Ronnie Deauville, Part 3

Bill Reed (of the People vs. Dr. Chilledair) and I have been attempting to draw attention to the wonderful singer Ronnie Deauville lately by writing about him and sharing his recordings. (See my two previous posts on Ronnie for more information.)

Today I am pleased to present one of Deauville's best records, Gloria (yes, it's the same song that later became a doo-wop staple). This is, in my view, simply one of the great vocal records, with Ronnie perfectly in tune with the lyrics. The same is true of the second item for today, Deauville's version of The Night Is Young and You're So Beautiful.

Both of these sides were made with Ray Anthony's band, where Deauville first made his name. The earlier record is on Signature. Most of the Anthony recordings (including The Night Is Young) were on Capitol, where the bandleader made records for many years. The Night Is Young is an excellent example of Anthony's many Glenn Miller-style arrangements.

See Bill Reed's blog for a real Deauville rarity, Ronnie's version of Comme Ci, Comme Ca.

LINK

First Recording of Copland's Clarinet Concerto

Benny Goodman commissioned Aaron Copland's Clarinet Concerto in 1948, and although Goodman's stereo recording is well known, this earlier edition, from 1950, is not.

Columbia took Goodman and Copland to its 30th Street studio in New York for the November 1950 session. Benny sounds cautious but does no serious harm to this gorgeous composition.

A few months later, the illustrious New York Quartet went to the same studio to tape a thornier composition, Copland's Piano Quartet, for the Clarinet Concerto's coupling. These days, works in Copland's populist style are generally packaged together. Not so back then.

The New York Quartet had presented the first performance of the Piano Quartet a few months before this recording, which must have been all that Copland could have wished for. The quartet's members were Mieczysław Horszowski, piano, Alexander Schneider, violin, Milton Katims, viola, and Frank Miller, cello.

Perhaps Columbia sensed that they were creating historic recordings, because the sound is better than much of the sludge that came out of its 30th Street site. And these are historic recordings indeed. It's curious that they are not better known.

NEW LINK

Tony Bennett, Part 1

I had a request from Scoredaddy, a Tony Bennett fancier, for some early sides by the great singer. So here is Tony's first LP, from 1952, featuring his first mega-hit, "Because of You." 

In the time-honored practice of record companies everywhere, in 1956 Columbia released another 10-inch LP with the same name but with almost completely different contents (the cover is below). For this post I have combined the eight songs on the LP above with the four songs on the LP below that aren't redundant. I suppose that makes this the "Complete Because of You." 

In the time between the two LPs, Columbia decided that it made great sense to add even more reverb to the already echoey sound on the original recordings, making the newer LP somewhat boomy sounding. This is a near-universal tendency among reissue engineers that has always baffled me. Today's reissues of the material from this era usually have reverb added, a heightened mid-range, and are cut at a high level. As a result they sound overbearing and are hard to listen to for any length of time. 

Well, enough of the diatribe, which has nothing to do with Bennett, after all. Those of you who have not heard much early Tony will discover that his approach back then was more intense and showy than his later style. By the way, this record includes "While We're Young," which is one of Alec Wilder's best known tunes. I suspect the influence of Columbia A&R chief Mitch Miller, who was a Wilder associate. Columbia's Rosemary Clooney also recorded the tune at about the same time, and it is the the title song of one of her early LPs. 

Note (July 2023): this has not been remastered in ambient stereo.

High Tor

Here is a fine musical adaptation of Maxwell Anderson's 1937 fantasy, High Tor, produced for television in 1956. It starred one long-time star, Bing Crosby, and one future star, Julie Andrews. The music was by Arthur Schwartz and lyrics by Anderson himself.

Julie Andrews and Bing Crosby

Crosby plays Van Van Dorn, who owns High Tor (a real mountain along the Hudson). The character is very close to Bing's usual persona, an unassuming, unambitious, but wise and highly principled fellow - a type that was a common hero figure in those times, an idealized American Everyman.

Nancy Olson and Everett Sloane

I am fond of the music, and the background scoring by Joseph J. Lilley (who did a lot of work with Bing and Bob Hope, among other major stars) adds greatly to the mood. Crosby narrates the story in characteristic fashion. Also in the cast are Everett Sloane (who even sings), Nancy Olson and the ubiquitous character actors Hans Conried and Lloyd Corrigan.

Here is an article on the production - thanks to noted musician Dana Countryman for the link.

This record was not reissued for many years, and may never have had an official reissue. It now (June 2023) has been remastered in very good ambient stereo.

Rozsa's Own Recording of The Red House

The fine film composer Miklos Rózsa made a suite from the music he wrote for the 1947 Edward G. Robinson potboiler The Red House, and recorded it for this Capitol release. It first came out on 78s and then in 1951 on this EP (among other formats).

While the music is not Rózsa's best work, nor is this Capitol's best recording, it is certainly worth your time.

I have to admit that my favorite part of this release is this wonderfully melodramatic (and anonymous) cover, which is redolent of the best contemporary poster art. The title and the cover images may lead you to believe that the film has something to do with clandestine Commies, but not so, according to IMDB.

Capitol packaged these recordings with other EPs containing Rózsa's music from Quo Vadis and Spellbound for a 12-inch recording.

LINK to 2026 remastering

Buddy Clark, Part 3

Another post devoted to the work of the short-lived singer Buddy Clark, here in the company of Dinah Shore, who brightened the American airwaves until relatively recently.

This LP is actually a compilation of singles: two sides by Clark, two by Shore, and four duets. Columbia issued this album among its first LPs, in 1948.

This record's original owner was one Ross C. Kendall of Polk, Pa., who helpfully noted that it is "An Excellent Record" in large script on the cover. I won't disagree, although I did obliterate Ross' evaluation in preparing the image above.

Jimmy Yancey

Returning to the Label "X" series of blues and jazz reissues, here is Jimmy Yancey, a Chicago pianist who achieved a certain renown relatively late in life.

This 10-inch record collates sides that Yancey made in 1939 and 1940 for Bluebird, the RCA label. They were among his first recordings, and the first for a major label. He was about 40 years old (his birth year is disputed).

At that time Yancey had been a Chicago White Sox groundskeeper for some years and did not play music full-time. But his playing nonetheless was held in high regard by his fellow pianists. Yancey's imagination and sense of style are in full display here.

The cover of this album, in common with the others on Label "X" featured on this site previously, is by Paul Bacon.

You can read more about Yancey here. He died in 1951.