More Songs from the 'Dick Haymes Show'

At the height of his popularity in the mid to late 1940s, the singer Dick Haymes had a weekly radio show that also featured Helen Forrest, the Four Hits and a Miss vocal group, and bandleader Gordon Jenkins. Not long ago, we had a selection of songs from the program, with cleaned up audio and corrected pitch. Today we present Vol. 2, just as good if not better, with 17 songs. And once again, most of the selections are songs that Haymes did not record commercially.

This volume begins with a classic show-opener, the perky "Back in Your Old Backyard," introduced by Al Jolson in 1928 and written by Jolie, Dave Dreyer and Billy Rose. The Four Hits and a Miss add to the festivities.

Helen Forrest

Helen Forrest joins Dick for "Come to Baby, Do," an excellent end-of-the-war song by Sid Miller and Inez James. Doris Day recorded this one with the Les Brown band.

The soulful "I Can't Begin to Tell You," by Jimmy Monaco and Mack Gordon, came from the film The Dolly Sisters, where it was murmured by John Payne. It was nominated for an Academy Award in 1946, but this was when the Academy put up 15 songs or so for the Oscar. (That practice would change the next year.)

"It Might as Well Be Spring," one of the great Rodgers and Hammerstein songs, did win an Oscar, in 1945. Haymes was one of the stars of the film - which is charming and has a terrific score - along with Vivian Blaine, and they appeared together on the sheet music. Jeanne Crain shows up in a vignette above, presumably because it was her song in the production. (She was dubbed by Louanne Hogan.) Although Dick didn't sing the tune in the film, he was identified with it and issued the first commercial recording.

Next is one of the many songs that first achieved popularity in another language before being adapted for the American market. "What a Diff'rence a Day Made" started off in Mexico as "Cuando vuelva a tu lado" ("When I Return to Your Side"), written by Maria Grever in 1934. With English lyrics by Stanley Adams, the song was popular in the US in 1944 due to a recording by Andy Russell. But its greatest renown was to come later, under a slightly different title - "What a Diff'rence a Day Makes" - in the 1959 hit version by Dinah Washington.

"Slowly" is another movie song, one that Haymes did sing, in the film Fallen Angel, where Dick's Decca record is heard on the jukebox. Haymes didn't show up on the sheet music - stars Alice Faye, Dana Andrews and Linda Darnell did. The three look cheerful on the cover (well, maybe not Darnell), but the story is a grim film noir. The song is probably Hollywood composer David Raksin's second biggest hit, behind "Laura," from the film of the same name. Dana Andrews was also the male lead in Laura, with Gene Tierney rather than Darnell the femme fatale. Neither song was nominated for an Academy Award.

Another end-of-the-war song is next - "Gee, It's Good to Hold You" by Doris Fisher and Allan Roberts. Helen Forrest again duets with Haymes. Among the commercial recordings were those by Jo Stafford and by Woody Herman with a Frances Wayne vocal.

The commercial recording

"Look for the Silver Lining" comes from as far back as 1919. Jerome Kern and Buddy DeSylva wrote it; Marilyn Miller made is famous in Sally. The hit disc back then was by Marion Harris. The song is best known these days via the Judy Garland rendition in the 1946 Kern biopic Till the Clouds Roll By. But Dick and Helen had revived it earlier - for a 1944 Decca recording. This solo-Haymes aircheck presumably comes from the same period. (The flip side of the 78 was "Long Ago and Far Away," a Kern-Ira Gershwin song that is one of my favorite Haymes-Forrest records.)

Now we have another wartime love song - this one about a furlough rather than a homecoming. "Ten Days with Baby" is from the 1944 film Sweet and Low-Down, where it was done by Lorraine Elliott with Benny Goodman's Orchestra. This is another Jimmy Monaco-Mack Gordon composition. Here, "Ten Days with Baby" is more like 60 seconds with Dickie - I don't think this is the complete performance.

"My Heart Tells Me (Should I Believe My Heart)" is another movie song with lyrics by Mack Gordon, working this time with Harry Warren. It comes from 1943's Sweet Rosie O'Grady, where it was sung by Betty Grable. It is a typically skillful song from these composers, here done ample justice by Haymes.

Gordon Jenkins

DeSylva-Brown-Henderson's 1928 tune "Button Up Your Overcoat" is tailor-made for a duet, which you could encounter on half the musical and variety shows on radio and TV in the 1940s and 50s. Dick and Helen handle it affectionately without getting too cutesy. Gordon Jenkins starts this one with some atmospheric effects. The Four Hits and a Miss join in later.

"Symphony" started life in France as "Symphonie," written by Alex Alstone, André Tabet and Roger Bernstein. Jack Lawrence added the English lyrics. Alstone first wrote it as an instrumental; the words were added and it became a hit in 1945. It's a little overheated for me, but this is the sort of thing that Haymes did well.

The 1934 film College Rhythm yielded "Stay as Sweet as You Are." Lanny Ross did the vocal on screen. The Harry Revel-Mack Gordon song was popular with singers for many years - including Haymes.

Haymes material?

Dick surprisingly comes out with a version of "Old Folks," one of Willard Robison's most celebrated songs, this one with words by Dedette Lee Hill. The song has a rural ethos, which did not match Haymes' usual repertoire all that well, although he did play a farm boy in State Fair. He does well here for the most part. (The performance is unfortunately truncated.) The song dates from 1938; the first recordings included Mildred Bailey - a famous reading - Bing, and Bea Wain with Larry Clinton. The interest of Dick (or Jenkins) might have been stimulated by Tony Pastor's 1946 album of Robison songs. Robison's own recording is here.

A very different type of song is represented by "All the Things You Are," the renowned Kern-Hammerstein composition from 1939's Very Warm for May. The early commercial recordings included Helen Forrest with Artie Shaw. (Helen does not appear here.) The song had been featured in a few films about this time - 1944's Broadway Rhythm (Ginny Simms) and 1946's Till the Clouds Roll By (Tony Martin). Haymes includes the rarely used verse, which is worth hearing. The head voice at the end was not a good idea.

