Bob Manning - The Complete Capitol Singles

The sonorous baritone Bob Manning has been heard several times on this blog, most recently with a post of his sole Capitol LP, the excellent Lonely Spell. For today's offering, I've assembled his complete Capitol singles, 32 sides in all dating from 1952-55.

Although there are some standards mixed into the group, for the most part Manning was dependent on the songwriters of the day for material. And while Capitol did provide songs from some of the better-known composers of the day, some of the material is mundane. There is much to be enjoyed, however.

Manning's first Capitol release - and his biggest hit - was a standard, "The Nearness of You." The singer actually produced this recording himself, probably in 1952, and brought it to Capitol, seeking a contract. It worked, and he was on his way to the most productive part of his career.

"The Nearness of You" was coupled with "Gypsy Girl," from the young tandem of Jerry Ross and Richard Adler, who would have two huge hits on Broadway just a few years later - The Pajama Game and Damn Yankees. Leading the orchestra was Monty Kelly, who also conducted Lonely Spell and several of the records below.

In January 1953, Manning was in a New York City studio with Sid Feller for a Capitol date that produced "The Sun Is Getting Ready to Shine," a giddy, galloping piece from Adler and Ross. More to my taste - and better suited to Manning's style - was "You Can Live with a Broken Heart."

In May, the team of Manning and Feller (who also was a Capitol A&R man) again collaborated for two songs. The better known is "It's All Right with Me," from Cole Porter's score for Can-Can, then on Broadway. "All I Desire" came from the Douglas Sirk Hollywood melodrama of the same name.

By July 1953, Manning had become Cash Box's most impressive new artist

For an August date, Capitol again paired standards with lesser-known songs. Rodgers and Hart's "It's Easy to Remember" was packaged with the Bernie Wayne-Hy Gilbert "I Feel So Mmmm," which was as unappealing as the title sounds. Ray Noble's wonderful "The Very Thought of You" was backed by the earnestly ridiculous "Venus Di Milo." ("Where are the arms and heart of you?", Manning pleads.) Monty Kelly was back in charge of the orchestra.

Capitol unaccountably gave a big push to "Venus Di Milo" - see the Cash Box cover below.

Click to enlarge

The final session of 1953, in late November, was with a small group featuring trumpeter Bobby Hackett. Capitol had enjoyed great success with Hackett providing obbligatos for soupy instrumental LPs issued under the name of comedian Jackie Gleason. This session, however, produced only one issued number, the oldie "You Made Me Love You (I Didn't Want to Do It)," which is associated with both Al Jolson and Judy Garland. Manning and Hackett do OK by the song, although the singer was not a belter in the style of Jolie or Judy, and Hackett for once is too intrusive.

From Capitol's Music Views magazine

For Manning's next Capitol session, in early January 1954, the label matched him with the excellent Nelson Riddle for four songs. First was Gordon Jenkins' lovely but tragic "Good-bye," which was backed by the silly "That's a-Me and My Love."

That same session produced a coupling of "Why Didn't You Tell Me" and "I Wasn't There with You," two little-known but worthwhile songs. Both are beautifully done, with superior arrangements. Manning of course excelled with this romantic material.

An uncredited George Siravo led the band for an August 1954 date that yielded the sing-songy "I'm a Fool for You" along with a coupling of "Just for Laughs" and "The Other Side of the Story." "Just for Laughs" is a standard by the talented Bennie Benjamin and George Weiss. "The Other Side of the Story" (and record) was written by clarinetist Joe Marsala, whose biggest songwriting hit was "Don't Cry Joe" a few years before. It's not a bad number, and Manning is sympathetic.

Billboard ad, December 1954

Manning's next session, in December 1954, yielded perhaps his most unusual record. The song is question was used a plot device for a "Honeymooners" sketch from Jackie Gleason's television show. In the episode, the bus driver Ralph Kramden (Gleason) and sewer worker Ed Norton (Art Carney) try to get rich by writing a popular song inspired by the noises of their tenement (shades of "Tenement Symphony"). The music and lyrics for the resulting number, "My Love Song to You," were supplied by Roy Alfred and Al Frisch, with the vocals by Manning.

Ironically, the plot has the publisher throwing out Kramden's lyrics in favor of a professional's work - but the sheet music shows Gleason on the cover in his bus driver's outfit.

For the flip side, Capitol chose a revival of Roy Turk and Charles Tobias' 1928 hit "After My Laughter Came Tears."

A few days later, Manning was back in the studio with Monty Kelly for a date that produced four numbers. "The Mission San Michel" is one of those songs where the singer, accompanied by a heavenly choir, prays for someone to love, who then miraculously appears. The whole scenario seems vaguely blasphemous (not to mention ridiculous), but Manning's sincerity wins out. Its coupling, "You Are There," is a not unpleasant but completely conventional ballad.

Monty Kelly not only backed Bob Manning on his recording of "Majorca," he did an instrumental version for Essex

Manning and Kelly do great justice to the European hit "Majorca (Isle of Love)," an attractive song that was a hit for the young Petula Clark. The coupling was the equally attractive "It's Your Life" from the prolific Charles Tobias, working with Nat Simon.

For the balance of his Capitol stay, Manning recorded only newer songs for single release. He was distinctly better at standards, but they were confined to his Lonely Spell LP. He and Sid Feller recorded four of those newer songs in April 1955. First, the inoffensive "This Is No Laughing Matter" was backed with "What a Wonderful Way to Die," by the amazingly prolific and inconsistent Bob Merrill. This is one of his cruder compositions.

"This Is All Very New to Me" at least had the pedigree of being from a Broadway hit, Plain and Fancy, the Albert Hague-Arnold Horwitt musical that ran for more than a year. Its coupling is "Whose Heart Are You Breaking Now?" by Teddy Powell writing under the name Freddy James.

