Musical Comedy Medleys from Arthur Fiedler and Leroy Anderson

Arthur Fiedler and Leroy Anderson had a symbiotic relationship. Anderson would produce arrangements for the Boston Pops, and Fiedler would introduce the composer's brilliant pop compositions.

This particular 10-inch record of Musical Comedy Medleys comes from 1950, relatively early in their association. Only five years before, Anderson, still in the US Army, had written his first notable composition, "The Syncopated Clock," and conducted it with the Pops at Fiedler's invitation.

Anderson's first big popular success was with "Sleigh Ride," in the Fielder recording of 1949. You have probably heard its concluding instrumental whinny one too many times in the past month.

Meanwhile, Anderson was producing arrangements for use by the Pops. The Musical Comedy Medleys LP is a good example of his work. In it, Anderson explores top tunes from the massive hit musicals of the time - Irving Berlin's Annie Get Your Gun (1946), Frederic Loewe's Brigadoon (1947), Cole Porter's Kiss Me, Kate (1948) and Richard Rodgers' South Pacific (1949).

Leroy Anderson and Arthur Fiedler

Anderson's arrangements were perfectly suited to Fiedler's approach. In a previous post, I described his recordings this way: "All feature the typical Fiedler élan that stops just this side of seeming rushed . . . If there is little depth in this approach - well, it is the Pops, after all."

That earlier post was devoted to a later LP called Curtain Going Up, also consisting of medleys. South Pacific and Brigadoon appear on the that album as well as on Musical Comedy Medleys.

The sound on Musical Comedy Medleys is reasonably good, although RCA had trouble delivering detail and presence from the resonant Symphony Hall acoustic. Nor was the LP especially well produced - most of it was considerably under pitch. Note (January 2024): this has now been remastered in ambient stereo.

Also on the blog: a post from 2010 has Fiedler conducting Anderson's own compositions for RCA, as well as Anderson leading his "Irish Suite" for Decca.

LINK to Musical Comedy Medleys

A Christmas Bouquet from Paris

For my final share before Christmas is upon us, I thought I might return to the roots of this blog as a repository for 10-inch LPs. I have for you a lovely mid-50s collection combining Renaissance music for the season with Christmas carols.

The cover of Bouquets de Noel shows an organ even though this is a choral LP without an organ in sight (or sound). The performers are the Ensemble Vocal de Paris, a notable chorus of the time. Directing the proceedings is André Jouve, who was in his mid-20s at the time and in the midst of a recording contract with the French Ducretet-Thomson label, which had him conduct both orchestral and choral music. Several of these can be found on Rene Gagnaux's excellent site.

Ducretet-Thomson Cover

There is little information on Jouve available on line, but I do know that that he was born in Marseille and educated at the Paris Conservatoire. But I have no clue about his activities after his Ducretet-Thomson contract was up in 1958.

Regardless, this is a very good record with the vocal ensemble handing Renaissance music by du Caurroy, Costeley and Praetorius as nicely as the carols on side 2. My transfer is from a German Telefunken pressing with good sound.

Happy holidays to all!

Christmas Music from the Renaissance, Plus Alfred Burt's Holiday Compositions

We reach back to the 16th and 17th centuries for today's Christmas program, which comes to us from the Renaissance Singers and the Choristers of Ely Cathedral, circa 1958. As a bonus, our friend David Federman has contributed two LPs devoted to the music of Christmas composer Alfred Burt.

Let's look at David's selections first.

The Irving Berlin of American Sacred Christmas Music: Alfred Burt

Alfred Burt

David explains that "in 1942, big band trumpet player and arranger Alfred Burt wrote the first of the 15 Christmas carols, 'Christmas Cometh Caroling,' he would write yearly until the end of his life in February 1954, aged 34, from lung cancer."

David has compiled two LPs dedicated to presenting Burt's craft, one conducted by Ralph Carmichael in 1954, the other by Jimmy Joyce in 1963. "You owe these albums a listen," says David. "My second-favorite carol, after 'Silent Night,' is 'Some Children See Him,' from 1951."

Music for the Feast of Christmas

Michael Howard

Argo Records' holiday issue for 1958 was a collection of primarily Renaissance music presented by the Choristers of Ely Cathedral and the Renaissance Singers, directed by Michael Howard.

The choral items are by Caustun, Gibbons, Amner, Palestrina, Sweelinck, Byrd, Handl, Victoria and Dufay, with two plainsong selections and the Coventry Carol from 1591. Argo added - incongruously - a Messiaen organ work, "Les Anges," following the Amner anthem, the connection being that both the 17th and 20th century composers depict angels attending the birth of Christ. No fluttering wings for Messiaen - the din from his angels would have awakened half of Bethlehem.

The performances are very good. Michael Howard was founder and director of the Renaissance Singers as well as music director of Ely Cathedral in Cambridgeshire. He played a significant role in the revival of Renaissance music in post-war Britain.

Nave of Ely Cathedral

According to the contemporary Gramophone review (included in the download), Howard utilized women's voices for the Singers' London concerts, replacing them with the boys of the Ely Cathedral choir for this recording. The organist was Arthur Wills, who replaced Howard as the Ely music director soon after this record was made, remaining there for 32 years.

