Les Brown - Coral Singles 1951-54

Bandleader Les Brown recorded a large number of singles for the Coral label from 1951-54. I thought we might have a look at some of the more neglected items. Most of these never appeared on a Coral LP, or were only reissued much later. The collection includes 17 songs, and heavily features the exceptional vocalist Lucy Ann Polk.

Indeed, Polk appears on the first several cuts, starting with "Very Good Advice," the Sammy Fain-Bob Hilliard song written for Disney's Alice in Wonderland film. In my post devoted to that film's songs, I included the flip side of Brown's record, with Lucy Ann's terrific "'Twas Brillig." (That post included the Peggy King-Ralph Flanagan version of "Very Good Advice.") This record has a brief trombone solo that is probably by Polk's husband Dick Noel.

The second selection also comes from a film, Bing's Just for You - the wonderful "In the Cool, Cool, Cool of the Evening." Polk is great, but please hear Crosby and Jane Wyman on the original cast LP. Hoagy Carmichael and Johnny Mercer were the authors. On the Brown record, we hear an opening solo from pianist Jeff Clarkson.

In "If You Turn Me Down," Lucy Ann threatens to go off to Missouri and live with a floppy-eared mule (or something). Peter De Rose and Carl Sigman wrote this novelty. The singer was actually from Idaho, and broke into the business as part of the sibling act the Town Criers, who worked with Kay Kyser and other bands. You can hear them with Tommy Dorsey here.

Lucy Ann Polk

There have been several songs with the title "Let It Be" - the Beatles among others - but this is a gospel-tinged item that Lucy Ann shares with the Mellomen. That's the group's bass, Thurl Ravenscroft, at the opening.

"Who's Excited" was originally a Johnny Hodges instrumental, which appeared on the alto saxophonist's 1951 LP Johnny Hodges Collates. Johnny Mercer added lyrics, and the result is this Lucy Ann Polk vocal. The Four Hits provide backing.

Lucy Ann leaves the stage for a moment so we can hear two songs with one of the busiest singing groups of the day, Jud Conlon's Rhythmaires, which I believe featured two of the best female vocalists of the time - Loulie Jean Norman and Gloria Wood. 

Their first song is the lamentable "Kiss of Fire," a hit for Georgia Gibbs that year (1952). Lester Allen and Robert Hill took credit for the number, which actually was the 1903 Argentine tango "El Choclo" with overheated lyrics. Allen and Hill did not bother to credit Ángel Villoldo, who wrote the tune.

Jud Conlon's Rhythmaires: Mack McLean,
Loulie Jean Norman, Conlon,
Gloria Wood, Charlie Parlato

The flip side was another cover, this time of Kay Starr's "I Waited a Little Too Long," which was written by dancer-singer-actor Donald O'Connor and Sid Miller. The Rhythmaires are exemplary here, the band swings, Dick Noel (probably) and guitarist Tony Rizzi are heard.

We take a break from the vocals with "You Forgot Your Gloves," an instrumental with a Frank Comstock chart. Jeff Clarkson and Rizzi do a Shearing-style solo, following by a tenor sax break that is probably Dave Pell. The song was introduced by Jerry Norris and Constance Carpenter in the 1931 revue The Third Little Show. Ed Eliscu and Ned Rehak were the songwriters.

Lucy Ann Polk returns with Cole Porter's "My Heart Belongs to Daddy," which was introduced by Mary Martin in 1938. Lucy Ann is a fine successor to Martin. Van Alexander, Frank Comstock and Wes Hensel all had a hand in the arrangement.

Dave Pell

Another instrumental, this one a mambo called "Montoona Clipper" by trumpeter Hensel, was a staple of the book at the time, and can be heard here in another version. The band's collective skill and precision are notable on this number, as elsewhere. Dave Pell gets a label credit for his tenor solo.

Next, two charts by the estimable Skip Martin, starting with an instrumental version of "How About You?" which is missing the ecstatic Judy Garland vocal heard in Babes on Broadway but little else. Burton Lane and Ralph Freed were the authors.

Lucy Ann Polk is at the microphone for "Back in Your Own Back Yard," which dates from 1928 and is associated with co-writer Al Jolson, although Ruth Etting recorded it first. This is Polk's final appearance in the set; she soon would leave the band to go solo. The splendid Jo Ann Greer replaced her.

The song "Ruby" was a hit in 1953 for Richard Hayman and Les Baxter, and Brown's polished performance also made a brief appearance on the charts. The piece was adapted from Heinz Roemheld's theme for the film Ruby Gentry, with lyrics by Mitchell Parish added.

"Invitation" is another film theme, and a particularly beautiful one, written by Bronislaw Kaper. The brilliant alto saxophonist Ronnie Lang has a solo, as do guitarist Bobby Gibbons and Jeff Clarkson. Frank Comstock's arrangement has overtones of the sound that has come to be called "crime jazz." 

