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.
Thank you, Buster, for these Manning souvenirs. I eagerly await the late Capitol singles.
ReplyDeleteThank you Buster.
ReplyDeletewonderful post, Buster. Another pitiful example of a fine voice being victim to the commercial aspects of the record business. Unfortunately, there are FAR better singers who suffered the same fate. thanks for this Manning exploration.
ReplyDeleteDavid Allyn taught Manning how to sing when he was with Henry Jerome and Art Mooney. Some unfairly compared Manning to Haymes. Manning was good but not even in the universe of Haymes. Thanks for all these obscurities.
ReplyDeleteThank you Buster.
ReplyDeleteHi,
ReplyDeleteI don't have anything to say about Mr. Manning, but, having looked around at your site, do I guess correctly that you are from Cleveland? The Society National Bank promotional record (Raymond Scott entry)? The reference in another post to Record Rendezvous? As a Cleveland native, just curious.
James,
ReplyDeleteYou are correct. You may also notice several other Cleveland references - a Cleveland Indians song, a Hey Mabel promo record from the 1950s, references to a few other local stores, etc.
Interesting, the IAJRC once did a tribute to Body Raeburn in Cleveland. David Allyn was the guest speaker. I have an old grainy vhs on made from this topic. They seem to be a great resource for rare hard to find stuff on this order. Just a thought.
ReplyDeleteBuster, For all those taking pot shots at Bob Manning or refusing him the stature of David Allyn and Dick Haymes, may I remind them that Hoagy Carmichael thought Manning's first recording of "The Nearness of You" the best ever made. I have boundless admiration for all three men, although I quickly concede Manning was put to poor use by RCA and the remake of "The Nearness of You" is atrocious. But those Capitol sides are grand. I eagerly await more.
ReplyDeleteI surely would never take pot shots at Manning. I have all of his albums including the RCA material and the wedding album. However, in the past, so many times it was stated that Manning could fool anyone on the radio into thinking he was a carbon copy of Haymes. He certainly was a good ballad singer. However, when put in the environments of up tempo or swing numbers, he just didn't have it. This is clearly evident when he recorded with Tommy Alexander on Everest. Allyn was a singer that was very unique, perhaps a jazz ballad singer. Haymes had pipes that were clearly superior to both.
ReplyDeleteOn the Nearness of You, I would say the Johnny Mandel with Haymes is the one to beat. Manning did a credible job and even got more air play on it. What it lacks is the Mandel touch. Jackie Gleason seemed to like Manning a lot too, enough to put him on his television show several times. My Love Song To You, nice melody as well.
ReplyDeleteFor quite some time I've heard about an unreleased Bob Manning album on the JAZZ label, Mode, with arrangements by the great Marty Paich(!). Recently, I got around to researching the rumor.
ReplyDeleteI dug around and eventually found a squib in a 1957 issue of Billboard to the effect that Paich was winging to New York from L.A. that very week to conduct a Bob Manning session. Alas, elsewhere in the same issue was an item about Mode going bankrupt and shuttering its doors.
And while there WERE a few unreleased albums in the can at the label when it went under---one of which, by singer Laurie Allyn, was released nearly a half-century later)---clearly a Manning effort was not among them. If such a disc existed, it would probably answer, for once and all-time, the age-old question of whether Manning could swing or not (I suspect that he could).
Hello everyone - I think we can all agree that Manning was a fine singer. I don't like to make comparative judgments myself, but I recognize that people will inevitably have their personal favorites. All of the singers mentioned are among my own.
ReplyDeleteBill - I saw the Billboard article about the proposed Mode sessions (and in fact allude to them in my post), but I did not realize that Mode announced its bankruptcy in the same issue! Manning couldn't catch a break.
I agree that he probably could swing - he has a good sense of time - but, as you will discover when you listen to the RCA singles, he certainly wasn't a rocker!
LOL, that he wasn't. Let me dig out the Tommy Alexander sides from Everest, one of them a ballad, Sunday Kind of Love, I believe the others were swingers. We can put this to rest easily if you hear these. I believe they were fine arrangements by Bill Holman. How about Love Bank? LOL, what a total train wreck that was. Oh well, in those days crooners had to put up with some really poor material.
ReplyDeleteActually, there is no need to compare Manning to anyone. He was definitely a skilled vocalist who happens to have a "sound" similar to Allyn and Haymes. It's unfair to rank him against such high level talents. But no doubt, Manning was good. I enjoy his records and wish there were more.
ReplyDeleteHi Buster, I wonder if you might, when you have time, reupload the Bob Manning stuff. I've recently discovered him and quite like his work. Thanks for all your efforts on our behalf. Great music!
ReplyDeleteHello, Todd - Let me see if I can find the files.
ReplyDeleteHi Buster,
ReplyDeleteI, too, would love to listen to these Bob Manning singles. Any chance of a reup??
Steve
I listened to the transfers again and was not at all happy with them. They need to be redone. Not sure what happened.
ReplyDeleteIf you ever re-do them would love to have them.
ReplyDeleteRemastered version (Apple lossless):
ReplyDeletehttps://mega.nz/file/mZ0llSJA#OUJ-KKgMvvu6qpiZB7YjkzuJ94bN3snBfnDuhbueW0M
thanks for reup and remastered sound
ReplyDeleteThank you, Buster.
ReplyDeleteRich
Thanks for the comments, Rich.
DeleteThank you
ReplyDelete