A Schubert Mass from St. Paul

When Nonesuch issued this recording of Schubert's A flat Mass in 1977, it had no competition in the catalog. The composer's liturgical works just weren't all that popular - or even known - back then.

So this accomplished version from St. Paul, Minnesota was welcomed avidly - by at least one reviewer anyway.

For good reason - it is a highly enjoyable performance of a fascinating work, and very well recorded. As far as I know it has not been available since the original issue.

Franz Schubert by Wilhelm August Rieder

Although the work is a Missa Solemnis, Richard Freed noted in Stereo Review that it "is more jubilant than solemn, a most attractive blend of Schubert’s characteristic lyricism with the theatrical/virtuoso elements in the Masses of Mozart and Haydn."

The Mass is contemporaneous with two of the composer's most renowned works - the Unfinished Symphony and the Rosamunde music.

Dennis Russell Davies and the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra 

Conducting the performance was the young Dennis Russell Davies, then 32 and the music director of the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, a fine ensemble. He enlisted a superior solo quartet for the work, soprano Marlee Sabo, mezzo-soprano Jan DeGaetani, tenor Paul Sperry and baritone Leslie Guinn.

Freed compared the disc to another that had been led by Antonio Janigro, which he found "by no means displeasing. But the new version knocks it out of court in just about every respect. First of all, good as Janigro’s concept is, Davies’ is more inspiriting still; in place of the nondescript Italian soloists, Davies has a first-rate quartet; his choral forces are at least equal to Janigro’s, and his St. Paul Chamber Orchestra conspicuously outshines the Milanese ensemble in both the brilliance and the warmth of its playing. Enfolding it all is the rich and realistic sound, which leaves the competition even further behind."

Marlee Sabo, Jan DeGaetani

A few words about the performers: Marlee Sabo has been on the faculty of the Wisconsin Conservatory since 1967, currrently as an emeritus, and has performed extensively in the Midwest. Jan DeGaetani, who died in 1989, was famed for her performances of music from all periods, particularly contemporary works.

Paul Sperry, Leslie Guinn

Paul Sperry, who passed away earlier this year, was another vocalist with a wide repertoire who often performed works written for him. Leslie Guinn also was a specialist in contemporary music and was head of the vocal department at the University of Michigan for many years. He died in 2020.

Dennis Russell Davies is still very active at age 80, currently as chief conductor of the Brno Philharmonic and of the MDR Leipzig Radio Symphony Orchestra.

Recording session in St. Paul's House of Hope Presbyterian Church

Let me also mention the contributions of the various choral ensembles from Carleton College of Northfield, Minnesota, as directed by William Wells.

Finally, the well-regarded sound team of Marc Aubort (d. 2023) and Joanna Nickrenz (d. 2002), who produced hundreds of unobtrusively excellent recordings during this period.

Richard Freed's conclusion: "All in all, a stunning production, one that should go a long way toward making this splendid work as familiar and beloved as Schubert's instrumental compositions and songs." That hasn't happened yet - but even so there are many more recordings today than there were when the St. Paul sessions took place.

The link below is to the 16-bit, 44.1kHz lossless transfer. A high resolution version is available upon request.

LINK

Remembering Jack Jones

Considering that Jack Jones has long been one of my favorite singers, his neglect on this blog is a bit odd - just one post devoted to him, four years ago.

Now I will make amends with two more of his LPs, sadly presented in remembrance of this talented artist, who died a few days ago at age 86. (His New York Times obituary is here.)

My post in 2020 was focused on Jack's LP Lollipops and Roses, named for his first big hit, back in 1962. But as I mentioned back then, he had recorded previously for Capitol, and even had released an earlier album for Kapp records.

To quote myself from four years ago: "Capitol had him record the LP This Love of Mine in 1959. But that was it. A few years later, producer-arranger Pete King heard one of his personal appearances, and brought him to Kapp.

