A Celebration of Dimitri Tiomkin

The Russian-born film composer Dimitri Tiomkin (1894-1979) famously thanked all the classical greats when accepting his 1955 Academy Award for The High and the Mighty. But Beethoven and Tchaikovsky would not have thought of having a whistler warble a memorable (and eerie) theme for one of their works - a theme that would become a huge popular success.

Tiomkin may have had roots in the classics, but he also was a powerful hit maker, writing both sweeping scores for his film assignments and theme music that often topped the charts.

Today we look at both sides of Tiomkin via:

• The Popular Dimitri Tiomkin, a set of 21 theme songs from his most fertile decade (1952-61), representing both huge successes and more modest but still worthy efforts.

• Movie Themes from Hollywood, Tiomkin's own 1955 LP of his compositions

• Return to Paradise, his unusual 1953 album of music from the film, with star Gary Cooper narrating the story

• Dimitri Tiomkin Obscurities (on my other blog), with such items as his first record (from 1934), foreign language versions of his themes, a mambo rendition of The High and the Mighty, and other items

The Popular Dimitri Tiomkin

Tiomkin's first huge hit was the theme from the Western High Noon, also known as "Do Not Forsake Me" with Gary Cooper's Quaker wife (Grace Kelly!) threatening to leave him if he shoots the bad guys. It's a bleak tale, with no one in the town willing to stand up to evil, except for Coop.

The story goes that the film was a flop in previews, so the studio wanted to shelve it. But Tiomkin paid for a recording of the title song - the version by Frankie Laine, which became a hit. That led the studio to release the film, which did well. The soundtrack version was by the sonorous Tex Ritter, who also recorded a single for Capitol that sold nicely. Both Laine and Ritter are in our collection.

It of course helped that the simple song was unforgettable. Catchy themes (and Westerns) would mark Tiomkin's career henceforth. The lyrics for "High Noon" were by the brilliant Ned Washington (1901-76), who won his second Oscar for this collaboration with Tiomkin. (The composer won a total of four.)

Our second film is another Western, The Big Sky, but it did not yield a hit for Tiomkin. From that score we do have a heartfelt ballad "When I Dream," sensitively done on a Capitol release by Bob Eberly, the former Jimmy Dorsey vocalist. I don't believe this is sung in the film.

Dimitri Tiomkin with Frankie Laine, Paul Francis Webster (seated), probably producer Milton Sperling, and Ray Heindorf, likely at the Blowing Wild sessions

Tiomkin again teamed with Gary Cooper and Frankie Laine for yet another Western, Blowing Wild, but Dimitri's music and Laine's histrionics did not lead to a hit the size of "High Noon." Paul Francis Webster (1907-84), another frequent Tiomkin collaborator, was the lyricist.

The war film Take the High Ground! did have a theme song, but today we hear the ballad "Julie," a tribute to Elaine Stewart's character. The beautiful Tiomkin melody is graced by a superior performance from studio vocalist Stuart Foster. I've presented this record before, but it merits a reprise.

Like South Pacific, Return to Paradise was based on a James Mitchener story, with Gary Cooper the filmic protagonist. The atmospheric title number was sung by the excellent Kitty White for the soundtrack, but here we have the fine singer Alan Dale with his lovely version for Coral.

The 'Hajji Baba' creative team: Nat King Cole, Dimitri Tiomkin and Ned Washington

Hollywood (and the musical world) were fixated on exotica in the 1950s, and Tiomkin and Washington managed to make it pay off with their hit title song for The Adventures of Hajji Baba. For "Hajji Baba" they had the good fortune to have the perfect vocalist, Nat King Cole, on both the soundtrack and the Capitol recording, arranged and conducted by Nelson Riddle.

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The song is very dated - and more than a little creepy - but nonetheless memorable, and a big hit.

The promotion for the Western A Bullet Is Waiting promised "Explosive and overpowering hate and drama in the High Sierras!", but the single from the film spares us the angst and instead provides a pleasing instrumental number called "Jamie," here performed by LeRoy Holmes and his orchestra. The title is mysterious because none of the film's characters is named Jamie. Also, the song has lyrics (which seem to be by Manny Curtis), but those aren't included here. Still, a nice number.

In a very real way, the star of the airplane melodrama The High and the Mighty is the theme music. Based on a tune whistled in the film by the first officer (John Wayne), it has an otherworldly aura that could portend tragedy or intervention by God (and Wayne). The latter is, of course, what happens. Otherwise, the film is an airborne Grand Hotel.

