Bob Manning - M-G-M and RCA Singles

If he is remembered at all today, big-voiced baritone Bob Manning is known for his Capitol recordings from the mid-50s - the single version of The Nearness of You, his LP Lonely Spell, and his recording of the Ralph Kramden-Ed Norton TV "composition" My Love Song to You.

An earlier post on this blog examined some of Manning's unreissued Capitol output. Today we look at his singles before and after his Capitol tenure.

Perhaps his first appearance on disc was on Lang-Worth Transcriptions made when he was the vocalist with Ziggy Elman's 1947 band. Later that same year, he left Elman and recorded a one-off for the Click label with the Herman Chittison Trio. This was followed by an issue on Apollo in 1948. Manning next turns up with Esy Morales early in 1950 in a single on the Magic label.

We open this collection with some records he made soon thereafter with Art Mooney. (This was a few years after Mooney had his big hits with the reprehensible Baby Face and I'm Looking Over a Four-Leaf Clover.) First we have Wham! Bam! Thank You Ma'am, a Hank Penny country novelty that is not nearly as racy as its title might suggest, backed with the ballad There'll Never Be Another You. He also recorded another attractive ballad, To Think You've Chosen Me, with Mooney.

Manning went on to make a few records with the Buddy Williams orchestra, and then began recording as a solo for Capitol in 1953. After achieving some success with that company, he decided to move on to RCA Victor circa 1957. Included in this set are three RCA singles, which are all I have been able to find or document. They start with To Love Again, a ghastly perversion of Chopin featured in the Eddy Duchin Story. That was backed with Sing Me a Love Song. Manning sounds a little queasy on this quasi-rock song. Next up were Rocky Mountain Rose and Make Believe Dreams, an uneventful (and unsuccessful) coupling. Finally, RCA had him do Warmed Over Kisses - Left Over Love, a country item that also was recorded by Sid King and the Five Strings. The backing was Love Bank, an early and obscure Bacharach-David song, one that did nothing for the reputations of anyone concerned.

In short, Manning had no luck with RCA. In October 1957, Mode Records announced that he was to record an album with that small but very fine label, and that Marty Paich was to arrange and conduct. I don't know whether the sessions ever took place, and as far as I can tell the album was never issued. Mode soon went out of business. This was not a good year for Manning.

We complete this set of Bob Manning singles with his return to M-G-M in early 1959 for a reprise of The Nearness of You, featuring a new arrangement by Leroy Holmes, backed with I Hate Loving You.

Manning went on to record an LP of wedding songs for Everest, and to contribute four vocals to an album called Tommy Alexander Presents His Golden Trombones. (Both are available as Amazon downloads.)

Although some of the material above is not the best, that was a common fate for pop singers of the era. In the quest for a hit, they had to adapt styles quickly - country, rock, r&b, whatever was popular. Some singers sailed through this period placidly - Perry Como had a facility with novelty material. Others at first had had a tough time - Frank Sinatra fought the novelties that Mitch Miller foisted on him - only to have renewed success, as Sinatra did at Capitol. Other singers, such as Manning, were not as flexible in voice or approach, did not have the leverage of a Como or Sinatra, and did not have the same enduring success.

Digression No. 22

For those of you who were interested in the Henry Mancini score for Summer Love, I have found a undamaged copy of the title song on a second copy of the LP I discovered in a most unlikely place - under "S" in my soundtrack collection. You can just download the new title song rip via this link or go to the Summer Love post below for the entire score with the new track.

I also came across an EP version of the Lena Horne 10-inch LP that I recently posted - thought you might want to have the EP cover, which is different from the LP. As with almost all the graphics on this site, this is a high resolution image. Click on the image to enlarge it.

Honegger from Philadelphia

I have had very little time to prepare posts for several weeks, so I am most grateful to my friend Joe Serraglio for this notable contribution. It is the 1952 recording of Arthur Honegger's dramatic oratorio Jeanne d'Arc au Bûcher from the Philadelphia Orchestra and Eugene Ormandy with Vera Zorina in the title role.

The oratorio is on texts by Paul Claudel, much of which is declaimed by Zorina and Raymond Gerome. For that reason, Joe's inclusion of the complete libretto is particularly welcome.