"That label issued a blizzard of Jones LPs during his six years with the organization - there are 20 or so." The first was Shall We Dance?, which is where we start this post.

Shall We Dance?

Although producer-arranger Pete King brought Jones to the Kapp label, the formidable Billy May was in charge of the Shall We Dance? sessions.

May is highly regarded, although I have to admit he has never been one of my favorites. Too many gimmicks, too many mannerisms for my taste.

Even so, he makes a good partner for Jones on this fine 1961 LP, most of which consists of songs oriented to the album title.

The Rodgers and Hammerstein title song is dispatched neatly, with Jack concluding the proceedings with a Sinatra-like "C'mon, let's dance!"

"The Spin I'm In" is an enjoyable contemporary song by Richard and Robert Sherman along with Dave Cavanaugh and May himself. This type of light material is suited to Jones' voice and approach.

Jack is in Astaire territory with Irving Berlin's "Change Partners," which he handles with the polish of Astaire, but without his yearning quality. Jack continues on the standards track with Cole Porter's "At Long Last Love."

Billy May

May pays homage to the Glenn Miller band in his chart for Jerry Gray's "A String of Pearls." (May played trumpet on the 1940 recording.) The arranger incorporates some of Bobby Hackett's famous cornet solo in his orchestrations, and even includes some of Chummy MacGregor's piano figures.

Jack sings the lyrics that Eddie DeLange later added to the tune. The lyricist put great stress on the word "Woolworth's" ("A string of pearls out of Woolworth's"), undermining the song's elegant feel.

"Takes Two to Tango" is a fun Al Hoffman-Dick Manning song first recorded, I believe, by the incomparable Pearl Bailey. Jack does not have Pearl's personality, but he does well.

The second side begins with "Dancing on the Ceiling," one of the best Rodgers and Hart songs, which had been memorably recorded by Sinatra and by Ella Fitzgerald a few years earlier. Jones was unafraid of comparisons.

We're back in Astaire territory with "Carioca," which comes from 1933's Flying Down to Rio. Next, "Ballerina," which Bob Russell and Carl Sigman wrote in 1947. The most popular version was by Vaughn Monroe. Jack is lighter toned that Monroe, helpful in this number.

Bronislaw Kaper's "Invitation" is a superior piece, with lyrics added by Paul Francis Webster. Its haunting quality (and complexity) has made it a favorite of jazz musicians. The first vocal version may have been by Jo Ann Greer with Les Brown in 1953, which I somehow missed in my post devoted to them. Jones makes light work of the melody. The song doesn't fit the "shall we dance" theme, but is welcome even so.

Bernie Hanighen and Johnny Mercer wrote "The Dixieland Band" for Benny Goodman back in 1935. It's a clever novelty, with lyrics typical of Mercer.

I mentioned that Jones was unafraid of comparisons. His final song is "The Last Dance," which Sammy Cahn and Jimmy Van Heusen wrote for Sinatra in 1959. It appeared on Frank's LP Come Dance with Me, also arranged by Billy May.

First cover

The image at top is actually the second cover for this LP. The first had Jack against a backdrop of Reynolds Wrap, as seen above. I transferred the LP from its second incarnation because my copy of that one was in stereo. The sound is vivid, although it features the exaggerated stereo separation that was in vogue back then.

LINK to Shall We Dance?

I've Got a Lot of Livin' to Do!

The title song comes from the musical Bye Bye Birdie, where it was an ode to Conrad Birdie's id, at least in the 1960 stage production. But the film and vocalists of the time treated it as one of the positive-thinking marches that became popular in the 60s.

Jones' version, with an idiosyncratic chart by Marty Paich, is a good example of the latter kind.

The next two items are associated with Sinatra, who had a remarkable ability to make songs his own: "It's a Lonesome Old Town" and "You Make Me Feel So Young." The second song comes from one of Frank's best LPs, Songs for Swingin' Lovers. but Jack acquits himself nicely. Paich conducted the former number, Pete King the latter.

