Getting Sentimental with Dick Haymes

I recently remastered an early Dick Haymes LP, and that experience was enough to motivate me to transfer another.

Here is the result: Sentimental Songs, a 10-inch album from 1951, although the recordings were taken from 1943-47 Decca singles. And while the title promises sentimentality, it would be more accurate to simply call them love songs.

Such ballads were a specialty of the artist, and no one did them better. His only peer was Sinatra.

1943 trade ad - Haymes was popular with record buyers,
moviegoers and hair product manufacturers

The earliest songs include "You'll Never Know," a giant seller for Haymes. On this and "It Can't Be Wrong," he was accompanied solely by a vocal group, the Song Spinners. The songs were cut during the first of two recording bans imposed by the imperious Musicians Union head, James Petrillo, meaning no saxes, strings or other instrumentalists. Just singers. Sinatra had a competing version with the Bobby Tucker Singers.

The accompaniment to the Haymes record is interesting. In it, the Song Spinners, a white group, adopted some of the stylistic cues of the contemporary black groups, notably bum-bum-bums from the bass and falsetto vocalise.

All other songs save one have backing by Decca's Victor Young. These include "Our Waltz" and "I Don't Want to Love You (Like I Do)" from 1944, and "Love Letters," "Till the End of Time" and "The Night Is Young (and You're So Beautiful)" from 1945. The impossibly romantic "Love Letters" is Young's own composition; it is the title tune from the film of the same name. Young also did a good Xavier Cugat impression with his arrangement on "The Night Is Young."

The final song in this collection is 1947's "What'll I Do," with a characteristic backing from Gordon Jenkins. It isn't far removed from the charts he wrote for Sinatra a decade later.

Please note that "Our Waltz" also appears on the Serenade album I recently reuploaded.

Excellent sound from this early LP. Hope you enjoy Haymes as much as I do.

Christmas in July - Nutcracker Reups, Plus Many Limited-Time Uploads

I've been belatedly getting into the Christmas in July spirit, inspired by my friend Ernie's ongoing celebration. My contribution is to revisit two Nutcracker suites from long ago. Plus we have many new limited-time uploads through the generosity of reader 8H Haggis.

The Nutcracker Suite No. 1 (Op. 71a) is from a 1939 recording by the Chicago Symphony conducted by Frederick Stock, transferred from a 78 album. The Suite No. 2 (Op. 71b) comes from a 1946 recording by the Boston Pops and Arthur Fiedler, dubbed from a 45 set. Both are excellent, and in good sound for the time, now repitched and remastered from my 2010 transfers. Find them here.

Meanwhile, Santa 8H Haggis, confused about the holiday, has been busy planting Easter eggs in the comment sections of various old posts. I have not heard even half of these, but I can tell you that his work is sterling on those I have auditioned.

Once again, you must look in the comments section to each post, scroll down for his contribution and his amusing commentary. These are limited-time uploads - the links will expire in a month or less.

Chopin - Les Sylphides, Delibes - La Source, in excellent performances from the Paris Conservatoire Orchestra and Peter Maag - LINK

Tchaikovsky - Manfred Symphony, an outstanding record from the Philharmonia and Paul Kletzki - LINK

Two great serenades - Brahms' Second, led by Vaclav Smetacek, and Dvorak's Serenade in D Minor, under Martin Turnovsky - LINK

A real rarity, Bruno Walter conducting the NBC Symphony in Daniel Gregory Mason's Suite After English Folksongs, from a 1939 broadcast - LINK

Khachaturian's Symphonies No. 1 and 2 in historic Soviet performances led by Alexander Gauk - LINK

Three venerable recordings of the so-called "Corelli Suite for Strings" - the Pinelli arrangement as done by Ormandy and Koussevitzky, and the Arbos version from the most interesting Hans Kindler - LINK

Bizet's Symphony in C and the Stravinsky Pulcinella Suite, with the Bamberg Symphony led by the underrated Fritz Lehmann - LINK

Schubert symphonies - No. 2 and 6 led by Marcel Couraud, and the so-called Gastein (a Joachim arrangement of the Grand Duo sonata), conducted by Felix Prohaska - LINK

Russell Bennett's suite from Gershwin's Porgy and Bess, and a suite from Tchaikovsky's opera Queen of Spades as arranged and conducted by blog favorite Andre Kostelanetz - LINK

