The Honey Dreamers

The Honey Dreamers are all but unknown today, but they had some renown back in the 1950s. I enjoy their sound and have quite a number of their records. Here is their Gershwin LP, presented by request.

The Honey Dreamers were founded in 1946 by Keith Textor, but by the time this record was made in 1955, he had moved on and the group was led by Bob Davis, whom I believe to be the chap in the glasses and Hawaiian shirt on the cover above. In this group, the lead female voice is Nan Green, the blonde in the center of the photo. (She had replaced Patty McGovern, perhaps the best known singer to have appeared in the group.) Also on the cover to Green's left are Marion Bye, Bob Mitchell and Jerry Packer. That appears to be bandleader Elliot Lawrence snuggling up to Bob Davis.

Bob Davis, Nan Green, Marion Bye, Bob Mitchell and Jerry Packer

As the liner notes say, on this record, the group makes an attempt to take on instrumental lines in their singing. That's an idea that goes back as least as far as the Mills Bros. in the 30s, but in doing so the Honey Dreamers predate such better known groups as Lambert, Hendricks and Ross, although their soft-centered attack is in no way reminiscent of LH&R. While they had jazz leanings, the Honey Dreamers were decidedly a pop group.

Hope you enjoy this; I intend to present more of their records in the future. Good sound on this one. [Note (July 2023): this has now been remastered in ambient stereo. The sound is vivid.]

Dardanelle

The post was occasioned by the coincidence of my coming across the LP while unpacking some records on the same day that Mark Cantor posted a rare Soundie of the artist on his superb YouTube channel.

Dardanelle (full name Dardanelle Breckenridge) was a pianist-vibist-singer who had a peculiar career. The Soundie captures her near the beginning of her career, in 1946, and this LP was issued in 1950, just before she closed its first phase by retiring from night clubs and recording for the better part of three decades. She emerged just as strong in the late 70s and made several albums.

Dardanelle was a very talented artist, as you will discover on this LP, with a beautiful sound and bountiful imagination. This record was issued in Columbia's "Piano Moods" series, which was notable only by virtue of the fact that there is no pause between selections, for whatever reason. The label also had a similar band series.

Dardanelle in 1946

The songs are all standards, with the possible exception of Margarita Lecuona's "Tabu", which did later become a mainstay for tiki bands everywhere.

I offer this LP with the caveat that its condition was rough. While it cleaned up fairly well and the sound is good, there is some distortion on the piano's loudest notes. UPDATE: My latest remastering has cured the sonic ills afflicting this transfer.

I think one of my friends asked me about this LP a number of years ago. Sorry it took so long to come up with it!

Vic Damone - Ebb Tide

This is certainly one of the more understated covers you will find from the early 50s. I imagine that Mercury's art department thought they were being tasteful in using this painting, although I'm not sure what barren rocks have to do with the romantic title song, in which the waves "plant a kiss on the shore". What shore?

Billboard ad

"Ebb Tide" was a hit for Damone in late 1953, although it was a bigger hit in Frank Chacksfield's instrumental version. The transfer on this LP sounds sharp to me. I don't know whether the single was cut at the same speed (don't have a copy at hand), but I have included a alternate version of the song, which I took down a half step. This sounds more natural - in the higher version he sounds very much like early Sinatra. The arrangement is by Mercury stalwart Richard Hayman.

The LP also includes two other vocal versions of songs better known as instrumentals, the theme from Limelight, here called "Eternally", and  "April in Portugal". These are also from 1953. Some of the other recordings may be earlier, such as "Four Winds and the Seven Seas," a 1949 hit.

The post itself was inspired by my recent remastering of an earlier Vic Damone entry, which I enjoyed so much that I decided to pull another of his early Mercurys down from the shelves. The sound is good.