From the Back Room: the Early Sarah Vaughan, Vol. 3

This post completes the survey of Sarah Vaughan's earliest recordings, taking her career up to when she joined Columbia, her first major label. There were two previous volumes in this collection, which can be found here and here.

This set includes 17 recordings in all. Fifteen were made from November 1947 through the end of the year. That was when labels were in a frenzy to complete recording sessions before the Musicians Union strike began on New Year's Day 1948. We also have two more discs made during the strike. These were with a choir - permitted because vocalists were not union members.

A November 1947 Session with Ted Dale

Ted Dale

Vaughan had been working with arranger/bandleader Ted Dale (see Vol. 2) and that relationship was to continue during what must have been a marathon session on November 8 that produced nine masters. Dale  provided relatively lush settings that set off the vocalist's virtuosity, rather than treating her as a member of an ensemble, which had often been the case earlier in her recording career.

Leading off is "Love Me or Leave Me," a Walter Donaldson-Gus Kahn number that Ruth Etting had introduced in 1928's Whoopee. Clarinetist Sam Musiker is featured here.

Sarah's first recording had been "I'll Wait and Pray" back in 1945 with Billy Eckstine. Presumably she wanted a more polished version of the song, which had been written by George Treadwell (her husband) and Jerry Valentine. Dale provides the requisite polish, but the song hardly merited a reprise.

Two of the most standard of standards were next. First, there is an uptempo version of Cole Porter's "I Get a Kick Out of You," followed by an appropriately slow and plush reading of the Gershwins' "The Man I Love."

"I'm Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter" is not of that renown, but has been sporadically popular since Fats Waller recorded it in 1935. Fred Ahlert and Joe Young were the authors. This one has a small combo feel, albeit with a string selection along for the journey. Vaughan is particularly good here.

"The One I Love Belongs to Somebody Else" by Gus Kahn and Isham Jones is a high quality song that has maintained some popularity since its publication in 1924. The tempo is too fast here for Sarah's taste. I suspect that the marathon session had something to do with this.

Another song from the 1920s - this one by DeSylva, Brown and Henderson - is "Button Up Your Overcoat," which seems more to the vocalist's liking.

Bandleader-pianist Phil Moore came out with "I Feel So Smoochie" in 1947 - Vaughan's was among a number of cover versions. It's an annoying song (to me), but she seemed to like it. The arrangement is too cumbersome for the song, and the tempo is hectic.

Sarah was among the artists who recorded Dietz and Schwartz' "Blue Grass," one of the songs from Inside U.S.A., a 1948 Broadway revue. The melody is pleasing, but Dietz's lyrics are contrived, and the song wasn't a hit. Vaughan's reading was not issued at the time, even though her singing is one of the most impressive things in this set. 

(FYI - A post from several years ago discussed two Inside U.S.A. albums issued at the time of the production. One featured stars Jack Haley and Beatrice Lillie, the other Buddy Clark and Pearl Bailey, who were not in the production. "Haunted Heart" is the best number from the score.)

December 1947 Sessions

Dick Maltby

Musicraft decided it needed to pile up a few more masters before the strike began, so on December 27 it brought Vaughan into the studio with arranger Dick Maltby to cut two songs.

Those were the Cahn-Styne numbers "It's You or No One" and "It's Magic," written for Doris Day to sing in the film Romance on the High Seas. That musical didn't come out until summer 1948, so the song publishers were working well in advance to get their works recorded before the ban took effect. That way the recordings could be issued in the run-up to the film's opening.

Maltby does well on the arrangements, and Vaughan is in good form for these two notable songs.

Jimmy Jones

Two days after the Maltby session, Sarah was back at it, setting down four songs with a combo led by her accompanist, the talented pianist Jimmy Jones.

The song "What a Difference a Day Made" began life as Maria Grever's "Cuando vuelva a tu lado." Stanley Adams adapted it for the American market. The Vaughan-Jones version swings hard, welcome after the Dale and Maltby arrangements. 

Vaughan was the first to record Arnold Horwitt and Richard Lewine's "Gentleman Friend." A number of vocalists have take it up in succeeding years. Sarah is entirely engaged in the number, and Jones' pianism dovetails nicely with her singing.

