Tony Martin Strolls Through Melody Lane

I recently transferred this fine Tony Martin album for friend and fellow collector John Morris, so why not share it here as well.

This 1956 double EP is equivalent to a 10-inch LP. The album also exists in a 12-inch version with a few extra songs, but I don't have that edition, alas. What's here is very good, though.

Tony Martin

Based on the song selection, (A Stroll Through) Melody Lane might just as well have been called (A Stroll Through) Memory Lane. The oldest song is from 1917 and the newest from 1931.

The songs, however, weren't that old when Martin recorded them. These sides were drawn from Martin's 1939-42 sojourn with the Decca company, a fact that is not mentioned on the LP. Rose Room, California and Avalon come from his first recording dates for Decca, in March 1939. I can't find any evidence that A Pretty Girl Is Like a Melody, Cuban Love Song or Beautiful Ohio were ever released as singles, but that may be an oversight on my part.

The conductors on these sides were the veteran Abe Lyman, the youthful David Rose and Dick Winslow, who was mainly known as an actor (at least I think it's the same fellow).

Postwar, Martin signed with Mercury and then RCA Victor. You can find his Mercury Dreamland Rendezvous LP here on this blog, in a newly remastered version. From RCA, we have his Desert Song album, done with Kathryn Grayson. Both are very good - Martin lost little of his voice's luster as time went on.

Orchestral Music of Gabriel Fauré

Longtime friend of the blog Centuri recently mentioned a notable series of recordings from the ORTF (the Office de Radiodiffusion-Télévision Française), made some years ago. I have several of these LPs, so I decided to transfer this old favorite of mine, which came out in Barclay's Inédits ORTF series in 1971. The LP introduced me to several of Gabriel Fauré's less often heard orchestral works. It also includes one of his most famous compositions, the Pavane, here presented in the seldom-performed choral version.

The ORTF maintained any number of ensembles, including the Orchestre National, Orchestre Philharmonique, Orchestre Lyrique and the Orchestre de Chambre. This LP comes from the Orchestre de Chambre, which has not recorded extensively, but its role has been important, per Centuri. All its programs included premieres or unknown works, in particular under its principal conductor, André Girard, Centuri's first conducting teacher.

Antonio de Almeida

Leading the ensemble here is the French conductor Antonio de Almeida (1928-97), who himself was known for his devotion to unusual repertoire. For this LP he programmed incidental music for the play Caligula, written by Alexandre Dumas fils, here recorded for the first time complete. Also included is Fauré's music for Shylock, which includes two songs performed by the distinguished tenor Michel Sénéchal (1927-98). Finally, de Almeida leads the first recording of the choral Madrigal to a text by Armand Silvestre.

Michel Sénéchal

I find these works irresistible. Since the record came out 50 years ago, there have been a few integral recordings of Fauré's orchestral works but none have surpassed these in my affections. The composer has long been known more for his songs, chamber music and the oft-recorded Requiem, but his compositions for orchestra are very much worth your while.

The performances and sound are good, although the chamber orchestra does not have the depth of string tone that would be ideal for some of the music. The download includes a 1976 interview with de Almeida from Stereo Review.

The First Buddy DeSylva Tribute Album

A few days ago, I published a private record that Capitol issued to commemorate the 1950 death of Buddy DeSylva, one of its founders.

At that time, I lamented the fact that Capitol didn't see fit to use its own artists to celebrate DeSylva's songwriting career rather than repurposing a radio show from seven years earlier.

Buddy DeSylva examines his catalog. "Mother Me,
Tennessee" and the other songs here
did not make the cut for this collection.

Two friends of the blog, Bryan and Randy, quickly drew my attention to the fact that Capitol had indeed issued an earlier DeSylva tribute using its own stars, back in 1947.

