Music from Hollywood and Percy Faith

My friend David F. recently asked if I had anything against the arranger and conductor Percy Faith, given that I had never posted one of his many, many LPs.

Well, I do like Percy and have many of his multitudinous albums, including this one, the subject of David's inquiry. I've owned Faith records since I was a avid record collector of seven, when I acquired Vic Damone's record of "On the Street Where You Live," which has a Faith arrangement. I loved his sound then and still do.

Percy Faith

This present LP, dating from 1953, is a good choice because it contains four lovely melodies from the films of the period - Dimitri's Tiomkin's "Return to Paradise," Heinz Roemheld's "Ruby" (from Ruby Gentry), Georges Auric's "Song from Moulin Rouge" and David Raksin's "Theme from The Bad and the Beautiful." Three of the four are particular favorites of mine, and "Return to Paradise" is enjoyably kitschy proto-exotica. "Ruby" has appeared here before in the Les Baxter recording, and "The Song from Moulin Rouge" in Arthur Fiedler's version.

All these items are presented in extended, 6-7 minute versions, unusual for an easy listening LP. So much the better to appreciate Faith's orchestrations, which he took very seriously. There's a Columbia promotional film in which he explains his methods to label head Goddard Lieberson, in the process insisting that orchestrators are as much composers as songwriters are. That's debatable, but there is no question that the craft requires great skill and knowledge, and that Faith was a master.

That's not to say that he was sui generis. You can hear the influence of Ronald Binge's Mantovani-style cascading strings in his writing, for example, and I would find it hard to identify any stylistic fingerprints that are Faith's alone.

Percy Faith conducts, Mitch Miller solos

On this record, there is much to enjoy, of course. On "Ruby," Faith uses an English horn as solo voice, unlike the hit versions by Richard Hayman and Les Baxter, which employ a warbling harmonica. The English horn solo was probably played by Mitch Miller, who brought Faith to Columbia and who collaborated with him on two instrumental LPs.

"The Song from Moulin Rouge," also known as "Where Is You Heart," was a gigantic hit for Faith, but in a different, shorter version featuring the impassioned voice of Felicia Sanders singing the William Engvick lyrics. I've included the vocal rendition in the download as a bonus, along with its flip side, "Swedish Rhapsody (Midsummer Vigil)," which itself was a hit for Faith. (You can hear Hugo Alfvén's original version, "Midsommarvaka," here.)

To me, the high point of the LP is "The Theme from The Bad and the Beautiful," gorgeous and extraordinarily well suited to the glamour and decadence of this story of Hollywood. Composer Raksin, who composed hundreds of film and television scores, is remembered today primarily for this theme and for the theme for "Laura," which became a much-recorded standard with Johnny Mercer's apt lyrics - which Raksin reportedly hated. The composer also had a hit in 1962 with his theme to the Ben Casey television show.

The LP was recorded in April 1953, I believe in Columbia's 30th Street studios. The sound is excellent. Columbia later added a few other songs to this 10-inch original to fill out a 12-inch LP.

Billboard, February 28, 1953

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Anthems from St. Michael's College, Tenbury

The most famous boys' choir in England is surely that of King's College, Cambridge, which has appeared on this site a few times. But there are - or in this case were - other such choirs. This record is a rare outing for the Choir of St. Michael's College, Tenbury, in west central England.

The King's College Choir dates back to the 15th century, but St. Michael's was founded much closer to our own time - in 1856 by Sir Frederick Ouseley, a composer and cleric who wanted to preserve the performance of Anglican church music.

Unfortunately, Ouseley's vision lasted only 130 years - the school closed in 1985, and its buildings are now used by a boarding school for international students, King's College Saint Michaels. Before closing, the choir school did produce at least four LPs. This album was, I believe, its first, being recorded in 1964 and released the following year on Argo records.

Vintage postcard

Sing Joyfully contains a selection of anthems ranging from the 16th century to more recent times. The first side include music by Thomas Tallis, Thomas Morley, Christopher Tye, William Byrd and Orlando Gibbons, along with an anonymous work that was thought to be by John Redford when the record was made. The second side begins with a brief work from Ouseley, continuing with music by Herbert Murrill, Charles Stanford, Hubert Parry, Ralph Vaughan Williams and Benjamin Britten.

The choir does well under the experienced direction of Lucian Nethsingha, who was later at Exeter Cathedral for many years. Nethsingha's son, Andrew, is now the music director at St. John's College, Cambridge. Argo's sound is closer than you typically hear with such programs, but nonetheless pleasing.

