Even More Dinah Shore on Columbia

I have much enjoyed presenting two previous compilations of Dinah Shore's 1946-50 recordings for Columbia (here and here) - hope you have, too. So here is another, comprising two additional Harmony LPs from the 1950s - Love Songs and Lavender Blue.

The selection of 20 songs gives a good sense of both the repertoire for a pop singer in the post war years and the lavish arrangements that were afforded them, as led by such conductors as Nathan Van Cleave, Harry Zimmerman, Sonny Burke Morris Stoloff and Larry Russell - movie and show tunes and other items from the best composers.

Shore was among the most popular singers during this era, so she did get to record many good songs as they came out. The title song of Lavender Blue, from Disney's So Dear to My Heart, was a particularly big hit. Apparently no one minded the repeated "dilly, dilly" refrain, which not even Dinah can make charming.

This 1945 ad suggests that the secret to
Dinah's abundant charm was her hosiery

Among the songs here are "I'll Always Love You" and "You'll Always Be the One I Love." Given that she also did a tune called "I'll Always Be in Love with You" for Columbia, Dinah thoroughly covered the topic of eternal love during this period.

I should note that the selections here contain a few repeated items from a previous post. The sound is good throughout.

Piatigorsky in Shostakovich and Russian Melodies, Plus a Barber-Hindemith Reup

This upload is in response to a request on another site. It consists of a Columbia Entré LP from the early 1950s that comprises two Columbia 78 sets from the previous decade, both featuring the great cellist Gregor Piatigorsky, one of the finest instrumentalists of the 20th century.

Side 1 includes Shostakovich’s Cello Sonata in D minor, Op. 40, from 1934, when the composer was still in his 20s and before the first Soviet denunciation, centered on Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk. Piatigorsky’s reading, which dates from January 1942, may have been his third attempt at a recording. Per Michael Gray’s discography, there are unissued efforts from 1940 (with Ivor Newton) and 1941 (with Valentin Pavlovsky, who also is the accompanist on the issued masters). However, some questions have been raised about this dating, so it is not entirely clear when the issued recordings were made.

As noted by the person who requested the LP, this is a particularly fine rendition of the sonata, and may well have been the first recording - Gray does not list an earlier one.

The second side consists of lighter fare, arrangements for cello and piano of familiar Russian melodies. Some of these had achieved pop success, including Rimsky-Korsakov’s “Song of India,” via a 1937 Tommy Dorsey single, and Tchaikovsky’s “None But the Lonely Heart,” which had been used on the soundtrack of a 1944 film of the same name. The arrangements are uncredited, save for Rubinstein’s Melody in F, which is attributed to Popper, presumably cellist/composer David Popper.

Piatigorsky’s recordings come from October 1945, except for the Rachmaninoff Vocalise, which dates from a session one year later, per Gray. The accompanist is Ralph Berkowitz, who would continue to work with the cellist until Piatigosky’s death in 1976. Through the years, the pianist also served in leadership roles at Tanglewood, first as Koussevitzky’s assistant and then as head of the Berkshire Music Center.

Piatigorsky moved to the U.S. in the late 1930s, fleeing the Nazis as did so many musicians and others. He began recording for Columbia in 1940.

The recordings themselves are perfectly fine, except for the Rachmaninoff, which had a peculiar resonance that I have done my best to tame.

Reupload: Barber and Hindemith Sonatas

Several years ago, I transferred another Piatigorsky LP, a 1956 RCA Victor coupling of the Barber Cello Sonata, Op. 6, and the Hindemith Sonata, written for the cellist in 1948. I’ve now reuploaded this for anyone interested. Here's a link to the original post.

1944 Columbia Ad (click to enlarge)

Flutist Maurice Sharp with the Clevelanders and Louis Lane

This is another in a series of recordings by spin-offs of the Cleveland Orchestra, conducted by longtime assistant/associate/resident conductor Louis Lane. Today the spotlight is on the orchestra's principal flute, Maurice Sharp, who performs with a chamber ensemble of principals and others from the band, here called the Cleveland Sinfonietta.

The repertoire encompasses four 20th century works, three by Americans (Charles Tomlinson Griffes, Arthur Foote and Howard Hanson) and one by the French/Swiss composer Arthur Honegger.

