The Songs of 'State Fair'

The poster above is from the 1945 film State Fair, a charming film with six good songs by Rodgers and Hammerstein in the Americana mode that for them started with the blockbuster stage musical Oklahoma!

My intent was to collect some of the commercial recordings of songs from the 1945 film. Then I remembered that Richard Rodgers had written both words and music for several new songs for a 1962 remake. This in turn led me to the 1996 stage musical, which had its own additions from the Rodgers & Hammerstein back catalogue. And that production had been a reworking of a 1969 staging, which featured different R&H additions.

Eventually I ended up with 26 selections, which can be categorized as follows:

• The songs from the 1945 film: eight selections, including one song cut from the film and one alternate take. The title song also is included, albeit in a 1962 recording.

• The new songs for the 1962 film: four songs by Rodgers.

• The R&H catalog songs added to the 1969 stage musical, in their original versions.

• The seven catalog songs inserted into the 1996 Broadway musical, in their original versions, plus one song that was a reworking of another song cut from an R&H musical.

All this will become clear, or at least clearer, as we proceed. First some background.

The Story of State Fair

Ground zero for all these musicals - and a 1976 non-musical television adaptation - was Phil Stong's 1932 novel with the same name, which related the story of an Iowa farm family named Frake - father Abel, mother Melissa and teen offspring Margy and Wayne - and their trip to the State Fair. Romance for the youngsters and blue ribbons for Ma and Pa ensued.

Hollywood immediately picked up on the story. The following year, a non-musical film starring Will Rogers, Louise Dresser, Norman Foster and Janet Gaynor showed up in the nation's film emporia. You'll notice Lew Ayes snuggling with Janet Gaynor above. He's one of the love interests. Not sure who the other figure is. It can't be Louise Dresser, so it must be Sally Eilers, whose slinky attire apparently was designed to allure Wayne.

Songs from the 1945 Film

State Fair was the only musical that R&H composed directly for the screen. Although it is set at the fair, the story is really about two restless young people who are dreaming of a world beyond the farm. Ma and Pa provide comic relief - Abel with his giant hog; Melissa with her mincemeat pies.

"It Might as Well Be Spring"

The "dreaming" theme is quickly established by the most famous song from the score - "It Might as Well Be Spring," which Margy (Jeanne Crain, dubbed by Louanne Hogan) sings from an open window:

I keep wishing I were somewhere else / Walking down a brand new street

Hearing words that I have never heard / From a man I've yet to meet

This longing for something new was common in the times, and was a theme in American literature at least as far back as Eugene O'Neill's 1918 play Beyond the Horizon. In films it had shown up in The Wizard of Oz ("Over the Rainbow'). Later it would become integral to Aaron Copland's opera The Tender Land.

There were surprisingly few commercial recordings of the State Fair songs at the time. The most notable set was an album with five songs by Dick Haymes, who took the role of Wayne Frake. This collection includes three of those - "It Might as Well Be Spring," "All I Owe Ioway" and "It's a Grand Night for Singing." In the film, he features only in the latter, in ensemble.

Vivian Blaine and Dick Haymes

Oddly, Dick did not record his main song in the film - "Isn't It Kinda Fun?", a duet with Vivian Blaine, who played his prospective love interest, band singer Emily Edwards. So I've added an aircheck from his radio show, where his partner is Helen Forrest, along with a solo version that's an outtake from the film, I believe.

Haymes is wonderful, of course - his voice is evenly produced in a resonant baritone, with remarkably accurate pitch.

I've also included a few commercial recordings of interest. Margaret Whiting did a fine version of "It Might as Well Be Spring" with Paul Weston. This was one of Maggie's first recordings - Weston was top billed - and in truth his arrangement is beautiful.

Some jazz artists adopted the ballad as well. Stan Getz recorded it at least twice. He's here in a 1951 recording with the young Horace Silver on piano.

"That's for Me" also attracted a few record companies. This collection includes a version by Jo Stafford from 1945 that is too cool-toned for this enthusiastic number. Artie Shaw also recorded it with a vocal by the warm-voiced Hal Derwin (called "Hal Stevens" on the label).

One song was cut from the film - "We Will Be Together," presented by Vivian Blaine and the band's male singer, played by Wayne Marshall. He was Haymes' rival for Vivian's attention. This song is included as well.

