The Warm Voice of Hal Derwin

I am sure I have a few of Hal Derwin's Capitol 78s, but I paid him little mind until my recent post of the first Buddy DeSylva tribute album. There, Derwin contributed a most pleasing account of "When Day Is Done," so I decided to look at his recorded legacy more closely.

Today's post, consisting of 25 Derwin single sides from 1946-49, is the result of that examination. Most of these little-known recordings are distinguished by Derwin's warm, relaxed vocals - in the vein of Crosby or Como, and not markedly inferior to them, either. The set also includes two pleasant instrumentals from the big band that Derwin was leading at the time. And it also includes the sole single by an odd Capitol all-star ensemble called Ten Cats and a Mouse, which included Derwin. In total, the collection includes all but six of the songs that Derwin recorded for Capitol.

Hal Derwin is answering fan mail -
or so his publicist informs us

Derwin (1914-98) apparently started off as a vocalist (he was in a trio with Lee Gillette, himself later associated with Capitol), but also played guitar at times when he was with several bands, including Shep Fields and Artie Shaw (where he was called Hal Stevens). I'll post a few of his Shaw records later on. Derwin eventually got the call to record for Capitol, and formed his own band at about the same time.

Fortunately for him, his first record - "The Old Lamplighter" - did well, and that set Derwin up for a three-year run in the Capitol studios. The flip side of the record - "I Guess I'll Get the Papers and Go Home" - may bear some explanation to any young readers. "Papers" refers to newspapers, now scarce, but then plentiful. In the major cities, publishers would time the first edition of the morning paper to his newsstands at about midnight. So theoretically, one could finish a lonely evening by picking up the papers and heading home.

Next in queue is Lecuona's "Another Night Like This," from Dick Haymes' film Carnival in Costa Rica, featured here in the soundtrack rendition. Derwin does well by it, even if he is not in the Haymes class. The coupling is "You'll Always Be the One I Love." The romantic backing on these earliest records is by the busy maestro Frank De Vol.

"It Might Have Been a Different Story" and "You Can Take My Word for It, Baby" are two pop items of the day, the latter also recorded by a bouncy Frank Sinatra.

At this point (1947), Derwin switches to his own band for backing, along with a vocal group. For "An Apple Blossom Wedding" and "Blue and Broken Hearted" the vocal assistance is by Gloria and Diane, of whom I know nothing. (If I were to speculate wildly, the Gloria might be Gloria Wood.)

For "How Lucky You Are" (also done by Buddy Clark) and "On the Avenue," Gloria and Diane are supplanted by the Co-Eds. In turn, they were replaced by the Hi-Liters for "My, How the Time Goes By" and "The Little Old Mill" (another song that Clark put out). The Hi-Liters stayed around for "The Dream Peddler" and "You're Too Dangerous, Cherie." The latter song is "La Vie en Rose" in English mufti - and another Clark specialty.

Hal Derwin and two unidentified members of the Hi-Liters.
That could be Gloria Wood on the right.

Derwin reached back to 1932 for the old favorite "We Just Couldn't Say Goodbye," which came out then on a memorable Boswell Sisters disc that he does not surpass (who could?). The flip is "Worry Worry Worry."

Capitol assembled the Ten Cats and a Mouse is October 1947 to play "Ja-Da" and "Three O'Clock Jump," the latter credited to "Felis Domestica." The trick here is that the musicians all play instruments other than their specialties. So, for example, trumpeters Billy May and Bobby Sherwood take up the trombone, lamentably. The best soloist is surely Benny Carter on tenor saxophone, but this is a bit of a cheat, since Carter played that instrument (and several others, including trumpet) regularly. The inaudible drummer is Peggy Lee (presumably the Mouse). Derwin plays guitar.

In addition to its Buddy DeSylva tribute album, Capitol included Derwin in a Jerome Kern memorial package in 1947, assigning him one of my favorite songs, "The Touch of Your Hand," an quasi-operetta piece that is not suited to the singer's style.

We move on to 1948 and "Melody Time" from the Disney film. The backing was an instrumental from Derwin's band, "Always," from Irving Berlin and 1925. The group sounds very good; I suspect it was a studio ensemble rather than a road band.

Derwin's last solo in this set is another lonely-guy song, "I Go In When the Moon Comes Out." Capitol coupled it with an instrumental of "Louise."