Harvey McGuire joins Sharp for Honegger's Concerto da Camera for Flute, English Horn and Strings. Alice Chalifoux is the harpist in Hanson's Serenade.

Sharp joined the orchestra right out of the Curtis Institute, where he studied with William Kincaid, and remained principal flute for 50 years. He joined the ensemble when founding music director Nikolai Sokoloff was still in charge, with his tenure lasting to the brink of the Christoph von Dohnányi era.

Julius Baker (left) and Maurice Sharp, circa 1975

It is instructive to contrast Sharp's approach to another Kincaid pupil who became a famed orchestra principal - Julius Baker, who was solo flute both in Chicago and then for many years in New York (and who earlier spent several years in the Cleveland flute section). A while back I posted a Decca release in which Baker assays two of the works on this Cleveland issue - Griffes's Poem and Foote's A Night Piece. (Baker presents the Foote with string quartet accompaniment; Sharp uses the score for a larger ensemble.)

To my ears, Baker is the warmer of the two, although both are immaculate in their presentation. Sharp's cooler approach is in keeping with the proclivities of the Cleveland forces in the records they made with Lane - and with Szell, for that matter.

The sound on both LPs is very good - Baker in mono, Sharp in stereo. Michael Gray's discography tells us that the Cleveland recordings were taped in Severance Hall in July 1960. The Baker sessions date from June 1952.

LINK to 2026 remastered version

Ted Knight Is 'The Candidate'

The Republicans are in my home town this week to nominate a candidate for President, and I can think of no more appropriate way to mark the occasion than by posting this soundtrack from a 1964 exploitation film called The Candidate.

This is not the film of the same name that starred Robert Redford; the US Senate candidate here is none other than Ted Knight, who would later become famous as the narcissistic news anchor on American television's Mary Tyler Moore Show.

Knight was then a television and voice-over actor. This was his first lead role in a film, albeit a low-budget one. Billed above him were sex bombs Mamie Van Doren, from the US, and June Wilkinson, from the UK.

The plot, if not ripped from the headlines, was at least suggested by them. It centers on influence-peddler Buddy Barker and his procurement of women and other objects of desire for the men who run Washington. The Barker character was "inspired," shall we say, by the contemporary scandals that revolved around Congressional aide Bobby Baker, a former Lyndon Johnson crony.

I won't go into the plot (mainly because I haven't seen the movie), but I will note that my favorite part of the plot summary on the back of the soundtrack is the climax (so to speak) where Ted Knight's character, who has fallen in love with June Wilkinson, discovers that she has made a stag film at the behest of Buddy Barker. Seeing this film gives him a heart attack and he dies on the spot.

I can't promise that this soundtrack will stimulate any such dramatic response in you. It is middling quality crime jazz from the pen of the young composer Steve Karmen, who then specialized in sleaze films. (This score is bookended by his work on Hollywood Nudes Report and The Beautiful, the Bloody, and the Bare.) He later became a prolific composer of advertising jingles - perhaps his greatest hit is "I Love New York."

June Wilkinson and Mamie Van Doren

Despite their prominence on the cover, Mamie, June and Ted do not appear on this LP. However, Jubilee, which issued the album, enlisted the women to record a single at the same time - "Bikini with No Top on Top" b/w "So What Else Is New," written by Sid Robin and backed by guitarist Billy Strange and the Senators. (Apparently this was part of the promo activity for The Candidate. Despite a claim on IMDb, I doubt these songs were included in the film.) I call tell you that the bikini song demonstrates that neither Van Doren nor Wilkinson could sing. Mercifully, they only make a cameo appearance on the flip side, an enjoyably frantic instrumental by the Strange crew. I've included the single in the download (not my rip, although I did clean it up some).

The sound on the LP is good. If my synopsis has somehow awakened a desire to see The Candidate, it's on DVD and the trailer is on YouTube.

In another nod to the election season of 52 years ago, my singles blog is posting the promotional single "Hello, Lyndon!", the Democrats' attempt to stimulate enthusiasm for their Presidential candidate by offering pop singer Ed Ames in a curiously lifeless rewrite of "Hello, Dolly!" done by composer Jerry Herman.

