Buddy Greco

Recently Will Friedwald let me know that Buddy Greco was celebrating his 85th birthday (it was August 14), and suggested that I might want to mark the occasion with a post devoted to the great swinging vocalist.

I'll do better than that - this is the first of two posts devoted to Buddy. Will is a great admirer of his, so let me quote from Will's recent book A Biographical Guide to the Great Jazz and Pop Singers, where he calls Greco "the perfect synthesis of the two greatest male jazz-pop artists of the mid-twentieth century, Frank Sinatra and Nat King Cole." As Will says, Buddy has the swagger of Frank and the piano skill and precision of Nat.

Buddy in 1957

This 1956 LP, unreissued since then, is a good example. Unlike most of Greco's later records, it features his piano playing along with his singing, with repertoire selected from shows then (or recently) on Broadway. The least known show on the list is the Harry Warren flop Shangri-La, which closed in less than a month. Interestingly, this record contains a song that apparently did not make it into the final show, "Listen to the Sound of My Love." This suggests that this record was taped in the run-up to the show's June opening.

As Will points out in his book, Buddy heavily influenced the swinging side of Bobby Darin, and the template for Darin's biggest hit can be heard on this LP - "Mack the Knife," although Darin's version is more flamboyant and has a big band backing. Greco also influenced (either directly or through Darin) such quasi-rock artists as Bobby Rydell.

Broadway Melodies was Buddy's first LP for Kapp and only his second overall, I believe. Too bad that Kapp did not do very good work on the sound. Buddy sounds like he was recorded in a closet and his band like they were recorded in another closet down the hall. I've done my best to address this, with some success, and the results are pleasant if not the ultimate in fidelity.

As a bonus, I've included a single that Buddy recorded at about the same time as the album. It couples "Love Don't Be a Stranger" with "In Time to Come". The latter is a Carolyn Leigh-Phil Springer song that is strongly reminiscent of their hit for Sinatra, "How Little We Know," which had come out just a few months earlier. Jerry Wald contributes a suitably Riddle-like arrangement to the effort.

These days, Springer is best known for "Santa Baby," but he also had such gems as "I Want Eddie Fisher for Christmas." Carolyn Leigh was just about to embark on a notable partnership with Cy Coleman, which brought forth another Sinatra classic, "Witchcraft," along with such shows as Wildcat and Little Me.

Oddly, the sound on the 45 is much better than the LP. I'll be back at a later time with some of Buddy's early recordings for Coral and other labels.

More Wally Stott (Angela Morley)

Yes, there's no business like show business, and nothing conveys the glamour of show biz like a sickly green photo of a conductor, eh?

Poor Wally Stott did not have much luck with the art directors, as this very early Epic LP demonstrates. Fortunately, the music inside is much lovelier than the packaging. Stott was one of the best arrangers of the day, and this is a delightful compilation of Irving Berlin tunes.

Wally Stott

As a bonus, I've added a Columbia EP containing extended versions of "Deep Purple" and "September Song". The cover (below) is a clumsy combination of a magenta blob and a yellow explosion left over from a dime-store sales circular.

Some of the songs on the LP also appear on my previous Wally Stott post from a few years ago, where I pointed out that Stott later became Angela Morley, composer of such movie scores as Watership Down and an arranger who worked closely with John Williams among others. She died in early 2009.

Return of RCA's "Show Time" Series

Here's another installment in RCA's "Show Time" Series of potted musicals, issued in 1953. This one was spurred by a request for The Little Show, and so we start off with an EP that presents hits from that 1929 revue.

You'll notice that the cover calls this The Little Shows rather than The Little Show. That's because one of the songs is from The Third Little Show, from 1931 - "When Yuba Plays the Rhumba on the Tuba," which hardly merits its inclusion.

Carol Bruce as Julie

The star of this record is Carol Bruce, who presents two songs associated with Libby Holman (recently heard on this blog), outdoing the originator with superb versions of "Can't We Be Friends" and "Moanin' Low." Bruce is perhaps best known for appearing as Julie in the 1946 revival of Show Boat. At the time of this recording, she was touring in Pal Joey. I was so impressed by her performance, that I went in search of my copy of her 1958 Tops LP, only to find it has gone missing. I'll be sure to transfer it if I ever locate it.