Nielsen and Sibelius pieces conducted by John Hollingsworth and Arthur Winograd - Sibelius' Rakastava, Canzonetta and Romance In C; Nielsen's Little Suite and Dance Of The Cockerels from the opera Maskarade - LINK

Music inspired by Shakespeare from the Prague Symphony and Vaclav Smetacek, including a transcription for orchestra by Otakar Jeremias of Smetana's Macbeth and the Witches - LINK

Soviet composers Meytuss (Dnieper Power Station) and Mossolov (Iron Foundry), in powerful vintage performances - LINK

Edward Van Beinum leading the Elgar Wand of Youth Suites, and Sir Adrian Boult conducting  Moeran's wonderful Symphony in G minor - LINK

The Chamber Symphony of Philadelphia and Anshel Brusilow return with Haydn's 60th and Cherubini's Symphony in D - LINK

Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue and American in Paris from the Vienna Symphony and Dean Dixon, with pianist Vivian Rivkin - LINK

Bloch's Concerto Grosso No. 1, Mozart's 34th Symphony, Brahms' 1st, and Tchaikovsky's 4th and 6th in the legendary Chicago Symphony recordings under Rafael Kubelik - LINK

And a large number of Antal Dorati performances: the Tchaikovsky Sleeping Beauty Suite, Romeo and Juliet and Symphony No. 5, Stravinsky's Le Sacre du Printemps, Beethoven's Symphony No. 5 and Overtures, Mendelssohn's Italian Symphony, Schubert's 8th, Bartok's Concerto for Orchestra, Gershwin's Porgy and Bess Suite and An American in Paris - LINK

Thanks again to 8H Haggis!

Kostelanetz Plays Villa-Lobos, Plus Vocal Reups

Recently new reader 8H Haggis was kind enough to bequeath many of his transfers for us to enjoy (see the two posts directly below). One of those items was an Andre Kostelanetz LP of music by Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos. After 8H lamented that he did not have a better dub of the album, longtime reader Parchisi came through with a copy made from his own, very clean disc.

That new version forms the major item on tonight's bill of fare, which also includes some choice cuts from favorite singers, newly remastered.

The Villa-Lobos record is simply gorgeous, as 8H promised. The first side comprises a suite from the "folk operetta" Magdalena, a 1948 collaboration with Wright and Forrest of Kismet fame. As a Broadway production, it was not successful, but the music is terrific.

Some of the compositions on the second side may be familiar. They include an adaptation of Bachianas Brasileiras No. 2, the "Little Train of the Caipira," and other selections from the composer's extensive Bach-inspired oeuvre. All are well played by Kostelanetz's studio orchestra. On one cut, Kosty himself takes a turn at the piano.

Columbia's sound was harsh, as it sometimes was during this period. (The record dates from 1974.) To compensate, I have adjusted the frequency response and added a small amount of convolution reverberation. The result is very listenable.

Thanks again to Parchisi and 8H Haggis for their generosity!

Reups

All the 10-inch LPs below date from the early days of the blog. They have been remastered, and now sound quite good. The links below will take you to the original posts.

Dick Haymes - Serenade. An exceptionally fine record by a legendary singer, including some songs that are not heard very often. I should transfer more Haymes recordings!

Buddy Clark - For You Alone. A very popular singer who died young, Clark was a master and is a particular favorite of this blogger. I have dozens of Buddy Clark 78s that await my attention.

Page Cavanaugh - After Hours. An talented singer and pianist, Cavanaugh never achieved the renown he deserved. This is a rare early LP on the Vaya label. Again, I should get busy with the Cavanaugh records in my collection.

Martha Raye - The Voice of Martha Raye. Remembered as a comic actor, Raye was a singer before she hit Hollywood - and a good one. This record is weighted down with some bop-style arrangements that didn't suit the singer. Worth hearing, though. I have more Martha coming up on my singles blog.

A Few Notes, Plus More Limited-Time Uploads

Before we get too much farther into the month, I wanted to mention that my friend Ernie is holding his annual Christmas in July festivities over at his blog. This means 10 new holiday cuts every day, for those who just can't get enough Yuletide cheer.

Let me also point out that I have revived my other blog, Buster's Swinging Singles, from its dormant state with some new uploads. First was Bing Crosby's songs from his 1937 flick, Waikiki Wedding, featuring a nifty picture label used on the English Brunswick release. I followed up with four songs from Bing's co-star, the sadly forgotten Shirley Ross, a favorite of mine. These comprise songs from the 1940 Rodgers-Hart Broadway musical, Higher and Higher. Ross was one of the leads in that show and introduced two of the songs, including "It Never Entered My Mind." Next up will be Martha Raye, Bing's other Waikiki Wedding co-star.

