The Songs of 'State Fair'

The poster above is from the 1945 film State Fair, a charming film with six good songs by Rodgers and Hammerstein in the Americana mode that for them started with the blockbuster stage musical Oklahoma!

My intent was to collect some of the commercial recordings of songs from the 1945 film. Then I remembered that Richard Rodgers had written both words and music for several new songs for a 1962 remake. This in turn led me to the 1996 stage musical, which had its own additions from the Rodgers & Hammerstein back catalogue. And that production had been a reworking of a 1969 staging, which featured different R&H additions.

Eventually I ended up with 26 selections, which can be categorized as follows:

• The songs from the 1945 film: eight selections, including one song cut from the film and one alternate take. The title song also is included, albeit in a 1962 recording.

• The new songs for the 1962 film: four songs by Rodgers.

• The R&H catalog songs added to the 1969 stage musical, in their original versions.

• The seven catalog songs inserted into the 1996 Broadway musical, in their original versions, plus one song that was a reworking of another song cut from an R&H musical.

All this will become clear, or at least clearer, as we proceed. First some background.

The Story of State Fair

Ground zero for all these musicals - and a 1976 non-musical television adaptation - was Phil Stong's 1932 novel with the same name, which related the story of an Iowa farm family named Frake - father Abel, mother Melissa and teen offspring Margy and Wayne - and their trip to the State Fair. Romance for the youngsters and blue ribbons for Ma and Pa ensued.

Hollywood immediately picked up on the story. The following year, a non-musical film starring Will Rogers, Louise Dresser, Norman Foster and Janet Gaynor showed up in the nation's film emporia. You'll notice Lew Ayes snuggling with Janet Gaynor above. He's one of the love interests. Not sure who the other figure is. It can't be Louise Dresser, so it must be Sally Eilers, whose slinky attire apparently was designed to allure Wayne.

Songs from the 1945 Film

State Fair was the only musical that R&H composed directly for the screen. Although it is set at the fair, the story is really about two restless young people who are dreaming of a world beyond the farm. Ma and Pa provide comic relief - Abel with his giant hog; Melissa with her mincemeat pies.

"It Might as Well Be Spring"

The "dreaming" theme is quickly established by the most famous song from the score - "It Might as Well Be Spring," which Margy (Jeanne Crain, dubbed by Louanne Hogan) sings from an open window:

I keep wishing I were somewhere else / Walking down a brand new street

Hearing words that I have never heard / From a man I've yet to meet

This longing for something new was common in the times, and was a theme in American literature at least as far back as Eugene O'Neill's 1918 play Beyond the Horizon. In films it had shown up in The Wizard of Oz ("Over the Rainbow'). Later it would become integral to Aaron Copland's opera The Tender Land.

There were surprisingly few commercial recordings of the State Fair songs at the time. The most notable set was an album with five songs by Dick Haymes, who took the role of Wayne Frake. This collection includes three of those - "It Might as Well Be Spring," "All I Owe Ioway" and "It's a Grand Night for Singing." In the film, he features only in the latter, in ensemble.

Vivian Blaine and Dick Haymes

Oddly, Dick did not record his main song in the film - "Isn't It Kinda Fun?", a duet with Vivian Blaine, who played his prospective love interest, band singer Emily Edwards. So I've added an aircheck from his radio show, where his partner is Helen Forrest, along with a solo version that's an outtake from the film, I believe.

Haymes is wonderful, of course - his voice is evenly produced in a resonant baritone, with remarkably accurate pitch.

I've also included a few commercial recordings of interest. Margaret Whiting did a fine version of "It Might as Well Be Spring" with Paul Weston. This was one of Maggie's first recordings - Weston was top billed - and in truth his arrangement is beautiful.

Some jazz artists adopted the ballad as well. Stan Getz recorded it at least twice. He's here in a 1951 recording with the young Horace Silver on piano.

"That's for Me" also attracted a few record companies. This collection includes a version by Jo Stafford from 1945 that is too cool-toned for this enthusiastic number. Artie Shaw also recorded it with a vocal by the warm-voiced Hal Derwin (called "Hal Stevens" on the label).

One song was cut from the film - "We Will Be Together," presented by Vivian Blaine and the band's male singer, played by Wayne Marshall. He was Haymes' rival for Vivian's attention. This song is included as well.