Michael Edwards and Bud Green wrote "Once in a While" back in the 1930s. Tommy Dorsey made it a hit in 1937, and it's been popular ever since. This too goes well.

"How Am I to Know" by Jack King and Dorothy Parker comes from 1929. It isn't much of a melody and Vaughan's recording wasn't issued at the time. The double-time section doesn't help,

The 1948 Choral Session

Nat Cole had the foresight to record "Nature Boy" in late 1947, when he could employ Frank DeVol's orchestra as backing. When it became a hit for him during the musicians' strike in 1948, competing pop singers searched for choirs who could provide accompaniments for their cover versions. Vaughan came up with the Earle Rodgers Choir, who otherwise did not record, as far as I can tell, nor were they credited on the label. This turned out to be a polished version of Eden Ahbez's greatest hit.

Jimmy Dorsey wrote "I'm Glad There Is You" with Paul Madeira in 1941, recording it late that year, with a Dee Parker vocal. (Correction: musicman1979 points out the 1941 recording was with Bob Eberly. There was a 1946 remake wit Dee Parker.) 

Sarah sings the elaborate verse, which is not often heard, and then executes a remarkable segue into the chorus. It makes for a spectacular chose to her time with Musicraft.

Vaughan began recording with Columbia in January 1949.

Most of these transfers are from the original 78s, with a few from vintage LPs and bootlegs. Musicraft's sound was variable; I've done my best to clean up and clarify what you hear.

One note: you may notice that a few of the songs here are taken from M-G-M releases. These were Musicraft masters that M-G-M licensed for a time following the former label's 1949 bankruptcy. Later on, those masters were licensed for release on Allegro and Royale LPs.

LINK

From the Back Room: Anita Ellis in the 40s, Vol. 2

This is the second in a three-part series devoted to vocalist Anita Ellis' recordings in the 1940s. (The first installment is here.)

Today in this "From the Back Room" post, we have Anita's 10 sides for Mercury Records and her dubbing assignments for Rita Hayworth in Gilda and for Vera-Ellen in Three Little Words, plus one item with Eddy Duchin. There are 21 cuts altogether.

Ellis had become popular on the radio and via AFRS recordings by the time these songs were recorded. She was already a polished artist when her first commercial disc was made.

Mercury Recordings

I have found 10 recordings that Ellis made for Mercury in 1946 and 1947. Most of these dates were conducted by Harry Geller, a former big band trumpeter who later led his own ensemble and worked in films.

Harry Geller

Anita's first number is "Either It's Love or It Isn't," a Doris Fisher-Allan Roberts song used in the Bogie noir Dead Reckoning. There it was mouthed by Lizabeth Scott, dubbed by Trudy Richards - interesting because Scott later came out with an LP of her own. It's a good tune, little remembered these days.

Like its discmate above, "The Old Lamplighter" was recorded by any number of artists at the time. Several artists did well with the Charles Tobias-Nat Simon song, Ellis not among them, although her version is entirely sympathetic. The Browns had a big hit with the number in 1960.

The Romanian composer Iosif Ivanovici wrote "Waves of the Danube" in 1880, and Al Jolson and Saul Chaplin adapted it into "The Anniversary Song" for The Jolson Story in 1946. Anita's version is heartfelt.

Johnny Green and Yip Harburg wrote the semi-standard "I'm Yours" in 1930. Ellis and Geller revived it as the flip side of "The Anniversary Song."

Burke and Van Heusen wrote "As Long as I'm Dreaming" for Bing to warble in 1947's Welcome Stranger. A nice song that's no longer heard in a sincere reading and an overly complex arrangement from Geller. The flip is another current song, "Ask Anyone Who Knows." I believe the hit was by the Ink Spots.

Eddie Kassen and Desmond O'Connor wrote "How Lucky You Are" in 1947. Now forgotten, this lovely postwar song is done well by Ellis. Several other artists recorded it back then. The flip side was a revival of "They Can't Take that Away from Me," which the Gershwins penned for Fred Astaire 10 years earlier. Dick Maltby's arrangements for this coupling are just as fussy as some of Geller's. Anita's warmth shines through, though.

