Latest from RCA's 'Show Time' Series

The latest installment from RCA Victor's 1953 "Show Time" series of 10-inch LPs features rerecorded highlights from two notable Broadway shows from the 1920s, both starring African American performers.

Sissle and Blake

The songs for Shuffle Along were written by the team of Noble Sissle and Eubie Blake. The successful 1921 show set the pattern for a number of similar shows through the 20s and beyond. The big hit from the show was "I'm Just Wild About Harry." The RCA version derives from an unsuccessful 1952 revival of the show, and includes Avon Long, Thelma Carpenter, Louise Woods and Laurence Watson, all from the revival cast. Blake, who continued performing into his 90s and was often on American television in later years, conducted the revival.

Long had played Sportin' Life in the 1942 revival of Porgy and Bess. Thelma Carpenter had a long career as singer and actress; I'll have to present her Decca LP sometime in the future.

Sissle himself was one of the stars of the original production, although he does not appear in the revival. I thought you might want to hear a record he and Blake made in 1920, just before Shuffle Along. This is not one of their own songs, but a version of Perry Bradford's Crazy Blues, which had become a huge hit for vaudeville singer Mamie Smith. I've included the Smith version as well, for contrast. Trombone player Dope Andrews, one of Smith's "Jazz Hounds," sets a record for slide trombone slurs that may never be broken. Both of these are from my original 78s.

Thelma Carpenter

Thelma Carpenter also can be found on the other side of the LP, in songs from Blackbirds of 1928. This show starred African American artists (Bill Robinson, among others), but had music and lyrics by the white team of Jimmy McHugh and Dorothy Fields. The big hit was "I Can't Give You Anything but Love," here presented by Cab Calloway. (Gratuitous aside: I just don't like Cab.) Brunswick recorded songs from Blackbirds of 1928 in 1932-33, and Calloway appeared on one of those records - although not on "I Can't Give You Anything but Love."

Good sound on these records, even on the acoustically recorded versions of "Crazy Blues," although the Mamie Smith version is worn.

The Stingiest Man in Town

I've written before about the original musicals written for American television in the 1950s. Fifty-five years ago tomorrow, "The Alcoa Hour" presented a musical version of A Christmas Carol called The Stingiest Man in Town.

The creative team (Fred Speilman, music, and Janice Torre, book and lyrics) is not well known these days, but they produced quite a good score, memorialized in this 1956 Columbia release.

Damone, Madigan, Rathbone

At their service are an array of singers from both the pop and opera worlds; also Basil Rathbone as Scrooge.

Vic Damone, Johnny Desmond, Patrice Munsel and Betty Madigan offer an array of attractive numbers, although none became holiday standards. The Four Lads are utilized as a sort of Greek fraternity chorus in the guise of carollers commenting on the story.

Rathbone and Martyn Green

Spielman was a German expatriate composer who spent time in Hollywood. His biggest hit (written with Torre) was "Paper Roses," a country song.

Lost for many years, a kinescope of the original production was recently discovered and issued on DVD. The sound on the cast recording is vivid, although Columbia added a wash of reverberation, possibly to cover up dry studio sound.

The LP's back cover notes are fairly confusing, so a relevant cast list may be helpful:

Vic Damone - Young Scrooge
Johnny Desmond - Fred
The Four Lads - Carolers
Martyn Green - Bob Cratchit
Betty Madigan - Martha Cratchit
Patrice Munsel - Belle
Basil Rathbone - Ebenezer Scrooge
Robert Weede - Marley's Ghost
Robert Wright - Spirit of Christmas Present

LINK

Christmas Songs from the Elisabeth Brasseur Choir

This is one of the more delightful Christmas records that I have had the opportunity to present here. It contains 24 brief songs presented by the Elisabeth Brasseur Choir of Paris, circa 1960.

At that time, the Choir was associated with the Paris Conservatoire Orchestra, and through that link made a number of notable recordings that are still in print today.

The orchestra disbanded in 1967 and Brasseur died in 1972, but the choir is still in existence today.

These recordings did not sound all that well - they were heavy on the mid range - but after some adjustments the mono sound provides a pleasing sense of "being there" with the choir, an effect I enjoy. The transfer is from an unusual double 10-inch LP from a French Christian music label.

Christmas Music from M-G-M

The M-G-M label issued quite a number of Christmas singles in the 1950s, and this 1958 LP on its budget Lion label presents a good selection.

We start with several items from 1950. One of the label's issues that year was a enjoyable double-78 set from the popular hillbilly-hokum band, the Korn Kobblers. Three of the four items on the 78 set are repackaged here. (The pianist-arranger for this group was Marty Gold, who later made many space-age pop LPs.)

Lionel Barrymore had made a famous recording of "A Christmas Carol" a few years earlier. He followed it in 1950 with a breathless dash through "'Twas the Night before Christmas." Finally from that year, we have delightful Jimmy Durante versions of "Frosty, the Snow Man" and "Christmas Comes But Once a Year." Roy Bargy conducts.

