Haymes Sings Gershwin (American Pop Song)

Together with recent posts of David Allyn LPs, I've added a few of his appearances on the American Popular Song radio program of 1976, with composer Alec Wilder and pianist Loonis McGlohon. That was a National Public Radio series based on Wilder's influential 1972 book of the same name.

I've had some requests for more episodes of the show, which featured the great vocalists of the time. So I will be posting a few Dick Haymes appearances, starting with today's hour devoted to the music of George and Ira Gershwin.

The selections are generally well-known - "Who Cares?", "Someone to Watch Over Me," "How Long Has This Been Going On?", "Nice Work If You Can Get It," "They Can't Take That Away from Me" and "A Foggy Day," but a few deserve some additional commentary.

George and Ira

"Love Walked In" is from the last project George worked on. I described the scene in an earlier post as follows: "[D]iners often appeared in movies. The one that comes to mind is the Owl Diner in the Goldwyn Follies of 1938, with short-order cook Kenny Baker serenading Andrea Leeds via the Gershwins' 'Love Walked In.' You can see the clip here."

For "Bidin' My Time," Alec Wilder mentions seeing the Broadway run of Girl Crazy, which introduced the song in 1930. He was enthralled not just by the song but by the group that performed it, the Foursome - particularly because they played ocarinas in harmony, which Wilder found amazing. That group, a favorite of mine, has appeared on my other blog three times, with posts that include two different recordings of "Bidin' My Time." (I have the rest of the Foursome's complete Decca recordings if anyone is interested.)

Loonis McGlohon

The last Gershwin work that Haymes sings is "For You, for Me, for Evermore." Loonis mentions that Dick had the honor of introducing the piece in the 1947 film The Shocking Miss Pilgrim. Haymes recalls that composer Kay Swift, who was closely associated with George Gershwin until his 1937 death, was present during the filming, having prepared the songs with Ira Gershwin from unpublished melodies.

I recently posted a comprehensive look at Swift's own music, which also included the songs from The Shocking Miss Pilgrim, including both the soundtrack and commercial recordings of "For You, for Me, for Evermore."

Alec Wilder

All the American Popular Song programs included at least one song by Wilder. Haymes presented two. The first is "Night Talk," which Dick describes as being like "Lush Life," only better. Loonis was the lyricist. Alec wrote both words and music for the second song, "The Child I Used to Hold," which was new at the time. Both are worthwhile.

Dick's performances are not at the level he attained in the 1940s or 50s, but are still good, even though his pitch does waver a bit. I've mentioned before that these shows were not well recorded - I had a hard time getting Haymes to sound natural.

The program is fully tracked and tagged to facilitate repeat listening of the songs.

Coming up is a show devoted to the songs of Harry Warren.

LINK

David Allyn's 'Face the Music' LP - and Much More

Our journey through the recorded legacy of the great vocalist David Allyn today takes us to his fine World Pacific release of 1958, Let's Face the Music and Dance.

This was the singer's second LP for the label, following his Jerome Kern release A Sure Thing, which recently appeared here.

For today's album, we have two different versions - the original World Pacific release and a reissue from the 1970s, which switched the title to Yours Sincerely and reputedly comprised alternate takes from those on the original pressing. In any case, the differences are not remarkable, but I suspect they will be of interest to completists.

Please note that this set of songs was never issued in stereo, to my knowledge.

Let me also mention that this post includes another of the American Popular Music radio shows from the 1970s. with Allyn singing the works of Harold Arlen. As always, the program featured songwriter Alec Wilder and composer-pianist Loonis McGlohon.

Appropriately, the LP below begins with an Arlen song.

Let's Face the Music and Dance

The less said about this cover, the better

Unlike A Sure Thing, the second World Pacific LP had three arrangers - Johnny Mandel, who helmed the earlier album, Bill Holman, and Jimmy Rowles, who was also the pianist heard on the sessions. The band for the dates was called "the Bill Holman Orchestra."

Holman was a tenor saxophonist who joined Stan Kenton's band in the early 50s and soon was to become one of Kenton's primary arrangers. The arrangements here are in all ways supportive and the musicianship is excellent. Sorry but there is no information available about who is playing on the selections, nor who arranged which items.

Bill Holman with Stan Kenton

Allyn, Holman and the arrangers came up with a nice mix of excellent songs that aren't overly familiar, with a few exceptions. 