This post is the result of a request on a classical forum by a former teacher at St. Michael's College. I also have a Christmas LP released the year before the choir school's closing. I plan to present that record during the upcoming holiday season.

Group portrait, 1960s

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'Fancy Free' and 'On the Town'

The young Leonard Bernstein

Back in February I featured an early Robert Shaw Chorale LP, which led in a roundabout way to a discussion in the comments section of the competing albums that had resulted from Leonard Bernstein's 1945 Broadway musical On the Town. I was familiar with some of the recordings but not others, so theater music experts JAC and Andy Propst were kind enough to fill me in on what I had missed.

This led to my own exploration of the two On the Town sets as well as the ballet Fancy Free, which had inspired the musical. I sourced the original recordings from needle drops on Internet Archive, and cleaned up both the music and the scans. I thought some of you might be interested in these materials as well. Here is some background on the productions and recordings.

Fancy Free

Jerome Robbins choreographed Fancy Free for the Ballet Theatre to lively and witty music by Bernstein. It opened in April 1944. Decca recorded the score in June with the composer conducting the Ballet Theatre Orchestra.

Bernstein's wonderfully quirky opening ballad "Big Stuff" is heard from a radio on stage before the three sailor-protagonists burst on the scene. It is said that Bernstein wanted Billie Holiday to record the song for the production, but didn't think he could get her, so used his sister Shirley's voice instead. But Holiday did eventually record the song, several times. The first of her four tries was in November 1944, with a band led by Toots Camarata. This version was not approved so she tried again with Camarata and a different group the following August. No luck again, so she did it again with a different ensemble in January 1946. Finally in March of that year she achieved an acceptable take with a small group that included Joe Guy and Tiny Grimes, and Decca released that version in its 78 album of Fancy Free. I've included all Holiday's recordings of the song as a bonus.

The download includes additional production photos, some from the collection of Harold Lang, who danced one of the sailor roles in the ballet, and who later became a musical comedy star himself, notably as Bill Calhoun in Kiss Me, Kate and as Joey in the hit 1952 revival of Pal Joey.

On the Town

Leonard Bernstein, Jerome Robbins, Betty Comden, Adolph Green

The story is that Oliver Smith, who designed the Fancy Free sets, convinced Robbins and Bernstein that the scenario could be made into a successful musical. Perhaps so, but the team must have been thinking in those terms all along, because On the Town opened in December 1944 - only eight months after the Fancy Free opening. This was hardly enough time for Bernstein to compose the music, Robbins to choreograph the dances, Comden and Green to write the book, and George Abbott to cast and direct the production. But whatever its provenance, the musical was an artistic and commercial success.

As was often the case in the 1940s and on into the 50s, there was no integrated original cast album for On the Town. Instead, the principals were split between RCA Victor and Decca recording sessions, both beginning in February 1945.

Victor split the recordings between Bernstein and among young whiz, Robert Shaw. The composer conducted a studio orchestra in recordings of the ballet music. This is much different in some ways than the kinetic music that Bernstein wrote for Fancy Free; the "Lonely Town" Pas de deux is heavily indebted to Aaron Copland's Quiet City and Lincoln Portrait from a few years earlier. Regardless of its influences, the music is glorious. "Lonely Town" in particular is remarkably fine.

Rather than having individual singers assay Bernstein's songs, Victor made the unusual decision to turn the vocal music over to Shaw, who arranged the pieces for chorus and conducted those particular recordings. The result is enjoyable, while not resembling what could be heard and seen on Broadway. For that you could turn to the competing Decca recording.

For their recordings, the Decca company contracted with Betty Comden, Adolph Green and Nancy Walker of the original cast, leaving out John Battles and assigning his two big numbers ("Lonely Town" and "Lucky to Be Me") to Mary Martin, who was a Decca recording artist at the time. The musical backing varied - Lyn Murray for the opening scene and the Comden and Green numbers, Camarata for Mary Martin's songs and Leonard Joy for Nancy Walker. Martin handled the ballads well, even though Camarata's tempo is much too fast for "Lonely Town."

The download includes cleaned-up cover and label scans, the insert booklet and production stills for Fancy Free, and a January 1945 Life Magazine feature about On the Town. Vivid sound on all the recordings.

