From the Back Room: Sue Raney Singles

This is another post resulting from my offer of the contents of Buster's Back Room. One of the most requested was Sue Raney, a gifted singer who has never achieved the renown she deserves. Sue is one of our greatest living vocalists, although her name would surely be unfamiliar to most people.

Here we are concentrating on her early years, when she already was a voice with few peers, collecting all her non-album singles for Capitol, along with some singles from the Imperial label, plus a bonus obscure release from 1974.

This post is an expanded and reworked version of one that I published many years ago. There are 23 songs in all.

Capitol Singles

The first Capitols

Raney was first heard on a record issued by small label from Kansas City (which I do not have). She was signed by Capitol in 1956, when she was about 17. Here first release seems to be from the Ray Anthony-Mamie Van Doren filmic escapade The Girl Can't Help It. Sue was allotted a number called "Ev'rytime," not to be confused with Martin and Blane's "Ev'ry Time." Sue is superb in this good song from Tony Iovello and Mel Levine, backed by Ray's orchestra. It's an amazing performance for a 17-year-old.

Soon thereafter, the label issued the "promotional debut record" above, with one of the cool picture labels it was then using for some promos. The initial plug side was "What's the Good Word, Mr. Bluebird," a conventional period pop item; still, it is not unattractive.

Capitol also promoted its discmate (see below), the title tune from the teen-angst weepie The Careless Years, which Sue handles nicely. IMDb tells us that this was heard on the soundtrack as well, where she also did something called "Butterfingers Baby," but I somehow let that number slip through my fingers and you won't find it here. (Actually, I don't think it was issued on record.)

Picture sleeve for DJ copy

"Please Hurry Home" and "Don't Take My Happiness" were next, followed by her vocal chorus on a Nelson Riddle record of "Til There Was You," an excellent version that was issued before The Music Man opened on Broadway. All these predate Raney's first LP.

The year 1958 brought "My, My, How The Time Goes By" and "Periwinkle Blue," followed by 1958's "The Restless Sea" (quite wonderful) and "Ever," Raney's own composition.

Then in 1959 there were "I Don't Look Right Without You" and "Swingin' In A Hammock." From 1960, backed by Bill Holman, we have "Biology," "Too Soon," "One Finger Symphony" and "The Word Got Around." 

"Biology" is a raucous quasi-rocker, "Too Soon" a pleasant ballad. In general, these singles attempted to hit the halfway point between vocal pop and rock. They are enjoyable although the rock instrumentation and backing singers seem more dated than, say, Nelson Riddle's chart for "'Til There Was You." Bob Bain's rockabilly-style guitar solo in "Don't Take My Happiness" is very enjoyable, though.

Imperial Singles

In the 60s, Raney moved on to Philips for one LP and no singles (as far as I can tell), then to Imperial for several LPs and a clutch of 45s. My collection of the Imperial singles is not complete but does include six songs.

The first such item is "Try to See It My Way," a Bacharach-David song from the TV special On the Flip Side, beautifully done. It was backed by "There Goes My Everything," a country song that became a pop hit for Engelbert Humperdinck.

Next is the title tune to the 1967 suspense film Wait Until Dark, a fine Mancini composition with Livingston and Evans supplying the words. It was backed by "Parade (A Banda)," a hectic Brazilian song that was popular back then. The latter does provide an opportunity for Sue to demonstrate her vocal chops.

The best number in this group - at least to me - is her version of "Knowing When to Leave," a Bacharach-David song from the 1968 musical Promises, Promises. Her subtle singing, even amidst the busy Bill Byers arrangement and cramped recording, is a wonder. Too bad it's backed by the worst song in the bunch, the lamentable flower-power tune "Early Morning Blues and Greens."

Finally, on the obscure Alithia label, there's a bonus cut of Raney's own "Never Say Goodbye" from 1974. The song is good, but the backing, with its loud electric bass and soul-style backing group, screams the early 70s, which to me is not a good thing.

Please note: I mentioned that I was going to add two transcriptions, from Sue's appearances on The Navy Swings and Treasury Department Guest Star programs, but it slipped my mind that these did not contain unique material, only cuts from Sue's first two Capitol LPs. So I have not included them.

LINK to Capitol and Imperial singles

Singles from Sue Raney and Beverly Kenney

Today I have a few more unreissued singles from one of my favorite artists, Sue Raney, and to fill out the post I'm adding an unreissued single from the wonderful, tragic singer, Beverly Kenney.

Sue Raney

We start off with a terrific version of "Try to See It My Way," a Bacharach-David song from the Rick Nelson-Joanie Sommers TV musical, On the Flip Side. Raney has an amazing facility with this kind of pop material. "Try to See It My Way" was actually the B-side of this single. The A-side was the Dallas Frazier song "There Goes My Everything," a country hit for Jack Greene and a pop semi-hit for Engelbert Humperdinck. This is from late 1966.

Also from Sue is an obscure 1974 release on the Alithia label of Sue's own somg, "Never Say Goodbye." There is no B-side for this one - "Never Say Goodbye" is in mono on one side, stereo on the other.

