Tony Martin

Here's another of the ageless pop music veterans who, like Herb Jeffries, is still with us. He is 95-year-old Tony Martin, whose career goes back far enough for him to have appeared in an Astaire-Rogers movie.

Tony's hit records and movie appearances began in the 1930s, and his vocal style, although a little dated sounding even in these late 1940s recordings, was a precursor of the romantic balladeers who were ascendant in the post-war years.

This album also allows us to revisit the work of my cover art "discovery," Fred Steffen, who did a number of odd and outrageous covers for Mercury Records way back when. This one, possibly inspired by Cot's The Storm (I know my kitsch), is tame by Steffen standards. It might even be considered attractive, if not for the obtrusive cartouche.

These are very fine records of their type, and well recorded for the time. They are wildly out of style, but I love 'em anyway.

Georgia Gibbs

A high percentage of early LPs featured pop singers. We've neglected them here, so let's start to make amends with this album from a fine vocalist, Georgia Gibbs.

I wish there were a way to make amends to Her Nibs (as she was called) for this cover. Yes, her skin is really the color of a rotting lime on the original artwork. Yes, there are cobwebs attached to her head. And yes, there are rolls of flab on her neck. All of which signifies that the cover was designed by my very own "discovery," Fred Steffen!

We first encountered Fred in the early days of this blog. He did the outrageous art for a Steve Gibson LP featured way down below. I said then that I didn't know anything about the artist. Since then I've found references to him as being a Chicago resident (Mercury was headquartered there) who designed book illustrations and a couple of pieces of art for Rogue, a men's magazine. I surely hope the latter were more alluring than his work for Georgia Gibbs.

Gibbs deserved better. A talented singer with a gutsy approach, her biggest hits were R&B covers like Dance with Me Henry. This is a enjoyable record in good sound with nice backing by an anonymous group.

LINK

Steve Gibson and the Red Caps

Here is a 10-inch LP by Steve  Gibson and the Red Caps that is notable not only for the music found on the record but the cover that encased it.

First, the music. The Red Caps had a very long career (chronicled in detail by Marv Goldberg elsewhere on the web) making music inspired by the Mills Brothers and Ink Spots, as were many other groups of the 40s. These eight sides were cut as singles for Mercury from 1947-50. As you listen you will hear echoes of he Ink Spots' Bill Kenny (high voice) and Hoppy Jones (low voice) and the Mills Brothers' Harry Mills. Like those groups, the Red Caps played their own instruments.

There is nothing about Red Caps' performance - which, if anything, was a bit ironic and detached - to inspire the perfervid goings on shown on the cover. A giant woman in the grip of some nameless passion? Two boppers rapt in admiration? Purple and magenta swirls on a bed of chrome yellow? It's cover art by Fred Steffen!

Steffen is obscure. He does not have the cult following of Jim Flora or Alex Steinweiss, both of whom will be making appearances here in due course. Steffen's art, if it can be called that, was every bit as eccentric as Flora's but I don't believe his career was as long-lived. He did quite a few covers for Mercury - I have examples done for Dinah Washington, Sarah Vaughan, Tony Martin, Georgia Gibbs, Lionel Hampton, and probably others. After executing these, he and his garish palette seemed to vanish. Other information about him would be welcome.

During the 10-inch era, Mercury's other specialty in covers was a compete contrast to Steffen's work - bland cartoon illustrations for the likes of Vic Damone, Ralph Marterie, Xavier Cugat, and Steve Gibson - on the Red Caps' only other Mercury album.