I felt a little embarrassed by my forgetting this album, particularly because I have a copy of it in my collection. I told Bryan that I could not transfer it, however, because my 78 turntable is having speed-regulatory seizures. So Bryan sent along a link to an Internet Archive transfer, which I have remastered for this post.

Promo in Capitol News

The Capitol set is called Somebody Loves Me: The Beloved Songs of Buddy DeSylva - no doubt especially beloved at the company because he was chairman of the board. But I will admit that he wrote lyrics for many excellent songs, and this collection does a good job at presenting eight of them.

Among those who contributed vocals were Johnny Mercer, Peggy Lee, Nat Cole and Margaret Whiting. They may need no introduction, but here are a few words about the other artists involved.

Andy Russell was a fine balladeer who had many hits for Capitol. Russell's popularity waned in the 1950s, when he relocated to Mexico. Even though he was born in Los Angeles and spoke little Spanish, he was of Hispanic descent and quickly became a star in Latin America, returning to the US (and Capitol) in the 1960s. He performs one of DeSylva, Brown and Henderson's best songs, "Just a Memory."

Martha Tilton and Johnny Mercer

Martha Tilton came to prominence as a Benny Goodman band singer in the late 1930s. She joined Capitol early in its history, and here is paired with company mogul Johnny Mercer for another DeSylva, Brown and Henderson item, "If I Had a Talking Picture of You."

Clark Dennis was a radio singer who made records for Capitol from 1946-50. You can read more about him via this post on my other blog. He also has appeared on this blog, providing vocals for a 1939 Paul Whiteman set. On this album, he sings the famous DeSylva-Brown-Henderson waltz, "Together."

If Hal Derwin's vocals did not dazzle you,
his outfit's clashing patterns would

The most obscure name in the lineup may be Hal Derwin, but his easy manner is perfectly suited to "When Day Is Done." Derwin was a bandleader during the 40s and 50s, but I believe he recorded for Capitol solely as a vocalist.

Capitol repurposed the inside front cover of this 78 set as the front cover of the later 10-inch LP. That image and other photos and scans are in the download, including a Capitol News article announcing the project. The ad below comes from the June 1947 Capitol News.

Ray McKinley on RCA Victor, 1947-50

While drummer-singer-bandleader Ray McKinley had a long career, the 1940s were his heyday.  Today we'll look at his longest-lasting band via a selection of 32 recordings he made for RCA Victor from 1947-50.

McKinley (1910-85) became a band musician in his middle teens, joining the Dorsey Brothers at 24. Will Bradley brought him on board in 1939 as a featured artist, labeling his recordings of the time as the "Will Bradley Orchestra Featuring Ray McKinley." Their big hit was "Beat Me Daddy, Eight to the Bar" with a vocal by McKinley, who wrote the piece with Don Raye and Hughie Prince.

McKinley went out on his own in 1942, making records for Hit and Capitol before joining old friend Glenn Miller's Army Air Force Band. After Miller's disappearance in 1944, McKinley co-led the band with arranger Jerry Gray.

McKinley re-started his civilian band in 1946. The group first made records for the small Majestic company, then switched to RCA Victor in 1947.

Saxophonists Deane Kincaide, Billy Ainsworth, Ray Beller, Peanuts Hucko, Pete Terry circa 1947

It was quite a talented ensemble, including at various times Nick Travis, Vern Friley, Ray Beller, Chuck Genduso, Buddy Morrow and Mundell Lowe, among others. Among those handling the charts for McKinley during this period were Deane Kincaide and Eddie Sauter, two notable names among big band arrangers.

One Band, Two Styles LP

About the only collection that RCA reissued from this period was a 1955 LP called One Band, Two Styles, which came out on the budget Camden label. Neither of the two "styles" on the record were entirely characteristic of the McKinley band, worthy though they may be on their own.

Ray McKinley, Eddie Sauter, Deane Kincaide

The first "style" was represented by six compositions by Eddie Sauter recorded at the end of 1947. These surely were earmarked for an album, but it was one that RCA never issued. Only "Idiot's Delight" - one of the more abstruse compositions in the set - was pressed on 78. The rest remained in the vaults until the Camden LP.

