The Early 'Babes in Arms' Recordings

Cover of souvenir booklet

The Rodgers and Hart score for 1937's Babes in Arms is a brilliant achievement - memorable melodies and clever lyrics abound. While several of its songs are still familiar, we don't know much about how they sounded on the stage in 1937 because there was no original cast album. This, of course, was a shame - the musical featured talented young performers who made just a handful of recordings in general, and only a few of the songs from this production.

The 1939 film version is not much help, either - Hollywood in its wisdom threw out almost all of the Rodgers and Hart songs, substituting songs by producer Arthur Freed and his close associate Roger Edens, and adding everything from "Oh! Susanna" to "Ida! Sweet as Apple Cider." In fact, there are more of the original Babes in Arms songs in the 1948 Rodgers and Hart biopic Words and Music than there were in the filmed musical.

Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart

However, there are enough early recordings of the Babes in Arms songs to allow us to assemble a collection that, while not a facsimile of what the audience in the Golden Theater heard in 1937, is an interesting artifact in its own right.

Let's take the songs in the order of their appearance in the score.

Mitzi Green and Ray Heatherton

The juvenile leads in 1937 were Mitzi Green as Billie and Ray Heatherton as Val. Green, who made few if any recordings (although we have an aircheck of "The Lady Is a Tramp" below), was known primarily as a Hollywood child star. Heatherton was a band and radio singer with some stage experience.

Fortunately there is what seems to be an aircheck of Heatherton singing one of the score's major hits, the wistful "Where or When" with an unknown orchestra, and that fine version leads off the collection.

Victor did have Heatherton in the studio to record "Where or When," but it teamed him with stodgy society bandleader Ruby Newman, who saw the piece as a tango, and made Heatherton wait until the song was nearly over to introduce Lorenz Hart's fascinating lyrics.

Douglas McPhail and Betty Jaynes

"Where or When" is one of the two original songs that appears in the 1939 film, sung by Douglas McPhail and Betty Jaynes, with a very brief appearance by Judy Garland. These are presented as two separate files in the collection. (Note that the out-of-tune string playing is deliberate - the vocalists were supposedly being accompanied by a band of children.)

Douglas McPhail leads the 'babes in arms'

The show's title song, "Babes in Arms," is a stirring march, and is another thing that the film got right. There it was sung primarily by McPhail, who possesses the proper heroic quality for the piece. So heroic that whoever did the orchestral arrangement inserted more than a little Wagner into the mix.

'I Wish I Were in Love Again'

The filmed version dropped the enduring standard "I Wish I Were in Love Again," but the film's stars, Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney, did eventually record it, for Words and Music (Garland's last film for M-G-M). Rooney is hammy in the piece, and even Garland mugs too much for me. She also recorded it in 1947 for Decca (her final song for that label), but the tempo there is too fast.

Edgar Fairchild and Adam Carroll

The Babes in Arms songs go from strength to strength - next up is the perennially popular "My Funny Valentine." Here we call on the duo pianists Edgar Fairchild and Adam Carroll, who were in the Babes in Arms pit band, and who recorded several songs from the score for the Liberty Music Shop label. There is orchestral backing on this and all their sides. (Fairchild has been heard on the blog before - in a piano duo with Ralph Rainger with a medley from Oh, Kay!.)

As far as I can tell, none of the revival cast albums include the next number, for reasons that the title will make clear - "All Dark People Are Light on Their Feet." In the original production, this number was a specialty for the amazing Nicholas Brothers, who played the DeQuincy brothers. One Babes in Arms subplot was the discrimination faced by the DeQuincys. The only recording I have found is by the Bunny Berigan orchestra, with a vocal by white singer-trombonist Ford Leary. Neither the Nicholas brothers nor this song are in the film version.

The clever "Way Out West" ("Get along little taxi / You can keep the change / I'm ridin' home to my kitchen range / Way out west on West End Avenue") is not heard these days, but is always fun to encounter. In the musical, it's a specialty for the character of Baby Rose, played by the 16-year-old Wynn Murray. There is a good live recording of her singing the piece, which I've included in the download.

Teddy Lynch

Next in the collection, Fairchild and Carroll reappear, bringing along the mannered cabaret artist Teddy Lynch as vocalist in "Way Out West." Lynch wasn't a great singer, but she was talented enough to attract the attention of the world's richest person, J. Paul Getty, whom she would marry a few years later.

