Bob Manning - Lonely Spell

Big-voiced baritone Bob Manning (1926-1997) sang with an abundance of warmth, so much that Capitol's publicity machine touted his "black velvet and stardust" voice. That's not far off, either.

I will be offering two posts devoted to Manning's 1947-55 singles, but first I thought I would present the high point of his career. It's his only Capitol LP, Lonely Spell, recorded in 1955.

Bob Manning listening to a playback

As with most singers of this era, Manning started off as a band vocalist. In one of my later posts, I'll  share his recordings with Ziggy Elman, Buddy Williams and Art Mooney. Unlike many other vocalists, however, Manning was virtually a finished product when he started. His first records (with Elman) are excellent - smooth, sensitive and secure.

As soon as he started recorded, Manning became known for being a virtual vocal clone of Dick Haymes. He even adopted Haymes' mannerisms seamlessly into his performances. But he soon moved on, while retaining the warmth and security of his idol.

Manning hit his stride when he joined Capitol in early 1953. As was the case with most vocalists of the time, his singles were devoted to novelty material and ephemeral pop songs, along with a few standards. So, for example, one of his early Capitol records was titled "Venus Di Milo," where he is made to plead, "Where are the arms and heart of you?" One issue may have been that he wasn't being offered the best new songs for those singles - after all, Capitol had Frank Sinatra, Nat Cole, Dean Martin and Gordon MacRae among its male singers. And even those luminaries recorded some dismal material.

With Lonely Spell, Manning was given high quality songs to work with, and he handled them very well. The title and cover set the tone for the album, which starts off with "Alone Together." This apparently was the original title tune for what was planned to be a concept album about love and loss. And indeed those are still the themes of the songs that he ended up recording.

But despite the title Lonely Spell, none of the first three tunes explore loneliness - "Alone Together," "You Call It Madness (But I Call It Love)" (Russ Columbo's signature song) and "I Hadn't Anyone Till You" (one of Ray Noble's best compositions) all are love songs dating from the 1930s.

The next three are about lost love, however. "When Your Lover Has Gone" is another '30s item that Sinatra included on his own moody LP, In the Wee Small Hours, which was recorded earlier in 1955. (Manning holds up to the comparison.) The two final songs on Lonely Spell's first side are the excellent "I'm Thru with Love" and "You've Changed."

The second side again brings songs that are heartfelt, but again not necessarily "lonely." It starts with my favorite of all the selections, "Time Was," by the Mexican songwriter Miguel Prado with English words by S. K. Russell. (This beautiful song will be the subject of an upcoming post.)

The next two selections are lovelorn laments: "My Ideal," another exceptionally beautiful ballad, and "I Had the Craziest Dream." The balance of the LP is composed of love songs: "These Foolish Things," Victor Young's gorgeous "Love Letters," and another song that Sinatra recorded to great effect, Gordon Jenkins' "P.S. I Love You," with its evocative and slightly mysterious Johnny Mercer lyrics. (Where did the singer's spouse go and why?) Fittingly, the song and LP close with a ravishing tenor sax coda, which I believe is the work of Ted Nash.

Monty Kelly

Throughout, the lush backings are by Monty Kelly (1910-71), who later released instrumental LPs on the Carlton, Essex and Somerset labels, and did arrangements for vocalists Al Martino and Anita Bryant.

Lonely Spell was both the culmination and the virtual completion of Manning's Capitol career. After one more single, he left the label for a brief stay at RCA Victor. Later, he remade his signature tune, "The Nearness of You," for M-G-M, recorded an LP of wedding songs for Everest and did a few other things. The RCA recordings and "Nearness of You" remake can be found here. The original "Nearness of You" will be in the Capitol singles post.

Capitol unexpectedly (to me) included Manning in its '90s reissue series of "Great Ladies and Gentlemen of Song." That release included most of Lonely Spell and several other items. The complete Lonely Spell has not been reissued, except for a 2005 Japanese CD. This transfer comes from my own LP, which has excellent sound.