The LP begins with one of the lesser-heard Harold Arlen standards, "Hooray for Love," which he wrote with Leo Robin. The song was introduced by old friend Tony Martin in the 1948 film Casbah, which had an excellent score, including "For Every Man There's a Woman" and "What's Good About Goodbye."

Jimmy Van Heusen and Eddie DeLange wrote "Shake Down the Stars" in 1940. Sinatra and Tommy Dorsey had a hit with it.

Vernon Duke and Yip Harburg wrote "I Like the Likes of You" for the Ziegfeld Follies of 1934

"You Send Me" is not the Same Cooke song that had been on the singles charts in 1957, but rather a Jimmy McHugh and Harold Adamson number written for the 1944 musical Four Jills in a Jeep. Dick Haymes sang it therein with the Dorsey band. This is a good example of a worthwhile song that isn't often heard these days.

Steve Allen's second best-known song is probably "Impossible," which David handles wonderfully. Teddi King's single version is available here.

"Can't Help It" was a new song that Allyn was apparently the first to record. It's a nice piece that doesn't deserve its obscurity. The authors were Marvin Fisher and Jack Segal.

Not the Mississippi Sheiks' version

"I'm Sitting on Top of the World" is a great title that spawned two songs - one by Walter Vinson and Lonnie Chatman of the Mississippi Sheiks, the other by Ray Henderson, Joe Young and Sam Lewis, the latter made popular by Al Jolson. David chose the second song and did well by it.

The Gershwins wrote "They All Laughed" for Shall We Dance, the Astaire-Rogers hit of 1937, where Ginger was the vocalist. Fred's commercial recording is here.

A terrific Rodgers and Hart song that isn't often heard is "Yours Sincerely," which comes from 1929 and the show Spring Is Here. David's sincerity is on full display in this one.

One song that is still performed today - although not as much as decades ago - is "Life Is Just a Bowl of Cherries." DeSylva, Brown and Henderson penned it for 1931's George White's Scandals and the young Ethel Merman.

La Merman also introduced "I've Got the Sun in the Morning" in Irving Berlin's huge 1946 hit Annie Get Your Gun.

Finally, the LP's title tune, which is another number from the Astaire-Rogers catalog. This one is by Irving Berlin and comes from 1936's Follow the Fleet. Fred's commercial recording is here.

LINK to Let's Face the Music and Dance

Yours Sincerely

For those of you who didn't read the introductory paragraphs, let me mention again that this is the same album as the one above, only reissued under a different name and cover in the 1970s - and reputedly with alternate takes.

I will tell you that the processing of this version was not all that good. The sound from vinyl was screechy and muddy, which I've adjusted. It now sounds as good as the original above.

LINK to Yours Sincerely

Harold Arlen: American Popular Song with Alec Wilder

Alec Wilder

In 1976, National Public Radio sponsored a series on the great American songwriters with the noted songwriter and author Alec Wilder (1907-80). The show's title was derived from Wilder's influential 1972 book American Popular Song: the Great Innovators, 1900-1950. The host and musical accompanist was pianist Loonis McGlohon (1921-2002).

Each episode of the program featured a notable vocalist. We recently heard David Allyn in the works of Jerome Kern. This second 1976 show is devoted to Harold Arlen.

Allyn conveniently starts his selections with "Hooray for Love," which also began the LP above. He follows this with "This Time the Dream's on Me," which Arlen and Johnny Mercer wrote for the film Blues in the Night. Wilder surprisingly professes to be unfamiliar with the piece, which is strange because it's hardly obscure. More to the point, it's a fantastic song, here most affectionately sung by Allyn.

"Let's Fall in Love" comes from the 1933 film of the same name, where it was sung by Art Jarrett. The composer himself recorded it at the time. (If you are interested as Arlen as a vocalist, I posted a set of 13 songs by him a few years ago.) Ted Koehler did the lyrics for this number.

Loonis McGlohon with Charles Kuralt

As mentioned on the show, "Last Night When We Were Young" is associated with Judy Garland. But it was introduced on records in 1936 by Lawrence Tibbett. He had been slated to sing it in the film Metropolitan, but it was unused. Yip Harburg wrote the words.

Garland did introduce "The Man Who Got Away" (here "The Gal That Got Away"), in the 1954 version of A Star Is Born. It's one of the great songs (and performances). Allyn does it well. Ira Gershwin was the lyricist.