Pete King

"Swingin' through the Park" sounds like something that Frank could have recorded, but no, this relatively early song by Alan and Marilyn Bergman and Lew Spence was first done by the Polka Dots with Wally Stott. The song is just what you'd think from hearing the title, and a pleasant stroll it is, too. King conducts.

"Bye Bye Baby" is associated with Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell, but it was first heard not in the film version of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, but from Carol Channing in the Broadway staging. Sinatra recorded the Styne-Robin song in 1949.

"The Donkey Serenade" is associated with an earlier singer - Jack's father Allan, who recorded the song the night before his son was born. The session was on January 13, 1938; Jack took his first bow on the 14.

Alternate album cover

"I Love Paris" comes from Cole Porter's Can-Can score. Much of the song is oddly dirge-like, I suppose to set off the soaring "I love Paris every moment" and what follows.

"When I Take My Sugar to Tea" is a 1931 pop song that has been revived periodically by such as Nat Cole and Bing, and just the year before by Sinatra.

Jack as a Cockney?

The West End yielded "Big Time," which Lionel Bart wrote for the musical dramedy Fings Ain't Wot They Used T'Be. There was a cast album that did not include this piece, but it did appear on a "songs from" LP with popular artists of the day. There it was alloted to Adam Faith, backed by John Barry. Jones' version (issued as a single as well) may have been the only other recording. The song was apparently supposed to be a climactic moment, and Jones' passionate reading, hugely abetted by a riff-happy Billy May chart, is most impressive. That said, Jones' nice-guy persona does undercut the menace implicit in the lyrics - "gonna use my wits, 'stead of just my mitts," etc. Visualizing Jack as a Teddy Boy takes some imagination.

Lew Spence returns with "Me and My Big Ideas," an obscure tune he wrote with lyricist Jerry Gladstone, I believe. It may be unknown, but it's accomplished, and it suits Jones beautifully. An effective Pete King chart, too.

Ollie Jones composed songs for many famed artists, including "Send for Me" for Nat Cole. "When a Man Cries" is less noted, but not unworthy of a listen in the version by Jones and Marty Paich.

Yip Harburg and Vernon Duke's "I Like the Likes of You" is certainly well known, and it brings this varied LP to a satisfying close. Pete King conducts.

LINK to I've Got a Lot of Livin' to Do!

Mitzi

When Verve issued her first LP in 1959, Mitzi Gaynor was so well known that the only name necessary on the cover was "Mitzi." (The striking cover photo helped identify her as well.) The famed entertainer died the other day at age 93.

Gaynor was acclaimed more as an actor and dancer, but she had demonstrated her singing ability - and her great personal appeal - in such films as South Pacific.

While Mitzi had a successful career in Hollywood, she enjoyed a much longer one via her elaborate stage act in Las Vegas and other resorts, and on television.

From her New York Times obituary: "One network appearance made a particularly strong impression: her performance of the Oscar-nominated song 'Georgy Girl' at the 1967 Academy Awards, complete with complex choreography, four male backup dancers in white suits, and a striptease costume change. That led to a decade-long series of Emmy Award-winning variety specials, with titles like 'Mitzi and a Hundred Guys' and 'Mitzi Zings Into Spring.'"

Gaynor produced only two record albums - this one and its Verve follow-up, Mitzi Gaynor Sings the Lyrics of Ira Gershwin. Her singing should be better remembered - it is persuasive.

Mitzi is almost entirely comprised of standards, save for the first song, "Do What You Do," by the Gershwins and Gus Kahn. That number originated with the 1929 Broadway musical Show Girl, where it was introduced by Ruby Keeler and Frank McHugh. Since Gaynor's revival, its most notable appearance has been on Bobby Short's 1973 Gershwin album.

The album also includes "Lazy," which Mitzi sang with Marilyn Monroe and Donald O'Connor in There's No Business Like Show Business (but which dates back to 1924).