Erich Wolfgang Korngold wrote the excellent song "Love for Love" for the film Escape Me Never, with lyrics by Aldo Franchetti and Ted Koehler. Peg La Centra dubbed Ida Lupino in the film.

"Golden Earrings" is from the film of the same name; music by Victor Young, words by Livingston and Evans. The biggest hit version was by Peggy Lee, but Anita's is a worthy contender.

Dubbing Hayworth

Rita Hayworth as Gilda

It may not be apparent in her earlier work, but one of Ellis' most enduring characteristics was her ability to sound sultry. This made her a perfect match for Rita Hayworth in the latter's defining role as Gilda, a very dark film noir with a happy ending. (Don't tell anyone I told you.)

Allan Roberts and Doris Fisher wrote two fine songs for the film - "Amado Mio" and, most famously, "Put the Blame on Mame." Anita's vocal performances are justly almost as famous as Hayworth's visuals. The singer's recordings of the two numbers for Standard Transcriptions will appear in Vol. 3 of this series.

One with Eddie Duchin

The US Navy sponsored The Eddy Duchin Show, a public service program sent out to radio stations on transcription discs. We have one song from this series that featured Duchin, a popular pianist - "What Is This Thing Called Love." It's a Cole Porter song from 1929 that Ellis does in her best alluring Gilda manner. I've also included the spoken intro - contrived, as those things usually were. The song, however, is one of the best things in this set.

Three Little Words

Three Little Words lobby card

When M-G-M put their biopic of songwriters Bert Kalmar and Harry Ruby into production in 1949, the producers engaged Ellis to dub Vera-Ellen, who was playing Jessie Brown Kalmar, partner and wife of Fred Astaire's Bert.

Anita had three songs. The first was the charming duet with Astaire, "Where Did You Get That Girl?" This is presented in two versions - the first as heard on the soundtrack, the second as presented on a single. The former has a more extended instrumental close; the latter has an extra vocal chorus, which I believe may be a clone of the first chorus. Note that Ellis received label credit for her singing, unusual at the time.

Next, Anita has a solo with "Come On, Papa," adopting a thick quasi-French accent.

"Nevertheless (I'm in Love with You)" one of the most enduring Kalmar-Ruby songs, is an Astaire-Ellis duet. Again, this is presented in two versions, the first from the soundtrack, the second with a additional (cloned) chorus at the end, as it appeared on the Three Little Words LP.

Finally, the song that turned me into an Anita Ellis fan several decades ago - her version of "Thinking of You," a matchless combination of warmth, tenderness and just fine singing. One again, two versions: from the single, which clones an earlier phrase at its conclusion, and the soundtrack, which continues with Latin dance music for another 30 seconds or so.

The music director and conductor on the film was the 20-year-old André Previn. The listed orchestrator was Leo Arnaud, assisted by the uncredited Robert Franklyn, Wally Heglin and Conrad Salinger.

The third and final volume of Anita Ellis' 1940s recordings will include 24 songs recorded for Standard Transcriptions.

LINK to Anita Ellis in the 1940s, Vol. 2 

More from the Spencer-Hagen Orchestra

Herbert Spencer and Earle Hagen

Back in 2018, I devoted a post to the Spencer-Hagen Orchestra, a lush orchestral outfit started by two veterans of the Hollywood studios - Herbert W. Spencer and Earle Hagen.

That item presented the group's first LP, made for the "X" label in 1955. Today we'll follow with the balance of Spencer-Hagen's output for that subsidiary of RCA Victor, except for a few songs that I couldn't locate. The collection includes their second LP, Recipes for Romance, along with an LP they shared with fellow arranger Richard Maltby, and one single.

Spencer and Hagen, who were masters of their craft, both had long careers in film and later television. They worked together throughout the 1950s. Spencer was mostly known as an orchestral arranger, Hagen as a composer. The latter's greatest fame was yet to come, via theme songs for such television programs as the Andy Griffith and Dick Van Dyke shows.

Andy Griffith and Earle Hagen

Recipes for Romance

Spencer-Hagen's second LP, Recipes for Romance, was apparently intended to capture the swinging bachelor market. It supplied both the romantic mood music, and on the back cover recipies for 12 cocktails. Putting the record on the turntable and then suavely checking the back cover for drink ingredients was apparently meant to be the royal road to romance. (Despite all the mixed drink recipies, the cover suggests wine instead, which might have been less clumsy.)