"Some Sunday Morning" comes from the 1945 film San Antonio where it was presented by Alexis Smith, dubbed by Bobbie Canvin (aka Barbara Ames). The song is by M.K. Jerome, Ray Heindorf and Ted Koehler. The first recording was by Haymes and Forrest; they recreate their duet here, although with Gordon Jenkins presiding rather than Victor Young. There are a few minor audio burbles on this recording.

For our final song, Dick breaks out "Come Out, Come Out Wherever You Are," which Cahn and Styne wrote for Frank Sinatra to sing in 1944's Step Lively. It's not a great song; the best part of it may be the verse, which Haymes doesn't include. You can hear it in the film version, although first you have to wade through a painful Gloria DeHaven nightclub sequence. Dick's version is quite short.

I believe I have the pitch right on these selections, but please let me know if you disagree.

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Songs from 'The Dick Haymes Show'

Dick Haymes

The great baritone Dick Haymes had his own show on NBC and then CBS radio from 1944 to 1948, with Gordon Jenkins as music director and Helen Forrest as musical accomplice until the final year.

I have a variety of ancient bootleg LPs of the series, and I've done my best to resuscitate the sound of these relics, starting with today's selection of 18 songs.

The tonal balance was relatively easy to address, keeping in mind that these are AM radio airchecks, and so don't have any signal above 5kHz. The biggest challenge was pitch. None of the sources were on pitch; in some cases addressing this involved some informed guesswork. I am sure I have most if not all of them right, but let me know if you disagree. Finally, one or two selections have some peak distortion. 

The good news is that the performances are polished, pleasing and in generally more than listenable sound. Haymes recorded just four of the songs commercially, to my knowledge. Helen Forrest appears on only a few numbers, but Jenkins is a welcome presence throughout.

Gordon Jenkins

Some notes about the selections follow.

The program starts off with an infectious song that is not heard these days - "A Romantic Guy, I" by Del Sharbutt, Richard Uhl and Frank Stanton, from 1941. It maintained some popularity over the years, and became the theme of the Bob Cummings Show on television from 1955-59. 

The Four Hits and a Miss singing group joins Haymes here and on several other numbers. Note that this song has one unfixable skip, the only such flaw in the set.

"I Surrender, Dear" is an oldie, written by Harry Barris and Gordon Clifford in 1931. Gus Arnheim and His Orchestra recorded it with a Bing Crosby vocal, helping to make Bing a star. Dick's natural singing shows how much tastes had changed from the time of Crosby's melodramatic reading.

Harold Arlen and Yip Harburg wrote "Evalina" for their 1944 musical Bloomer Girl. David Brooks and Celeste Holm introduced the song on Broadway. Such a enjoyable number!

"Once in a While" was a relatively big hit for Tommy Dorsey in 1937. The writers were Michael Edwards and Bud Green. The song is still performed on occasion.

Cole Porter wrote "It's De-lovely" in 1936 for Ethel Merman and Bob Hope to sing in Red, Hot and Blue. It was a success then and was sung for many years thereafter. I can't hear it without thinking of an old De Soto ad. Helen Forrest joins in on this song. She and Dick were very well matched.

Well-matched: Helen Forrest and Dick Haymes

Adapting classical melodies was big in the 1940s. One of the notable examples was the overbearing "Till the End of Time," taken from Chopin's Polonaise, Op 53. Ted Mossman and Buddy Kaye were the musical culprits. In combination with the other songs so far, it demonstrates Dick's ability to handle a range of material. He recorded this number for Decca in 1945.

Another song that received a commercial recording was "It's Magic," the Cahn-Styne composition sung by Doris Day in the 1948 film Romance on the High Seas.

Next, two songs from the 1927 DeSylva, Brown and Henderson musical Good News - "Lucky in Love" and "The Best Things in Life Are Free." Good News became a film in 1947, which must have inspired the Haymes renditions. Dick and Gordon Jenkins make the latter song into a slow ballad.

"You'd Be So Nice to Come Home To" is one of Cole Porter's finest works. It comes from a 1943 musical film called Something to Shout About, where Don Ameche and Janet Blair did the vocals. Dick was to record the song for Decca in 1949.

Rodgers and Hart's "This Can't Be Love" comes from their superb 1938 score for The Boys from Syracuse. Eddie Albert and Marcy Westcott were the performers on Broadway. Haymes' reading may be brief, but it is one of the most enjoyable in the set.

Dick, Helen and Gordie plug the sponsor's plugs

Hoagy Carmichael sang his "Ole Buttermilk Sky" in the 1947 film Canyon Passage. Jack Brooks was the lyricist. Haymes is convincingly upbeat in this number.

"The Breeze and I" benefits from a colorful Jenkins arrangement, entirely apt for a song based on Ernesto Lecuona's "Andalucia," with English lyrics by Al Stillman. Jimmy Dorsey and vocalist Bob Eberly had a success with it in 1940. (There is a long post devoted to Lecuona's music here, including Haymes singing a few more numbers.)

"Penthouse Serenade" is one of those songs with two titles. Originally it was called "When We're Alone (Penthouse Serenade)," and under that name it was a hit for Ruth Etting in 1932. By the time Bob Hope and Shirley Ross recorded it in 1939, the title and subtitle had switched to "Penthouse Serenade (When We're Alone)." Regardless, it's a fine song, here done well by Haymes.

The earnest "There Is No Greater Love" was first recorded by its composer, Isham Jones, in 1936 with a vocal by the underrated Woody Herman. The lyrics are by Marty Symes. This kind of material was made for Dick.

