More Music for Spring, Plus 50s-60s Soundtrack Compilations and a Passover Song

Today we bring you another springtime compilation from David Federman - aptly titled "There'll Be Another Spring." Just the thing for this period of tense idleness when we should be enjoying nature's annual renewal of life. Also, I've added another double-header of my movie music transfers, made long ago but never posted here. This outing includes two vintage compilations, one from the 50s and one from the 60s.

Details follow.

There'll Be Another Spring

I'll let David have the floor to explain his contributions. As he says in his notes, "I’ve brought a sequel spring music mix that tries to enumerate the many benefits of global quarantine. There is a synergy to be harnessed from plague-induced isolation and idleness. We share a contemplative leisure that few of us ever had time for individually and now find forced upon us collectively. What better time to seize the many days allotted to us for beauty rather than boredom? See these songs as beatitudes of insomnia."

As usual, he has put together 32 vintage recordings from the finest artists - Peggy Lee, Lee Wiley, Annette Hanshaw, Jimmy Reed, George Metaxa (just saw him in a movie the other night) and many others. Sheer pleasure.

Main Title

This 1956 compilation from the Coral folks is all kinds of fun. It collects 12 film themes of the period as issued on singles by the label's two main arrangers, George Cates and Dick Jacobs.

The films surveyed include The Man with the Golden Arm, The Catered Affair, Congo Crossing, Seven Wonders of the World, East of Eden, The Proud Ones, Picnic, Away All Boats, The Proud and Profane, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, While the City Sleeps and Nightfall.

Billboard ad (click to enlarge)

The LP takes its name from a Jacobs single capitalizing on the 1955 Sinatra film The Main with the Golden Arm. In it, Jacobs contrasts Elmer Bernstein's swaggering film theme with a tune called "Molly-O," also heard in the score. The conglomeration doesn't work very well - but Bernstein's theme is the greatest!

In a somewhat similar, but more elegant way, George Cates wove together the Hudson-DeLange oldie "Moonglow" with the gorgeous theme of Picnic written by George Duning.

I believe this counterpoint could be found in the original film scoring. A single version from the soundtrack was issued under Morris Stoloff's name, and vied with the Cates record for chart supremacy. (I believe Stoloff won.) Either way, it makes for one of the best instrumentals of the 1950s.

None of the other sides reach these heights, but they will be enjoyable to anyone who loves this period of music, especially movie music. The sound is excellent.

Silver Screen '63 / Magic Screen '63

Half of this collection for 20th Century Fox records and Fox music director Lionel Newman is devoted to the film themes of 1963, the other half to television theme music.

Appropriately, it is one of the few records I own with two front covers and no back cover. Silver Screen '63 can be seen above; Magic Screen '63 way down below.

Lionel Newman

The films include Cleopatra, Papa's Delicate Condition, The V.I.P.s, It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World and Irma la Douce. On TV, the selections include Mr. Novak, The Phil Silvers Show, Breaking Point, The Bill Dana Show and The Dick Van Dyke Show.

Frankly, 1963 was not a vintage year for theme music, and most of these items may be unfamiliar to you. They were to me, and I lived through the period. The most familiar film theme may be "Call Me Irresponsible" from Papa's Delicate Condition. The Jackie Gleason vehicle was not terribly well received, but the Cahn-Van Heusen song won an Oscar and was widely heard at the time.

Billboard ad (click to enlarge)

In my view, the best film music here is "Look Again" by Dory Langdon and André Previn, a beautifully pensive song from Irma la Douce. Otherwise, you will find music by Alex North, Johnny Mercer, Miklos Rozsa, Ernest Gold and Mack David.

On the little screen, surely the best remembered theme is Earle Hagen's from The Dick Van Dyke Show, which is instantly ingratiating. The other composers are all well known figures - Jeff Alexander (recently heard here as young crooner Myer Alexander), Lyn Murray, David Raksin and Harry Geller.