Songs from the 1962 Film

By the time the 1962 remake of State Fair went into production, Oscar Hammerstein had died, so Rodgers decided to write the lyrics for several new songs himself, as he was to do for the Broadway show No Strings, which opened that same year,

While the results are not bad, they are not at the level of the 1945 songs, so none of them became popular. To represent the show I've included the soundtrack versions, which are as follows:

• "Never Say No to a Man": questionable motherly advice from Ma (Alice Faye, who came out of retirement) to Margy (Pamela Tiffin).

Alice Faye and Pamela Tiffin

• "Willing and Eager": a duet for Wayne (Pat Boone) and love interest Emily (Ann-Margret), who is a dancer rather than singer in this version. Pat is very good; Ann-Margret was more dancer than singer, but she's effective here.

Pat Boone and Ann-Margret

• "This Isn't Heaven": Bobby Darin sings this to Pamela Tiffin. A good song, which Bobby does well, but neither he nor Pamela could act.

Bobby Darin and Pamela Tiffin

• "The Little Things in Texas": Tom Ewell (Abel) and Alice Faye do this one. I should have mentioned that this version of the saga moves the locale from Iowa to Texas.

Rodgers actually wrote five songs for the 1962 film. But I pigheadedly left out Abel Frake's love song to his hog Blue Boy.

Tom Ewell and Blue Boy

Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops did record a 1962 album with songs from both State Fair and No Strings that included instrumental versions of "This Isn't Heaven" and "Willing and Eager." To represent the LP, I've included their instrumental version of the opening song "Our State Fair" as a sort of overture to the entire proceedings. Rodgers wrote this as a march, and arranger Richard Hayman leans into it, making it quasi-Sousa.

The 1962 film was not a success. Here are a few excerpts from Bosley Crowther's New York Times review:

Twentieth Century-Fox' remake of minor bucolic tribulations ... is a basically obvious and, for the most part, dull fare. This "Fair" is at best, only fair. For all its good intentions, it seems to be a parody of moviemaking of the past...

One has the feeling that the songs are being sung on cue and not because the drama inherent in the scene demanded a song.

The 1969 Stage Musical

Harriet and Ozzie Nelson

State Fair was unusual in that it was a musical film that became a stage musical. The first attempt to do so was in 1969 in St. Louis. Pa and Ma were Ozzie and Harriet Nelson, longtime TV stars who had been musicians in a prior life. The production had pedigree: Oscar Hammerstein's son James was the director and Rodgers himself supervised the show.

This production added three songs from one of R&H's "smaller" shows, 1953's Me and Juliet, which was a backstage story that included a show within a show (also called Me and Juliet). It was hard to stage and confusing, so it has seldom been revived. It did boast several excellent songs, as always with R&H.

Isabel Bigley and Joan McCracken

To represent the 1969 State Fair, I've included the versions of these songs from the Me and Juliet cast album. I don't know how they were used in the 1969 production.

• "It's Me" - sung by female lead Isabel Bigley and Joan McCracken

• "Keep It Gay" - done by the male heavy, Mark Dawson

• "Marriage Type Love" - sung by Arthur Maxwell, the "me" of Me and Juliet, the show-within-a-show

The 1969 score also included a new song, "Away from Home." I know nothing else about it. (Addendum - reader John S. and Alan Gomberg send the following information: In the St. Louis Post-Dispatch review of the Muny production, it was stated that the lyric for 'Away from Home' was by Lucille Kallen. She adapted the screenplay for the stage and was credited for that in the program. She was not credited with the lyric. It is not known whether the song, with music by Rodgers, was wholly new or was perhaps a trunk song for which Kallen provided new lyrics to existing Rodgers music.

The 1996 Stage Musical

State Fair made it to Broadway in 1996, in a new production also co-directed by James Hammerstein. Abel and Melissa were John Davidson and Kathryn Crosby. Margy and Wayne were Andrea McArdle and Ben Wright. Donna McKechnie was Emily and Scott Wise was Pat, the new Margy love interest.

John Davidson, Ben Wright, Kathyn Crosby, Andrea McArdle

The show included eight new songs, all of which were taken from other R&H shows, or were cut or adapted from them. I've included the original versions when available and the 1996 recordings when not.

These are as follows:

• "Driving at Night" - adapted by James Hammerstein and orchestrator Bruce Pomahac from an outtake from the 1947 R&H musical Allegro, "Two Short Years." This ensemble number is taken from the 1996 cast album.

• "You Never Had It So Good" - cut from Me and Juliet and done here by Donna McKechnie and Scott Wise.