Arlen and Harburg wrote "Down with Love" for the 1937 Ed Wynn show Hooray for What! David mentions that he recorded it years ago for an unreleased album. This LP was to be issued in 1979 as In the Blue of Evening, and it is coming up next in this series. Allyn's performance here is over-emphatic.

No, Priscilla Lane did not sing 'Blues in the Night'

The famed "Blues in the Night" comes from the 1941 film of the same name, where it was sung by William Gillespie and later reprised instrumentally. Johnny Mercer was the lyricist.

Mercer also worked on "Out of This World," the title song of an Eddie Bracken film of 1944. That's the one where Eddie is a messenger who can sing like Bing - and is dubbed by Crosby himself. It's a great song for sure, but David is a little unsteady here.

Wilder praises "My Shining Hour" to the heavens, and rightfully so. David includes the seldom heard verse, always welcome. This is one of the many songs introduced by Fred Astaire, in this case in the film The Sky's the Limit - where it's actually co-star Joan Leslie who sings the complete version of the song. Mercer was again the lyricist.

The program concludes with a Wilder-McGlohon number called "Saturday's Child," a nice song indeed.

As before, this program has been remastered and is completely tracked.

LINK to Harold Arlen: American Popular Song with Alec Wilder

David Allyn Sings Jerome Kern

The singer David Allyn (1919-2012) has appeared several times on this blog, in posts devoted to his early recordings (1940-45 and 1946-49) and to his 1959 Warner Bros. LP I Only Have Eyes for You.

Today we'll feature what may be his best LP, A Sure Thing: David Allyn Sings Jerome Kern, from 1957. As a bonus we have a 1976 appearance on Alec Wilder's NPR radio series American Popular Song, which also is devoted to Kern.

A Sure Thing: David Allyn Sings Jerome Kern

Allyn's Jerome Kern LP was a watershed in his career. He had spent several years addicted to drugs, even serving a prison sentence for forging prescriptions. But Richard Bock and the Pacific Jazz/World Pacific label was receptive to the rehabilitated singer's idea of devoting a songbook to the works of Kern.

Allyn had some formidable help: the backings were to be done by Johnny Mandel, whom the vocalist knew from his big band days. And the notes were to be written by Sammy Davis, Jr., fresh from his triumph on Broadway in Mr. Wonderful.

Johnny Mandel

The record is an unalloyed success. Allyn is in superb voice and Mandel's arrangements provide a supportive framework for him. Davis' words are generalized but apt: "I think after you hear this album you will feel as I felt - that this is an almost perfect wedding of musical ability and good taste." Sam makes oblique reference to Allyn's absence from the scene as well: "For David, the wait has been a long and very troubled one. You need only to take this album home and play it to know that he has been worth waiting for."

Sammy Davis and David Allyn

The LP is in stereo, and its contents may supply a clue to its genesis. Two of the songs - "Lovely to Look At" and "I've Told Ev'ry Little Star" - have the voice in a different acoustic, panned far to the right with guitar and celesta accompaniment. On the left channel there is a flute obbligato. I'm going to guess that the voice and guitar/celesta were recorded first in mono. These may have been demos for Richard Bock, with Mandel adding the flute later. For the stereo LP, they were mastered in very wide stereo, which I've narrowed into a more natural perspective.

This LP also came out in mono, and the 1980s reissue was in mono as well. I auditioned the sound of the reissued mono LP and the stereo is much better.

Here are the songs, the lyricists and when and how each number was introduced.

• "Sure Thing": Ira Gershwin, 1944, in the film Cover Girl, sung by Gene Kelly and Rita Hayworth (dubbed by Martha Mears)

• "Dearly Beloved": Johnny Mercer, 1941, in the film You Were Never Lovelier, sung by Fred Astaire

• "I'm Old Fashioned": Johnny Mercer, 1941, in the film You Were Never Lovelier, sung by Fred Astaire and Rita Hayworth (dubbed by Nan Wynn)

• "Lovely to Look At": Dorothy Fields and Jimmy McHugh, 1935, for the film version of Roberta. sung by Irene Dunne and then by Fred Astaire with Ginger Rogers (sort of)

• "The Way You Look Tonight": Dorothy Fields, 1936, in the film Swing Time, sung by Fred Astaire

Oscar Hammerstein and Jerome Kern

• "The Folks Who Live on the Hill": Oscar Hammerstein, 1937, in the film High, Wide and Handsome, sung by Irene Dunne

• "Long Ago and Far Away": Ira Gershwin, 1944, in the film Cover Girl, sung by Gene Kelly and Rita Hayworth (dubbed by Martha Mears)

• "I've Told Ev'ry Little Star": Oscar Hammerstein, 1932, in the musical Music in the Air, sung by Walter Slezak and Katherine Carrington

• "All in Fun": Oscar Hammerstein, 1939, in the musical Very Warm for May, sung by Frances Mercer and Jack Whiting

• "In Love in Vain": Leo Robin, 1946, in the film Centennial Summer, sung by Jeanne Crain (dubbed by Louanne Hogan) and William Eythe (dubbed by David Street). This was Kern's final score.

