Betty Clooney

There was a fair amount of interest in vocalist Betty Clooney (1931-76) after my recent post of a few of her Christmas records.

So here is a compilation of her recordings, primarily making use of Internet Archive transfers suitably cleaned up for your listening enjoyment (or so I hope). It's a program of 25 songs, which as far as I can tell is the majority of her recorded output.

Betty was the younger sister of the far more famous Rosemary Clooney. The two had been in a sister duo, making records with Tony Pastor's band for Cosmo and Columbia from 1946-49 before Rosie went solo and the still teenage Betty went home.

The split was not a surprise - Rosemary had done quite a few solo records with Pastor, and she was the lead singer of the duo, with Betty providing harmony. That's not to say that Betty was not a talented singer - she was, and these records are the evidence.

Betty had a darker voice than Rosie, although the phrasing and sound are very similar. On these records, she tends to sing in a slightly lower key than Rosemary might have chosen. She has the familiar Clooney vocal characteristics - very good diction and intonation, and an ability to sing different styles convincingly. Betty also tends to be more emotionally direct than Rosie.

A Semi-Final Columbia Record

Betty's solo career began not long after Rosemary's. She was in the studios for King Records in 1950, but before we examine her King singles, let's start with one of her final duo recordings with Rosemary. The song "I Still Feel the Same About You" was going around in 1951, and Columbia recorded it with "Rosemary Clooney and Her Sister Betty." The uncredited bandleader was Percy Faith. Rosie also recorded a solo version of the song, but that was unreleased at the time.

In 1953, Betty and Rosie duetted on "Sisters," which can be found in my recent White Christmas post.

King Recordings

The Clooney sisters were from Maysville, Kentucky, not far from Cincinnati, Ohio. King Records of the latter city had become known for its country and R&B releases during the 1940s, and had begun venturing into pop music, when it engaged Betty in 1950.

Her first King release was with the band of Clyde Trask, a Cincinnati musician who had spent time with Russ Morgan. "Anyone Can Fall in Love" is a lively performance of a worthy song, and Trask's ensemble does well. The B-side did not feature Clooney. Note that "Betty" is spelled "Bettie" on all the King releases.

Betty's next record was with an ensemble led by pianist Eddie Smith, who also was the King Records house engineer. It coupled "Strangers" with "When You Love (You Should Love from the Heart)." Both songs are good without being in any way memorable. Betty's performances are perfectly fine - as is Smith's piano (leaving aside the quality of the instrument), but the arrangement and technical quality are lacking. Both songs are plagued by a wordless vocal obbligato that adds nothing to the proceedings. And the mastering or pressing of "Strangers" is faulty. There were persistent noise and peak distortion problems on two different 78s. I have addressed the noise but not entirely successfully.

Clyde Trask returns in Miller mode with an arrangement of "This Is Our Night." Another proficient performance by the band is enhanced by Clooney's sensitive vocal. Even after her big band experience, she was not an "on the beat" singer. Her flexible phrasing helps to make her singing more conversational.

Betty plays what looks to be an acetate

"Faithful" was popular in 1951, being recorded by Frank Sinatra and Margaret Whiting (whose version can be found here). Betty's vocal stands up to the comparison. The well known lyricist Jimmy Kennedy worked with the French composer Alex Alstone on this secular hymn. The band is unidentified.

Betty went back to a vocal duo for her next record, only this time her partner was herself, double-tracked. "Would I Love You (Love You, Love You)" was another song making the rounds in 1951. This Latin-tinged piece was composed by Harold Spina with lyrics from Bob Russell. It's an enjoyable number, and Betty shows her versatility in this performance, which sounds much like the Clooney Sisters, as you might expect.

"Good Lookin'" also was a new song in 1951. Not to be confused with Hank Williams' "Hey, Good Lookin'" from the same year, this number is by Jimmy Wilber and Teddy Rakel. The latter was a Cincinnati pianist and bandleader. This transfer comes from a radio station copy (see below) that is marked in grease pencil "don't play" and "risqué," which is decidedly not the case. It's actually a good song. Clooney handles this material naturally, with an keen sense of rhythm and an insouciant attitude.