On the LP, Mitzi sings with a great deal of personality and involvement, showing that her allure was not solely due to elaborate staging and costuming and her good looks.

There is at least one suggestion that she was not fully aware of her appeal. From the Times obit: "Late in life, Ms. Gaynor talked good-naturedly about Marilyn Monroe ... and Monroe’s success compared with hers. 'I had more talent. I could do more things,' she told The Hollywood Reporter sweetly in a video interview in 2013. But, she acknowledged, 'I wasn’t - sexy.'" OK, sure.

The fine backings on this LP are by Pete King. The record was issued in stereo, but my copy is in excellent mono, which I've enhanced with ambient stereo.

Verve's Promo for Mitzi

As a bonus, I've included my transfer of the disc jockey promotional record for Mitzi. Verve sent this out with a script the DJ could read so he or she could have a quasi-dialogue with the singer. (I don't have the script.)

The tracks, which are quite short, are designed to lead into songs, and are generic, so they can be used with any of the cuts. Presumably, however, the DJs would have been asked to program the two songs from the LP that were released as a single - "I Won't Dance" and "Cheek to Cheek," both associated with another singer-dancer, Fred Astaire.

LINK to Mitzi and Verve Promo

Betty Johnson - the Bell Recordings

Betty Johnson was not among the most famous vocalists of the 1950s, but she was popular on radio and television and made many good records.

Today's post collects her first 15 pop recordings, made for the Bell family of labels in 1954 and 1955. The releases did include one hit, which, as it happened, was a novelty record.

On my other blog you'll find the RCA Victor recordings that Betty made in 1955, right after her Bell contract expired. (More below.)

The Johnson Family Singers

Betty was a professional singer from the time she was 10. She, her parents and her brothers had formed a gospel group, the Johnson Family Singers, in 1938, and were heard on radio in Charlotte, North Carolina for more than a decade. Betty herself had a program starting in 1948.

The Johnson Family Singers

The Johnsons began recording for Columbia in 1946, issuing 50 or so numbers until their contract expired in 1954. The record company had seen the potential in clear-voiced Betty and began issuing gospel recordings under her name in 1951.

But Betty was also interested in pop styles. In the early 1950s, she appeared on the Arthur Godfrey Talent Scouts program, sharing top prize. She also began appearing every Sunday evening on the radio with the CBS orchestra, along with another spot on the Galen Drake Show. 

The Bell Recordings

Betty's pop recording career began in 1954 with Bell, part of the publishing company Simon & Schuster, which distributed the Bell products through its book network. Bell specialized in high quality cover records. Johnson was well suited to its approach - she was skillful, versatile, possessed good intonation and diction and a lovely voice.

Betty's first assignment was to cover the Patti Page hit "Cross Over the Bridge," a natural for her because the song was one of those uplifting quasi-gospel tune that were popular back then. "Change your reckless way o' livin', cross over the bridge," the song commanded. Betty is entirely convincing in the piece.

Her next release was Hank Williams' 1949 composition "There'll Be No Teardrops Tonight," which Columbia had newly recorded with Tony Bennett. Betty and bandleader Sy Oliver take a semi-R&B approach that works beautifully.

That song was backed by a cover of Ronnie Gaylord's hit "Cuddle Me," which Johnson and Oliver do in a shuffle rhythm. Not a great song, but a fine performance.

"My Restless Lover" was a hit for Patti Page, initially under the name "Johnny Guitar." Oddly enough, at the same time there was a film coming out by that name that had an excellent title song by Peggy Lee, so the title of Page's record was changed. Lee's song is better, but Johnson does well by this second Johnny Guitar tribute.

Next was a hit for Eddy Arnold, "This is the Thanks I Get." Johnson was to become a regular on Arnold's radio show in 1955. The bandleader here and for many of her later Bell records was ex-Miller arranger Norman Leyden. Betty also recorded with Norman's brother Jimmy.

