Gershwin's Oh, Kay! - The 1926 Recordings

Original cast recordings of Broadway shows may seem like they have been around forever, but they didn't come into vogue until 1943 and the stunning success of Oklahoma! both on stage and as a cast album.

For earlier shows - even those of such luminaries as George Gershwin - we have only an sketchy indication of how they sounded on the stage. Yes, at times the stars or even the composer would make recordings, but these often were not of the original arrangements or with their original co-stars.

In addition, the record companies had their own stars put down their interpretations of the most popular songs, and these would shape the impressions of the average person far from Broadway and its theaters.

Today I want to look at one of those Gershwin musicals - Oh, Kay! from 1926, a Broadway success with lyrics by Ira Gershwin and a book by Guy Bolton and P.G. Wodehouse. For that show, we have two recordings made by its star, Gertrude Lawrence, and the four by Gershwin himself at the piano, along with several by the popular artists of the day.

Ira and George Gershwin, Guy Bolton

About Oh, Kay!

Oh, Kay! was written for Lawrence, a West End favorite who had appeared on Broadway in revue in 1924 and 1925 to great acclaim. Hers was to be the first starring role for a British performer in a Broadway musical. The show ran in New York from November 1926 through July 1927, then went to London's West End for another seven months.

The musical was very much of its time, a farce involving comical bootleggers mixed up with some English aristocrats, including the Duke of Durham and his sister Lady Kay (Lawrence). Kay's love interest was Jimmy Winter, played by Oscar Shaw, and the main comic foil was the inevitable Victor Moore as Shorty McGee.

Oscar Shaw, Gertrude Lawrence, Victor Moore

On stage, Lawrence sang three of the show's four big tunes - a solo on "Someone to Watch Over Me" and duets with Shaw in "Do, Do, Do" and "Maybe." The quasi-minstrel number "Clap Yo' Hands" was handled by Harlan Dixon and the ensemble.

1927 West End program

When the time came for recordings, only Lawrence was asked into the studio, and then only for "Someone to Watch Over Me" and "Do-Do-Do," done for Victor. Columbia engaged Gershwin to supply piano versions of the main songs. Plus there were other recordings handled by artists under contract to the various labels.

Let's take a look at these contrasting recordings, all of which date from October-December 1926.

Oh, Kay! Medley

Although Victor invited Lawrence to record only two songs, it also engaged other artists to set down the best numbers. We start off the collection with an "Oh, Kay! Medley" from the two-piano team of Edgar Fairchild and Ralph Rainger. Both were composers as well as instrumentalists, and Rainger would go on to become quite well known in Hollywood for his work with Leo Robin, before perishing in a 1942 plane crash.

Edgar Fairchild and Ralph Rainger

I've included this record as a kind of overture, but also because it includes another song from the show besides the big four tunes named above - "Fidgety Feet" (not the ODJB number).

Clap Yo' Hands

"Clap Yo' Hands" provides the first opportunity to hear Gershwin in this score. The rousing number is well suited to his energetic approach to his own music on the piano, which I have otherwise observed can be brisk to the brink of brusque. He seldom attempts to convey sentiment through his playing - not that this is particularly relevant in "Clap Yo' Hands."

But what he does instrumentally is fascinating; he frequently uncovers new aspects to the music by introducing asides and counter-melodies. This number in particular also demonstrates his roots in ragtime.

Sam Lanin

The second version of "Clap Yo' Hands" is a Cameo recording done by the prolific Sam Lanin (Lester's brother), with an anonymous vocal. (Discographer Brian Rust identifies him as the little-recorded Arthur Hall.) Lanin passes the melody back and forth between the saxes and brass, and Hall is an effective advocate for the lyric.

Do-Do-Do

With "Do-Do-Do" we come to the first recording by the show's star, Gertrude Lawrence, accompanied by pianist Tom Waring (Fred's brother). We can speculate that this performance may be similar to what she presented on stage, and some of her coy phrasing would have worked better there in a duet setting, I imagine.

The second "Do-Do-Do" is also the second appearance by the composer, again fascinating in how he phrases his melody.

The third version is by another bandleader who was seldom out of the studios - Bob Haring, whose staccato trumpets attack the melody, with the unnamed vocalist right in tune with that march-band approach. This is another release from Cameo.

Maybe

Franklyn Baur arrives

After that assault by Haring, it's nice to hear the sweet-toned Franklyn Baur, one of the busiest recording vocalists of the time, in "Maybe." Baur is one of my favorites among the tenors who were in the studio at the time, although modern ears will be distracted by his rolled R's, among other vocal traits long out of vogue.

Baur recorded more of this score than even Gershwin. Beside "Maybe," he did a medley from the show under his own name, separate medleys with the Revelers and with the Columbia Light Opera Company, and two duets with Virginia Rea. The latter had a backing by pianists Victor Arden and Phil Ohman, who were part of the pit band on Broadway. Baur's solo side was the best of the lot, so I used it in preference to the other sides.

Next is "Maybe" with the composer at the piano. At one point he features a counter-melody that was later lifted for a well-known theme by another composer - one that I can't place, to my annoyance.

Jesse Crawford

For the final "Maybe" I could not resist transporting you to what sounds like a skating rink for a serenade by organist Jesse Crawford, along with Nat Shilkret and his Victor Orchestra. The echoey ambiance was actually created by recording these forces in an empty hall in the New York's Wurlitzer Building with Crawford at the console.

Someone to Watch Over Me

"Someone to Watch Over Me"

Before we close with Lawrence's show-stopping ballad version, let's hear "Someone to Watch Over Me" in two of the typically bouncy renditions that were popular then.