Ruth Gaylor and Hal McIntyre

The standard "My Funny Valentine" was introduced by Mitzi Green. In absence of a recording by her, we again turn to Fairchild and Carroll for our first interpretation. I've added a superior 1944 recording by Hal McIntyre's big band, with a good vocal by Ruth Gaylor, betraying the influence of Helen Forrest. The McIntyre arrangement is in a different sound world from Ruby Newman or Fairchild and Carroll.

Wynn Murray and Alfred Drake

Wynn Murray did make a commercial record of her number "Johnny One Note," one of the best-known songs in the score. It appeared on the flip side of the record that Ray Heatherton did with Ruby Newman. To me, Murray's clear voice is just right for this song, which can be annoying if belted.

Murray, Alfred Drake (making his first non-operetta appearance on Broadway) and Duke McHale presented the underrated "Imagine" in the original production. The song has a Depression subtext ("Imagine your bills are paid / Imagine you've made the grade," etc.). I can find no better version than the one by the obscure Mardi Bayne, from the 1952 studio cast recording. She is so appealing it's surprising she did not do more on Broadway. (She was about to appear in Wish You Were Here with Jack Cassidy at the time of this recording.)

Jack Cassidy

Val and Billie returned for "All at Once," but neither Mitzi Green nor Ray Heatherton recorded it. So I have turned to the 1952 studio album again for the splendid singing of Bayne and Cassidy.

One of the score's most famous songs is "The Lady Is a Tramp," not least because it was in Sinatra's repertoire for many years. It was introduced by Mitzi Green and this collection includes what sounds like an aircheck of her singing the piece with a great deal of personality. It must have come across well on the stage.

Mitzi Green sings 'The Lady Is a Tramp'

I've also added a version by Teddy Lynch with Fairchild and Carroll and orchestra.

The final number in the score is the neglected "You Are So Fair," which has a lovely melody but not one of Hart's best set of lyrics. Jack Cassidy makes the most of it for the 1952 album, which was conducted by Lehman Engel. The orchestrations are by Carol Huxley.

Lee Sullivan

I thought it might be helpful to include Richard Rodgers' own recordings of a few songs from the score, which are drawn from his album Smash Song Hits by Rodgers and Hart, released in early 1940. For "Where or When," he turned to the talented vocalist Lee Sullivan (who would later originate the role of Charlie Dalrymple in Brigadoon). These recordings were made "under the personal direction of Richard Rodgers," and if that is accurate, I can attest that he favored a rapid tempo for "Where or When." Sullivan also appears in "Johnny One Note," where his part consists of only that one famous note. This Johnny is more mellifluous than most - somewhat similar to Wynn Murray, in fact. The complete Rodgers album can be found here.

The recordings come from Internet Archive and my collection. The sound is good; even the airchecks are listenable. The download includes a number of production stills other than the ones above. It also has my restoration of the original 16-page souvenir booklet, from the New York Public Library site. As usual with such library files, the resolution lacks the detail that one might wish, but the booklet is fun!

Buster's Unusual Spring

If your heart doesn't go dancing at the thought of another spring-themed compilation, I hope this collection, "Buster's Unusual Spring," will at least start your feet tapping.

In these 28 selections, I've avoided the usual spring songs - "Spring Is Here," "It Might as Well Be Spring," and so on - in favor of more esoteric fare. Multiple genres are represented - pop, classical, jazz and country among them. I myself was unfamiliar with most of these numbers. The best known are probably "It Happens Every Spring" and "Spring Can Really Hang You Up the Most" - and you will recognize a few classical melodies in new settings.

As usual, the recordings are discussed below in chronological order.

The first selection is the only acoustic recording in the set, and a late one at that - it's from 1926 and the technology-challenged Gennett label. Chic Winter (other sources say it's Winters) and orchestra offer the peppy "Spring Is Here" (not the Rodgers and Hart song). Winter(s) led a fancy outfit that was in residence at the impressive but long-gone Hotel Gramatan in Westchester County, north of New York City.

The following year, HMV had the incomparable John McCormack in London's Queen's Hall for a session devoted in part to settings by Granville Bantock of poems by Launcelot Alfred Cranmer-Byng (the name itself is poetry) that were based on ancient Chinese texts. "A Dream of Spring" is from a work by the eighth century writer Ts'en Ts'an. McCormack sings with his usual penetrating intelligence, sympathy for the text, sweet tone and faultless diction.

Harry McClintock by R. Crumb

We abruptly switch genres from Sir Granville to the musings of Haywire Mac, the author of "Big Rock Candy Mountain." Here, under the name of Radio Mac, the America folk singer Harry McClintock presents the "Hobo's Spring Song," done for Victor in 1929. Mac was a colorful character who was a member of the International Workers of the World and spent time as a union organizer.