Newman coaxes fine performances from Fox's orchestra and the sound is good.

Happy Pesach!

Reader Eric was kind enough to provide a recording of the Passover song "Dayenu" in the comments to my recent Easter post. He notes, "This is from 'Happy Soul of a People' on Time records, with Harry Ringler and his Orchestra. Among the pseudonymous personnel is the accordionist Izzy Cortesky who may be a paisan but is not a landsman - Domenick Cortese."

The links to this song and the rest of today's items are in the comments, as usual.

Happy Passover to Eric and to all!

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)

Abram Chasins Plays Brahms' Rhapsodies

Abram Chasins today is remembered, if at all, as an writer on music and a composer of a few pieces that pianists such as Shura Cherkassky used to play. But he was a distinguished instrumentalist himself before he left the concert stage in 1947.

Chasins (1903-87), who had been a protege of Josef Hofmann, first became known for performing his own works. His two piano concertos were introduced by the Philadelphia Orchestra under Ossip Gabrilowitsch and Leopold Stokowki, both when Chasins was on the Curtis Institute faculty.

Abram Chasins

In the 1940s, he turned his attentions toward broadcasting, eventually becoming the program director of WQXR, a classical station then owned by the New York Times. His writings on music began appearing in the 1950s, notably his Speaking of Pianists in 1958.

Although he had retired as a concert pianist, Chasins made six LPs for Mercury during 1949-51, four solo and two with his wife, pianist Constance Keene. Here we have one of the solo albums. This brief 10-incher presents the three piano Rhapsodies written by Brahms - the two Op. 79 Rhapsodies and the Rhapsody that concludes the composer's Four Pieces, Op. 119.

I transferred this for a classical music sharing site, but thought some of you might enjoy it as well. The performances are very fine and the sound is good.

'You Must Believe in Spring,' Samuel Barber and Leroy Anderson

Note the punctuation above. You need not believe in Samuel Barber or Leroy Anderson. But we do implore you to believe in Spring. The season has come, but perhaps not the state of mind. If that's the case, then I suggest you listen to David Federman's latest compilation, which has the new season as a theme, and is just the tonic for troubling times.

David's "You Must Believe in Spring" includes 32 songs on the subject of the season and renewal, including a version of the eponymous song from the wonderful Sue Raney. As David writes, "Never has Spring been more needed and the belief in it more important." The link to David's compilation is in the comments to this post.

As for Samuel Barber and Leroy Anderson, please see the following notes.

Barber Conducts Barber

The American composer Samuel Barber conducted three LPs worth of his own music for English Decca on December 11-13, 1950 - his later-suppressed Second Symphony, the Cello Concerto with Zara Nelsova, and his ballet suite, "Medea."

Years ago I transferred both the symphony and "Medea" for this blog. I wasn't happy with the sound of the symphony transfer, so I recently redid it in response to a request. Here is a link to the original post, where the download link is in the comments, as usual.

The "Medea" transfer is more recent, and didn't require a new transfer. But it did benefit from some remastering and sounds better than ever. Please go to the original post for more information and the link.

Leroy Anderson

Those of you who didn't plumb the fathomless depths of my St. Patrick's Day post may have missed the fact that I am offering remastered version of two notable Leroy Anderson records.

The first is a vintage Boston Pops/Arthur Fiedler compilation of works that Anderson wrote for that fine ensemble, including definitive performances of eight superb items, including "Sleigh Ride," "Fiddle Faddle" and two of my own favorites, "Serenata" and "Belle of the Ball." I added a bonus on the form of "The Syncopated Clock."

The second is Anderson's own recording of his "Irish Suite," which begins with a version of "Irish Washerwoman," a tune that was prominent in my "Let's Sing a Quasi-Irish Song with Buster" compilation.

Both of these are available via this post.

Sorry about the interruption in posting. I developed pneumonia and ended up in the hospital. Now I am back and feeling better.

Stay well, everyone!

