June 2008

June 26
 
 

 
Love Dreams
Albert Brunies And His Halfway House Orch           1928
(Columbia 1542 D mx 146205)

Tell Me Who
Albert Brunies And His Halfway House Orch           1928
(Columbia 1542 D mx 146219)
 
 

This week's selections come courtesy of regular guest contributor Matt From College Station.  Normally Matt would write the text regarding selections that come from his collection.  But, for the next few months, he is busy finishing work needed for his degree from school. 

The Halfway House Orchestra was a New Orleans area jazz band.   The band was named after a club that was named the Halfway House Club because it was located approximately half way between New Orleans and Lake Pontchartrain.   Albert Brunies was one of several jazz musician in his family which resided in New Orleans' "Irish Channel" neighborhood.  Brunies continued to perform in the New Orleans area until the mid 1940s when he moved to Biloxi, Mississippi where he led a Dixieland band through at least the 1950s. 
 

- 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.
 
 
 
 
 

A Rendezvous With Lehar Part 1
Aulikki Rautawaara,  Peter Anders vocal 
Berlin Philomarnic Orchester                                      1935
(Supraphon F 2261 mx 020419)

A Rendezvous With Lehar Part 2
Aulikki Rautawaara,  Peter Anders vocal 
Berlin Philomarnic Orchester                                      1935
(Supraphon F 2261 mx 020420)
 

Here is a very nice medley recording of selections from various Franz Lehar operettas.  They, too, come courtesy of Matt From College station.    Matt's copy is on the Czechoslovakian Supraphon label.   Since all of the information on the label is in English, my strong guess is the record was manufactured for export to either the USA or, more likely, the UK.  My understanding, however, is that the recording was originally issued on the German Telefunken label.    I think the fidelity on this is quite outstanding for a 1935 recording. 

Unfortunately, I have not been able to do as much research on Aulikkia Rautawaara and Peter Anders before the update as I would like.  My dsl service has gone down and the telephone company repair office says it might be out for as long as 48 hours before a technician gets around to fixing it.  The only Internet access I have as I put this update together is a neighbor's unsecured wireless hotspot that fades in and out if I move my laptop into my kitchen.  That is not an especially convenient circumstance or location to do much online research in. I guess I ought to be happy that I at least have that - and that someone in the neighborhood is trusting enough leave their hotspot set for public access. 

I do know that both Rautawaara and Anders were quite popular in 1930s Germany.  Rautawaara was from Finland.  Because Peter Anders was a favorite singer of Adolf Hitler, he was allowed to avoid military service during World War II and instead participated in wartime propaganda performances.   I have not been able to find out whether he was, in fact, an actual supporter of the Nazi regime or simply collaborated for non-idelolgical reasons.   Regardless, after the war. he fell out of favor with the public as a result of his association with it. 
 
 

 - 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. 
 

---

June 19
 
 

 
Sweet Nothings Of Love 
George Olsen And His Music
Ethel Shutta, vocal                                         1929
(Victor 22251-A)

Duke Of Ka-Ki-Ak
The High Hatters
Frank Luther, vocal                                        1929
(Victor 22251-B)

As Long As You're There
The High Hatters
Chick Bullock, vocal                                      1931
(Victor 22756-B)
 
 
 
 

Here are selections from a couple of records that I won in the recent Nauck's Vintage Records auction.

The first two songs, "Sweet Nothings of Love" and  "Duke Of Ka-Ki-Ak" come from the 1929 Fox film Hot For Paris which was issued in both silent and sound versions.  Sadly, the film is presumed to be lost.

Ethel Shutta, featured on "Sweet Nothings Of Love" joined the Olsen band as its female vocalist in 1928 and ended up marrying Olsen a year later.   They divorced in 1936.

The third selection, "As Long As You're There" is a very pretty tune performed by vocalist Chick Bullock making a rare appearance on the Victor label.   Most of  his recordings appeared on the various labels issued by Victor's Depression era rival, the American Record Corporation where Bullock was the primary in-house vocals throughout the 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.
 