Songs from the 1962 Film

By the time the 1962 remake of State Fair went into production, Oscar Hammerstein had died, so Rodgers decided to write the lyrics for several new songs himself, as he was to do for the Broadway show No Strings, which opened that same year,

While the results are not bad, they are not at the level of the 1945 songs, so none of them became popular. To represent the show I've included the soundtrack versions, which are as follows:

• "Never Say No to a Man": questionable motherly advice from Ma (Alice Faye, who came out of retirement) to Margy (Pamela Tiffin).

Alice Faye and Pamela Tiffin

• "Willing and Eager": a duet for Wayne (Pat Boone) and love interest Emily (Ann-Margret), who is a dancer rather than singer in this version. Pat is very good; Ann-Margret was more dancer than singer, but she's effective here.

Pat Boone and Ann-Margret

• "This Isn't Heaven": Bobby Darin sings this to Pamela Tiffin. A good song, which Bobby does well, but neither he nor Pamela could act.

Bobby Darin and Pamela Tiffin

• "The Little Things in Texas": Tom Ewell (Abel) and Alice Faye do this one. I should have mentioned that this version of the saga moves the locale from Iowa to Texas.

Rodgers actually wrote five songs for the 1962 film. But I pigheadedly left out Abel Frake's love song to his hog Blue Boy.

Tom Ewell and Blue Boy

Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops did record a 1962 album with songs from both State Fair and No Strings that included instrumental versions of "This Isn't Heaven" and "Willing and Eager." To represent the LP, I've included their instrumental version of the opening song "Our State Fair" as a sort of overture to the entire proceedings. Rodgers wrote this as a march, and arranger Richard Hayman leans into it, making it quasi-Sousa.

The 1962 film was not a success. Here are a few excerpts from Bosley Crowther's New York Times review:

Twentieth Century-Fox' remake of minor bucolic tribulations ... is a basically obvious and, for the most part, dull fare. This "Fair" is at best, only fair. For all its good intentions, it seems to be a parody of moviemaking of the past...

One has the feeling that the songs are being sung on cue and not because the drama inherent in the scene demanded a song.

The 1969 Stage Musical

Harriet and Ozzie Nelson

State Fair was unusual in that it was a musical film that became a stage musical. The first attempt to do so was in 1969 in St. Louis. Pa and Ma were Ozzie and Harriet Nelson, longtime TV stars who had been musicians in a prior life. The production had pedigree: Oscar Hammerstein's son James was the director and Rodgers himself supervised the show.

This production added three songs from one of R&H's "smaller" shows, 1953's Me and Juliet, which was a backstage story that included a show within a show (also called Me and Juliet). It was hard to stage and confusing, so it has seldom been revived. It did boast several excellent songs, as always with R&H.

Isabel Bigley and Joan McCracken

To represent the 1969 State Fair, I've included the versions of these songs from the Me and Juliet cast album. I don't know how they were used in the 1969 production.

• "It's Me" - sung by female lead Isabel Bigley and Joan McCracken

• "Keep It Gay" - done by the male heavy, Mark Dawson

• "Marriage Type Love" - sung by Arthur Maxwell, the "me" of Me and Juliet, the show-within-a-show

The 1969 score also included a new song, "Away from Home." I know nothing else about it. (Addendum - reader John S. and Alan Gomberg send the following information: In the St. Louis Post-Dispatch review of the Muny production, it was stated that the lyric for 'Away from Home' was by Lucille Kallen. She adapted the screenplay for the stage and was credited for that in the program. She was not credited with the lyric. It is not known whether the song, with music by Rodgers, was wholly new or was perhaps a trunk song for which Kallen provided new lyrics to existing Rodgers music.

The 1996 Stage Musical

State Fair made it to Broadway in 1996, in a new production also co-directed by James Hammerstein. Abel and Melissa were John Davidson and Kathryn Crosby. Margy and Wayne were Andrea McArdle and Ben Wright. Donna McKechnie was Emily and Scott Wise was Pat, the new Margy love interest.

John Davidson, Ben Wright, Kathyn Crosby, Andrea McArdle

The show included eight new songs, all of which were taken from other R&H shows, or were cut or adapted from them. I've included the original versions when available and the 1996 recordings when not.

