Cor de Groot

I'm starting on a new series of recordings by the outstanding Dutch pianist Cor de Groot. This 10-inch LP of Beethoven's fourth concerto was made at the height of de Groot's career, in 1955, four years before he lost the use of his right hand.

The pianist was 41 when this concerto was recorded; it was only 12 years after he had first come to prominence by substituting for Wilhelm Backhaus in Beethoven's third concerto.

This is a superb performance, displaying de Groot's gorgeous tone, flawless technique, sensitivity and elegance. The accompaniment by the Vienna Symphony and Willem van Otterloo also is quite good. And the disk is nicely recorded. One small issue is that the English Philips pressing has a persistent rustle in the first movement and some swish in the second. (De Groot seems to be pressing his own records in the photo at right, which I purloined from Rudolf Bruil's interesting site.) Enduring the slight noise is worth it to hear this fine interpretation.

I've been trying to recall what other de Groot recordings are in my collection and so far have located items by Rachmaninoff, Liszt and Morton Gould. I'll probably feature the Gould next because it is the least often heard.

Hope you enjoy this excellent artist.

Sheila Guyse

Last time out we were discussing the career of Billy Eckstine, and speculating that he could have had a second career in film or television except for the accident of his race.

This post concerns a much more obscure artist, but one who faced many of the same hurdles. Sheila Guyse was a singing actress who first came to some notice in the black cinema of the 1940s, appearing in such titles as Sepia Cinderella and Miracle in Harlem. (You can see her in Boy! What a Girl! via this link, but she does not sing in this film.)

Guyse was in the original cast of Lost in the Stars on Broadway in 1949-50, and appears on the cast album.

Being an African American singing actress at the time was almost a guarantee of little work, and so she had few credits for a number of years, and apparently some personal problems. After winning an Arthur Godfrey Talent Scouts contest, she was signed to an M-G-M records contract and in 1958 made this LP with Leroy Holmes. There was some publicity at the time that told her story, including a Jet magazine cover story, included in the download (cover below).

Guyse is still with us, and there are a few effusive articles on the web that liken her to Lena Horne and Dorothy Dandridge. No doubt that she was a good singer and a very good looking woman, but she was not on that level. As a singer, she doesn't always hit the notes squarely and tends to rush the beat. But she is enjoyable, and this LP is certainly highly collectible.

A note about Boy! What a Girl!: the plot of this Room Service gloss revolves around three different men falling for the well-known vaudeville comic Tim Moore in drag. (The film's strength was not its believability.) While this was at the end of Moore's stage career, he would go on to considerable fame as Kingfish in the televised version of Amos 'n' Andy - a role originated on radio by the white Freeman Gosden.

This post is in response to a request by my friend Jeronimo, who provided the link to Boy! What a Girl!

Mr. B Sings R&H with Riddle

Quincy Jones said of Billy Eckstine after his death that had the singer been white, he would have had a career in television and the movies, not just as a singer. This is quite possibly true, for Eckstine was a very handsome man and a style-setter. It's likely that his considerable mid-century popularity would have been even greater but for the accident of his race.

An article in The Crisis at the time notes that Eckstine and other African American artists appearing in Las Vegas in the early 50s could not stay in the hotels there. Nor was this unusual. It's remarkable to recall that strict segregation was pervasive even within my own lifetime.

That's why it is always interesting to me to read commentary that seems rueful that Eckstine left his jazz roots behind to become a pop singer; it's as if people wanted him to remain in his own niche and not try for broader success and fame, elusive though it might be.

Eckstine started out as the singer with the Earl Hines orchestra, then led his own big band that was an incubator of bop in the 40s. He began recording for M-G-M in 1947 and quickly began having hits with the highly romantic ballads that were then popular. He was at the height of his success in 1949 and 1950, not just selling records but winning magazine polls.

Billboard ad

By late 1952, when this record came out, he was still a success but the romantic style was giving way to new approaches. This record of Rodgers and Hammerstein songs apparently did not sell as well as Eckstine's earlier LPs, and today seems to be considerably scarce. I don't in fact have a copy of it myself, so I am grateful to Will Friedwald and David Lennick for making it available to me and readers of this blog.

It's particularly notable that the charts on this record are by Nelson Riddle, who had achieved some success already with Nat Cole and soon would start working with Frank Sinatra. This is Riddle at his most romantic, not Nelson the swinger. The songs are all familiar with the possible exception of So Far, which is from one of the least successful Rodgers and Hammerstein efforts, 1947's Allegro.

The album is a gorgeous collection from a singer who inspired a generation of virile baritones, including Johnny Hartman and Arthur Prysock. Thanks again to Will and David for making it available.

A Souvenir of Mitch, from Mitch

I've written before about Mitch Miller, the pop potentate whose first love was classical music, where he was Mitchell Miller, oboe and English horn virtuoso.

