June 2006
June 22, 2006
This week's Hit of the Week is brought
to you by
J.A HENCKELS
Twin Blades
(From 1930 ad.)
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'm
Tickled Pink With A Blue Eyed Baby
Red And His Big Ten
Dick Robertson, vocal
1930
(Victor 23026-A)
That's
Where The South Begins
Red And His Big Ten
Dick Robertson, vocal
1930
(Victor 23026-B)
For this update, I would like to
present Victor 23026, which is part of the 23000 hot dance
series. Victor brought out this series in 1930 as a replacement for
it's V-38000 and V-40000 race, hot dance and country series.
The band featured here, "Red and
his Big Ten" is a Red Nichols studio group with Benny Goodman,
Gene Krupa and Glenn Miller in the mix. Both tunes feature
upbeat happy tempos and plenty of jazzy solos. Both Sides feature Dick
Robertson as a vocalist.
"I'm Tickled Pink With A Blue-Eyed
Baby" is an upbeat song so typical of the late 1920's and early
1930's. It is the perfect song to play to your girl, but only if
she has blue eyes! Look out for a Benny Goodman solo near the end. "That's
Where The South Begins" was written by Jack Yellen and Ted Shapiro,
who was Sophie Tucker's pianist throughout her career. She even recorded
this tune with him. I really enjoy this tune, particularly
Dick Robertson's vocal.
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.
Ein
bißchen Liebe für mich
Paul Godwin Tanz Orchester
circa 1932
(Polydor 854 A mx 4649)
So
küßt man nur in Wein
Paul Godwin Tanz Orchester
circa 1932
(Polydor 854-B)
This German Polydor 78 rpm record
is not your typical Hit of the Week "Extra"...you will be treated
to a hot dance side and a dreamy waltz.
Paul Godwin's Orchestra waxed these
selections in 1932, a tumultuous time in Germany. Paul Godwin,
born in Poland in 1902, was a large part of the Berlin cultural
scene during the Weimar Republic (1919-1933). He appeared in several
UFA films in the early 1930's and provided the musical score for
over 80 UFA releases. His band was featured in many fine nightclubs.
Godwin fled Germany under threat
of persecution in 1933 because he was Jewish. Between 1933 and 1937,
he resided in Holland and toured much of Europe. When Germany occupied
the Netherlands, Godwin and other performers were relegated to the "Jewish
Theater" in a Jewish Ghetto. From this point, many Jewish performers were
sent to concentration camps. In 1942, Paul Godwin disappeared
and did not re appear until after the War. Godwin never regained his popularity
and spent the 1950's playing classical music in Holland He
died in 1982. All info here is from nfo.org.
Both songs were featured in the
1932 Tonofilm: Geschaft Mit Amerikas. The fox-trot selection
is very upbeat and features many solos, including a Bix-like cornet
solo near the end. Both recordings remind us of a forgotten part of German
culture.
June 15, 2006
This week's Hit of the Week is brought
to you by
MYERS WATER SYSTEMS
Pumps for every purpose
(From 1930 ad.)
Nobody
But You
Imperial Dance Orchestra
Irving Kaufman, vocal
1930
(Domino 4479 B mx 9249 )
This week's first selection
is a recent acquisition of mine. Unfortunately the record is not
in the best of shape and, on top of that, it was issued on a dime store
label that did not use especially good recording techniques or equipment.
I was surprised that I was able to clean it up as well as I did.
Despite its technical flaws, I think it is a charming recording of
a rather catchy tune that I was not previously familiar with.
The song was composed by Herb Magidson,
Ned Washington and Michael Cleary for the 1929 film The Forward Pass
which starred Douglas Fairbanks Jr. and Loretta Young. The movie,
which was issued in both sound and silent versions, was not successful
at the box office and, unfortunately, no copies of it are known to survive.
The Imperial Dance Orchestra was a pseudonym assigned to the recordings
of a number of bands, in this case, the Adrian Schubert Orchestra.
This same recording was also issued on the Banner label (Banner 573-A)
under the pseudonym of the Hollywood Dance Orchestra.
When
We Get Together In The Moonlight
Nat Shilkret And The Victor Orchestra
Belle Mann, vocal
1929
(Victor 22023-B)
To
Be In Love (Espesh'lly With You)
Waring's Pennsylvanians
Tom Waring, vocal
1929
(Victor 22023-A )
Here are two sides of another recent
acquisition that, fortunately, is in much better condition.