These are as follows:

• "Driving at Night" - adapted by James Hammerstein and orchestrator Bruce Pomahac from an outtake from the 1947 R&H musical Allegro, "Two Short Years." This ensemble number is taken from the 1996 cast album.

• "You Never Had It So Good" - cut from Me and Juliet and done here by Donna McKechnie and Scott Wise.

• "When I Go Out Walking with My Baby" - cut from Oklahoma! and sung here by John Davidson and Kathryn Crosby.

John Battles and Gloria Wills

• "So Far" - from 1947's story-of-a life Allegro, with Gloria Wills from its original cast.

• "The Man I Used to Be" - from Pipe Dream, a 1955 sequel to Cannery Row written by John Steinbeck with music by R&H, here sung by William Johnson of its original cast as lead character Doc.

• "That's the Way It Happens" - from Me and Juliet, sung by Isabel Bigley.

• "Boys and Girls Like You and Me" - this song had the misfortune of being cut from three productions - Oklahoma! and two more not otherwise by R&H, the films Meet Me in St. Louis and Take Me Out to the Ball Game. Judy Garland made a commercial recording of the song, but here we have Frank Sinatra's outtake from the baseball musical. It's a beautiful piece, although the verse is a fine example of Hammerstein poesy.

William Johnson and Judy Tyler

• "The Next Time It Happens" - from Pipe Dream, here sung by Judy Tyler of its original cast.

The 1996 production carried over two songs from the 1962 film, "More than Just a Friend" and "Willing and Eager."

In the New York Times, Vincent Canby summarized both the appeal of the score and the failure of the Broadway production (it lasted four months):

State Fair still clings today, in large part because of the lilting score that includes such songs as "It Might as Well Be Spring," "That's for Me" and "Our State Fair." Be warned, however: If you allow any one of the melodies to penetrate your consciousness, you put yourself at risk. It will buzz around in the mind forever, or until a deep doze sets you free...

Here's a faithful, utterly mechanical stage replica of a work that, while it was never exactly top-drawer, was typical of the kind of miracles Rodgers and Hammerstein could pull off when in good form...

There's nothing wrong with the good old family values that State Fair is still promoting, except they're now being promoted with less theatrical guile than brazen push.

The first production was sincere; a valentine to a rural America that was changing. Adapting that to later times proved challenging. But the music endures.

LINK

Arrau Plays Schumann, Vol. 3

The series of Claudio Arrau's recordings of Schumann's piano works reaches its third installment with a fascinating performance of the Symphonic Études coupled with the early Abegg Variations, both from 1970.

Robert Schumann

The Symphonic Études are for the most part variations on a theme by the amateur composer Baron von Fricken. In 1834, Schumann composed the theme and 16 variations, eventually publishing only 11 of the latter. A 12th Étude was added as a finale, but it was based on a melody by Marschner.

I'll spare you the many confusing convolutions of the piece, except to note that the five Études that the composer did not publish were eventually issued by Brahms after Schumann's death, over the objections of Clara Schumann.

These rejected Études are sometimes inserted into performances of the work at various points, as Arrau does here.

Claudio Arrau

The Études were designed to be highly virtuosic, which is certainly the province of Arrau, and he does not disappoint. That is, he does not disappoint me - some critics were less impressed. Some were seeking more animation. Here is the redoubtable Joan Chissell in The Gramophone: 

Arrau plays these five ruminative variations [i.e., the five published by Brahms] perhaps more beautifully than anything else in the work... His own style these days seems to grow increasingly introverted: this music gives him scope to brood and dream. The rest of the performance is affectionately phrased and expansive, but there is not always enough sheer physical exhilaration in the more demonstrative numbers (often taken at rather cautious tempo), not excluding the finale.

David Hall of Stereo Review was closer to my own reaction (to the work, not to Arrau as an artist):

Claudio Arrau has never been a favorite of mine among the veteran superstar pianists: I find much of his interpretation on the cold and somewhat mannered side. So it is a wry sort of pleasure to be able to eat my words, and to commend his new recording of the Schumann Symphonic Études as among the very best ever. Only a certain lack of surge in the exuberant finale keeps me from calling it the single best.

