Ray Anthony and Swing Fox Trots

I've featured many dance bands of the 1950s, but never one of the most popular, Ray Anthony's ensemble.

Some of Anthony's records have been reissued, but not this one, as far as I know. This is one of his collaborations, if you can call it that, with Arthur Murray, who started a chain of dance studios that is still teaching 'em to tango. Murray lent his name to a series of records on Capitol that were devoted to different types of dances, usually with the steps illustrated. Not here, alas, although Murray did include a certificate for a free lesson; mine is missing so may have been put to good use.

I was taught to dance by my dear mother, the former Shirley Temple of Cleveland (or so she claimed), and had no need of Murray's ministrations. I don't recall Mama suggesting that I tackle the "swing fox trot," and frankly I am not sure what that means, and have actually been baffled by the term "fox trot" since I first saw it on a 78 way too many years ago.

Anthony and his knockout wife, Mamie Van Doren

Those of you intrigued by this record don't need to worry about such things; there is no requirement that you dance if you download. You only need to listen to Anthony's band assay some fairly basic arrangements of medium-tempo dance tunes, taped in August 1954. No arranger is listed, but I suspect it was Billy May, who worked on at least one other Anthony LP and was recording and arranging for Capitol at the time. The arrangements sound like his work, although there are no slurping saxophones, thank goodness. Anthony was known as a Glenn Miller-type band, but there is no hint of that sound here.

By the way, the first song ("Poor Butterfly") ends with a "duh-duhduh-duh" cadence; for those of you who did not grow up on US television programs of the early 1950s, this was the motto theme of Jack Webb's Dragnet. Anthony had a hit with the theme in 1953, and I suppose this was the arranger's droll take on the end of the Butterfly saga.

Swing Fox Trots was the second LP that Anthony recorded under the Murray imprint, and he did at least one more later on. The sound here is not Capitol's best, but is listenable.

The Mary Kaye Trio

The Mary Kaye Trio was a staple of Las Vegas nightlife for many years. Mary Kaye herself was an expressive singer with a superb voice. Those skills are in evidence here as well, although they are subordinate to the vivid, larger-than-life presence that the Trio exhibited in its day-to-day battle to be heard above the din of a lounge bar, where they made their name and living. That means elaborate and sometimes explosive vocal arrangements where subtlety was not a consideration. A few generations of cocktail lounge groups copied the trio's approach.

1948 ad (click to enlarge)

The Mary Kaye Trio is sometimes said to have invented the lounge act in Las Vegas in the early 1950s, which seems unlikely. The ad at left in fact shows them as appearing in the Theatrical Grille in Cleveland in 1948, and the Theatrical certainly was a lounge bar. Mary, her brother Norman Kaye and Frankie Ross were probably no different from many other acts that appeared on the nightclub circuit, sometimes appearing solo and sometimes as an opener to a bigger act. What is likely is that the trio was the first to be booked into a Las Vegas lounge as overnight entertainment for the drinkers and gamblers who didn't want to go home. And it is there that they found a following.

As you will note in the ad, the Mary Kaye Trio was originally the Mary Kaaihue Trio. The Ka'aihues were Hawaiians, supposedly of noble extraction, although I couldn't tell you if that was truth or publicity. Their father played the ukelele professionally, and they followed him into the musical trade. They must have had Hawaiian music in the act at the beginning, and made an album of it for Apollo in 1947. The trio filmed a Soundie in 1946, but I couldn't find it on YouTube.

What can be found on that site is their appearance in the 1957 film Bop Girl Goes Calypso doing "Fools Rush In" using the same arrangement that is on Music on a Silver Platter. This then segues into a piece of their act, with clowning from Frankie Ross and a Liberace impression from Norman. Next is "Calypso Rock," mercifully not on the LP. I don't think that Mary was the bop girl who went calypso; that was the talented but short-lived Judy Tyler.