• "When I Go Out Walking with My Baby" - cut from Oklahoma! and sung here by John Davidson and Kathryn Crosby.

John Battles and Gloria Wills

• "So Far" - from 1947's story-of-a life Allegro, with Gloria Wills from its original cast.

• "The Man I Used to Be" - from Pipe Dream, a 1955 sequel to Cannery Row written by John Steinbeck with music by R&H, here sung by William Johnson of its original cast as lead character Doc.

• "That's the Way It Happens" - from Me and Juliet, sung by Isabel Bigley.

• "Boys and Girls Like You and Me" - this song had the misfortune of being cut from three productions - Oklahoma! and two more not otherwise by R&H, the films Meet Me in St. Louis and Take Me Out to the Ball Game. Judy Garland made a commercial recording of the song, but here we have Frank Sinatra's outtake from the baseball musical. It's a beautiful piece, although the verse is a fine example of Hammerstein poesy.

William Johnson and Judy Tyler

• "The Next Time It Happens" - from Pipe Dream, here sung by Judy Tyler of its original cast.

The 1996 production carried over two songs from the 1962 film, "More than Just a Friend" and "Willing and Eager."

In the New York Times, Vincent Canby summarized both the appeal of the score and the failure of the Broadway production (it lasted four months):

State Fair still clings today, in large part because of the lilting score that includes such songs as "It Might as Well Be Spring," "That's for Me" and "Our State Fair." Be warned, however: If you allow any one of the melodies to penetrate your consciousness, you put yourself at risk. It will buzz around in the mind forever, or until a deep doze sets you free...

Here's a faithful, utterly mechanical stage replica of a work that, while it was never exactly top-drawer, was typical of the kind of miracles Rodgers and Hammerstein could pull off when in good form...

There's nothing wrong with the good old family values that State Fair is still promoting, except they're now being promoted with less theatrical guile than brazen push.

The first production was sincere; a valentine to a rural America that was changing. Adapting that to later times proved challenging. But the music endures.

LINK

Rodgers and Hart's 'By Jupiter' Reconsidered

The final full-length collaboration of Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart was their longest-running Broadway success, yet very few recordings were made of its songs at the time - none by the cast - and almost no trace remains of the musical itself, save for a few numbers that are still heard today.

The show was 1942's By Jupiter, the pair's second foray into the land of the ancient Greeks (The Boys from Syracuse was its predecessor). The musical does not deserve its obscurity, as I hope this post will demonstrate via the few contemporary recordings that were produced and a 1967 LP derived from an off-Broadway revival.

Thanks to the ever-imaginative Dave Federman for suggesting this post to me. Like me, he is a great admirer of Larry Hart - and Dick Rodgers, of course.

The Story

Ray Bolger and Benay Venuta - he gave her plenty of nothin'

Hart's book for the show was based on Julian Thompson's 1924 Broadway play The Warrior's Husband. The title couple are Hippolyta, queen of the warrior Amazons, and her stay-at-home husband Sapiens - played in the original production by Benay Venuta and Ray Bolger.

Ronald Graham and Nanette Fabray

The other couple is Theseus, a leader of the Greek soldiers who have arrived on the scene, and Antiope, head of the Amazon warriors. In the first production, these were Ronald Graham and Constance Moore (later replaced by Nanette Fabray, as in the photo and in poster at top).

This is a simplistic description, but it's enough to get our bearings.

The 1967 Cast Recording

The most complete account of the score can be found in the cast recording of the 1967 off-Broadway revival, which ran for four months. In this production, Bob Dishy was Sapiens and Jackie Alloway was Hippolyta. Theseus and Antiope were played by Robert R. Kaye and Sheila Sullivan.

Critic Paul Kresh of HiFi-Stereo Review offered this critique: "Although Bob Dishy cannot hope to compete with the original performance by Ray Bolger in the 1940's as Sapiens, Hippolyta's non-hero husband, he is certainly winning enough. In addition, Jackie Alloway as Hippolyta, Sheila Sullivan as Antiope, and Robert R. Kaye as Theseus all have lovable ways and forthright, pleasant voices."

Bob Dishy, Jackie Alloway
Sheila Sullivan, Robert R. Kaye

The production - or at least this recording - utilized bare-bones orchestrations, presumably not Don Walker's original charts. The LP's sound was cramped; I've opened it out a bit.

