February 2008

February 28

 
The Chant
Fletcher Henderson & His Orchestra                   1926
(Columbia 817 D mx 142903)

The Henderson Stomp
Fletcher Henderson & His Orchestra                   1926
(Columbia 817 D mx 142908)
 
 

Pianist, composer, arranger and bandleader Fletcher Henderson was among the most important jazz artists of the 1920s and was highly influential in the eventual development of the style of music associated with the swing and big band eras of the late 1930s.   Several of the songs that propelled Benny Goodman to fame as the "King of Swing" had Fletcher Henderson arrangements.  Unfortunately for Henderson, he was never able to enjoy a level of financial success in line with his musical accomplishments.   He formed and fronted a number  of bands over the years which were able to attract first rate musicians - but few of them were able to achieve any lasting commercial success.

One bit of interesting trivia about Fletcher Henderson:  He was the first music director for the early 1920s Black Swan record label.   Black Swan was an entirely black owned and operated record label and was the first to focus on selling records specifically marketed towards black customers who had previously been ignored by the major labels.   The Black Swan label was instrumental in the early career success of Ethel Waters.   The label was commercially successful for a few years, but eventually the major labels took note and began releasing their own lines of "race" records aimed at the black market which made it increasingly difficult for Black Swan to compete for musicians  and sales.   An interesting history of the Black Swan label and Fletcher Henderson's role in it can be found at this link. 

- Dismuke
 

If you have questions or comments about the music or would simply enjoy interacting with friendly people who share your interest in it, join in the conversation on Dismuke's Message Board. 

 
 
 

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.
 
 
 

Faisons Un Rêve
Orchestre Edith Lorand                   circa 1928
(Parlophone 22 191 mx 36291)

Riante Vienne
Orchestre Edith Lorand                   circa 1928 - 1929
(Parlophone 22 306 mx 37029)

Mirage
Edith Lorand et son Orchestre          circa 1929
(Parlophone 80 129 mx 37450)
 

Over the past few months I have acquired a number of recordings by violinist Edith Lorand and her salon orchestra.  I have featured Lorand on several previous updates in which I have commented on her career.

All of these selections were recorded and originally released in Germany, but my copies are on French pressings - which is why all of the title and artist credits are listed in French.   At the time,  Lorand was extremely popular thoughout Europe and her records were released in the UK and the USA as well. 

Unfortunately, my copy of "Faisons Un Rêve," also known as "Let Us Dream," while in visually excellent condition, does have some groove distortion on a few of the louder passages.  The song was composed by German composer Carl  Robrecht.   I have not been able to find much biographical information about Robrecht other than he lived from 1888 - 1961.   There are references online to a number of his compositions and to the fact that, at some point, he had his own band in Germany.

"Riante Vienne," also known as "Fideles Wien" is a waltz composed by Karl Komzak Jr., a late 19th century Czech composer and bandleader whose father, Karl Komzak Sr., was also a well-known composer.   Komzak Jr. led a military band that was famous throughout the Austrian Empire in the late 1800s and was a favorite with Viennese audiences.   His was the first Austrian military band to make use of stringed instruments.    In 1904 he toured the USA and was a big hit at the World's Fair in St. Louis.  Unfortunately, his life and career ended in 1905 when he attempted to jump onto a moving train at a railroad station in Baden, Austria and fell under the wheels.   I have not been able to locate the year that he composed this particular song.

"Mirage," which is often parenthetically described as "a romance for orchestra," was composed in 1928 by Eric Coates who was a well-known British composer of light music.  In his later years, Coates composed the opening theme music for several 1950s British television programs, some of which continued to be used into the early 1970s. 
 
 

 - Dismuke
 

If you have questions or comments about the music or would simply enjoy interacting with friendly people who share your interest in it, join in the conversation on Dismuke's Message Board. 
 

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Because My Baby Don't Mean Maybe Now
George Olsen & His Music
Fran Frey, vocal                                 1928
(Victor 21452 B mx 45182)

Just Like A Melody Out Of The Sky
George Olsen & His Music
Bob Borger, vocal                                1928
(Victor 21452-A mx 45183)

I Faw Down An' Go Boom
George Olsen & His Music                 1928
(Victor 21832-A)

A Precious Little Thing Called Love
George Olsen & His Music
Ethel Shutta, vocal                                1928
(Victor 21832-B)
 
 
 

George Olsen's band was one of the more commercially successful dance bands of the 1920s.  Olsen started his first band in Portland, Oregon around 1917.  A few years later during an engagement in San Francisco, the Broadway impresario Florenz Ziegfeld invited Olsen to come to New York to lead the band in his 1923 production Kid Boots which starred Eddie Cantor.  The band would later play  in The Ziegfeld Follies of 1924, The Ziegfeld Follies of 1925 and another  Ziegfield production which starred Eddie Cantor, Whoopee! which opened in late 1928.  Other Jazz Age Broadway productions the band appeared in included The Girl Friend and Good News. 

