Perry Como & Carol Channing - If You Hadn't, But You Did

1954 performance of the song "If You Hadn't, But You Did." The song was originally from the 1951 musical revue "Two on the Aisle."

[@2emeraldeyes]

I never realized how gorgeous she was. I only knew of her from old guest spots and 70's game shows!

[@donreed]

She looks like the young, pre-horrible Gwyneth Paltrow.

[@donreed]

@Robert Lee, Countertenor This is proof that they don't have to end up as Goop Grifters.

[@morricone1900]

I'm totally knocked out by the way Carol Channing absolutely takes over after she dropped a verse and holds out that pickup note until she can hear that Mitchell Ayres (the music director) has caught on that she's skipping to the end. Then the pianist continues and covers, and then by the time she gets to very end, Ayres has brought the band back in for the ending. A perfect recovery by Channing, adopting an approach which prevented disaster and put the brakes on a moving train. Genius!!

[@ralphoism]

This sure looks rehearsed to me . Wouldn't rapping so quickly have ended the bit much quicker and left them with nothing to do but smile to fill time ?

[@MichaelDG2023]

He’s so smooth...utterly imperturbable. They’re adorable together. She’s fantastic in this...it’s like campy 50s musical theater rapping!

[@jeremiahgabriel5709]

This is such a specific genre description and I don't disagree 😂

[@douell0001]

She's adorable.

[@asylumchoir4586]

She reached for heights out of this world, mastered and nailed it every time, and took us with her. There is no other. Carol Channing was/is an Honorary Angel!!! We love you, Carol, always. ❤️🕯🌹

[@borgrav]

She is so beautiful here.

[@tmasters321]

This one needs a love button. She is my idol!

[@joecampos5624]

Wow she's wonderful

[@audhull]

That was so good that I thought she was messing up on purpose :)

[@MizzezJaxon]

She can rap lowkey!

[@gutz1981]

Well, she did have some black in her apparently.

[@harveymencey7234]

😂 She is black,not just some.😅

[@Marcel_Audubon]

Perry was always so charming; Channing delightful saving herself here

[@tric5122]

Was this the first recorded rap? Didn't know how talented she was, born in the 70's, grew up in the 80s just seeing her on the game shows. I knew she was a star but didn't really know why/how. What a great voice.

[@artemusprine]

What professionals. And so adorable.

[@AvalonMorley]

And to add: It's so skillful the way she handles her momentary lyric-loss, just playing w. it humorously & quickly getting back into the song. I love Carol!

[@annacampbell3809]

RIP Carol

[@douglaso6428]

Delightful, funny, charming and they’re both so talented; what a wonderful gift to see! Thank you for posting…

[@jvinikour]

Absolutely delightful. Carol Channing is unique, that's for sure!

[@chas766]

First female rapper

[@rdeda8129]

RIP Carol. Beautiful singer :-(

[@Torontobears]

Thanks so much for posting this. So wonderful to see such talent!

[@geoffreyfox9801]

Carol's mother was white. Carol's father George Channing was black by birth. Her father was light-skinned and his birth certificate said "white". However, his parents were black. Carol knew this all her life. She was bi-racial. Carol adored her father. Carol was a free-thinking Aquarian and did not have a problem with it. She did not let this hold her back. She wanted to be a performer and became a sensational one. In the 1940s and 1950s, and even much later, an actor, actress, or singer, could not be a mainstream performer and be openly biracial. It was taboo. Carol was very open about this in her later years. I saw Carol perform in her one-woman show and on Broadway. She was terrific and audiences loved her.

[@lettiegrant9447]

It's just a good thing Hollywood never knew this until she was old. She never would have made it as far as she did. Sad.

[@therantingprofessor262]

Carol's father had an African-American mother and a white father.

[@tommoncrieff1154]

Her father was mixed race.

[@BTURNER1961]

Who else could do this song at this pace, , lose her place, and make us delighted that she did. Nothing like Carol today, that's for sure. I don't think casting directors on the stage, would know what to make of her or what to do with her. They are too prosaic in their thinkings. Just put characters like this on the stage and the audience will figure it out. Nobody takes their eyes off a Carol Channing for long. Nobody fails to find their smile and good humor before she is done.

[@slipbone]

I first heard this song on Kristen Chenoweth's CD and she really does Carol justice. I found this looking for things from Carol's younger days. An two year old announcement of her death popped up on a friends page. Perry was such a pro to stay focused with that beauty and energy inches from him. We normal men would have melted.

[@artemusprine]

Talents like hers are often brought up in then/now comparisons. She was a great in her own time.

[@chrizgrv]

I saw Patti Lupone sing this last month. She is another who can do this song justice with diction and comedy. However Carol is just mesmerizing everytime she sings.

[@stavinchain]

How wonderful...but how I wish someone had Carol's performance of this song on the Flip Wilson show in the early '70s... Thank you VERY much!

