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.

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