We skip ahead to 1953, and Little Rita Faye's twangy "I Fell Out of a Christmas Tree." Also from that year is "Tom and Jerry Meet Santa Claus," with music by Leroy Holmes. These are the narrated antics of the cartoon characters, who did not speak - seems a little strange.

Leslie Uggams began making Christmas records in 1953, as a 10-year-old. Here we have her 1954 entry, "The Fat, Fat Man," which is a little too show-bizzy for my taste.

More to my liking is a relatively big hit from 1955 (and a gigantic favorite with the young Buster), "Nuttin' for Christmas," an Art Mooney record with a wonderfully convincing vocal from the great Barry Gordon. For 1956, Gordon changed into a good kid, and came out with the cheery "I Like Christmas." I prefer the kid who "ain't been nuttin' but bad."

The final item is also from 1956, I believe. It is from Mary Mayo, a fine singer who mostly was a studio vocalist. Here she presents "God Bless You, Little Children."

Good sound on these.

Lillian Brooks - Merry Christmas to Michael

I am a sucker for obscure pop songs and singers, so today's Christmas offering will be in that vein. It is a 1956 recording on the King label by Chicago vocalist Lillian Brooks (below) called "Merry Christmas to Michael". The song is by Eddie Ballantine, the leader of the band on Don McNeil's Breakfast Club, a radio program that originated in Chicago, and organist Tommy Fairclow. The lyrics are a little clumsy, but Brooks, a big-voiced alto, puts them across with a lot of feeling, and that's what you want in your Christmas tunes, in my view.

Lillian Brooks

The other side of the single is "Twinkle, Twinkle, Christmas Star," which has been anthologized a few times. Brooks shares this with some screeching juveniles who must the the "Two Tones" cited on the label. Not my kind of thing but I have included it for the sake of completeness.

King printed brief bio information on the labels of its promo records at this time. This one tells the tale of a lovely Chicago lass who achieved her dream of becoming a singer and was married, making her "permanent home" in Chicago. That home turned out to be not so permanent, however, for the following year she turned up in nearby Milwaukee, suing her husband for divorce, while calling him a drinker who "embarrassed her my remarking on her mental capacities." The husband promptly countersued, claiming that she was traipsing around the Midwest with a music impresario and "she permitted him to visit her alone at 'improper hours of the morning.'" This domestic drama comes to us from the archives of the Milwaukee Journal, which, however, does not tell us its ultimate outcome. Presumably it did not end well. Brooks went on to record a few other singles on small labels into the 60s.

Sorry I haven't been able to post as much as I usually do this time of year - ridiculously busy at work. The shares will start up again soon.

Christmas Cheer from Decca

Decca's Christmas compilation for 1950 brought together the Andrews Sisters and Danny Kaye, with backing by Guy Lombardo that would have been considered corny even 60 years ago, and a few songs from Dick Haymes.

I have nothing against the other artists, but my real interest here is the items featuring Dick Haymes. They include "The Christmas Song," then new, and "Christmas Dreaming," a fine song that should have become a holiday standard. The arrangements for Haymes are from Gordon Jenkins, and they are worth listening to on their own merits.

Most of the Andrews Sisters cuts are not overly familiar (all the better for that). They are joined by Danny Kaye for one song, and Danny and Patty Andrews do "(All I Want for Christmas Is) My Two Front Teeth." It ought to be unlawful to for adults to do kiddie voices; the results are toe-curling.

Good sound for the period.

Haymes the hat model

From the House of the Dead Links

Just a quick word of explanation for those of you (and there have been quite a few) asking for re-ups. I kept all the links on this blog active for a number of years, until several months ago when Rapidshare got the goofies and began to charge for something called "Rapids," which no one could figure out, and stopped telling you when you were running out of same. At that point I just said the heck with it and moved to another, more straightforward service.

The result is that my old links are expiring, and honestly, I don't know when I will get around to re-upping them. The biggest problems are that I have very little time, I often can't find my archive copies, and even if I could find them, I wouldn't t be happy with the quality and would want to redo them. (I am much better at this than I was years ago.) Also, I am very absent-minded; I forget what people asked me for.

I will try to do some re-ups starting in a few weeks, though, when I hope to have some time.

The Merriest Time

My friend and fellow blogger Ernie asked me a few days ago what I was planning to share this holiday season, and I mentioned this EP, and asked him if he had ever heard it.

Turns out he shared it last year on his blog. And I commented on it, giving him some background on the Honey Dreamers vocal group.

Well now. I guess the old memory isn't what it used to be.

This EP dates from my prime, 1958, when I was nine and ready to conquer the world, or at least the world's record stores. (Still working on that. It's unclear whether the stores or me will be the survivor.)

The Merriest Time! comes to us courtesy of the SESAC performing rights company - and they really were courtesy recordings, sent to radio stations as promotional items. Three of the items feature the skillful post-big band sounds of Richard Maltby, one with the Honey Dreamers, and the other the similar music of Skitch Henderson. The songs are unfamiliar except for Waldteufel's "Skater's Waltz," here called "Skater's Holiday."