 

Image from October 31, 1926 Dallas Morning News

You Went Away Too Far
The Sunflower Girl of WBAP                                      1927
(Columbia 1107 D mx 144347)

I Hold The World In The Palm Of My Hand 
The Sunflower Girl of WBAP                                      1927
(Columbia 1107 D mx 144352)
 

Here is another record I won in the recent Nauck's Vintage Records auction.  I bid on it primarily because of its connection with the local history in my area.   Here in Fort Worth,  WBAP has been the dominant AM radio station since it was founded by the Fort Worth Star-Telegram newspaper in the early 1920s. 

The Sunflower Girl of WBAP was Bessie Coldiron who performed on the station on and off from late 1925 through at least 1929. 

According to an October 31, 1926 Dallas Morning News article,  Coldiron made a visit to Fort Worth in late 1925 where:
 

"...the Hired Hand, announcer at WBAP, heard her and prevailed upon her to play a trial daylight program for that station.   The fans were instantly pleased and what was intended to be just a few concerts during her visit to Texas turned into a five month's engagement....During her radio engagement last winter the applause mail received was often over 4,000 letters a week and before each night program scores of wires, some filed two or three days ahead, were asking for numbers.  It was a slack day that did not bring at least one dozen boxes of candy, among other gifts of all description from all parts of the world.  And she didn't eat candy because of a feminine whim that it was fattening - she didn't want to weigh over 104."

 

Because there were fewer radio stations in the 1920s compared with today, it was not uncommon for even relatively weak stations to be picked up at night in distant cities.  It was standard practice, therefore,  for radio sections in local newspapers to also feature program listings for and reviews of stations in far-away cities.    Positive reviews of Coldiron's performances on WBAP were mentioned in newspapers as far away as Ohio and Indiana.   A January 1928 issue of the Decatur Evening Herald in Decatur, Illinois wrote: 
 

"Fifty-five songs in a trifle over nine minutes was the record of the Sunflower Girl of WBAP. The Hired Hand called the selections as he wished and she sang snatches from the choruses. 100 per cent, entertaining"

Coldiron derived her broadcast name from the fact that she was from Kansas - the "Sunflower State."  My basis for this is a mention in a 1927 magazine distributed to employees of the Frisco Railroad which did a profile on an elderly Civil War veteran who was retired from the railroad who stated that his hobbies included "listening in on the radio to programs broadcast by the Kansas Sunflower girl at the Ft. Worth Star-Telegram broadcasting station."  The fact that she was from Kansas was also mentioned in 1926 Dallas Morning News stories. 

After her initial five month engagement at WBAP, Coldiron she spent the spring and summer of 1926 as a headliner on a successful vaudeville circuit tour at various Majestic-Orpheum theaters throughout the South. 

When the vaudeville tour came to an end, Coldiron returned to WBAP after stopping in New York City in September 1926 where she cut a handful of sides for Brunswick Records.   The sides were issued on Brunswick's subsidiary label, Vocalion.   She also recorded four sides for Columbia in Chicago in June, 1927 which is where the two featured here come from. 
 

Beyond the above, I have no further biographical information about Coldiron or what became of her.   A few Dallas Morning News radio listings in 1938 and a great many in 1940 list "The Sunflower Girl" as performing on station KGKO in Fort Worth.   Like WBAP, KGKO was owned by the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.   Under a very unusual arrangement, WBAP shared its 50,000 clear channel frequency with Dallas based WFAA, owned by the Dallas Morning News. This arrangement meant that each station was off the air half the time. Star-Telegram owner Amon Carter purchased KGKO as an outlet for programing during the times that WBAP had to sign off to make way for WFAA.   Eventually,  The Dallas Morning News purchased half ownership in KGKO and the call letters were abolished with its 570 regional frequency becoming WFAA when WBAP occupied the 820 clear channel frequency and vise versa.   The two stations would sign off every three hours and swap places on the dial.   This highly unique arrangement lasted all the way up to 1970 when WBAP assumed sole control over the 820 frequency.   I have not been able to determine whether the 1938/1940 "Sunflower Girl" was a return to Fort Worth airwaves by Coldiron or  whether station management merely assigned that stage name to some other performer. 

