Lisa Kirk - More RCA Victor Singles

About five years ago, I presented 24 RCA Victor single sides from Broadway star Lisa Kirk, who had featured roles in Kiss Me, Kate and Allegro. Now I have 22 more from the same period, meaning that we've covered all or substantially all of her output for that label.

Here's some of what I wrote about her in 2017:

At least once before on this blog, I've proclaimed my allegiance to Lisa Kirk and the cause of seeking more recognition for her as a singer. The Broadway artist whose superb renditions introduced "The Gentleman Is a Dope," "Always True to You in My Fashion" and "Why Can't You Behave" ought to be more recognized as a master of the craft.

Before she became an RCA artist, Kirk came to public attention via her first Broadway appearance, in the 1947 Rodgers-Hammerstein show Allegro. In that show, she was the lovelorn nurse to the show's protagonist, Dr. Joe Taylor. Her version of "The Gentleman Is a Dope" is the high point of the cast album.

The next year she was cast in the important role of Lois Lane in Cole Porter's Kiss Me, Kate, in which she introduced "Always True to You in My Fashion" and "Why Can't You Behave" (as well as "Tom, Dick or Harry").

After that, Kirk was less seen in Broadway and more on television and in nightclubs, although in 1963 she replaced Janis Paige as a lead in Meredith Willson's Here's Love and in 1974 had a featured role in Jerry Herman's Mack and Mabel.

Kirk was with RCA from late 1949 to 1953. Today's selections are primarily from late 1949 through early 1951, with a few from 1952-53.

The first number in this group (and Kirk's first single) is "Charley, My Boy," an oldie from 1924 made popular by Eddie Cantor and revived in 1949 by the Andrews Sisters. Kirk has just the jaunty approach this piece needs. 

The flip side is "Shame on You," which was the greatest hit by Western Swing's Spade Cooley, back in 1946. I'm not sure why RCA wanted to revive it with a boogie-woogie beat and hand-clapping by the Three Beaus and a Peep, but here it is. Kirk's coy vocal doesn't work as well as Tex Williams' deadpan original. Henri René is the maestro here and on the majority of records below.

Billboard ad, March 11, 1950

"Dearie" was opportunity for a comic duet with another star RCA vocalist, Fran Warren, arguing about who's older. It's fun, although Kirk is the better actor. The B-side, "Just a Girl that Men Forget," is another battle of the divas, also enjoyable. Victor often paired Kirk with other singers - last time out we had Bob Haymes and Don Cornell. 

In "Sweet Promises and Good Intentions," the Three Beaus, a Peep and hand-clapping return for yet another light number. Nice tune, but it does not make the most of Kirk's talents. Its discmate, "Kiss Me," also lightweight, is better suited to Kirk's style, without any other voices or hand-clapping.

Speaking of Eddie Cantor, as we were a few paragraphs ago, he pops up for Lisa's next single, "The Old Piano Roll Blues" coupled with "Juke Box Annie (Doodle-Oodle-Oo)." Victor enlisted Sammy Kaye's orchestra for the backing. Kirk and Cantor are surprisingly compatible. "Juke Box Annie" was the plug side, and a hit in the various versions on the market. "The Old Piano Roll Blues" is fine, but it uses a strange sounding piano. But please, RCA, enough of the novelties!

Oh well, the quasi-gospel "Faith and Determination" was next on the recording docket, and the hand-clapping returns, although the Beaus and Peep have ceded the mic to the talented Honeydreamers. The flip, "Love Me a Little Bit" is a continental-style production, complete with accordion and violin. Very well done.

One of the stand-outs in the set is the little-known "Love Like Ours," taken from Dimitri Tiomkin's music for the Marlon Brando melodrama The Men. The words are standard-issue, but the material is well-suited to Kirk's abilities. The flip side is "I Didn't Slip, I Wasn't Pushed, I Fell," a popular item in 1950 that Lisa does nicely. (She should have slammed the studio door on the whistler, however.)

Kirk is outstanding in "Gotta See Ya Once More," although René's gimmicky orchestration is not entirely welcome. She reaches back to the '20s again (actually, 1918) for the coupling, "Ja-Da." Not sure why Victor kept having her record songs from a quarter-century earlier, but she is very good here, too, showing off her sense of rhythm. René's band provides a suitable Dixieland backing.

Finally, Victor handed her the sheet music for a standard! "I'm in the Mood for Love" is not a great song, but well suited to Kirk's strengths. The backing is another (and better) Jimmy McHugh item, "I Can't Believe You're in Love with Me," which is one of the best pieces in this collection. Kirk is splendid but the anonymous backing is just OK. She recorded six McHugh songs at the same time, presumably for an album, although I don't believe it was issued as such.