[@bway1497]

Just as adorable as she is today

[@ihaveallthecoins2785]

The best breakup song ever.

[@tommoncrieff1154]

It’s amazing to see them both so young and both so good looking and stylish. By the time I knew them they were both far older, still wonderful and entertaining, but not super-cool like here.

[@chas766]

Hard to believe she's only 29 or 30 years old here. What a life she lived.

[@DPMusicStudio]

She was 35, if this was indeed filmed in 1956

[@kierstenwhite7807]

That was pure heaven. Love Carol.

[@HartAngel5]

This is SO cute!!!!!

[@jayatissa6028]

RIP Carol.

[@coreylevi2328]

Just adorable

[@rdhorsey9081]

She is so cute here.

[@TheRealCantaraBella]

Now that is how a pro recovers!!! Nicely done!!

[@walkingtrails7776]

Carol broke it down..with a rap! Don't let her dyed blond hair fool ya...she was part African American.

[@lettiegrant9447]

👍👍👍

[@indigothecat]

Never knew that Carol Channing did this song before Kristen Chenoweth!

[@dw2161]

This song predates Channing, too. Originally sung by Dolores Gray in the Broadway musical revue, Two on the Aisle in 1951.

[@indigothecat]

@@dw2161 The more you know! 💫

[@hizgrase]

Wow

[@CarmenZynger]

Carol is just stunning here! So talented and beautiful. What a talent. I love her old nose too! It suits her natural face. Everything is plastic today. Perry Como reminds me of Russ Colombo. I wonder if that is who he parodied for his singing voice?

[@Ursaminor31]

She contoured her nose in the 70’s until She stopped. It’s just makeup, her 90 yr old nose is this one. It was all stage makeup. Especially the dinner plate yes, bowl wig and upturned nose

[@Oddworld2024]

58 second mark …wow carol first to spit bars ? and super fast to? Back then even. Wow. Seen much about her but not this. He’s good to.

[@1FlyJedi]

she's a fucking genius.

[@1FlyJedi]

she does this in the Alice in wonderland movie as well.

[@lettiegrant9447]

Use better language next time.

[@jayology]

This is charming. I can forgive Carol for blowing the lyrics. She's still terrific. Besides, I've seen Kristen Chenoweth, who has sort of made the song her on in recent years, flub it during a live performance. This song is a mouthful!

[@kbrodeur]

omg this is so gwyneth paltrow it's so uncanny! WOW! great and talented team there! she's lovely!

[@Splentaur]

Paltrow is an annoying no-talent who's not fit to shine Ms. Channing's dance shoes.

[@kbrodeur]

@@Splentaur can you dance or act?

[@Splentaur]

@@kbrodeur Yes, I can sing and play guitar, sax and keys as well... not sure what that has to do with anything.

[@kbrodeur]

@@Splentaur so why would you call someone a hack, do you have lots self esteem even as your can do so many things?

[@AvalonMorley]

Of course you're right. I just don't care for the set-up/premise being used, of holding the scores, pretending it's an arrangement they just got. What I meant about her not knowing it so well was where she (understandably) blanked & missed a few lyrics around 1:41. But, watching it again, it's clear that was only 1 blip, & she had the song down cold, otherwise. (Not sure what I was smoking, saying she didn't know it well enough--anyone can blank even on a song they know well, & she's got this!).

[@sIouchingpoet]

she was a space alien even back then

[@davidwesley2525]

🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄

[@whocares_bear]

0:57 Carol spitting those bars. Is Eminem her grandson?

[@henryjackson2357]

She's part black.

[@Lama-Su]

@228candy Her father was only partially black, so there was no "passing" required idiot

[@lorahindsley8274]

Henry Jackson reminds me of Dinah Shore who also had black ancestry.

[@lettiegrant9447]

Partially means nothing. She was a black woman. It's dad that people just don't want to accept that all that talent was from a black woman. Well just face it. It was. Sorry for all those who can't accept it.

[@myronsmith2114]

@@lorahindsley8274 You look like you could or should have some black in you

[@Countfoscolikesmice]

WTF old people were hot?!

[@sblizzy]

Drill rap....

[@markbraunstein58]

I love Carol but Delores Grey did this better in every way- diction, rhythm and pretty tones...

[@AvalonMorley]

Nice to see them both so young & juicy. This performance didn't really do the song any favors, though. I think it works better w. its proper intro, & then doing it while looking at the score all the time just gives no thrill. Weird why they'd choose to do this, before she knew it well enough to do it properly. She's still a favorite, though.

[@miltsar]

interesting to see her before the nose was done. she almost looks like Betty Hutton

[@lh9497]

Sad-that-i-never-hear-for-protect-the-black-movement😐in,the-60s-she-has-a-power-voice-during-this-time.??or iam wrong?