The final, 1949 recordings were two enjoyable duets with ex-Goodman singer Martha Tilton, both backed by Frank De Vol. The dance novelty "Ballin' the Jack" was coupled with Derwin's own "Take Me Back," a nostalgic number that features an unconvincing "soft-shoe" solo probably played by the drummer. It's nicely done, even so.

Derwin had his limitations, and his band was nothing to set the pulse racing, but at his best he was a smooth and very pleasing singer who deserves to be remembered. After his Capitol stint, he continued to lead a band for a piece, and eventually landed back at Capitol in an A&R role.

These records were obtained from lossless needle drops on Internet Archive, as redone by me. The sound is generally very good.

Folk-Influenced Czech Music By Hilmar, Malát, Smetana and Ostrčil

In common with many late 19th century and early 20th century composers, Bedřich Smetana was inspired by the indigenous Czech music he heard when he was young - as was his successor, the even more renowned Antonín Dvořák.

In today's post he hear the music of a Czech composer, František Hilmar, whose published dance music may have influenced Smetana and Dvořák. We also hear some of Smetana's earliest music, as well as folk-inflected compositions by Jan Malát and by Otakar Ostrčil, a student of Dvořák's contemporary Zdenek Fibich.

These come from two early Supraphon LPs, the second of which has an incongruous full-up of Gounod's Faust ballet music, included here for the sake of completeness.

František Hilmar - Czech Polkas

František Hilmar

František Hilmar (1803-81), who is sometimes called the "Father of the Polka," was a teacher who also composed, making use of the dance tunes that were then becoming popular, especially the polka. He reputedly was the author of the first published polka, dating from 1837. Hilmar's works are said to have influenced Smetana in his younger years, as well as Dvořák. The influence will be immediately clear, I believe.

Hilmar's most famous composition was the "Esmeralda Polka," named in honor of the central character in Victor Hugo's novel The Hunchback of Notre-Dame, which had been published in 1831. (A more euphonious title than the "Quasimodo Polka," I suppose.) "Esmeralda" leads off this selection of six Hilmar polkas. The recordings, dating from 1950, are by the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra under Alois Klíma.

Jan Malát - Slavonic Maidens

Jan Malát

Jan Malát (1843-1915), a younger contemporary of Smetana, was a composer and teacher who collected and edited folk songs. In "Slavonic Maidens," he characterizes Slovak, Czech, Polish and Bulgarian girls, making use of traditional tunes.

The 1950 recordings come from Václav Smetácek and the Prague Symphony Orchestra FOK (Film-Opera-Koncert).

Both the Hilmar and Malát works are tuneful pieces that will be enjoyed by anyone who likes Smetana's Bartered Bride dances. The performances are idiomatic and the 70-year-old sound is true to life. These come from a 10-inch Supraphon LP.

Bedřich Smetana - Wedding Scenes

Bedřich Smetana

Now on to a 12-inch Supraphon album combining works by Smetana, Ostrčil and Gounod.

"Wedding Scenes" is a very early, folk-inspired composition by Bedřich Smetana (1824-84), dating from his high school years. Even so, it is characteristic enough of his later output that he utilized some of the motifs in his music for The Bartered Bride.

Smetana wrote the work for piano; this version has been orchestrated by Josef Hüttl. The 1951 performance is by the Film Symphony Orchestra, directed by Otakar Pařik. The sessions were in the Rudolfinum.

Otakar Ostrčil - Peasant Festival

Otakar Ostrčil

As with the Smetana work, the "Peasant Festival" by Otakar Ostrčil (1879-1935) is an early work, his Op. 1. Unlike "Wedding Scenes," however, it is somewhat uncharacteristic of Ostrčil's major, late-Romantic compositions to come. As the name implies, "Peasant Festival" derives its themes from folk and popular music.

The Ostrčil recording is also by the Film Symphony Orchestra, here conducted by Zbynek Vostrák. I don't have a date for the recording but it was before 1955, when the conductor passed away.

The Smetana and Ostrčil works are most affectionately and effectively done, and the sound is well-balanced.

Charles Gounod - Ballet Music for Faust

Charles Gounod

In this program of folk-influenced music by Czech composers, a suite by the Frenchman Charles Gounod (1818-93) may seem to be an odd disk mate. But consider that it is from the same period (written in 1869) and is dance music. Also, it is tuneful, direct, and was a great hit with the Parisians and for the Paris Opera. Gounod's score for his opera Faust was composed in 1859 and did not have a dance interlude until the Opera took the production on 10 years later. Ballets were de rigueur at the Paris Opera of the time.