Mitch must have been proud of the recordings he made of classical and light music because he made his own CDs to give out to friends and acquaintances, among them Will Friedwald. I am making them available here in tribute to this important personality, thanks to Will.

Mitch had two different CDs. One was his recordings of Vaughan Williams, Cimarosa, J.C. and J.S. Bach, Mozart and Sibelius (The Swan of Tuonela), conducted by Leopold Stokowski and Daniel Saidenberg. The other was of light music fare recorded in the early 50s with Percy Faith, for Columbia (cover above).

We've encountered the Bach and Mozart items on this blog previously (courtesy of Joe Serraglio) - here. And my friend Fred posted the Vaughan Williams on his blog, Random Classics - here - along with a few other items that aren't part of this post. I believe I have seen the Cimarosa elsewhere; can't remember where. The Sibelius is new to me, and is excellent.

I haven't seen the light music LPs offered elsewhere - and actually had vague thoughts of presenting my own copies here. But here are both of them, courtesy of Will. It's So Peaceful in the Country features music of Jimmy Van Heusen and Alec Wilder (whose music Miller promoted for decades). There are two additional items by Wilder on Music Until Midnight - Ellen and Piece for English Horn. Both LPs are exceptionally fine examples of the genre.

Mitch Miller was an unusual combination of artist and pop entrepreneur. As he so often did, Al Hirschfeld captures his subject's spirit in pen and ink, on the caricature that Mitch himself chose to put on the cover of the CDs that he used as his own calling card. It wasn't the only time Mitch was depicted by a famous artist - see Fred's blog post for a wonderful, puckish Norman Rockwell portrait that originally was on one of Miller's Sing Along LPs (perhaps Family Sing Along with Mitch).

One of my first records was a kiddie 78 conducted by Miller, so I have been listening to his music literally all my life - and have thoroughly enjoyed the experience (well, maybe not the sing-alongs). A fond farewell to this important figure.

ADDENDUM - My friend Mel tells me the Percy Faith records were recorded in 1954 and 1955. And I really should have linked you to Will's article on Mitch - it's here.

Elgar with Sir Adrian

For years there has been something of a debate about who was the ultimate Elgarian conductor - Adrian Boult or John Barbirolli. They both had long careers and made many great records of Elgar's music. If forced to choose (and I am forcing myself via this rhetorical construction), I would point the critical finger at Sir Adrian. He's a particular favorite of mine.

So I am pleased to present this 10-inch LP of Elgar's lighter music in a 1954 recording with the London Philhamonic, which Boult led at the time. It comes to us through the good graces of my friend Don (aka Sacqueboutier), who offered this on Symphonyshare and simultaneously suggested it to me for presentation here.

The recordings were made in February and October 1954 in Kingsway Hall, one of the most famous venues of its time, with Kenneth Wilkinson engineering - one of the most famous engineers. A first-class production, to be sure.

These recordings also were issued on a 12-inch LP, which I have in my own collection, but which has previously been issued by my friend Fred on his blog Random Classics. There they were coupled with Malcolm Arnold's English Dances (which are delightful) - so if you want Boult's version of those pieces, go see Fred.

I've quite grateful to Don, who is a veritable transfer machine, because I am having trouble producing any posts whatsoever, having been working around the clock. I hope to enjoy some leisure (and music) soon.

LINK

Lisa Kirk and the RCA Show Time Series

When RCA Victor decided to issue a series of musical comedy recordings in 1953, for the most part it turned to performers who were then in leading roles on Broadway, but it made sure to include Lisa Kirk, who, will not then currently in a play, had been memorable in Allegro and Kiss Me Kate in previous years.

The post is something of a tribute to Kirk, a wonderful singer who is heard far too little these days, as well as RCA's venture into potted musicals. It includes three of the shows RCA issued in its Show Time Series, along with a number of Kirk's RCA singles from the same era.

The Show Time Series included four songs each from 18 shows. Limiting the number of songs to four meant that the company could issue each show on an EP, and combine two shows on a 10" LP. It also differentiated the RCA effort from Columbia's popular series of records that already had presented LP-length revivals of several shows - notably Pal Joey, which led to it being revived on Broadway.

The RCA and Columbia series shared a number of artists - Jack Cassidy, conductor Lehman Engel and, notably, Harold Lang, who starred as Pal Joey on the RCA record and in the subsequent revival.

We begin this post with an RCA LP that combined songs from two Rodgers and Hart scores, Babes in Arms and Jumbo, both featuring Lisa Kirk. On the Babes in Arms side, Kirk is excellent in "The Lady Is a Tramp" and "My Funny Valentine." William Tabbert, who was then on Broadway as Joe Cable in South Pacific, does "Where or When" (not very well). And Sheila Bond, who was in Wish You Were Here at the time and won a Tony, has her way with "Johnny One Note."