The EP's second side is less enthralling. Sheila Bond (then in Wish You Were Here and previously heard on this blog post) belts "I Guess I'll Have to Change My Plan." Her rendition will be a shock to those used to the urbane Fred Astaire-Jack Buchanan version or the wry Sinatra recording.

Finally, Hiram Sherman sprechstimmes his way through "Yuba," Herman Hupfeld's other hit. Arranger Lehman Engel thankfully spares us the tuba effects. I wonder if Yuba, his tuba and Cuba inspired "Katie Went to Haiti," which didn't appear for another eight years. Sherman had won a Tony that year for putting up with Bette Davis in Two's Company, and would win another one 15 years later.

Note that although the back cover credits Howard Dietz and Arthur Schwartz with the score of The Little Show, only "I Guess I'll Have to Change My Plan" is by that team. "Can't We Be Friends" is by Paul James and Kay Swift, and "Moanin' Low" is by Dietz and Ralph Rainger.

Morrow and Lanza match pompadours

To fill out this post, I've added the Show Time Series version of Naughty Marietta, the 1910 Victor Herbert operetta with lyrics by Rida Johnson Young. For this EP, RCA paired Doretta Morrow with Felix Knight. Morrow was a fine artist who introduced many famous songs during her appearances in the original casts of Where's Charley (the incredibly gorgeous "My Darling, My Darling"), The King and I ("I Have Dreamed" and "We Kiss in Shadow") and Kismet ("Baubles, Bangles and Beads"). When this record was made, she had just appeared with Mario Lanza in the film Because You're Mine and was on Broadway in Kismet.

Felix Knight is perhaps best known for singing in three Laurel and Hardy films. A reliable artist, he pops up on a number of operetta recordings.

This version of Naughty Marietta was conducted by Jay Blackton, who was in the pit for many famed Broadway productions, starting with Oklahoma. He was conducting Wish You Were Here when these records were made.

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.

More William Warfield Recordings

I promised another early recording by the great bass-baritone William Warfield, and here it is. This brief collection of songs of folk origin or folk influence was recorded in May 1952 in Columbia's 30th Street Studio, and issued in the label's low-priced AAL series. I don't believe it has been reissued - a pity; it's superb.

The cover is likely a reflection of both Warfield's then-fame from his portrayal of Joe in the 1951 film version of Show Boat, as well as the repertoire.

William Warfield

The conductor for this record is the estimable Lehman Engel. It's possible, even likely, that he authored the arrangements.

A few comments on the contents:

"Deep River" is an anonymous spiritual of African American origin. It has been used in several films, including the 1929 film version of Show Boat, although it was not in the stage production. This and two other songs on this record had also been recorded by Paul Robeson, one of Warfield's acknowledged inspirations.

"Water Boy" apparently originated as a work song. This version is apparently based on the arrangement made by Avery Robinson for Roland Hayes (another Warfield inspiration), although that arrangement was for piano and this is an orchestral arrangement. (I also have an odd version of the song recorded by Clara Rockmore on theremin.)

"Without a Song," a show tune with music by Vincent Youmans and lyrics by Billy Rose and Edward Eliscu, is from 1929. It would seem to have been influenced by "Old Man River." (And I suppose this entire LP was an attempt to capitalize on Warfield's famous rendition.)

"Mah Lindy Lou" is a superb song by Lily Strickland, who was influenced by African-American songs she heard in the American South. The song was published in 1920, and Robeson and the operatic soprano Amelita Galli-Curci had popular versions (both are on YouTube).

"Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair" is of course by the remarkable Stephen Foster, written in 1854.

"Dusty Road" has been claimed by two different songwriting teams - René and René and Parish and Perkins - which suggests that the song may have a folk origin. Its theme of enduring hard times on the path to an eternal reward is often found in the genre. Interestingly, the opening fanfare of the arrangement is influenced by the music written by English composers for nobility.

Leontyne Price and William Warfield

I mentioned in my previous Warfield post that he was in a famous production of Porgy and Bess with Leontyne Price. I've enclosed as a bonus their recording of "Bess, You Is My Woman Now" from that production. It was recorded live in Berlin in September 1952 - a few weeks after Warfield and Price were married.

