An Easter Bouquet from Buster

Buster looks a little glum here, doesn't he? Not that the Great Stone Face smiled much, and really there may not seem to be much to grin about these days. But it is spring, and with it comes the Easter holiday, a celebration of renewal that is all the more pertinent in a time of pandemic.

To help make the time pass, I've put together "Buster's Easter Bouquet of Hits" themed to the holiday. As usual it is an eclectic bunch, including 32 samples of jazz, country, pop, polka, boogie, religious material and ethnic fare. Believe me, my designation of most of these as "hits" is more than a little optimistic. But they all have their points of interest, which I elucidate below, covering the collection in chronological order.

The first item is the oldest record ever presented on this blog. It is "Hosanna," an Easter song dating from 1901-4. The exact date is uncertain because Columbia recorded it with two different singers at different times, using one on some pressings and the other on others. I believe this singer is Bernard Bégué, a Met baritone who somehow makes this lugubrious hymn even more dreary. Not a stellar start to the collection, I know, but historically notable.

The prolific tenor Harry Macdonough recorded "The Palms" twice, once in 1906 and once in 1913. I believe this transfer emanates from the latter date, and is taken from a circa 1920 pressing. Macdonough was the head of Victor's New York studio in addition to being one of its top artists. Again, this is hardly what you would call lively, but things improve later on.

Joel Mossberg

But not right away. I wanted to include a few items from the important ethnic catalogs that the record companies were building at the time. The first is "Hosianna Davids Son" from the Swedish-American baritone Joel Mossberg. It dates from 1916.

Next we have a pleasant spring interlude, complete with bird calls, called "Down In Lily Land at Easter Time," with your guides Billy Burton and James Hall (pseudonyms for the popular recording artists Charles Harrison and Andrea Sarto, the latter of whom appeared in my Valentine collection). This comes from 1917.

"The Old Rugged Cross" is one of the most famous songs associated with Easter. Here is an 1921 recording from Oscar Seagle, a prominent musician and music teacher active in the early 20th century. He looks kind of rugged himself, I'd say.

Oscar Seagle

From 1922 comes the Trinity Quartet, another busy recording ensemble, here comprising soprano Lucy Marsh, contralto Elsie Baker, tenor Lambert Murray and baritone Clifford Cairns. Believe me, these folks were all over the Victor catalog for some time. They present "Christ the Lord is Risen To-day," an Easter song penned by Charles Wesley some 200 years earlier.

Another ethnic number for you - "Zlozcie Troski (Take Care)," a Polish song with Karol Dembek singing and Wincenty Czerwinski speaking, dating from 1922. I wanted to include this because of the Lady Liberty motif on the OKeh label. Immigration to the U.S. was becoming much more restricted during these years, with increasingly stiff quotas being imposed several times.

Frieda Hempel

The prominent German soprano Frieda Hempel regales us with "Alleluia - A joyous Easter Hymn" on a 1924 HMV recording with an anonymous backing.

Finally we come to a lively number that could actually be called popular, even if not strictly (or at all) Easter-related. It is "Hallelujah!" from the Youmans-Grey-Robin score for the 1927 Broadway smash Hit the Deck. Our rendition is courtesy of two of the busiest recording artists of the time - the talented tenor Franklyn Baur and Victor director of light music Nat Shilkret. Note that although Shilkret is credited on the label, the ledgers say that Leonard Joy directed the session. Regardless, it's a wonderful song.

The Westminster Central Hall

We're back in England for the next number, coming from the Choir of the Westminster Central Hall, a prominent Methodist church in London. Arthur Meale directs a good 1928 reading of "When I Survey the Wondrous Cross."

Also from England, an old friend, tenor Steuart Wilson, who has appeared on this blog before. Here he takes up "This Joyful Easter-tide" in an arrangement by Arthur Somervell. I believe the anonymous accompanist is Gerald Moore. This comes from circa 1929.

Sir Walford Davies, 1929

One of my favorite numbers from this collection is the Sir Walford Davies Easter processional "O Filii et Filiae," conducted by the composer in St. George's Chapel, Windsor. As usual with such on-site recordings of processionals, the choir sounds distant at first, becoming more prominent as the hymn proceeds. Here, the engineer made them much too dim, so I have adjusted the gain so you can at least hear what is going on. The recording dates from 1931.

Clifton Webb, 1934

One of the two most famous pop songs associated with Easter comes from 1933 and the Irving Berlin revue, As Thousands Cheer. Introducing the "Easter Parade" were Clifton Webb and Marilyn Miller. Webb was a song and dance performer on Broadway for many years before moving to Hollywood. Victor had him record the song with Leo Reisman's orchestra.