Bandleader Maxwell Davis' "Hotpoint" is next. This rocking riff tune is done marvelously well by the talented ensemble.

Butch Stone

Mambos were big at the time, and mambo popularizer Sonny Burke came up with the novelty "They Were Doing the Mambo" with lyricist Don Raye. This was just the right material for saxophonist-vocalist Butch Stone, who plays the fumble-footed wallflower to perfection - "They were doing the mambo / While I just stood around," he complains. I am usually immune to Stone's charms, but this is a fun number. "What kind of dance is this that doesn't have a caller?" he asks plaintively. Even the band vocal is effective.

The final item in our set is another mambo - the "St. Louis Blues Mambo." (Hey, Glenn Miller turned Handy's classic into a march, so why not a mambo?) Wes Hensel was the arranger.

Les Brown had a superb band with tight ensemble, capable soloists and vocalists, and a varied and stimulating book, shown throughout this set. 

The 78 originals here come from Internet Archive needle drops, suitably remastered in ambient stereo and sounding glorious.

LINK

Les Brown - Six Navy Shows from 1953

Here from the original 16-inch transcription discs are six episodes of The Les Brown Show, which the bandleader produced for US Navy recruiting purposes in 1953.

The 15-minute programs each include four songs, two instrumentals and two vocal features. The singers are Jo Ann Greer, Butch Stone and Stumpy Brown from the band, and guests Margaret Whiting and Jimmy Wakely.

The provenance of the musical selections is largely unknown. It's assumed in some quarters that these are from broadcasts, but I think that is unlikely. For one thing, the applause is obviously dubbed in. These may items may be from transcriptions for radio stations or commercial issues, probably both. Whatever the source, the music is uniformly excellent - Brown had a top-notch working band at the time - and the sound is quite good as well.

So in total we have 90 minutes of programming, including 24 songs. Each program is fully tracked, so you can listen to Hy Averback's announcements and Navy promos once (if that often) and then move on to the musical selections.

Program No. 1

We start off, appropriately, with Program No. 1 in the series, which has Margaret Whiting as guest vocalist. Her numbers are "C.O.D. (My Broken Heart)" and "No Other Love," both popular favorites at the time. Whiting did a commercial recording of "C.O.D." for Capitol, but this is not that performance. She did not record "No Other Love" commercially.

Margaret Whiting

As usual with Whiting, she presents each tune sympathetically, with perfect diction and a fine rhythmic sense. The Capitol version of "C.O.D." can be found here. Back in 2011 I called it an execrable song, but I must be mellowing - now I like it! "No Other Love" is the Richard Rodgers melody originally titled "Beneath the Southern Cross" when used in his music for the Victory at Sea television series. He then repurposed the tune for the musical Me and Juliet, with the addition of Oscar Hammerstein's lyrics.

Ronnie Lang

The program also includes the instrumentals "Midnight Sun," a Sonny Burke-Lionel Hampton theme that is not a favorite of mine, and "That Old Black Magic," the Harold Arlen composition that is a favorite. The former is a showcase for alto saxophonist Ronnie Lang, who was with the band only in 1953. Brown did record "Midnight Sun," both for Coral and World transcriptions. There also is a Coral single of "Black Magic," dating from 1951.

Program No. 2

Jo Ann Greer

Program No. 2 features Les' new singer Jo Ann Greer, who was to stay with him for several decades. And why not - she was a supremely talented vocalist who had the great presence that a band singer needs. Not as welcome is singing saxophonist Butch Stone, who was with Brown for the better part of 30 years and whose novelties were reputedly popular with audiences. I must be hard to please.

Greer's showcase is "Something Wonderful Happens." This is neither the King and I's "Something Wonderful" nor the Sinatra favorite "Something Wonderful Happens in Summer." It is a enjoyable pop song from 1953 that was recorded by Margaret Whiting, among others I imagine. Jo Ann deploys her extraordinary vibrato to good effect here.

Les is awed by Butch Stone's shiny mouth

Butch Stone's feature is called "The Shiniest Mouth in Town," in which he is proud of all the gold fillings in his mouth, which apparently were the sum total of his net worth. This Stan Freberg concoction merited a 1952 commercial recording. (This may be it.)

Les also recorded "Ramona," an L. Wolfe Gilbert-Mabel Wayne composition from 1928, both for Coral and for transcription. Another oldie, "My Baby Just Cares for Me," is from 1930. A Walter Donaldson-Gus Kahn song, it was introduced by Eddie Cantor in the film Whoopie! There isn't a commercial recording of this number. Both are smoothly done.

Program No. 9

We leap ahead to Program No. 9 in the series, with vocal features for both Jo Ann Greer and Les' brother Stumpy, so named because he was short. (People were less sensitive back then, or, more likely, they were inured to such mocking monikers.) The label calls him "Stompy," but that isn't correct. Stumpy played the bass trombone in addition to singing.

