Believe it or not, Doris Day has just released a brand new album. Yup, that Doris Day, the one known for her wonderfully campy movies with Rock Hudson (Pillow Talk, Send Me No Flowers), her all American wholesomeness, and most notably her feminine virtue. The 87-year-old living legend has come out of retirement to record some of her favorite cover songs to benefit her animal rights charity. And the project was produced by none other than one of the biggest living legends of music, Paul McCartney.
The combination boggles the mind, and yet it makes a lot of since too. After all, both McCartney and Day are iconic figures in the world of music, usually two different worlds, but talent appreciates talent and it’s easy to see how McCartney must have been exposed to Day’s work as a young man. In fact many of the world’s most popular musicians who grew up watching Doris Day movies have made reference to Day in a song. Most memorable is perhaps Wham’s Wake Me Up, Before You Go-Go, but Elton John, Billy Joel, and the Beatles among others have also referenced Day in one of their songs.
But how did McCartney end up producing an album by the reclusive Hollywood icon? Of all the people he could be working with it seems a little off course for the man who has strived to test his musical limits since the passing of his first wife, Linda. In a way you cold say it’s likely because of Linda’s influence. Adamant vegetarians, the McCartneys became proponents for the ethical treatment of animals. As you may know, Day runs the Doris Day Animal Foundation in Carmel, California, which advocates proper care of household pets. McCartney visited the organization about 10 years ago and a strong friendship blossomed from their first meeting. They continued to speak occasionally over the phone, and when Day expressed an interest in recording again McCartney offered his assistance. McCartney even conducted an interview with Day for the London Telegraph to promote the recent UK release. Here’s a link to the article on the Telegraph's website.
Interestingly enough, the CD has been anxiously anticipated all over Europe, but there has been little fan fare in the US. I haven’t seen anything mentioned anywhere, and it was in fact my mother who noticed an article about it in an Oregon newspaper and brought it to my attention. There isn’t even a scheduled release for the US, but Amazon does have My Heart available online at Amazon.co.uk. I don’t know what’s up with that, but you can read a lot more about the album and its success on Day’s own website, DorisDay.com.
Just last week My Heart hit the Top 10 in the UK, making Day the oldest artist ever to mark such an achievement. Obviously there are still a lot of fans all over the world who appreciate the stylings of a true original. I guess that proves that (to paraphrase wham) even at age 87, no one makes the sun shine brighter than Doris Day.