Let's Sing a Quasi-Irish Song with Buster

And now, to mark the upcoming feast of St. Patrick, I present an Irish-themed compendium that has nothing to do with that good saint and very little to do with Ireland itself. While each selection is Irish-related in some way, it is usually the Irish or Irish music through the lens of American or English composers and performers - with the notable exception of the great Irish tenor John McCormack. Apropos of its varied ingredients, I am calling this collection "Buster's Irish Stew."

As usual, I'll present the 32 selections chronologically, reaching back to the early years of last century for the oldest specimens.

Peter Wyper

Our first number, an "Irish Jig," comes from 1909 and the Scottish accordionist Peter Wyper. He was supposedly the first accordionist to make records, so now you know who to blame.

The following year, two of the big stars of the early recording scene, the Americans Steve Porter and Billy Murray, combined for the vaudeville routine "Irish Wit," with a snappy tune sandwiching fast-paced ethnic repartee.

American banjo virtuoso Fred Van Eps is next with his 1911 record of "Irish Hearts." Van Eps was the father of jazz guitarist George Van Eps.

Fred Van Eps at the recording horn

Vaudevillian Ada Jones was last heard on this site in a German dialect number; on this 1911 record she has been transformed into an Irish lass, telling her "German dunce" boyfriend that "You Will Have to Sing an Irish Song" to have a chance with her. Albert Von Tilzer ("Take Me Out to the Ball Game") was the songwriter.

Billy Murray turns up again in 1912 with a tune called "If It Wasn't for the Irish and the Jews," reminding us that "without the Pats and Isidores you'd have no big department stores," among other benefits provided by these two ethnicities. Presumably the Victor company hoped to sell these platters in both Irish and Jewish neighborhoods, and the department stores run by Pat and Isidore.

Cigarette card from 1914

The great John McCormack makes the first of several appearances in this collection with the traditional song "Molly Brannigan." The recording dates from 1913, although this pressing comes from 1920.

Among his other accomplishments, the American songwriter and singer Chauncey Olcott wrote two enduring standards - "My Wild Irish Rose" and "When Irish Eyes are Smiling." In 1913, Olcott recorded the first named for Columbia.

Olcott was an polished vocalist but no John McCormack, who did his own version of "My Wild Irish Rose" for Victor in 1914. The song dates from 1899, when it was heard in the Broadway play A Romance of Athlone. Coincidentally, McCormack himself was from that Irish town.

One of Australian composer Percy Grainger's most famous compositions was his setting of the Irish reel "Molly on the Shore," dating from 1907. Originally for string quartet or string orchestra, Grainger later obligingly arranged it for orchestra, wind band, and violin and piano, missing an opportunity to capture the big kazoo-player market. In this 1916 recording, American violinist Maud Powell is heard with pianist Arthur Loesser, the half-brother of songwriter Frank Loesser.

Maud Powell in 1914

John McCormack returns with Chauncey Olcott's other big success, "When Irish Eyes Are Smiling," in a 1916 recording for Victrola. The orchestral accompaniment is led by the immensely prolific Victor staff conductor Rosario Bourdon.

Two years later, McCormack was in a New York studio with the less-familiar "My Irish Song of Songs," which name-checks all the familiar Irish tunes of the time. Josef Pasternack, another Victor music director, leads the band.

Arthur Pryor in 1920

We skip ahead to 1923 for a two-sided medley from Arthur Pryor's Band, "Reminiscences of Ireland." One of the tunes is "Irish Washerwoman," which will turn up twice more later in the playlist. The Pryor Band first became famous under the leadership of Arthur's father, Samuel. Arthur took over its leadership after his father's death. A trombone virtuoso, Arthur had been in Sousa's Band for 12 years, rising to become its assistant conductor.