You may have noticed that Allyn's name is spelling "Allen" on the LP's cover. David went back and forth on the spelling of his stage name during his career. His birth name was Albert DiLella.

LINK to A Sure Thing

Jerome Kern: American Popular Song with Alec Wilder

Alec Wilder in 1976

In 1976, National Public Radio sponsored a series on the great American songwriters with the noted songwriter and author Alec Wilder (1907-80). The show's title was derived from Wilder's influential 1972 book American Popular Song: the Great Innovators, 1900-1950.

Each episode of the program featured a notable vocalist, including Allyn for a show devoted to Jerome Kern. The host and musical accompanist for the show was pianist Loonis McGlohon (1921-2002), whose genial charm and North Carolina accent contrasted nicely with Wilder's commentary.

Loonis McGlohon

The Kern program allowed the participants to revisit many of the items on the LP above in new, live versions, complete with commentary on the songs and anecdotes. Allyn is disarmingly unpretentious, even allowing the program to make use of a breakdown take on "I'm Old Fashioned."

Allyn's fine voice is drier than it was 20 years before, and his pitch a bit variable. But his interpretations retain the warmth and insight of the earlier versions.

Beside "I'm Old Fashioned," he sings "Sure Thing," "I've Told Ev'ry Little Star," "Long Ago and Far Away," "The Folks Who Live on the Hill" and "All in Fun," which also appeared on the 1957 album. He includes the following new items The notes below again identify the lyricists and when and how each number was introduced:

• "I Won't Dance": Oscar Hammerstein and Otto Harbach, 1934, in the short-lived London musical Three Sisters, sung by Adele Dixon

• "She Didn't Say Yes": Otto Harbach, 1931, in the musical The Cat and the Fiddle, sung by Bettina Hall

Also on the show, Allyn included a song in tribute to Johnny Mandel, the latter's "Don't Look Back" (lyricist Kaye Lawrence Dunham), which is the title number from David's 1975 LP on the Xanadu label.

Finally, each guest on the show also sang one of Wilder's songs. David chose "Soft as Spring," which he had recorded with Jack Teagarden in 1941. That early effort - both words and music by Wilder - can be found in the 1940-45 Allyn compilation I mentioned above.

The file below is completely tracked and tagged.

LINK to Jerome Kern radio program

Americana from Alec Wilder, Bruce Catton and Carl Sandburg

Here is an interesting recording I transferred by request, with two works by that distinguished musician Alec Wilder.

Alec Wilder

First is an earnest piece written upon the centennial of the US Civil War, Names from the War, which sets verse by the popular historian Bruce Catton. Dave Garroway is the narrator.

Bruce Catton

That work is coupled with an instrumental Carl Sandburg Suite, which is taken from tunes chosen from Sandburg's American Songbag; it is not settings of his poetry.

Carl Sandburg

Some background -  Wilder was primarily a songwriter, but he also wrote quite a bit of instrumental music. Catton was best known for A Stillness at Appomattox, one of his several books on the Civil War. 

Walter Ehret

Dave Garroway was a television personality who was for several years the host of NBC's Today Show and the weekly program, Wide, Wide World. He appeared here recently introducing a jazz record featuring Lee Wiley. Conductor Walter Ehret, a Juilliard graduate, was the director of music for the Scarsdale schools and a widely published author of educational materials.

The record unfortunately received little fanfare, and the one review I have found did not like it. At all.

My own view is that Catton's narrative for Names from the War is evocative, and Garroway does a fine job reading it. I don't think the music gets in the way, although it is certainly from the standard patriotic mold. I enjoyed the Carl Sandburg Suite. The performances are good.

The record had a few sound problems that I've addressed, as follows.

First, the music was recorded in the very W-I-I-I-D-E stereo that was common in the early days. (The record was released in 1961.) I've narrowed it so that the left and right channels don't appear to be coming from different counties.

