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!

More from RCA's "Show Time" Series

Helena Bliss

In this, the second installment in my protracted exploration of RCA Victor's 1953 "Show Time" Series of potted musicals, we hear from two favorites from my first post (Lisa Kirk and Jack Cassidy), one less-favored hold-over (George Britton) and two other performers who were prominent on Broadway at the time (Helena Bliss and Helen Gallagher).

In the "Show Time" Series, RCA devoted one side of a 10-inch LP to the high points of a notable musical. Each was also offered as an EP. This LP combines Kiss Me Kate of 1948 with Anything Goes from 1934.

Lisa Kirk - from the original cast - is top billed in Kiss Me Kate, but performs only one number - "Always True to You in My Fashion," which she introduced. The other songs are presented by George Britton, who had succeeded Ezio Pinza in South Pacific, and Helena Bliss, who herself had recently been in a London revival of Kiss Me Kate. Bliss' most famous role was in the Wright-Forrest Grieg farrago, Song of Norway. She soon was to appear in a Broadway revival of Show Boat.

Helen Gallagher

The other side of the record, devoted to Anything Goes, is dominated by Helen Gallagher, who had the daunting task of presenting songs that had been introduced by the force of theatre named Ethel Merman. Gallagher, herself no little personality, was appearing on Broadway in Hazel Flagg, the musical version of the screwball comedy Nothing Sacred. When Hazel Flagg was made into a movie, under the title Living It Up, Hazel somehow turned into Jerry Lewis. (Lady!!)

Gallagher acquits herself beautifully here. Although she was on Broadway for many years, she is perhaps best known today for her many years in American soap operas. Jack Cassidy duets with her on "You're the Top."

The sound here is quite good. More to come.

Lisa Kirk and the RCA Show Time Series

When RCA Victor decided to issue a series of musical comedy recordings in 1953, for the most part it turned to performers who were then in leading roles on Broadway, but it made sure to include Lisa Kirk, who, will not then currently in a play, had been memorable in Allegro and Kiss Me Kate in previous years.

The post is something of a tribute to Kirk, a wonderful singer who is heard far too little these days, as well as RCA's venture into potted musicals. It includes three of the shows RCA issued in its Show Time Series, along with a number of Kirk's RCA singles from the same era.

The Show Time Series included four songs each from 18 shows. Limiting the number of songs to four meant that the company could issue each show on an EP, and combine two shows on a 10" LP. It also differentiated the RCA effort from Columbia's popular series of records that already had presented LP-length revivals of several shows - notably Pal Joey, which led to it being revived on Broadway.

The RCA and Columbia series shared a number of artists - Jack Cassidy, conductor Lehman Engel and, notably, Harold Lang, who starred as Pal Joey on the RCA record and in the subsequent revival.

We begin this post with an RCA LP that combined songs from two Rodgers and Hart scores, Babes in Arms and Jumbo, both featuring Lisa Kirk. On the Babes in Arms side, Kirk is excellent in "The Lady Is a Tramp" and "My Funny Valentine." William Tabbert, who was then on Broadway as Joe Cable in South Pacific, does "Where or When" (not very well). And Sheila Bond, who was in Wish You Were Here at the time and won a Tony, has her way with "Johnny One Note."

In the songs from Jumbo, Lisa has only "Little Girl Blue." Joining her is the superb Jack Cassidy on "My Romance" and "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World." Cassidy was starring with Sheila Bond in Wish You Were Here at the time. The LP is rounded out by Jordan Bentley (Wreck in Wonderful Town - "I could paaaaas that football"), with "Over and Over Again."

Before moving on to Lisa Kirk singles, I've added a bonus EP of The Band Wagon, with two songs from Harold Lang. Lang started as a dancer, and while he could sing, subtlety was not his specialty, perhaps because he was used to playing such bluff characters as Pal Joey and Bill Calhoun (he was in Kiss Me Kate with Kirk). Here Lang blasts his way through "I Love Louisa" and "New Sun in the Sky." Lang is joined by George Britton, who had replaced Ezio Pinza in South Pacific, and Edith Adams (later Edie Adams), who was in Wonderful Town at the time. Britton does "Dancing in the Dark" and duets with Adams on "High and Low."

Billboard ad

Finally we have six Lisa Kirk songs from RCA singles - "Exactly Like You," "You're a Sweetheart," "Charlie Is My Darling" and "Beautiful Brown Eyes" from 1951, and "Do Me a Favor" and "King Size Kisses" from 1953. Kirk is generally fine but the material is variable here. None were hits (although Rosemary Clooney's rival - and superior - cover version of the country tune "Beautiful Brown Eyes" was a good seller).

The sound is excellent on all items except for the first two singles mentioned, which are transferred from a worn 78. The download includes contemporary photos of all the artists mentioned.

I've often remarked that it's a shame that a certain artist isn't better remembered - and that's once again true with Lisa Kirk, a glamorous, talented singer and fine actor. I'll probably be back later with one of her LPs.

NEW LINKS - REMASTERED AND REPITCHED VERSIONS (JUNE 2014):

BABES IN ARMS-JUMBO | BAND WAGON | SINGLES

On Your Toes

I recently came across this, the original edition of the 1952 Columbia studio recording of On Your Toes, the 1936 Rodgers-Hart musical.

This was one of a notable series of studio recordings of Broadway shows guided by Columbia's Goddard Lieberson. For many years this series was the only way to hear scores like On Your Toes, Babes in Arms and other shows. The Columbia edition of Pal Joey inspired a Broadway revival - and there was also a revival of this show soon after this LP appeared. (That production was recorded by Decca.)

Lieberson had a tendency to use the same singers in several of these recordings, most notably Mary Martin, but also Portia Nelson and Jack Cassidy, who are featured here. I admire both Nelson and Cassidy, but they weren't quite right for their roles. Possessors of perhaps the most prominent vibratos in New York, neither sounds especially youthful (even though they were). Nelson also has little sense of rhythm. That's important in this score, which after all is about dancers.

You can hear the difference in approach in the 1983 recording of the revival, where the timing of Christine Andreas and Lara Teeter is much more acute - helped no doubt by it being a recording of an actual cast.

Now that I am through caviling, let me assure you this recording is very enjoyable. The score is wonderfully varied, the lyrics are by turns witty and touching, and the crowning touch is the glorious ballet Slaughter on Tenth Avenue, with its remarkably beautiful slow music. The sound from Columbia's 30th Street Studio is very good, as well. And despite my carping above, it's always a pleasure to hear Portia Nelson and Jack Cassidy.

While the cover above is from the first issue, I have made the dub from the second issue, circa 1956, which had a different cover but used the same matrices for its pressings.

REMASTERED VERSION