"I Need You Now" was first done by Joni James, but I believe the most popular version was by Eddie Fisher, who will reappear in this narrative a little later on.

Bell then had Betty record one of Rosemary Clooney's biggest successes - "This Ole House," another quasi-gospel song, this one by Stuart Hamblen. Betty's proficient recording was aided by a sonorous bass singer who sounds very much like Thurl Ravenscroft, who had appeared on Clooney's Columbia record.

"Whither Thou Goest" is another song with gospel overtones, having been adapted from Biblical verse by Earl Chalmers Guisinger under the name of Guy Singer. The most popular version was by Les Paul and Mary Ford.

Far and away the most popular song from Cole Porter's broadway musical Silk Stockings was "All of You." Don Ameche introduced it; Fred Astaire perhaps did it best in the film version, but Johnson handles it nicely.

Bob Merrill's "Make Yourself Comfortable" was a hit for Sarah Vaughan, with contending discs by Peggy King and by Steve and Eydie. I'm a big Vaughan admirer and I've owned her version since it came out 70 years ago, but I do believe that Betty's reading is just as accomplished.

The New-Disc Recordings

In September 1954, Bell entered the market for non-cover material with a conventionally distributed label called "New-Disc." Betty was among the artists who featured in its releases. She produced the label's first and perhaps only hit, a novelty called "I Want Eddie Fisher for Christmas." It was written by Joan Javits and Phil Springer, the team behind "Santa Baby," who included references to Eddie's many hits.

Cash Box November 6, 1954

The trade press at the time made some vague reference to "restrictions" being put on the record; perhaps it was an objection by Fisher's label, RCA Victor (who would soon have Johnson under contract). But whatever the hitch was, it soon was overcome. RCA even had Spike Jones cover the song.

The backing number for "I Want Eddie" was the innocuous "Show Me" (not the Lerner and Loewe song).

Also for New-Disc, Betty recorded "Did They Tell You" and "Buckle on the Boot," a song by Norman Gimbel, who would play a part in Johnson's next semi-hit record.

New-Disc lasted only to the middle of 1955, but Bell continued in one form or another into the 1970s.

"The Touch" and Bally Records

New-Disc also handled the first issue of a song that was to become the title number of Betty's first LP - which came out on another label, Bally Records, after New-Disc's demise. That song was "The Touch," which Jean Wiener wrote as the theme music for the French film Touchez pas au grisbi, starring Jean Gabin as an underworld anti-hero.

In the film, the theme was played on harmonica. For the US release on New-Disc, Norman Gimbel came up with lyrics that have nothing to do with the film. Cash Box was entralled by the performance of "sexy-voiced" Betty. The reviewer liked the flip side even more - it was Sy Oliver's jazzy instrumental version of the theme, which I've included as a bonus. Sy should have provided the backing for Betty's vocal as well - it had to be better than the harmomica.

I will probably upload Betty's Bally recordings along with some of her overlapping Atlantic releases before too long.

LINK to Betty Johnson's Bell Recordings

The RCA Victor Recordings

Both Betty and the Johnson Family Singers moved on to the RCA Victor label in 1955 for a series of recordings. Victor released six songs by Betty and two LPs by the group. Both LPs have appeared on this blog previously - I have newly remastered them and in one instance did a re-recording. You can find the LP Old Time Religion here. Sing Hymns with the Johnson Family Singers is here.

As mentioned above, I've collected Betty's RCA Victor recordings for a new post on my other blog. There are six single sides along with a rare secular Johnson Family Singers recording.

Way back when, I mentioned that I would prepare a collection of the Johnson Family Singers' recordings for Columbia. I recently put together an extensive program of 40-some recordings, but the files somehow disappeared from my hard drive. This had to be a Windows 11 glitch of some type - couldn't be my fumble fingers, right? Anyway, I have put the Columbia project aside for a later date. Unfortunately it won't be as thorough as I had intended because the group's Columbia singles also disappeared from Internet Archive in its recent massive purge.

