November 2006

November 30, 2006
 
 

We'll Have A Honeymoon Someday
Bert Lown and His Orchestra
Ted Holt, vocal                                                                  1933
(Bluebird B-5088-A)

Happy As The Day Is Long
Georgia Washboard Stompers                                           1933
(Bluebird B-5088-B)

First, I would like to introduce a Bert Lown recording from 1933.  Lown's last recordings, and some say best, come from his 1933 sessions for the Bluebird label.   His recordings often featured such great musicians as Adrian Rollini and Al Philburn. The Lown band fell out of favor because they never changed their early 30's sound.  I really enjoy all of his recordings.
 
 
The flip side of this Bluebird is by the Georgia Washboard Stompers, a pseudonym of the Washboard Rhythm Kings. They played in a hot and happy style that I greatly enjoy...and also defied the sweet style dominant during the Depression. The tune, "Happy As The Day Is Long," was composed by Harold Arlen and  featured  in the Cotton Club Parade Of 1933. 

- Matt From College Station
 
 

EXTRA

This section will  present 78 rpm recordings that do not fall within the range of the vintage pop and jazz  fare that I usually  present.  Here I will feature recordings from a wide variety of eras, musical genres and nationalities as well as occasional spoken word recordings.
 
 
 
 

I Knew We Two Were One
Will Osborne And His Orchestra
Will Osborne, vocal                                                           1929
(Columbia 2044 D mx 149448 )

They All Fall In Love
Will Osborne And His Orchestra
Will Osborne, vocal                                                           1929
(Columbia 2044 D mx 149444)

This is a special extra that features the dance band music of Will Osborne.

Will Osborne, son of Lord Oliphant, began leading bands in the mid 1920s. In 1929, he took over for Rudy Vallee at the Heigh Ho Club and gained important radio exposure. In the early 30s he had a smooth sweet band with excellent musicians and featured himself as a crooning vocalist. 

Since the Vallee and Osborne outfits were so similar, a phony publicity feud developed between them...causing much amusement for radio audiences. 

Osborne began recording for Columbia, but switched in 1931 to Brunswick's bargain priced Melotone label. In 1932 Brunswick and Melotone were bought from Warner Brothers Pictures by ARC. Will Osborne remained with ARC until 1936, when he switched to Decca.  By then his band's style shifted from standard sweet fare to what he billed as "slide music"  which featured slide trombones in an effective and pleasing style.

The first selection where Osborne opens by personally introducing the tune and himself as a Columbia recording artist is one that Dismuke became very fond of when he heard it played on Rich Conaty's The Big Broadcast.  When Dismuke learned that I had a copy, he asked that I include it on an update, so here it is.

The flip side features the  Cole Porter tune, "They All Fall In Love" from the Gertrude Lawrence film Battle Of Paris.

- Matt From College Station

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Note - I am very please to welcome back guest contributor Matt From College Station  as he shares some more recordings from his excellent collection of 1920s and 1930s jazz and dance band 78 rpm records. 

All recordings and commentary in this update, both the regular and the "Extra" sections, are from Matt.  My only contribution was to transfer and digitalize the recordings. 

You can learn more about Matt and find his contact information by clicking here. 
 
 

I Can't Get Enough Of You
Russell Wooding And His Grand Central Redcaps
Dick Robertson, vocal                                                                   1931
(Victor 22718-B)

That's My Desire
Russell Wooding And His Grand Central Redcaps
Frank Luther, vocal                                                                         1931
(Victor 22718-A)
 
 

Very little is known about Russel Wooding, but I will do my best to present what I've gleamed from incidental mentions of him

Russel Wooding began band leading in Washington D.C., and was an early employer of Duke Ellington. At some point he moved to New York and began a stint playing for Broadway shows and appearing in Vitaphone short subjects. In 1933 he appeared in the Vitaphone short Rufus Jones For President with Ethel Waters and composed / played the score for her Broadway show At Home Abroad. He also recorded two tunes with Waters on the Liberty Music Shop label.

This is his only other commercially issued recording that I am aware of. It was recorded in 1931 and features Frank Luther and Dick Robertson as vocalists. I especially like "I Can't Get Enough Of You" because it's upbeat and a bit jazzy. 

 - Matt From College Station
 

 

EXTRA

This section will  present 78 rpm recordings that do not fall within the range of the vintage pop and jazz  fare that I usually  present.  Here I will feature recordings from a wide variety of eras, musical genres and nationalities as well as occasional spoken word recordings.
 
 

Don't Ask Me Why / Fate - Tango Valentio
Nat Shilkret And The Victor Orchestra
Paul Small, vocal                                           circa 1931
(RCA-Victor Program Transcription Victor L-16004)
 
 

I am pleased to present another "long playing" RCA-Victor Program Transcription for your enjoyment. This one features two tunes performed by Nat Shilkret and the Victor Orchestra. Shilkret, as has been discussed on previous updates, was a music director for the Victor Talking Machine Company (which became RCA-Victor). His records are generally excellent and very enjoyable.

The first tune on this disc, "Don't Ask Me Why," was featured in the German Tonefilm Das Lied ist aus. The title of the film's American release was  The Song Is Ended. Das Lied ist aus was filmed in 1930 with a score composed by Robert Stolz.    Born in 1889, Austrian composer Robert Stolz was known as "The Last of the Waltz Kings." By the early 1930s, Stolz was extremely successful and in demand as a composer of both operettas and film scores.  Stolz left Austria in 1938 for Paris and, eventually,  the United States where he worked in Hollywood and conducted on Broadway.  He returned to Europe in the late 1940s.  In his later life, Stolz was famous as a prolific recording artist conducting Viennese light music. He remained active as a conductor until his death in 1975. 

"Fate," the other tune on this disc, is listed as a "Tango Valentino" and was composed by Shilkret. 

 - Matt From College Station