Johnny Green, Kay Thompson and Ralph Blane

In 1944, composer-pianist-bandleader Johnny Green, vocalist-arranger Kay Thompson and composer-vocalist Ralph Blane were all among the great array of talent that had been assembled to make musicals at M-G-M.

All had achieved a measure of fame before going to Hollywood; the relative anonymity of the studio would chafe on Green and Thompson, who had been headliners; perhaps less so on Blane, who was content to sing in ensembles with Thompson's singers even as he was co-composing (with Hugh Martin) the songs for Meet Me in St. Louis, one of the greatest musicals ever.

Kay Thompson

The three were friendly, and when Green was commissioned in 1944 to produce an album of his own songs by Decca, he called on the others to help. The resulting eight-song set includes three vocals by Thompson and her group (which almost certainly includes Blane), two by Blane, an excellent singer, two by the obscure Barbara Ames, and one instrumental featuring Green's piano.

Ames, who appeared in a few movies as a singer - although not at M-G-M - actually is not a bad singer at all. Blane is particularly persuasive in "I'm Yours," although "Out of Nowhere," a tough melody to sing, isn't his finest moment. And Thompson's outings are a delight, particularly "The Steam Is on the Beam". Green wrote that song for a short-lived Broadway musical in 1942. This version was in effect a demo for a version of the song filmed for (but not used in) Ziegfeld Follies.

Ralph Blane and Hugh Martin

The cover notes say that the musicians on the date were from Hollywood studios. It seems likely that they were from the M-G-M orchestra. No arranger credits are given, but the orchestrations are very reminiscent of those heard in M-G-M musicals of the time, and I like to imagine that people like Conrad Salinger and Wally Heglin may have been involved.

Although these songs were projected as an album from the start, they actually did not appear in assembled form until September 1947, although most of the items had been issued as singles by then. This transfer is from the 10-inch LP issued in 1950.

Note (June 2024): The August and September 1944 sessions in Los Angeles actually yielded 10 songs - the eight on the LP and two other Green compositions, "Serenade to a New Baby" and "Hello, My Lover, Goodbye." I've now included the latter two in the download, transferred from a Decca single. All songs have been remastered in ambient stereo.

LINK to remastered version