Trudy Erwin

Trudy Erwin (1918-2000) was a talented singer mostly remembered for her movie dubbing assignments and appearances with Bing Crosby. She had a lovely mezzo voice, perfect diction, careful intonation and great warmth. Her career lasted from the mid-1930s into the 1950s. 

This post, a comprehensive overview of her most productive period (1940-52), includes 35 commercial recordings, airchecks and soundtracks.

Early Experience

A native of Los Angles, Erwin was singing in ensembles in her teens. Among her first professional jobs was as period as a member of the Music Maids singing group on Bing Crosby's radio show, starting in 1939. At that time she was known as Virginia (Jinny) Erwin.

The Music Maids, with Jinny Erwin at center

Her first individual professional job, to my knowledge, was doing the singing for Lucille Ball in 1940's Too Many Girls, where she had the dubious honor of introducing the great Rodgers and Hart song "You're Nearer" without a credit. Our collection starts off with her performance from the soundtrack. (The noises you hear in the background are crickets - the scene takes place outside at dusk.)

Also from that film is "I Didn't Know What Time It Was," with a brief concluding vocal by Ball's co-star Richard Carlson.

With Kay Kyser

In 1941, Erwin joined Kay Kyser's band as a replacement for Ginny Simms, making her first recording in November. This was after Simms and Kyser had a personal and professional split, and the bandleader didn't want any more Ginnys (or Jinnys). So Jinny Erwin became Trudy Erwin.

Most of her singing was done as a member of the Kyser vocal ensemble, but she was featured on two records, the first of which was a giant hit -"Who Wouldn't Love You," written by future Frankie Laine music director Carl Fischer with Bill Carey. Trudy shared billing with Kyser mainstay Harry Babbitt. (They were credited as "Trudy and Harry" on the label.)

Like much of Kyser's output, the song veered toward the novelty side of the bandbook, as did her other feature, "There Won't be a Shortage of Love," which traded on the empty market shelves of wartime. Again, "Trudy and Harry" were the singing lovebirds, appropriate considering that the arrangement called for drum effects that sounded like Kyser had hired a woodpecker. (Come to think of it, he would later record the "Woody Woodpecker Song" with Gloria Wood.)

Trudy Erwin in 1942

Trudy's two songs were set down in January and March 1942, respectively. The Musicians Union embarked on a pointless two-year strike in July, and by the time that was over, Erwin had moved back to the Crosby show, as a soloist this time.

With Bing Crosby

This set includes her three commercial recordings with Bing and many high-quality airchecks from his Kraft Music Hall show.

Like other leading artists, Crosby had a big success even during the union ban by recording without union members. He and Trudy had a double-sided hit with songs from the new Rodgers and Hammerstein show Oklahoma! - "People Will Say We're in Love" and "Oh, What A Beautiful Mornin'."

The recording session managed to evade the union ban by not employing any instrumentalists - vocalists did not belong to the union. So the duo's accompanists were the members of "The Sportsmen Glee Club," an expanded version of the Sportsmen Quartet. The performances are pleasant if lugubrious, with the Sportsmen sounding more mournful than gleeful.

Because Trudy also was a member of the Kraft Music Hall cast, she and Bing also had a chance to perform both Oklahoma! songs with orchestral accompaniment.

The "People Will Say We're in Love" performance comes from a September 1943 broadcast. I wish I could say that John Scott Trotter's arrangement is much of an improvement over the Sportsmen, but it just plods along.

In December, another broadcast included a version of "Oh, What A Beautiful Mornin'" with accompaniment by Trotter's crew. Here the band chart is perhaps more flossy than the song and setting deserved.

Bing and Trudy

Also from that broadcast, Bing and Trudy sang "One Alone" from Sigmund Romberg's operetta The Desert Song. Bing calls the song new, probably because it was used in a recent film adaptation. The work itself dates from 1926.

Another 1943 broadcast allotted Erwin a solo spot on a Burke-Van Heusen song that Crosby had recorded the year before - "Constantly." I've included the lead-in to the number, which includes an amusing bit with Bing imitating Kyser and his North Carolina drawl.

"Wait for Me Mary" was the flip side of one of Dick Haymes' first big hits - "You'll Never Know." Bing and Trudy handled the piece sensitively during a September broadcast.

The unlikely 1943 hit "I Heard You Cried Last Night" was the subject of an superb Erwin performance. Written for the B-movie Cinderella Swings It, Helen Forrest and Harry James had recorded it in summer 1942, but Columbia delayed its release for a year. After it became a hit, Dick Haymes followed with an a capella version. Trudy's Kraft Music Hall rendition comes from another September show.

Also that month, Bing and Trudy combined for "The Way You Look Tonight," the Kern-Fields song from 1936 and Fred Astaire's Swing Time. This is one of the best songs and performances in the set. Bing had recorded it with his wife Dixie Lee in 1936.