A search through the Social Security death records turns up two results for "Bessie Coldiron."  Bessie E. Coldiron was born June 4. 1902 and passed away February 28, 1990.   Her last known zip code is listed as Hayward, California.  Another Bessie Coldiron was born July 25, 1909 and died in August 1993.  Her last known address was near Detroit, Michigan. Another online source suggests that this second Coldiron might have had a middle initial of "A." 

I would think 1902 would be a more likely birth date for The Sunflower Girl as that would have made her 23 when she began performing on WBAP.  A 1909 birth date would have made her 16 - young, but certainly not unheard of in show business.   Of course, it is entirely possible that neither of the two Bessie Coldirons listed in the database was the one who performed as The Sunflower Girl. 

If anyone has any additional information about Bessie Coldiron, I would be very interested in knowing about it.

As you listen to these recordings, see if you agree with me that Coldiron's voice sounds very similar to Ruth Etting's. 

- - - - -

Update:  I located the following mention in the June 10, 1938 El Paso Herald-Post:
 

"Mr. and Mrs. Ray Coldiron have returned to their home in Kansas City, after a visit with Mr. and Mrs. J. F. Platt Mrs. Coldiron, radio singer, sang over Station WBAP as the Sunflower Girl for many years."

 

 - Dismuke
 

June 7
 
 

 
Without That Gal 
Chester Leighton And His Sophomores
Dick Robertson, vocal                                          1931
(Velvet Tone 2415 V mx 351045)

On The Beach With You
Chester Leighton And His Sophomores 
Eddie Walters vocal                                              1931
(Velvet Tone 2415 V mx 341042)
 
 
 
 

Here is an old Velvet Tone record courtesy regular guest contributor Matt From College Station.  Velvet Tone was a bargain label manufactured by Columbia Records.   Recordings on Velvet Tone were also simultaneously issued on Columbia's other bargain labels Harmony and Diva.

Chester Leighton And His Sophomores was a pseudonym used for recordings by several Columbia bands.  This particular recording was by the Ben Selvin Orchestra.   Selvin was by far the most prolific recording artist of his day  with well over 10,000 sides to his credit.

The vocalist on the "On The Beach With You" selection is Eddie Walters, a mostly forgotten early 1930s ukulele player and crooner.  You can here Walters' ukulele during the vocal section of  the recording.   I have not been able to locate any biographical information on Walters but he did make a handful of  records under his own name for Columbia and with Selvin and other Columbia dance bands. 

Dick Robertson, the other featured vocalist performed with a variety of recording bands in the early 1930s and eventually led his own band. 
 

- 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.
 
 
 
 

What Would You Do
Maurice Chevalier                                              1932
(Victor 22941-A)

Oh That Mitzi 
Maurice Chevalier                                              1932
(Victor 22941 B)
 

The May 15th Extra featured Jeanette MacDonald performing selections from her 1932 Ernst Lubitsch film One Hour With You.  Here is her co-star Maurice Chevalier performing some additional songs from the picture.   Both of these songs were written for the movie by the famous Viennese operetta composer Oscar Straus.     As with the MacDonald selections from the previous update, these recordings come courtesy of Matt From College Station. 

As I mentioned in the previous update, One Hour With You, along with three other early 1930s Lubitsch musical films, has recently been issued in a DVD box set by the Criterion Collection.    Also included in the box set is The Smiling Lieutenant which also stars Chevalier. The Smiling Lieutenant is a film adaptation of Oscar Straus 1908 operetta A Waltz Dream (Ein Walzertraum)   I highly recommend both of these very charming films for their music and for their light-hearted comedy which, unlike a lot of vintage comedy, is still fresh and amusing all these many decades later. 
 

 - 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.