The "risqué" Betty Clooney

The backing for "Good Lookin'" is "Trust in Me," which marked the unwelcome return of the echoey soprano obbligato. This earnest plea is quite a contrast with its flip side.

Betty's final King single was a cover version of both sides of a 1951 Tommy Edwards release - "All Over Again" and "It's All in the Game." Elliot Lawrence, during his brief stay at King, was the bandleader for this coupling. The former song, written by Edwards, was an R&B hit in 1951. The lyrics are the likes of "Say you love me forever / Promise you'll leave me never / We're so happy together," etc.

"It's All in the Game" was a huge pop hit for Edwards - but not until his 1958 remake. Clooney's phrasing is far more flexible than Edwards'. The song was based on a 1911 melody by Charles Dawes, a politician and amateur composer who was to become Calvin Coolidge's vice president in the 1920s. Carl Sigman added lyrics to Dawes' melody 40 years later.

A Stopover at Hi-tone

Hi-tone was a Bob Thiele label that specialized in cover records made with name artists. Clooney recorded a few singles for the label in 1951 and 1952. Three songs are included in this package.

First was a cover of Georgia Gibbs' "While You Danced, Danced, Danced." This is the old tale of catching your sweetheart in another woman's arms, boo-hoo.

Next is a coupling where the two songs couldn't be more of a contrast. Side one was a cover of "Detour," which had been a big Western swing hit for Spade Cooley with Tex Williams on vocals in 1946. (It's available via this post of Cooley's complete Columbia recordings.) The Hi-tone version was probably occasioned by Patti Page's 1951 pop release.

The Hi-tone flip side was "Wonder Why," which Jane Powell introduced in 1952's Rich, Young and Pretty. (The soundtrack LP is here.)

Betty's renditions are good, but the pressings were not. I did what I could to reduce the background racket. (Note: thanks to reader gimpiero, a clean version of "Wonder Why" is now available via a separate link in the comments.)

Scott Fisher and his orchestra provided the instrumentals on this release. Fisher had been a New York area bandleader as far back to the 1930s, and the arrangement on "While You Danced" shows it.

Coral Recordings

Clooney's next two stops were at Coral and "X", subsidiaries of Decca and RCA Victor, respectively. Working with major recording companies made all the difference in the quality of production she was afforded.

Betty's first Coral record was in late 1952. "You're All I See" is a pleasing ballad from Russell Faith, who co-wrote the impressive "Christmas and You," which I recently posted. On both records the bandleader was ex-Elliot Lawrence arranger Frank Hunter. The flip side was another sultry item, "I Idolize You." Clooney handles this romantic material superbly.

Moving into 1953, her second Coral offering was quite a contrast - a proto-rock 'n' roll item called "Sin in Satin." It's really quite good, and Betty does a wonderful job forcing her tone and getting hot on this one. The only competing disc I've found was by the teenage Bell Sisters.

The B-side was a galloping country tune, based on "Turkey in the Straw," called "A Great Big City Boy Like You." Betty does this wonderfully well with her excellent sense of rhythm. The author was Bernard Hirsh, who co-wrote "Christmas and You" with Russell Faith. Jack Pleis handles the orchestra on this and her next, final Coral coupling.

"How Many Sweethearts Have I" is a lilting waltz from Milton DeLugg and lyricist Sammy Gallop, handled sympathetically by Betty. It's a really good record, but the prize is its coupling, Bart Howard's "My Love Is a Wanderer," a beautiful quasi-folk song that has been heard here previously on a Shannon Bolin album. Clooney's performance would be hard to match; it's one of my two favorites in this collection. The second is in the next grouping.

On to "X" Records

Clooney made eight sides for RCA's short-lived subsidiary, "X" Records in 1955. Four are in this collection.

Cash Box, January 15, 1955

First was an attractive waltz called "Whisper," done with Richard Maltby's band. This is a quality production although the lyrics are clichéd. Betty sings in harmony with her own voice on a few of the choruses.