The Olsen band recorded with Victor from 1924 through early 1933 and had a very prolific output.  Olsen's 1925 recording of "Who" was the band's first big hit. 

In 1929 Olsen married his vocalist Ethel Shutta who can be heard here on "A Precious Little Thing Called Love."  They divorced in 1936.

When the highly successful and long running Jack Benny Show began in 1932 under the sponsorship of Canada Dry Ginger Ale, the George Olsen Orchestra was the program's house band.  For the very early episodes of the program, however, it was the Olsen band and Ethel Shutta who actually got top billing over Jack Benny. 

While Olsen continued to lead bands until 1951, his popularity started to fade throughout the 1930s decade.  Olsen was a fan of the rather unusual musical arrangements of up and coming bandleader Orville Knapp who had briefly been a sideman with the Olsen band.  When Knapp was killed in a plane crash in 1936, Olsen took over the Knapp band and renamed it George Olsen And His Music of Tomorrow keeping the Knapp style. 

After Olsen retired from the music business in the 1950s, he opened a popular restaurant in Paramus, New Jersey where the background music consisted of his old recordings from the 1920s and 1930s. 

 - Dismuke 
 

If you have questions or comments about the music or would simply enjoy interacting with friendly people who share your interest in it, join in the conversation on Dismuke's Message Board. 

 

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.
 
 

Panama Pacific International Exposition At Night - 1915
(From Artificial Light: Its Influence On Civilization via Project Guetenberg)

Black And White
Prince's Orchestra                                              1909
(Columbia A 711 mx 4117)

Waltz From The Chimes Of Normandy
Prince's Concert Orchestra                                 circa 1909
(Columbia A 818 mx 41030)

Panama Exposition March
Prince's Band                                                     1912
(Columbia A 1195 mx 19896)
 

Charles A. Prince was a music director for Columbia Records and led the label's in-house military band.   During the 1900s and 1910s, military bands, despite their name, played a wide variety of music ranging from light classical to ragtime, waltzes, show tunes, dance music and, of course, marches.   The popularity of military bands and their role in presenting the hit songs of the day began to decline in the late 1910s with the rise of the jazz oriented dance bands. 

Here are three Prince recordings with different styles of music.

"Black And White" is a ragtime composition by George W. Botsford.  He composed a number of ragtime songs but "Black And White" is his most famous.

The Chimes of Normandy was a very famous and successful 1877 operetta by French composer Robert Planquette.  The original French production Les cloches de Corneville opened at the Théàtre des Folies-Dramatiques in Paris in April 1877 and by October was playing on Broadway under the name The Chimes of Normandy.   It was very successful with American audiences and enjoyed subsequent Broadway revivals in 1883, 1898, 1900, 1902 and 1931.

"The Panama Exposition March" was one of Prince's own compositions.  I am a bit puzzled by the title in that this recording was made in May, 1912 while the Panama Exposition did not take place until 1915.  There were actually two Panama Expositions, both celebrating the completion of the Panama Canal.   The Panama Pacific International Exposition was a world's fair held in San Francisco from February through December 1915.  The Panama California Exposition was held in San Diego from March 1915 through January 1917.  I am not sure which of the expositions the song's title is a reference to - my guess is it would be the larger San Francisco fair.  The fact the exposition was to be held in San Francisco was announced by President Taft in 1911 after several cities competed for the privilege - so it was something that many in 1912 were anticipating and preparing for. 
 
 

 - Dismuke
 

If you have questions or comments about the music or would simply enjoy interacting with friendly people who share your interest in it, join in the conversation on Dismuke's Message Board. 
 

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Time Will Tell
Imperial Dance Orchestra
Jerry White, vocal                                   1929
(Banner 6379 B mx 2231)

How About Me
The Rose Room Orchestra
Teddy Rawlins, vocal                                1928
(Banner 6202 A mx 1863)
 
 
 

Here are a couple of selections from the old Banner label.  Banner was the first and most commonly found label pressed by the Plaza Music Company which specialized in low priced bargain records.  Other labels pressed by Plaza included Domino, Jewel, Oriole and Regal.   The company was merged into the American Record Corporation in 1929 which continued to press the Banner label through 1938.   A lot of very nice popular dance band recordings were issued on the Banner label during the 1920s.  Unfortunately, the audio quality of Plaza recordings was usually well below the standards of  full priced labels such as Victor and Columbia and they were pressed with cheap material and are often noisy and easily worn out. 

"Time Will Tell" is a very nice and peppy recording and a recent acquisition.  My copy is in very worn condition and I was pleasantly surprised that I was able to clean it up to the degree that I did.  I will definitely keep an eye out for an upgrade copy of this one.   The Imperial Dance Orchestra was a recording pseudonym used for the recordings of several bands.  In this case, the band is the Billy James Orchestra which served as an in-house band for the Plaza labels. 