Sauter, who made his name with Red Norvo and Benny Goodman, went on to form the Sauter-Finegan Band with Bill Finegan, That band has appeared on this blog a number of times.

 

The second "style" on the Camden LP encompassed a reissue of the 1950 set Ray McKinley Plays Rodgers and Hart for Dancing. This was one of 15 albums that RCA issued simultaneously in an attempt to hypo the band business, which had hit the post-war doldrums. RCA's promotional campaign was called "Here Come the Dance Bands Again," even though the release encompassed everyone from Spade Cooley to Miguelito Valdes. The record company labelled the records as being "Designed for Dancing" - certainly a contrast to the Sauter compositions, which for many listeners might have been designed for head-scratching.

There are two vocals among the Rodgers and Hart songs, one by McKinley, the other by the excellent Dale Nunnally. The Sauter materials are entirely instrumental.

Dale Nunnally

1947-50 Singles

As noted, neither side of the Two Sides LP was characteristic of the McKinley band of the period - at least of its recorded repertoire. To give you a better idea of how the band sounded on record and presumably in its live appearances, I've put together 20 songs derived from RCA Victor singles of the period.

The first thing you may notice is that while only two of the 12 songs on the LP have vocals, 17 of the 20 singles do. Most of the vocal chores are handled by McKinley himself, who often abandoned the drum kit to step out in front of the ensemble. He was an engaging entertainer - I've linked before to a band short from 1946 in which he sings "Hoodle Addle" and introduces the band, including Beller, Friley and Lowe. The "Hoodle Addle" arrangement was by a decidedly more relaxed Eddie Sauter, who even throws in a few "hey baba-re-bop" licks into the mix.

McKinley was always more of a performer than a crooner. He has very little range and doesn't change his approach much from song to song.

Jean Friley

Heard on two vocals are Marcy Lutes, who a decade later made a well-regarded LP for Decca, then essentially disappeared from the scene. She was succeeded by Jean Friley, who is good but gets little chance to shine. The final vocalist was the previously mentioned Dale Nunnally.

Most of the arrangements are unattributed, although Kincaide does get two label credits, being billed as Deane "Look, Ma, No Zither" Kincaide on "The 3rd Man Theme." Much of the repertoire consists of the usual pop songs from the time - "Put 'Em in a Box," "Sunflower," "Little Jack Frost Get Lost" and so on. "The Irish Washerwoman" makes an appearance as "Boogie Woogie Washerwoman."

The sound on all 32 sides is quite good. The One Band, Two Sides LP was drawn from my collection. I remastered the 78s from lossless needle drops found on Internet archive. The download includes label scans, more photos, etc.

McKinley folded his band in 1950, then became a part-time bandleader until the Glenn Miller revival took hold following the release of The Glenn Miller Story in 1954. In 1956 Miller's widow asked him to organize a new band under Miller’s name using the original library and style. McKinley led that band for a decade, making quite a few LPs for RCA Victor.

Note (August 2024): these recordings have been remastered in ambient stereo.

LINK

A Tribute to Buddy DeSylva

Songwriter-producer Buddy DeSylva was one of the three founders of Capitol Records in 1942, so when he died in 1950, the record company issued this  memorial LP, presumably sending it to the company's executives and business associates. It was not in general circulation, as far as I can tell.

DeSylva first made his name as a lyricist, although he also wrote music at times. His first successes were writing material for Al Jolson, and it wasn't long before he was working with the illustrious George Gershwin. The song "Somebody Loves Me," featured here recently, was among the Gershwin items, dating from 1924, when DeSylva was still in his twenties.

Ray Henderson, Lew Brown and Buddy DeSylva

Shortly thereafter he formed a team with lyricist Lew Brown and composer Ray Henderson. Their most famous product was the 1927 musical Good News.