The recording allows you to hear nine pieces not discussed below: "For Jupiter and Greece," "Ride Amazon Ride," "Life with Father," "In the Gateway of the Temple of Minerva," "Here's a Hand," "The Boy I Left Behind Me," "Bottoms Up," and the finales for both acts.

Next we'll discuss the principal songs; that is, the ones that were commercially recorded back in 1942, most of which have retained some currency today, however slight. They are "Jupiter Forbid," "Nobody's Heart," "Ev'rything I've Got," "Wait Till You See Her" and "Careless Rhapsody."

"Jupiter Forbid"

"Jupiter Forbid" is a rousing ensemble piece of a type that is or was a staple of musical comedy. The lyrics were inspired at least in part by patriotic sentiment in wartime America:

Maybe there's a place where people never laugh 

Maybe there's a place where kids don't kid

Maybe there's a place for just the upper half

Not here, Jupiter forbid

 

Maybe there's a place whеre people nеver sing

Where you have to hide each thing you did

Where they have a sign "Keep Off the Grass" in spring

Not here, Jupiter forbid

This is the second least known song in the group. It merited one recording in 1942, and only a few since - by Jackie and Roy, Andrea Marcovici and Peter Mintun (all not included in this set).

The 1942 recording was by Hildegarde, a popular cabaret performer of the time who sounds vaguely continental despite being from Milwaukee. It was one of four she sang for a Decca album of the time, which had backing by Harry Sosnik, also of the time. The other three songs are discussed below.

Hildegarde may not be not the first name that springs to mind when you think of rousing ensemble songs, but she does "Jupiter Forbid" very well.

"Nobody's Heart"

Lorenz Hart and Richard Rodgers at a By Jupiter rehearsal

In the musical, "Nobody's Heart" is a lovelorn lament by Antiope. The song is still heard in cabarets, few that they may be. It's perhaps most notable for how the lyrics and melody support one another. The words are unremarkable, although I have always admired this verse:

Nobody's arms belong to me

No arms feel strong to me

I admire the moon

As a moon

Just a moon

Nobody's heart belongs to me today

This is another song selected by Hildegarde for her set. She dispatches it smoothly. As far as I can tell, "Nobody's Heart" then went unrecorded until several singers took it up in the mid-1950s. For this collection, I've added the 1955 reading by Audrey Morris, recently the subject of a post here.

"Ev'rything I've Got"

"Ev'rything I've Got" is perhaps the most notable example of sex-role reversal in the score. Queen Hippolyta threatens hubby Sapiens in a manner that today might be considered macho:

I've a powerful anesthesia in my fist

And the perfect wrist to give your neck a twist

Hammerlock holds, I've mastered a few

But ev'rything I've got belongs to you

 Meanwhile, Sapiens has his own method, expressed in one of my favorite Hart stanzas:

Then at night we'll sleep and sleep

Sleep and sleep and sleep and sleep

Sleep and sleep, sleep and sleep

I'll give you plenty of nothin'

At the end of the musical, by the way, the sex roles revert to "normal".

"Ev'rything I've Got," perhaps surprisingly, was the most recorded song from the score in the early days. In addition to Hildegarde's performance, we have a version from the band of Freddy Martin - with a male singer bragging about the "powerful anasthesia" in his fist, which today sounds grotesque.

In the years since, it's mainly been performed by women, although the next recording would appear to be a Betty Garrett and Milton Berle duet from 1947 (you can listen to it here, assuming you can stand Uncle Miltie). Note that both Berle and Garrett sing the lines threatening violence; the "sleep and sleep" stanza is left out.

Hart wrote the song for Benay Venuta, who told the lyricist's biographer Frederick Nolan: "He [Hart] told me, 'I'll write a big number for you, babe, you'll stop the show with it.' And he did. He wrote 'Ev'rything I've Got' while we were in rehearsal, and it turned out to be one of the smash hits of the show."

"Wait Till You See Her"

In the play, "Wait Till You See Her" is a waltz declaring Theseus' love for Antiope. The song as written has a verse that is seldom used by singers today. It sets the warrior Theseus' infatuation in relief:

My friends who knew me

Never would know me

They'd look right through me

Above and below me

And ask, "Who's that man?

"Who is that man?

"That's not my lighthearted friend"

Meeting a girl was the start of the end

Love is a simple emotion a friend should comprehend

You can hear the verse in the 1967 cast album, which also uses a chorus effectively.