Now on to the uploads. As before, these are limited-time items hosted on Zippyshare, and brought to us by new reader 8H Haggis. He has sprinkled download links in the comments of various posts. Please follow the links below to these posts and open the comments section.

Othmar Schoeck's beautiful Violin and Horn Concertos, with Edmond de Stoutz conducting the Zurich orchestra, plus Schoenberg's late romantic Gurrelieder, in the classic recording led by René Leibowitz - LINK

The underrated Walter Hendl conducting the Eastman Philharmonia in Weber's Freischütz Overture and Respighi's Feste Romane - LINK

Don Gillis' musical joke, the Symphony No. 5-and-a-Half, from a 1947 NBC Symphony broadcast led by Arturo Toscanini - LINK

My thanks to 8H Haggis once again!

Mega Group of Limited-Time Uploads

A new friend of the blog, 8H Haggis, has taken to expressing his appreciation for what I do here by adding links to his own transfers in the comments section of various posts that catch his eye. I know many of his uploads will be of interest to readers, so I thought I would gather them all in one place, with his permission. Otherwise you would have to go rooting around in 800-some posts looking for them!

The links below lead to my original posts. Look in the comment section for his contributions, complete with amusing descriptions.

One caveat: he has uploaded to Zippyshare, which means the posts won't last longer than 30 days, so act now, as they say on TV. Also a word about Zippyshare: when you first click on the Download Now button, Zippy will usually load a nuisance tab or window offering some questionable product. Just close that tab or window and try the download button again.

Here are the uploads, with thanks to 8H Haggis!

Alfred Wallenstein conducts Rachmaninoff Symphony No. 2 and Brahms Symphony No. 4 - LINK

Cor de Groot - Beethoven Piano Concertos 1-3, with Willem van Otterloo conducting - LINK

David Glazer and the Kohon Quartet in the Clarinet Quintets by Hummel and Weber - LINK

The obscure Swiss conductor Cedric Dumont directing an orchestration of some Brahms Liebeslieder Waltzes, Dvorak's Nocturne, Grieg's In Popular Style Op.63, Nr. 1 and Elgar's Serenade in E - LINK

The Stuyvesant Quartet performs Debussy and Ravel, from an obscure Philhamonia LP - LINK

The superb, historic 1945 recording of the Rite of Spring led by Pierre Monteux, with an attempt to ameliorate the heavy peak limiting on the original - LINK

Meyerbeer's Les Patineurs suite and Piston's Incredible Flutist suite, conducted by Arthur Fiedler - LINK

Serge Koussevitzky conducts Prokofiev's Classical Symphony, Sibelius' Second Symphony, Tchaikovsky's Serenade in C and Foote's Suite for Strings - LINK

The mono Cleveland Orchestra/George Szell recordings of Mozart's Symphonies 40 and 41 - LINK

Westminster hi-fi demo album, with Mossolov's notorious Iron Foundry, Argeo Quadri conducting - LINK

Miklos Rosza's RCA recording of several of his classical pieces - LINK

Andre Previn plays piano pieces for children - LINK

From broadcasts, Toscanini conducting Beethoven - Egmont Overture, orchestrated movements from the String Quartet No. 16 and the first Piano Concerto (with Ania Dorfmann) - LINK

Andre Kostelanetz conducts Villa Lobos, including a suite from the musical Magdalena - LINK

The 1947 RCA Victor recording of the Brahms Requiem led by Robert Shaw - LINK

Howard Hanson conducts music by Griffes and Loeffler, plus Latin American Music for Unusual Instrumental Combinations led by Izler Solomon - LINK

The Tchaikovsky 5th from Bruno Walter and the NBC Symphony - LINK

Mahler's Symphony No. 2 in the 1935 recording from Eugene Ormandy and the Minneapolis Symphony - LINK

Lenore Engdahl Plays Griffes

The pianist Lenore Engdahl died recently at age 100. While she did not have a major career, she was a talented performer who also taught in Boston for many years.

Engdahl did not make many records. As far as I can tell, her output was limited to four LPs on the M-G-M label, dating from 1955 and 1957.