The next two were R&B covers done as duets with big band veteran Bill Darnell (sometimes spelled "Darnel"). "So All Alone" was a cover of a Bobby Lester and the Moonlighters single, written by Lester and Harvey Fuqua. "Ko-Ko-Mo" was a cover of Gene and Eunice's popular single. Darnell and Clooney competed in the market with upwards of a dozen covers. Perry Como's was the most successful. The songs' popularity does not negate the fact that they both are dreadful. The singers alternate top billing on the two sides, but Betty sings harmony on both.

Let's end on a high note with my favorite of the group - "Kiki," a tune by the French composer-bandleader Andre Popp with English lyrics by Charles Tobias. The song's initial success was as "Les Lavandières du Portugal," with lyrics by Roger Lucchesi. It was a continental hit for Jacqueline François in 1955. It then became an American hit as an instrumental for Joe "Fingers" Carr in 1956 under the title "Portuguese Washerwomen." (I wonder if they knew the "Irish Washerwoman.") 

It's too bad the Tobias version is not better known - and with it, Clooney's remarkable recording. It's a standard song-story scenario - a pretty Parisian is pursued by rich men but falls for a poor farmer boy. But the combination of Popp's infectious bolero, Tobias' witty lyrics ("From Deauville came a count named Louis / With a glint in his one good eye") and Betty's deft singing is irresistible. Gordon Jenkins' stylish backing is a bonus.

Bonus - Egbert the Easter Egg

I've appended one of Betty's few children's records as a bonus. It is the tale of "Egbert the Easter Egg," a little yellow disc I owned myself as a very young fellow.

It's a cute song, and Clooney has the same sure touch with kiddie material as her sister. Mitch Miller and the Sandpipers accompany on this Golden Record dating from 1952.

Missing from this collection are a few of the King and several of the "X" singles, one Hi-tone, a single on Studio, and perhaps others. Even so, what we have here is a substantial legacy for a talented singer who deserves to be remembered along with her far more famous sister. Betty died young, of a brain aneurysm at age 45 in 1976.

Betty Clooney in 1954

The Two 'White Christmases'

That holiday favorite, White Christmas, is one of those films that doesn't have a soundtrack LP per se. But it does have two albums with some claim to authenticity because they separately feature the movie's biggest stars, Bing Crosby and Rosemary Clooney.

Bing and Rosie recorded for different companies (Decca and Columbia), each of which wanted its own product to capitalize on the popular film. So Decca assembled a 12-inch LP with Crosby and his co-star Danny Kaye, adding Peggy Lee to take over the Clooney spots. And Columbia came out with a 10-inch LP that had Rosemary singing eight of the songs from the film.

In this post, I'll discuss the Irving Berlin songs from that 1954 film, and assess the treatments found on the competing LPs. My presentation follows the order of the songs in the film. The download, however, keeps the two LPs separate and in their original running order.

White Christmas - The Old Man

The first song is, appropriately, "White Christmas," with Capt. Crosby singing to front-line troops who are about to get a new commander to replace the beloved Gen. Waverly (Dean Jagger). Bing's poignant rendition is interrupted by the appearance of the general himself. The troops serenade him with "The Old Man" (apparently carefully rehearsed for just such an occasion). The song has some amusing tongue-in-cheek lyrics such as, "We'll follow the old man wherever he may stray / So long as he stays away from the battle's fray."

A version of "The Old Man" is included on the Decca LP, where it was combined with "Gee, I Wish I Was Back in the Army," which appears much later in the film and will be discussed below.

Heat Wave - Let Me Sing and I'm Happy - Blue Skies

After the war, Crosby forms an act and then a production company with Kaye, who saved his life during the enemy attack that ended their Christmas Eve show. A montage shows them performing the Berlin oldies "Heat Wave," "Let Me Sing and I'm Happy" and "Blue Skies."

Once again, Clooney doesn't attempt these songs, but "Blue Skies" does turn up on the Crosby LP, yoked with "I'd Rather See a Minstrel Show" and "Mandy," which again are from much later in the film and will be discussed below.

Sisters

Clooney and Vera-Ellen were cast as a sister act. Bing and Danny catch them at a remarkable outdoor night club in Florida presided over by Herb Vigran, a character actor who seemingly appeared in every other film and television show for decades.