The theme became massively popular because of its haunting quality. The biggest-selling single may have been the LeRoy Holmes record with whistling by Fred Lowery. I've chosen Victor Young's version with perfect and rather godlike whistling by Muzzy Marcellino, who was also heard on the soundtrack. Marcellino was a former Ted Fio Rito vocalist.

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There were no lack of recordings of the theme. Jumping on the bandwagon (or airplane) in this Cash Box graphic were Tiomkin, Harry James, Perez Prado, Johnny Desmond, Les Baxter, Richard Hayman, Georgie Auld, Eddie Manson, Young, Holmes, Joe Loco, Leo Diamond and the Dorsey Brothers. Prado's mambo version and Desmond's singing can be heard on my other blog. The lyrics, which have nothing to do with the film's plot, were by the ubiquitous Ned Washington. By the way, Tiomkin's own record, which is in his LP below, replaces the whistling with a theremin.

In Friendly Persuasion, Gary Cooper once again starred in a tale of Quaker pacifism contending with a threat to the community The film produced another hit record for Tiomkin, this time working with Paul Francis Webster.

"Friendly Persuasion (Thee I Love)" was sung both on the soundtrack and on records by Pat Boone, who was otherwise known for covers of R&B hits. (Note that the flip side of "Friendly Persuasion" was a remake of a Big Joe Turner single.) Boone was actually a crooner in the Crosby vein, and quite a talented one as his version of Tiomkin's gorgeous theme song amply displays.

The Rock Hudson-Elizabeth Taylor-James Dean epic Giant actually had two theme songs: "Giant" and "There's Never Been Anyone Else But You (Love Theme from Giant)." Both were recorded, but the love theme more often, so I've chosen it for this collection. It gives me a chance to showcase some excellent vocalese from June Brown on the Mercury record by David Carroll and band. 

Giant was Dean's final film before his early death in a car crash. About 15 years ago I posted two different Dean exploitation records, while are still available.

We're back in the old West with Tiomkin, Washington and Frankie Laine for the title song of Gunfight at the O.K. Corral. It's a legendary tale loosely based on real incidents in Tombstone, Arizona in 1881, involving the Earp brothers, Doc Holliday and a band of outlaws. In the film, Burt Lancaster is Wyatt Earp and Kirk Douglas is Doc Holliday.

Laine's inimitable singing was a popular success, although the record did not become as iconic as High Noon.

The film Wild Is the Wind takes place on a ranch but only in that sense is it a Western. Otherwise it's a tale of love, loss and betrayal among Anna Magnani, Anthony Quinn and Tony Franciosa.

Johnny Mathis sang the magnificent theme song both on the soundtrack and on records. It's a unique performance, and a favorite of mine. (I owned the single when I was eight.) It only rose to the 22nd spot on the Billboard listing, but even so sold a huge number of records by virtue of its inclusion on Johnny's Greatest Hits, an LP that was on the charts for 10 years!

This is one of the best things Tiomkin and Washington did, and it shows their range following Gunfight at the O.K. Corral.

Tiomkin and John Wayne re-teamed for Rio Bravo, bringing along two singers as accomplices - Dean Martin and Ricky Nelson. We have three songs from the film, all transferred from a Capitol promo disc in my collection. Dino sings the title song, as he did in the film, and "My Rifle, My Pony and Me," a better song than title. Paul Francis Webster was the lyricist.

Ricky also sings this in the film, but not on the disc. His hit from the film was the traditional song "Cindy," which I've not included here but which can be heard on YouTube in an extract from the Nelson family's TV show The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet. You can spy guitarist James Burton in Ricky's band. The appropriate excerpt from Rio Bravo also is online.

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The third number is "El Degüello" (on the Capitol label "De Guello"). Tiomkin patterned this baleful trumpet motto on the music played by Gen. Santa Anna's buglers before the siege of the Alamo in 1836. "Degüello" literally means "throat-slashing" - it portends that the attackers will show no mercy. Santa Anna's men did not.

For the Capitol recording, Nelson Riddle was in charge, Manny Klein the trumpeter. Tiomkin and Wayne soon were to reuse the theme in Wayne's film The Alamo.

"Degüello" was very influential. Such ominous trumpet themes are a feature of the "spaghetti Westerns" of the 1960s.