Dave Garroway, minus his hat

Next, Garroway sounded like he was speaking through his hat. I re-equalized his voice.

Finally, there was some groove damage or a pressing fault on the left channel early in the Carl Sandburg Suite. I've addressed this, although some minor noise may remain.

The record has a gatefold cover; the back features The Carl Sandburg Suite

And just so you don't think you're missing something, this is one of the shortest 12-inch LPs I own - 26 and a half minutes.

LINK

Hugh Martin, Alec Wilder and Grandma Moses

In the aftermath of the Great Depression and World War II, there was a profound hunger for peace, normality and simple, homespun virtues in the US. In this environment, the naive, idealized, country paintings of octogenarian Anna Mary Robertson Moses became very popular.

Grandma Moses, as she became known, was "discovered" by an art collector who saw her work in a small town drug store window (or so the story goes). This was in 1938, and in only a few years Moses' paintings had become quite well known and began to be used for commercial purposes. (One obvious use was Christmas cards - see the 1948 Hallmark ad below.)

"Country Fair" - 1950

It didn't hurt that Moses was a good looking woman who was the very image of the idealized Grandma; nor that she was highly quotable. (It's hard to say at this remove whether she was truly a font of bon mots, or if reporters embellished to make a better story.)

Anna Mary Robertson Moses

As for her art, it displays a kind of rural transcendentalism, with the perspective usually that of an observer in a low-flying blimp. Not that I am against this kind of thing - it is undoubtedly charming and evocative, and I have to admit that there is a pretty good example of the genre in my basement.

Alec Wilder and Hugh Martin

"Charming and evocative" is also a apt description of the music on this disc, which dates from 1951. It contains music from a film documentary on Moses, composed by Hugh Martin, better known for Broadway and Hollywood musicals such as Best Foot Forward, Meet Me in St. Louis and Athena. Martin was primarily a vocal arranger, so he called on fellow composer Alec Wilder to "develop and orchestrate" his tunes. The result is firmly in the Americana genre - one I find irresistible. It's a nice tribute to two of my favorite composers. Daniel Saidenberg conducts; there are vocals by the excellent studio singer Sally Sweetland.

[Note (June 2023): These recordings have now been remastered in atmospheric ambient stereo.]

Alec Wilder's Hansel and Gretel with Barbara Cook

A while back we offered a selection of octets from the American composer and songwriter Alec Wilder (courtesy of Bill Reed). Today we have a musical that he wrote for American television back in 1958, with lyrics by frequent collaborator William Engvick.

The score contains one glorious and touching number, Evening Song (and its variant, Morning Song), which everyone should hear as performed here by the sublime Barbara Cook. The balance of the score is lesser Wilder, but Evening Song must be heard.

I don't mind telling you that I had a heck of a time transferring this badly mistreated pressing. But the results sound good - with the exception of a few skips in the Finale. Speaking of skips, I skipped transferring the second side of this record, which contains an indifferent performance of an orchestral suite from Humperdinck's opera Hansel and Gretel.

One other note: the musical numbers are separated by narration from Red Buttons. You won't want to hear that more than once, so I have put it into separate tracks.

This is for Mindy of Mindy's Bright Lights of Broadway at Franklynot.

NEW LINK (JUNE 2014)

Digression No. 12

One of my favorite singers is Ronnie Deauville, a superb vocalist who started out in the post-war big bands (Tex Beneke, Ray Anthony) and then had a solo career. Deauville was capable of creating an intimate mood and achieving a personal connection with the lyric rivalled only by the very finest singers. Yet he is almost unknown today.

Some of us who are among a small band of Ronnie collectors are getting together to make his out-of-print recordings available again. We're led by that indefatigable promoter of fine but neglected vocalists, Bill Reed, via his blog the People vs. Dr. Chilledair. I've mentioned Bill before in connection with two of my other enthusiasms, Page Cavanaugh and Jackie Paris.

Bill has already posted several sides, with more to come, including contributions from me. You can find much more about Deauville by doing a search on Bill's blog.

Also, Bill has graciously sent along a contribution to this blog, his rare copy of a 10-inch record devoted to the music of Alec Wilder (link in comments). These Octets were a specialty of the great songwriter/composer, whose style combines jazz and neoclassical influences, with perhaps a small piece of Raymond Scott. (The first item is titled Jack, This is My Husband.) Delightful stuff and highly recommended - as are the Ronnie Deauville recordings!