In the 1930s, he transitioned to movie production, including Shirley Temple's films (although we won't hold that against him), becoming executive producer at Paramount from 1941-44. Betty Hutton was a protégé.

During this period he also produced shows on Broadway, at one time being responsible for Panama Hattie, DuBarry Was a Lady and Louisiana Purchase.

Johnny Mercer, Glenn Wallichs and Buddy DeSylva

At Capitol, DeSylva's co-founders were composer Johnny Mercer and music store exec Glenn Wallichs. DeSylva was president from 1942-44 and remained a director until his death.

As a memorial, Capitol pressed an aircheck of a radio show dating from 1943 that spotlighted DeSylva's gifts as a lyricist. This edition of the Fitch Bandwagon was one of a number that focused on well-known songwriters.

The band on the Fitch Bandwagon at the time was that of Freddy Martin, a musicianly group if hardly avant garde. Martin was well respected in the business, particularly as an alto saxophonist. The host of the show was Tom Reddy.

Freddy Martin and Buddy DeSylva,
possibly at this show's broadcast

Martin, Reddy and DeSylva combined to produce a breathless 25 minutes, managing to cram 23 songs into the alloted space along with all manner of stiff, under-rehearsed banter. The only singer credited in this barrage was Gene Conklin, who was with Martin for several years.

This particular show in the Fitch Bandwagon series appears not to be in general circulation - so there's that for those of you who fancy OTR. The sound is good.

One wonders why Capitol didn't have its own people record a tribute to DeSylva - after all, they ran a recording studio and had a library of songs. But this is what transpired. At least they excised the ads for Fitch Shampoo. For those who feel cheated by this editing, I've enclosed several print ads in the download - including the one below. Also included are many additional photos.

Scared by Freddy Martin's music

Hans Kindler, Conductor and Cellist

Detail from 1944 Life ad

I've been interested for some time in the recordings of conductor Hans Kindler, who founded the National Symphony Orchestra of Washington, D.C., in 1931 and led it until 1949. I posted his reading of Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 3 (Polish) several years ago, and have just remastered it for those interested.

Today I've brought together quite a number of Kindler's other recordings, working from an LP issued in the 1970s by Washington radio station WGMS and a parcel of 78 needle-drops found on Internet Archive. I've also added a V-Disc and two of Kindler's cello recordings from 1916.

These give a very good account of the music that Kindler was conducting and recording, along with a sense for his skill as a cellist.

Kindler in action

The main item in the collection is Brahms' Symphony No. 3, in a most interesting rendition from 1941. The orchestra - then only a decade old - gives a good account of itself.

Also in the collection are a variety of short items: from 1940 we have William Schuman's "American Festival Overture." This was written for Serge Koussevitzky and the Boston Symphony and premiered in 1939. But Koussevitzky did not record it; Kindler's was the first on record.

The second work from the 1940 sessions has an interesting back story. It is a Toccata supposedly by the 17th century composer Girolamo Frescobaldi. At least that is what Kindler thought when he made an arrangement for orchestra. He was working from a cello arrangement purportedly of a Frescobaldi work by fellow instrumentalist Gaspar Cassadó.

It came out much later that Cassadó, somewhat in the vein of Fritz Kreisler and his inventions, was the real author of the piece. Regardless, it's a tuneful work.

At about the same time, Kindler, born in Rotterdam, recorded two 16th century Dutch tunes in his own arrangements. These compositions had appeared on the first official concert ever given by the orchestra, in 1931.

From 1941 comes a recording of "Stars" by the American composer Mary Howe, who was the patron of the orchestra. It's a very good composition that has been recorded a few times.

Moving ahead to early 1945, we have Armas Järnefelt's Praeludium and Berceuse along with the "Dream Pantomine" from Humperdinck's opera Hansel und Gretel. The latter comes from a somewhat noisy V-Disc. The work also was issued on Victor, but I didn't have access to that pressing.