When it came to the theme song for the Eric Fleming-Clint Eastwood Western TV show Rawhide, Tiomkin and Washington turned to (who else) Frankie Laine, and for inspiration Frankie's 1949 hit "Mule Train." In one, Laine was driving a team of mules, for the other a herd of cattle. In both cases, he got to shout "hee-yah!" to striking effect.

This stereo version is from Frankie's LP Hell Bent for Leather. The conductor is Johnny Williams, who later turned into famed film composer John Williams.

John Wayne's The Alamo spawned two outstanding songs. "The Ballad of the Alamo," written by Tiomkin and Paul Francis Webster, was clearly inspired by Marty Robbins' incredible "El Paso" of the year before. Fittingly, Robbins got the assignment to perform Tiomkin's story-song. It's an affecting record, even if it does use the same Spanish guitar backing as "El Paso," played by the same guitarist, Grady Martin.

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Almost as fine is the elegiac ballad "The Green Leaves of Summer," here in the hit version by the folk group The Brothers Four. They are effective, but I also recommend the intense Spanish language single by the superb Lucho Gatica, which can be found in the collection on my other blog.

There were no big hits from the war film The Guns of Navarone, but the theme music did stimulate several instrumental versions. This collection includes the adaptation by guitarist Al Caiola, who simplified the film's title to "Guns of Navarone."

The final selection from Tiomkin's great period is the title song from "Town without Pity." Washington's lyrics don't have anything to do with the plot except in a general way. I believe the song is used in the film as source music from a jukebox.

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Despite this throwaway use, it's a great number that was a huge hit for Gene Pitney in his first outing on record. Pitney's distinctive vocalizing became one of the best things about early 1960s music. The singer's next hit was "(The Man Who Shot) Liberty Valance," based on the Western of the same name but not used in the film. This is the type of song that Tiomkin and Washington could write, but it was actually by Burt Bacharach and Hal David.

These selections come from Internet Archive and my collection.

LINK to The Popular Dimitri Tiomkin

Movie Themes from Hollywood

The Coral label invited Tiomkin to make an instrumental LP of his finest movie themes in 1955. Here are a few words about each of the songs, many of which are covered elsewhere.

The High and the Mighty - as mentioned above, Tiomkin uses a theremin rather than a whistler in this version. Heretical but ethereal (and spooky).

Champion - For this Kirk Douglas boxing melodrama, Tiomkin produced a tune that veers too close to "The March of the Wooden Soldiers" at times. There also was a ballad from the film called "Never Be It Said," which can be found in the collection on my other blog.

A Bullet Is Waiting - Tiomkin's version of the ballad "Jamie," also in the collection above via the LeRoy Holmes single.

Strange Lady in Town - This ambling Western tune was a tribute to the "strange lady" - Greer Garson as a doctor who moves to Santa Fe.

Dial "M" for Murder - Tiomkin's dramatic theme for the Hitchcock film can also be found in my collection of "Alfred Hitchcock Obscurities."

Return to Paradise - We have full coverage of this score, with Tiomkin's theme here, the music from the soundtrack below, and a vocal version of the theme on my other blog.

High Noon - Tex and Frankie are above, Dimitri here, "Forlad mig ikke" on the other blog.

Land of the Pharaohs - This one involves Jack Hawkins designing a tomb for a pharaoh. Somehow Joan Collins shows up in a bikini. The music is good, though, and if you want to hear it on a harmonica we have that, too. There's also a song based on the the score, added as a bonus below.

Hajji Baba - You certainly don't need anything but Nat Cole above, but Tiomkin's version is from the source.

Duel in the Sun - This dates back to 1946. A Western with Joseph Cotten and Gregory Peck vying for Jennifer Jones. Fiedler and the Boston Pops did an album of the music back in the day.

I Confess - Another score for Hitchcock. An enjoyable theme that also can be found in an odd tea-dance version on my other blog.

Lost Horizon - Tiomkin's first big success was with the score for this popular 1937 film.

BONUS: "This Too Shall Pass" from Land of the Pharaohs. Tiomkin recorded a single of this number for Coral with Johnny Desmond singing Ned Washington's words. Worth hearing even if Johnny is a little overbearing. I don't believe a vocal was used in the film.

The LP is from my collection.

LINK to Movie Themes from Hollywood

Return to Paradise

Return to Paradise came soon after High Noon, and was a departure in locale and music. The soundtrack LP also was a departure - Coral took music from Tiomkin's soundtrack and added a narration voiced by the lead character, Gary Cooper.

