Paganini Quartet in Schumann and Britten

I'm pleased to be able to present this recording of the great Paganini Quartet in music from Schumann and Britten. In doing so, I am adding to the revival of their recordings started by Benoît on his blog Quartier des Archives and Squirrel on his Squirrel's Nest.

As Squirrel writes, "These guys deliver some of the finest quartet playing on record, with a particularly gorgeous, elegant sound – thanks in no small part to the complete set of ex-Paganini Stradivarius instruments on which they performed."

Signage for an
Ann Arbor concert

As in all its incarnations, the quartet was led by violinist Henri Temianka. Second violinist Gustave Rosseels also was a founding member of the ensemble, which here also includes cellist Lucien LaPorte and violist Charles Foidart.


The quartet, founded in 1946, had recorded for RCA Victor and briefly for Decca before making this recording for Liberty circa 1957. Judging by its catalogue number, it might be the first classical LP issued on that label - one of the few that Liberty ever offered.

The sound is good. The Schumann was very clean, with the Britten more problematic, and some occasional minor noise remains on that side.

I'll also be transferring the Paganini's recording of Beethoven's Op. 59, No. 1 Rasumovsky quartet, at some future time.

Happy Holidays with Ray Noble and Mr. and Mrs. Radio

This 1949 recording is, as the cover proclaims, a "musical story," a genre that had been popularized in the 40s by Gordon Jenkins' Manhattan Tower.

The Jenkins work is one of the more popular items presented on this blog. Actually it's popped up three times - the original LP issue, Jenkins' later expanded version, and a post devoted to the graphics of the original 78 set.

Elliott Lewis

This set will remind you of the Jenkins work, if only because the male lead is the same - Elliott Lewis, who appears here with his wife Cathy. The Lewises were called "Mr. and Mrs. Radio" (at least by their publicist) and were quite active on the network shows of the time. Elliott was best known for his role as Frank Remley on the Phil Harris-Alice Faye show. Cathy was the "my" in My Friend Irma, who was played by Marie Wilson.

Cathy Lewis

The Lewises were pros and perform with the pleasing artificiality that was a feature of old-time radio. The anonymous script has the couple remembering notable holidays in their shared past; in truth, not much of a premise even for a 10-inch, 24-minute LP. Nonetheless, Cathy finds enough motivation to evoke anger, tears, fear, laughter, excitement and love. Elliott is less emotional. It might have been more interesting if they had switched roles, but this presentation is an entirely conventional one.

Cigarette card

Bandleader-composer Ray Noble leads the orchestra and apparently provides the underscore, which includes a wistful theme motif. But unlike Gordon Jenkins in Manhattan Tower, he doesn't compose the songs that are heard, except for The Very Thought of You (which Cathy presents). Instead he presents familiar songs representative of the various holidays.

Noble became a well-known English bandleader before leaving for the US in 1935. He was particularly associated with the superb vocalist Al Bowlly, even though Bowlly made hundreds of records with other bands. The Bowlly versions of Noble compositions Goodnight Sweetheart, The Touch of Your Hand, The Very Thought of You, and Love Is the Sweetest Thing are among the finest romantic pop records ever made.

Bowlly perished in the London blitz and no vocalist appears here. At the time these records were made, Noble had been backing fellow Columbia artist Buddy Clark on some popular disks, until Clark himself was killed in an October 1949 plane crash. (Many Clark records have appeared on this blog.)

Although this is only partially a Christmas record, its sentimentality and beautiful presentation make it a fitting conclusion to our offerings of this season. Happy holidays, everyone!

A Novelty Christmas

Here is a post mainly concerned with novelty songs of the season.

Slim and Fat Boy/Jelly Belly

We start, however, with a non-novelty, 1948's Christmastime Blues with Slim Seward and Fat Boy Hayes. My excuse here is that I thought it was a novelty when I picked it up. Slim Seward? Must be like Slam Stewart or Slim Galliard, I thought. Not so - it really is a blues record. Slim and Fat Boy otherwise recorded as the Back Porch Boys, or Slim Seward and Jelly Belly Hayes. They were based in New York, and apparently were a cabaret blues act similar to Josh White.

October 15, 1949

Let's move on to one of the most famous Christmas novelty records, Spike Jones' 1949 version of My Two Front Teeth, with a vocal by George Rock. This was a big ole hit, landing Spike (but not Georgie) on the front of Billboard with giant prop teeth. I can't imagine anyone listening to this more than once for each tooth, but my copy is kind of worn nonetheless. The other side, thankfully, is more fun and in better condition. It is called Happy New Year, and has new year's resolutions from Spike, George, Sir Frederick Gas and Doodles Weaver. The humor is quite conventional, but the record seems delightfully anarchic anyway, with its wonderfully choreographed sound effects. I've been a sucker for this sound all my life. This one is in response to a request by our friend David F.

Next up is another novelty that is highly evocative of the post-war era, 1950's I Want a Television Christmas, performed by Mindy Carson early in her career. This was not a commercial record - it was produced by the television manufacturers to stimulate sales and was given away in stores. Mindy rhapsodizes about all the things she would see on her new TV (and all before she's 17, she marvels) - plays, strange lands, etc. No mention of reality shows, wrestling or Jay Leno, who had not been invented. The song is presented in two very similar versions - one with bells and celeste added.

Fontane Sisters

We move on from a television Christmas to A Howdy Doody Christmas, as presented by the Fontane Sisters and Howdy himself. I have to admit I found Howdy a little "off" when I was a youthful Buster, and have not changed my opinion. Take a look at his troupe below and tell me they seem normal. The image comes from the cover of another Howdy Doody Christmas record, available here. This one is from 1951.