In his earlier years, Dick was a band singer for Tommy Dorsey and Harry James

"To Each His Own" was the first big hit for songwriters Jay Livingston and Ray Evans, who were to specialize in film theme songs. The piece was huge in 1946 for Eddy Howard, the Ink Spots and Tony Martin, among others. Haymes handles it beautifully.

"I Got a Gal I Love (in North and South Dakota)" is a Cahn-Styne confection written for and recorded by Frank Sinatra in 1947. Novelty songs were not Dick's strength, but he gets through it well enough.

The singer reached back to 1927 and the Kern-Hammerstein classic Show Boat for "Why Do I Love You." This material is essentially operetta but even so is suited to the talents of Dick and Helen Forrest, so I've included it although the recording is not ideally clean.

That's all for this installment. I'll prepare another if there is interest.

LINK

More Vocals by the Great Stuart Foster

My posts of vocals by Stuart Foster were so successful (artistically, anyway), that I wanted to bring him back for an encore. Today we have 19 songs from singles issued under his name or those of bandleaders Hugo Winterhalter, Gordon Jenkins, Russ Case and several others.

Foster was busy in the studio because he could sing almost anything convincingly, displaying great sensitivity or impressive power as the song demanded. Listening to him is always a pleasure.

Today's singles date from 1949-53.

"Wishing Star" is a pretty ballad that did fairly well for bandleader Russ Case and Foster in 1949. Case's arrangement is dated but lovely, and no one did this kind of wonderment better than Foster. The Modernaires were the market competition for this one.

Next, circa late 1950, we have four songs issued under Stuart's own name for the small PAB label. This were likely done at the invitation of bandleader Dick Freitas, who co-wrote all the tunes, two with the well-known Albert McCarthy, and two with Freitas' wife Mary. (Down Beat sneered at her contributions, observing that they "are a clear indication of why every third American is supposed to fancy himself a song writer." Actually, she is not as bad as all that, although no Ira Gershwin.) The songs are the ballads "If It Isn't Forever" and "Casually" and the contrasting Latin numbers "Carnival" and "Querida." 

In early 1951, bandleader Hugo Winterhalter had the happy idea of pairing Stuart with "Alice in Wonderland," the gorgeous title song of the Disney movie. Foster does wonders with this fine Sammy Fain-Bob Hilliard song. The flip is also good - "I'll Never Know Why," by lyricist Sammy Gallop and veteran songwriter Chester Conn.

A few months later, Foster was in the studio with Bill Snyder, who claimed to wield a "Magic Piano," although he sounds like all the other grandiloquent pianists who were popular back then. The songs are good, even so. Snyder wrote "My Dearest" with singer turned songwriter Sunny Skylar. "Unless" was an English number with music by Torchard Evans and lyrics from Robert Hargreaves and Stanley Damerell. Gracie Fields and Al Bowlly recorded it over there in the 1930s; Eddie Fisher and Guy Mitchell over here in 1951.

Billboard, August 11, 1951

Hugo Winterhalter brought Foster on board again in 1951 for "Make Believe Land," a song by Abner Silver and Benny Davis, who had been writing together for 30 years at that point. Nat Cole did a competing version for Capitol.

Also for RCA Victor at about the same time was "When I'm Gone," written by arranger Dewey Bergman working with Sunny Skylar. The bandleader's name on the label was "Bob Dewey" but that was a pseudonym for Bergman when he recorded for RCA. The song's trenchant lyrics were "You'll be sad, you'll be lonely, when I'm gone, when I'm gone, when I'm gone," in waltz time. The tune is basically the same as the wartime hit "In My Arms."

Russ Case called Foster in for a go at "Play, Fiddle, Play," which, you may have guessed, was a quasi-gypsy tune. The writer was, appropriately, fiddler Emery Deutsch, working with Jack Lawrence and Arthur Altman. The singer is effective in the tune, but it's undoubtedly kitschy.

In early 1952, Stuart issued a few sides under his own name on the small Abbey label, with backing by the experienced Dick Jacobs. "Chimney Smoke" is one of those quasi-folk tunes of the time that managed to insert extra syllables into words to make them sound more, well, folksy. So "chimney" herein comes out "chim-a-nee." Foster is persuasive as always, but these affectations drive me up the listening room wall. Abbey did Stuart no favor by pressing this one a half-step sharp.

The flip side was a revival of "Take Me," a nice Rube Bloom-Mack David song that was a success for Jimmy Dorsey a decade earlier. Foster, predictably, is much better in the song than Dorsey's scrawny-voiced and out-of-tune Helen O'Connell. Jacobs' arrangement starts off loud but settles down.

In late 1952, Stuart was back with Hugo Winterhalter for two memorable movie songs that are seldom heard these days. These, along with "Alice in Wonderland" and "Julie" (below) are the best recordings in the set. "Your Mother and Mine" comes from the Disney version of Peter Pan, with Sammy Fain providing the music, working this time with Sammy Cahn.

From Frank Loesser's score for the Danny Kaye film Hans Christian Andersen came "Anywhere I Wander," a beautiful song that became the first big hit for Julius La Rosa. Foster's reading is well worth hearing.

Making pop songs from classical works is an old trick and not one I enjoy, but the the next version is certainly unique. Jack Lawrence and Fred Spielman had the idea of turning Debussy's Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune into a rapt pop song called "Afternoon Dream," and Gordon Jenkins thought that Foster would be just the right singer for the number. He was right; Foster did "rapt" about as well as anyone.

The other side of the record could not be more of a contrast - a noisy David Saxon-Norman Gimbel number called "Fury," which treatment befits its title. Foster shows his range here in his bravura singing.

The final song is another overlooked gem from a film of the time. "Julie" comes from 1953's Take the High Ground, a war movie whose principal female character is named Julie, played by Elaine Stewart. The glorious theme by Dmitri Tiomkin, working with Charles Wolcott, is superbly done by Foster backed by Le Roy Holmes. One of the finest things in this collection, it provides a fitting conclusion.