It's a good idea that comes across well on the first listen, but I'm not sure how often you might want to listen to Coop's laid-back delivery.

The music is, however, well worth your time.

I remastered this from an LP on Internet Archive. 

All the selections throughout this post are in ambient stereo, with the exception of Frankie Laine's stereo running of the cattle in Rawhide.

LINK to Return to Paradise

Frankie Laine's First Columbia LP, with Bonuses

Frankie Laine is not the kind of singer I usually respond to - he's brash and bigger than life - but I love him even so. He was a most skillful artist.

It's sometimes said that Laine represented a new way of singing in response to the Sinatra-style romantic vocalists of the war and postwar years. His approach was not new, though. Before electric amplification came along, popular singers had to project their voices to be heard. Frankie was a throw-back to the days of Al Jolson (who had a career renaissance in the postwar years), and such blues singers as Bessie Smith.

It's true that these days, Laine is most remembered for such lung-busting exercises as "Mule Train" ("Hee-YAAHH") for Mercury and "Jezebel" ("Jez-e-BELL-lll-LLL") for Columbia. But while Laine possessed a powerful voice, he was not always unsubtle and he was an accomplished technician. You only need to hear his smooth duets with the great Jo Stafford to realize that he was in many ways her peer. And his sense of rhythm was second to none.

Laine had been singing for some time before he began making records, first for the small companies Bel-Tone and Atlas, then for the new Mercury label. He and Mercury immediately enjoyed a huge success with 1946's "That's My Desire," which became Laine's theme song. Some of Laine's Mercury sides and his Bel-Tone disc can be found via this link.

This post and its companion present his first Columbia LP, a 10-incher, and add the special sides that the label issued to promote it. 

'One for My Baby'

Laine's producer at Mercury was the influential Mitch Miller. After Miller departed for Columbia, Frankie followed, in early 1951.

The two almost immediately hit pay dirt with "Jezebel" and such emphatic successors as "Jealousy." They saved the more subtle sides for a long-playing outing, which was soon underway.

Frankie's first LP for his new employer was titled for the number one saloon song of all time, "One for My Baby," written by Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer for the great Fred Astaire and his 1943 film The Sky's the Limit.

Astaire was another skillful singer, but one whose approach could not be more different from Laine's. Fred gave the impression that his voice wouldn't reach patrons in the second row of a theatre. Frankie sounded like he might knock those same people out of their seats. Somehow, both Laine and Astaire are equally persuasive in this famous lament for lost love.

The album begins with the welcome and not often heard "Tomorrow Mountain." Duke Ellington and John Latouche wrote the song for a 1946-47 adaptation of Beggar's Holiday, where it was introduced by Alfred Drake, playing Macheath. To me, most of the musical interest is in the extended opening verse. Latouche's lyrics (and even the song's title) resemble Harry McClintock's "Big Rock Candy Mountain," first recorded in 1928 and a major country hit in 1939.

Frankie and Mitch made a point of choosing diverse songs for the record (they even talk about it on their promo record) starting with the Hawaiian "Song of the Islands," followed by a 1934 opus from the talented Harry Revel and Mack Gordon, "She Reminds Me of You" - an excellent rendition of an infrequently heard song.

Laine was the first to record "To Be Worthy of You," a melody by Walter Gross, who was famous for writing "Tenderly." "Worthy" is not as good as "Tenderly," however.

"When It's Sleepy Time Down South" was the theme song of Louis Armstrong, one of Frankie's idols. Even though the piece was written by three black composers - Clarence Muse and the brothers Otis and Leon René - it reflects stereotypes about race and the South, and would soon become controversial, if it wasn't when Laine recorded it. It has a memorable melody, though, and Frankie is great in it.

"Love Is Such a Cheat" is another song based in stereotypes - "The gypsy came from Bucharest / The girl she came from Budapest / Now you can guess the rest." This was a new song in 1951, also recorded by the Andrews Sisters.

Finally, we have "Love Is a Necessary Evil," a good tune by the accomplished singer-songwriter Redd Evans ("Let Me Off Uptown," "No Moon at All" and unfortunately "The Frim Frim Sauce").

The transfers of these songs come from two sources - my copy of the LP and the 78 album on Internet Archive. I used the 78s where possible because the sound was more vivid - not unusual with records of this vintage.