Recognizing a good thing, Berlin reused "Easter Parade" in films several times - in Alexander's Ragtime Band, Holiday Inn and the 1948 picture named for the song. The music has a back story as well - Berlin first published it 1917 with different lyrics, "Smile and Show Your Dimple."

Webb and Reisman weren't the only contenders in the "Easter Parade" of recordings, of course. Brunswick had Freddy Martin and his soupy saxes step in for a Vocalion release that same year. An enjoyable effort, with an uncredited vocal trio, presumably plucked from the band.

Warwick Braithwaite

It wouldn't be Easter without a go at the "Halleujah Chorus" from Handel's Messiah. This 1939 recording surprisingly comes from the Sadler's Wells Chorus and Orchestra, whose main stock-in-trade was opera, not oratorio. It's a good effort, led by the then Sadler's Wells music director, Warwick Braithwaite - very broad and grand, the sort of thing you seldom hear these days.

Now we return to the other "Hallelujah!", the one from Hit the Deck. Bandleader Will Bradley revived the song for a 1939 Columbia flagwaver featuring drummer Ray McKinley. The arranger was Leonard Whitney.

Will Bradley

Kenny Baker

In a much different vein is a 1942 release, "Easter Sunday with You," from tenor Kenny Baker, who made his name on Jack Benny's radio show, then appeared in many films. Harry Sosnik leads the band in this Don Reid-Henry Tobias song. Baker made a specialty of such sweet, sincere material, in later years moving into the religious repertory. He was a fine singer.

Guy Lombardo and his brothers are most associated with New Year's Day, certainly, but they also had a shot at other holidays. Here is their 1945 plea, "I Want a Bunny for Easter," with the usual stiff vocal from a band trio. This number was from songwriter Dave Franklin, whose big hit that year was "Lily Belle."

One of the best records in this set is "Hallelujah Morning" from the Brown's Ferry Four, one of the first country super groups. The Four consisted of the Delmore Brothers, Grandpa Jones and generally either Merle Travis or Red Foley (sources differ on who appears on this recording). The Four recorded sacred material for King in the late 40s, including this Alton Delmore composition in 1946. This particular pressing has some 78 noise, but it is far superior to the commercial reissue, which is cut, off-pitch, over-filtered and has had echo added.

Freddie Mitchell could and did make anything into a boogie, and here he turns "Easter Parade" into "Easter Boogie," attributing the composition to himself and two other folks, not including Irving Berlin. It's characteristic, with the usual tinkling from the upright piano and honking from the tenor sax. Those tinkles and honks comes to us from 1949.

Vaughn Monroe

I am not a fan of the moaning of baritone Vaughn Monroe, but here he does well by an unfamiliar seasonal tune, "It's Easter Time," dating from 1950. He is backed by the Moon Maids and the Moon Men, who were named in honor of his first big hit, 1941's "Racing with the Moon."

The other big Easter song, leaving aside "Easter Parade," is "Peter Cottontail" (formally, "Here Comes Peter Cottontail"), from the team of Steve Nelson and Jack Rollins. They also wrote "Frosty the Snowman," thus providing anthropomorphic kiddie tales for two different holidays. The hit version of the Easter song was by Gene Autry in 1950, but I am partial to the work of a lesser singing cowboy, Jimmy Wakely, who was one of Capitol's biggest stars. His relaxed baritone is just right here, as always.

1950  Billboard ad

I can't resist adding another "Peter Cottontail" to the pile, this one from the usually swinging and swaying but here mostly bouncing Sammy Kaye and his vocal Kaydets. Sammy's Columbia record appeared in 1951 - late to the party but welcome nonetheless.

Tommy Sosebee

Country singer Tommy Sosebee was dubbed "The Voice of the Hills" by his management or the Coral record company - and he did have an excellent voice, in fact, displayed well in his 1951 recording of the unfamiliar "She's My Easter Lily." Well worth hearing.

Record mogul Norman Granz started a fashion for jazz soloists appearing with string accompaniment when he paired Charlie Parker's alto sax with a bed of strings in 1950. Trumpeter Roy Eldridge got this treatment in 1952 with a recording of "Easter Parade" with lush backing from arranger George "The Fox" Williams. It's not the most successful example of the genre, but not displeasing either.

The Anita Kerr Singers (Kerr at front)

I am a great admirer of the singer-arranger-composer Anita Kerr, who brings us an Easter hymn, "The Strife is O'er, the Battle Won," adapted from Palestrina. But this 1952 record is just not one of her best. A shame because she made so many good ones!