Most of these recordings were remastered from items found on Internet Archive. The sound is generally excellent.

Betty Clooney

There was a fair amount of interest in vocalist Betty Clooney (1931-76) after my recent post of a few of her Christmas records.

So here is a compilation of her recordings, primarily making use of Internet Archive transfers suitably cleaned up for your listening enjoyment (or so I hope). It's a program of 25 songs, which as far as I can tell is the majority of her recorded output.

Betty was the younger sister of the far more famous Rosemary Clooney. The two had been in a sister duo, making records with Tony Pastor's band for Cosmo and Columbia from 1946-49 before Rosie went solo and the still teenage Betty went home.

The split was not a surprise - Rosemary had done quite a few solo records with Pastor, and she was the lead singer of the duo, with Betty providing harmony. That's not to say that Betty was not a talented singer - she was, and these records are the evidence.

Betty had a darker voice than Rosie, although the phrasing and sound are very similar. On these records, she tends to sing in a slightly lower key than Rosemary might have chosen. She has the familiar Clooney vocal characteristics - very good diction and intonation, and an ability to sing different styles convincingly. Betty also tends to be more emotionally direct than Rosie.

A Semi-Final Columbia Record

Betty's solo career began not long after Rosemary's. She was in the studios for King Records in 1950, but before we examine her King singles, let's start with one of her final duo recordings with Rosemary. The song "I Still Feel the Same About You" was going around in 1951, and Columbia recorded it with "Rosemary Clooney and Her Sister Betty." The uncredited bandleader was Percy Faith. Rosie also recorded a solo version of the song, but that was unreleased at the time.

In 1953, Betty and Rosie duetted on "Sisters," which can be found in my recent White Christmas post.

King Recordings

The Clooney sisters were from Maysville, Kentucky, not far from Cincinnati, Ohio. King Records of the latter city had become known for its country and R&B releases during the 1940s, and had begun venturing into pop music, when it engaged Betty in 1950.

Her first King release was with the band of Clyde Trask, a Cincinnati musician who had spent time with Russ Morgan. "Anyone Can Fall in Love" is a lively performance of a worthy song, and Trask's ensemble does well. The B-side did not feature Clooney. Note that "Betty" is spelled "Bettie" on all the King releases.

Betty's next record was with an ensemble led by pianist Eddie Smith, who also was the King Records house engineer. It coupled "Strangers" with "When You Love (You Should Love from the Heart)." Both songs are good without being in any way memorable. Betty's performances are perfectly fine - as is Smith's piano (leaving aside the quality of the instrument), but the arrangement and technical quality are lacking. Both songs are plagued by a wordless vocal obbligato that adds nothing to the proceedings. And the mastering or pressing of "Strangers" is faulty. There were persistent noise and peak distortion problems on two different 78s. I have addressed the noise but not entirely successfully.

Clyde Trask returns in Miller mode with an arrangement of "This Is Our Night." Another proficient performance by the band is enhanced by Clooney's sensitive vocal. Even after her big band experience, she was not an "on the beat" singer. Her flexible phrasing helps to make her singing more conversational.

Betty plays what looks to be an acetate

"Faithful" was popular in 1951, being recorded by Frank Sinatra and Margaret Whiting (whose version can be found here). Betty's vocal stands up to the comparison. The well known lyricist Jimmy Kennedy worked with the French composer Alex Alstone on this secular hymn. The band is unidentified.

Betty went back to a vocal duo for her next record, only this time her partner was herself, double-tracked. "Would I Love You (Love You, Love You)" was another song making the rounds in 1951. This Latin-tinged piece was composed by Harold Spina with lyrics from Bob Russell. It's an enjoyable number, and Betty shows her versatility in this performance, which sounds much like the Clooney Sisters, as you might expect.

"Good Lookin'" also was a new song in 1951. Not to be confused with Hank Williams' "Hey, Good Lookin'" from the same year, this number is by Jimmy Wilber and Teddy Rakel. The latter was a Cincinnati pianist and bandleader. This transfer comes from a radio station copy (see below) that is marked in grease pencil "don't play" and "risqué," which is decidedly not the case. It's actually a good song. Clooney handles this material naturally, with an keen sense of rhythm and an insouciant attitude.

The "risqué" Betty Clooney

The backing for "Good Lookin'" is "Trust in Me," which marked the unwelcome return of the echoey soprano obbligato. This earnest plea is quite a contrast with its flip side.

Betty's final King single was a cover version of both sides of a 1951 Tommy Edwards release - "All Over Again" and "It's All in the Game." Elliot Lawrence, during his brief stay at King, was the bandleader for this coupling. The former song, written by Edwards, was an R&B hit in 1951. The lyrics are the likes of "Say you love me forever / Promise you'll leave me never / We're so happy together," etc.

"It's All in the Game" was a huge pop hit for Edwards - but not until his 1958 remake. Clooney's phrasing is far more flexible than Edwards'. The song was based on a 1911 melody by Charles Dawes, a politician and amateur composer who was to become Calvin Coolidge's vice president in the 1920s. Carl Sigman added lyrics to Dawes' melody 40 years later.

A Stopover at Hi-tone

Hi-tone was a Bob Thiele label that specialized in cover records made with name artists. Clooney recorded a few singles for the label in 1951 and 1952. Three songs are included in this package.

First was a cover of Georgia Gibbs' "While You Danced, Danced, Danced." This is the old tale of catching your sweetheart in another woman's arms, boo-hoo.

Next is a coupling where the two songs couldn't be more of a contrast. Side one was a cover of "Detour," which had been a big Western swing hit for Spade Cooley with Tex Williams on vocals in 1946. (It's available via this post of Cooley's complete Columbia recordings.) The Hi-tone version was probably occasioned by Patti Page's 1951 pop release.