The recording of this 1935 work was made by American Columbia in the Academy of Music in November 1952. Joe's transfer is from the 1953 Philips pressing.

Below we have Ormandy during the recording session with Gerome and Zorina, who incidentally was the wife of Columbia president Goddard Lieberson and made occasional appearances in dramatic roles on record. She also can be heard in works by Stravinsky, Debussy, Hindemith, Milhaud and Walton. Zorina started off as a ballerina, but I first remember her emerging from a reflecting pool during the course of the Ritz Brothers movie vehicle, Goldwyn Follies, which also featured Adolf Menjou, Kenny Baker, Edgar Bergen and a score by the Gershwin brothers. (Or did I dream that?)

Thanks to Joe once again for his generosity!

Jerry Gray

Returning to my series of postwar big bands, here is a 1956 band led by one of the most famous of the swing band arrangers, Jerry Gray.

Gray first came to notice for Artie Shaw arrangements, including Shaw's biggest hit, Begin the Beguine. Shaw, always ambivalent about fame, disbanded that particular group in 1939, and Gray went to Glenn Miller. He proceeded to write many of that band's iconic numbers - Pennsylvania 6-5000, Sun Valley Jump and A String of Pearls - and arranged others - Chattanooga Choo-Choo, Elmer's Tune and Moonlight Cocktail. Many people think he invented the clarinet-lead Miller sound.

Miller of course died during the war, and later his estate set up an excellent Miller-themed band led by saxophonist Tex Beneke. Other bands also adopted the Miller sound, notably Ray Anthony and Ralph Flanagan (previously heard here). Gray himself used the "sound" at times; it can be heard on this LP on You Leave Me Breathless.

But Gray wasn't limited to that sound. His own identity was much more tied up with his compositions. His pattern was to start with a short melodic cell, repeat it, vary it, and then elaborate. If you are familiar with the Miller library, Pennsylvania 6-5000 is a good example of this pattern. Here, his band theme, Shades of Gray displays the same approach, as does What's Your Hurry? (which begins with a reprise of Shades of Gray).

These sides were recorded in Hollywood in December 1956, with the following personnel:

Al Porcino, Carlton McBeath, Gene Duermeyer, Bill Mattison (tp) Jimmy Priddy, Bob Robinson, Dave Wells (tb) Med Flory (cl,as) Bob Thomas (as) Dave Madden, Bill Massingill (ts) Jack Dulong (bar,as) Ernie Hughes (p) Irv Edelman (b) Mel Lewis or Chiz Harris (d)

The recording was one of the first that Liberty made in stereo, and was assigned its second stereo number (the first was for Martin Denny's Primativa). It's an interesting example of early stereo. Despite the cover claims of multi-channel recording, it actually sounds quite simply miked and is not particularly well balanced. The stereo effect is not marked; tastes would soon change to favor directional stereo, with the stereo effect created in the mixing board using multiple mikes rather than through a realistic in-studio balance.

I'll probably be back later with the recordings that Gray issued in an attempt to capitalize on 1953's Glenn Miller Story.

Sunday Songs with Stafford and MacRae

Two of the favorite artists of this blog and many of its readers are Jo Stafford and Gordon MacRae, who frequently recorded together while at Capitol.

In this 10-inch LP from 1950, they present what they call "Sunday evening songs". The notes below tell us that in the early years of the 20th century members of the household would gather around the piano for a group sing of sweet, familiar songs. Stafford and MacRae, aided by Paul Weston's apposite arrangements, present eight of these songs in straightforward, but infinitely pleasing renditions.

None of this material would have been new even at the turn of the 20th century. It dates from as early as 1833. The notes tell us that such songs were enjoying a renaissance in the postwar world; would that there would be such a renaissance today. But this music is as passe as the green piano cloth on the spectacular album cover.

REMASTERED VERSION

Szymanowski, Szostak and Kilar

This 10-inch Polskie Nagrania disc from the mid-50s presents short works by three composers from Poland - and a highly enjoyable and well recorded collection it is.

The first side contains two pieces by Karol Szymanowski, in transcriptions by his close associate, the conductor Grzegorz Fitelberg - Roxanna's Song from the opera King Roger and a tarantella, originally for violin (if I am deciphering the back cover correctly). The performances from the Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra (which Fitelberg founded) could hardly be better. These date from 1953 or earlier - the conductor died in that year.