Cash Box still considered Manning a future star in mid-1955

Most of Manning's remaining Capitol sessions were devoted to his LP. An August 1955 date with Monty Kelly did yield a single coupling of "I Better Be Careful" and "Honestly," both by the interesting team of Charles Singleton and Rose Marie McCoy. The duo started out writing R&B songs, then veered into pop territory. Singleton's biggest successes came later in writing lyrics for two Bert Kaempfert instrumentals that were turned into the huge 1960s hits, "Strangers in the Night" and "Spanish Eyes." Manning had no such luck with his tunes.

The singer's final assignment with Capitol was devoted to "Beggar or King," by the highly successful duo of Sid Tepper and Roy Bennett, and "The Day We Fell in Love," by the eminent Jerry Bock working with his first collaborator, Larry Holofcener. They aren't bad songs, but not as successful as Tepper's "Red Roses for a Blue Lady" or Bock's "Matchmaker, Matchmaker."

This last coupling came from a October 1955 date that the Capitol sessionography lists as being directed by Monty Kelly and the label insists was led by Earl Sheldon. My guess is that Kelly wrote the arrangements.

Manning then was to move on to RCA Victor, while his producer Sid Feller switched to ABC-Paramount. Feller subsequently produced and arranged for Ray Charles for 30 years.

Sid Feller with Ray Charles

Let me thank Nigel Burlinson for once again supplying discographical information, which makes endeavors such as this possible. The records themselves came from my collection and Internet Archive transfers. The sound is generally excellent.

If there are any Manning completists out there other than me, let me mention that Capitol's 1990s "Great Ladies and Gentlemen of Song" release devoted to the singer includes two previously unissued songs that aren't covered here.

I am preparing another post covering Manning's earliest recordings, dating from 1947-50.

Bob Manning - Lonely Spell

Big-voiced baritone Bob Manning (1926-1997) sang with an abundance of warmth, so much that Capitol's publicity machine touted his "black velvet and stardust" voice. That's not far off, either.

I will be offering two posts devoted to Manning's 1947-55 singles, but first I thought I would present the high point of his career. It's his only Capitol LP, Lonely Spell, recorded in 1955.

Bob Manning listening to a playback

As with most singers of this era, Manning started off as a band vocalist. In one of my later posts, I'll  share his recordings with Ziggy Elman, Buddy Williams and Art Mooney. Unlike many other vocalists, however, Manning was virtually a finished product when he started. His first records (with Elman) are excellent - smooth, sensitive and secure.

As soon as he started recorded, Manning became known for being a virtual vocal clone of Dick Haymes. He even adopted Haymes' mannerisms seamlessly into his performances. But he soon moved on, while retaining the warmth and security of his idol.

Manning hit his stride when he joined Capitol in early 1953. As was the case with most vocalists of the time, his singles were devoted to novelty material and ephemeral pop songs, along with a few standards. So, for example, one of his early Capitol records was titled "Venus Di Milo," where he is made to plead, "Where are the arms and heart of you?" One issue may have been that he wasn't being offered the best new songs for those singles - after all, Capitol had Frank Sinatra, Nat Cole, Dean Martin and Gordon MacRae among its male singers. And even those luminaries recorded some dismal material.

With Lonely Spell, Manning was given high quality songs to work with, and he handled them very well. The title and cover set the tone for the album, which starts off with "Alone Together." This apparently was the original title tune for what was planned to be a concept album about love and loss. And indeed those are still the themes of the songs that he ended up recording.

But despite the title Lonely Spell, none of the first three tunes explore loneliness - "Alone Together," "You Call It Madness (But I Call It Love)" (Russ Columbo's signature song) and "I Hadn't Anyone Till You" (one of Ray Noble's best compositions) all are love songs dating from the 1930s.

The next three are about lost love, however. "When Your Lover Has Gone" is another '30s item that Sinatra included on his own moody LP, In the Wee Small Hours, which was recorded earlier in 1955. (Manning holds up to the comparison.) The two final songs on Lonely Spell's first side are the excellent "I'm Thru with Love" and "You've Changed."

The second side again brings songs that are heartfelt, but again not necessarily "lonely." It starts with my favorite of all the selections, "Time Was," by the Mexican songwriter Miguel Prado with English words by S. K. Russell. (This beautiful song will be the subject of an upcoming post.)

The next two selections are lovelorn laments: "My Ideal," another exceptionally beautiful ballad, and "I Had the Craziest Dream." The balance of the LP is composed of love songs: "These Foolish Things," Victor Young's gorgeous "Love Letters," and another song that Sinatra recorded to great effect, Gordon Jenkins' "P.S. I Love You," with its evocative and slightly mysterious Johnny Mercer lyrics. (Where did the singer's spouse go and why?) Fittingly, the song and LP close with a ravishing tenor sax coda, which I believe is the work of Ted Nash.

Monty Kelly

Throughout, the lush backings are by Monty Kelly (1910-71), who later released instrumental LPs on the Carlton, Essex and Somerset labels, and did arrangements for vocalists Al Martino and Anita Bryant.

Lonely Spell was both the culmination and the virtual completion of Manning's Capitol career. After one more single, he left the label for a brief stay at RCA Victor. Later, he remade his signature tune, "The Nearness of You," for M-G-M, recorded an LP of wedding songs for Everest and did a few other things. The RCA recordings and "Nearness of You" remake can be found here. The original "Nearness of You" will be in the Capitol singles post.

Capitol unexpectedly (to me) included Manning in its '90s reissue series of "Great Ladies and Gentlemen of Song." That release included most of Lonely Spell and several other items. The complete Lonely Spell has not been reissued, except for a 2005 Japanese CD. This transfer comes from my own LP, which has excellent sound.