The straightforward performance is led by Václav Smetácek, conducting the Prague Symphony Orchestra FOK, which does sound a little thin here. The 1953 recording comes from Prague's Domovina Studio.

If you want to compare this recording of the Faust music to another, I shared the George Weldon version last year.

Morton Gould's Music for Cinerama Holiday

Quick: what was the most popular film of 1955? Well, it probably doesn't take much imagination to guess Cinerama Holiday, the subject of this post and the correct answer.

Now then, who were the stars of this spectacle? Ha! Got you there. They were non-professionals, John and Betty Marsh and Beatrice and Fred Troller. The movie got away with having zero star power among the actors because the film projection system itself was the principal attraction.

The premiere of This Is Cinerama

Cinerama was a three-projector system that played on a huge curved screen in specially equipped theaters. The first such film, This Is Cinerama, dates from 1952. Cinerama Holiday was the second. The process underwent some changes as time went on, and production fizzled out in the 1960s. A few Cinerama theaters are still hanging around for revivals, and the films have appeared on DVD and Blu-Ray.

Promotional postcard for Cinerama Holiday

As the name suggests, Cinerama Holiday was a travelogue of sorts, following two couples on their journeys. The Trollers, from Switzerland, came to the Americas. The Marshes, from Kansas City, traveled to Europe.

Morton Gould

The score for Cinerama Holiday is credited to Morton Gould, but the LP cover says that additional music was contributed by Van Cleave (aka Nathan Van Cleave). Jack Shaindlin is credited as conductor and musical director. Mysteriously, a few of the album selections are attributed to Shaindlin on the labels, and none to Van Cleave. The Argentine composer Terig Tucci contributed "Holiday in Rio."

When you examine the musical credits in the film's souvenir booklet, you find that the movie itself had a much more varied soundtrack than the LP. It presented such attractions as a "traditional Chinese orchestra," the Dartmouth Glee Club, the congregation of the Second Free Mission Baptist Church, yodelers, an excerpt from Rameau's Les Indes Galantes, and Papa Celestin's Original Tuxedo Dixieland Jazz Band - among others.

None of these appear on the album, which is almost entirely orchestral, with the notable exception of a awful piece called "Hail to Our Land," which ends the LP.

Scene from Cinerama Holiday on the curved screen

This is not to say that the record is unpleasant; quite the contrary. As always with Gould, the melodies and orchestrations are apt and enjoyable.

Oddly, Gould decided to compete against himself in the market by recording an EP of the Cinerama Holiday music for RCA Victor, which I unfortunately do not have. I did locate two numbers by Papa Celestin, which Columbia issued on a single purportedly as being from the soundtrack. The musical credits mentioned above, however, claim that Celestin and band only performed one of the two during the film - "Tiger Rag." I've included both sides as a bonus.

Papa Celestin picture sleeve

The sound is quite good for both LP and single. The film soundtrack was recorded in stereo, but Mercury's 1955 issue was mono-only.

This is another one of the LPs I transferred many years ago that has never appeared on the blog.

Souvenir booklet

Neal Hefti - 'Sex' and the Coral Singles

This is a soundtrack requested by my friend Ernie, I suspect as much for the star of the film, Natalie Wood, as for the music.

Neal Hefti

Even so, it's a good record with music by blog favorite Neal Hefti. It's also notably short - barely 30 minutes. So I've added six songs that Hefti recorded for the Coral label in the early 1950s that have not had an official re-release, as far as I can tell.

The title of the 1964 film, Sex and the Single Girl, is far more suggestive than the final product turned out to be. The movie derived its name from the book that Wood and Tony Curtis are coyly perusing on the album cover. That 1962 tome, written by ad copywriter Helen Gurley Brown, was a notable best-seller, and the author went on to be the editor of Cosmopolitan magazine for 32 years.

Helen Gurley Brown

Wikipedia tells us, "In the 1960s, Brown was an outspoken advocate of women's sexual freedom and sought to provide women with role models in her magazine. She claimed that women could have it all - 'love, sex, and money' ... Her work played a part in what is often called the sexual revolution." I remember all the hubbub about the book and the movie; unfortunately, I was slightly too young to participate in what is often called the sexual revolution.