Composer John Amner was himself an Ely Cathedral music director, in the 17th century. By that time, the Cathedral, an astonishingly beautiful place, had already been in existence for more than five centuries.

The sound is reasonably good, although the pitch was about a quarter tone off. My copy is mono. Argo also issued a stereo version (see ad below). Decca would soon take over Argo, and my record is a slightly later pressing on Decca's London label made for export to the US.

The cover art above is by the wonderful Arthur Wragg, who did many designs for Argo in its early years. You can see a selection of his work for the label here.

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Ad from December 1958 Gramophone (click to enlarge)

Carols from Contemporary Composers, 1952

Contemporary Records is known today for West Coast jazz recordings. But when it was founded in 1951, it primarily featured antiquarians such as the Firehouse Five Plus Two, Turk Murphy, Bob Scobey and Kid Ory. It wasn't until July 1952 that the company signed Howard Rumsey's Lighthouse All Stars, a seminal West Coast ensemble.

Along with his love for jazz, Contemporary founder Lester Koenig wanted to provide an outlet for the classical composers of the day. One of his first efforts in that realm is this little-known LP of Contemporary Christmas Carols, which came out in 1952, I believe. Contemporary commissioned carols from five young American composers for the album - David Kraehenbuehl, Arthur Harris, Charles Jones, John Gruen and Manus Sasonkin.

The LP comes to us courtesy of my friend Ernie, the Christmas music maven who has seemingly published every obscure Christmas LP on his blog except this one, which he reserved for readers of Big 10-Inch Record.

The carols contained herein all are composed in a conservative, accessible style that will not frighten the horses on your sleigh. But none are truly memorable, nor are they widely performed, to my knowledge.

The five young composers of 66 years ago all have passed on, and none became famous for their music, although each is notable in his own way. The best known is probably John Gruen, for his work as a critic. Here are a few words about each composer.

David Kraehenbuehl (1923-97) was an American composer, theorist, and creator of piano-teaching materials. A student of Paul Hindemith at Yale, he was on the Colorado College faculty, moving to Yale, where he stayed until 1960. Many of his compositions have a religious inspiration.

Arthur Harris (1927-92) was a pianist, composer and arranger who became known for his arrangements for the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and the Philadelphia Orchestra, including much Christmas music. He studied with Stefan Wolpe and Hindemith. He also wrote for Broadway and jazz ensembles, and even did a few industrial musicals.

Charles Jones (1910-97) was Canadian-born composer. He studied at Juilliard with Bernard Wagenaar. He later taught at Mills College with Darius Milhaud, as well as at Juilliard and the Mannes College of Music. A CD of his compositions is available on Albany Records.

Manus Sasonkin (1930-92) studied with Quincy Porter, Hindemith, Gardner Read and Arnold Schoenberg. In addition to composing, Sasonkin taught, was an active harpsichordist, and appeared in and wrote music for theatre productions.

John Gruen (1926–2016) became a well-known cultural critic for the New York Herald Tribune and New York magazine, and was an author and photographer, in addition to his musical works. As a composer, he wrote an early set of songs that was issued on the first ever Elektra LP.

The scrupulous performances on the LP are led by the superb conductor Margaret Hillis. Performing are members of her New York-based Concert Choir, here comprising six voices. Hillis moved to the Midwest in 1957 to found and direct the Chicago Symphony Chorus, which achieved great renown under her direction. Her recording of Masses by Lou Harrison and Wilhelm Killmayer is available on this blog.

Thanks again to Ernie for this transfer and for the complete scans, including labels and texts.

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Christmas with Marilyn Maye and Skitch Henderson

Not too long ago, my friend Ernie put out a general appeal looking for this LP, which had eluded him. It's one of a series of Christmas records put out by the U.S. Air Force in the 1960s, featuring its musical ensembles and guest stars.

Ernie has about everything Christmas related, so I was glad that I was able to supply him with a copy of the album from my stock of holiday records.

Before I shipped it out, I tried to transfer it for possible use here. That was back when my recording equipment was giving me fits, so I never did succeed in getting a usable dub before I sent it off to a safe haven with Ernie down in Florida.

Fortunately, Ernie had no such trouble with the needle staying in the groove when he went to play the LP, and today he posted his transfer of this very worthwhile record.

It features the excellent if little-remembered singer Marilyn Maye on side 1, and on side 2 Skitch Henderson introducing a diverse group of performers taken from previous Air Force Christmas LPs, including Jack Jones and the Free Design.

There's more about this 1969 LP on Ernie's site. I think you'll enjoy this one!

Christmas with Bing Crosby and Dick Haymes, Plus a New Year's Romance

Here are Christmas contributions from two of the finest baritones of the last century, Bing Crosby and Dick Haymes, in their primes.

For Haymes, I've assembled his five V-Disc recordings of Christmas fare from a bootleg collection of dubious provenance. Two songs - "O Little Town of Bethlehem" and "God Rest Ye, Merry Gentlemen" - are dubs from Haymes' 1947 Decca Christmas album. "Silent Night," "O Come, All You Faithful" and "Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!" are taken from broadcasts, I believe.