Trudy Stevens and Dick Stabile

The sisters perform "Sisters," appropriately, to the rapt attention of Crosby and Kaye. In the film, Vera-Ellen's singing voice was dubbed by Trudy Stevens, a very good vocalist who was the ex-wife of bandleader Dick Stabile - who himself appears in the film later on.

Rosemary and Betty Clooney

On the Columbia record, Rosie was joined by her sister Betty for the duet. The two had appeared together for years as the Clooney Sisters with Tony Pastor's band. Betty was to make a good number of records as a single, without achieving Rosemary's popularity.

The Decca LP also includes "Sisters," here given to Peggy Lee, at the time a Decca artist and someone who had been considered for the Clooney part. Lee's sister act consists of Peggy doing a duet with herself, seamlessly. Both versions are very good.

The Best Things Happen While You're Dancing

Still at the Florida club, Kaye and Vera-Ellen do a romantic dance to "The Best Things Happen While You're Dancing." Trudy Stevens again is the singing double for Vera-Ellen. As a dancer Kaye isn't terrible, and as a singer he isn't half bad, which is helpful because Decca had him do a solo for its LP.

The song also appears on the Clooney LP. She doesn't partake in the dance on film, except to sneer at the couple at the end. (Rosie's character is kind of a pill throughout a good part of the film.) Her version is quite good (as is her whole LP, for that matter).

Snow

The two couples end up on a train together heading to Vermont, where the sisters are booked at an inn. They look forward to the dubious delights of the winter weather in the song "Snow." (Berlin recycled this melody from a Call Me Madam outtake titled "Free.")

Peggy Lee

For the Decca record, Crosby and Kaye were joined by Peggy Lee and Trudy Stevens, who as mentioned above also dubbed Vera-Ellen's singing voice on the film soundtrack. Clooney did a very fine solo version for Columbia.

I'd Rather See a Minstrel Show - Mister Bones - Mandy

The gang shows up at the Vermont lodge only to find there is no snow and no patrons. In a remarkable coincidence, Gen. Waverly turns out to be the inn's proprietor. He insists on the sisters staying and performing, and the Crosby-Kaye combo come up with the idea of putting on their show at the inn to attract customers.

This provides a convenient excuse to bring in some musical numbers, starting with a minstrel show, an atavistic tendency in musicals that hadn't died out yet, but here thankfully does not involve blackface. The setting provides an opportunity for Berlin to bring in two of his songs from the Ziegfeld Follies of 1919, "Mandy" and "I'd Rather See a Minstrel Show."

In the film, Crosby, Kaye and Clooney sing in this sequence. On the Decca record, "Mandy" is yoked to "Blue Skies," as mentioned above, with "I'd Rather See a Minstrel Show" between the two, even though it is not listed on the LP's contents. It's been suggested that the Decca LP lifted these numbers directly from the soundtrack (sans Clooney) - I suspect that is the case.

On her Columbia LP, Rosie confines herself to a "Mandy" solo. She includes Berlin's original verse, which makes it clear that she is overhearing two lovers, not appealing to Mandy herself. The verse is not used in the film or on the Decca record.

Count Your Blessings (Instead of Sheep)

Berlin's gorgeous ballad, "Count Your Blessings (Instead of Sheep)," was the big hit from the film, and rightfully so. Crosby sings it incomparably, with such great feeling that it breaks through the reserve of Clooney. Their awkward kiss - interrupted by Waverly - nicely encapsulates both their relationship and Bing's ability to seem caressing in song and clumsy in the clinches. It's a wonderful scene.

Being the big hit it was, the number is done solo by Bing and Rosie on their respective LPs, which gives us two superior renditions.

Choreography

Back to the incipient stage show at the inn, we next have a specialty number for Danny Kaye, the clever but somehow distasteful "Choreography," in which Berlin and Kaye make fun of modern dance. ("Chaps who did taps / Aren't tapping any more / They're doing choreography.") In the film, Kaye's spoken intro is overdone, and on record his reading is even riper, if that's possible.

Robert Alton's choreography of this number is enjoyable, but you can't see that on the record.

