Another in RCA's "Show Time" Series

The latest installment in our slow-motion examination of RCA's "Show Time" series from 1953 is notable for documenting that year's revival of Porgy and Bess - but I particularly enjoyed the songs from Girl Crazy on the other side of the record.

Leslie Scott

This recording presents Cab Calloway, Leslie Scott and Helen Thigpen from the Broadway Porgy. Calloway is Sportin' Life, as he was in the 1953 production. Scott is Porgy, and he was one of the Porgys on Broadway. Thigpen is Bess, although she was Serena in the stage play.

Helen Thigpen with William Warfield

Calloway is vivid in this role, but as usual remarkable in the wrong way. Scott is a vulnerable Porgy, lighter voiced than such singers as Paul Robeson or even William Warfield. Thigpen is a shrill Bess. Jay Blackton conducts here; the music director for the stage was Alexander Smallens.

The LP was in effect a Gershwin double-feature, with songs from Girl Crazy on the other side.

Edie Adams and Rosalind Russell

Edith (Edie) Adams, a talented singer-comic actor, is delightful in "Embraceable You," complete with verse. She was in Wonderful Town with Rosalind Russell at the time of this recording. Also terrific are two then luminaries of Broadway, whom we have seen before in this series. Lisa Kirk does "But Not for Me" and Helen Gallagher "I Got Rhythm". Their previous appearances in the RCA series can be found here. Milton Rosenstock conducts.

RCA didn't bother much with documentation on these records. There is no identification of who sings what. "Bidin' My Time" is sung by a completely anonymous male quartet to close out the record. It's strange that the company was so off hand about such a well-produced, enjoyable series that shows what great talent there was on Broadway at the time.

Latest from RCA's 'Show Time' Series

The latest installment from RCA Victor's 1953 "Show Time" series of 10-inch LPs features rerecorded highlights from two notable Broadway shows from the 1920s, both starring African American performers.

Sissle and Blake

The songs for Shuffle Along were written by the team of Noble Sissle and Eubie Blake. The successful 1921 show set the pattern for a number of similar shows through the 20s and beyond. The big hit from the show was "I'm Just Wild About Harry." The RCA version derives from an unsuccessful 1952 revival of the show, and includes Avon Long, Thelma Carpenter, Louise Woods and Laurence Watson, all from the revival cast. Blake, who continued performing into his 90s and was often on American television in later years, conducted the revival.

Long had played Sportin' Life in the 1942 revival of Porgy and Bess. Thelma Carpenter had a long career as singer and actress; I'll have to present her Decca LP sometime in the future.

Sissle himself was one of the stars of the original production, although he does not appear in the revival. I thought you might want to hear a record he and Blake made in 1920, just before Shuffle Along. This is not one of their own songs, but a version of Perry Bradford's Crazy Blues, which had become a huge hit for vaudeville singer Mamie Smith. I've included the Smith version as well, for contrast. Trombone player Dope Andrews, one of Smith's "Jazz Hounds," sets a record for slide trombone slurs that may never be broken. Both of these are from my original 78s.

Thelma Carpenter

Thelma Carpenter also can be found on the other side of the LP, in songs from Blackbirds of 1928. This show starred African American artists (Bill Robinson, among others), but had music and lyrics by the white team of Jimmy McHugh and Dorothy Fields. The big hit was "I Can't Give You Anything but Love," here presented by Cab Calloway. (Gratuitous aside: I just don't like Cab.) Brunswick recorded songs from Blackbirds of 1928 in 1932-33, and Calloway appeared on one of those records - although not on "I Can't Give You Anything but Love."

Good sound on these records, even on the acoustically recorded versions of "Crazy Blues," although the Mamie Smith version is worn.