Natalie Wood

So while the Sex and the Single Girl title might lead you to think that the movie was a sex manual of sorts, I believe it was actually your standard farce of the time. Some of it is knock-off of Pillow Talk, with Curtis taking the Rock Hudson impersonation route to deceive Wood. And apparently Tony ends up in drag at one point (see below), reprising his Some Like It Hot antics (and those of Cary Grant in Bringing Up Baby 25 years earlier).

Tony Curtis and Natalie Wood

The score, too, is not terribly original, although entirely pleasant. "Legs" is a smooth swinger, very early 60s, as is "The Game," with piano, strings and woodwinds led by flute played by jazz standout Buddy Collette. "Midnight Swim" has a twist-frug beat and an organ lead, which was then becoming popular. Hefti reused the "City Style" riff in his 1968 theme for The Odd Couple. "I've Got Love" sounds like any number of soul-jazz anthems.

Fran Jeffries

One oddity is that the title song was written by Richard Quine, the producer. The vocalist on that piece and Jolie's "Anniversary Song" was singer-dancer-actor Fran Jeffries, who appears in the film. A fine entertainer, she was married at the time to blog favorite Dick Haymes.

Coral Singles

Frances Wayne

The Coral singles all date from 1951-53. Three of the six feature a vocal by Frances Wayne, who, I will admit, is not a favorite of mine. The first cut is, by chance, "Regular Man," the Jeri Sullivan song that recently appeared here as interpreted by its author. Wayne's externalized reading is less pleasing that Sullivan's simpler approach. The backing is "You're the Only One I Love."

The single above was issued under Wayne's name. On "Lonesome and Blue," Wayne and Hefti are listed as co-leaders of the orchestra. Its flip side is a Hefti instrumental, "Why Not?", which he also arranged for Count Basie, who recorded it at about the same time.

Bunny Briggs

The final two songs have vocals by the excellent dancer-singer Bunny Briggs - "Cecilia" and the traditional New Orleans number "Eh! La Bas," here credited to Maddy Russell. Very enjoyable stuff!

Briggs appeared with several big bands. I plan to feature a few of his records with Charlie Barnet on the singles blog.

The sound on all these items is excellent.

Rodziński Conducts Mendelssohn

Artur Rodziński (1892-1958) has appeared on this blog as many times as anyone, for the simple reason that he is one of my favorites. A great conductor, he is seldom recognized as such, and his records are not often reissued - particularly the early ones with the Cleveland Orchestra, which he led from 1933-43.

Artur Rodziński by Lino Lepinsky

Here is an excellent example of those Severance Hall recordings - his 1941-42 version of the Overture and Incidental Music for A Midsummer Night's Dream by Felix Mendelssohn, during his one of his last recording sessions with the orchestra.

This performance is everything that one might wish, both enchanted and virtuosic - quite a feat with a orchestra barely 20 years old. The sound is clear and well balanced, if not terribly plush. Until fairly recently, Severance was a dry hall, so much so that Decca-London decamped for the Masonic Auditorium to record the Maazel-era Clevelanders. Another issue was the size of the string section at the time: much smaller than the orchestra's East Coast rivals.

This transfer comes from a mint first-generation LP copy, which came shrouded in the usual Columbia tombstone cover of the time. I've chosen to head this post with the far more colorful and apt cover that Alex Steinweiss designed for the 78 set - one of his best.

This transfer comes as the result of a request at another forum. I am told the performance has not been available for a long time, so please enjoy what is apparently a rare item.

Detail from a 1943 Columbia ad

The Kentonesque Earle Spencer

An article this week on the Jazzwax blog reminded me that I had processed a set of files by Earle Spencer and His Band a while back, for possible posting here.

Earle Spencer

If you are asking, "Who's Earle Spencer?", I am sure you aren't alone. He was a very young and ambitious West Coast bandleader who achieved some popularity regionally in the postwar years, then dropped out of sight. The quickest (and most accurate) way to characterize his sound is "Stan Kenton-like." But while his approach was an homage, it was a high quality one, with powerful brass and good arrangements, and remains enjoyable 70 years later.

My set includes 10 of the 19 songs that Spencer recorded for the Black & White label from 1946-49, all remastered from 78 needle drops found on Internet Archive. If you like what you hear, the Fresh Sounds label has a new release with all the Black & Whites along with a second disc of live performances.

There is more about Spencer in the Jazzwax article. Also, a detailed look at his career written by Fresh Sounds' Jordi Pujol can be found here.