Her next song is another welcome respite from the novelties and the hectic pop screamers we are about to encounter. While not a standard, it is a good song by Ralph Freed, "I Thought of You Last Night," here in a sensitive performance backed by the excellent David Terry. On the pop charts, I believe that the Jeri Southern single did a little better.

The Freed number is backed by "Look Up," an attractive, hymn-like song by Joop de Leur and Harold Rome. I suspect that Rome's contribution was English lyrics to the Dutch composer's tune. Rome had done this for other songs, notably Henri Laurent Herpin's "(All of a Sudden) My Heart Sings." Kirk is completely convincing here.

Now on to the noisy numbers, staring with "Boomerang," a loud Leon Pober item that was making the rounds in 1952. This commotion was backed, appropriately, by "Hurricane," a Janice Torre-Fred Spielman storm front that passes over in a few minutes, thankfully. Kirk belts as required. Interestingly, the anonymous chart uses a figure that is identical to one that would resurface in the James Bond theme a decade later.

"Catch Me If You Can" features Lisa being coy with a backing male quartet. "Do you wanna?" she asks. "Yes, we wanna!" they reply. And so on. She even asks them if they wanna see her etchings. (Addendum - frequent commenter Boursin informs me that the vocalists are the Ray Charles Singers and the band is none other than the Sauter-Finegan Orchestra!)

This nonsense is backed with one of her finest records, which fully shows what she could accomplish with the right material. It is the rueful Bernstein-Comden-Green ballad "O-HI-O" from Wonderful Town, then (1953) on Broadway. It's superior material, and Kirk is exceptional in it. 

"O-HI-O" is sung by the character Ruth in Wonderful Town, one of the roles most associated with Rosalind Russell. I can't help but speculate that Kirk would have been right for the role as well. As it was, she ended up dubbing most of Russell's songs in the movie version of Gypsy a decade later.

The exigencies of the commercial market meant that talented singers like Kirk were assigned the current pop songs and novelties in a search for a hit. It often was fruitless for both artist and label, although it is fun to revisit the pop tunes from mid-century, and it always is a pleasure to hear from Lisa Kirk.

The previous Kirk recordings came from my collection. Most of these present records have been remastered from the massive Internet Archive of 78s, with the addition of a few from my collection and a few other lossy originals. The latter sound good, although with some sacrifice of detail and warmth.

Kirk models the Playtex company's products for a 1949 ad

Lisa Kirk - 1950-53 RCA Victor Singles

At least once before on this blog, I've proclaimed my allegiance to Lisa Kirk and the cause of seeking more recognition for her as a singer. The Broadway artist whose superb renditions introduced "The Gentleman Is a Dope," "Always True to You in My Fashion" and "Why Can't You Behave" ought to be more recognized as a master of the craft.

A number of years I ago I devoted several posts to RCA Victor's "Show Time" Series of musical highlights, all of which contained Kirk contributions, and added several of her RCA singles to one of the collections. I've now done new transfers of all those six songs, and added 18 more to compose this collection of singles done for RCA from 1950 to 1953.

Before she became an RCA artist, Kirk came to public attention via her first Broadway appearance, in the 1947 Rodgers-Hammerstein show Allegro. In that show, she was the lovelorn nurse to the show's protagonist, Dr. Joe Taylor. Her version of "The Gentleman Is a Dope" is the high point of the cast album.

Lisa Kirk in Allegro. At the desk is John Battles as Joe Taylor.

The next year she was cast in the important role of Lois Lane in Cole Porter's Kiss Me, Kate, in which she introduced "Always True to You in My Fashion" and "Why Can't You Behave" (as well as "Tom, Dick or Harry").

After that, Kirk was less seen in Broadway and more on television and in nightclubs, although in 1963 she replaced Janis Paige as a lead in Meredith Willson's Here's Love and in 1974 had a featured role in Jerry Herman's Mack and Mabel.

She was relatively active in the studio for RCA from 1949-53, and today's offering presents two dozen of her single sides from that era. Please see my other blog for a bonus - her only single for the Columbia label, dating from 1956.

A few notes on the RCA performances follow. For the most part, her backings are anonymous, although the first six sides are credited to Henri René and the final two to Harry Geller.

We start off with a cover of "Confidentially," the theme song of the English comedian Reg Dixon, which she handles with her customary warmth. (Reg seems to have been inspired by the oldie "Ragtime Cowboy Joe," which had been revived in 1947.) The b-side is a Livingston-Evans song, "Copper Canyon." The label says the tune comes from the 1950 Ray Milland-Hedy Lamarr movie of the same name, but it's not clear from the IMDb entry the song was actually used in the film.