Bartlett and Robertson

Ireland has been the source of inspiration for many composers, none more so than the English composer Sir Arnold Bax. Among his many works with an Irish theme is 1916's "Moy Mell (The Happy Plain)" for two pianos. Performing in this 1927 recording are the eminent wife and husband duo of Ethel Bartlett and Rae Robertson. The two were closely associated with Bax's music, although he did not compose this work for them - it was written for Myra Hess and Irene Scharrer.

One of the leading chamber ensembles of the day was the Flonzaley Quartet, who recorded an "Irish Reel" in 1927 for Victor. The arrangement is by second violinist Alfred Pochon. The other side of the record (not in the playlist) was Pochon's arrangement of the spiritual "Deep River" - much different from the Flonzaley's usual diet of Beethoven and Haydn.

The Flonzaley Quartet

Perhaps the best known (and most parodied) sentimental song in the repertory is "Mother Machree" by the well-known songwriters Chauncey Olcott, Ernest Ball and Rida Johnson Young. Again, this was an American song of theatrical origin, coming from the 1911 Broadway play Barry of Ballymore. John McCormack is heard in his second recording of the piece, dating from 1927.

Mother Machree song card, c1939

Albert Sammons by
Alexander Akerbladh

Grainger's "Molly on the Shore" was popular with violinists, but not all used his arrangement. In 1928, the superb English instrumentalist Albert Sammons recorded Fritz Kreisler's version, which Grainger reputedly hated. No accompanist is named on the label and I haven't able to discover who the pianist might be.

Also in 1928, John McCormack recorded the wrenching ballad "The Irish Emigrant," written in the mid-19th century by Lady Dufferin and George Barker. This is a remarkable record, surely the best of this group.

"The Irish Emigrant" cigarette card

Moving on to 1936, we have the lighter-hearted "Laughing Irish Eyes" from veteran American bandleader Johnny Johnson, with a pleasing vocal by Lee Johnson. The budget label Melotone records issued this disc.

English violist Watson Forbes recorded William Alwyn's "Two Folk Tunes" in 1940 with harpist Maria Korchinska. The composer contrasts a Norwegian tune with an Irish air. Forbes was a distinguished figure, but he is not note-perfect here.

Benjamin Britten and Peter Pears by Cecil Beaton

Last October I discussed John McCormack's recording of Yeats' "Down by the Salley Gardens" in the setting by Herbert Hughes. Benjamin Britten set the poem under the title "The Sally Gardens" in his first volume of Folk Song Arrangements. In this 1944 recording the composer accompanies Peter Pears.

Charlie Spivak

James Royce Shannon's "Too Ra Loo Ra Loo Ral" was written for a 1914 Chauncey Olcott show, Shameen Dhu. It did well at the time in Olcott's recording, and its popularity was renewed when it was included in Bing Crosby's 1944 film Going My Way. The playlist has a relatively unfamiliar instrumental version from big-toned trumpeter Charlie Spivak and his band.

In 1945, Boyd Neel took his orchestra into Decca's West Hampstead Studios for our final version of "Molly on the Shore," in Grainger's arrangement for strings.

The next year, comic Morey Amsterdam (last discussed here for not having written "Rum and Coca-Cola") decided to revive an old vaudeville song, "With His Wonderful Irish Brogue," which dates back to at least 1918. This was for the small Crown label.

Fred Lowery

"My Wild Irish Rose" returns in a version from Fred Lowery, probably the most recorded and popular whistler of all time. A big-band veteran, Lowery would achieve his greatest hit with "The High and the Mighty" theme in 1954. This one has the same eerie quality that helped make "The High and the Mighty" a success.

It wouldn't be an Irish-themed collection without hearing from Bing Crosby. I've included one of his lesser-known songs, "My Girl's an Irish Girl," the flip side of "Galway Bay," a 1948 coupling. Victor Young leads the band.

John McCormack died in 1944, and in 1948 another Irish tenor, Michael O'Higgins, put out the tribute song "When McCormack Sang Mother Machree" on the small American Beauty Recordings label. O'Higgins was a music professor at the University of Dublin.