David Allyn

This song, somewhat familiar today, was ignored by the recording artists of 1942. The earliest version I've found was David Allyn's from 1949, which can be found in this post from a few years ago, and which I've also included in the present set of early recordings.

Also in that set is a relatively early (1952) instrumental version from Andre Kostelanetz. His recording treats the number as if it were a precursor to Rodgers' sweeping "Carousel Waltz" of 1945.

Frederick Nolan asserts that the song "was one of the prettiest waltzes Rodgers ever wrote, and Larry's lyric, with its unconventional rhyming scheme, had a lovely, matching tenderness. They all loved it, [director Joshua] Logan especially."

That said, there was some thought that it didn't fit the show. I've read both that it was dropped after opening night and that it was cut late in the run.

"Careless Rhapsody"

"Careless Rhapsody" is not a lost masterpiece, but it doesn't deserve its oblivion. The song, written as a duet for Antiope and Theseus, merited two recordings when the show opened, both solo. One, by Hildegarde, includes the opening verse. The second, by Clyde Rogers with Freddy Martin's band, does not do so.

The lyrics link music and love - heartstrings, etc. Nolan says Logan claimed that "Careless Rhapsody" doesn't sound like Hart's work at all. While it's not the best effort of the lyricist - or Rodgers - it's entirely pleasing.

To my knowledge the song has not been recorded since the show closed, except in a By Jupiter medley done by pianist Peter Mintun many years ago.

* * *

Why isn't the show better remembered? The simplest reason is that it is eclipsed by both the earlier Rodgers and Hart hits and the later Rodgers and Hammerstein blockbusters. It's about on the level of I Married an Angel, but not as remarkable as Babes in Arms, both of which have been discussed on this site.

Second, a Musicians Union recording ban began not long after the show opened, killing any additional recording plans that might have been contemplated.

Here's critic Paul Kresh's 1967 judgment of the show: "The score of By Jupiter is not as likely to stir your pulses as often as that of The Boys from Syracuse, but it has its moments, and the best of them are in the second act: the graceful, hummable 'Wait Till You See Her,' the casual 'Careless Rhapsody,' and the exuberant 'Ev'rything I've Got.' They don't make 'em like that any more. Not lately, anyhow." Still true nearly 60 years later.

LINK to 1967 cast recording

LINK to contemporary recordings

Lee Wiley's Two Rodgers and Hart Albums

Lee Wiley sings with Eddie Condon, guitar, Cozy Cole, drums, Sid Weiss, bass, Jess Stacy, piano, 1943

Everything about vocalist Lee Wiley (1908-75) was distinctive - her singing style, her looks, her accompanists, even her choice of songs.

Not that she selected unusual numbers; rather that she pioneered the concept of albums devoted to one songwriter or songwriting team. Today's post is devoted to just such a team - Rodgers and Hart. They were the subjects of her second such compilation, dating from 1940, along with a later R&H album, which came out in 1954. While the former set has been reissued a number of times, the latter is more neglected - but still worthy.

About Lee Wiley

The young Lee Wiley

Born in 1908 in Oklahoma, Wiley (streamlined from "Willey") was in New York at a young age, and was engaged by one of the biggest bandleaders of the time, Leo Reisman, soon thereafter. She was making records with him as early as 1931, followed by dates with Victor Young and Johnny Green, along with radio work.

For whatever reason, following these early accomplishments, she moved back to Oklahoma for a period, returning to New York after a year or so. Her biggest successes followed, generally in the company of the so-called Chicago school jazz musicians, whose style was compatible with her own. The series of "songbooks" she made for small labels were all with those musicians - one of whom (Jess Stacy) she was to marry. The music was great; the marriage not so much.

Her career continued into the 1950s, when she made records for Storyville (the second album included here), RCA Victor and others. The market changed, and her career sputtered, like many others', but she was never forgotten, because she made memorable records.

"She moved easily in and out of the world of high society and the raucous, barrelhouse world of jazz. She often sought the sleek, sophisticated wealthy and brittle world of society, only to pull away to the warmth, love and uncertainty of the world of jazz," Frank Driggs wrote.

As for her legacy as a vocalist, critic Stanley Green wrote, "All Lee Wiley ever had to do was to sing a song and it was hers. For keeps. No one ever sang anything quite her way and no one ever could. And she managed this closeness of identity not through histrionics and bombast but through controlled nuances and phrasings."