Lenore Engdahl

The pianist's musical tastes ran to Chopin, Brahms, Schubert and Beethoven, according to an obituary in her hometown newspaper, the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. But M-G-M had her attempt different repertoire, including the present LP of compositions by the American Charles Tomlinson Griffes (1884-1920). She also recorded works by Dukas, Franck, Kabalevsky, Milhaud and Villa-Lobos.

The Griffes pieces here are in an impressionist vein, as are most or all of his most widely recognized compositions. These include one of the works heard here, "The White Peacock," which the composer later orchestrated. You can find an introduction to Griffes here. The detailed cover notes also are helpful.

Charles Tomlinson Griffes

Engdahl's readings are sympathetic. Writing in High Fidelity, the critic Alfred Frankenstein was impressed by the record, calling it "a performance of marvelous sensitivity, penetration and technical resourcefulness." 

The recording is excellent, and has now (July 2023) been enhanced by ambient stereo processing. 

My transfer is from one of those 1960s M-G-M reissues that repurposed the original back cover as the front. I did find a reproduction of the original cover (at top), which is included in the download.

Prokofiev Suites for Children

Prokofiev suites for children? I know what you're thinking - Peter and the Wolf. But Sergei Prokofiev also wrote other music for the young ones, including the two relatively unfamiliar suites contained on this LP. It dates from 1966, and features two fine Czech ensembles. The recording originated with Supraphon; my transfer is from the US label Crossroads.

Supraphon cover

The Summer Day Suite is Prokofiev's orchestration of several pieces in his Music from Children, dating from 1935. The orchestral suite debuted 10 years later. This delightful work receives a smooth performance from the Prague Chamber Orchestra, working without conductor.

Alois Klíma

A Winter Camp Fire comes from 1950. Here it is heard without the narration contained in the score, but with the children's chorus in the "Choir of Pioneers" section. The Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra plays well under its longtime conductor, Alois Klíma.

The sound is good, although the original lacked bass and was below pitch. I have addressed both those issues. Not sure what Michael Mendel's cover on the Crossroads LP is supposed to represent, but it is striking.

The transfer results from a request on another site; I thought readers here would enjoy it, too.

Sing Hymns with the Johnson Family Singers, Plus a Bonus

I have not indulged my enthusiasm for gospel music for some time now. So here is a new post devoted to my old favorites, the Johnson Family Singers from North Carolina. I also am throwing in a bonus, in the form of a remastered Johnson album from the early days of the blog, expanded with four newly transferred tracks.

The main event is Sing Hymns with the Johnson Family Singers. It's an elaborate package with LP and a 24-page booklet incorporating photos and a four-part family hymnal. I've scanned the booklet and included it in the download.

By the time the package appeared in 1959, the Johnsons had been together for nearly 20 years. They first gained recognition for their radio appearances, and then for their Columbia and RCA Victor recordings. Daughter Betty Johnson became a well-known singer in her own right, scoring a few pop hits in the 1950s.

Seated: Jim, Ma (Lydia); standing: Bob, Kenneth, Pa (Jesse), Betty

Nearly a decade ago, I transferred the group's first RCA album, Old-Time Religion, in its double-EP form. I've now remastered that set, and added to it new dubs of four additional songs that only appeared on the 12-inch LP version. You can find that 1955 album via the original post.

Back then, I remarked about the recording's slick feel. The tendency became even more pronounced on the Sing Hymns LP. The unnamed producer (possibly Chet Atkins) augmented the sound of the five Johnsons with studio singers, presumably so the ensemble would swell like a church choir. Then too, legendary engineer Bill Porter gave his new plate reverb unit a workout in an attempt to impart a more church-like acoustic. The result is not unpleasing, but it also swamps the tight sound of the Johnson family. (Please note that there is a momentary audio burble on the second song that I could not fix.) Note (September 2024): this recording has now been remastered for better sound, including a new transfer for proper stereo on side B.

Although I enjoy both albums (and hope you will as well), I will admit that my favorite Johnson Family song is "You Take Your Road." It is much closer to the approach of the Statesmen or the Blackwood Brothers. I included that single in a collection of RCA gospel sides some eight years ago. The set is still available here.

After Betty became a successful solo artist, Columbia issued a collection of the group's early singles called The Johnson Family Singers Featuring Betty Johnson. I'll try to transfer that set soon.

LINK to Sing Hymns with the Johnson Family Singers