Glamorous Freddy Morgan

In 1949, Spike Jones wreaked his usual havoc with "MacNamara's Band," featuring a decidedly inebriated sounding "I. W. Harper and The Four Fifths" on vocals. (I. W. Harper was a then-popular bourbon.) I believe "Harper" is actually Freddy Morgan. The conceit here is that MacNamara heard Spike's records and decided to imitate his sound, at which point the Irish deported him.

At long last, we come to our first version of "The Irish Washerwoman," a traditional tune played throughout the British Isles. Here we have Leroy Anderson's arrangement from his Irish Suite, written for the Boston Pops and Arthur Fiedler. This recording dates from 1950. You can hear Anderson's own version of the Irish Suite via this post. I've newly remastered the sound both of that recording and its companion, a Fiedler collection of Leroy Anderson compositions.

The Pinetoppers

"The Irish Washerwoman" returns disguised as an "Irish Polka" in our next selection, dating from 1952. The artists were the country group The Pinetoppers, who were led by songwriter Vaughn Horton, the author of "Mule Skinner Blues," "Sugar Foot Rag" and "Mockin' Bird Hill," not to mention Louis Jordan's classic "Choo-Choo Ch'Boogie." The "Irish Polka" is attributed to "Paddy Hogan." My guess is Hogan was Horton under another name.

Perhaps fittingly, we close our collection with a song that has nothing whatsoever to do with Ireland or Irish music, but does lend its name to this collection. "English Muffins and Irish Stew" was a pop song by the well-known writers Moose Charlap and Bob Hilliard, here recorded by Brooklyn's Sylvia Syms. Unaccountably, it turns out to be a mock calypso!

The Cash Box, July 28, 1956

As usual with these collections, the raw material came from lossless needle drops found on Internet Archive and refurbished by me. The sound is quite good - even for the records that are now 100+ years old.

A pleasant St. Patrick's Day to all from your one-quarter Irish blogger!

The First Recordings of Paul Creston's Music

The American composer Paul Creston is not entirely neglected - his Second Symphony has been recorded several times - but he also is not a household name even in musical domiciles. This present LP, the first of his music, is a worthy testimonial to his impressive skills.

Creston (1906-85), who was almost entirely self-taught and did not become a full-time composer until 1932, somehow was able to gain notice in a relatively short time. An early advocate was fellow composer Henry Cowell. Soon his music was being programmed by the biggest batons of the day - Toscanini, Ormandy, Stokowski - as well as the lesser known Howard Mitchell, music director of Washington, D.C.'s National Symphony Orchestra.

Paul Creston

This Westminster LP, presented by request, is one of the relatively few from Mitchell's two decades at the National Symphony's helm. A cellist, Mitchell rose from the orchestra's ranks to succeed Hans Kindler as the chief conductor in 1949. He had a reputation as more of a fund-raiser and socialite than as a great conductor - the download includes a photo of him yucking it up with Dwight D. Eisenhower - but this particular record is quite well done.

Howard Mitchell

Mitchell was strongly committed to American music in general and Creston's music in particular. Not only was he the first to record Creston, in 1956 Mitchell and the National Symphony were to commission the composer's fifth symphony.

Creston's Symphony No. 2 dates from 1944 and the third symphony from 1950. Both are strong, characteristic works that alternate lyrical passages that may bring to mind Howard Hanson's Symphony No. 2, with more forceful music which betrays a love for the early Stravinsky. The third symphony bears the title Three Mysteries, with the movements named "The Nativity," "The Crucifixion" and "The Resurrection." The music is not programmatic, however. For whatever reason, the title is mentioned nowhere on the record.

The recordings, made in the Holton-Arms School Auditorium in Washington, date from several days in December 1953, when the orchestra also recorded music by Copland, Shostakovich and Brahms (the violin concerto with Julian Olevsky). Westminster did not engage Mitchell again, but he was able to tape two albums for RCA Victor in 1957 - more Shostakovich and works by Morton Gould. In 1960 he backed Jaime Laredo in two concertos and embarked on a series of educational records, also for RCA.