The Hi-tone flip side was "Wonder Why," which Jane Powell introduced in 1952's Rich, Young and Pretty. (The soundtrack LP is here.)

Betty's renditions are good, but the pressings were not. I did what I could to reduce the background racket. (Note: thanks to reader gimpiero, a clean version of "Wonder Why" is now available via a separate link in the comments.)

Scott Fisher and his orchestra provided the instrumentals on this release. Fisher had been a New York area bandleader as far back to the 1930s, and the arrangement on "While You Danced" shows it.

Coral Recordings

Clooney's next two stops were at Coral and "X", subsidiaries of Decca and RCA Victor, respectively. Working with major recording companies made all the difference in the quality of production she was afforded.

Betty's first Coral record was in late 1952. "You're All I See" is a pleasing ballad from Russell Faith, who co-wrote the impressive "Christmas and You," which I recently posted. On both records the bandleader was ex-Elliot Lawrence arranger Frank Hunter. The flip side was another sultry item, "I Idolize You." Clooney handles this romantic material superbly.

Moving into 1953, her second Coral offering was quite a contrast - a proto-rock 'n' roll item called "Sin in Satin." It's really quite good, and Betty does a wonderful job forcing her tone and getting hot on this one. The only competing disc I've found was by the teenage Bell Sisters.

The B-side was a galloping country tune, based on "Turkey in the Straw," called "A Great Big City Boy Like You." Betty does this wonderfully well with her excellent sense of rhythm. The author was Bernard Hirsh, who co-wrote "Christmas and You" with Russell Faith. Jack Pleis handles the orchestra on this and her next, final Coral coupling.

"How Many Sweethearts Have I" is a lilting waltz from Milton DeLugg and lyricist Sammy Gallop, handled sympathetically by Betty. It's a really good record, but the prize is its coupling, Bart Howard's "My Love Is a Wanderer," a beautiful quasi-folk song that has been heard here previously on a Shannon Bolin album. Clooney's performance would be hard to match; it's one of my two favorites in this collection. The second is in the next grouping.

On to "X" Records

Clooney made eight sides for RCA's short-lived subsidiary, "X" Records in 1955. Four are in this collection.

Cash Box, January 15, 1955

First was an attractive waltz called "Whisper," done with Richard Maltby's band. This is a quality production although the lyrics are clichéd. Betty sings in harmony with her own voice on a few of the choruses.

The next two were R&B covers done as duets with big band veteran Bill Darnell (sometimes spelled "Darnel"). "So All Alone" was a cover of a Bobby Lester and the Moonlighters single, written by Lester and Harvey Fuqua. "Ko-Ko-Mo" was a cover of Gene and Eunice's popular single. Darnell and Clooney competed in the market with upwards of a dozen covers. Perry Como's was the most successful. The songs' popularity does not negate the fact that they both are dreadful. The singers alternate top billing on the two sides, but Betty sings harmony on both.

Let's end on a high note with my favorite of the group - "Kiki," a tune by the French composer-bandleader Andre Popp with English lyrics by Charles Tobias. The song's initial success was as "Les Lavandières du Portugal," with lyrics by Roger Lucchesi. It was a continental hit for Jacqueline François in 1955. It then became an American hit as an instrumental for Joe "Fingers" Carr in 1956 under the title "Portuguese Washerwomen." (I wonder if they knew the "Irish Washerwoman.") 

It's too bad the Tobias version is not better known - and with it, Clooney's remarkable recording. It's a standard song-story scenario - a pretty Parisian is pursued by rich men but falls for a poor farmer boy. But the combination of Popp's infectious bolero, Tobias' witty lyrics ("From Deauville came a count named Louis / With a glint in his one good eye") and Betty's deft singing is irresistible. Gordon Jenkins' stylish backing is a bonus.

Bonus - Egbert the Easter Egg

I've appended one of Betty's few children's records as a bonus. It is the tale of "Egbert the Easter Egg," a little yellow disc I owned myself as a very young fellow.

It's a cute song, and Clooney has the same sure touch with kiddie material as her sister. Mitch Miller and the Sandpipers accompany on this Golden Record dating from 1952.

Missing from this collection are a few of the King and several of the "X" singles, one Hi-tone, a single on Studio, and perhaps others. Even so, what we have here is a substantial legacy for a talented singer who deserves to be remembered along with her far more famous sister. Betty died young, of a brain aneurysm at age 45 in 1976.

Betty Clooney in 1954

Stuart Foster - A Fine, But Forgotten SInger

The subject of today's post, Stuart Foster (1918-68), is a former big-band vocalist who was not even that well known during his heyday, and recorded only sporadically under his own name. He was featured, however, on records by bandleaders as diverse as Guy Lombardo and Gordon Jenkins, and had a long career as a studio singer. Foster was much more talented than his reputation would suggest, as I hope you will agree after sampling his output.

Foster had a strong voice, even throughout his range, excellent diction and superior intonation. While a forthright singer, he also was sensitive to words.

For this post, I've combined 12 single sides that he made with assorted bandleaders from 1944 to 1953, together with a 1954 EP issued under his own name. These provide a good overview of his accomplishments.

Early Career and Singles

Foster's first professional gig was as a singer for the Ina Ray Hutton band, starting in 1940. When Hutton disbanded in 1944, he joined Guy Lombardo. Our playlist starts with two Lombardo singles. "The Trolley Song" comes from Meet Me in St. Louis; in that movie, Judy Garland's ride was exhilarating, while Lombardo's band just lumbers along, as was its habit. Foster does fine, though.

"Poor Little Rhode Island" is a Cahn and Styne song from another 1944 film, the Kay Kyser vehicle Carolina Blues. Foster is again encumbered by the clunky Lombardo Trio, but the song is a good one. It presumably was the inspiration for the slightly later "Rhode Island Is Famous for You" (from Dietz and Schwartz' Inside U.S.A., which can be found here).

