Carol Bruce

In my recent post of The Little Shows in the RCA Show Time Series, I raved about the performance of Carol Bruce, and vowed that I would present her 1958 LP if I could locate it.

Well, I finally did locate it - in my mailbox, after having to buy another copy. But it was worth it, for this is a very fine record.

Carol Bruce in 1940

Bruce achieved a measure of fame as early as 1940, starring on Broadway in Louisiana Purchase and appearing on the cover of Life magazine. And she stayed in the public eye off and on for the next 40 years, ending up on US television, notably in a recurring role on WKRP in Cincinnati.

Bruce's stage roles included an acclaimed performance as Julie in the 1946 revival of Show Boat. This LP contains a recording of "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man." It shows her expressive style to great effect, in well-chosen songs (leaving aside the dreadful "Calypso Blues"). Her accomplished accompanists include guitarist Tony Mottola and pianist Buddy Weed. The sound is good, if with a bit too much reverb.

Victory at Sea

I am presenting the original 1953 recording of Victory at Sea for no other reason than I wanted to listen to it and decided to record it while doing so.

This was issued on CD about 20 years ago, but I believe that has long been out of print. What generally is available in the stereo remake, which extends to three volumes. This transfer is from a nice copy of the original LP.

Victory at Sea was a 13-hour documentary series that appeared on US television in 1952-53, and then in syndication for many years thereafter. For families like mine, where the father was on active duty in the South Pacific during the Second World War, it was watched intently, and I remember it well - especially the memorable score.

Robert Russell Bennett

And quite a score it was, a true collaboration between composer Richard Rodgers and arranger Robert Russell Bennett, who worked together for many years. Some think that Bennett contributed as much or more to the score than Rodgers did. If we look strictly at quantity, that is undoubtedly true. There are 13 hours of music; Rodgers reputedly contributed only the 12 themes that are heard throughout the score. Of course, they are much the most memorable part of the what is heard; the reason why the music is still heard today. Bennett was a very talented orchestrator; Rodgers was a genius at what he did.

Even geniuses need help every once in a while. If you listen to the main theme from Victory at Sea ("The Song of the High Seas") after one of the themes from the first movement of Ralph Vaughan Williams' A Sea Symphony, premiered in 1910, you will see where Rodgers may have looked for inspiration. He also cribs the main theme from Chausson's Poem de l'amour et de la mer. Plus there are echoes of Elgar and Tchaikovsky in the orchestrations, but these would have been the work of Bennett.

Richard Rodgers

Note (June 2023): Valued commenter JAC writes as follows: "This is a most timely revival of this topic, given the very recent publication of George J. Ferencz's masterful book on the score. In impressive detail, both historical and analytical, he takes us through the making and contents of each episode.

"And he does establish beyond question how overwhelmingly essential Bennett was to the fabric of the score. Rodgers contributed his dozen themes, and they're truly inspired, no question. But there are whole episodes that mostly (or all) Bennett after the opening titles, and those are not all just unobtrusive background either -- there are complete Bennett marches for instance. I guess it's clear that I highly recommend this book."

Rodgers was a practical fellow. While composing the themes for Victory at Sea, he and Oscar Hammerstein also were discussing a new show, which became Me and Juliet. Not one of their big successes, but it does have an highly enjoyable score. The hit number was "No Other Love," a tango that was first heard in Victory at Sea as the "Beneath the Southern Cross" theme.

"No Other Love" 78 picture sleeve

RCA Victor, which had bankrolled Me and Juliet, rushed a Perry Como rendition of "No Other Love" to market to coincide with the musical's May 1953 opening. Como was a Crosbyite, but even the laid-back Bing might have found Perry's version impossibly languid. The download includes the a transfer from the original 78, which came in the picture sleeve at right. (Yes, there were 78 picture sleeves for a time.) The artwork is based on the play's program and is similar to the cover of the original cast LP.

Victory at Sea was recorded July 2, 1953 in Manhattan Center with members of the NBC Symphony, Bennett conducting.

[Note (June 2023): These recordings have now been remastered in ambient stereo. There is slight distortion on the vocal peaks in Perry Como's "No Other Love" single, probably caused by a disc master cut at too high a level. This distortion is present on all three copies I checked.]

Paul Robeson

I've recently been featuring records by the bass-baritone William Warfield, who cited Paul Robeson as one of his inspirations. It occurred to me that many of you may not have heard Robeson, one of the most remarkable people of the last century.

This post of three 78s and an early LP will be devoted to his singing, but Robeson also was a famous actor and professional athlete - as well as an activist who was blacklisted for his beliefs.

Some accounts say that Robeson began singing professionally at the urging of Eubie Blake, who added him to his production of Shuffle Along in the early 1920s. (Blake and that show will be featured here soon.) By this time, Robeson had already been valedictorian of his class at Rutgers University, and was working his way through law school by playing professional football, then in its infancy.

It wasn't long before Robeson, who had a magnificent bass voice, began making records for Victor, starting with an April 1925 session that included "Water Boy" (also on this Warfield LP). His recorded repertoire at this time was spirituals and folk material. He already was being accompanied by pianist and arranger Lawrence Brown, who would work with him for the next several decades.

Housing in the Central neighborhood

Among this group of Victor recordings is our first 78: a coupling of "Deep River" (also recorded by Warfield) with an outstanding version of "I'm Goin' to Tell God All o' My Troubles", recorded in either March or May 1927 (discographies differ). My copy of this recording has a sticker identifying it as coming from Robinson's Pharmacy, which was in the residential Central neighborhood near downtown Cleveland. During this period, Central had become heavily African American and this drug store was near the heart of that community.

Within a year, Robeson would record the song most associated with him - "Ol' Man River", from Show Boat. The part of Joe was written for Robeson, but he was unable to be in the original production, which opened in late 1927. He was, however, in the 1928 London production and recorded "Ol' Man River" with Paul Whiteman. I've included a version he made in London, at about the time he appeared in the 1936 film version of Show Boat. The role of Joe was expanded for the film, and Jerome Kern added the song "Ah Still Suits Me" for Joe and Queenie. On this wonderful 1936 recording, Robeson duets with Elisabeth Welch. In the film, Queenie was played by Hattie McDaniel. (The movie duet can be found on YouTube.)

Richard Wright, Paul Robeson, Bill Basie

In 1941, Robeson joined forces with the Count Basie band for a tribute to heavyweight boxer Joe Louis. This unusual double-sided recording of "King Joe" has lyrics by Richard Wright, who had achieved some fame the previous year with the publication of his novel Native Son. Basie's verdict was reputedly that Robeson was no blues singer, but the record is entertaining nonetheless.

We move ahead to 1953 for our final recording, a 10-inch LP on Othello Records. By this time, Robeson had become increasingly controversial for his leftist political beliefs - to the extent of having his passport revoked - and major record labels would not record him. Othello Records, run by his son, was established to give him an outlet, and this is the first of three Robeson LPs it issued. (Strange cover - presumably it was not intended to suggest that Robeson's voice would peel paint off the walls.)

Its songs are fairly typical of his concert programs, which mixed material from a variety of countries and sources, and are described on the back cover (below). One small correction - I don't believe the 1944 revival of Meet the People made it to Broadway.

My copy of this LP is weather beaten, so there are a few momentary patches of distortion on the transfer. The cover was damaged, so I have borrowed an image from this site, which contains scans of many rare Robeson recordings.

After you listen to this post, you may recognize that Robeson and William Warfield were very different artists, although they had some repertoire in common. Warfield, a bass-baritone, had a lighter voice and was primarily a classical and opera singer. Both were distinguished artists, and I am happy to have had a chance to write about them.