"Just Keep Holding On"

Did anyone hear Peggy sing this song? She did it in a set at The Ballroom in 1986. She said at the time that the song was from a Broadway show in progress and that she hoped that it would catch on in the same way Big Spender became a hit before the opening of Sweet Charity.

It was a good song. I don't think she recorded it and I've not found it by anyone else.

Ron

Oh yes, I've heard it, too. It's a nice song with an uplifting, encouraging message. And clearly a good concert choice: her audiences reacted to it with enthusiasm.

In one of her concerts, she says that "Just Keep Holding On" was written by Alan Barcus. She adds that the song is intended for a show whose working title was "Keagle [sp?] Street." The show was slated to open in London. She further declares that this song "offers good advice."

The number was indeed written by Alan Barcus, a singer-songwriter who eventually recorded it on a CD of his own compositions, and who also has ties to the world of sports. Check out his CD and his version of the song here:

[www.cdbaby.com]

Judging from the write-up there, the name of the show was changed to Spellbinders... or perhaps the song ended up being used on a different show. I imagine that Spellbinders played in the Chicago area.

I have a mental association of "Just Keep Holding On" with "(Keep Your) Hand on the Plow," the latter from Peggy's album Two Shows Nightly. My association of the two songs is due in part to the similarity in message -- and to the slight similarity in the titles.

If, instead of Peggy Sings the Blues, Peggy had decided to record an album of songs of the day in the mid-1980s, I imagine that "Just Keep Holding On" would have been among the ones she would have considered. Other likely candidates would have been "Love Dance" and "Here's to Life."

Ivan

Ivan,

Thanks for the info and for the link. I wish she had recorded it along with the songs you mention. Did you mean "Here's To Life"? I know that she sang it in performance during the 80s. All would have been excellent choices for Peggy.

Ron

Yes, Ron, I did mean "Here's to Life." (I just went back and edited this.) I suspect that Peggy was among the first singers to become acquainted with "Here's to Life"... perhaps as early or even earlier than Joe Williams and Shirley Horn. Again, this is just a suspicion, though based on the general facts and circumstances of which I am aware. Peggy seems to have been acquainted with the song early, in the mid-1980s. The song's composer, Artie Butler, was the conductor-arranger of her Norma Deloris album and a fan, too. Since he conceived the song from the perspective of a person who is well into his mature years, it makes sense that he would have initially thought of artists like Peggy (and, of course, Frank) as suitable interpreters -- hence possibly sending the song to them.

Ivan

Peg would have to have been one of the first to hear it, as she performed it in mid-1987 (when reviewers referred to it as a new song written specifically for her) well before Shirley Horn's debut recording of the song was released in January of 1992. I don't think it was actually written for her — Artie has said that he conceived it from an older man's perspective — but she was obviously one of the first artists, if not the first, to whom he presented it. Alas, the song did not fit the themes of her later albums (blues, Peggy Lee songs, Harold Arlen songs), and so she never recorded it.