"Have You Ever Been Lonely" was a 1932 song that became a country hit for Ernest Tubb in 1949. On both this and the flip side, "You Missed the Boat," Kirk duets with Don Cornell, who had recently gone solo after much success with as a Sammy Kaye vocalist. His final hit with that band was 1949's "It Isn't Fair," which contains the unusual Kaye introduction, "To sing this beautiful song ... here is ... Don Cornell," as if they were on the bandstand.

Kirk's relaxed, behind-the-beat rendition of "Life Is So Peculiar" is one of the best items in the set, displaying some of the characteristics that made her so special. "Life" is a Burke-Van Heusen song written for Bing Crosby's film Mr. Music. (The flip, "I'm Gonna Hang Your Picture (in the Post Office)," is best left unacknowledged.)

Next we have an excellent version of the Fields-McHugh song "Don't Blame Me." Here, Kirk's approach may remind you of Jeri Southern, who actually did not record until the year after this song was recorded. The flip side, "I Feel a Song Comin' On," is good, too.

Kirk seemed to have a preference for Jimmy McHugh songs at the time. Our next single couples the Fields-McHugh oldie "I'm in the Mood for Love" with the Gaskill-McHugh standard "I Can't Believe That You're in Love with Me."

1951 Billboard ad

The next item is another McHugh composition (with lyricist Harold Adamson) "You're a Sweetheart," coupled with the Fields-McHugh "Exactly Like You."

Kirk then moved away from standards with a raucous take on "Charlie Is My Darling," a traditional Scottish song, and "Beautiful Brown Eyes," a Delmore Brothers country song from 1951 that was made into a pop hit by Rosemary Clooney. The bass voice on Kirk's record is uncredited.

Kirk had married songwriter Bob Wells ("The Christmas Song") in 1949, and recorded a number of his songs for RCA. The first in this collection is "Sad and Lonely," a dreary folk-style lament. The sort of thing became popular in the wake of the Weavers and their 1950 hit version of "Goodnight Irene." Much better is the backing, "Love Is the Reason," drawn from the 1951 Fields-Schwartz musical A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. Kirk sings it in canon with her own voice.

Next there are two duets with singer-songwriter Bob Haymes, sounding much more like the brother of Buddy Clark than Dick Haymes. The arrangement of "(I Wish We Were Sweethearts) Fifty Years Ago" shows the strong influence of the productions that Mitch Miller was directing for Columbia at the time. "Wait Till the Sun Shines Nellie Blues" is based on a turn of the century Harry Von Tilzer song.

"If Your Heart is Breaking (Like My Heart Is Breaking)" was a new, relatively attractive song from 1952 by Jack Fulton and Lois Steele. Its flip, "How Come You Do Me Like You Do," is a Gene Austin song dating back to 1924.

In the overwrought "Do Me a Favor," Kirk harmonizes with herself in the manner of Patti Page. The noisy b-side, "King Size Kisses," has a relatively early Hal David lyric.

Speaking of Hal David, Bob Wells's "Fly Bird (And Tell Him)" predates David asking a Kentucky bluebird to take a "Message to  Martha/Michael" by a almost a decade. The flip side is "All Man and All Mine," one of Kirk's lesser efforts.

The sound on these records, which are largely old store stock or radio station copies, is very good, save for one noisy 78.

Another in RCA's "Show Time" Series

The latest installment in our slow-motion examination of RCA's "Show Time" series from 1953 is notable for documenting that year's revival of Porgy and Bess - but I particularly enjoyed the songs from Girl Crazy on the other side of the record.

Leslie Scott

This recording presents Cab Calloway, Leslie Scott and Helen Thigpen from the Broadway Porgy. Calloway is Sportin' Life, as he was in the 1953 production. Scott is Porgy, and he was one of the Porgys on Broadway. Thigpen is Bess, although she was Serena in the stage play.

Helen Thigpen with William Warfield

Calloway is vivid in this role, but as usual remarkable in the wrong way. Scott is a vulnerable Porgy, lighter voiced than such singers as Paul Robeson or even William Warfield. Thigpen is a shrill Bess. Jay Blackton conducts here; the music director for the stage was Alexander Smallens.

The LP was in effect a Gershwin double-feature, with songs from Girl Crazy on the other side.

Edie Adams and Rosalind Russell

Edith (Edie) Adams, a talented singer-comic actor, is delightful in "Embraceable You," complete with verse. She was in Wonderful Town with Rosalind Russell at the time of this recording. Also terrific are two then luminaries of Broadway, whom we have seen before in this series. Lisa Kirk does "But Not for Me" and Helen Gallagher "I Got Rhythm". Their previous appearances in the RCA series can be found here. Milton Rosenstock conducts.

RCA didn't bother much with documentation on these records. There is no identification of who sings what. "Bidin' My Time" is sung by a completely anonymous male quartet to close out the record. It's strange that the company was so off hand about such a well-produced, enjoyable series that shows what great talent there was on Broadway at the time.

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