"My Ideal" comes from an early December show. It's a revival of the 1930 Richard Whiting, Newell Chase and Leo Robin song that was introduced by Maurice Chevalier. The version by Bing and Trudy probably was suggested by the Capitol recording by Whiting's daughter, Margaret. Trudy's obbligato in this performance is strikingly effective.

Rodgers and Hart wrote the standard "My Heart Stood Still" for a West End review in 1927, then had to buy the song back so they could use it in A Connecticut Yankee. Bing and Trudy did well with this classic number.

"The Right Kind of Love," a new song by Mabel Wayne and Kermit Goell, was recorded by a number of artists in 1943, not including Bing. He did program it for an August show as a duet with Trudy. The composition is just OK, but the singing is fine.

Erwin left Crosby's show when she and her husband, Crosby's engineer-producer Murdo MacKenzie, were expecting a child in 1944.

Commercial Recordings

In 1945, Trudy was the featured vocalist on bandleader Ray Noble's summer replacement radio program. Noble also brought in Trudy for one of his many Columbia sessions. One side was "The Wish That I Wish Tonight," a lovely song by M.K. Jerome and Jack Scholl from the classic film Christmas in Connecticut. David Rose and Leo Robin came up with the other side, "So-o-o in Love," another film song, this one from the Danny Kaye specialty Wonder Man. On the film's soundtrack, Virginia Mayo's vocals were dubbed not by Erwin but June Hutton, the subject of an upcoming post.

Both Noble songs are attractive numbers in polished performances. Erwin (misspelled "Irwin" on the labels) is in good form. The trumpet soloist on "The Wish That I Wish" is ex-Miller hand Clyde Hurley. "So-o-o in Love" was even nominated for an Academy Award. Its formidable competition included "It Might as Well Be Spring" (the winner), "Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive," "Aren’t You Glad You’re You?," "I Fall in Love Too Easily," "I’ll Buy that Dream," "Sleigh Ride in July," "More and More" and "Some Sunday Morning."

Trudy's next record was her only one as the featured performer - songs for the mainly country label 4-Star in 1946. The result is sterling performances of the well-remembered "To Each His Own" and of "Whattya Gonna Do?" These came out on two different 78s, backed by instrumentals from bandleader and sometime actor Opie Cates. 

"To Each His Own" is a Livingston and Evans song from the film of the same name, and is best known these days for its Ink Spots recording, although it was a hit for Eddy Howard among others. This pressing is noisy, unfortunately.

There may be a third Erwin release on 4-Star - "Would You Believe Me?" - but I haven't found a copy.

At about the same time, Bing came through with another task - a commercial recording of "See You in Cuba" from his 1946 film Blue Skies, which had an Irving Berlin score. The composer called the piece "See You in C-U-B-A" when he wrote it as a prohibition song in 1920. Crosby's partner in the film was the charming Olga San Juan, but Erwin was a better singer.

More Movie Dubs

Crosby became a film producer with the 1945 release of The Great John L., based on the life of boxer John L. Sullivan and set in the late 19th century. Bing engaged Trudy to dub the vocals for Sullivan's love interest, played by Linda Darnell. Jimmy Van Heusen and Johnny Burke provided two songs for the character. "A Perfect Gentleman" is a brief period piece. The main event was "A Friend of Yours," a high quality ballad that should be better remembered. Erwin is in prime form for both.

Erwin dubbed the singing voice of Lucille Bremer in two films. There were two numbers in the 1945 musical fantasy Yolanda and the Thief, where Bremer was the love interest of Fred Astaire -"Angel" and "Will You Marry Me?" Both were by Harry Warren and Bremer's patron, producer Arthur Freed. The former is a pleasing melody, wonderfully well performed by Trudy, beginning with her excellent vocalese. The second song is lyrically insipid, reflecting the fantasy aspect of the film. 

The 1946 Jerome Kern filmic bio Till the Clouds Roll By was the source of another opportunity to dub Bremer's vocals: a short but sonorous solo from Trudy on "The Land Where Good Songs Go." The song is briefly interrupted by comments from Robert Walker as Kern, the best friend of the father of Bremer's character. (Walker sounds oddly like Ronald Colman in the part.)

More Radio Spots

In 1946 Trudy made one of the "Personal Albums" that the Armed Forces Radio Service produced for several years. She included "The Coffee Song," a hit for Bob Hilliard and Richard Miles that several artists recorded. It's a shame that she was saddled with an awful backing combo. The pianist thinks he is accompanying a dancing class; his rhythm could not be less suggestive of Brazil.

Trudy Erwin in 1947

The next song is quite a contrast. It comes from the Jack Paar Show, a 1947 summer replacement for the Jack Benny Show. Erwin's relaxed singing blends well with the modern sounds of a band led by the young Jerry Fielding, who himself had been associated with Kay Kyser, as an arranger. Trudy and Jerry present "I Believe," a terrific Cahn-Styne song introduced by Frank Sinatra in It Happened in Brooklyn.