In a much different vein is "The Bunny Hop," a hit for Ray Anthony in 1954. But here we eschew Ray's Capitol platter in favor of Lee Roy and His Band, on the Epic label. "Lee Roy" was in fact Ray's brother, who sometimes played baritone sax in Ray's band. I find this sibling record rivalry to be odd, to say the least. I do love the song, though.

Duke Ellington

Capitol was not above making the great Duke Ellington record some lesser material during his tenure with the label. Case in point is the "Bunny Hop Mambo" from 1954, which is just what is seems to be, only disjointed on the Duke's end. The "hop-hop-hop" in this one is more like "lurch-lurch-lurch."

Fortunately, Frankie Yankovic's "Bunny Polka," also from 1954, is not the "Bunny Hop" in disguise, but rather a piece by the bandleader and his arranger, Joe Trolli. This is not one of the Polka King's most regal accomplishments, but pleasant even so.

Country pop singer Rusty Draper had a number of big records for Mercury in the mid-50s. The unfamiliar "Easter Mornin'" from 1954 was not one of his  successes, but entertaining in its unassuming way. The conductor is famed producer Hugo Peretti.

I hope you will not mind one final reprise of "Easter Parade," in a smooth arrangement for the Men of the Robert Shaw Chorus, here conducted by Ralph Hunter, who succeeded Shaw as conductor of the Collegiate Chorale at about the same time as the record came out (1954).

Our final number is the little-noticed "Two Easter Sunday Sweethearts," the flip side of English singer Vera Lynn's 1954 pressing of "Du Bist Mein Liebshoen." But even "Du Bist" was a minor record compared to Lynn's big hit that year, "If You Love Me (Really Love Me)." In the ad at bottom, Lynn arrives on the HMS Queen Elizabeth bearing a big present of "If You Love Me" for the American market, with the other record tucked in her handbag.

I hope everyone has a good holiday. We always host a family gathering on Easter Sunday, but not this year. Facetime will have to do. I am grateful even so for all the blessings that have been bestowed on me over the years, not the least of which are the loyal readers of this blog. My best to you all.

1954 Billboard ad (click to enlarge)

Buster's New Year Selection

While Christmas music is rife, there aren't all that many tunes celebrating the holiday that comes along one week later, New Year's Day. If I asked you to name a New Year's song, you would probably reply "Auld Lang Syne" and then draw a blank.

But over the years there have been quite a few records marking the New Year, which I discovered by nosing around Internet Archive. I found several different "Happy New Year" songs along with an "Unhappy New Year," and many takes on "Auld Lang Syne," including a polka, a bluegrass version and an "Auld Lang Syne Boogie." In all, I was able to build a 22-song compilation of 78s dating from 1907 to 1956. A few notes about each follow.

Cal Stewart

The oldest platter is Cal Stewart's "Uncle Josh's New Year Pledge," a comic monologue that seems strangely without comedy 113 years later. Stewart was a vaudeville star who made many records in his "Uncle Josh" guise. Although we may find him unfunny, the character was influential - you can find traces of him in Will Rogers and Charley Weaver, among others.

From 1915, we have the Victor Light Opera Company presenting "Gems from Chin Chin," an "orientalist fantasy" by Ivan Caryll and Anne Caldwell that was on Broadway at the time. Such "orientalist" productions were popular at the time. The best known is probably Chu Chin Chow, which came along a few years later. "Gems from Chin Chin" begins with a "Happy New Year" number.

Don Redman

We leap ahead a few decades to Don Redman and his swing arrangement of "Auld Lang Syne" recorded in 1938. The band vocal consists entirely of counting to 20 and then reversing course. Novelty vocals were a feature of Redman's repertoire.

From 1942, we have Bing Crosby's commercial recording of "Let's Start the New Year Right," a song that Irving Berlin wrote for the Crosby-Astaire film Holiday Inn. Crosby's vocal in the film is much livelier.

Dinah Shore recorded an deeply felt wartime version of "Auld Lang Syne" in 1944, with backing by the Sportsmen and an orchestra conducted by the short-lived Albert Sack. This is surely one of the best records in this collection.

At about the same time, the Warsaw Dance Orchestra produced a polka called "New Year" for the small Harmonia label, which specialized in ethnic recordings.

Fred Waring, his choral group and the Pennsylvanians did a stirring version of the Brown and Henderson song "Let Us All Sing Auld Lang Syne" in 1945.