Finally, I thought you might like to hear a few of Kindler's early cello recordings. These were made in 1916, when he was the principal cello of the Philadelphia Orchestra. They are J.C. Bartlett's "A Dream" with by an orchestra conducted by Josef Pasternack, and a transcription of Schumann's "Traumerei," accompanied by pianist Rosario Bourdon.

The young cellist

Kindler died not long after ceding the conductorship of the orchestra to his protégé, another cellist, Howard Mitchell, who recently appeared here leading the music of Paul Creston.

The download includes scans of the WGMS LP, the 78 labels, and a variety of promotional photos and ads. The latter includes a spectacular two-page Victor ad from a 1944 Life Magazine. It features the Kindler portrait at top along with similar images of Vladimir Golschmann, Artur Schnabel and Arthur Fiedler.

Gershwin's Oh, Kay! - The 1926 Recordings

Original cast recordings of Broadway shows may seem like they have been around forever, but they didn't come into vogue until 1943 and the stunning success of Oklahoma! both on stage and as a cast album.

For earlier shows - even those of such luminaries as George Gershwin - we have only an sketchy indication of how they sounded on the stage. Yes, at times the stars or even the composer would make recordings, but these often were not of the original arrangements or with their original co-stars.

In addition, the record companies had their own stars put down their interpretations of the most popular songs, and these would shape the impressions of the average person far from Broadway and its theaters.

Today I want to look at one of those Gershwin musicals - Oh, Kay! from 1926, a Broadway success with lyrics by Ira Gershwin and a book by Guy Bolton and P.G. Wodehouse. For that show, we have two recordings made by its star, Gertrude Lawrence, and the four by Gershwin himself at the piano, along with several by the popular artists of the day.

Ira and George Gershwin, Guy Bolton

About Oh, Kay!

Oh, Kay! was written for Lawrence, a West End favorite who had appeared on Broadway in revue in 1924 and 1925 to great acclaim. Hers was to be the first starring role for a British performer in a Broadway musical. The show ran in New York from November 1926 through July 1927, then went to London's West End for another seven months.

The musical was very much of its time, a farce involving comical bootleggers mixed up with some English aristocrats, including the Duke of Durham and his sister Lady Kay (Lawrence). Kay's love interest was Jimmy Winter, played by Oscar Shaw, and the main comic foil was the inevitable Victor Moore as Shorty McGee.

Oscar Shaw, Gertrude Lawrence, Victor Moore

On stage, Lawrence sang three of the show's four big tunes - a solo on "Someone to Watch Over Me" and duets with Shaw in "Do, Do, Do" and "Maybe." The quasi-minstrel number "Clap Yo' Hands" was handled by Harlan Dixon and the ensemble.

1927 West End program

When the time came for recordings, only Lawrence was asked into the studio, and then only for "Someone to Watch Over Me" and "Do-Do-Do," done for Victor. Columbia engaged Gershwin to supply piano versions of the main songs. Plus there were other recordings handled by artists under contract to the various labels.

Let's take a look at these contrasting recordings, all of which date from October-December 1926.

Oh, Kay! Medley

Although Victor invited Lawrence to record only two songs, it also engaged other artists to set down the best numbers. We start off the collection with an "Oh, Kay! Medley" from the two-piano team of Edgar Fairchild and Ralph Rainger. Both were composers as well as instrumentalists, and Rainger would go on to become quite well known in Hollywood for his work with Leo Robin, before perishing in a 1942 plane crash.

Edgar Fairchild and Ralph Rainger

I've included this record as a kind of overture, but also because it includes another song from the show besides the big four tunes named above - "Fidgety Feet" (not the ODJB number).

Clap Yo' Hands

"Clap Yo' Hands" provides the first opportunity to hear Gershwin in this score. The rousing number is well suited to his energetic approach to his own music on the piano, which I have otherwise observed can be brisk to the brink of brusque. He seldom attempts to convey sentiment through his playing - not that this is particularly relevant in "Clap Yo' Hands."

