SOME FAVORTIE TWO-WORD-STARTING-WITH-THE-SAME-LETTER BOOKS, RECORDINGS AND MOVIES

Remembering what a terrific read ANGELA’S ASHES was when Frank McCourt recently died, got me to thinking last night when I was falling asleep of other favorite books with two word titles in which the words started with the same letter ala ANGELA’S ASHES.

That made me think of songs I dig that fit the same category, and then movies. So I came up with some couplets, or pairings if you will, of some favorites.

ANGELA’S ASHES by Frank McCourt (memoir written like great fiction)
TRACY’S TIGER by William Saroyan (fiction written like a uniquely “modern” fable)

BORSTAL BOY by Brendan Behan (the Irish playwright’s memoir of his time in a juvenile prison for IRA activity)
BAD BOYS (the Sean Penn movie about a USA juvenile prison)

LION LION by Tom Raworth
MONDAY, MONDAY by David Trinidad (both unique collections of poetry)

MOSCOW MANSIONS by Barbara Guest
SATIN STREET by Merril Gilfillan (two more unique collections of poems)

SUNG SEX by Kenward Elmslie & Joe Brainard
TOPIARY TREK by Kenward Elsmlie & Karl Torok (Elmslie’s poetry + the artists’ illustrations)

RIP RAP by Gary Snyder
PEACE PIECE—Bill Evans (the former poetry and latter solo piano, but both seminal works of art that had the same impact on me when first encountered)

SPLISH SPLASH—Bobby Darrin (my introduction to Darrin’s musical virtuosity)
SPLISHY SPLASHY—Lisa Hannigan (one of my recent favorite songs)

MRS. MINIVER
MUCH MORE—Barbra Streisand (a Hollywood classic movie + one of Streisand’s first recordings when musicians and music lovers alike were stunned by her chops and originality: what’s the connection? both have some deeper meanings in common)

RED RIVER
SEVEN SAMARAI

BILLY BOY—Ahmad Jamal
SEXY SADIE—The Beatles

BUT BEAUTIFUL—Bing Crosby
HIGH HOPES—Frank Sinatra (two wonderfully positive songs, despite their different musical moods)

FUNNY FACE (the movie)
FUNNY FACE—Fred Astaire (the song in the movie)

BLUE BAYOU—Roy Orbison
BLUE BAYOU—Linda Ronstadt

CRISS CROSS—Thelonious Monk
MONK’S MOOD—Thelonious Monk

KING KONG (the classic black-and-white original with Fay Wray)
DR. DOLITTLE (the remake with Eddie Murphy)