Good sound on these fine recordings, now (June 2023) newly remastered in ambient stereo.

Ezio Pinza and Mr. Imperium

Another installment in our ongoing series looking at Ezio Pinza's career as a movie star following his retirement from the operatic stage. Here we have the quasi-soundtrack from his 1951 starring vehicle Mr. Imperium. (It's a quasi-soundtrack because the songs were remade in the studio for RCA Victor.)

Once again playing to type, Pinza is a playboy prince who becomes romantically entangled with singer Lana Turner (dubbed by Trudy Erwin). Apparently Pinza tried to make life imitate art, but Turner would not succumb to his royal presence.

I have watched some of the film (just enough to get a sense of Pinza's performance), and can report that you will not see such broad acting outside of an Abbott & Costello comedy. If you want to sample the movie yourself, it's available on Internet Archive.

The good news is that some of the songs here are by Harold Arlen and Dorothy Fields, a self-recommending pair, although this is hardly their finest work. On "Andiamo" and the unpromising "My Love and My Mule," Pinza is joined by RCA contractee Fran Warren (billed as "Fran Warren, soprano" for the first and surely the last time). Fran was from the Bronx and probably had never been within a thousand miles of a mule. She was, however, a good singer who even so sounds distinctly thin next to Pinza. By the way, despite what Wikipedia tells you, Lana Turner's songs in the film were dubbed not by Warren but by Trudy Erwin.

Fran Warren

Also to be heard from Pinza  are three songs chosen, no doubt, for their potential as a "Some Enchanted Evening" blockbuster - "Yesterdays," "September Song" and Augustin Lara's superb "You Belong to My Heart" - all highly enjoyable. The singing is magnificent.

Pinza never did become a movie star, but he made the most of his time in the spotlight - in the liquor ad below, he is shown in one of his Mr. Imperium costumes (click to enlarge). This transfer is from a mint 45 box set and has very good sound. Note (May 2024): it has now been remastered in ambient stereo and the sound is better than ever.

LINK

William Warfield in Copland and Dougherty Song Settings

William Warfield was one of the finest bass-baritone talents of the post-war period in the US. Today he is perhaps most closely associated with the role of Joe in Show Boat and of Porgy in Porgy and Bess, and the "Old American Song" settings of Aaron Copland, first issued on this LP.

Following service in the armed forces, Warfield had achieved some success on the lyric stage, first in the touring company of Call Me Mister, singing such numbers as "Going Home Train" and "Face on the Dime". He then was Cal in the original cast of Marc Blitzstein's 1949 opera Regina.

Warfield's pivotal appearance was a well-received 1950 recital in New York's Town Hall. One critic wrote, "He is endowed with a noble voice, warmth of temperament, a feeling for the stage and great sincerity." This success seems to have led, at least indirectly, to being cast in Show Boat and to a recording contract with Columbia. This record, taped in Columbia's 30th Street studios in August 1951, was the first to be issued under that contract.

Warfield and Copland at the recording session

Warfield had introduced the "Old American Songs" earlier in the year. The Copland settings have become justly famous because of Warfield's marvelous interpretations, which are in turn sharp, tender and witty. The composer soon produced a second book of such songs, which he and Warfield recorded in August 1953. These remained unissued until 1999. (I have included the second set in the download.) Copland later orchestrated both books; he and Warfield recorded them for a 1963 Columbia LP, which also included Benny Goodman's second recording of Copland's Clarinet Concerto.

The fame of the "Old American Songs" has overshadowed the other songs on this record, which is a shame because they, too, are very worthwhile. These five Sea Chanties were arranged by Celius Dougherty, a pianist and composer who specialized in song settings.

Celius Dougherty

Dougherty had made a living for many years as an accompanist. (Strangely, he does not accompany Warfield on his songs; Otto Herz does.) When this record appeared, Dougherty was part of a successful two-piano team with Vincenz Ruzicka. As a composer, Dougherty often worked with nautical themes in tribute to his brother Ralph, a sailor who was killed in the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor. These particular chanties form a most enjoyable set, with clever accompaniments and Warfield again in splendid form.