Canta Maya - From Berlin to Bachelor Pad

We'll never know what path led prewar Berlin cabaret artist Canta Maya to Morris Levy's Roulette records in 1958, but this LP is the result.

There's not much background available on Canta Maya (born Elizabeth Rimmer in Alsace). While we can place her in 1930s Berlin as a singer and perhaps a courtesan - one who was called the "Venus of the flesh" (not sure what that means, but it sounds good!) - it's likely that she was not a big star because she does not appear in recent books chronicling the cabaret scene of the time.

During the war years she emigrated to a German exile community in Mexico, but does not turn up again until she made this one-off record for Roulette in 1958. Finally, she resurfaces years later as an acquaintance of the artist Tamara de Lempicka, again in Mexico.

Canta Maya in Berlin

On the evidence here, Canta Maya was a kind of Teutonic Eartha Kitt, or perhaps a Marlene Dietrich who actually could sing. She is far more intense than most exponents of the bachelor pad genre. She puts across such kitsch as "I'm a Kitten" seemingly without irony, and complete with a glottal purr that's closer to a growl. This kitten seems more odd than sexy. Her version of Ray Noble's "Good Night Sweetheart" sounds desperate - not an effect the urbane Noble was aiming for, I'd guess.

Even so, Canta Maya certainly was a skillful singer who knew how to get the effects she was aiming for, and this record is worth hearing for more than its curiosity value.

This is in response to a request from my friend Jeronimo.

REMASTERED VERSION - MARCH 2015