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A September Serenade, Mundell Lowe, Plus a Vocal Reup

Lately I have been off investigating Tchaikovsky recordings (see posts below), so good friend David Federman has filled the void with three very interesting recordings: a "September Serenade" compilation and two recordings by the splendid guitarist Mundell Lowe, one composed of Alec Wilder originals. My meager offering is a reup of the first album by an unknown but talented vocalist, Marge Dodson.

A September Serenade

David pays homage to September and the changing of the seasons in this mix spanning 40 years of song. His commentary:

"Most of these songs you know, but I'm sure 'A Faded Summer Love,' 'The Trembling of a Leaf,' and 'A Lonely Park,' will be new to most, if not all, of you. Even the familiar may surprise you.

"I have included a gorgeous duet version of 'Autumn Leaves' by Chet Baker and Ruth Young that I'm sure will blow your mind. It follows Yves Montand's 1950 version of the original song, 'Les Feuilles Mortes.' And Ella Fitzgerald's first recording of 'Early Autumn,' is very much a byproduct of the bop era that spawned this glorious ballad. [By the way, I've included a different song of the same name, recorded by Claude Thornhill in 1947.]

"Few have sung 'September Song' as beautifully as Felicia Sanders, another of jazz's many breast cancer victims. Although there is little rock and roll here, the Mamas and the Papas' 'California Dreamin'' is a full-fledged Autumn standard. So is Neil Young's 'Harvest Moon.' 'See You in September' is my one concession to artful teeny-bopper music. The recordings used here is the original, first released by a Pittsburgh group, the Tempos, in 1959. Although the song became a hit for others, I think its first version remains the best.

"Autumn is, I'm afraid, a very sad season - one of loss and departure. While there are some 'happy' songs here like ''Tis Autumn' and 'Autumn In New York,' the majority are sad. Some songs are so glorious, I've supplied two versions. Hence you'll hear both Sidney Bechet's and Bing Crosby's versions of Victor Herbert's 'Indian Summer' as well as Richard Himber's and Billie Holiday's recordings of 'Autumn in New York.'" 

Mundell Lowe

David includes two LPs by Mundell Lowe: New Music by Alec Wilder and The Mundell Lowe Quintet. His discussion of the first named:

"Any album by guitarist Mundell Lowe is an important one. Add in the trumpet of Joe Wilder and the album is elevated to momentous. Cap off the recording with 12 compositions composed especially for Lowe by Alec Wilder and conducted by him for these sessions and it is an historic occasion. Liner notes by Frank Sinatra, an ardent advocate of Wilder's music who recorded a landmark album of his pieces in 1946, only add another jewel to this crowning achievement (see pdf included in album folder).

"What you have here are 12 wonderful compositions for wind octet recorded in June and July of 1956 and released on Riverside that same year. As far as I know, this marvelous record has never been issued on CD and is not available in any digital format."

Marge Dodson

Back in 2011 I wrote, "Although she made only three albums that I can trace, Marge Dodson was well regarded in her day, and for good reason - she was quite a fine singer. There is little information available on her today, but I did ascertain that she continued singing in clubs into the 1970s."

This LP, In the Still of the Night, was her first, done for Columbia in 1959.

See the original post for a link to a newly remastered version.

The Curious Case of Malko's "Sleeping Beauty"

Is it you, Nicolai? Or you, Constant?

My post directly below combines two Tchaikovsky readings by the illustrious conductors Constant Lambert and Nicolai Malko. The 1955 RCA Bluebird LP includes Lambert's 1941 Romeo and Juliet with the City of Birmingham Orchestra, and Malko's 1952 excerpts from The Sleeping Beauty with the Philharmonia Orchestra.

Or does it? No sooner did I cross-post my item to a Google classical music group than one of the knowledgeable members there dropped a line to say that there has been some dispute as to whether this was really the Malko recording. Apparently RCA had issued the LP with Lambert's 1939 Sleeping Beauty selections in place of the Malko items, while attributing them to the Russian conductor.

I thought this was curious. I am familiar with Lambert's Sleeping Beauty recordings - and am planning to post them - and the 1939 records do not match up with what is contained on the RCA LP. For example, "Red Riding Hood and the Wolf" appears on the RCA album but does not appear to be among the excerpts that Lambert set down in 1939. (He did record it in 1946.) Conversely, Lambert had a go at the famous Waltz in 1939, but it does not appear on the Bluebird LP.

I also checked the items that this LP and the 1939 recordings hold in common, and they do not seem to be the same, to my ears. Admittedly, comparisons are difficult because the excerpts are not uniformly labelled and the scores can be edited differently for the various recordings.