The much shorter Abegg Variations were Schumann Op. 1, a student work from 1829-30. "Abegg" refers to the first five notes of the theme: A, B♭, E, G, and G. It also refers to Paulina von Abegg, an acquaintance and the dedicatee.

The critics were more satisfied with this early work. David Hall: "Arrau tops off this singularly satisfying artistic achievement [i.e., the Études] with an Abegg Variations rendering of the utmost tenderness and charm. Good sound all the way, rich in timbre, clean in texture."

The recording is rich, although quite close.

LINK

Autumn with Tutti Camarata

It's Hot with a capital H where I am and in much of the Northern Hemisphere. For relief, here comes fall, in the form of autumn songs as led by Tutti Camarata.

This particular record was a request from reader Keek. It was a good choice, providing pleasing instrumental sounds from a large orchestra.

Tutti Camarata

Salvador "Tutti" Camarata (1913-2005) was a big band trumpeter and arranger who provided backing on many vocal records before launching Disneyland records in 1956. This LP followed the next year.

It was somewhat unusual for Camarata; many of the records issued under his own name are arrangements of music by classical composers - Puccini, Verdi, Rimsky-Korsakov, Rachmaninoff, Tchaikovsky, Bach, Borodin, even two Erik Satie LPs. This was perhaps reflecting his Juilliard education.

Otherwise, he guided a great number of Disney records: children's items, show tunes and soundtracks. And a la the Ray Charles Singers, he did a recorded tour of the seasons. Autumn was the first, issued only in mono.

Jack Hayes, Leo Shuken

Tutti conducted the band for this record, but he left the charts to two Hollywood orchestrators. Leo Shuken (1906-76) specialized in epics and Westerns film genres. He also was a favored arranger for the scores of Victor Young. He won an Academy Award for his work on Stagecoach, and was nominated for The Unsinkable Molly Brown.

Jack Hayes (1919-2011) was nominated twice for an Oscar, for The Unsinkable Molly Brown and The Color Purple.

The record begins with "Autumn Concerto," a new work by Camillo Bargoni that was recorded by many instrumentalists in 1956-57. You may recognize the tune, even if the title isn't familiar.

Bernice Petkere's well-known "Lullaby of the Leaves" dates from the early 1930s.

Kurt Weill's "September Song" is from the musical Knickerbocker Holiday. Walter Huston introduced it.

Joseph Kosma's "Autumn Leaves" was introduced by Yves Montand as "Les feuilles mortes," with lyrics by Jacques Prévert. Johnny Mercer wrote the familiar English words.

"Autumn Serenade" by Peter De Rose dates from 1945 and was first released on record by Hal McIntyre's band. Then there was a flurry of recordings in the mid-50s, including this one.

Vernon Duke's magnificent "Autumn in New York" comes from the 1934 revue Thumbs Up! Let me again recommend Sarah Vaughan's vocal version if you have not heard it.

Next is an original by Leo Shuken - "Autumn Silhouettes."

Josef Myrow wrote "Autumn Nocturne" in 1941, when several bands recorded it. There was a revival of interest in the mid-50s.

Camarata himself was responsible for "The Story of the Stars."

The LP lists the final tune as "With the Wind and the Rain," but the full title is the less meteorological "With the Wind and the Rain in Your Hair." The authors are Clara Edwards and Jack Lawrence. Quite a few bands did it in 1940; it too made a comeback in the 1950s.

Surprisingly, only "Autumn Nocturne," "Autumn Leaves," "September Song" and "Autumn in New York" are also on the Ray Charles autumn LP.

Camarata produced a good LP, well recorded with lovely charts and excellent playing from Hollywood studio professionals. The sleeve note credits Buddy Cole with the organ parts, and Ray Turner with the piano solos.

LINK

Three Works by American Romantic Arthur Foote

Arthur Foote

Our long series of American music recordings today features the works of Bostonian Arthur Foote (1853-1937), another neglected but worthy composer. The Harvard graduate was a member of the so-called Boston Six, which also included George Chadwick and Edward MacDowell, who have appeared on this blog previously.