Bonuses on Buster's Swinging Singles

To interest disc jockeys and listeners in Laine's latest efforts, Columbia issued a promotional record, one side of which involves Mitch and Frankie introducing three songs from the LP above; the other with Laine providing two singing salutes, four song intros and a photo offer, all of which could be programmed by DJs more flexibly.

On my singles blog, I've put together a dual program to go along with the LP. First are the Mitch-Frankie LP intros along with relevant songs themselves. Second is a program with Frankie's "singing salutes" and generic song intros, which I've interspersed with several of his singles - including "Jezebel," "Jealousy" and two duets with Jo Stafford. They make for a fun listen that you can find here.

Christmas with Damone, Laine and Howard

Let's kick off the holiday season with a 10-incher featuring blog favorites Frankie Laine and Vic Damone and new friend Eddy Howard.

The recordings are all from 1947 and 1948, then compiled into this LP in 1951, I believe.

Damone's version of "Silent Night" first came out on a 12-inch 78 in 1947, later cut down to 10-inch format for jukeboxes. His excellent version of "White Christmas" and the obscure "Christmas Morn" are from 1948. The latter has a difficult melody line, which gives Vic some trouble.

Laine's coupling of "You're All I Want for Christmas" and "Tara Talara Tala" are also from 1948. Frankie is sincere, but in truth these readings do drag a bit.

Eddy Howard may not be familiar to many of you; he is not nearly as well remembered as Laine or Damone. Howard started out as a band vocalist, then moved on to fronting his own band in the 1940s. The three items here were recorded for the small Majestic label in 1947, then swept up by Mercury when Majestic fell to pieces. Mercury reissued the sides in 1948.

Howard was a sensitive singer, but he tends to croon in a head voice, a mannerism I find annoying. Nonetheless his versions of the songs "I'll Be Home for Christmas" and "The Christmas Song," then new, now standards, are well done, and nicely played by his band. "Dearest Santa" is a sentimental item in the vein of "The Little Boy That Santa Claus Forgot," only this time around the unfortunate orphan is a girl.

The sound on the items recorded by Majestic is very good, those originating with Mercury less so. Mercury's processing and pressings leave something to be desired, as usual, but the results still are reasonably good.

Have a fun holiday season, everyone!

1948 trade ad featuring all these sides

Early Frankie Laine

Last December I remastered a Columbia Christmas record from the vocal duo of Jo Stafford and Frankie Laine, and enjoyed the experience so much I decided to transfer one of my many Laine LPs. I chose this one not for any musical reason, but because I liked the cover the best – a nice portrait of Frankie emoting, rather than the floating headshots that characterized many sleeves of the time.

This Mercury album collects singles that Laine recorded throughout his 1946-51 stint with Mercury, when he first achieved popularity as a big-voiced belter whose forceful sound contrasted with the enervated tones of the other Frankie or Laine’s label-mate Vic Damone. This muscular approach reached its apex with Laine’s 1949 hit record of “Mule Train” (heee-YAAAAH!), mercifully not included here.

Laine may have seemed fresh in the 40s, but his style was a throwback to the openly emotional singing of Al Jolson, crossed with Frankie’s admiration for the popular blues singers. After starting his recording career with a few sides on Bel-Tone and then Atlas records in 1945, Laine achieved success in his first Mercury session, which produced the big hit “That’s My Desire”. This 10-inch LP includes two of the songs recorded at that August date, “September in the Rain” and “Ain’t That Just Like a Woman” (a cover of Louis Jordan’s number one R&B hit). Trumpeter Mannie Klein leads a combo featuring the excellent tenor sax man Babe Russin.

The balance of the LP’s tunes are from 1950 and 1951, with backing by the Harry Geller orchestra and pianist Carl Fischer, who worked with Laine until the instrumentalist’s 1954 death. Fischer alone directs the band on the rollicking “Metro Polka."

As a bonus, I’ve added my transfer of Laine’s first two records, “In the Wee Small Hours” (not the Sinatra song) and “That’s Liberty,” made for the short-lived Bel-Tone label circa June 1945. My dub is from a reissue on the Gold Seal label, possibly from 1946 when Laine achieved renown with “That’s My Desire.” The download includes details from Gold Seal discographers Robert L. Campbell and Robert Pruter.

Remastered Jo Stafford Christmas Singles

I had a request for the collection of Jo Stafford Christmas singles that I put together five years ago, so I went ahead and refurbished them and am reupping them now.

