August Playlist – Vintage Blues

Forgive me if I’m feeling slightly sentimental and nostalgic this week, Don’t Panic readers.

As you probably have heard, there have been a string of celebrity passings this week, including the lovely Lauren Bacall. Lauren Bacall was the sort of stunning, smart, confident women that I personally have come to identify with the 40s and 50s – women like Vivien Leigh, Mae West, Rita Hayworth, the list goes on and on.

I was thinking of these handsome characters from that golden era of Hollywood when I found myself humming along to the songs I have affectionately come to remember as my childhood lullabies.

Rather than traditional lullabies (or Heaven forbid something like Kidz Bop), when I was growing up my grandma used to sing the oldies to her grandkids. We’d listen – and eventually join in – as she would hum all her favorite songs from the 40s, 50s, and 60s to my brother, sisters, and me. Patti Page in the car, Billie Holiday in the kitchen, and Bing Crosby as she rocked us in her rocking chair. Complicated, jazzy blues songs or simple, silly pop songs – it didn’t matter. She loved to sing it all, and we loved her for it. One song in particular, You Must Have Been A Beautiful Baby, I will probably sing to my own children and grandchildren one day, on account of I still remember every single word. And I’ll think of her.

And that’s how we find ourselves here on this Friday in August, you reading this blog, me feeling nostalgic for an era I never even lived in. In honor of Lauren Bacall, my grandma Doe, and all the gorgeous music that commemorates that time, we give you this vintage playlist. ‘S wonderful.