Richard Franko Goldman wrote of Foote, "It is not difficult to understand why, in the excitement generated by new sounds and techniques after World War I, such composers as Foote and [Horatio] Parker were so quickly and completely forgotten. They were the 'old-school,' unadventurous, derivative, and unsurprising. But history has a way of wheeling around, and after a while it is possible to get new perspectives. 

"They were composers of their time, and even if they were not 'advanced' during the years in which they were active, this is not always or necessarily a fatal disqualification."

This program of Foote's music shows why. It encompasses two LPs of orchestral works, both conducted by Karl Krueger for his Music in America mail-order series of the 1960s. The first album contains Foote's Suite in D minor of 1895. The second includes the Symphonic Prologue, Francesca da Rimini of 1892 and the Four Character Pieces after the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyám of 1905.

Karl Krueger

Karl Krueger (1894-1979) is sadly forgotten, but he was an important figure in American music, helping to found the symphony orchestra in Kansas City, then serving as conductor of the Detroit Symphony from 1943-49. Although he was born in the US, Krueger was of German descent and spent his early years as a professional in Germany and Vienna working with Arthur Nikisch and Franz Schalk. He founded the Society for the Preservation of the American Musical Heritage in 1958 with the backing of industrialist Henry H. Reichhold, who had been a trustee of the Detroit Symphony. The society funded these recordings, among others.

Suite in D minor, Op. 36

Foote's Suite in D minor is in four varied movements. Goldman wrote of it, "This work is not only well made and rather elegant, but has moments of real surge and fire."

In this 1963 performance, the first movement in particular is let down by the string sound, which was unduly strident above forte, which I have addressed. The other movements are less acidulous, but the acoustic was cramped throughout. I've added a small amount of air to the space.

Krueger's view: "The Suite heard in this recording is perhaps his [Foote's] most extended orchestral composition - 'practically a symphony,' he said of it. Composed during the years 1894-1895, the Suite had its first performance, from manuscript by the Boston Symphony Orchestra under Emil Paur in 1896. Foote wrote: 'It was only fairly successful, but with two really good movements... Its fortune has been the usual one of American compositions of its sort. It had a few first performances by orchestras here (and one in England by Henry J. Wood), and afterwards little chance. The movement in variation form really satisfied me.'"

LINK to Suite in D minor

Francesca da Rimini, Op. 24; Four Character Pieces after the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyám

The tale of Francesca da Rimini comes from the 13th century. Krueger: "Francesca, daughter of Guido da Polenta of Ravenna, was married by proxy to Giovanni Malatesta, the Lame, Lord of Rimini; the proxy was Giovanni's young and handsome brother, Paolo, who became Francesca's lover. Giovanni, discovering their guilt, killed them. Dante has immortalized the story in the Divine Comedy, and it was the subject of works by others. It inspired Tchaikovsky's famous symphonic poem, as well as paintings by Ingres, Watts and others."

Dante Gabriel Rossetti - Paolo and Francesca da Rimini

Francesca da Rimini was of interest to the Pre-Raphaelites as well. The Rossetti watercolor above is from 1855. The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyám was another subject of fascination in the second half of the 19th century, in artistic circles such as the Pre-Raphaelites and among musicians, including Foote.

Khayyám was a 13th century Persian astronomer and poet whose work became popular in the English-speaking world following the free translations published serially by Edmund FitzGerald beginning in 1855.

FitzGerald described his methods in a letter as follows: "My translation will interest you from its form, and also in many respects in its detail: very un-literal as it is. Many quatrains are mashed together: and something lost, I doubt, of Omar's simplicity, which is so much a virtue in him." Indeed, the work is as much FitzGerald as Khayyám.

A page from an illustrated edition by
William Morris and Edward Burne-Jones

The most famous quatrain from the Rubaiyat is the following, from FitzGerald's 1889 edition:

A Book of Verses underneath the Bough, 
A Jug of Wine, a Loaf of Bread—and Thou 
Beside me singing in the Wilderness—
Oh, Wilderness were Paradise enow!

A literal translation of a similar Khayyám quatrain:

If a loaf of wheaten-bread be forthcoming,
a gourd of wine, and a thigh-bone of mutton, and then,
if thou and I be sitting in the wilderness, —
that would be a joy to which no sultan can set bounds.

