Dorothy Collins and Raymond Scott

Two of this blog's most popular posts were devoted to records by singer Dorothy Collins and proto-space age pop maestro Raymond Scott.

This entry ought to outdo them all, because it brings them together for "At Home With Dorothy and Raymond" (they were husband and wife). Coral Records helpfully labels them on the cover so there is no mistaking who is who.

Collins is similar to Peggy King in some ways - a skillful singer who appeared on a low-brow American television program (in Dorothy's case, it was Your Hit Parade), and today has a smaller reputation than her talents deserve. Collins in fact is more remembered for her 1971 appearance in Sondheim's Follies than she is for her 1950s recordings. A shame, because the early material is very fine.

Dorothy warbles; Raymond twiddles

Well, much of it anyway. In truth, Raymond Scott was perhaps not the ideal arranger for any singer. His tricky, idiosyncratic charts do nothing to set off the voice, which is here in a decidedly secondary role. Although top-billed, Collins only appears on half the numbers. The others are devoted to Scott's characteristic compositions, which are not markedly different from what he was producing in the 1930s. I enjoy listening to them, but a little goes a long way, and none of these items are as memorable as Powerhouse or his best-known works.

But I do like Dorothy, and will have to present more of her - these five songs just aren't enough.

This is presented by request. The sound is excellent.

Raymond Scott

Raymond Scott enjoys quite a reputation these days among certain cognoscenti, and why? Mostly because some of his tunes were used repeatedly in classic Warner Bros. cartoons.

Perhaps that's a little unfair to the bandleader, whose original arrangements on this record are quite witty and enjoyable. But it contains a kernel of truth.

This 1949 release was the first LP devoted to Scott. It contains the records that brought him latter day fame - In an Eighteenth Century Drawing Room, the Toy Trumpet, and especially Powerhouse. I'm tempted to say it's all anyone would need of Scott, but I am sure many people would argue that in his later recordings he was an innovator, iconoclast, etc. And maybe that's true. But to them I riposte by presenting the Society National March, a promotional recording he made for a Cleveland bank in 1960, which I have appended as a bonus of sorts. I love it - but it's about as far away from musical innovation as you can get. The cover is below.