We'll skip over Foster's 1944-48 residency with Tommy Dorsey, which has been covered in reissues of Dorsey's records, and move on to 1949, when the singer joined Russ Case in the M-G-M studio for three songs. The first, "A Thousand Violins," comes from the Bob Hope film The Great Lover. It was among the many songs that Livingston and Evans contributed to the movies of the time.

I can't say much about the pop tune "All Year 'Round," but "Mad About You" is a Victor Young-Ned Washington song written, appropriately enough, for Gun Crazy. Sinatra also recorded this number; Foster's interpretation is not inferior.

The following year, M-G-M had Foster join another dance maestro, Shep Fields, for a go at "Today, Tomorrow and Forever." By this time, Fields had ceded his "rippling rhythm" bubble-machine gimmick to Lawrence Welk, so this is not a bad outing, if hardly a swinger. Foster is excellent, as you should be able to discerned through the coos of his backing choir.

In 1951, mood-music maven Hugo Winterhalter brought Foster on board for four songs recorded for RCA Victor. The first is a Cy Coben compose-by-numbers piece called "The Seven Wonders of the World." The vocalist shines against Winterhalter's lush background.

Bob Hilliard and Sammy Fain wrote "Alice in Wonderland" for the movie of the same name. It's a lovely song, and is one of Foster's best records.

The vocalist's final two items for Winterhalter are in the semi-folk vein that was popular following the Weavers' big 1950 hit, "Goodnight, Irene." Frank Loesser wrote "Wave to Me, My Lady" back in 1946 for the country market, where it became a number three hit for Elton Britt. Foster is entirely convincing in this song - as he is on the flip side, "Across the Wide Missouri." The latter is a folk song usually called "Shenandoah," although here the songwriting team of Ervin Drake and Jimmy Shirl have attached their names to it. This effort is probably a cover of the Weavers-Terry Gilkyson record.

Foster was very well matched with the trumpet and big band of Billy Butterfield for "Baby Won't You Say You Love Me." Josef Myrow and Mack Gordon wrote the song for Betty Grable's Wabash Avenue, which improbably co-starred Victor Mature.

The final single is from 1953, and is one of Foster's best. "Secret Love" was written for Doris Day to sing in Calamity Jane, and it would be hard to top her legendary performance, but Foster comes close, aided by Gordon Jenkins' backing.

The Camden EP

The final batch of Foster performances are from a late 1954 EP that RCA issued on its Camden budget label. "Today's Hits" was a catch-all title that the company used for extended-play cover versions of the then-popular tunes. These were presumably RCA's method for counteracting the cheapo labels that had tried to succeed in the low-price niche.

We've had three such EPs on the blog before: 1955 and 1956 entries from another big-band fugitive, Bob Carroll, plus a Gisele MacKenzie disc that also dates from 1955.

Foster's EP starts with "I Need You Now," little remembered today but a number one hit for Eddie Fisher in 1954. "Count Your Blessings," in contrast, is a beloved evergreen introduced by Bing Crosby in White Christmas. I can't imagine anyone being unhappy with Foster's sensitive cover.

"Papa Loves Mambo" was a major hit for Perry Como. Foster's version shows off his fine sense of rhythm. The song "Teach Me Tonight" entered the charts several times in the early 50s; the song's appearance here was probably inspired by the Janet Brace or Jo Stafford recordings, or both.

The anonymous backing on the EP is by a small combo or combos.

I hope this has been a good introduction to a talented artist. The singles were remastered from lossless needle drops on Internet Archive. The EP is from my collection.

Also featuring Foster, I also have two Camden LPs from 1957 with the hits of the day, along with two albums of Broadway show tunes done by producer-arranger Dick Jacobs for Coral late in the 1950s. I may share these at a later date.

Billboard ad, January 1, 1955

Gordon Jenkins - The 1942 Capitol Recordings

By 1942, Gordon Jenkins was still only 32 years old, but had already enjoyed considerable success as a songwriter and arranger. He started contributing charts to the well-known Isham Jones orchestra when he was just 22, and began writing both music and lyrics for hit songs soon thereafter.

Jenkins had, however, made only a few records as a bandleader - I can only find four sides backing Martha Tilton on Decca in 1941. 

He finally came into his own as a recording artist with the founding of Capitol Records in April 1942. As one of the label's earliest signings, Jenkins led several sessions in June and July of that year, both under his own name and with his orchestra backing Capitol vocalists. This burst of activity was to be short lived - the first recording ban intervened, choking off most sessions from August 1942 to November 1944. Jenkins eventually ended up with Decca. He devoted his first date there, in December 1945, to one of his most famous creations, Manhattan Tower. Jenkins enjoyed great success with Decca, remaining there until 1955, when he joined "X" Records.

This post compiles 17 of the 22 Capitol records that Jenkins made in 1942. The five remaining titles can be found in my 2019 Johnnie Johnston compilation.

I am again indebted to collector extraordinaire and frequent collaborator Bryan Cooper for his help in assembling this program.

Time to Dance with Gordon Jenkins

Eight of Jenkins' 1942 sides can be found on the Capitol LP Time to Dance with Gordon Jenkins, which I posted back in 2009. I've now remastered this early 10-inch LP, which provides the first eight songs in this post.

Connie Haines

Although the album identifies all eight songs as Jenkins recordings, some were issued on 78 with him as assisting artist to a vocalist, with the rest under his name as bandleader.

For example, Don Raye and Gene de Paul's "I'll Remember April" was originally issued as a Martha Tilton record, with Jenkins and his orchestra as backing artists. Similarly, "At Last" and "Be Careful, It's My Heart" came out with Connie Haines as the main attraction. Johnnie Johnston was the primary credit on the 78 issue of "That Old Black Magic." 