Harold aka Scrappy aka Burt

Also from 1929, we have tightly-muted trumpeter Henry Busse with orchestra and the much-recorded vocalist Scrappy Lambert under the name Burt Lorin. They offer up "Like a Breath of Spring-Time," which makes me wonder when "springtime" became a compound word. The song comes from the lost film Hearts in Exile, which was issued both as a silent and a talkie. Presumably the song was more effective in the latter version. By the way, this song was also recorded by Dr. Eugene Ormandy's Salon Orchestra before the conductor went uptown.

From 1930, Waring's Pennsylvanians give us "It Seems to Be Spring," written for the film Let's Go Native. With a title like that, the movie had to be offensive in some manner, but the plot summary just sounds inane, as does the casting - Jack Oakie and Jeanette MacDonald. One hopes that MacDonald rather than Oakie introduced the song. In either case, they had to be better than the anemic Three Girlfriends who assist Fred Waring on the record.

"Spring in Manhattan" of 1934 is one of the earlier releases from the Liberty Music Shop label, which specialized in cabaret music. Most of its artists were familiar from New York nightlife, but here, despite the song's title, we have Los Angeles' Bruz Fletcher, who recorded very little but has a following even today. Fletcher's song comes from the album above.

Ray Noble

We now transport you from Manhattan to France for "Paris in Spring," which Mack Gordon and Harry Revel wrote for the film of the same name. Despite the titles of movie and music lacking the definite article, Al Bowlly sings "Paris in the spring." The South African vocalist had come to the US with English bandleader Ray Noble, who assembled a superb American band. The troupe began recording in 1935, including this fine song, here in a wonderfully polished and presented arrangement with a characteristic vocal by Bowlly, an exceptional singer. Noble was to stay in the States, but Bowlly moved back to England in 1937 and perished in the London blitz.

Ella and Chick

"I Got the Spring Fever Blues" is from 1936 and and the band of Chick Webb with the young Ella Fitzgerald sounding surprisingly like Connie Boswell with a touch of Mildred Bailey. Ella is great, and the band, led by the short-lived drummer Webb, is as well. In the ensemble are such luminaries as Taft Jordan, Teddy McRae and Sandy Williams.

Peg LaCentra

Another great band was led by Artie Shaw, here with one of his first recordings, also from 1936. At this early date Shaw was known as "Art Shaw." Some of you may be familiar with "There's Frost on the Moon (Spring in My Heart)," which turns up in Christmas compilations. Shaw already had started incorporating strings in his arrangements - unusual for a swing band at the time. One of the violinists here was Jerry Gray, later a famed arranger for Glenn Miller (who himself was a Ray Noble sideman and played trombone on the "Paris in Spring" date above). The success of the Shaw record, though, is largely due to the excellent singer Peg LaCentra.

Teddy Wilson

Moving to 1939, we hear the evocative song "Some Other Spring," from the band of pianist Teddy Wilson and vocalist Jean Eldridge. Billie Holiday fans will likely be familiar with her Columbia recording of this song. Although Holiday made many great recordings with Wilson earlier in her career, she had moved on by this point. Eldridge was a sensitive singer, but didn't have a strong voice. Wilson's piano is excellent, as always.

Fletcher Henderson

The fashion for adapting classical airs for swing numbers was in full flower when Benny Goodman and band decided to adopt Mendelssohn's "Spring Song" for a 1939 record with a Fletcher Henderson chart. I can't imagine the composer approving this version, but he had been gone for almost a century at the time. More than 80 years later, we can enjoy both Mendelssohn's piano piece and the Goodman-Henderson swing interpretation.

Earl Robinson and Paul Robeson

A very different "Spring Song" comes to us from the great Paul Robeson and frequent collaborator Earl Robinson, working with Harry Schachter. Robeson and Robinson had their biggest success with "Ballad for Americans" in 1939. "Spring Song," an anti-war ballad, was issued in 1941 during the run-up to the American involvement in World War II. Robeson and Robinson were Communists, a group that wanted to keep the US from waging war on Germany, which had signed a non-aggression pact with the Soviets in 1939. "Spring Song" was released shortly before the German invasion of Russia.

Jerry Mazanec

From 1942, Jerry Mazanec and his Bohemian polka band regale us with "Spring Awakening." I believe Mazanec was from Cleveland, but his more traditional approach soon was supplanted on Columbia records by the propulsive Slovenian band of that city's Frankie Yankovic, who became nationally popular after the war.