First was a fine arrangement from one of the best-regarded bands of the day, that of George Olsen. I am particularly partial to bass sax solos; there's a good one on this record.

The second version is another fascinating example from Gershwin himself.

After all this peppiness, we conclude with Gertrude Lawrence indulging in some emotion and rubato in her big number from the show. Lawrence sang the number to a rag doll in the staging. Originally, this song was near the beginning of the show, but Oh, Kay! ran so long in tryouts that scenes were cut and shifted around so much that the star did not appear on stage until 40 minutes into the production and this number ended up in the second act. In the studio, Tom Waring is again Lawrence's accompanist.

These records were remastered from lossless needle drops found on Internet Archive. The sound is generally quite good. The download includes labels and more production photos.

A more complete version of the score can be found in the 1994 Nonesuch recording with Dawn Upshaw in the Lawrence role and Eric Stern conducting. There also was a 1955 studio version from Columbia with Barbara Ruick and Jack Cassidy, and a 1960 revival cast that I don't have in my collection.

The chorus admonishes Kay

'Lady in the Dark' - the 1941 Recordings and More

The 1941 Broadway musical Lady in the Dark is almost never revived today (although it had a short run at New York City Center last month). The show deserves to be much better remembered for its innovations and its remarkable score by Kurt Weill and Ira Gershwin.

Kurt Weill and Ira Gershwin

Why isn't it revived? First, Moss Hart's book is very dated. Its protagonist, Liza Elliott, is the unhappy editor of a fashion magazine, a hard-edged character that is a cliche even today (cf., The Devil Wears Prada). She needs the love of a man (and some quick psychoanalysis) to reveal her inner femininity and make her happy.

"Zolotaryov, Kvoschinsky,
Sokolov, Kopylov ..."

Second, it requires two virtuoso performers. Hart tailored the Liza Elliott part for the magnetic Gertrude Lawrence, and not many actors can measure up to her. And he gave the equally gifted Danny Kaye his big break by casting him as photographer Russell Paxton, whose rapid-fire delineation of Russian composers, "Tschaikowsky (and Other Russians)," stopped the show.

Finally, the show contains what amounts to three mini-operas in its dream scenes, all requiring elaborate staging that must have stunned Broadway patrons.

The original production was very successful on Broadway, running for 467 performances, then another 83 in a 1943 revival. Those were the years before Broadway cast recordings were common, though, so the recorded legacy of the original production is spotty. What exists are 10 solo recordings by the two leads for two different companies. Today's post brings them together in one place, with a few bonus items.

Recordings by Lawrence and Kaye

Four days before the February 27, 1941 opening, Victor invited Lawrence into its studios to record six numbers, which it issued in an album (cover shown at top). She sang all six songs in the stage production: "Glamour Music," "One Life to Live," "This Is New," "The Princess of Pure Delight," "The Saga of Jenny" and "My Ship."

From Vogue magazine

The record company tossed out the Weill orchestrations, substituting new ones by Sydney Green, who worked regularly with the conductor it chose, Leonard Joy. The arrangements do retain some semblance of the dramatic setting; for example, "This Is New" is introduced by a snatch of dialogue involving the character of Randy Curtis.

Shortly after the opening, one of Victor's competitors, Columbia, engaged Danny Kaye to record four songs - his showpiece "Tschaikowsky" along with "Jenny," "The Princess of Pure Delight" and "My Ship," which he did not sing in the show. Again, some element of the staging is retained, at least in "Tschaikowsky."

Bonus singles

The young Cy Walter

To these 10 singles I've added a medley of "My Ship," "This Is New" and "Jenny" recorded by pianist Cy Walter for the Liberty Music Shop label at the time of the production. The young Walter even then was a fixture in the best nightspots, and it is certainly possible that he regaled Lawrence or Kaye with the medley if they happened to stop in after the show. He surely played it for many theatergoers fresh from the Alvin Theatre.

The final item in the package is Lawrence's 1950 re-recording of "Jenny," made for Decca. At that time, she was at a high point in her career, starring in The King and I on Broadway. She died in 1952 at age 54.

Two versions that are more complete

As may be apparent from what I've written above, the historical recordings do not provide a complete picture of Lady in the Dark. Nor does the 1944 film version - for one thing, it tosses out most of the score and is missing Lawrence and Kaye. (To hear two pieces of music that were written for the film, please see a companion post on Buster's Swinging Singles.)

Fortunately, two friends of the blog have contributed additional material that should be helpful to those of you with an interest in the show. First, Alan Gomberg has provided a complete recording of the score (if not all the dialogue) as presented by the BBC in 1988. Conducted by John Mauceri, it has the excellent Patricia Hodge as Liza Elliott. This radio production demonstrates the scope and stature of the music composed by Weill and Gershwin. The download includes Alan's notes on the recording.

Also, reader David has provided a one-hour radio version of the play as presented by the Theatre Guild on the Air in 1947. It presents a much fuller portrait of Lawrence in the part than do the 1941 records - and frankly she is in better voice than she was six years earlier.

Both of these recordings are from lossy originals, but I have remastered them and they sound just fine. They are presented in separate links in the comment section for a limited time. My thanks to Alan and David for their help!

Documenting the staging

From the Glamour Dream

The Wedding Dream

Finally, the download of the 1941 recordings also includes dozens of photos from the original production, which will help demonstrate the elaborate staging by Hassard Short during the dream sequences and the costumes by Irene Sharaff. (The Glamour and Wedding Dreams are above; the Circus Dream is below.)

I transferred the Kaye and Lawrence records from a 1963 RCA LP reissue, but in the end decided to use my remastering of the 78s found on Internet Archive. The resulting sound is as good as the LP, and I like to use the originals where possible.

The Circus Dream

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