All three of those songs derived from current films. Amazingly, the superb "I'll Remember April" is from Ride 'Em Cowboy with Abbott and Costello (eek!). Harry Warren's "At Last" comes from Glenn Miller's Sun Valley Serenade. Haines is good on "At Last," but you must hear the fabulous original soundtrack version sung by Pat Friday. Finally, Bing Crosby introduced "Be Careful, It's My Heart" in Holiday Inn.

As I mentioned above, Jenkins backed Johnnie Johnston on five other Capitol recordings - "Dearly Beloved," "Easy to Love," "Light a Candle in the Chapel," "Singing Sands of Alamosa" and "Can't You Hear Me Calling Caroline" - which can be found in my Johnston compilation.

Bob Carroll

The rest of the songs on the Capitol LP featured Jenkins in the leading role. Three are instrumentals: "Always," "I'm Always Chasing Rainbows," and "Paradise," the latter of which does not seem to have been issued at all before appearing on the LP.

"Chasing Rainbows" has an uncharacteristic arrangement, starting off with a brass fanfare and quickly subsiding into a quasi-baroque chart with Jenkins (presumably) on the harpsichord. This must be one of the earliest appearances of the harpsichord on a popular record. I'm not sure if the arrangement is supposed to represent Chopin, who wrote the melody, but if so, Jenkins undershot the mark stylistically.

"There Will Never Be Another You" is another Harry Warren-Mack Gordon song, this one from Sonia Henie's skating spectacular Iceland. The recording has a vocal by the excellent Bob Carroll, a Charlie Barnet alumnus. (Some of Carroll's later records are collected here.)

The 1942 78s

With the help of Internet Archive and Bryan Cooper, I've assembled what we think are the balance of Jenkins' issued recordings from Capitol that date from 1942.

In tandem with "I'm Always Chasing Rainbows," "He Wears a Pair of Silver Wings" made up Jenkins' first record as a leader and one of the first Capitol issues. Connie Haines was the sensitive vocalist on the latter song.

Next we have Ferde Grofé's "Daybreak" with a vocal by Bob Carroll, which was the flip side of "There Will Never Be Another You." Carroll returned for Holiday Inn's "White Christmas" and for "Heaven for Two," a fine Don Raye-Gene de Paul song written, improbably, for Hellzapoppin'.

Six Hits and a Miss

Jenkins also helmed four songs for the vocal group Six Hits and a Miss. "You'd Be So Nice to Come Home To," one of Cole Porter's better songs, was introduced in Something to Sing About by Don Ameche, who did sing, sort of. The septet also appeared on the wartime novelty "Would You Rather Be a Colonel with an Eagle on Your Shoulder or a Private with a Chicken on Your Knee," "Bye Bye Blackbird" and another Raye-de Paul song, "Two on a Bike."

None of the Six Hits and a Miss songs are characteristic of Jenkins' later work or even the charts elsewhere in this set. "You'd Be So Nice" starts off with a semi-Dixieland chorus, sliding into the smooth vocal. "Would You Rather Be a Private with an Eagle on Your Shoulder or a Chicken with a Banjo on Your Knee," sounds more like the fare that John Scott Trotter was producing for Crosby than the approach Jenkins adopted for his other Capitol arrangements. "Bye Bye Blackbird" also is atypical, although here the group name checks Jenkins and he responds with a typically spare piano solo. "Two on a Bike" even has a Tex Beneke-style whistling chorus.

Six Hits and a Miss were originally Three Hits and a Miss before inflation set in. The group was formed in 1937 with Martha Tilton as lead voice, but the talented Pauline Byrns took over the following year and was still in that slot when these records came out. The group was ubiquitous on the radio during the war years.

Martha Tilton

Along with Jenkins, Tilton was one of the first Capitol artists. Jenkins' final 1942 recording for Capitol was their collaboration on "Comin' Through the Rye," where Martha somehow makes Robert Burns sexy.

Most of the other arrangements are a cross between the dance-band charts Jenkins would have produced for Isham Jones or Shep Fields and the more lush string sound he would use for Sinatra and others in the 1950s and later.

As was the general practice back then, when the singer was primary on the label, he or she took the first chorus. When Jenkins was billed as the main artist, a band chorus came first. The vocalist would sing a chorus, dance-band style. Jenkins' single-finger piano solos can be heard on both the vocalist-led and bandleader sides.

The sound on most of these records is very good. The download includes brief Billboard reviews for most of these songs.

One final note: Jenkins apparently was not an exclusive Capitol artist - he also led the band for a June 1942 Dinah Shore session for Victor. I am preparing a post of the six resulting songs for my other blog. These include "He Wears a Pair of Silver Wings" and "Be Careful, It's My Heart," both of which he also recorded for Capitol at about the same time, but with much different arrangements.

Despite what the Billboard ad above implies, Jenkins
apparently did not back Tilton on Moondreams

Gordon Jenkins' Almanac

Composer-arranger Gordon Jenkins made just this one LP for RCA Victor's short-lived subsidiary, "X" Records, but it's a good one.

His not-terribly-original concept was to write a new song for each month in the year, and call it Gordon Jenkins' Almanac. None of the songs became hits, but even so, the record is pure delight.

The album dates to 1955. It and about six single sides were Jenkins' sole contributions to the "X" Records catalog before RCA disbanded that mark in 1956. Jenkins then moved on to Capitol.

Gordon Jenkins

"X" was actually Jenkins' third record label. The first records under his own name came out on Capitol in 1942. One of the label's earliest signings, he appears on about a dozen sides for the company, issued either under his own name and or as accompanist for Capitol vocalists. Early in the LP era, the label collected eight of those singles on the 10-inch LP Time to Dance with Gordon Jenkins, which I shared many years ago. I am preparing a newly remastered version of the LP, and including the additional singles as a bonus. 

Jenkins' biggest hit for Capitol came after he left the label. It was his song "San Fernando Valley," recorded by label co-founder Johnny Mercer with Paul Weston's orchestra in 1944.