The "jug of wine" quatrain was the inspiration for the third section of Foote's work. The LP's notes delineate all the relevant verses.

The music for both these works is delightful throughout; these are some of the most attractive American works of the period. The sound of this 1968 LP is very good - more spacious than that accorded to the Suite.

LINK to Francesca da Rimini and the Rubaiyat

More Works by Arthur Foote

If Arthur Foote interests you, his music has appeared here three times before. All these records are newly remastered. The links below are to the downloads.

American Music for String Orchestra. In this Howard Hanson/Eastman-Rochester recording, Foote's Suite in E major is joined by Thomas Canning's Fantasia on a Hymn by Justin Morgan and Louis Mennini's Arioso.

Music for Flute by Griffes and Foote. The stellar flutist Julius Baker performs Charles T. Griffes' Poem with a chamber orchestra led by Daniel Saidenburg. He then presents Foote's A Night Piece with a string quartet.

Maurice Sharp: Music for a Golden Flute. Sharp, principal of the Cleveland Orchestra, is accompanied by the Cleveland Sinfonietta under Louis Lane. Griffes' Poem again figures here, as does Foote's A Night Piece, although this time with a chamber orchestra. The program is completed by Hanson's Serenade and Honegger's Concerto da Camera.

Ralph Burns - Spring and Summer Sequences, and More

I transferred Ralph Burns' terrific 1956 LP Spring Sequence (actually two 10-inch LPs combined) then decided to go back to his Summer Sequence of 1946-7, and that somehow led me to Igor Stravinsky. All this is explained below.

Spring Sequence

Before I launch into a discussion of the record, a few words about Ralph Burns (1922-2001). He made his name writing and arranging for the Woody Herman band starting in 1944, with his biggest hit probably "Early Autumn."

That song was originally an Epilogue to Ralph's three-part "Summer Sequence," which he wrote for a concert that also introduced the Ebony Concerto that Stravinsky wrote for the band.

"Summer Sequence" became so well known that Burns also wrote a "Winter Sequence" with Leonard Feather that you can find here. And he did the "Spring Sequence" that you will find on the LP under present discussion.  

Like much else with this post, the "Spring Sequence" LP has a complicated history. It first appeared in 1955 as a 10-inch LP on the Period label. Period then issued another 10-incher called "Bijou" after one of Ralph's most noted compositions.

The Period covers - Period was in its "meh" period

The mail-order Jazztone label combined the two in 1956 and issued the resulting 12-inch LP under the "Spring Sequence" name. That is that release we have for you today. Also, Period sold its catalogue to Bethlehem in 1956, and the latter reissued these same recordings in 1957 under the name "Bijou," leaving out one number.

This record is notable because it features Burns' piano in a small group setting, as compared to the Herman big band or the chamber ensemble assembled for his previous LP, Free Forms. (He also did an album called Ralph Burns Among the JATPs that is mainly a blowing session for Jazz at the Philharmonic mainstays. It is coming up along with Free Forms.) 

The other musicians on Spring Sequence are Jimmy Raney, guitar, Clyde Lombardi, bass, and Osie Johnson, drums. Burns is the primary soloist, but the excellent Raney also is featured.

The first side of the Jazztone record contains the songs of spring. These are Burns compositions "Spring Sequence" and "Sprong," the standards "It Might as Well Be Spring" and "Spring Is Here," both by Richard Rodgers, and pianist Willie "the Lion" Smith's "Echo of Spring."

The "Bijou" side also includes Ralph's "Gina" (named for actor Gina Lollobrigida), "Autobahn Blues" (written in Germany for the Herman band), "Spring in Naples" (from another European tour) and "Perpetual Motion" (which features Ralph overdubbing a second piano part). The only standard is Sigmund Romberg's "Lover Come Back to Me."

Jimmy Raney

After that long introduction/explanation, let me just add that this is a first-rate LP with engrossing piano playing, fine guitar solos and a solid rhythm section. What it was not was well-recorded. Burns' piano tone - at least on the Jazztone pressing - was much too bass-heavy. I separated the piano from the other instruments and rebalanced it. The result is good.

The peculiar cover at the top of this section was the work of Burt Goldblatt, a very good artist who was specializing in murky images at the time. (You can see other examples, both good and otherwise, here.)

