before a riff very reminiscent of those french house masters Daft Punk takes over the track, keeping things interesting and only adding to the depth of the track, all topped off by gorgeous bleeptastic effects which run through the outro. Guy Gerber shows just a little hint of how wide his influences are here, and is a good indication why he will be a producer to watch in the coming months.
Guy Gerber is fast becoming a staple in the Whoop roster alongside Tarrentella and Mike Monday, and looks set to build on the success he had in 2002 with relative ease in the coming months
Whoop Records: http://www.whoop.co.uk/
To listen to this wonderful remix of “You can have him” click the picture on the right
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1966 