But what he does instrumentally is fascinating; he frequently uncovers new aspects to the music by introducing asides and counter-melodies. This number in particular also demonstrates his roots in ragtime.

Sam Lanin

The second version of "Clap Yo' Hands" is a Cameo recording done by the prolific Sam Lanin (Lester's brother), with an anonymous vocal. (Discographer Brian Rust identifies him as the little-recorded Arthur Hall.) Lanin passes the melody back and forth between the saxes and brass, and Hall is an effective advocate for the lyric.

Do-Do-Do

With "Do-Do-Do" we come to the first recording by the show's star, Gertrude Lawrence, accompanied by pianist Tom Waring (Fred's brother). We can speculate that this performance may be similar to what she presented on stage, and some of her coy phrasing would have worked better there in a duet setting, I imagine.

The second "Do-Do-Do" is also the second appearance by the composer, again fascinating in how he phrases his melody.

The third version is by another bandleader who was seldom out of the studios - Bob Haring, whose staccato trumpets attack the melody, with the unnamed vocalist right in tune with that march-band approach. This is another release from Cameo.

Maybe

Franklyn Baur arrives

After that assault by Haring, it's nice to hear the sweet-toned Franklyn Baur, one of the busiest recording vocalists of the time, in "Maybe." Baur is one of my favorites among the tenors who were in the studio at the time, although modern ears will be distracted by his rolled R's, among other vocal traits long out of vogue.

Baur recorded more of this score than even Gershwin. Beside "Maybe," he did a medley from the show under his own name, separate medleys with the Revelers and with the Columbia Light Opera Company, and two duets with Virginia Rea. The latter had a backing by pianists Victor Arden and Phil Ohman, who were part of the pit band on Broadway. Baur's solo side was the best of the lot, so I used it in preference to the other sides.

Next is "Maybe" with the composer at the piano. At one point he features a counter-melody that was later lifted for a well-known theme by another composer - one that I can't place, to my annoyance.

Jesse Crawford

For the final "Maybe" I could not resist transporting you to what sounds like a skating rink for a serenade by organist Jesse Crawford, along with Nat Shilkret and his Victor Orchestra. The echoey ambiance was actually created by recording these forces in an empty hall in the New York's Wurlitzer Building with Crawford at the console.

Someone to Watch Over Me

"Someone to Watch Over Me"

Before we close with Lawrence's show-stopping ballad version, let's hear "Someone to Watch Over Me" in two of the typically bouncy renditions that were popular then.

First was a fine arrangement from one of the best-regarded bands of the day, that of George Olsen. I am particularly partial to bass sax solos; there's a good one on this record.

The second version is another fascinating example from Gershwin himself.

After all this peppiness, we conclude with Gertrude Lawrence indulging in some emotion and rubato in her big number from the show. Lawrence sang the number to a rag doll in the staging. Originally, this song was near the beginning of the show, but Oh, Kay! ran so long in tryouts that scenes were cut and shifted around so much that the star did not appear on stage until 40 minutes into the production and this number ended up in the second act. In the studio, Tom Waring is again Lawrence's accompanist.

These records were remastered from lossless needle drops found on Internet Archive. The sound is generally quite good. The download includes labels and more production photos.

A more complete version of the score can be found in the 1994 Nonesuch recording with Dawn Upshaw in the Lawrence role and Eric Stern conducting. There also was a 1955 studio version from Columbia with Barbara Ruick and Jack Cassidy, and a 1960 revival cast that I don't have in my collection.

The chorus admonishes Kay

Little Richard

I don't think I've ever posted a rock 'n' roll record before, but I transferred this one for my own amusement, and thought some of you might like it.