Larry Green led a Boston society band in the Eddy Duchin mold. He offers "Spring Is Really Spring This Year" (as opposed to being autumn, I suppose). It's a nice song and the leader's florid Carmen Cavallaro-style piano playing occasionally gives way for a good Gil Phelan vocal. This one comes from 1946; I have a Green LP on Vik from about 10 years later, but it tells us nothing else about him.

Charlie Spivak

The trumpeter Charlie Spivak was at the helm of a swing band for many years and many recordings, among them "Spring Magic" from 1946. You will immediately recognize the melody for this one. Alexander Borodin invented it for one of his string quartets. Alec Wilder rudely appropriated it without attribution for this pleasant tune with vocal by Jimmy Saunders and the Stardreamers. Several years later, Wright and Forrest borrowed the same melody for "And This Is My Beloved" from Kismet.

Old friend Johnny Johnston peeks in with "I Bring You Spring" with the assistance of the Crew Chiefs and bandleader Sonny Burke. This is a good tune with a sonorous vocal that wasn't included in my 2019 compilation of Johnston's recordings. It comes from 1947.

Hal McIntyre

That same year, excellent Hal McIntyre band featuring the sorely underrated vocalist Frankie Lester produced an M-G-M single of "Spring in December" - another song that features in holiday compilations. Some of Hal's later recordings have appeared here.

Fans of Frank Sinatra and Dick Haymes may be familiar with "It Happens Every Spring," which originated in the 1949 film of the same name. The tune is nothing special, but Mack Gordon's lyrics paint a charming American scene at mid-century. This interpretation is from the future talk-show host and media mogul Merv Griffin, working with Freddy Martin's band.

Bill Farrell

The talented but now-forgotten vocalist Bill Farrell sings "Spring Made a Fool of Me" with support from Russ Case. Farrell, supposedly discovered by Bob Hope, had been listening to two other Bills - Billy Eckstine and Billy Daniels - but his singing is nonetheless impressive. He recorded for a few labels circa 1950, then made a few albums for Dobre in the 1970s.

At the same time and also for M-G-M, Russ Case recorded instrumentals under his own name, including an inoffensive "Symphony of Spring," which is our next selection.

In December 1951, Mercury invited Paul & Roy the Tennessee River Boys (seems like there should be some punctuation in there) to Nashville's Tulane Hotel to set down their own "Spring of Love." Paul & Roy were in the Bill Monroe bluegrass mold, minus the banjo. Good stuff.

Early the following year, the popular Four Aces Featuring Al Alberts did "Spring Is a Wonderful Thing" for Decca. Al's vocal gyrations have never been a favorite of mine, and here he is at his most elaborately emotive.

Back to the country genre for the Maddox Brothers and Rose and their "The Time Is Spring." This comes from 1953 and a group that is always entertaining, here supplemented by guitarists Joe Maphis and Johnny Bond.

The Four Freshmen

The Four Freshmen and the illustrious arranger Nelson Riddle turned their attentions to Matt Dennis' excellent ballad "Love Turns Winter to Spring" for a 1954 release on the Capitol label.

Next, an obscurity - the multi-talented Ken Moore, who not only sang and played the piano on "Spring May Come," but wrote the piece and released it on his own Lucky label in 1954. Billboard called it "listenable after-hours wax" and so it is.

Kitty Kallen came out of a big-band background for a successful solo career, with her biggest hit being "Little Things Mean a Lot" in 1954. "Come Spring" is from the next year, about the same time that Kallen began having the vocal problems that impeded her career for several years. I don't know if this is why Decca turned the vocal reverb up to 11 for this record; I do know that the sound would be better without the intrusion.

Jimmie Rodgers

Bobby Troup's touching song "Their Hearts Were Full of Spring" is perhaps better known as the reworked Beach Boys tune "A Young Man Is Gone," yet another James Dean homage that is beautifully sung but pointless. The Boys' harmonies were modeled on those of the Four Freshmen in that group's recording of the original. Here we have the excellent folk-oriented pop singer Jimmie Rodgers backed by Hugo Peretti. His rendition was on the flip side of his big 1957 hit "Honeycomb."

Our final selection will be familiar - perhaps overly so - to any fan of the cabaret singer set. It is "Spring Can Really Hang You Up the Most," a wonderful Tommy Wolf-Fran Landesman song that is done perfectly by jazz vocalist Mark Murphy. This is taken from the singer's 1962 LP Rah, which I have featured in its unexpurgated version. (See the post for an explanation.)