Material for the two Betty Johnson posts is derived from my collection with help from IA.

Halloween Is Near, and Here's the Soundtrack

Friend and long-time contributor Dave Federman is back with another of his holiday specials. This time he turned his attention to Halloween, with spendid results. Twenty-six selections, ranging from Borrah Minnevitch to Dr. John, with stops at the London Symphony and Screaming Jay Hawkins (and many other locales).

Here are Dave's thoughts on his latest compilation:

An Ardmore Halloween 2024

"Never in my life did I imagine making the mix you, if you choose to do so, are about to hear. 'An Ardmore Halloween 2024' is an unlikely first and likely last in this series of annual Big 10-Inch Record holiday posts. I will continue to celebrate Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's. But this will be a one-time-only contribution.

"What started out as a game became a serious pursuit in search of a mix that would honor all of the denotations and connotations of this holiday which, if nothing else, is responsible for more childhood tooth decay than all other holidays combined. Incipient diabetes may also be indebted to this night of free candy handouts to excited, giggly kids with outstretched bags and bowls while their parents stand gamely on the sidewalk.

"Since I am an avid collector of vintage vinyl, there will be a lot of music suitable for silly black sabbaths of the past. But there’s a fair dose of music from a much nearer present. I don’t venture into this century because all that music will be playing in your favorite chain stores. But there was a golden age of harum-scarum songs in my parents' and grandparents' times and I thought you’d like to hear what brought goose bumps to music buyers when there were still record stores."

Thanks, Dave - great material, as always!

LINK

Vaughan Williams' Visionary 'Dona Nobis Pacem'

This post is the latest in a survey of the classic 1960s-70s HMV recordings of Ralph Vaughan Williams' compositions. Today the focus is his haunting Dona Nobis Pacem, a magnificent work from 1936, here in a committed 1973 performance led by Sir Adrian Boult, transferred from a vintage pressing.

In his High Fidelity review of the disc, Abram Chipman writes of the composer's spirit, which is reflected in this music. He called Vaughan Williams "uncommonly generous, courageous, tender, bluntly honest, compassionate, and radiating a life-affirming optimism that occurs on such a scale rarely in the tonal arts."

"One couldn’t find a more sterling example of that greatness of heart than in the major work on this new release."

Sir Adrian Boult

While bitterly denouncing the horrors of war - which the composer well knew first hand - Vaughan Williams also maintains hope for the future, as expressed in the texts he chose for the work, largely from Walt Whitman, but also from the Catholic Mass and the Bible.

Let me quote again from Chipman: "Vaughan Williams, in his 'give us peace' [i.e., dona nobis pacem] plea, stressed the humanity of war's victims above all else. Thus, the second movement (Beat! beat! drums!) represents the angry juggernaut of militarism tramping over the everyday life of people at their studies, at their love-making, at the plow, and caring for their children.

"The third movement is a visionary elegy for solo baritone, who whispers the poignant truth that 'my enemy ... a man divine as myself is dead.' The awesomely solemn fourth section is a Dirge for Two Veterans, father and son.

"The finale returns to the Biblical and sacred vision of sources of the opening, with a brilliantly festive vision of a better and more peaceful world. In Vaughan Williams' rapturous vision (composed contemporaneously with the Fourth Symphony), cynicism and despair are banished. There is indignation and pain, of course, but dominating all is a caressing warmth for the human life that might have been."

Sheila Armstrong and John Carol Case

The performance of this important work is all that it should be. Sir Adrian leads the London Philharmonic Choir and Orchestra and has the great fortune to be working with two gifted soloists, soprano Sheila Armstrong, passionate and otherworldly at once in the opening Dona nobis pacem and the finale, and baritone John Carol Case, who presents the reconciliation elegy simply and eloquently.