1956 ad

"Calypso Rock" may be as close at the trio ever got to rock 'n' roll, although Mary Kaye somehow became known as the "First Lady of Rock 'n' Roll," at least in the Fender guitar promotional materials. The group appeared in a 1956 Fender ad, and the model guitar shown was later named for Mary Kaye. Nonetheless, she usually played D'Angelico guitars, as she does in the YouTube clip.

Music on a Silver Platter (what came first: the title or the awful cover concept?) was their second Decca LP. They had recorded earlier for Columbia, Capitol, M-G-M and RCA Victor, as well as Apollo, and would go on to Warner Bros. and 20th Century Fox, if I recall correctly. The Silver Platter songs were probably intended as singles, although I have only been able to trace a few of them having been issued that way. There are arrangements by Jud Conlan and Russ Garcia (including the trombone-heavy "Fools Rush In"), but most are anonymous. The sound is reasonably good. This is presented by request.

Kathryn Grayson in Grounds for Marriage

Here we go again with one of our obscure soundtrack LPs, once again featuring Kathryn Grayson.

In 1951's Grounds for Marriage, Grayson plays an opera singer, which she reputedly wanted to be in real life. Most all the music on this album is from operas, namely Le Coq d'Or, Carmen and La Bohème. This is all fairly well performed, except for the nasal tenor in "O Soave Fanciulla". But you can hear the arias better performed on many other records, so the package works best as a souvenir of the film.

I haven't seen Grounds for Marriage, but the plot synopsis makes it sound like a contrived farce (so I probably would enjoy it). Van Johnson plays Grayson's ex-husband.

The only non-operatic piece on the program is a Toy Concertino, written by David Raksin for the film. Bronislau Kaper wrote the other soundtrack music, but none of it appears on the LP. The sound is good.

1952 ad (click to enlarge)

Van Kempen Conducts Brahms

Here's another release from American Decca's budget 4000 Series from the early 1950s, which I am presenting here occasionally.

Van Kempen

Much of Decca's classical output at the time originated with Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft, and this is an example. It is a good set of the Brahms Hungarian Dances led by Paul van Kempen, a talented Dutch conductor, who is not that well known today.

The German company recorded the Berlin Philharmonic in the Jesus-Christus-Kirche for this release, with the sessions taking place in September 1952. The sound is good.

Original DGG cover

Much of van Kempen's career was in Germany, including posts in Aachen and Dresden during the war, and so he was controversial in the Netherlands in the postwar years, with one of his concerts there reputedly disrupted by protests.

Van Kempen died at age 62 in 1955.

Stubby Kaye

If the name "Stubby Kaye" does not sound familiar, you probably are not a fan of old musicals or an American of a certain age who grew up with the television on.

These days, Kaye is best known for his appearances in two classic musicals - as Nicely-Nicely Johnson in Guys and Dolls and as Marryin' Sam in L'il Abner. In both cases, Kaye originated the role on Broadway and carried over his remarkable performances to the films.

Kaye was a comic who started in vaudeville and USO shows, but his strong, pleasing voice and rhythmic sense made him ideal for certain musical comedy parts, and he made the most of "Fugue for Tinhorns" and especially "Sit Down, You're Rocking the Boat" in Guys and Dolls, his big break on Broadway, which came in 1950. "Jubilation T. Cornpone" from L'il Abner is hardly less memorable. All can be found on YouTube.

This present LP is from 1959, and gives Kaye the opportunity to be heard in a different repertoire. Truth be told, he sounds a little under rehearsed, and is much more at home in rhythm songs than in the slower numbers. His pitching is not always true, and Seeco did him no favors by apparently speeding up the whole LP a full step, accentuating any insecurity. (I have adjusted this, and the result is much more pleasing.)

You have to love any album cover and title that are a takes on a theme by Sinatra - in this case two records, Songs for Young Lovers and Songs for Swingin' Lovers.