"When We Get Together In The Moonlight"
is a Ben Ryan, Billy Rose and Sol Violinsky composition. The "flapper"
style vocalist on this recording, Belle Mann, appeared on recordings with
a number of late 1920s dance bands on the Victor label. Unfortunately,
I have not been able to locate much in the way of biographical information
about her.
"To Be In Love (Espesh'lly With
You)" is a song I am quite fond of and enjoy discovering different versions
of. This is not my favorite version of the song - but it is, nevertheless
still quite enjoyable, especially after the vocal. The song was composed
by Roy Turk and Fred Ahlert.
Waring's Pennsylvanians was a very
popular 1920s dance band led by Fred Waring, who is also famous for introducing
the Waring blender. Vocalist Tom Waring was the bandleader's brother.
In the 1920s, Waring's Pennsylvanians was very much a Jazz Age style dance
band. By the early 1930s, the band was extremely successful on network
radio. For ten years, staring in 1932, Waring refused to make records
out of concern that small, independent stations illegally playing his records
were cutting into his program's audience. By the time he began
recording again in 1942, his Pennsylvanians had dropped the dance band
in favor of a glee club format which continued to perform until Waring's
death in 1984.
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.
Maria
Mari
Rosa Ponselle, vocal
1920
(Columbia 7035-M mx 49870 )
Buona
notte Signora
Raoul Romito, vocal
circa early 1920s
(Columbia E7767 mx 88736)
'O
Viggio ’e Nozze
Teresa De Matienzo, vocal
circa early 1920s
(Columbia E7767 mx 88632)
La
Traviata
Santi Tafarella, cornet
circa early 1920s
(Columbia 12002 F mx 89428)
Here are some recordings of Italian
songs made around the early 1920s. With the exception of "La
Traviata" which comes from Giuseppe Verdi's famous 1853 opera of the same
name (the music from La Traviata, by the way, makes it my favorite
opera), these selections are examples of Neapolitan music, a genre of 19th
century popular Italian folk music.
Of the artists on these recordings,
Rosa Ponselle is the only one I have biographical information on.
Ponselle was born in the United States to Italian parents.
She was performing in vaudeville when she was discovered by Enrico Caruso.
Her debut at New York's Metropolitan Opera was in 1918 and she was the
very first American to land a major role at the Met without prior training
or experience in Europe. Indeed, Ponsellee had no formal vocal
training prior to her debut at the Met. I previously featured
a recording by Ponselle in the "Extra" section of my May 2005 update.
You can read more about her at this
link.
The other recordings all have non-standard
catalog numbers which were most likely used by Columbia for a series of
ethnic records. The matrix numbers are also non-standard. It
is possible that the records are merely American pressings of recordings
originally issued by a European label which had some sort of affiliation
with Columbia - but I presently have no way of knowing for sure.
Such arrangements with between American and foreign labels were quite common.
It is also possible that the records were made by Columbia in New York
specifically for sale to the large population of Italian immigrants in
major American cities.
June 1, 2006
This week's Hit of the Week is brought
to you by
Webster's Collegiate Dictionary
(From 1931 ad.)
Blue
Again
Duke Ellington And His Cotton Club
Orchestra
Sid Garry, vocal
1930
(Victor 22603-B)
To
Whom It May Concern
Bert Lown And His Hotel Biltmore
Orchestra
Biltmore Trio, vocal
1931
(Victor 22603-A)
This week's recordings come from
an old scroll label Victor record I recently picked up on ebay.
My initial thought was that the Duke Ellington and Bert Lown bands were
a rather odd combination for opposite sides of a record - but I think in
this case it works well.
"Blue Again" is a song that I am
rather fond of and I enjoy hearing different versions of it.
It was composed by Dorothy Fields and Jimmy McHugh for the unsuccessful
1930 musical comedy The Vanderbilt Revue which closed after just
13 performances.
"To Whom It May Concern" was composed
by Archie Gottler, George W. Meyer and Sidney Mitchell.
Observe that both bands featured
on this update took their names from very famous and, sadly, long gone
musical landmarks of 1930s New York. Duke Ellington was the
house band at the Cotton Club nightclub in Harlem from 1927 to 1931.
The club moved to Midtown in 1936 and closed for good in 1940.
The Bert Lown band had a lengthy engagement at the luxurious Biltmore Hotel
near Grand Central Station from 1929 to 1932. The famous hotel was
vandalized in 1981 when it was gutted to its steel skeleton and transformed
into a bland and ugly run-of-the-mill modern glass box.