The records are well worth hearing if you like the Kenton blast-attack, and deserve to be better known.

Irish Songs from Dick Haymes

When I pulled my copy of this Dick Haymes LP down from the shelf, all I had in my hand was the cover. The disc had departed for places unknown. Fortunately, my friend John Morris supplied his transfer of this fine album of Irish songs, which then I cleaned up, adding scans of my forlorn cover.

To fill out the program, I've added three Irish numbers that Haymes sang in the 1944 film Irish Eyes Are Smiling, sourced from the soundtrack and V-Discs.

Dick Haymes

Although Haymes was born in Argentina, he was of Anglo-Irish descent, his mother having been born in Ireland. He made only this one album of Irish songs; it is quite a good one.

The back cover of the LP tells us that Decca decided to make an Irish-themed album with Haymes following the success of his recording of "How Are Things in Glocca Mora?", from the then-current Broadway show Finian's Rainbow. The "Glocca Mora" 78, which came out in early 1947, was coupled with "'Twas Only an Irishman's Dream." The balance of the LP was recorded late that same year, in time to beat the union recording ban that went into effect on New Year's Day 1948. I believe the set debuted as a 78 album in 1948, followed by this 10-inch LP in 1949.

The fare on the album is somewhat unusual - it avoided the popular favorites like "Galway Bay." Instead, Decca reached back to songs that had been recorded by John McCormack decades earlier, while adding one song from a then-current movie.

"Glocca Mora" and its discmate were arranged by Gordon Jenkins. The balance of the numbers were led by Victor Young. Here are a few notes on the selections.

"'Twas Only an Irishman's Dream" is a memorable song dating from 1916. It was the first hit for durable lyricist Al Dubin, working with John O'Brien and Rennie Cormack. The song was featured by Blanche Ring in the revue Broadway and Buttermilk. The song title has more recently lent itself to the book 'Twas Only an Irishman's Dream: The Image of Ireland and the Irish in American Popular Song Lyrics, 1800-1920. 

"There's a Dear Little Plant" is usually called "The Dear Little Shamrock," and was recorded under that title by John McCormack in 1910. It dates from the 18th century and has been attributed to Andrew Cherry.

"Eilleen Allanna" is another McCormack song, released in 1913. The song dates from 1873, and seems to have been written in America by J.R. Thomas and E.S. Marble.

"My Snowy Breasted Pearl," written by George Petrie, dates back to 1855. It was recorded by Paddy Reilly, The Wolfe Tones and McCormack, to name a few.

"The Blarney Roses" is another traditional song, with words by Alex Melville and music arranged by D. Frame Flint. It was recorded by George O'Brien in 1926.

"Hush-a-Bye (Wee Rose of Killarney)" comes from the 1947 film My Wild Irish Rose, where it was sung by Dennis Morgan. The music was by M.K. Jerome; lyrics by Ted Koehler.

"The Ould Plaid Shawl" dates to 1895, when it was published as by Francis Fahy and William Glancy. It was interpolated into the Broadway show Peggy Machree in late 1908 and recorded by McCormack the following year. At that time the song was credited to Fahy and Clarence Lucas. When Haymes got a hold of it, the credits were Fahy and Battison Haynes. Fahy wrote the words; the music attribution may relate to different arrangements of the same folk-derived tune, or even different melodies - I'm not sure.

Bonus Songs from Irish Eyes Are Smiling

I mentioned that the bonus items were all featured in Haymes' 1944 film Irish Eyes Are Smiling, a biopic about songwriter Ernest R. Ball. As far as I can tell (and I am no discographer), Decca only had the singer record "Let the Rest of the World Go By" from that film's songs. So my bonus selections of three Irish-themed numbers are from different sources.

The first item is Haymes' brief recording of "When Irish Eyes Are Smiling," which comes from the soundtrack.

I have taken the other two from V-Disc sources. The first, "A Little Bit of Heaven," also is supposedly from the soundtrack - or so the label and V-Disc discography seem to indicate. However, IMDb suggests that Haymes did not sing the piece in the movie.

That also is true about the final selection, "Mother Machree," which comes from an unknown source per the discography. My guess is that both songs were taken from radio programs of the time.

The sound on all these items is reasonably good, although you may notice some background occasionally on the LP and V-Discs.

Thanks again to John for his transfer of the LP!

A 1946 ad in which Haymes, Jenkins and Helen Forrest
demonstrate their enthusiasm about spark plugs