Boult leads the Dirge for Two Veterans with great skill, the climaxes perfectly judged - as they are throughout this composition.

The recording from Kingsway Hall was considered to be a bit wooly on first release, but working from the original vinyl, the sound here is impressively live and impactful.

The LP is completed by Vaughan Williams' much earlier setting of Whitman's Toward the Unknown Region, which is well chosen for its compatibility with Dona Nobis Pacem, but is not in the composer's mature style. Its quality suffers only in comparison with the later work, however.

The download, as usual, includes complete scans, texts and reviews.

The link below is to the 16-bit, 44.1kHz version. A high resolution transfer is available upon request.

LINK to Dona Nobis Pacem and Toward the Unknown Region

The previous entries in this Vaughan Williams series have included:

• Five Tudor Portraits (Elizabeth Bainbridge, Jolhn Carol Case, conducted by David Willcocks)

• Riders to the Sea and Magnificat (Helen Watts, Margaret Price, conducted by Meredith Davies)

• An Oxford Elegy, Five Variants of Dives and Lazarus, Flos Campi (John Westbrook, Cecil Aronowitz, Willcocks conducting)

• Mass in G minor, Five Mystical Songs (King's College Choir, John Shirley-Quirk, Willcocks conducting)

• Sancta Civitas, Benedicite (Heather Harper, Ian Partridge, Shirley-Quirk, Willcocks conducting)

• Hodie (Janet Baker, Richard Lewis, Shirley-Quirk, Willcocks conducting)

• Serenade to Music (with Symphony No. 5) (16 soloists, Boult conducting)

Sir Adrian Boult, producer Christopher Bishop, Sheila Armstrong, John Carol Case

Jane Powell - The Verve Recordings

Jane Powell had the fortune or misfortune to become one of the last stars of the Hollywood musical. She became popular for her winsome appearance and distinctively appealing singing, starting in her teens in the mid-1940s through the downturn in musical films in the late 1950s - before her 30th birthday.

Powell made records for Columbia as a juvenile performer, then for M-G-M until her luck ran out in about 1956. At that point, a change of image was overdue - Jane was tired of playing overage adolescents.

The gamine began to mature with her new recording contract with Verve records in 1956, as exemplified by the cover of her LP for that label.

This post gathers together the 20 recordings she made for Verve in 1956-57 - the album above, two singles, and four songs from the television musical Ruggles of Red Gap (which also also released on singles).

Single: True Love / Mind If I Make Love to You

Powell's Verve recordings actually began with a cover version of two songs from the Cole Porter musical film High Society. The sonorous Bing Crosby moaned the hymn-like "True Love" to Grace Kelly in the film, which reading did well as a single. But so did Jane's summer 1956 entry for the Verve catalog, which was backed up by a (to me) even finer record, the beguine "Mind If I Make Love to You." 

Powell was always much more skillful with lyrics than is sometimes acknowledged. And in this single, her voice and phrasing have added a welcome maturity.

LP - Can't We Be Friends?

The single was a portent of what was to come in Powell's first and only Verve LP, which came out in late 1956. There, the selections were even more varied from her teen-operetta image, including both easygoing and harder swingers among the well-chosen standards. In the first song, "My Baby Just Cares for Me," her prominent vibrato is still in evidence, but much more relaxed than on previous records. Her phrasing, flexible even as a youngster, is notably well done in "For Every Man There's a Woman."

For these - and all her Verve recordings - she contends with arranger Buddy Bregman, never the most subtle of craftsmen. His blasting brass assaults on the first few songs are not all that helpful to projecting a more sophisticated approach.

Bregman is more under control in the ballad "Imagination," very nicely done by all parties, perhaps excepting the plaintive viola solo. Lovely song, so well handled.

Buddy Bregman

The Arlen-Robin "Hooray for Love" gets a relaxed interpretation with Bregman thankfully muting the brass. For "I Got It Bad (and That Ain't Good)," Bregman even indulges in some Ellingtonian wind colorations. Jane is not Ivie Anderson, but she is nonetheless convincing here.