The back cover scan is in the download for those of you who might want to mix up such fare as a "Cuba Libre." The notes describe the music as follows: "To the exotic rhythm, a full measure of sensuous melody, and pour over warm starlit night." (Seems to be missing a verb, likely "add.")

The young Herbert Spencer

Spencer and Hagen shared composing credit for all these numbers, although its tempting to speculate the Hagen did most of the themes and Spencer most of the orchestrations. Whoever did what, this is high quality light music, written primarily for strings, harp and woodwind, with a few brass players as featured soloists. The first number, "Pink Lady," is a gorgeous pastoral melody, for example.

"Silver Fizz" is a contrasting item, the kind of thing that would underscore a breathless travelogue montage. It adds french horns to the mix. And, as you might have guessed, "Cuba Libre" has a Latin beat, with a trombone carrying the first theme.

So it goes throughout this strikingly well-recorded LP, which I've mastered in ambient stereo.

LINK to Recipes for Romance

"Angel Bells" / "Black Sapphire" Single

Two other Spencer-Hagen compositions appeared on a 1954 single - "Angel Bells and "Black Sapphire." These are compatible with the numbers on Recipies for Romance, so I've included them as bonuses items in that LP's file linked above.

The orchestra also released a few other singles that didn't otherwise appear on LP. One disc coupled "I Met You Once Before," a selection I haven't been able to locate, and "Vera Cruz," which appears on the album below. Another single that has eluded me is "Gentlemen Marry Brunettes" and "John and Julie."

Musical Highlights from Damn Yankees / Love Themes from the Cinema

The second album, Musical Highlights from Damn Yankees / Love Themes from the Cinema, is actually the LP version of separate EPs issued by Richard Maltby and by Spencer-Hagen.

EP covers

Damn Yankees was the second Richard Adler-Jerry Ross musical to achieve Broadway success, following The Pajama Game. (See here for a discussion of their brief career together. The post has a newly remastered cover LP containing some of the best songs from their shows.)

Richard Maltby

Maltby was a fine arranger, but the EP format led him to present abbreviated versions of two big hits from Damn Yankees - "Heart" and "Shoeless Joe from Hannibal Mo." The musical's biggest hit - "Whatever Lola Wants" - does merit a full-length treatment.

The Spencer-Hagen EP included mainly unfamiliar fare, although not unworthy. The best-known theme is probably "Not as a Stranger" - best known to me, anyway, because Frank Sinatra, who appeared in the film, issued the Jimmy Van Heusen-Buddy Kaye song as a single with the usual stellar backing by Nelson Riddle.

The other numbers are good, too - "Tight Spot," "Lucy Gallant" and "The Seven Little Foys."

When the LP was being assembled, the producers added a song to the selections derived from the Spencer-Hagen EP: "Vera Cruz," which, unusually for the group, includes an accomplished although unidentified vocal group. As noted above, "Vera Cruz" was originally issued on a single.

Spencer and Hagen would go on to make one other LP, for the Liberty label, which also engaged them to back vocal LPs by the Four Grads, Lincoln Chase and Jeff Chandler, better known as an actor. The records above come from my collection, except for the single, which is courtesy of Internet Archive.

LINK to Damn Yankees / Love Themes from the Cinema

The Merriest Time

My friend and fellow blogger Ernie asked me a few days ago what I was planning to share this holiday season, and I mentioned this EP, and asked him if he had ever heard it.

Turns out he shared it last year on his blog. And I commented on it, giving him some background on the Honey Dreamers vocal group.

Well now. I guess the old memory isn't what it used to be.

This EP dates from my prime, 1958, when I was nine and ready to conquer the world, or at least the world's record stores. (Still working on that. It's unclear whether the stores or me will be the survivor.)

The Merriest Time! comes to us courtesy of the SESAC performing rights company - and they really were courtesy recordings, sent to radio stations as promotional items. Three of the items feature the skillful post-big band sounds of Richard Maltby, one with the Honey Dreamers, and the other the similar music of Skitch Henderson. The songs are unfamiliar except for Waldteufel's "Skater's Waltz," here called "Skater's Holiday."