splash  During her heyday, Louise Brooks’ image graced the covers of not only magazines and books, but also a few pieces of sheet music issued in Europe. This page on the Louise Brooks Society website highlights just such sheet music — some of which depicts Brooks — or is associated with her American career as a showgirl or actress.

Naturally, there are stories behind some of these songs. The first shown, George Gershwin‘s “Somebody Loves Me,” was a favorite of Brooks — reportedly, Gershwin and Brooks flirted a little backstage during her brief tenure with the Scandals. The sheet for “Hollywood” (composed by Lynn Conway, with lyrics by Earle Foxe) is included because Brooks is depicted on its back cover in the lower left corner! (See below – Brooks is number 94.) The last sheet shown is one of a couple of sheets released in conjunction with the 1937 film, When You’re in Love, starring singer Grace Moore. Brooks’ role in the film was slight. She appeared as a masked chorus dancer, and is barely noticeable.

LB in the lower corner
The rarest piece, “Zasu,” comes from Czechoslovakia and dates to 1929. “Zasu,” a song whose title evokes the name “Lulu,” was penned by Jaroslav Ježek for a cabaret-style work performed at the famed Osvobozené divadlo, or Liberated Theater, in Prague in 1929, not long after Pandora’s Box began showing in Europe. Ježek, a notable composer who collaborated with avant-garde artists in pre-WWII Czechoslovakia, is sometimes called the “George Gershwin of Czech music,” as he wrote in both the jazz and classical idioms. “Zasu” was issued as a 78rpm, and over the years was released (without any Brooks’ association) on various LPs and CDs. To hear what this recording sounds like, visit this YouTube link.

There were seven different pieces of sheet music issued in conjunction with the release of the 1930 French film Prix de beauté. Each depict Louise Brooks on the cover. They include the film’s popular theme song, “Je N’ai Qu’un Amour, C’est Toi!” and a secondary number “Mais Quand Le Coeur dit Oui,” as well as “Recuerdos,” the tango heard in the film’s night club scene. Each states Brooks performed the song in the film, though in fact, she did not. Each song was released as a 78rpm recording by different artists on various French and German labels, and over the years a number of these recordings have also found their way onto later LPs and CDs. [For the record: “Je n’ai qu’un amour, c’est toi!” was composed by Wolfgang Zeller with lyrics by Jean Boyer and Rene Sylviano; “Mais quand le coeur dit oui” was composed by Rene Sylviano with lyrics by Phylo and Jean Boyer; and the little known “Recuerdos” was composed by Wolfgang Zeller with lyrics by Rogelio Huguet y Tagell. Each date from 1930.]

If you know of or possess other covers and would like to share a scan of your vintage treasure, please CONTACT the Louise Brooks Society. Especially needed is a better scan of “Recuerdos”.

George White's Scandals Louie the 14th Ziegfeld Follies
“Somebody Love Me”
from “George White’s Scandals”		 “Little Peach”
from “Louie the 14th”

“Tondeleo”
from “Ziegfeld Follies of 1925”
Hollywood Sheet Music Hollywood Sheet Music beggars of life sheet music beggars of life sheet music
“Hollywood” (front)
a promotional song
 “Hollywood” (back)
LB is in the lower left corner
 “Beggars of Life”
from Beggars of Life		 “Beggars of Life”
from Beggars of Life
Zasu prix de beaute sheet music prix de beaute sheet music prix de beaute sheet music
“Zasu”
by Jaroslav Ježek		 “Je n’ai qu’un amour, c’est toi!”
from Prix de beauté		 “Mais quand le coeur dit oui”
from Prix de beauté		 “Mais quand le coeur dit oui”
from Prix de beauté
prix de beaute sheet music prix de beaute sheet music prix de beaute sheet music prix de beaute sheet music
“Je n’ai qu’un amour, c’est toi!”
from Prix de beauté		 “Mais quand le coeur dit oui” (front)
from Prix de beauté		 “Mais quand le coeur dit oui” (back)
from Prix de beauté		 “Recuerdos”
from Prix de beauté“
salabert-succes Louise French sheet music When You're in Love sheet music
“Je n’ai qu’un amour, c’est toi!”
from Prix de beauté		 “Louise” (French version)
from Innocents of Paris		 “Louise” (American version)
from Innocents of Paris		 “The Whistling Boy”
from When You’re in Love

 

The French and American versions of “Louise” which are shown in the bottom row are something of a cheat. This popular late 1920’s song, by Leo Robin and Richard Whiting, is NOT about Brooks — but in the years since it was first released it has come to be closely associated with the actress. Listen to a snippet here, or following this link to YouTube to hear Maurice Chevalier hit recording from 1929..

 

I wasn’t sure if or where to include this last example of a musical tie-in. It is not sheet music, but a bit of music which I believe ties-in with the 1930 film, Prix de beauté. It was printed in a newspaper published in Lisbon, Portugal in June of 1930. If anyone has any further information on this piece, I would appreciate hearing from them.

newspaper page music
Diario de Lisboa, June 4, 1930 “Eis a valsa de Premio de Beleza”