LINK to Spring Sequence

Summer Sequence and Ebony Concerto

Ralph and Woody (with his "Winged Mercury" hairdo)

I thought it made sense to include the original recording of "Summer Sequence" with the Herman band, and to tell the story of how it came about. Supposedly Igor Stravinsky was interested in the band because he had heard Burns' "Bijou," and subsequently wrote the Ebony Concerto for the band. I have also read that the great man thought "Bijou" sounded like his music. To me, "Bijou" - a rhumba with wrong notes - does not sound like Igor. I've included both "Bijou" and the Ebony Concerto and you can decide for yourself.

To get to the point, Woody needed a concert piece to go with the Stravinsky on the 1946 premiere program. Ralph wrote the three-part "Summer Sequence" for the occasion - a lovely piece that's a great showcase for the band, and a good contrast with the angular Ebony Concerto.

Burns wrote an Epilogue for "Summer Sequence" the following year, which immediately became popular. Its final theme took on a life of its own as "Early Autumn," a haunting piece famed for the Stan Getz tenor saxophone solo found on the 1948 Herman single.

For this set, I've included the 1946 recording of "Summer Sequence," the 1947 Epilogue and the 1948 recording of "Early Autumn." Johnny Mercer wrote lyrics for the song in 1952 - I've appended Jo Stafford's contemporaneous recording. (Woody also did a vocal version, but I can't find that one.)

Also added are a few of Ralph's best-known pieces with the band - his compositions "Bijou" and "Lady McGowan's Dream" and his arrangement of Louis Jordan's "Caldonia," which Woody sang (and quite well).

Stravinsky rehearses the Herd

The Ebony Concerto is a brief, aphoristic piece. The first movement is nothing if not choppy, sometimes giving way to brief lyrical passages. The Andante starts off as night music; lovely in its own way. I'd say it's taken too slowly, but the composer is conducting and the tempo picks up in the final section. The closing Moderato opens with a passage for Woody, the material then gets passed around the band before culminating in a dirge. For the recording, the band was augmented, but primarily with additional big band performers. The only other additions that I noted were French horn and harp.

LINK to Summer Sequence and Ebony Concerto

Morel Conducts Bizet and Chabrier

French music, particularly of the lighter variety, is not well represented on symphonic programs these days, with the exception of Debussy and Ravel. I took a look at the Cleveland Orchestra's upcoming season and there is exactly one piece from France, Debussy's Images.

Works from French composers (and those of other nationalities) such as those on today's LP are generally corralled into pops programs, which to me consigns their melodic and orchestral genius to a lesser status.

Be that as it may, this 1958 LP is a wonderfully entertaining example of music that is no longer heard very often in concert halls. It contains superior works from Georges Bizet (1838-75) and Emmanuel Chabrier (1841-94).

From the former, we have his two L'Arlésienne suites, from the latter his Rapsodie España and Joyeuse marche. (To be fair, España does at times lead off symphonic programs because it is an orchestral showpiece.)

Jean Morel

This post also gives us an opportunity to again explore the recorded legacy of a fine conductor, Jean Morel, who in this program is leading the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. He has been heard here previously in Albéniz and Ravel, Tchaikovsky, and a Mozart concerto with Rosina Lhévinne. (The latter is newly remastered.)

Most of today's album is devoted to Bizet's L'Arlésienne suites. These atmospheric and enchanting pieces were taken from the incidental music the composer wrote for Alphonse Daudet's play of that name. And while the music may be charming, the plot was serious. Set in Provence, it concerns a young man who commits suicide when he discovers his hoped-for bride (the "girl from Arles," who never appears on stage) has been unfaithful.

The play was not successful, but the music became popular. Bizet chose the seven most substantial pieces from the incidental music for his two suites. These show his gift for memorable themes and imaginative orchestration. 

Paul Affelder had this to say in High Fidelity: "One would expect idiomatic interpretations of this French music from a French conductor of Jean Morel's stature, and with one exception he does not disappoint. That exception is the second L'Arlésienne Suite, which he delivers in a routine fashion. This is surprising, because he infuses the first suite with poise and sensitivity." In my view, the only routine part of the second suite is the opening Pastorale, which is strangely inert.