We return to the polka realm with Bill Gale and His Globetrotters, who recorded their "Auld Lang Syne Polka" for Columbia in 1946. Gale, who I believe was from Chicago, was born Bill Gula and had made records in earlier years with his Bee Gee Tavern Band, including a cover version of the "Beer Barrel Polka," a major hit in 1939 for Will Glahé.

One of the lesser-known romantic crooners of the era was the talented John Laurenz, who recorded for Mercury, including "A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year" in 1948. I also included this song in last year's Christmas compilation, noting at that time, "If there are any Bowery Boys fans out there, you may be interested to know that Laurenz dubbed Huntz Hall's vocals in the great Blues Busters, in which Satch becomes the world's most unlikely romantic crooner."

Also from 1948 we have "Happy New Year" from Jeffrey Clay, the Serenaders and Dana records honcho Gus Dana. This is a most peculiar children's record, with two youngsters saying goodbye to a depressed sounding "Mr. Old Year" and welcoming in the new. The boy character is played by a young boy, but the girl is a woman trying to sound like a child and mainly coming off as demented. After the baby New Year makes an appearance amidst some unconvincing sound effects, the record turns into a polka. The vocal is presumably by Jeffrey Clay.

Freddy Morgan, Sir Frederick Gas, Doodles Weaver, Spike Jones

Spike Jones and crew trot out their New Year's resolutions in "Happy New Year" from 1948, with contributions from the usual culprits - Sir Frederick Gas, Doodles Weaver, George Rock and Spike himself. Freddy Morgan and Eddie Brandt wrote this wildly politically incorrect nonsense.

Freddie Mitchell

Next comes the "Auld Lang Syne Boogie" from Freddie Mitchell, his honking saxophone and his orchestra. Freddie made this in 1949 for the Derby label, where he led the house band. I uploaded a Mitchell compilation about 10 years ago, and have newly remastered the sound for those who like this type of R&B.

The great vocal duo of Jackie Cain and Roy Kral chose "Auld Lang Syne" for one of their first solo records, which they made for Atlantic in 1949 as the "Roy Kral - Jackie Cain Sextet." This was at about the time that they departed from the Charlie Ventura band.

Also in 1949, the wonderful English singer Vera Lynn produced an emotional reading of "Auld Lang Syne" with the subtitle "The Good-night Waltz." The backing is by Robert Farnon's orchestra and the Mitchell Men.

Songwriters Carmen Lombardo and Johnny Marks came up with a number called "Happy New Year, Darling" in 1946. I haven't found a recording by the Lombardo clan, but veteran bandleader Ted Black did a smooth version in 1949 with a Dick Edwards vocal.

Composer-arranger Gordon Jenkins had a predilection for downbeat songs. You may be familiar with "Goodbye," which Benny Goodman used as his closing theme and which Frank Sinatra featured on his Only the Lonely LP. But Jenkins' "Happy New Year" is surely the most depressing of the group, here in a 1949 recording by the composer with Bob Senn as solo vocalist.

Eddie (Piano) Miller

More sprightly is the next number, a "New Year Medley" from Eddie (Piano) Miller, also from 1949. Miller was one of the first practitioners of the "old-timey" piano sound - a genre I generally avoid. These pianists with their corny effects, sleeve garters and bowler hats were inescapable in the 1950s.

More to my taste is "Haouli Maka Hiki Hou! (Happy New Year!)" from one of the most famous Hawaiian musicians, Genoa Keawe, here with her Polynesians. This record is on the 49th State Record Company label, and dates from 1950, nine years before Hawaii became the 50th state. The name was apparently invented in an excess of postwar optimism about statehood.

The Oklahoma Wranglers - Skeeter, Vic and Guy Willis
with Chuck Wright

The Oklahoma Wranglers were the first incarnation of the Willis Brothers, who later became known for truck-drivin' songs, notably "Give Me Forty Acres (To Turn This Rig Around)." The Wranglers (brothers Guy, Skeeter and Vic along with bassist Chuck Wright, who was billed as the “Silent Old Indian”) made a living backing Hank Williams and then Eddy Arnold while recording such fare as "Unhappy New Year" for RCA Victor in 1951.

Nicola Paone put out many ethnically-tinged records in the 1950s, mostly for his own label. His "New Year Song" was released by RCA Victor in 1952.

Billy Ward and His Dominoes were among the most popular R&B groups of the early 1950s, scoring with "Sixty Minute Man" among others. In 1953, Ward came up with "Ringing in a Brand New Year" for the King label. R&B expert Marv Goldberg isn't sure who sang lead, but says it was probably Billy. It certainly wasn't Jackie Wilson, who succeeded Clyde McPhatter as the group's lead vocalist around this time.

