Today we have a second autumn-themed mix from David Federman, an answer to the Great Sleeping Beauty Mystery, and a reup from ex-Cugat canary Abbe Lane.
'Lost Summer Love'
David has dubbed his latest compilation "Lost Summer Love." He writes, "This is an autumn-themed mix, meant to augment the almost sacred sense of loss that comes every September and October."
In five parts, it is typically eclectic, ranging from Chet Baker to Hal Kemp to the Glasgow Orpheus Choir. I am particularly fond of the two versions of the superb but forgotten melody, "It All Comes Back to Me Now," both by the superb but almost forgotten vocalist David Allyn - one at the beginning of his career and one from an later, unreleased Warner Bros. LP.
The download includes 33 songs in all, along with David's commentary.
The 'Sleeping Beauty' Mystery Solved
The subhead above may sound like the title of an Erle Stanley Gardner novel, but it actually relates to the who-directed-it mystery involving conductor Nicolai Malko's RCA Bluebird LP of excerpts from Tchaikovsky's ballet music for The Sleeping Beauty.
I posted the LP not long ago, only to have a knowledgeable fellow say that there was some dispute as to whether Malko did actually conduct the excerpts. Some people apparently claimed that they were a reprint of Constant Lambert's 1938 Sadler's Wells recordings instead.
I was familiar with the Lambert recordings - and plan to post them here soon - and that contrarian thesis did not seem right to me. For one thing, the excerpts on LP included a piece that Lambert didn't record in 1938. And the excerpts he did record then did not seem to be the same as the ones on the LP.
Since then, all the evidence that has been submitted (i.e., the original 78s and 45s containing the Malko recordings) have supported the conclusion that the LP is indeed the complete set of Malko excerpts. I believe it is the only place they can be found in toto.
Why the confusion? I suspect that RCA did initially issue the Bluebird LP with Lambert's recordings in place of Malko's. They apparently corrected the mistake in a subsequent pressing - the one I own and posted.
Abbe Lane Reup
One quick reup today - Abbe Lane's RCA LP Where There's a Man, from 1959. Abbe, at one time a Xavier Cugat singer and wife, wasn't a great vocalist, but she was a great deal of fun, as this album demonstrates. I think Miss Lane must has a steady following - this is the second time a reup has been requested. Follow this link to the original post.
1 month ago
6 comments:
Lost Summer Love link:
https://mega.nz/#!bJEhyA5B!Amsn4NVkNI6y6ovJE6gj5P3HEwMplnkEpISFG-xDNSI
WHY "IT ALL COMES BACK TO ME NOW" WON'T STOP COMING BACK TO ME: Why, you justifiably ask, would someone impose 10 versions of a forgotten 1940 pop song on visitors to this blog? Why indeed! An exculpatory anecdote will hopefully serve as explanation.
Composer Henry Cowell dropped into see fellow genius, Carl Ruggles. The composer was in the midst of creation. So the visitor took a seat while his mentor played the piano. However, Ruggles kept repeating the same chord interminably. Finally, after 10 minutes or so, Cowell interrupted, "Carl, what are you doing?" The composer answered, "I can't wait. I'm giving this chord the test of time now."
So it is with these 10 versions of a lost pop gem, "It All Comes Back To Me Now." I've gone back to 1940/1 to see if this tune would stand the test of its own time. Nine recordings, plus one aircheck, would seem to have proven that the song had legs. Yet it hasn't outrun its own brief period of popularity. The once modern vocal that I found--by David Allyn--is a remake of his 1941 recording with Jack Teagarden from 1966 you'll find those on "Lost Summer Love"). Now I have found a 'contemporary' performance by organist Jackie Davis, which you'll find here. I note also that a rapper I've never heard of cites this song as one of his favorite's. Now that's bonafide time-warp! Otherwise, welcome to undeserved obscurity!
Here are the 10 versions:
https://we.tl/t-H5qcC41gWw
1) Hal Kemp (Bob Allen, voc.); 2) Gene Krupa (Howard Dulaney, voc.); 3) Ted Weems (Perry Como, voc.); 4) Harry James (Dick Haymes, voc.); 5) Sterling Young (Alan Simms, voc.); 6) Teddy Powell (Ruth Gaylor, voc.) 7) Kate Smith; 8) Stanley Black (Anne Shelton, voc.); 9) Tommy Dorsey (Frank Sinatra, voc.) aircheck; 10) Jackie Davis.
Of all these, my favorite is Teddy Powell's featuring the superb Ruth Gaylor is my favorite. "From the Vaults" website profiled her in May, but this recording is absent from the wonderful cornucopia gathered there.
https://www.upload.ee/files/9922840/Ruth_Gaylor___Here_s_My_Heart.rar.html
Buster, While you're featuring band leaders' wives, take a listen to Spike Jones' wife, Helen Grayco. If I'm not mistaken, her one RCA album (whose title I've forgotten) is marvelous.
One last suggestion: Diana Dors' "Swinging Dors" from 1960. It's a very good album by a sex siren who was as much a siren as a sex symbol. Most of the songs are exclusive to the album and quite good. Deserves attention.
Thanks, David. I love that song, and have been trying to remember where I first heard it. It wasn't either of Allyn's recordings, although I have the Teagarden as well as the later one, and I don't think it was Haymes or Sinatra, which I have as well. Maybe it will be among the group you have assembled.
Manhy thanks to you both. I love that song too and have only heard the Hal Kemp version so far.
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