July 2004

July 22, 2004
 

 
The Same Sort Of Girl
Prince's Band                                        1914
(Columbia A5606 mx 37037)
 

Biltmore Waltz
Prince's Band                                        1916
(Columbia A5919 mx 48972)
 

A Broken Doll
Prince's Band                                        1916
(Columbia A5919 mx 48981)
 

I am extremely fond of this week's first selection "The Same Sort Of Girl" composed by Jerome Kern for the musical The Girl From Utah.  It is an excellent example of a very cheerful and upbeat ragtime tune.  This song was actually absent from the original production of The Girl From Utah which opened at the Adelphi Theatre in London in October 1913 with music by Paul Rubens and Sidney Jones.  The production was such a hit that Broadway producer Charles Frohman decided to being it over to America. 

At the time, differences in British and American theatre going customs sometimes created a certain difficulty for those who imported British productions.  In Britain, Edwardian high society often did not arrive at a theatre until the intermission.  As a result, the producers of musicals tended to save their best material for the second act.  American theatre patrons, on the other hand, tended to arrive on time but would leave at the intermission if the show proved to be disappointing.   Therefore,  American producers often commissioned additional songs to enhance the first act of British imports. In the case of The Girl From Utah, producer Frohman commissioned Jerome Kern and lyricist Herbert Reynolds to add five new songs to the first act including "The Same Sort Of Girl" and  "They Didn't Believe Me" which turned out to be the show's hit tune.  The American production opened at the Knickerbocker Theatre in August 1914 and ran for 120 performances. 

"Biltmore Waltz" is a good example of what I suppose could be called a "ragtime waltz."

"A Broken Doll" is a rather pretty tune - but I think this particular arrangement is a bit too repetitive and would have been better off issued on a standard 10 inch record instead of an oversized 12 inch one.  On the other hand, the intended purpose of this and all of this week's other selections was to provide music for dancing more so than for mere listening.   In fact, all three recordings carry the note that they were made "under the supervision of G. Heburn Wilson."  Wilson was a famous dance instructor at the beginning of the huge ballroom dancing craze that would become a major element of American popular culture from the 1910s through the early  1940s.  At the time Columbia's arch rival, The Victor Talking Machine Co., was issuing dance records advertised as being recorded under the supervision of Irene and Vernon Castle, the celebrated husband and wife dance team.  I suspect it is likely that Columbia recruited G. Heburn Wilson in an effort to counter Victor's association with the Castles. 
 

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. 
 
 

Gems From "Sweethearts"
Victor Light Opera Company                                   1916
(Victor 35552-A)
 

This recording features a medley of selections from the Victor Herbert operetta Sweethearts which opened on Broadway in 1913 and enjoyed revivals in 1929 and 1947.   Victor Herbert was an Irish born composer who immigrated to the United States in 1886.   In the early decades of the 20th century, his light operas were very successful with American audiences.  His works are not as well remembered as I think they deserve to be.  But much is still available on CD.  Many of his compositions are very melodic and have a certain "turn of the century" era charm to them.

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July 15, 2004
 

I Don't Need Atmosphere
George Olsen and His Music
Bob Borger, vocal                                     1930
(Victor 22381-A)
 

Home Is Heaven - Heaven Is Home
George Olsen and His Music
Bob Borger, vocal                                     1930
(Victor 22381-B)
 

George Olsen's was one of the more successful dance bands of the 1920s.  His big break towards national fame came in 1925 with his hit recording of "Who."  Among the musicians in his band was a saxophone player who later became a highly successful movie and television star:  Fred McMurray. 

Another saxophone player who briefly worked for Olsen was Orville Knapp, brother of movie star Evelyn Knapp.   Knapp formed his own band in 1934 which featured featured "sweet" arrangements with rather unusual musical sound effects.  By 1936 Knapp's band was just beginning to achieve some level of success when he was killed by the crash of an airplane he was piloting.  Olsen assumed leadership of the Knapp band renaming it " George Olsen and His Music of Tomorrow."   This band was nowhere near as successful as Olsen's "Jazz Age" band of the 1920s. 

Olsen's female vocalist was Ethel Shutta who eventually became Mrs. George Olsen.   After his 1951 retirement from bandleading, Olsen opened a successful restaurant in Paramus, New Jersey where his old recordings were played as the background music. 
 
 

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 Wild Deer/I Wish I Were
In Heaven Sitting Down
Rambler Minstrels                                         1909
(Columbia A5123 mx 30278 )

Kiss Your Minstrel Boy Good-Bye/When A Pal 
of Mine Steals a Gal of Mine
Rambler Minstrels                                          1909
(Columbia A5123 mx 30277 )

Certainly one of the more significant improvements in our culture since the early 20th century has been the decline of the sort of crude and derogatory racial stereotypes which had been quite pervasive in our popular culture and entertainment.  One form of popular entertainment based on such stereotypes was the minstrel show.  Minstrel shows date back to the 1830s when white performers began to dress up as and imitate plantation slaves.   By the late 1800s, such shows were a staple of American popular entertainment and their influence endured well into the vaudeville and motion picture eras of the 20th century. 

Because of the popularity of minstrel shows, both Victor and Columbia records issued a number of minstrel theme recordings.  The recordings usually featured a comedy skit mixed in with  musical selections. 

One of the performers appearing on this week's selections is pioneer recording artist Arthur Collins who recorded for almost every record label in America during the heyday of cylinder and early disc recordings   Collins was well known for his "coon" recordings of ragtime songs performed  in stereotyped black dialect.   I strongly suspect that the "Mr. Stanley"  in the comedy skits on these recordings was Frank C. Stanley, another early recording pioneer.  Both Collins and Stanley were also members of the Peerless Quartette, the most popular vocal group of the early years of acoustical recording. 