Dick Haymes

Bing serenades us with 10 seasonal items, all from airchecks dating from 1942 to 1946. The songs range from several Holiday Inn numbers - including "White Christmas" - to two versions of "Adeste Fidelis."

I am sure that most or all of the Crosby material has appeared elsewhere, but I chose to transfer them from a 1970s bootleg with execrable sound - noisy, off pitch and out of kilter. Why? Because I could find it, of course. The results are not too bad, save for some momentary squealing on one cut that I haven't entirely eradicated.

All told, the sound on this material is certainly acceptable, and is sure to please the fans of these two exceptional artists.

An Ardmore New Year's Romance: Three's a Crowd

David Federman has assembled another collection for us, this one titled "An Ardmore New Year's Romance: Three's a Crowd." He explains:

"How funny that we should spend the one night of the year meant for farewells and welcomes painting the town red because we otherwise might feel blue. I’ve decided to paint the year-end town of Ardmore soft white as in candlelight and snow."

As usual, David has put together a diverse 30-song playlist ranging from Bing's "Let Start the New Year's Right" (which also figures in my collection above) to Duke Ellington to Isham Jones to Morton Gould. The link can be found in the comments to this post.

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1944 ad (click to enlarge)

A Country Christmas Collection from 1949

My friend Lee brought this 10-inch LP to my attention not long ago, after I had expressed admiration for Ray Smith's recording of "Jolly Old Saint Nicholas," which it contains.

I'm glad I acquired the album - it's very enjoyable and the sound came up nicely.

Ray Smith

Half the LP is devoted to Gene Autry, one of the best known Christmas troubadors and one of the stars of Columbia's artist roster. But let's first discuss the relatively obscure Ray Smith, who despite his talent was with the label only for a year or two. Born in California, Smith was working in New York when he managed to get a contract with Columbia Records in 1949. He had already produced a few sides for National the year before.

Columbia had Smith record "Jolly Old Saint Nicholas" and "An Old Christmas Card" in one of his first few sessions for them. The former tune dates from the 19th century, while the latter was a new item by Vaughn Horton. The single did relatively well, but Smith only had a few more dates for the label and, as far as I can tell, never recorded another Christmas song.

Smith was from the Eddy Arnold school of singing, but when I first heard his voice, it put me in mind of Jim Reeves, a later artist. Reeves in fact remade "An Old Christmas Card" in 1963, and his version is the one that is heard today, if the song is heard at all.

The label of Smith's 78 says he is accompanied by string band, but it sure sounds like organ and chimes on "An Old Christmas Card" and guitar and organ on "Jolly Old Saint Nicholas."

Gene Autry's records, in contrast, feature his version of a Western swing band, with trumpet and twin fiddles prominent. The big hit on this LP was "Here Comes Santa Claus," released in 1947. On 78, that tune was coupled with "An Old Fashioned Tree," also included here.

The other Autry songs, "Santa, Santa, Santa" and "He's a Chubby Little Fellow," date from 1949. Although less familiar than some of Autry's fare, they are no less enjoyable.

Columbia really didn't have much of a country artist roster. The back cover of this LP shows that its early long-playing catalog could offer only albums by Bob Wills, Roy Acuff, Bob Atcher, Al Dexter, George Morgan and Spade Cooley.

To fill out its country Christmas collection, Columbia had to reach back to its predecessor ARC, whose catalog it acquired in 1938. Fortunately, the two items it chose from that source are good ones, even though one is in no way countrified.

The Hoosier Hot Shots

First, we have the wonderful Hoosier Hot Shots with a rollicking version of "Jingle Bells," with the conceit that they are playing the tune while riding in the sleigh. The Hot Shots recorded the number in 1936, relatively early in their recording career. ARC issued it on Melotone, Conqueror and perhaps other labels.

The earliest item on the LP, "Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town" dates from 1934, and was originally issued on Melotone and Conqueror as by the American Novelty Orchestra. ARC used that orchestra name as a pseudonym for a variety of bands, including Victor Young, Johnny Messner, Jack Shilkret and Joe Green. Discographer Brian Rust shows Johnny Messner's brother Dick as having recorded "Jingle Bells" in 1935 for ARC, which issued the title under the American Novelty Orchestra name, so his band is another possibility. (UPDATE: Allan Sutton's Pseudonymns on American Records, which I recently acquired, confirms my surmise that this was Dick Messner's orchestra.)

Whatever the case, it's a spirited rendition with a reedy vocal entirely characteristic of the period, and great fun - as is the whole LP.

The Billboard ad below shows the Columbia Christmas issues for 1948, which included four of the numbers from this LP. Also included are the wonderful Sinatra holiday records from that period, and a set by the Lyn Murray Singers, which appeared on this blog in 2013 and is still available. Unfortunately, the Country Christmas Collection does not include the Korn Kobblers' "Don't Give Me No Goose for Christmas, Grandma," which either has to do with poultry or tickling, not sure which.

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