Beverly Kenney

Virtually all of Beverly Kenney's records have been reissued, but not this 1958 single, to my knowledge. It contains two good songs, beautifully done by Kenney - "The Magic Touch" and "Your Love Is My Love." Bill Reed shared this briefly on his blog The People vs. Dr. Chilledair, but this transfer is from my own copy.

Speaking of Bill, I imagine he wouldn't mind if I plugged Sue Raney's most recently CD, which he produced. It is called Listen Here. Sue is in glorious form, and is backed by pianist Alan Broadbent. She is a treasure.

Digression No. 23

It was quite a thrill to receive a note from Sue Raney and her husband Carmen Falzone following my posting of her uncollected singles recently. This was through the intercession of Bill Reed, who knows Sue and had taken Sue a CD of the singles. She responded:

"I can’t begin to express my gratitude for the compilation of the singles I made so long ago. It was such fun to listen to them again. We sure tried to get a hit record in those days (ha). 'Biology' was the only one that made it to the Billboard chart at about 50 something (I think). [Note from Buster - that's the only Capitol single I don't have, ironically.] What a special person you are to have taken the time to do all that. You made me so happy, and I thank you so very much for your love and support – the notes you wrote are also quite a keepsake for me."

Speaking of Bill (maestro of the People vs. Dr. Chilledair), he reminds me that in my recent Carole Simpson post, I really should have mentioned that Carole has a 2008 release called "Live" and Otherwise, available here.

Finally - and completely unrelated to the previous discussion - I came across a most interesting radio show on the web this weekend, and thought I would share my refurbishment of the sound. This comes from the Sunday Gramophone feature of a site called Crooks and Liars, which apparently does not refer to the musicians or proprietors but to the site's main preoccupation, politicians. Sunday Gramophone has exceptionally interesting material, unfortunately presented in exceptionally low bit-rate mp3s. Yesterday's offering was from an NBC program of July 1, 1943 by the NBC Orchestra, conducted by Joseph Stopak. This was in a late-night sustaining series called Music of the New World, devoted to all types of music from the Americas - a wartime effort designed to promote inter-American harmony.

This particular program was devoted to US composers, and included less-often heard works by Sowerby (Comes Autumn Time) and Creston (Fantasy for Piano and Orchestra, with Artur Balsam), along with pieces by Griffes and Carpenter.

I have rebalanced the sound, but the compression artifacts from the low bit-rate file are of course still audible (but not too distracting, I hope). It is presented in FLAC format to avoid additional compression effects. The program also is now tracked. The link is below.

LINK

Sue Raney Singles

Sue Raney is one of our greatest living singers, although her name would surely be unfamiliar to most people. This post concentrates on her early years, when she already was a voice with few peers, collecting most of her non-album singles for Capitol and a few bonuses, all unreissued, as far as I can tell.

Raney was first heard on a single issued by small label from Kansas City (which I do not have). She was signed by Capitol in 1957, when she was 17, and soon thereafter, it issued the "promotional debut record" above, with one of the cool picture labels it was using for that purpose. Sue superbly handles the title tune from the teen-angst weepie The Careless Years. IMDb tells us that this was heard on the soundtrack as well, and she also did something called Butterfingers Baby, but I somehow let that number slip through my fingers and you won't find it here. (Actually, I don't think it was issued on record.) The reverse of The Careless Years is What's the Good Word, Mr. Bluebird, a conventional period pop item, but not unattractive.

Please Hurry Home and Don't Take My Happiness were next, followed by her vocal chorus on a Nelson Riddle record of Til There Was You, an excellent version that was issued even before The Music Man opened on Broadway. (Til There Was You is included as a bonus, but is not my transfer.) All these predate Raney's first LP.

The year 1958 brought My, My, How The Time Goes By and Periwinkle Blue, followed by 1958's The Restless Sea (quite wonderful vocalism, reminiscent of Ella) and Ever, Raney's own composition. Then there were I Don't Look Right Without You and Swingin' In A Hammock, and One Finger Symphony and The Word Got Around. The only Capitol items missing from this post are Biology and Too Soon, from 1960.

Later in the 60s, Raney moved on to Philips for one LP and no singles (as far as I know), then to Imperial for three LPs and a clutch of 45s. Even though the latter are outside this blog's time frame, I can't resist adding two of the Imperial singles to this post. The first is the title tune to the 1967 suspense film Wait Until Dark, a fine Mancini tune with Livingston and Evans supplying the words. This is backed by Parade (A Banda), a hectic Portuguese song that was popular back then.

The best record of this group - at least to me - is her version of Knowing When to Leave, a Bacharach-David song from the 1968 musical Promises, Promises (now being revived on Broadway). Her subtle singing, even amidst the busy Bill Byers arrangement and cramped recording, is a wonder. Too bad it's backed by the worst record of the bunch, the lamentable Early Morning Blues and Greens.

I have to say - this is one of my favorite all-time posts here, so I hope you enjoy these rare items by a singer of rare talent.