I have had this particular record for at least 40 years. I remember buying it in an extremely hot antique store, and being excited to get it. Back then, very few records of 20th century American music were available. My excitement turned to disappointment, however, when I played the disc. It was riddled with pops and thumps that neither Creston nor Mitchell intended. These days most of the superfluous noise can be eradicated via software, with the remainder done by hand. As a result, Westminster's very good sonics now come through unimpaired.

The download includes a PDF of the August 1956 edition of High Fidelity magazine, which contains an article on LP recordings of American music, including Creston.

Harlan Leonard and His Rockets

Harlan Leonard

Back in the early 1970s, I became a tremendous jazz fan, an outgrowth of my youthful interest in swing bands such as that of Glenn Miller.

Among my biggest enthusiasms were the bands that came out of Kansas City. The most famous, and my favorite, was Count Basie, but I also listened to such ensembles as Andy Kirk and Jay McShann, and the earlier groups such as Bennie Moten, which spawned Basie and many other important musicians, including today's subject, tenor saxophonist Harlan Leonard.

I never did get around to listening to Leonard's records 50 years ago. Back then, recordings were not so easily acquired, especially on a budget, and I never come across a cheap copy of the RCA Vintage Series reissue of the sides that Leonard's band made for Bluebird in 1940.

Five decades later, a post on the JazzWax blog reminded me that I had wanted to hear that band, so as I often do in these cases, I looked for lossless needle drops on Internet Archive. There I found 13 of the approximately 20 songs that Leonard recorded during 1940, the only year he was in the studio. After remastering, they came out sounding very good, probably better than the RCA reissue - Vintage Series sonics often were not that vivid.

Members of the Harlan Leonard Band, circa 1940: Richmond Henderson (trombone,
standing), Jimmy Keith, Leonard, Darwin Jones, Henry Bridges (saxes), Myra Taylor
(vocals). Vocalist Ernie Williams leads the band.

As I mentioned, Leonard came out of the Moten band, going on to lead the Kansas City Skyrockets in 1932, then forming the Rockets in 1936. He gained enough notice that Bluebird had him come in to do sessions in January, March, July and November 1940, all in Chicago except for the March date, which was in New York. Unfortunately, the band's success was relatively short-lived. It broke up in 1945 and Leonard left the music business soon thereafter.

Leonard used excellent arrangers, with Tadd Dameron probably the best known these days. In this collection he is responsible for "Rock and Ride," "'400' Swing" and "A-La-Bridges." Trumpeter James Rose handled many of the other songs. Eddie Durham arranged Myra Taylor's vocal specialty, "My Pa Gave Me a Nickel," inspired by "A-Tisket, A-Tasket," Ella Fitzgerald's 1938 success with Chick Webb's band.

Despite Dameron's charts and the brief presence of Charlie Parker in the band (he left before the recording dates), there are no bop pre-echoes here. Leonard's ensemble is best seen as a precursor of the driving big-band proto-R&B that was soon to become so influential through the recordings of such bands as Lionel Hampton and Lucky Millinder.

The Rockets boasted no famous soloists, although tenor saxophonist Hank Bridges and trombonist Henry Beckett were highly accomplished. You can read more about them and the band in Leonard Feather's detailed notes from the Vintage Series reissue, included in the download. I never did acquire that album, but I found an image of its back cover that I've managed to make readable. It details the arrangers and soloists for most of these records.

While Harlan Leonard achieved some renown, he was not as fortunate as some of his Kansas City compatriots. He never had a hit, even though the Rockets were the first to record "I Don't Want to Set the World on Fire" (not included here). And Charlie Barnet later had a hit with their "Hairy Joe Jump" under the title "Southern Fried." Still and all, it was an exciting band, one that is well worth revisiting 80 years later.