Nearly as attractive are the two works on the reverse, early compositions by two artists who are associated with film - Zdzisław Szostak and the better known Wojciech Kilar. These concert overtures were written in 1954 and 1955. Again, the performances are excellent - these are by the Orchestra of the Poznań Philharmonic with conductor Józef Wiłkomirski. (I think he might be violinist Wanda Wiłkomirska's father, but haven't been able to confirm that.)

By the way, I looked up Polskie Nagrania on Wikipedia, only to discover that its catalogue supposedly includes numerous symphonies conducted by Jackie Gleason as well as several Stepin Fetchit records. I'm not sure whether this is because of the legendary Wikipedia accuracy or a Google Translate effect, but it certainly was unexpected!

LINK

Lena Horne on M-G-M

In tribute to the great singer Lena Horne, who has died at age 92, I offer this 10-inch LP, which I believe was her first. It collects records that she made in the late 40s for M-G-M.

As with many other singers, I think that Horne's first period was her best. It may be clichéd to say it, but there was a freshness about her singing that was lost in later years, when she could seem stylized, even cold.

Don't misunderstand - I am a great admirer of her work. Her 50s LPs for RCA are as elegant as she always was. There's no question - she was one of the greats.

I'll probably be back at a later date with some more of her recordings from the 1940s.

UPDATE - Will Friedwald tells me that Universal has issued these and some other M-G-M singles on CD. Some of you may be interested in checking that out. My transfer is, of course, from the original vinyl.
ANOTHER UPDATE - Apparently the singles collection isn't out until next Tuesday (May 18). I think Will gets things early, lucky fellow.

LINK - this has now been remastered in ambient stereo

Summer Love

Summer Love is one of the earlier and more obscure Henry Mancini scores on record. By 1958, when Summer Love came out, he had already scored dozens of films, but it wasn't until that year that he began achieving renown for his work - on Touch of Evil, and especially for his wildly popular Peter Gunn theme.

Summer Love is a sequel to a 1956 film called Rock Pretty Baby. Both were early examples of the rock and roll film, although neither actually featured any rock and roll musicians. Both movies revolved around a faux band called Jimmy Daley and the Ding-A-Lings, a curiously improbable name, certainly not designed to impress. "Hey, why don't you come out and hear my band?" "Yeah, which band is that?" "Jimmy Daley and The Ding-A-Lings." It's embarrassing.

Jimmy Daley himself is played by John Saxon, and the closest the film comes to using an actual rock and roll musician is to dub Saxon's vocal on the title tune with Kip Tyler, an obscure rockabilly singer. Also in the Ding-A-Lings is Rod McKuen, cast as Ox (speaking of improbable names). In the film, Rod sings a calypso song that he wrote, and it isn't bad! This was when Rod was putting out records of ballads and folk songs for Decca and making movies like this. It was several years before his maudlin poetry became popular.

Also making an appearance is wide-eyed country singer Molly Bee, who was on American television at the time. I have to admit that I was impressed by her - she has a very good set of pipes. Molly duets with Rod on To Know You Is to Love You. This isn't the Phil Spector tune; it was written by Mancini with lyricist Bill Carey (You've Changed). Molly also does a song called the Magic Penny (here called Love Is Something), one of the best-known works by folksinger Malvina Reynolds (Little Boxes) and one of its earliest recordings.

Malvina Reynolds, Rod McKuen, Molly Bee . . . certainly no rock and roll there. A Mancini studio group does provide some ersatz rock on several other numbers. Jazz musicians attempting to rock is like dogs trying to walk on their hind legs.

Mancini's rock simulations generally sound like big band charts reconfigured for guitars and sax. One even is reminiscent of Intermission Riff. The studio group is most convincing when an anonymous honkin' sax puts out some 50s-style r&b.

Mancini also throws in a stroll, and a few Shearing-esque numbers. He gets closest to the familiar Mancini sound on such numbers as Theme for a Crazy Chick and Kool Breeze, which would not be out of place on his more popular LPs of the next few years.

As a rock LP, this is a complete washout, but it does have its high points otherwise and the material is surprisingly varied.