Today we have those two sets - Mary Martin in an Album of Cole Porter Songs and Majestic Presents Ella Logan - both remastered for much better sound. And we have another compilation from our friend David Federman themed to this time of year.
January Evenings in Ardmore 2019
David's latest is titled "January Evenings in Ardmore 2019: The Power of Positive Thinking, or Transcendental Medication." For it, he has selected 30 songs ranging from 1914 to 1949. It's a special escapist mix, he tells us: "It is amazing how frequently music of this time lifts spirits." The link is in the comments to this post.
Mary Martin in an Album of Cole Porter Songs
Mary Martin first achieved success in Cole Porter's Leave It to Me! in 1938. She soon became identified with "My Heart Belongs to Daddy," her big number in the second act.
Decca ushered Martin into the studio in early 1940 to inscribe that song and five other Porter numbers, all quite famous with the possible exception of "Katie Went to Haiti," slightly bowdlerized here. It was Martin's first album.
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| Inside cover of the 78 set |
Decca's sound is fairly good, and Ray Sinatra's backings are workmanlike. Martin is transcendent. I posted two of her LPs in the early days of this blog. They are still available.
Majestic Presents Ella Logan
Ella Logan was not an "overnight success" when she achieved fame in 1947 as a member of the original cast of Finian's Rainbow. Born in Glasgow, she had been a band singer both in England and the US. In the 1930s, there were a few singles for Parlophone in London, and quite a good number for Columbia and Brunswick in the US.
But her first album was made for the small Majestic label in March 1946 - before her Finian's Rainbow stardom. Majestic came up with a odd assortment of material for Logan to warble - everything from "Loch Lomond" to "Give My Regards to Broadway." One notable item is Willard Robison's "Book at My Bedside" (attn: David F.). The sound is OK, as are the backings by Frank De Vol.
Logan only made one more LP on her own - a 1954 Capitol album where she took on songs from Finian's Rainbow. (She also appears on the original cast LP, of course.) Capitol's record appeared on this blog several years ago and is still available.
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Links:
ReplyDeleteJanuary Evenings in Ardmore 2019
https://www51.zippyshare.com/v/XqEYG1eQ/file.html
Ella Logan - Majestic Presents Ella Logan
https://mega.nz/#!mVNj1C6S!7kyPBlkGZLdYyNXwKChWSOqQI786OXGyVba8oPQ48dU
Mary Martin - In an Album of Cole Porter Songs
https://mega.nz/#!2RV3VALS!u4ux2s5iwqbPg4-fzc4jmtTssvAYqwqx5OP_u2Lf2vg
thanks for these treats, Buster. I am especially grateful for Mary Martin recordings I've never heard. :)
ReplyDeleteThank you for your nice offering of Ella Logan
ReplyDeleteThanks. Where do you house all these LPs? You must live in a mansion on Fairmount or Lake Ave.
ReplyDeleteJoe - I live in a house with a huge basement, enough to house all my records and four generations of junk, I mean, precious mementos.
ReplyDeleteBuster. thank you for sharing all your treasures with us. The material,the sound,the artists, the photos,and the commentary are all superb as are you.
ReplyDeleteMany thanks, John, for your kind comments!
ReplyDeleteHi, Buster, thanks for all these wonderful uploads. I was unaware that Ella Logan ever starred in Brigadoon. Her big Broadway success was, of course, Finian's Rainbow.
ReplyDeleteRayKay
RayKay - She didn't - it was Finian's. That was a slip on my part that I will correct!
ReplyDeleteThank you!
ReplyDeleteOh, the difference an arranger makes. Frank De Vol is so inventive and imaginative while Ray Sinatra is so staid and stolid. As a result, Logan easily soars and Martin just manages. As I listened, I got the feeling Mary's frequent leaps into a higher register were uncomfortable (almost artificial) for her. Certainly, the orchestra does not give her voice the lift and buoyancy it needs. She just doesn't seem to have to confidence she later acquired. However, Martin's record jacket is a masterpiece. Ironically, Mary has far more consistently great material to work with. In any case, thanks for both albums. Your transfers are superb. How that Robison song found its way on to the Logan album is a mystery I would love to solve. By the way, thanks for giving my mix a better storage place.
ReplyDeleteMary Martin had recorded "My Heart Belongs to Daddy" for Brunswick in late 1938 with Eddy Duchin's orchestra, so I think it's interesting that she was able to rerecord the song for Decca just a little over a year later.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the transfers.
Thanks, Randy - I didn't notice that one when I scanned her early recordings, and I haven't heard it.
DeleteThe field was sure crowded with fine recordings of "My Heart Belongs to Daddy," made in late 1938 and early 1939. Until you posted Mary Martin's second version from 1940, I knew only of Bea Wain's version with Larry Clinton. Now that I've listened to as many as I can find, I'd have to say Mary had incredible competition. While I prefer her 1940 recording with Ray Sinatra to her 1938 one with Eddy Duchin, it's a close call. But I feel compelled to call your attention to Ella Fitzgerald's With Chick Webb and Helen Humes version with Count Basie as contenders.
ReplyDeleteIn any case, with your forgiving indulgence, here are the four aforementioned versions for savory comparison listening. Man, is this a saucy song.
https://we.tl/t-WF7nQvubSU
Thanks for these great Lp's full of history.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed particularly that of Mary Martin.
Beautiful arrangements too.