Later, another member posted a transfer from one of the Malko 78, and it does match the same selections on the Bluebird LP. And checking the Tchaikovsky Research site, what appears to be contained on the original 78s seems to match what's on the LP, although the site seems to be unaware of the two sides that aurally match the Bluebird album.

First and second LP covers

I wonder if RCA, after flubbing the first edition of the LP, did in fact correct the later editions. The record exists in two different versions - one with the stock ribbon cover that Bluebird was using at the time, the second my later issue with Romeo and Juliet on the cover. The group member who raised the issue is acquiring an original English EP of the music to make sure.

In the meantime, one thing that did come to light is that my transfer of the Sleeping Beauty excerpts is still a half-step flat - even though I had raised the pitch a half-step already, knowing that it was not correct. So I have adjusted the pitch again (hopefully accurately this time), and have posted a link to a new file both in the comments here and the original post.

Update: another member sent along a transfer of all the Malko Sleeping Beauty 78s, and they do correspond to additional items on the LP.

Lambert and Malko Conduct Tchaikovsky

Today we return to the recordings of composer-conductor-arranger-author Constant Lambert in a work by Tchaikovsky, a composer he favored. We also hear another Tchaikovsky composition led by a much different maestro, the expatriate Ukrainian-Russian Nicolai Malko (1883-1961).

The Lambert recording is Romeo and Juliet, Tchaikovsky's dramatic and descriptive so-called "Fantasy-Overture," here in a 1941 performance with the City of Birmingham Symphony. For some reason, neither on the original 78s nor here, in its only LP issue, were the Birmingham forces identified, being tagged only as a "Symphony Orchestra."

Constant Lambert by Madame Yevonde, 1933

The Birmingham musicians were not known to be a virtuoso ensemble - during the war the orchestra was composed of part-time players. Lambert draws good results from the group, however - certainly better than a few of the orchestras that have appeared on this blog. It's possible the orchestra was augmented for this recording.

Lambert takes the introduction slowly (too slowly for me), contrasting this music with the turbulent second section, depicting the Montagues and Capulets. The love music is nicely handled by the orchestra. Throughout, as often happens with 80-year-old recordings, the impact of the music suffers from a compressed dynamic range.

I don't think the Lambert recording has had an official reissue since this 1955 LP version, nor has Malko's rendition of excerpts from Tchaikovsky's score for the ballet Sleeping Beauty. Both were issued originally on 78 by HMV - even the 1952 Malko recording, which also appeared on EP - and have not been revisited by that company or its successors, to my knowledge. If anything, the Malko has been even more neglected than the Lambert. This 1955 RCA Victor issue is the only LP version of both scores that I can find.

Malko was a fine conductor who made many excellent records for EMI in the 1950s, first with the Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra and then the Philharmonia, who appear here in the Sleeping Beauty excerpts. Even so, he never had a prestigious orchestral position in the West, being best known for working regularly with the Danish orchestra.

Nicolai Malko

Malko takes a dry-eyed approach to Sleeping Beauty. It's all very impressive, but there is little emotion here in what is, after all, a fairy tale. The orchestra - probably the best in England at the time - plays beautifully throughout. The sound from Abbey Road is, as it often was, clear but not overly warm.

Label of the Waltz 78

The complete Sleeping Beauty is a long (nearly three-hour) score, and RCA is of little help in identifying the handful of excerpts that Malko chose. The disc is not banded and George Jellinek's notes are vague. I spent some time with the more-or-less complete Previn recording, and have identified the selections in the download by number. Malko programs many of the familiar items in the score - the Introduction, the "Rose Adagio," "Puss-in-Boots and the White Cat" - but curiously leaves out the big waltz that is the ballet's most famous dance. It turns out that he had recorded it a few years earlier with the Danish Radio Symphony for another HMV 78. I've appended that title as a bonus.

HMV EP cover

The Malko recordings do not appear to relate to any production of the ballet, even though the HMV EP cover depicts Margot Fonteyn in the Royal Ballet's production. As far as I can tell, Malko never conducted one of the Sadler's Wells/Royal Ballet performances. They were primarily led by Lambert during the 1940s (with a few Beecham incursions), and by Robert Irving and John Hollingsworth in succeeding years. Irving himself recorded a two-disc Sleeping Beauty set with the Covent Garden orchestra in 1955. It appeared on the blog a few years ago and is still available here.