Quite a few recordings to this day have done this. A perusal of Google Images yielded the following:

Songs For Swinging Larvae (Renaldo and the Loaf)
Songs for Swinging Mothers (one of those parody album covers with no record)
Songs for Swinging Housemothers (a book)
Songs for Swinging Sellers (Peter)
Songs for Swinging Losers (Buddy Greco)
Songs for Swinging Losers (The Losers)
Songs for Swinging Voters
Songs for Swinging Survivors (Mick Softley)
For Swingin' Livers Only (Allan Sherman)
Songs for Swinging Landlords
Songs for Brunette Lovers
Songs for Distingue Lovers (Billie Holiday)
Songs for Rainy Day Lovers (Clare Fischer)
Songs for Latin Lovers (Ray Charles Singers)
Secret Songs for Young Lovers (Andre Previn - Like Young)
Songs for Pizza Lovers (Lou Monte)
Songs for Sinatra Lovers
Songs for Fart Lovers (I don't expect to be transferring this one)

The good arrangements on the Kaye LP are by Bob Mersey. Some of you may recognize him as a Columbia staff arranger (Aretha Franklin) and producer (Barbra Streisand). The sound is good. This record was issued in a stereo version, but I am afraid my copy is mono.

LINK to 2026 remastered version

Larry Adler in Vaughan Williams and Benjamin

I just finished watching Genevieve, a marvelous old film from 1953 with score by the harmonica virtuoso Larry Adler. So this seems the right time to post a contemporaneous Adler recording that I transferred a while back.

It contains the first recordings of two works that British composers produced for the instrumentalist. Perhaps best known is Ralph Vaughan Williams' Romance, recorded in October 1952 with accompaniment directed by Malcolm Sargent. But equally as enjoyable is Arthur Benjamin's compact Harmonica Concerto, in an August 1953 recording with the London Symphony and Basil Cameron. The Vaughan Williams was originally issued on a single recording, then coupled with the Benjamin for this 10-inch LP.

I have a particular affection for such lowly instruments as the harmonica and the accordion, and the amazing skill and artistry that Adler displays in these works is fascinating to me. No doubt he is helped by close miking, but he makes other performances sound pale.

The sound here is good, although as I recall I needed to adjust the speed up about a half-step. The download includes reviews of the day and of course scans.

Thirteenth Batch of Reups

After doing twelve batches of reups, you would think all I have to offer would be available. But no, and so on we go to the thirteenth edition.

Almost all of these are from the early days here, and so are presented in mp3 only with no guarantees about the sound quality.

As before, the links below take you to the original posts, which feature my thoughts on the recordings, the covers, and the weather, as well as a new link. A complete set of the new links can be found in the comments to this particular post.

Mat Mathews

Here is one that I said I couldn't find; that is, until I realized it was filed under the name New York Jazz Quartet! LINK TO ORIGINAL POST

Jean Francaix

Neoclassical works by the French composer, with Francaix himself in the Concertino. LINK TO ORIGINAL POST

Diana Lynn - Piano Moods

The first of two post of recordings by the actor-pianist. LINK TO ORIGINAL POST

Diana Lynn - Piano Portraits

More from this delightful artist. LINK TO ORIGINAL POST

Manhattan Moods by Gould

One of the many easy listening records from the underrated composer. LINK TO ORIGINAL POST

Johnson Family Singers

Gospel favorites from the popular singing family. LINK TO ORIGINAL POST

Myra Hess

The great pianist in Schumann and a recital program. LINK TO ORIGINAL POST

The Red Army Band

Marching Maoists play for you. LINK TO ORIGINAL POST

Sue Raney Singles

The delightful singer in unreissued singles from the 1950s and 60s. These are in FLAC format. LINK TO ORIGINAL POST

Enesco Plays Schumann

The great composer-violinist in a recording from his last years. I rerecorded the first two movements and did quite a lot of manual editing to remove most vestiges of a pressing fault that marred the original post. Now offered in Apple lossless format. LINK TO ORIGINAL POST