Except for the final number, these files have been remastered from lossless needle drops found on Internet Archive.

Hope your spring is going well; it snowed here today.

Buster's Smoochy Valentine Collection

I reckon that I am as romantic as the next blogger, and to prove it, I have put together Buster's Smoochy Valentine Collection. It consists of 23 songs from 1908 to 1955, all with "cupid" or "valentine" in the title, except for a couple of renegades as discussed below.

This is a wonderfully varied collection, but I want to caution you that even though my namesake above has been caught in the grasp of overwhelming emotion, these records are not designed to induce romantic feelings. That is, unless you and your significant other can find some erotic interest in old vaudeville routines, polkas with the likes of Bedrich Smeage and His Eight Aces, and records featuring Arnold Stang. If so, these songs will be just the thing for your special night and my best wishes to you both.

As is my custom with these assemblages, let me discuss each selection in chronological order.

Ada Jones and Len Spencer

The oldest comes from 1908 and is straight from the vaudeville stage. Ada Jones and Len Spencer, two of the stars of the day, present a well-honed German ethnic routine, "Katrina's Valentine," a "descriptive specialty" in the not-terribly-descriptive description on the Victor label. It's amazing to me how clear this 112-year-old recording sounds, but the acoustic method was better with voices than instruments.

Herbert L. Clarke

That said, cornet virtuoso Herbert L. Clarke also sounds very good in his 1909 disc of "Ah! Cupid," a number from Victor Herbert's first operetta, Prince Ananias, dating from 1894. I raised the pitch of this one - it dragged as transferred. I believe brass bands of the time did use a high concert pitch.

From 1911 comes another instrumental, "Spying Cupid," written by the "Boy Trumpet Wonder," B.A. Rolfe, here in a version by the English Gramophone Company's house band, the Peerless Orchestra.

Grace Kerns, Andrea Sarto, Reed Miller

"When Cupid Calls" was the closing number from Victor Jacobi's 1916 musical Sybil, on Broadway when this record was made. It was done for Columbia by three noted vocalists of the time, Grace Kerns, Andrea Sarto and Reed Miller.

Next is a group that has appeared before on my other blog - the English Singers, who were important both for reviving the madrigal repertoire and for championing contemporary composers such as Peter Warlock. This 1922 recording of Thomas Bateson's 17th century madrigal "Cupid in a Bed of Roses" was one of their first, made for HMV. At the time, the group included tenor Steuart Wilson, who has appeared on this blog as a solo artist.

Moving away from valentines and cupid for a moment, I did want to include an example of the famous tune "Hearts and Flowers," a sugary specialty if ever there was one, in what is perhaps the only straight-faced version I have ever encountered, dating from 1923 and coming from the Aeolian String Trio. In case you have ever wondered (and I would wonder why if you did), this melody was published by Theodore Moses-Tobani in 1894, but was lifted from a march by the Hungarian composer Alphons Czibulka.

Billy Murray

I've included two versions of "Hearts and Flowers" in this collection, also two versions of the less familiar song "Jimmy Valentine." This song-story seems to have been taken from, or at least inspired by, the 1928 film Alias Jimmy Valentine, based on a famous O. Henry story. The amazingly prolific recording artist Billy Murray and Nat Shilkret's Victor Orchestra present a polished version of the Edward Madden-Gus Edwards song. This is the first electrical recording in the collection.

"Valentine" is a ribald and somewhat distasteful song made somehow irresistible by Maurice Chevalier in this 1928 recording issued in conjunction with the film Innocents of Paris, Chevalier's first American film. This was near the beginning of the singer's career and only a few years after he introduced the song, which would be thereafter identified with him.

Fats Waller and admirers

"Valentine Stomp" is a 1929 recording from its composer, the fabulous stride pianist Fats Waller. These days the short-lived Waller is known for his outsized personality, entertaining vocals and small combo recordings, but in a just world his astonishing pianism would be the main source of his fame.

Marion Harris

The next selection, "He's My Secret Passion," is just an excuse for me to include one of my favorite vocalists, Marion Harris. This Brunswick record, made in 1930 when Harris was 34, was near the end of her recording career. Her detailed interpretation, excellent diction and complete involvement are ideal, in my view.

