Friends, one of the things I look forward to generally when a new Quentin Tarantino film is about to debut is getting a chance to check out the songs he has chosen for the movie. In the case of the EXCEPTIONAL Once Upon a Time in Hollywood – you had a delicious smorgasbord of ’60s music besides vintage advertisements, most of which were included on the 31 track soundtrack. One of the songs missing however from said soundtrack is Leonardo DiCaprio’s cover of “The Green Door” or sometimes just known as “Green Door” by Jim Lowe from back in ’56.
The lyrics to “Green Door” were penned by Marvin Moore who also wrote “Four Walls” for Jim Reeves – but the music was composed by Bob “Hutch” Davie. “Green Door” proved popular enough to hit the #1 spot in the week of November 17th of 1956 – apparently even knocking Elvis Presley’s “Love Me Tender” down a peg. Thanks to the Wikipedia here is a fun fact for you – it has been said that Bob Davie inserted tacks to the ends of the hammers on his piano and then sped up the recording in an effort to give the song a honky-tonk flavor.
As Once Upon a Time in Hollywood deals with the town in the ’60s – in particular it follows both Rick Dalton (DiCaprio) and his stuntman as well as best friend Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt). Dalton is an actor who is quite concerned his best days have passed him by after his popular ’50s series Bounty Law ended. With the success of that TV western it makes sense that Dalton was chosen to be a guest host on NBC’s Hullabaloo – a musical variety show that ran for two seasons from January of 1965 until April of 1966. Which allows Leonardo DiCaprio a chance to cover Jim Lowe’s “The Green Door” – and while there is only a clip presented here, you can actually listen to the whole song on the Blu-Ray release.
“Green Door” has had more than a few famous musicians covering the tune, just a few include Bill Haley & His Comets, Crystal Gale. But it also has been sung by the hardest working bear comedian in show business – the one and only Fozzie Bear (Frank Oz)!
For what it happens to be worth, that clip comes from the 22nd episode of Season 4 of The Muppet Show – originally airing in the States on March 22nd of 1980. Andy Williams is the very special guest star on the episode and this is the show where Rizzo the Rat actually gets a name.
Now the question is… who do you think performed “Green Door” better? Leonardo DiCaprio or Fozzie Bear?
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