The centerpiece of the collection is the medley of Christmas songs that Jo recorded with Gordon MacRae for the 1949 season, here in the 1955 EP edition (above).

Also included are her 1946 recordings of "Silent Night" and "White Christmas," her excellent 1953 version of "The Christmas Blues," and a 1952 duet with Frankie Laine on the country-tinged "Christmas Roses."

Paul Weston, as usual, accompanies.

Christmas with the Crooners

A 1953 Julius LaRosa EP leads off tonight's share of Christmas records by some of the popular crooners of the postwar era, which also includes a passel of unusual songs by other singers.

The EP came out shortly after LaRosa's infamous on-air firing by American TV host Arthur Godfrey (a man who struck me as creepy even back then, when I was barely out of diapers). Julie has a reputation among vocal aficionados that is far greater than his popularity, and this record shows why. He performs these songs beautifully (a tendency to sing a little flat aside). He maintains his quality of voice even when singing loud, which is unusual for pop singers. And he is very involved in the repertoire. Excellent support by the Columbus Boychoir and Archie Bleyer. There is a small amount of groove noise on this EP - the second side was defective, but I managed to navigate around almost all the damage.

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We begin the assorted holiday singles with Johnny Mercer's 1946 recording of "Winter Wonderland," made with the Pied Pipers and Paul Weston. This one's a little worn, but the rest of the evening's fare is in excellent shape.

We move ahead to 1950 and Frankie Laine's 78 of "Merry Christmas Everywhere" and "What Am I Gonna Do This Christmas." Also from that year is the first of two singles from that fine singer Johnny Desmond - "Sleigh Ride" and "A Marshmallow World."

Next up is "That's What Christmas Means to Me," a good song and performance by Eddie Fisher. Back to Desmond for 1954's "Happy Holidays to You" and "Santo Natale" (think "Santa Lucia").

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Finally, from 1955 we have Tony Martin's "Christmas in America" and "Christmas in Rio."

The songs on this set range from the overly familiar ("Silent Night") to sorta familiar ("Sleigh Ride") to sorta unfamiliar ("A Marshmallow World") to completely unfamiliar (most of the rest). Many of the non-hits are very worthwhile, and I think that makes for a good holiday listening.

Sunny Side of the Street

The latest in our series of disembodied-head covers is also the latest in our series of soundtracks on 10-inch LPs. This one is a real obscurity, a 1951 effort called Sunny Side of the Street.

The two disembodied noggins, which appear to be singing to us from the windows of a shocking pink apartment building, belong to tune-shouters Frankie Laine and Billy Daniels, who played themselves in the film. To discover the movie's lead actors, you need to look at the back cover below, where you will find Terry Moore and Jerome Courtland in the upper right corner. (Poor Jerome doesn't even get his name on the cover.)

This record seems to be one of those "songs from the film" rather than "songs from the soundtrack" LPs. While Laine does sing these tunes in the film, these particular recordings were all released by Mercury some time before the movie was made. In 1951, Laine had moved on to Columbia.

Not that these performances are bad; far from it. These were among Frankie's first efforts, and they show the freshness and drive that made him popular. I May Be Wrong, one of his early hits, is particularly good.

Daniels is another story. His mannered belting and bellowing - popular in the cabarets - may have been great in person, but on record the effect is unendurable. The back cover captures him in characteristic pose -arms flung about, in the throes of some nameless rapture. I don't get it.

As far as I can tell, Daniels didn't sing either of these songs in the film, although both songs are used in the movie. In the film, Daniels did sing I Hadn't Anyone 'Til You, but here that is presented by Vic Damone. Neither Tony Fontane nor his song are in the film.

I should mention that the end of side one of this record is badly worn, affecting mainly the Damone tune (sorry I couldn't find a clean copy of this record to substitute). I believe this wear was caused many years ago by the record being played on an auto-changer turntable with the hold-down arm off to the side. At the end of the record, because no LP fell, this would cause the mechanism to think you wanted to repeat-play a 7-inch record. If you forgot about this and left the room, the end of the record would play over and over - and eventually wear out, as happened here.

UPDATE - I did find a copy of the Damone record among my 78s, so I've substituted it in the file linked below. While not worn out, this copy is pretty noisy, so it's not much of an improvement, I'm afraid. There is also a link to download only the Damone record.

UPDATED LINK | DAMONE ONLY