Celebrating Willard Robison

Willard Robison

"I have come to think that Willard Robison, whose birthday it is today (9/18), is the Thomas Wolfe of the 20th century American song. So many of his songs are about a longing for a past or a home that cannot be reclaimed. This affinity with Wolfe makes him, for me, the agrarian George Gershwin--as prolific as a song writer, as gifted as a composer and arranger." This is David Federman's eloquent description of Robison's artistry on the composer's 124th birthday.

If you have any affinity for the so-called Great American Songbook, you likely are familiar with Robison's songs, if not his name. He wrote "A Cottage for Sale," "Old Folks" and "Don't Smoke in Bed," among many others.

To honor his memory, David has put together a collection of early recordings of Robison compositions, along with helpful notes, while promising more to come. His selections include renditions by Fletcher Henderson, Charlie Barnet, Paul Whiteman, Bix Biederbecke, Bing Crosby, Nat Shilkret, Jimmy Noone, Smith Ballew, Phil Spitalny and Robison himself. You can find the link and David's descriptions in the comments to the "Historic Gershwin Recordings" post below. Please note that these recordings will be available only for the next week via David's upload, although I will reupload them if there is demand.

I am happy to contribute to the celebration by posting an LP that David requested because it contains a couple of Robison songs not otherwise recorded. Teresa Brewer's 1964 LP Moments to Remember is mostly an homage to the songwriter. Among the better-known works, it includes "A Cottage for Sale," "Old Folks," "Don't Smoke in Bed," and "Guess I'll Go Back Home This Summer." It also features the lesser-known "Moonlight, Mississippi" and the even lesser-known "I See Wheatfields in the Moonlight" and "Old Brownstone in Brooklyn."

Brewer is far from my favorite singer, but she does well by the rare songs and the others are listenable. The generic Alan Lorber arrangements and indifferent recording quality don't help matters, but don't hurt much either.

For contrast, I've added the classic Peggy Lee recording of "Don't Smoke in Bed," which she commissioned from Robison in 1948. It's been said that Lee and her then-husband, Dave Barbour, actually wrote most of the song, but I wonder about that. It's a startlingly bleak piece in Lee's reading, tilting into melodrama in the accompaniment. Nonetheless, it displays the depths that Teresa Brewer doesn't reach, whatever her merits.

Finally, please don't miss the two Robison LPs that have been shared here. Willard Robison's Deep River Music, with Johnny Mercer and Loulie Jean Norman on Capitol Records, can be found here. And on Coral Records, Willard Robison and His Deep River Music can be found in the comments to this post. (I'll also include direct links in the comments below.)

Thanks to David for this great contribution. He also has prepared a Gershwin compilation, which I will feature soon, along with additional Gershwin delights from the indefatigable 8H Haggis. I will compile all these in a few days, I hope.