[@lettiegrant9447]

She was black. It was just never made known to the public. She never would have made it that far in those early years it she had made that known. Sad but true. Our country has a bad history regarding black and white.

[@QueenBees456]

Yeah she had black ancestry too…

[@phillychildcare]

well she's part black, LOL

[@nickmtl2570]

phillychildcare A real tiny part.

[@DoubleEdged7]

Nick Mtl her vocal cords

[@prewartomatoes]

Nick Mtl she was 1/4 black

[@lettiegrant9447]

She sure was whether they want to accept it or not.👍

[@JoseHernandez-ql8vw]

that's too bad

[@AdityaPradiptaMeneer]

In a way, she sort of looks like Gwyneth Paltrow.

[@lh9497]

For-am-Mixed-race African-american--women.she-passes-as-white--

[@Rosseroni88]

This is back when she was somewhat human. lol

[@davidwesley2525]

So She's Part Human & Part What ? 🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔

[@MissDebra]

Not Carol Channing! Voice is dubbed in.

[@alison2649]

What you talkin bout???

[@judithfabian2473]

That's not dubbed. That is what her voice always sounded like.

[@erossinema8797]

I did not realize Perry Como was so handsome

[@MizzezJaxon]

She can rap lowkey!

[@justinmcgant5763]

It’s cause she’s part black

[@taylordowning2533]

This was cute. Carol was so pretty when she was young and I didn't realize how sexy Perry Como was

[@darlingchampagne8356]

Without that voice and smile; no way would I guess this was her!! I love her hair like this :D

[@jennyq4979]

I know! I totally didn't recognize her at first! She didn't have the big hair and big eyelashes that I'm used to. I love and miss both her and Perry Como. She's still alive and living in Seattle and is 96 years old now! And Perry Como had a hit song called Seattle... hmmmm lol.

[@valsadie]

Yeah, I never saw her so young and I just caught on to the nose job! And you're right! And I keep forgetting Perry Como had a sense of humor!

[@nstruebluey39]

She still sounds the same!!!!!

[@DoubleEdged7]

Sage like a southern black woman

[@wickedfeylady]

I think Carol was very beautiful when she was young. She's so talented and funny

[@shellyt1453]

They say she was half black 💅🏾

[@myronsmith2114]

1 quarter. She had a black grandparent

[@lorahindsley8274]

I have always loved the transatlantic accent that they had.

[@ragemanchoo82]

I miss Perry Como. Why don't they build voices like that anymore in the US? Seems like the only rich voices that actually enunciate are coming out of Europe these days.

[@santafejack]

Perry Como was absolutely gorgeous!

[@Oddworld2024]

58 second mark …wow carol first to spit bars ? and super fast to? Back then even. Wow. Seen much about her but not this. He’s good to. Reminds me of Eminem or technine

[@jasonpatten9159]

My Grandmother was a "fallen away"' Christian Scientist like Carol Channing and they both lived to be 97... I'm so sorry she's gone now that they're giving out Emmy's for reality shows and crap "music" there are only a handful left standing here in NYC who are worth meeting that I would be excited to meet I mean folks like Quincy Jones are still with us and Shirley MacLaine(sp?) but I'm not holding my breath I ran into Sally Field and well I don't think that BONIVA drug that she was a spokeswoman for is helping her at all....

[@pretendingtoswim]

That's because people knew how to be professionals and hold it together, back then. I think the performance is even more charming with the mistakes, and the way everyone worked with it to an advantage makes it more interesting than if it had been perfect. :)

[@johnphillips4268]

When she passed, Holywood did not honor her passing and her contribution to their industry. That still angers me.

[@Blrmad]

That was fun!

[@Richie-tn9wi]

She sounds a lot like Jerry Lewis.

[@vanessajackson1388]

She does not sound that good she would’ve been gong

[@bjmccann1]

Delightful!

[@barrymiller99]

Interesting. Not much of a singer but a great entertainer.

[@07FreshMaker]

Wow.. I just love her so much. I had never seen this before!!? And who is this gorgeous gentleman? Wow.. what a time! I grew up obsessed as a young child watching her as the white queen in Alice in Wonderland haha.. jam tomorrow jam yesterday!

[@BoopShooBee]

Carrol made a lot of funny faces but she was beautiful. Good bones perfect figure and tall enough to dance cheek to cheek with a tall guy like me. sigh

[@stonerrocky]

So glad to see this. Wondering if that was her real hair. So talented. Entertain the heavens!!

[@sandyk8594]

Another drag brought to you by hollywood.

[@brkitdwn]

Carol was 33 in 1954. Pre wigs.

[@zolazarayk]

if....❤

[@theboxingforce4701]

Really pretty 🦋

[@ztramsey93]

A goddess!

[@twerkinthecityhuh6340]

omg its the same voice.......'56 two years before i was @