In the songs from Jumbo, Lisa has only "Little Girl Blue." Joining her is the superb Jack Cassidy on "My Romance" and "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World." Cassidy was starring with Sheila Bond in Wish You Were Here at the time. The LP is rounded out by Jordan Bentley (Wreck in Wonderful Town - "I could paaaaas that football"), with "Over and Over Again."

Before moving on to Lisa Kirk singles, I've added a bonus EP of The Band Wagon, with two songs from Harold Lang. Lang started as a dancer, and while he could sing, subtlety was not his specialty, perhaps because he was used to playing such bluff characters as Pal Joey and Bill Calhoun (he was in Kiss Me Kate with Kirk). Here Lang blasts his way through "I Love Louisa" and "New Sun in the Sky." Lang is joined by George Britton, who had replaced Ezio Pinza in South Pacific, and Edith Adams (later Edie Adams), who was in Wonderful Town at the time. Britton does "Dancing in the Dark" and duets with Adams on "High and Low."

Billboard ad

Finally we have six Lisa Kirk songs from RCA singles - "Exactly Like You," "You're a Sweetheart," "Charlie Is My Darling" and "Beautiful Brown Eyes" from 1951, and "Do Me a Favor" and "King Size Kisses" from 1953. Kirk is generally fine but the material is variable here. None were hits (although Rosemary Clooney's rival - and superior - cover version of the country tune "Beautiful Brown Eyes" was a good seller).

The sound is excellent on all items except for the first two singles mentioned, which are transferred from a worn 78. The download includes contemporary photos of all the artists mentioned.

I've often remarked that it's a shame that a certain artist isn't better remembered - and that's once again true with Lisa Kirk, a glamorous, talented singer and fine actor. I'll probably be back later with one of her LPs.

NEW LINKS - REMASTERED AND REPITCHED VERSIONS (JUNE 2014):

BABES IN ARMS-JUMBO | BAND WAGON | SINGLES

Earl Robinson and Tony Kraber

From time to time I've presented some of the early folksingers who first came to prominence in the 1940s - the Weavers, Josh White, Woody Guthrie and others. Today we have a record by two singers who are lesser known but nonetheless important in their own right. They are Earl Robinson - the better known of the two - and Tony Kraber. (Although Kraber's name does not appear on the cover of this early Mercury LP, half the record is devoted to him.)

This album is a reissue of 78 sets that Robinson and Kraber made for Keynote records circa 1941-43, when that label was primarily an outlet for politically committed leftist music - issuing music from the Spanish Republican Army Chorus and the Red Army Choir, among others. Keynote also published the superb Almanac Singers, which you can hear via my friend Larry's blog, Vinyl Fatigue. The Almanac Singers' set, Talking Union (which is urgently recommended), was dedicated to the memory of union organizer Joe Hill, who was executed for murder in 1915 on what many people considered to be scant evidence. And that brings us back to Earl Robinson, who wrote the music for the famous labor song Joe Hill, most familiar today in the Joan Baez recording.

Earl Robinson

Although Joe Hill is not on this LP, it does contain Robinson's greatest hit, The House I Live In, in its first recording. This was a few years before Frank Sinatra took it up, made it a hit and appeared in an Academy Award-winning short film based on it. Robinson wrote the music for the song; the lyrics were by Abel Meeropol, who wrote under the pen name Lewis Allan. Meeropol also is known for writing the words and music to Strange Fruit.

The screenplay for the film of The House I Live In was written by Albert Maltz. He, like Robinson and Meeropol (and Tony Kraber, for that matter), was later blacklisted. All had been members of the Communist Party.

Robinson was an excellent composer and singer. His version of The House I Live In is certainly in a different style from Sinatra's, but they are equally earnest. This album also contains what would become some of the best known traditional songs, such as Drill Ye Tarriers, with an ironic labor message that was perfectly suited to Robinson's repertoire.

Robinson's other well-known composition (not included here) was Ballad for Americans, which had words by lyricist John Latouche at the beginning of his career.

Cover of Keynote 78 set

Tony Kraber was not as well known as Robinson, but he did have a notable career as actor, singer and director in New York. He was a founding member of the Group Theater and made other folk albums besides this one, which almost certainly was his first. He was an enthusiastic and convincing singer, again dealing primarily with material that has become familiar, such as The Old Chisholm Trail and the Boll Weevil Song (which he likely picked up from Leadbelly's version).

As mentioned, Kraber was blacklisted after being denounced as a Communist. He was one of the people infamously named by Elia Kazan before the House Un-American Activities Committee.

The download includes cover scans from Kraber's Keynote album, which I recently acquired. The liner notes include the singer's commentary on each of the songs.