About a year ago, I presented several posts devoted to the recordings of the short-lived popular singer Buddy Clark, who died in 1949. Those entries concentrated on Clark's late-40s recordings for Columbia, the period of his greatest success.
Today we examine records that Clark made in 1939 and 1940 for Varsity. Most of these sides were reissued in the mid-1950s on the Regent LP above.
The cover with its snappy pink 1955 Cadillac could not have less to do with the contents. Half of the items are songs written for the 1940 Disney movie, Pinocchio. These were actually recorded before the film was released, and include one song (The Old Music Box) cut from the movie. Beware, though: the songs from Pinocchio are accompanied by organ. I haven't been able to discover who is responsible for the accompaniments for these or any of the other songs on the LP.
I've added as a bonus a Varsity 78 not on the LP. Here, Clark is accompanied by an all-star Chicago-style jazz group, whose names are on the label below. Both of the songs are from the Rodgers and Hart show Higher and Higher.
As I've said before, I am a great admirer of this singer, so it's good to provide this glimpse of his work earlier in his brief career, when he already was a fully mature artist.
6 comments:
Buster, This has been a bonanza week at Big 10-Inch Record. The Buddy Clark 78s are the latest examples of your largesse. Like the glorious small-band recordings Eddy Howard made for Columbia under John Hammond's direction around the same time, Clark's recordings for Varsity with jazz immortals like Bud Freeman and Jess Stacy are among his finest and, alas, most forgotten. I have never heard a better version of "A Little Street in Singapore" and "Vagabond Dreams" is a great discovery. Thanks especially for the two Rodgers & Hart songs--both all-too-rarely recorded. You have done more in the past few weeks to honor American pop-song singing of the 1940s than anyone in America. Don't stop the procession. Others like Andy Russell await your acts and art of remembrance. Maybe les femmes like Ginny Simms can be fit into your agenda, also. I sure hope so.
Thanks, David. I will be presenting many other singers over time. I do have many Andy Russell 78s, in fact!
Such a cool cover, will give this guy a listen, he's new to me, will give you my thoughts about him later...
Thank you!
j.
Could you please re-upload this to Media fire or Mega.
Repitched and remastered version (Apple lossless). Now also includes the Varsity recordings of "Robert the Roue" and "You Are Too Beautiful" (from a later Sterling 78), with the bonus of the 1936 Melotone single of "Lost" and "The Touch of Your Lips":
https://mega.nz/#!zR1XGYAD!I-KtceYROYsML3VjEnJkOIGfFXs1UiGc62eMjQTyxiw
Thank you!!!
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