"How About Me" is an Irving Berlin tune which in this version, I think, has a certain haunting quality.  It also features a few nice "hot" jazz solos.   The Rose Room Orchestra was led by trumpet player Tom Gott.  I don't  have much information about Gott's band or how long it was active.  But Gott was a very active as a sideman during the period on recording sessions by a number of bands.    My assumption is that the Rose Room was some sort of New York nightclub or ballroom. 

 - Dismuke

Update 2/10/08 - A visitor wrote in with an interesting suggestion regarding the Rose Room Orchestra recording.  My source for the band being the Tom Gott Orchestra is Brian Rust's American Dance Band Discography.  However, here is an altrnative suggestion as to the actual identity of the band: 
 

 
"Many collectors believe that the Rose Room Orchestra
was actually a pseudonym for the Bernie Cummins
Orchestra.  The basic musical style and sound is very
similar to the Victor and Brunswick recordings made by
Cummins band in the late 20's.  Case in point: The
sound of the sax section,and the "comping"
(accompaniment fills) of the pianist are very similar
to Bernie's Victor/brunswicks.  However, what really
convinces me is the vocalist. It's Bernie's banjo
playing brother, Walter, who appeared on many
Brunswicks--the sound and style are identical.  One
final and important similarity is the set-up of the
arrangements.   Practically all the known Cummins
recordings open with a good-sounding intro followed by
the entire ensemble playing the melody.  This is
followed by just the sax section in the bridge (middle
of the song).
Later in the record, after the vocal, the final "hot"
chorus is played by the ensemble and they ALWAYS go to
the bridge of the tune.  Examples of this would be, On
The Sunny Side Of The Street (Victor), Old Man
Sunshine (Brunswick), When I'm Cooking Breakfast
(Victor).  Compare these sides to Rose Room's  How
About Me (Banner), Glad Rag Doll (Domino), and my all
time favorite I've Got A Feeling I'm Falling (Banner,
available on the Glen Richards Site).  I really feel
that it's the Cummins band.

Those who have ideas or comments on this,  feel free to start a thread about the subject on my
Message Board. 

 
 

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.
 
 

My Lips Are Made For Kissing
Marek Weber & His Orchestra                  circa 1934 - 1936
(HMV B 8407 mx OB 6921)

Stay With Me Forever
Marek Weber & His Orchestra                  circa 1934 - 1936
(HMV B 8407 mx OB 6922)
 

Here are two instrumental recordings of music from the Franz Lehar operetta Giuditta.  The operetta was Lehar's last major work and opened at the Vienna State Opera on January 20, 1934.   This record is a very recent acquisition and I was extremely impressed with "My Lips Are Made For Kissing" or "Meine Lippen, sie küssen so heiß" in the original German. 

I have not been able to find a date for this recording and am not even sure what country it was recorded in.   Being that it was recorded by Marek Weber and His Orchestra, my immediate assumption was that it was recorded in Germany no later than 1933.   Weber was one of many artists who had to flee Germany when the National Socialists came to power and the information I have says that he did so in 1933.   But when I looked up information about Giuditta, I realized that he would have already left Germany prior to the operetta's January 1934 debut. 

My copy of the recording is a British pressing on the HMV label.  The label's catalog number indicates that the record was issued in 1936 - but the issue date does not always line up exactly with the recording date which can usually be looked up by the matrix number.  The German Elektrola label, which issued Weber's German recordings, was an affiliate of the British HMV label through common corporate ownership by The Gramphone Company and, after 1931, by EMI.   From what I can tell, both labels issued records using the OB XXXX matrix series and I have no information to date any in the OB 6XXX range.  Weber did live in England for a while between the time he left Germany and emigrated to America in 1937.  So my guess is this was likely recorded in England.  If so, it is the first I am aware of Weber continuing to record in the UK.   I have also not been able to find any reference to a British production of Giuditta which might have inspired the release of the recording.   At the time of the operetta's Vienna debut, however, Lehar himself conducted a recording session of Giuditta selections with one of the production's stars, Richard Tabuber.  Since Tauber's recordings also had a large following in the UK,  undoubtedly many British music fans would have been aware of Giuditta even without a London production. 

As you can see, this is one of those instances where my research on a recording turned up more questions than answers.  If anyone is able to fill in the blanks, I would enjoy hearing from you.

 - Dismuke
 

Update 2/10/08 - A visitor was kind enough to write in with the following information:
 

About the two selections of Marek Weber you shared with us,  this is the info:

London, Abbey Road, Studio 1A, 11 may 1934

OB6921-2  MyLips Are Made For Kissing

OB6922-2  Stay With Me For Ever

Both issued by HMV B-8407