"Choreography" seems tacked on to White Christmas to provide a specialty for Kaye, who was a last-minute substitute for Donald O'Connor. The latter would have partnered Vera-Ellen in the more intricate dance numbers. Those were beyond Kaye's ability, so the accomplished dancer John Brascia was pressed into service alongside Vera-Ellen for those spots.

It perhaps doesn't need saying that Clooney doesn't attempt "Choreography" on her album.

Love, You Didn't Do Right by Me

Through the intercession of the indispensable Mary Wickes, who plays the busybody major domo of the inn, Clooney thinks that Bing and Danny are going to use the general as to get publicity via a spot on the Ed Harrison (read: Sullivan) TV show. Disillusioned, she takes off for a solo engagement in a New York nightclub, leaving Bing and her sister behind.

At the Carousel Club, bandleader Dick Stabile talks her into doing her specialty "Love, You Didn't Do Right by Me," even though Crosby is in the house to patch things up. It's a very good number, although Berlin has her sing, "To send me a beau / Who had winter and snow in his heart / Wasn't smart," when the icy one is actually Clooney's character.

Clooney does the song beautifully, both in the film and on her LP. The Decca album assigns the number to her counterpart, Peggy Lee, who also handles the number well. However, her singing is too sophisticated for the character and abstracted for the situation, poking fun at Berlin's lyrics, "As they say in the song / 'You done me wrong'."

The dancer above with Clooney is George Chakiris, who went on to a notable career as an actor, singer and dancer on the strength of his success as Bernardo in the London cast of West Side Story and in the 1962 film version, for which he won an Academy Award. [Correction - loyal reader Geoconno points out that Chakiris played Riff in the West End production.]

What Can You Do with a General?

The weakest song in the score is surely "What Can You Do with a General?", which somehow reconciles Rosemary to Bing, even though it does just what she was afraid of - it exposes the general as a failure when Crosby sings it on the Ed Harrison Show. The song contains such lyrics as, "It seems this country never has enjoyed / So many one- and two- and three- and four-star generals unemployed" and "They're delighted that he came / But they can't recall his name." Waverly of course isn't unemployed - he is the owner of an inn large enough to stage a major show. Also, this is taking place nine years after the end of the Second World War. The generals are still unemployed?

The explanation in part is that Berlin recycled the number from an unproduced show. Crosby does do a version of the song for the Decca album. Clooney wisely ignores it.

Gee, I Wish I Was Back in the Army

Crosby and company end up putting on a major show at the inn for the general's benefit. One of the numbers is "Gee, I Wish I Was Back in the Army." An article on the National WWII Museum site observes, "The song 'Gee, I Wish I Was Back in the Army' highlights the mixed feelings of many war veterans... many veterans struggled to transition back into civilian life." The latter thoughts are true, but this jocular song hardly conveys that.

But the song is clever and well staged, and appears on both LPs. Crosby and Kaye handle the vocals on the Decca LP, with Clooney soloing on her record. The Decca LP, as noted above, combines this number with "The Old Man."

White Christmas

The film concludes with another presentation of "White Christmas." It's the high point of the show at the inn, and has the backdrop of a timely snowfall. "White Christmas" is essentially a solo song, so this ensemble version doesn't provide much of an emotional punch, and the staging is overdone, with kiddie ballerinas and unbecoming costumes. (Bing looks disconsolate above.)

The Decca LP replicates the ensemble approach, but Crosby's earlier solo performances are far superior. Clooney's version is one of the best things on her excellent record.

The Clooney album has backing by Columbia stalwarts Percy Faith, Paul Weston and Buddy Cole. Vocal support is by the Mellomen, a group that included the renowned studio vocalists Thurl Ravenscroft and Bill Lee.

On the Crosby LP, the chorus and orchestra are led by Joseph J. Lilley, a Paramount orchestrator who had worked with Bing as far back as 1942's Holiday Inn (which introduced "White Christmas").

In addition to the two LPs, the download includes scans of both covers, stills and discographical information. The sound is excellent on both albums. I transferred the Decca from LP; the Columbia came from the two-EP version of the 10-inch LP.