Frankie Yankovic - Early Columbia LPs

Not too long ago I posted one of Slovenian polka king Frankie Yankovic's Columbia 45s on my singles blog - a cover of one of Malcolm Arnold's tunes from The Key. Reader Mitch responded, "This is such happy music that is needed in this much too serious world today."

Well, I won't go so far as to say that Yankovic's music will solve the world's problems, but I agree it is happy music - polka lovers are fond of calling it "the happiest music on earth."

I will admit I am biased because this music is intensely nostalgic for me. Yankovic and his band were from Cleveland's Collinwood neighborhood, where both my parents were born and near where I grew up. My folks were not of Slovenian descent (and didn't even like polka music), but these sounds were inescapable when I was young. I literally just had to open the window to hear it - the guy across the street played the accordion.

This package includes Yankovic's first and fourth Columbia LPs ("All-Time Hits" from 1950 and "Polka Parade" from 1951, both 10-inchers), along with an EP, "America's Polka King" from circa 1952. All compile songs recorded earlier. I've also included a transfer of the "Blue Skirt Waltz," one of Frankie's greatest hits, which doesn't appear on the LPs or EP.

When was the last time a polka was a national hit? Maybe 50 years ago with "Peanuts" by Art Perko (also from Cleveland). In the 1940s, however, polkas were popular. The first big hit may have been the "Beer Barrel Polka" as recorded by the German bandleader Will Glahé and covered by the Andrews Sisters (and included here in Yankovic's version).

In the years after the war, the best-selling records were Yankovic's. His biggest seller was "Just Because" in 1948 (actually recorded in late 1947). It was a country tune that virtuoso accordionist Johnny Pecon had brought to the band, after hearing it when he was in the armed services during the war. The song had been written in the 30s, but Pecon was familiar with a version from circa 1941 by the Shelton Brothers, a country duo from Texas. (The Sheltons' effort is included in the download.)

The Yankovic group didn't content themselves with a straight version of the song. They added an astonishingly catchy instrumental break based on an old Italian motif. You will hear this famous break (played here by Pecon) in many polka songs.

The unit's second big hit, from 1949, was completely different, but had an equally eclectic background. The "Blue Skirt Waltz" was originally the "Red Skirt Waltz," written by Bohemian composer Vaclav Blaha. Yankovic's producer, I believe, brought in the tune to him, and then had Mitchell Parish ("Stardust") add lyrics. As with "Just Because," a spectacular instrumental break adds to the appeal of this superb record.

So in these two big hits, we have country and Bohemian songs and an Italian tune, played by Slovenians from Cleveland. Assisting on the waltz were the Marlin Sisters, who were actually Goldie and Gittile Malavsky, daughters of Cantor Samuel Malavsky. Yankovic's music was more cosmopolitan than it might appear on the surface.

The musicians on these early records, besides the leader and Johnny Pecon, were Georgie Cook, the hyperactive banjo player who was an important element of the sound, Al Naglitch, the keyboards player who usually was heard on a Hammond Solovox, and Adolph Srnick, bass (Stan Slejko on "Blue Skirt Waltz"). The arranger was Joe Trolli.

The band on "Just Because": front from left, Cook, Yankovic, Naglitch.
Rear, Srnick, Pecon.

This lineup only lasted until 1949. On some of the later records heard here, the musicians were possibly Tops Cardone, accordion, Carl Paradiso, banjo, Buddy Griebel, keyboards, and Al Leslie, bass - these personnel listings are according to Yankovic biographer Bob Dolgan.

Yankovic's success led to other record companies rushing to sign Cleveland polka bands - Johnny Pecon by Capitol, Johnny Vadnal by RCA Victor and Kenny Bass by Decca.

The sound on all these sides is very good. "Blue Skirt Waltz" and the Shelton Brothers record are not my transfers, but I have refurbished the sound.

I originally transferred these records years ago for my own amusement - perhaps they will captivate a few of you as well.