Paar, later a television star, was just starting on network radio with the show. He did so well that the network continued the program in the fall. Our second selection comes from a September 1947 program, again with Fielding's band. The number is "Ivy," which Hoagy Carmichael wrote as the title song for a film starring Joan Fontaine. The melody is memorable but awkward to sing. Trudy handles it deftly.

Erwin also starred on other radio shows, and even an early television program that she shared with old friend Harry Babbitt.

More Songs from Films

Erwin appeared on screen in 1947 in a typical Jack Carson comedy, Love and Learn, where she helped to introduce the main song from the film, "Would You Believe Me?", a relatively popular number that attracted several commercial recordings. The song is presented by a montage to show how popular it had become. (Carson was a songwriter in the film.) The sequence leads up to Trudy as a glossy nightclub singer. M.K. Jerome, Ray Heindorf and Charles Tobias wrote the song.

In 1951, Erwin sang for Lana Turner in the Ezio Pinza starrer Mr. Imperium. Three selections were included. Her own solo was the unusual "My Love and My Mule," by none other than Harold Arlen and Dorothy Fields. Trudy shared the lively Arlen-Fields "Andiamo" with Pinza. Finally, the duo performed Augustin Lara's fabulous "Solamente una vez" (You Belong to My Heart). The great bass has most of the vocal line in the latter two songs.

Intended for Mr. Imperium?

The next item is the one that gave me the idea of doing this post devoted to Erwin. It is "Hello, My Lover, Goodbye," written by Johnny Green and Edward Heyman for the 1931 musical flop Here Goes the Bride. Frances Langford introduced the number in her only Broadway appearance. It's a striking composition that Erwin elevates with her soulful performance in this 1951 recording for M-G-M. 

My unproven theory is that this performance was intended for Mr. Imperium. It could have been used as a Turner/Erwin solo as the climax of the parting scene when Pinza (as a crown prince) is called back to his country to take over from his dying father. Johnny Green was the conductor both of the Mr. Imperium soundtrack and this song, and they are from the same year. I will say it's a better number than "My Love and My Mule."

Finally, another soundtrack assignment, also issued on record with Erwin credited. It is Frank Lehár's "Merry Widow Waltz," with the addition of Paul Francis Webster lyrics. For some reason, the studio's leadership thought Fernando Lamas and Lana Turner would make people forget Maurice Chevalier and Jeanette MacDonald's performances in the earlier Merry Widow film. Oh well, at least they engaged Erwin to double Turner's singing voice again, partnering Lamas in the recording.

This sampling of Erwin's artistry comes primarily from Internet Archive and my collection.

LINK

Johnny Green, Kay Thompson and Ralph Blane

In 1944, composer-pianist-bandleader Johnny Green, vocalist-arranger Kay Thompson and composer-vocalist Ralph Blane were all among the great array of talent that had been assembled to make musicals at M-G-M.

All had achieved a measure of fame before going to Hollywood; the relative anonymity of the studio would chafe on Green and Thompson, who had been headliners; perhaps less so on Blane, who was content to sing in ensembles with Thompson's singers even as he was co-composing (with Hugh Martin) the songs for Meet Me in St. Louis, one of the greatest musicals ever.

Kay Thompson

The three were friendly, and when Green was commissioned in 1944 to produce an album of his own songs by Decca, he called on the others to help. The resulting eight-song set includes three vocals by Thompson and her group (which almost certainly includes Blane), two by Blane, an excellent singer, two by the obscure Barbara Ames, and one instrumental featuring Green's piano.

Ames, who appeared in a few movies as a singer - although not at M-G-M - actually is not a bad singer at all. Blane is particularly persuasive in "I'm Yours," although "Out of Nowhere," a tough melody to sing, isn't his finest moment. And Thompson's outings are a delight, particularly "The Steam Is on the Beam". Green wrote that song for a short-lived Broadway musical in 1942. This version was in effect a demo for a version of the song filmed for (but not used in) Ziegfeld Follies.

Ralph Blane and Hugh Martin

The cover notes say that the musicians on the date were from Hollywood studios. It seems likely that they were from the M-G-M orchestra. No arranger credits are given, but the orchestrations are very reminiscent of those heard in M-G-M musicals of the time, and I like to imagine that people like Conrad Salinger and Wally Heglin may have been involved.

Although these songs were projected as an album from the start, they actually did not appear in assembled form until September 1947, although most of the items had been issued as singles by then. This transfer is from the 10-inch LP issued in 1950.

Note (June 2024): The August and September 1944 sessions in Los Angeles actually yielded 10 songs - the eight on the LP and two other Green compositions, "Serenade to a New Baby" and "Hello, My Lover, Goodbye." I've now included the latter two in the download, transferred from a Decca single. All songs have been remastered in ambient stereo.

LINK to remastered version