Lee Wiley Rodgers and Hart Album

If you are at all susceptible to the Wiley magic, you will be enchanted before she makes it out of the verse on the first song on her first Rodgers and Hart album. The song is "Here in My Arms," a prime example of the songwriters' art and the singer's sorcery. Appropriately, it comes from the first R&H show, Dearest Enemy from 1925.

The Rodgers and Hart album was released on the Music Box label issued by Rabson's Music Shop of New York, which was then a new emporium on W. 52nd St. This was in a time when some record stores produced their own discs. In the recent past, we have encountered the products both of the Liberty and Commodore Music Shops, who were active in issuing Broadway, cabaret and jazz records.

The Rabson's album was a follow up to Liberty's album of Gershwin songs, which Wiley had recorded just a few months before. And three months thereafter she would be doing a Cole Porter collection for Liberty, followed by a Harold Arlen set for Schirmer in 1943. These boutique labels loved her, and its clear why - artistically, these are entirely successful records.

The songwriter sets were the idea of a young advertising artist and jazz buff, John DeVries. He came up with the expressionist cover above showing an 12-foot tall Wiley towering over Kaminsky and Bushkin, along with the covers for the other songbooks.

Max Kaminsky

The small groups that generally accompanied Wiley are one key to her success. They created an intimate, improvisatory atmosphere that set off her elegant, yet elemental singing. For some reason, the Rabson's records are attributed to two different leaders - pianist Joe Bushkin and trumpeter Max Kaminsky - although the same musicians appear on all items. The others are Bud Freeman, tenor sax, Artie Shapiro, bass, and George Wettling, drums. Two arrangers are credited, although the charts seem to be limited to who solos when. Regardless, those named are Brad Gowans and Paul Wetstein, later to become better known as Paul Weston.

Joe Bushkin

But back to the Rodgers and Hart songs. The second song is a contrasting fast number - "Baby's Awake Now," one of the more obscure items in the collection, derived from 1929's Spring Is Here. In that score it's overshadowed by the likes of the title song and "(With a) Song in My Heart."

"I've Got Five Dollars" is one of the two hits from 1931's America's Sweetheart, the other being the little-remembered but excellent "We'll Be the Same." I recently posted this particular Wiley recording on my other blog in conjunction with the Arden-Ohman single that came out when the show was new. Her personable interpretation was something of a corrective to the stiff Frank Luther vocal on the Arden-Ohman record.

"Glad to Be Unhappy" was still a relatively new song when Wiley recorded it, dating from 1936 and On Your Toes. It remains one of the enduring R&H favorites, seldom done better than here.

The next number is perhaps the best known in the set - "You Took Advantage of Me," from 1928's Present Arms, where it outshone such fare as "Crazy Elbows" and "Kohala, Welcome."

None of the songs from the next show, 1926-27's Peggy-Ann, are remembered today, but perhaps "A Little Birdie Told Me So" should be. It is entirely charming, sung with much grace by Wiley.

One of the selling points for this set was the presence of a new, unpublished Rodgers and Hart song, "As Though You Were There," a particularly fine example of Lorenz Hart's writing that amazingly may still be unpublished.

The final song is one of the duo's best, "A Ship without a Sail," with a soaring melody allied to one of Larry Hart's most personal set of lyrics. As he writes in the verse, "I go to this or that place / I seem alive and well / My head is just a hat place / My breast an empty shell / And I've a faded dream to sell." The number is from 1929-30's Heads Up!

The Rabson's recordings also came out on the Gala label in addition to Music Box. These transfers are a mix of pressings from the two original sets, restored from Internet Archive needle drops. "You Took Advantage of Me" and "A Little Birdie Told Me So" were mastered (or transferred) very sharp, which I've corrected.

The liner notes of the original album claim that Rodgers dropped everything to help ensure the success of this collection, which seems unlikely. Other observers have marveled that the composer approved a jazz approach to his songs, given that he reputedly preferred them to be sung as written.

Then again, as Rodgers himself pointed out in his notes to an Andre Kostelanetz collection, "Let it never be said that I resist the idea of large sheet music and record sales. Mr. Kostelanetz and I have formed the habit of eating and we like it." A practical man.

Lee Wiley Sings Rodgers and Hart

For this 1954 set on Storyville records, Wiley's song choices were more mainstream, perhaps reflecting the taste of producer George Wein. (He fancied himself a singer, making a vocal album for Atlantic in 1955.) "You Took Advantage of Me" and "Glad to Be Unhappy" are repeat choices from the 1940 album. The other songs are mainly items you might find on any Rodgers and Hart collection, then or now.