Scandinavian Special: Music by Larsson, von Koch, Fernström, Nielsen and Schultz

Two LPs of 20th century Scandinavian music today. The first contains music by the Swedes Lars-Erik Larsson, Erland von Koch and John Fernström, transferred in response to a request on another site. The second is of short works by the Dane Carl Nielsen and his follower Svend Schultz.

Larsson, von Koch, Fernström

Lars-Erik Larsson

The highlight of the first LP is the first recording of Lars-Erik Larsson's Violin Concerto, as performed by its dedicatee, André Gertler, relatively soon after its 1952 premiere. The score is in an attractive mid-century modern style. I find the pastoral slow movement particularly enjoyable. Gertler employs his own cadenza; Larsson was to eventually write his own, which was utilized in Leo Berlin's 1976 effort.

The LP is filled out with works by two of Larsson's Swedish contemporaries. Erland von Koch's folkish Oxberg Variations, from 1956, is built on a march theme from Dalecarlia. John Fernström's Concertino for Flute, Women's Chorus and Chamber Orchestra, dating from 1941, is a entertaining but kitschy exercise in exotica. It is a setting in translation of Carl Sandburg's poem "Early Moon," which reads as follows (thanks to Derek Katz for finding this):

THE BABY moon, a canoe, a silver papoose canoe, sails and sails in the Indian west.
A ring of silver foxes, a mist of silver foxes, sit and sit around the Indian moon.
One yellow star for a runner, and rows of blue stars for more runners, keep a line of watchers.
O foxes, baby moon, runners, you are the panel of memory, fire-white writing to-night of the Red Man's dreams.
Who squats, legs crossed and arms folded, matching its look against the moon-face, the star-faces, of the West?
Who are the Mississippi Valley ghosts, of copper foreheads, riding wiry ponies in the night? — no bridles, love-arms on the pony necks, riding in the night a long old trail?
Why do they always come back when the silver foxes sit around the early moon, a silver papoose, in the Indian west?

Sten Frykberg leads the Stockholm Radio Orchestra in the Larsson and Fernström works. Stig Westerberg conducts the Stockholm Symphony (other sources list it as the Stockholm Philharmonic) in the von Koch.

This transfer is from a 1974 Turnabout LP, but all the recordings are from years earlier. As noted, the Larsson is from 1952 or soon thereafter. It was first released by London (and, I believe, Discofil) on the same LP as the 1954 Fernström recording. (That album also contained a work by Karl-Birger Blomdahl, missing here). The Oxberg Variations were taped in May 1960 by Grammofon AB Electra.

The Larsson and Fernström items are mono. I have added an ambient stereo effect to help alleviate the boxiness of the Concertino recording. The von Koch is in good stereo sound.

Nielsen, Schultz

The main work on second LP is a magisterial performance of Nielsen’s 1903 Helios Overture. Nielsen is one of my favorite composers; it’s surprising that he hasn’t appeared here more often than the lone appearance of his Symphony No. 3. The other work on the LP is Svend Schultz’s Serenade for Strings, a much different work from the Nielsen but pleasant enough. Eric Tuxen leads the Danish State Radio Symphony Orchestra in these works. Michael Gray’s discography dates the Nielsen to 1952; presumably the Schultz is of the same vintage.

The transfer is from the original issue on a 10-inch Decca LP, sourced several years ago from the European Archive site and remastered recently by me. The sound is very good.

Robert Irving Conducts 'The Sleeping Beauty'

I have had it in mind for some time to transfer this recording, and was reminded of it by the recent request for Robert Irving's LP of Lecocq and Glazunov ballet scores. This double-LP set finds that conductor leading the orchestra of the Royal Opera House in Tchaikovsky's score to "The Sleeping Beauty" ballet.

This was based on the Sadler's Wells Ballet's 1955 production. Irving was at that time the troupe's music director. The recordings were made in June, and originally issued on HMV. My transfer comes from the RCA Victor set produced under license in the US.

Irving provides a lithe reading, keeping things moving along, which is to my taste, and hopefully was to the liking of the dancers. The Covent Garden orchestra is responsive but sounds a trifle underpowered in the strings.

The sound is well-balanced mono. It's possible that this was recorded in stereo, but I have not seen evidence of such a release myself. The download includes scans of the four-page insert.