Cole McElroy was more of an impresario than a musician - he ran dance halls and led dance bands in the Pacific Northwest for years. Cole McElroy's Spanish Ballroom Orchestra took its name from the leader's Portland dance emporium. The vocal on its 1931 recording of "Cupid's Holiday" is by Myer Alexander, who later became Jeff Alexander, a well-known conductor and composer for radio, television and films.

Cole McElroy and band

"Hearts and Flowers" makes its second appearance in a 1938 jazz interpretation from Matty Malneck, ex-Whiteman violinist who was then leading a swing combo. It sounds like he employed harp, accordion, vibes and muted trumpet along with his violin in the attractive ensemble sound here. The discography doesn't list the an accordionist, but perhaps pianist Bobby Van Eps handled the wheeze box.

Jabbo Smith by R. Crumb

The next song, "How Can Cupid Be So Stupid," also from 1938, comes from one of the unsung greats of the swing era, Jabbo Smith. As a trumpeter, Smith was notable for his beautiful tone and lyrical approach. Smith also sings on this record. While his playing as clearly influenced by Louis Armstrong, his vocals are nothing like that of Pops. This enjoyable side marked Smith's last swing-era recording. He was to make a comeback 30 years later.

The fine swing band of ex-Miller reed man Hal McIntyre provides this set's first, inevitable reading of "My Funny Valentine." It boasts strong vocal work from Ruth Gaylor, whose singing brightened many of the big bands of the day without her ever becoming famous. Gaylor clearly has been listening to Helen Forrest - not such a bad model to follow. This Decca side dates from late 1944. Some of Hal's later recordings have appeared here.

Ruth Gaylor sings, Hal McIntyre beams in approval

Now on to a polka, which I know you have been waiting for. Bedrich Smeage and His Eight Aces were a Czech group from (I believe) Michigan. He recorded his "Valentine Polka" for Signature circa 1945. Smeage later did a few numbers for RCA and small Michigan labels.

The prolific trumpeter-vocalist Louis Prima weighs in with "My Valentine," which Majestic released in 1946. Louis surprises us (me, anyway) by turning the vocal duties over to Jack Powers, not that I am complaining.

Next, another polka (or "polka-mazurka"), this one from Joseph Snihur, proclaimed as the "Polka King" on this circa 1946 Sonart release. The decidedly more popular Frankie Yankovic would soon wrest the royal title away. Snihur, of Ukrainian descent, was based in New Jersey and often advertised in the local ethnic newspapers. This rough-and-ready performance is enjoyably gusty.

Arnold Stang

Remember "Jimmy Valentine," whom we covered back in 1928? Nineteen years later, the Lyn Duddy Swing Choir thought it might be a good idea to resurrect the song, give it some new lyrics, and employ the nasal squawk of Arnold Stang as the title character for this M-G-M recording. Stang was even then a star on the radio, and would become an even bigger star on television, where his tiny stature and bug-eyed appearance was a perfect complement to his uber-nerd voice.

Now on to a few songs that could actually be accused of being romantic. First is a 1947 recording from the great Gordon Jenkins, a superior reading of "My Funny Valentine" with a casual yet intimate vocal from Charles LaVere. The singer was by trade a pianist, whose day job at the time was in John Scott Trotter's band on the Bing Crosby radio show. Somehow he started singing with Jenkins on record, and soon they had a hit with "Maybe You'll Be There." I am preparing a post highlighting both LaVere's vocal and jazz talents.

Vocalist Jack Carroll joins us for "The Valentine Song," assisted by the Honeydreamers and Bill MacCrae's band. This was done for the small VITAcoustic label in 1947. Carroll would later become a busy studio singer. His Christmas LP appeared on this blog a number of years ago. The Honeydreamers also have been featured here.

The excellent pianist Paul Smith taped his composition "Cupid Took Me for a Ride" for the Discovery label in 1950. Tony Rizzi is the fine guitarist you hear.

Now on to one of my favorites from the set - Blackie Crawford and the Western Cherokees with their Western swing recording of "Stupid Cupid" (not the Connie Francis tune, I probably don't need to add). Blackie and the gang did this one for the Coral label in 1950. Although I doubt many of you have heard of this group, they did have a distinguished pedigree, having served as the backing band for Lefty Frizzell, George Jones and Ray Price. Read more about them in this excellent article.

We close with "Cupid" from the little-known McDonald Sisters, recorded for Modern in 1955. Although the artists' name might be unfamiliar, their sound is not - they were a vocal clone of the Chordettes.

All recordings were remastered by me from lossless originals found on Internet Archive. The sound is generally quite good - even from the acoustics.

Have a nice Valentine's Day, everyone!