Greer's feature is "When I Fall In Love," which she didn't record with the band. Former Brown vocalist Doris Day had a hit with the Victor Young-Eddie Heyman piece in 1952, but her version does not eclipse Jo Ann's passionate reading. There also is a striking trombone solo, possibly by Dick Noel.

Stumpy/Stompy

Stumpy Brown's feature is "Lulu's Back in Town," the Warren-Dubin item that Dick Powell and the Mills Brothers introduced in 1935. Brown wasn't a great singer but he could carry a tune and had a good sense of time, helpful when you are a jazz musician.

The instrumental features are "Brown's Little Jug," a take on you-know-what that the band also recorded for Coral in 1953, and "Rain," a Eugene Ford item from 1927 that appears on Les' 1952 LP Musical Weather Vane.

Don Fagerquist

"Rain" is a feature for trumpeter Don Fagerquist. Frank Comstock was the arranger. Les' other arrangers back then included Skip Martin and Van Alexander. He hired the best.

Program No. 10

Jimmy Wakely

The guest artist for Program No. 10 was Jimmy Wakely, who was ubiquitous at the time, having appeared in dozens of B Western movies, either as the lead or a supporting act. He also was a recording artist, on Decca for several years in the 1940s, then on Capitol, where he was particularly successful in duets with Margaret Whiting - "Slippin' Around," "Silver Bells" and others.

Jimmy's first feature is "Side by Side," which to me works better as a duet. His genial version of the 1927 Harry Woods song was probably occasioned by Kay Starr's hit record of the period.

Wes Hensel

"Crying in the Chapel," written by Artie Glenn, was a hit for his son Darrell in 1953, and was covered by many artists, including a big R&B success for the Orioles. Wakely did not record it for Capitol; that label's entry was by Wesley Tuttle. I actively dislike this piece, probably because of Elvis' insincere 1965 version.

The band's features are the "One O'Clock Jump," Count Basie's famous 1937 blues number, and "The Montoona Clipper," written by Wes Hensel, trumpeter and arranger for Les' group. Brown recorded the latter composition twice for Coral - once for a single, once for his LP Concert at the Palladium, Vol. 1.

Program No. 13

The vocal soloists for Program No. 13 were again the band's own Jo Ann Greer and Butch Stone. Greer's specialty was "I've Got a Right to Sing the Blues," written by Harold Arlen and Ted Koehler and introduced by Lillian Shade in Earl Carroll's Vanities of 1932. Jo Ann is again superb.

Butch Stone and Stumpy Brown - that's entertainment!

Butch Stone weighed in with "Etiquette Blues," written by Gayle Grubb and first recorded by several artists in 1928. "Always put both elbows on the table" is among the dubious pointers in this one, and "Thank you for your very kind attention" is the catchphrase. It suits Butch's persona poifectly.

"Green Eyes" was a big hit for Helen O'Connell with Jimmy Dorsey in 1941, but had been written back in 1931 as "Aquellos Ojos Verdes" by Adolfo Utrera and Nilo Menéndez. Les Brown's version is an instrumental, although I am sure Jo Ann Greer would have had no trouble improving on O'Connell's strained vocalizing. The composition also appeared on Brown's Over the Rainbow LP and his first live Palladium album.

Frank Comstock in emphatic mode

The other instrumental in this session was "Happy Hooligan," written by arranger Frank Comstock and the band's pianist, Geoff Clarkson.

I believe all the music in this program may have come from transcriptions. 

Program No. 14

Jo Ann Greer and Stompy/Stumpy Brown again were the vocal soloists in the final program on today's docket.

Jo Ann's feature is "Don't Take Your Love from Me," a Henry Nemo piece first recorded by Mildred Bailey in 1940. Stumpy added a easygoing version of "When I Take My Sugar to Tea," a Sammy Fain composition recorded in 1931 by everyone from the Boswell Sisters to the Chocolate Dandies.

Meanwhile, the band offered a lively version of "Stompin' at the Savoy," one of the hardiest of jazz standards, written by Edgar Sampson in 1933 and made famous by Benny Goodman in 1936.

The other instrumental feature was "You Are My Sunshine," which Les introduces as a folk song. That it may have been, although some research claims that a Georgia musician named Oliver Hood wrote it. Singer and later politician Jimmie Davis bought the music from Hood in 1939 and copyrighted it soon thereafter. This may have been the best $35 Davis ever spent - it made him famous. Surprisingly, it works nicely in a big band arrangement.

These shows demonstrated several things. The Brown ensemble was highly proficient and swinging, certainly one of the best postwar big bands. Jo Ann Greer was a terrific vocalist. Brown used two musicians from the band - his brother Stumpy and Butch Stone - to provide some variety to his programs and no doubt add some levity to live appearances. I make light of their contributions above, but no doubt they were important to the band's considerable success.