Side 1 closes with a great song, the Martin-Blane "Ev'ry Time," handled with the requisite poignance - and including the seldom-heard verse, which is simply gorgeous. This is a high point of the LP.

Powell also is much more flexible with the standard "Comes Love" than the usual practice, including the verse. Bregman has the assault brass back for this one, but Jane belts right along with them, very well, too.

"Let's Face the Music and Dance" was introduced by one of Powell's former co-stars, Fred Astaire. She does him proud, and Buddy is all violins and winds - for a while, anyway. The bravura ending is too much from both of them.

"In Love in Vain" is not one of my favorites from Jerome Kern, even with Leo Robin's accomplished lyrics. Powell is not inside the song as much as in other numbers, although her coda is ravishing.

The Gene Austin-Roy Bergere oldie "How Come You Do Me Like You Do?" is a good choice for Jane, allowing her to move deftly from being aggrieved to aggressive, with sound backing from Buddy.

The album's title song is Kay Swift's greatest hit - "Can't We Be Friends?" - a marvelous torch song with lyrics by her then-husband Paul James (James Warburg). It was introduced by Libby Holman, but not done more effectively than here.

What better to close with than "The Things We Did Last Summer," the universally liked Jule Styne-Sammy Cahn song. Jane could be more rueful here as the leaves of summer fade.

Single: What Gives? What Goes? / Till the Next Time

Jule Styne (Bregman's uncle) was to be involved in the balance of Powell's Verve recordings. First was a follow-up single, with the composer's one-off song "What Gives? What Goes?" being the A-side. The lyrics are by "Kahn" according to the label, but I believe that is Sammy Cahn rather than the long-deceased Gus Kahn.

(Note: Dave Weiner tells me, "The 'Kahn-Styne' composer credit on one of the Jane Powell singles are Stanley Styne, Jule's son, and Donald Kahn, no relation to Sammy Cahn. They also wrote 'A Beautiful Friendship,' which Ella Fitzgerald recorded for Verve.")

It's an undistinguished song, so I chose to give pride of place to its B-side, the unknown-to-me "Till the Next Time," a mid-tempo song that's enjoyable despite the rote lyrics.

Songs from Ruggles of Red Gap

Powell was back in the musical spotlight for a televised version of the play Ruggles of Red Gap, with music by Styne and lyrics by Leo Robin. It appeared on television to little acclaim in February 1957, with an album issued at the same time.

I haven't seen the production, but apparently Powell played the love interest to the butler Ruggles, played stiffly by Michael Redgrave. An odd couple, to be sure.

I've included Powell's four songs from the album, which is enough considering she was the only real singer in the production. Styne and Robin gave her two skillful if hardly weighty songs, "A Ride on a Rainbow" and "I Have You to Thank," which she dispatches neatly, no thanks to the superfluous chorus.

Peter Lawford serves Imogene Coca and Jane Powell

The other two songs were shared with the leaden Michael Redgrave, who could carry a tune but not so as you would want to hear him do it. They are "It's Terribly, Horribly, Frightfully Nice" and "I'm in Pursuit of Happiness." The latter song only comes to life when Powell sings. The notorious non-singer Peter Lawford also is heard on that one, alas.

(Note: Geoconno tells me, "'I'm in Pursuit of Happiness' was a rewrite of a song called 'Why Did I Have to Wait So Long?' with an unfinished lyric by Sammy Cahn for an unproduced film. The tune was used again in Gypsy with the Sondheim lyric 'You'll Never Get Away from Me.'  Sondheim was unaware that the melody had been used in Ruggles of Red Gap.")

I have been assmbling Jane's earlier Columbia and M-G-M recordings - many of which have already appeared here - and hope to produce a follow-up to this post later on.

LINK to Jane Powell - The Verve Recordings