Little Richard's success was a happy accident of sorts. He had already failed with two other record companies when Specialty Records decided to record him in 1955. Producer Bumps Blackwell of Specialty thought that Richard might work well with the unique sounds that came out of Cosima Matassa's recording studio in New Orleans.

And so it was that Little Richard, a native of Macon, Ga., became an exponent of the New Orleans sound, working with Blackwell and the Matassa house band.

This LP contains the biggest records that Richard made from 1955-57. For the most part, the musicians you hear are Lee Allen (tenor sax), Red Tyler (baritone sax), Frank Fields (bass), Earl Palmer (drums) and Edgar Blanchard, Roy Eustis Montrell or Justin Adams (guitar). They had played on many New Orleans hits by that time, and would continue to do so.

We call Little Richard a "rock 'n' roll" act, but was first and foremost a rhythm and blues artist, one with many influences. He liked the vocals of Sister Rosetta Tharpe, and he borrowed some aspects of his stage personna from Billy Wright and Esquerita. Some of his repertoire (e.g., "Keep A-Knockin'") goes back to the 20s. His first hit, "Tutti-Frutti," was a salacious song that was toned down for recording purposes.

But Richard put all this together in his own way, one that is irresistible more than 60 years later.

Somebody Loves Me, Plus Seeley and Fields

The title Somebody Loves Me may lead you to think that this is the soundtrack for a Gershwin musical. Not so - it's from a 1952 film that starred the Betty Hutton in a story "suggested by the careers of Blossom Seeley and Benny Fields."

Who, I hear you asking, were Seeley and Fields? The duo were vaudeville headliners, famous in their day (1910s and 20s), but forgotten today.

I don't know why the Paramount folks thought fit to disinter the careers of Seeley and Fields, but they did for this production, which turned out to be Hutton's last musical on their lot. My guess is that they were following up on the late-career successes of Seeley's male counterpart, Al Jolson, and the box office business that The Jolson Story had done.

In some ways, it wasn't a bad idea. Sure, Hutton was far more glamorous than Seeley and did not sound like her, and the film itself isn't very good (I watched it in the line of duty). But the soundtrack (or "songs from the film" as this 10-inch record is dubbed) is excellent. It is certainly the best thing I have heard from Hutton. And Seeley and Fields were talented performers. So for this post, I have added 11 vintage 1911-1950 recordings by the two to go along with the soundtrack LP from Somebody Loves Me.

About Seeley and Fields

Let me back up and give you a clue as to the importance of Seeley and Fields. The star of this married duo was Seeley, who was a headliner well before she met Fields. She was raised in San Francisco, and by 1910 was prominent enough to introduce "Some of These Days," a song soon identified with her rival Sophie Tucker. A star of vaudeville, Seeley came out of the minstrel show tradition. Accordingly, many of her songs express her longing for the dear-old Southland (where she never lived) or indulged in distasteful minstrel-show stereotypes (e.g., Irving Berlin's Lazy). That said, she was quite a skilled and powerful performer who deserved her renown.

Benny Fields joined Seeley's act as a backup singer in 1921; they were married the following year and formed a duo. Fields himself was a talented vocalist whose easy-going manner and mellow baritone contrasted well with Seeley's trumpeting.

As far as I can tell, Seeley and Fields did not make records together until the 1950s, when Decca had them put together a rival set to the Somebody Loves Me soundtrack. But they did appear as a duo in a few short films, which can be seen on YouTube - "Hello Bluebird" from 1927 and "Why Don't You Practice What You Preach" from 1935.

The download includes seven Seeley solo recordings and four from Fields. More about those recordings in a bit; first, let's discuss the soundtrack LP.

Somebody Loves Me

I characterized Seeley's singing as "trumpeting" above; like Jolson, it might be more aptly described as "tromboning." Hutton, uncharacteristically, engages in none of that brassiness. While the liner notes acknowledge that she "sprang to quick fame with her knock-down-drag-out style of singing," it goes on to explain that in this film she reveals a new, quieter style. This was supposedly influenced by Seeley's change in styles as her career progressed.