Bizet's second suite closes with a Farandole that, following its opening recapitulation of the first suite's Prelude, turns into a remarkable orchestral showpiece. The Covent Garden orchestra was not considered to be first-rank, but they do well throughout the suites.

Emmanuel Chabrier

This fine playing extends to the colorful works of Chabrier. As I mentioned, España is an orchestral showpiece, and the performance here is faultless. Like Bizet's suites, it became popular and famous. The composer was moved to write the work following a trip to Spain.

I never tire of mentioning that Al Hoffman and Dick Manning turned one of España's subsidiary themes into something called "Hot Diggity (Dog Ziggity Boom)." It was a hit for Perry Como in 1956 (and I had the record back then).

Chabrier's Joyeuse marche is not as popular as España, but perhaps it should be. Chabrier tinkered with it for some time; it also exists in two different piano four-hands versions.

The recording of these pieces is one of the best from the late 1950s - well-balanced, atmospheric and convincing. It was done for the RCA Victor "Living Stereo" line by UK Decca in the person of engineer Kenneth Wilkinson, working in the Kingsway Hall, London.

Altogether, a most happy LP - well, except for the suicide.

LINK

David Allyn's 'Lost' Album, and More

After releasing albums for World-Pacific and Warner Bros., David Allyn went back in the studio to record his next LP with the great Johnny Mandel. It turned out to be the best album of all; trouble was it wouldn't be released for almost 20 years.

On the basis of artistic merit, it's hard to understand why. This is clearly one of the best vocal albums ever recorded. Allyn is in marvelous voice; he evidently had a great rapport with Mandel; the musicians were the best the West Coast had to offer.

For whatever reason, it didn't come out until 1978 on the Discovery label. The mastering was not good, however. I've significantly rebalanced matters and now it sounds great - to me, at least!

David Allyn

As a bonus, I've appended a 1960 Guest Star transcription for U.S. Savings Bonds where David sings three songs - all of them also on this LP, although in different performances. Details down below.

Discographies date the Blue of Evening LP from the early 60s, which seems about right considering the song selection. 

On the LP, for three songs, Allyn is accompanied by a small group - Jimmy Rowles, piano, Larry Bunker, vibes, Herb Ellis, guitar, Joe Mondragon, bass and Shelly Manne, drums. They appear on "Dream a Little Dream of Me," "Remind Me" and "It All Comes Back to Me Now."

The next group featured a French horn section with Conte Candoli, trumpet; Frank Rosolino, trombone; Bud Shank, Bob Cooper, Joe Maini, and Chuck Gentry, reeds; and the same rhythm section except for Mel Lewis on drums. The songs are "Down with Love." "That Old Devil Called Love" and "Cocktails for Two."

Johnny Mandel

Mandel added strings and harp for the final grouping, which includes "In the Blue of Evening," "All Through the Day" and "And Now Goodbye."

Most of these songs are standards, with the possible exception of two. The first is "It All Comes Back to Me Now," one of my favorites. Alex Kramer, Joan Whitney and Hy Zaret wrote it in about 1940; David recorded it on one of his first sessions with Jack Teagarden's big band. You can find that version in this post devoted to Allyn's earliest recordings.

The second such song, "And Now Goodbye," is by David (music) and Steve Allen (lyrics). It's a very attractive number that should be better known.

Guest Star Transcription

The U.S. Treasury Department had a long-standing transcription series called Guest Star that it used to promote Savings Bonds. Allyn was a guest on a program distributed in 1960. The music director and producer of the series was former Phil Harris and Ozzie Nelson saxophonist Basil (Buzz) Adlam, who also worked on Ozzie's popular TV sitcom.

David's selections with Adlam's very good group are "Dream a Little Dream of Me," "It All Comes Back to Me Now" and "It's a Pity to Say Goodnight." He's in excellent voice and does the numbers well; the latter better than the LP because he doesn't sound so besotted. He's stiff in the brief dialogues with announcer Lou Crosby, who is vaguely irritating. A very nice listen, however, and I've tracked it for you, so you can dispense with the superfluities.

FYI - You may note on the label above that Jo Stafford also had a Guest Star appearance on the same record. Unlike Allyn's program, her songs were taken from commercial recordings.

LINK to In the Blue of Evening and Guest Star