Lee Wiley, c1952

That's not to say they are unwelcome, and Wiley does them beautifully, if more cooly than in the 1940 album. Some of that was probably due to her vocal chords being 14 years older. Some may have to do with the musicians on hand. Pianist Jimmy Jones was an experienced vocal accompanist, having worked for years with Sarah Vaughan. But he was a much different stylist and much more linear pianist than others who had recorded with Wiley, such as Jess Stacy and Joe Bushkin.

Jimmy Jones

Ruby Braff was a young trumpeter who was contracted to Storyville. His playing is closer to what Wiley was used to hearing, but he was not always a distinctive player as yet. On "It Never Entered My Mind," for example, his obbligatos seem almost perfunctory (and are under-recorded). Meanwhile, on the verse Jones tries to stay out of the singer's way, and they end up sounding of two minds about the tempo.

Ruby Braff

But the next song, "Give It Back to the Indians," is much better. The trumpet obbligatos are more positive, and Braff provides a very good solo. Then too, Jones' support throughout is a plus. This is the best item on the LP; unfortunately it also is the last. (Mary Jane Walsh introduced "Give It Back" in Too Many Girls; her recording can be found here.)

About the other songs on the LP: "My Heart Stood Still" (written for a 1927 London revue) is done very well, including the verse, as was Wiley's usual practice. "My Romance" comes from 1935's Jumbo. The contrast here between Jones' horizontal playing and Wiley's more rhetorical singing is marked.

Hart assures Rodgers that beans could get no keener reception in a beanery

"Mountain Greenery," from 1926's Garrick Gaieties, can be heard on what seems like three-quarters of the R&H albums ever issued. Vocalists love to sing "Beans could get no keener reception in a beanery." It's an up-tempo song, so it makes a good change of pace for such ballads as "Spring Is Here." Wiley does it well.

Finally, "My Funny Valentine," a no-doubt great song that suits Wiley down to the ground, although her limited vocal range comes into play on the higher notes. The song comes from Babes in Arms.

As for the album cover, we go from the giant Wiley on the Rabson's album cover to a photo of her singing in a darkroom for the Storyville LP. This second image is the handiwork of art director/photographer Burt Goldblatt, who specialized in murky covers featuring underexposed photos further obscured by a saturated color overlay (cf., the Joe Derise Sings album).

I transferred the Storyville LP from a slightly later reissue with very good sound. If you have a few moments, read over the garrulous liner notes on the Storyville back cover by the journalist George Frazier, in which he admits he wants to have sex with Wiley, laments the end of his marriage, and criticizes the clothing choices of author and radio personality Clifton Fadiman. He even writes a bit about the record, which he likes.

And in that regard, let's give Frazier the last word: "Wiley is one of the best vocalists who ever lived, with a magical empathy for fine old show tunes and good jazz. Indeed, I know of no one who sings certain songs so meaningfully, so wistfully."

I expect to post more of her records as time goes by.

'I Married an Angel' - The Early Recordings

Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart formed a wildly productive partnership - from 1925 to 1940, they opened a show on Broadway in every year except 1934, and usually more than one. One fertile period was 1936-38, when their productions were On Your Toes, Babes in Arms, I'd Rather Be Right, The Boys from Syracuse and I Married an Angel.

Not long ago, I explored the early recordings from Babes in Arms. The subject of today's post is a lesser hit, but still a popular show: I Married an Angel, which ran from May 11, 1938 to February 25, 1939. Its score is not as bountiful as Babes in Arms, but it has its moments, and there were interesting recordings from the time, which I've gathered for this post.

Lorenz Hart and Richard Rodgers

The contrived but amusing plot is from a play by the Hungarian writer János Vaszary. It involves the complications that ensue when banker Count Willy Palaffi (Dennis King) marries an angel (Vera Zorina), whose unvarnished honesty becomes a business and social problem for him.

The production involved some of the finest talents of the 20th century theatre - director Joshua Logan, choreographer George Balanchine (Zorina's husband at the time) and scenic designer Jo Mielziner, with Rodgers and Hart writing the book as well as the music.

One reason why the score is less impressive than Babes in Arms among other Rodgers and Hart shows is that the pivotal character, played by Zorina, was a dancer, not a singer. Even so, most of the 10 original songs in the score merited a recording, and a few can still be heard today.

Vera Zorina and ensemble

Let's examine the score, in running order.