The truth is that Hutton had recently encountered vocal problems and could no longer shout the house down as she once did. She turned instead to a more subdued style that is far more appealing, at least to this listener. As mentioned, she sounds nothing like the Seeley you will hear on her singles. In the film, her rendition of the wonderful "Rose Room" wouldn't have been heard past the second row of the theater.

The film's song repertoire is largely drawn from Seeley's trunk, but I suspect that "Somebody Loves Me" was chosen for its convenient title. Seeley did not introduce it and didn't record it when it was new (1924), as far as I can tell. To supplement the oldies, Paramount brought in the team of Livingston and Evans to supply a few new numbers. One was "Love Him," which was useful in the plot. Another was "Mr. Banjo Man," because the studio apparently thought there weren't enough stereotypical minstrel numbers in existence.

"Mr. Banjo Man" figures in the film's most elaborate number, where it leads into one of those "longing for the South" songs, "Dixie Dreams," done in blackface. This may be one of the last such scenes in a major American film; the only one more recent that I can recall is in Joan Crawford's Torch Song the following year. (The soundtrack LP from that film is available here.) Somebody Loves Me even had a lobby card with Hutton in blackface (included in the download).

The nine songs on the LP are all Hutton, except for a duet in "Jealous" with Pat Morgan, a Canadian singer who apparently dubbed the singing voice of Ralph Meeker for the film. Meeker is miscast; he was more comfortable playing Mickey Spillane than Benny Fields. But Morgan actually sounds like Fields, so that's a win.

The music director for the film and conductor for the LP was Emil Newman, brother to Alfred and Lionel. I've read that the album includes both material from the soundtrack and re-recordings. I am not certain about that, although I did notice that "Mr. Banjo Man" was redone at least in part for the LP.

1952 ad (click to enlarge)

Seeley and Fields Singles

Seeley first became popular in her native San Francisco. By 1911 she was in New York, and Columbia had engaged her to record "He's Coming Back." This appears to be her first record, according to discographer Brian Rust. The accompaniment is anonymous, but Rust speculates it is by Prince's Band.

Seeley's next release was not for another 10 years, the oddly titled "Funeral Blues (Eat Custard and You'll Never Break a Tooth)," again with an anonymous accompaniment.

She did a few more recordings in 1921 and 1922, but the next item in our set is from 1923 - the terrific if stereotypical "You Said Something When You Said 'Dixie.'" The arrangement is not a model of subtlety; it includes a banjo chorus of "Dixie" for good measure. But Seeley is superb.

She also is stellar in the next two selections, a coupling of "Lazy" with "Don't Mind the Rain" from 1924. For the first time, the band is named. It is the Georgians, an ODJB-style ensemble that is well suited to the singer's style. The group, a subset of the Phil Specht orchestra, was led by trumpeter Frank Guarente, with arrangements by pianist Arthur Schutt.

The Georgians (click to enlarge)

The final Seeley pairing is her first electrical recording: another Dixie song, "It's Just That Feeling for Home" and the famous "Yes Sir, That's My Baby," one of her biggest hits. Unfortunately, the Georgians have been replaced by the duo-piano accompaniment that was popular at the time.

Fields would seem to have made few recordings, but his coupling of two Johnny Mercer songs from 1936, "Lost" and "Welcome Stranger" give a very good impression of his genial manner and pleasing voice. I've also included an M-G-M record from 1950 coupling "For Me and My Gal" and "Lullaby of Broadway," but by then his voice had become dry.

The sound on all of these is very good, with the exception of Fields' 1936 disc, which has surface noise. All the Seeley-Fields materials were remastered from lossless files on Internet Archive, except for the 1911 disc, which is from the University of California-Santa Barbara. The soundtrack LP is from my collection. The download includes more photos, label scans, and so on.