While I in no way approve of the sort of racial stereotypes that these recordings promoted,  I have no hesitation about presenting them. Like it or not, they are a part of our history and are a reflection of some of the era's cultural attitudes.   On a more positive note, the upbeat ragtime tunes featured on these recordings  are quite nice.  I am especially fond of "I Wish I Were In Heaven Sitting Down."  This particular record  was my first exposure to the song and I am definitely keeping my eyes open for other versions of it.   "When A Pal of Mine Steals a Gal of Mine" is also a rather nice song.  Unfortunately, in order to listen to both songs one must first suffer through the corn ball jokes in the comedy skits.   As hard as it may be for us to imagine, 96  years ago, people actually thought these skits were funny.   Great music ages well and is timeless.  That is rarely the case when it comes to jokes.

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July 1, 2004
 
 

 
What'll You Do?
Johnny Hamp's Kentucky Serenaders
Hal White, vocal                                     1927
(Victor 21084-B)
 

Avalon Town
Johnny Hamp's Kentucky Serenaders
Roy Cropper, vocal                                 1929
(Victor 21829-A)
 

C-O-N-S-T-A-N-T-I-N-O-P-L-E
Johnny Hamp's Kentucky Serenaders       1928
(Victor 21511-A mx 45659)
 

In the early 1920s Johnny Hamp went to the Hershey Ballroom in Hershey Pennsylvania to attend a dance where a band called The Serenaders was performing.   Earlier that evening, the band's director had walked out after an argument with his musicians.  When Hamp learned of the situation, he stepped forward and volunteered to lead the band for that evening's show.   Apparently he did  a good job because he was invited to continue and the band became Johnny Hamp's Kentucky Serenaders.   The band's biggest claim to fame was its 1925 hit recording of "Black Bottom" based on a very popular dance of the time.  In 1931, the band dropped the "Kentucky Serenaders" name and simply became Johnny Hamp and his Orchestra.   The band continued to perform into the early 1940s but with nowhere near the level of success of its Roaring '20s heyday.

I have two copies of "What'll You Do" in my collection - and unfortunately, both are in rather bad shape.  However, since I have always been somewhat fond of the recording, I decided to clean it up as best I can and include it. 

"Avalon Town" is a rather pretty tune performed here in a tango style.  Avalon is a small city on Santa Catalina Island off the California coast.   One of the big attractions at Avalon is the Casino Ballroom an incredible art deco building built in 1929.  Throughout the 1930s and 1940s the Casino Ballroom was one of the top music and dance venues in the country attracting all of the big name bands of the era.   You will hear some very slight distortion in a few passages in the first 25 seconds of this recording that I was unable to completely eliminate.

"C-O-N-S-T-A-N-T-I-N-O-P-L-E" is a good example of the kind of silly novelty tunes that occasionally became popular during the 1920s.  At least you will know how to spell the former name of the principal Turkish city after listening to it!  I have always thought that Constantinople was a much nicer sounding name for a city than Istanbul.  My favorite part of this recording is the last 5 seconds with a dramatic ending that sounds to me like something from a 1930s Movie-Tone newsreel. 
 
 

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. 
 
 

 

Selectons From "Music In The Air"
Nat Shilkret, conductor
Victor Studio Ensemble, vocal                        1932
(RCA Victor Picture Disc 39001 A& B - )

This is a very rare recording that is a definite collectors' item.   This is from an old 12 inch RCA Victor Picture Record.  The images above are not of a record label but rather the entire record itself.   Victor issued such picture records from 1932 to 1933 profiling artists ranging from Enrico Caruso to country singer Jimmie Rogers.  Unfortunately the records came out during the worst months of the Great Depression when few people had the extra money for regular phonograph records let alone higher priced commemoratives.   The records sold poorly and were discontinued which accounts for their rarity today.   Currently, this is the only such record I have in my collection and, in fact, it was the very first example of one that I had ever seen. 

This particular Picture Record was issued to commemorate the 1932 Broadway production Music In The Air with music by Oscar Hammerstein II and Jerome Kern.  The musical starred Walter Slezak, Tullio Carminati, Al Shean, Katherine Carrington, Natalie Hall and Reineld Werrenrath,  all of whom appear in photographs on side B of the record.  Photos of Jerome Kern and bandleader Nat Shilkret also appear on the record.  (Shilkret is the gentleman seen in very bottom photo on the record.  This record was the first time I had seen a photo of him.) 

At first glance the photos of the musical's stars, along with the wording "Entrusted to this group of stars, Nat Shilkret and his Victor cohorts here present a unique and brilliant tabloid of this great musical show," seems to suggest that this might be a cast recording.  A closer look at the credits, however, indicates that the performers are not the "group of stars" but rather the "Victor cohorts." 

Here are the songs featured on the recording along with the names of the performers:

Side One

"There's A Hill Beyond A Hill" - Ensemble
"I've Told Ev'ry Little Star" - Marjorie Horton, Robert Simmons & Ensemble
"And Love Was Born" - Conrad Thibault
"When The Spring Is In The Air" - Ensemble

Side Two

"We Belong Together" - Marjorie Horton & Robert Simmons
"In Egern On The Tegern Sea" Marjorie Horton
"One More Dance" - Robert Simmons & Ensemble
"The Song Is You" - Jack Parker & Ensemble.

I have combined Sides 1 & 2 into a single uninterrupted audio file of about 9 minutes in length. 

This recording may not be of the original cast, but it will give you a good feel for a Depression era Broadway musical.   Some of these songs are incredibly beautiful.  Why can't people write music like this today?