Bobby and Sonny Osborne, with Jimmy Martin

We close our collection with a superb bluegrass reading of "Auld Lang Syne" from Sonny Osborne with the Sunny Mountain Boys. The 18-year-old Sonny was already a veteran musician who had been recording for Gateway for several years. The fiddle solo here is probably the work of Sonny's brother Bobby. The siblings would later be billed as the Osborne Brothers, and would become famous for their incredible 1967 recording of "Rocky Top."

The sound on these is generally excellent - even the 113-year-old record sounds good. Best wishes for a happy and prosperous new year to all!

Seasonal Fare from Mid-Century England

This post is an opportunity to present some of my favorite singers from England's postwar music scene. Dame Vera Lynn has appeared here before, but Lita Roza, Dame Gracie Fields and the wonderful Anne Shelton have not.

The theme, given the time of year, is Christmas music or at least vaguely seasonal fare, with a good mix of familiar and unfamiliar songs. All are from Decca London 78s in my collection.

Vera Lynn

Let's start with three selections from the most famous and beloved vocalist of the group - Dame Vera Lynn, still with us at age 100. Her items are all relatively unfamiliar, and attractive in their own ways - "Christmas Time" and "Jolly Jolly Jingle" from 1950, and the gorgeous "Once Upon a Wintertime" from 1948. "Jolly Jolly Jingle," with small group accompaniment, is notable for being more relaxed and uptempo than most of Dame Vera's repertoire. The other backings are by the ubiquitous Bob Farnon.

Gracie Fields

Our next artist, Gracie Fields, is equally renowned, but perhaps more as a music hall and film personality than as a great pop vocalist. That said, she does well with a warm rendition of "White Christmas," but can't make much out of the awkward and treacly "Christmas Love." The accompaniments on this 1948 issue are again by Bob Farnon.

Anne Shelton

One of the great voices of the time was undoubtedly that of contralto Anne Shelton, allied to her considerable expressive skill as a singer. Her selections start with the familiar "Greensleeves" (from circa 1948), then move on to the affecting "This Is the Time of the Year" (circa 1948-9) and a beautiful version of "While the Angelus Was Ringing" (from 1949). The latter song was a hit for Edith Piaf a few years before as "Les Trois Cloches" and made a comeback as "The Three Bells" for the Browns in 1959. Shelton's orchestra leaders are Jay Wilbur, Bernie Landes and Roy Robertson, respectively.

Lita Roza

We complete our miniature survey with a single from a slightly newer artist, Lita Roza, who is perhaps the least known of the quartet here in the US, although well regarded among pop vocal enthusiasts. Her first hit was in 1953 (the same year as this single) with a cover of Patti Page's notorious "How Much Is that Doggy In the Window?" Perhaps under the spell of the Singing Rage, Roza at times tries to sing with her tongue stuck to her palate, but the vocals still emerge well enough, surprisingly enough. Here she assays "The Little Boy That Santa Claus Forgot," a song that careens into the mawkish given half a chance. Roza manages to just avoid the trap. The best versions are probably the warm and caring renditions by Vera Lynn and Nat Cole. We end up with the "St. Nicolas Waltz," which, appropriately, seems inspired by Patti Page's hit version of the "Tennessee Waltz." The only differences: a seasonal rather than geographic orientation, and it isn't nearly as good a song. Well worth listening to, though, and nicely done. Johnny Douglas with the backings.

Many of the singles I have presented here are from old store stock or deejay copies. Not these, though, so I hope you will forgive some background rustle and a few other sonic artifacts from Christmases long ago.

England's Newest Hitmaker - Vera Lynn

I was amazed to read last week that the top spot on the British album charts was claimed by Dame Vera Lynn, who vaulted to number one over those comparative newcomers, the Beatles. The UK must be in the throes of one of its periodic spasms of nostalgia.

Well, I think it's a wonderful thing, because Dame Vera - still with us at 92 - was a fine singer who managed to be approachable while being artful. Somehow she used her extreme skill as a vocalist to draw us closer, and the catch in her voice was always endearing rather than annoying.

This 1949 LP provides a chance to hear her in some characteristic selections, with backing on most tracks by Robert Farnon, the great arranger (he is called Bob Farnon here). His work is beautifully suited to the vocals, and the greeting-card perfection of the cover could not be more apt, as well.

Now the bad news - I transferred two different pressings of this LP using two turntables and three cartridges and was not able to avoid a certain amount of peak distortion on Dame Vera's voice. It apparently was on the master. Still, I hope you enjoy this as much as Dame Vera must be enjoying her renewed celebrity.