Lambert also recorded excerpts from the score, on two occasions: in conjunction with the 1939 Sadler's Wells production, called The Sleeping Princess, and in 1946 when The Sleeping Beauty was mounted by the ballet company in its new home, Covent Garden. One of my next posts will collect those recordings, along with the ballet music from Gounod's Faust as conducted by George Weldon - who himself taped a more-or-less complete version of Sleeping Beauty with the Philharmonia in 1956.

Returning to the Malko recording, I should note that the RCA transfer was about a half-step flat, which I've corrected. The LP was issued on the budget Bluebird label, so perhaps the company didn't expend as much care on the low-priced product as on its prestigious Red Seal mark. By the way, can anyone explain those black blobs enshrouding the lovers on the cover?

Update: Please see the post above this one, which delves into the question of whether the Sleeping Beauty excerpts contained on this record were really conducted by Malko - or by Lambert. (I think the likeliest answer is still Malko.) In the process, a kind reader has pointed out that the Sleeping Beauty transfer is still below score pitch - even though I adjusted it once - so I have readjusted it, and I think it is correct now - but please let me know if not!

A Buster Bonanza: Kay Thompson, Johnny Costa and Paul Whiteman

Because I've been away most of the past two weeks, I wanted to get some new material up on the blog quickly. So I've turned to several items that I've had in the queue for some time, but never posted for one reason or another. Here are some abbreviated thoughts about each.

Kay Thompson Singles

Kay Thompson was one of the strongest influences on 20th century vocal arrangements, especially in her work for vocal groups and in Hollywood musicals. She has appeared here before in a collection of Johnny Green melodies produced in the 1940s, when she and Green were both at M-G-M.

The current collection of 10 songs from singles begins with two early solo sides made in 1937 and attributed to "Kay Thompson and her Rhythm Singers." The backing singers include such well-known names as Bea Wain, Hugh Martin, Al Rinker and Ken Lane. The uncredited orchestra is the band of Jack Jenny, her husband at the time.

We next have a few rare items on the Viking label from 1941. Viking records were notoriously fragile - I think the surface consisted of a thin layer of shellac over cardboard. I have a copy of this single that is in awful shape, so I've used a somewhat better (but still imperfect) transfer found on Internet Archive.

Next are four 1947 selections with her proteges the Williams Brothers - including some repartee with Andy. The final item is her 1956 single on the Cadence label. It's notable because on one side she portrays the heroine of her popular children's books, Eloise, "the little girl who lived on the top floor of the Plaza Hotel in New York."

Johnny Costa - In My Own Quiet Way

Johnny Costa is best known for his many years as the music director of Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood. He was an immensely talented pianist, who has been featured here twice - for his Savoy LP Introducing Johnny Costa, and his Coral LP Piano Solos, both from 1955.


Those two records were showcases for Costa's Tatum-style improvisations. Today we have his piano with string backing, on a 1959 Dot LP called In My Own Quiet Way. The album does not say who wrote the arrangements, but it seems likely that Costa did so.

Amidst the lush sound of strings, Costa moderates his baroque improvisations, with the result ending up close to the easy listening genre. Still, it's enjoyable, and I recommend it to all who enjoy his other LPs. Please note that there are a few queasy patches where the pitch drops momentarily.

Paul Whiteman - Irving Berlin Songs

Paul Whiteman's legacy has been explored on this blog periodically, primarily via his many Gershwin recordings. In today's post he tackles the songs of Irving Berlin in the form of a album collecting eight sides recorded in 1939.

Six of the eight were made with an orchestra, the other two with "Paul Whiteman's Woodwinds." Vocalist Clark (here "Clarke") Dennis joins him for three of the songs; Joan Edwards for two of the others. Both are competent singers who were on the radio with Whiteman at the time, although Dennis can turn shrill on high notes, and Edwards is bland. Also appearing, uncredited, on some of the songs are the Modernaires. The great accordionist Joe Mooney is in the band on one of the dates.

These are unremarkable records, but well done and vividly recorded. They come via lossless needle-drops found on Internet Archive and restored by me.

Bonus: Blue Stars Singles with Blossom Dearie

Finally, a reup by request of three single sides that the great singer Blossom Dearie made with the Blue Stars of Paris in 1956. I originally prepared these as a tribute to Dearie upon her death a decade ago. She does not solo, but the three songs are nevertheless entertaining. They are "Broadway at Basin Street," "Hernando's Hideaway" (here called "Amour, Castagnettes et Tango") and "Jumpin' at the Woodside."

Please go to the original post for a link to this particular upload, now newly remastered.