Country Washburne

The next item is on the Russell label, which made records for dance studios. Santa Has His Eye on You rather chillingly presents old Nick as a kind of parental spy in the cold war between adults and their offspring, perfectly apt for 1953. The performance by Country Washburne and a small band is quite good. Washburne was a vet of the Ted Weems and Spike Jones bands. Vocalist Marilyn King was the youngest of the King Sisters, but I don't believe she was a full-time member of the family ensemble. There are two versions of the song - vocal and instrumental.

Finally, Jose Ferrer presents the March of the Christmas Toys in his tuneless way. As sometimes happened, he was appearing on the flip side of a record by his wife, Rosemary Clooney. (That song, A Christmas Present to Santa Claus, has been widely anthologized.) Not sure why Mitch Miller kept parading Jose before the listening public as a vocalist. Ferrer was better suited to inpersonating Cyrano de Bergerac - which you can experience on this very blog, in fact.

Howdy Doody and ensemble (click to enlarge)

Christmas in Montréal with Raoul Jobin

Raoul Jobin, a Québec City native, was a well known exponent of the French operatic repertoire in the middle decades of the last century. With his large voice, beautifully produced throughout its range, he also branched out into Wagnerian roles in the prime of his career.

Jobin (left) at a recording session
in Canada

Jobin recorded these Christmas songs with the Montréal choir Les Disciples de Massenet in 1945, according to the Canadian Encyclopedia. Not sure if this is accurate or not, but this Canadian 10-inch LP would seem to date from about 1954, so the earlier date may be a typo.

Les Disciples de Massenet, who are still in existence, were founded in 1928 by Charles Goulet, who leads them on this record. The organist is Roland Roy.

The program is most enjoyable and the sound is excellent.

Christmas with the Bands

Tonight we have a quick collection of singles from the big bands of the 30s and 40s, starting with a singing duo who will be more familiar to people of my generation as television stars. They are Ozzie and Harriet before they were Ozzie and Harriet - when they were Ozzie Nelson, bandleader, and Harriet Hilliard, singer. On this 1935 Brunswick item they duet on the ubiquitous Jingle Bells. (Frankly, neither Oz nor Harriet was much of a singer.)

The Nelsons

Arrangers who wanted to make their scores seem extra-Christmassy tended to lead into the tune they were working on with a few bars of Jingle Bells. That's the case with the next two songs under discussion. The first one is the flip side of the Nelson opus - Santa Claus is Coming to Town. This is one of the few records by Joe Moss and his Society Dance Orchestra. The vocal is by Dick Robertson, who made a great many records during the 30s.

Frankie Masters

The next number is a particular favorite of mine - Hello, Mr. Kringle, here in a version by Frankie Masters and his band. This is from 1939.

Les Brown

We skip ahead a few years and to a much different sound world on Les Brown's 1946 recording of When You Trim Your Christmas Tree. We leave the bouncy numbers behind for this moody recording, which is reminiscent of the contemporary work of Claude Thornhill. Unfortunately, I don't know who arranged it, but the vocalist is Jack Haskell, who became a regular on Jack Paar's late night American TV show in the late 50s.

Finally we have two 1947 sides from Tiny Hill, a moderately successful band leader in the 40s into the 50s. He sings on Send Me Your Love for Christmas, and turns the chores over to Buddy Milton for Auld Lang Syne, our closing number.

Billboard ad

Christmas Hymns with George Beverly Shea

This lovely nostalgic image heralds the first Christmas album from the beloved bass-baritone, George Beverly Shea.

RCA issued this LP in 1953, only a few years after Shea had come to prominence with Billy Graham's crusades and recorded his first record for the label.

George Beverly Shea

The collection includes four of the most popular hymns of the season, together with two songs that were then somewhat unusual on a Christmas record - I Wonder as I Wander and Go Tell It on the Mountain - and two other even less familiar items - Thou Did'st Leave Thy Throne and There's a Song in the Air.

Bev Shea has appeared here twice before, but this is the first full LP from him that I've presented. The choir and orchestra accompanying him are unnamed but the pianist is Tedd Smith and the organist Paul Mickelson, both of whom were associated with Billy Graham. The sound is excellent.

Nutcracker Dances with Stock and Fiedler

To me the Nutcracker music never gets old and remains a magical evocation of Christmas time, even with the overuse of some of its most popular moments in television ads.

Today's post takes us back to a time before the first recording of the complete Nutcracker ballet music. Until 1954, all you could find were suites, mainly Tchaikovsky's own op. 71a suite, and that's what we have here, in a November 1939 recording from Frederick Stock and the Chicago Symphony, made in Orchestra Hall.

Frederick Stock

At that time, Stock had been the CSO's music director for 33 years and would continue in that post until his death in 1942. This 78 set, with its Alex Steinweiss cover, is actually a reissue that followed Stock's passing.

The other set of Nutcracker dances in this post makes a good complement for the Stock set, for it includes five other memorable dances that were not included by the composer in his suite, including the Waltz of the Snowflakes, the Pas de Deux and the final waltz. These were presumably chosen by the conductor, Arthur Fiedler, for this recording with the Boston Pops. As far as I can tell, it was issued in 1949, on an early RCA 45 set. At this time, RCA was color-coding its vinyl issues, with the Red Seal issues being pressed on red vinyl. (See examples of the different colors at this site, or in my basement.)

Arthur Fiedler

Fiedler was conductor of the Boston Pops for an amazing 49 years, until his death in 1979.

Both performances are quite good - with the strings of the Boston ensemble in particularly glorious form. The Chicago recording is more vivid, although will some distortion in the louder passages (which may be just my pressing - or my transfer, I guess). Stock is a little more yielding; Fiedler can be businesslike. But both are most enjoyable.