Jenkins' next stop was Decca, which kept him busy with his own recordings (including the popular and trend-setting Manhattan Tower), his orchestrations for such singers as Dick Haymes, and his work with the Weavers. He brought that group to the label and had a handful of huge hits with them before they were blacklisted in 1952.

In late 1954, Jenkins moved on to RCA Victor, which engaged him to produce and record for its new subsidiary, "X" Records.

Gordon Jenkins' Almanac is a good compendium of his various styles. There are riff-based big band sounds such as "January Jumps," a march, waltzes, blues, night music, and his trademark sad song, in this case "Blue December," which portrays a lonely man reflecting on the upcoming holidays.

Bonus Single

I mentioned that Jenkins recorded several singles for "X" Records. One is included as a bonus with the LP. Although neither number is a Jenkins composition, both are of interest.

The single's "plug" side was "Goodnight, Sweet Dreams." Supposedly a "Lindeman-Stutz-Barefoot" composition, it bears more than a passing resemblance to the Weavers/Jenkins' greatest hit, "Goodnight, Irene." The uncredited soloist sounds very much like Lee Hays of the Weavers. Whether this was the still-blacklisted Hays incognito or merely a sound-alike, it makes for an enjoyable tune. The Weavers themselves would soon re-emerge to record a live album on Christmas Eve 1955 that was released by Vanguard in 1957 to much acclaim.

Stuart Foster

The "X" single's flip side, mentioned in tiny type in the ad above, is "Young Ideas," taken from the score for the TV musical The King and Mrs. Candle and written by Moose Charlap and Chuck Sweeney. It's a good song, treated to a superior vocal by Stuart Foster, a talented singer who never hit it big but whose skill and versatility made him popular with bands and in the studio. He will be the subject of an upcoming post.

The LP comes from my collection. Its sound was surprisingly opaque, so I brightened it up a touch. The single, conversely, was strident, so I have tamed it a bit. I found that 78 on Internet Archive.

Dick Haymes Sings Irving Berlin

Dick Haymes and Carmen Cavallaro

The amazingly long-lived and prolific songwriter Irving Berlin (1888-1989) produced a huge number of classic songs that are still heard today. In the late 1940s, he was celebrating forty years in the business - nearly all of them at the summit - while passing his 60th birthday. But he was still at the height of his powers.

All but one of these 15 Dick Haymes recordings were made after the tremendous success of Annie Get Your Gun once again demonstrated Berlin's primacy among popular songwriters. The collection is anchored by the 10-inch LP Haymes did with fellow Decca artist Carmen Cavallaro just a few days before the 1948 recording ban began. It also includes seven Berlin songs that Haymes recorded from 1945-49 - including three from Annie Get Your Gun and two from Berlin's follow-up, Miss Liberty.

The Haymes and Cavallaro LP

Decca's idea in the musical mating of Haymes with pianist Cavallaro was certainly to dazzle the market with their combined star power. Musically, however, the results are less successful than Haymes' usual orchestral backing.

Cavallaro's many-noted style is not ideally suited to accompaniment. His elaborate roulades draw attention to the pianist and away from the singer. He uses the same phrases over and over, in any context, apt or not. While I am not a fan, Cavallaro does have strengths - he has a beautiful tone and touch and plays with good rhythm.

Not to make too much of this - the LP is certainly enjoyable, even if not one of Haymes' best.

As with the last Haymes LP I presented, this post was a collaboration between me and vocal aficionado John Morris. This time, he supplied the scans and I did the transfer. Thank again, John!

Haymes Singles

Lyn Murray - or Gordon Jenkins?

Although Haymes recorded "How Deep Is the Ocean?" in 1945, it may have been made in the run-up to the 1946 Bing Crosby-Fred Astaire film Blue Skies, which showcased Berlin's songs. Bing does well by the number in the movie, but not better than Haymes' rendition. "How Deep Is the Ocean" is conducted by Lyn Murray, but the arrangement is strongly reminiscent of Gordon Jenkins, who had just joined Decca and had experience providing arrangements for Haymes.

Annie Get Your Gun was a Broadway sensation in 1946, and its score was fertile ground for pop singers of the day. It's surprising that Decca waited until the show had been open for six months before it brought Haymes into the studio to set down "The Girl That I Marry." Charles "Bud" Dant provides a mellow accompaniment of celesta and strings. A most beautiful record.

Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters with Irving Berlin

Decca waited even longer to bring Haymes together with two of its other leading acts - Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters. It took until March 1947 for them to assemble and record "There's No Business Like Show Business" and "Anything You Can Do." Bing and the sisters had a well-known rapport by that time, so Haymes seem like a fifth wheel, although the results are never less than pleasant. This may be the only time Haymes and Crosby collaborated, although Dick did record with the Andrews siblings one other time. The backing is by Vic Schoen, the sisters' music director.

In September 1947, Haymes set down his classic recording of the 1923 waltz, "What'll I Do," with a characteristic Gordon Jenkins arrangement.

While Annie Get Your Gun was the apex of Berlin's career, his next show, 1949's Miss Liberty, was a relative disappointment. It lacked the star power of Ethel Merman's Annie, relying instead on the genial Eddie Albert and the young Allyn Ann McLerie. (Tommy Rall and Dody Goodman had small roles.) Even so, its score was popular with the vocalists of the time, and today is much underrated - it includes "Homework," "Paris Wakes Up Smiles," "Only for Americans," "Just One Way to Say I Love You," "You Can Have Him" and "Me and My Bundle."

Haymes recorded the biggest song from the show, "Let's Take an Old-Fashioned Walk" and the delightful and much less-known "Little Fish in a Big Pond." The singer handles both beautifully, with apposite backing by Jenkins.

The sound on all these records is quite good - and is newly remastered in ambient stereo.