- Dismuke
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.
(Image
courtesy Mark Renwick)
(Image courtesy Mark Renwick)
Note: I would like
to welcome Mark Renwick as the special guest contributor to this week's
"Extra" update. Mark provides the images, commentary and the
recordings. He is also performed the audio restoration work on all
of the recordings except for "Home On The Range." To read more about
Mark and to find a link to his website click
here.
Mine
All Mine
Lee Sims, piano
1927
(Brunswick 3754-A)
Talking
To The Moon
Lee Sims, piano
1926
(Brunswick 3202-A)
Meditation
Lee Sims, piano
1927
(Brunswick 3764-B)
Improvisation
Lee Sims, piano
1928
(Brunswick 20069)
Blues
In My Heart
Lee Sims, piano
1931
(Brunswick 6212)
Don't
Blame Me
Lee Sims, piano
1933
(Brunswick 6649)
Home
On The Range
Lee Sims, piano
1933
(Brunswick 20123)
The 1920s saw the rise of piano
novelties and so-called syncopated pianists who helped shape the musical
transformation of ragtime into popular music. Lee Sims was one of
these piano stylists. During the 1920s and 1930s, Sims was known
for his advanced chord structures and patterns. His successful career
included recording player piano roles, making records, composing, publishing
his unique arrangements of popular tunes of the day, and performing on
radio and the theatrical stage (frequently with a singer, his wife, Ilomay
Bailey).
Lee Sims was born April 30, 1898
in Champagne, Illinois. Cedar Rapids, Iowa, was his hometown while
growing up. At age of 8, he played ragtime and waltzes for a Y.M.C.A.
calisthenics class in Cedar Rapids. By age 11, he was accompanying
church singers and playing the theatre pipe organ for silent movies.
At 14, he played at the Majestic Theater, La Salle, Illinois. While
still in his teens, he went to work for a pipe organ manufacturer, demonstrating
instruments all over the country.
At age 22, Sims decided to settle
down in Chicago. He began making piano rolls for the United States
Piano Roll Company and other piano roll companies. Today, these rolls
are sought after by collectors.
He became studio manager for WTAS,
one of the first radio stations in the Middle West. Later, he was
studio manager of KYW, the Westinghouse station in Chicago, and WBBM, then
the Stewart-Warner “theatre of the air.”
As a radio performer, Sims had a
late-night program called "Piano Moods" over the Chicago NBC affiliate
station, WMAQ. He founded the Lee Sims School of Music, and one of
his pupils was Ilomay Bailey, who had been a vocalist with the Paul Ash
and Ben Pollack orchestras. Prior to singing with these orchestras,
Ilomay had had formal vocal training. The two were married and formed
a team. Sims introduced Ilomay Bailey on his "Piano Moods" radio
program and created an "instant sensation."
In the 1930s, Lee and Ilomay appeared
as stars of the Chase and Sanborn Sunday night program for the National
Broadcasting Company. Other radio appearances included Rudy Vallee's
program and the Ben Bernie and Phil Baker shows.
During the 1920s and 1930s, Sims
recorded approximately 60 sides for Brunswick. He published several
courses on "modern piano" and numerous arrangements (or "transcriptions")
of popular tunes of the day. Many original sheet music editions included
a bonus Lee Sims chorus for the more proficient and adventurous performers.
After his heyday as a radio performer
and recording artist, Sims devoted most of his time to teaching in his
New York studio apartment, where Ilomay taught voice. Sims died of
cancer on May 7, 1966.
Lee Sims was deeply imbued with
the nineteenth-century European tradition and especially interested in
the newer, impressionistic harmonies of Debussy and Ravel. While
he recorded mostly sentimental popular songs, he had more serious ideas
and aspirations. In 1928, his collection of "Five Piano Rhapsodies"
was published. In that same year, Sims recorded two of the “Rhapsodies”
arranged for piano and orchestra on a Brunswick 12" disk. Sims appeared
with the London Symphony Orchestra to play his symphonic tone poem, "Blythewood,"
with an orchestration by Ferde Grofe. Art Tatum biographer James
Lester described Sims's compositions as being "drawn from the same sources
as Bix Beiderbecke's 'In a Mist.'"
Sims's style was entirely outside
the realm of jazz as we think of it today. Nevertheless, Sims influenced
at least one notable jazz figure. Art Tatum listened to Sims's radio
broadcasts and acknowledged Sims as an important influence on his musical
development.
- Mark Renwick
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