Wynn Murray

The first song is Count Palaffi's "Did You Ever Get Stung?" which is nor heard today outside of a few cabarets. No member of the cast recorded it, but Rodgers and Hart veteran Wynn Murray did do so. (She had appeared in both Babes in Arms and The Boys from Syracuse.) Her accompaniment is by the Walter-Bowers Orchestra - cabaret legend Cy Walter and duo-piano partner Gil Bowers. Murray and the band are lyrical at first, then "get hot," in the musical fashion of the time.

Palaffi's "I Married an Angel" was not recorded by a Broadway cast member either, but it did merit a disc from Nelson Eddy, who played the Count in the 1942 film version. That production kept the main songs from the stage score, but added much more music, primarily by operetta veteran Herbert Stothart. He was well suited to providing songs for Eddy and Jeanette MacDonald, in their last film together.

Nelson Eddy and Jeanette MacDonald

For this number, Eddy's singing was tuneful, but not especially colorful or flexible. For contrast, I've added a contemporary recording by the more relaxed Buddy Clark. Unlike the latter, Eddy includes the verse - a plus for his version. I believe this song still gets an occasional performance today - I was familiar with it, anyway.

Eddy returns for "I'll Tell the Man in the Street," a beautiful song with a tricky melody that he tosses off effortlessly. He again scores points by performing the verse, which adds greatly to the song. 

I could not resist adding a much different interpretation to the end of the playlist, even though it is from 25 years after the musical's run on Broadway. This is the remarkable version of "I'll Tell the Man in the Street" from Barbra Streisand's debut LP. (No verse, though!)

Audrey Christie and Charles Walters

We now come to the only member of the original cast to merit a recording (actually, two). The fortunate artist is Audrey Christie, then a singer and dancer, later a film actor. Her first number is "How to Win Friends and Influence People," a title pinched from the 1936 best seller by Dale Carnegie. 

Christie isn't a great singer, but she does exude energy, essential for this lively number. In the show, he sang the piece with Charles Walters. On record, she is backed by Walter, Bowers and ensemble, again for the Liberty Music Shop label. 

The enduring hit from the show is the eloquent "Spring Is Here." Despite its quality and staying power, no one from the cast recorded it, to my knowledge. So I have again turned to Buddy Clark for a contemporary recording. To it, I've added an unexpectedly terrific version from cabaret singer Eve Symington, issued by the invaluable Liberty Music Shop. Cy Walter leads the band without Gil Bowers, who must have missed his train. Symington includes the verse; Clark does not.

Eve Symington

A parenthetical note about the unfamiliar (to me) Symington: born Eve Wadsworth, she married businessman Stuart Symington in the 1920s, and embarked on a career as a singer. On this evidence, she was quite a good one, but her career was short. It was at about this time that she and her husband moved to St. Louis, where he became the head of Emerson Electric. He later became a well-known US Senator - as Eve Symington's father had been. I've posted three of her other recordings on my singles blog.  

Wynn Murray returns for the clumsily risqué "A Twinkle in Your Eye," not one of the best songs from Rodgers and especially Hart. Murray, Walter and Bowers do their best.

The Roxy

Audrey Christie then performs her second song from the score, "At the Roxy Music Hall." The Roxy was a 6,000-seat behemoth of a movie theater on W. 50th Street. I had no recollection of the place until reader hkitt42 reminded me that it's referenced in the title song of Guys and Dolls. Oh, yeah - "What's playing at the Roxy?"! In this earlier number, Christie assures us, "Oh come with me, you won't believe a thing you see!" and "Don't be shy if a naked statue meets your eye!" among other marvels. It's a fun piece and Christie is the right person to sing it, but the song is now recherché considering that the Roxy has been dust since 1960.

Cy Walter and Gil Bowers

The playlist is completed - save for the Streisand reprise of "I'll Tell the Man in the Street" - by a two-sided medley from Walter and Bowers and their pianos. It includes "Spring Is Here," "I'll Tell the Man in the Street," "I Married an Angel" and "How to Win Friends and Influence People."

The download includes a restored version of the souvenir program along with production stills, a few Jo Mielziner scenery sketches, and two reviews from Brooks Atkinson of The New York Times. The program and stills are cleaned up from originals on the New York Public Library site, and the resolution is not as fine as one might desire. Most of the recordings were cleaned up from Internet Archive transfers. The Liberty Music Shop items were not well recorded; I've done my best to help them out.