August 2005

August 25, 2005
 

 
All Over The Place
Wally Bishop And His Band
Alan Kane, vocal                                 1940
(Regal Zonophone MR 3389 mx CAR 5890)

Halfway Down The Street
Wally Bishop And His Band
Alan Kane, vocal                                 1940
(Regal Zonophone MR 3389 mx CAR 5889)
 

Here is a British record that I recently listened to for the first time.  I had never heard of the band before but it has a rather nice sound.  As it turns out, "Wally Bishop And His Band" was a recording pseudonym used by the Regal Zonophone label.  Some of the recordings issued under that pseudonym were by  Harry Leader and his Orchestra.  I ran across something on the web that suggested that other bands may have used the pseudonym as well - but I have not found anything definite on that.   There was a drummer at the time in Europe named Wally Bishop.  There was also a performer named Wally Bishop who was billed as "Mr. Music" and who performed under the name "Waldini"  in Cardiff, Wales in the late 1930s.  I have no way of knowing whether either were the inspiration of the pseudonym.

Alan Kane, however, was the real name of the vocalist on both recordings.  Kane recorded with several of the era's popular British dance bands.

Both recordings were recorded in late 1940 with the record being released in early 1941.   It is pretty remarkable, I think, that despite the war and the Blitz, life in Britain still went on to a significant degree with wonderful luxuries such as phonograph records still being produced and sold.   Unfortunately, my copy of the record is not in the best of shape - but it is still capable of delivering an enjoyable performance. 

 

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. 
 
 

The Messenger Boy March
Imperial Marimba Band                      1916
(Edison 50413-L mx 5134-A  )

Sari Waltz
Imperial Marimba Band                      1916
(Edison 50466-R mx 5223-C)
 

The marimba is a wooden percussion instrument that resembles the xylophone.   It was introduced to South and Central America in the early 1500s by African slaves.  It is considered the national folk instrument of Guatemala.  The marimba was introduced to the United States in 1908 by the Hurtado family which performed throughout the country.  Judging by the number of marimba recordings issued by the various record companies of the day, the instrument was quite popular in the 1910s and into the 1920s.   The music on most vintage American marimba recordings had little to do with Africa or Latin America - it usually consisted of marches, waltzes, light tunes from operettas and even ragtime.   I think a lot of the vintage marimba band recordings are very charming and enjoyable.  For whatever reason, most collectors have little interest in them so, happily, they are relatively inexpensive and easy to find. 

"The Messenger Boy March" was composed by Seymour Furth with lyrics by William H. Anstead.   "Sari Waltz" is from the 1912 Emmerich Kalman operetta Der Zigeunerprimas.  The song is also known as the "Dorfkinder Waltz."  Sari was the name of the operetta's 1914 Broadway production which was also revived in 1930. 

Both of these recordings come from old Edison Diamond Discs.  Such discs are a quarter inch thick, weigh a full pound and require specialized playback equipment.   The recordings were also issued on Edison Blue Amberol cylinders.   By 1916, cylinder records had long been out of style and had been discontinued by all record manufacturers besides Edison.   Thomas Edison, however, was convinced that cylinder records were superior to discs and refused to abandon his customers who had invested in his company's cylinder phonographs.   As a result, Edison continued to sell cylinder records to an ever dwindling market until his record company was forced out of business by the 1929 stock market crash. 

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August 18, 2005
 
 

Are You Sorry
The Manhattan Dance Makers                  1925
(Harmony 5-H mx 140814)

Alone At Last
The Southern Serenaders                          1925
(Harmony 5-H mx 140820)

Just A Night For Meditation
Ernie Golden's Orchestra                           1928
(Harmony 653-H mx 146246)

C-O-N-S-T-A-N-T-I-N-O-P-L-E
University Six
Arthur Fields, vocal                                   1928
(Harmony 653-H mx 146302)
 
 

Here are some recordings from a couple of old Harmony records.  Harmony was one of Columbia's bargain priced subsidiary labels.  Records issued on Harmony were also issued on Columbia's other bargain labels, Velvet Tone and Diva.   What is rather frustrating about Harmony/Velvet Tone/Diva records is that the vast majority of them were recorded acoustically for several years after the 1925 advent of electrical recording.    Part of the reason for the continued use of the outdated technology was due to the fact that, just before the conversion to electrical recording, Columbia invested heavily in new acoustic recording equipment and wanted to put it to use.  I have also heard that part of the reason for continuing to record acoustically  on the bargain labels was so that Columbia could avoid having to pay royalties on those records to Western Electric which developed and licensed the electrical recording system that Columbia used.   Whatever the reason, a lot of great jazz and hot dance performances were issued not taking advantage of the significantly improved recording technology that was readily available at the time. 

Both of the records in this week's update are relatively recent acquisitions.  I have become quite fond of both "Are You Sorry" and  "Alone At Last."  The second half of "Alone At Last" features an outstanding jazz solo by none other than Louis Armstrong, then a member of Fletcher Henderson's Orchestra which made the recording under the pseudonym of "The Southern Serenaders."  The arranger on the recording was Don Redman.   "Are You Sorry" is a catchy tune composed by Ted Fiorito and Gus Kahn.  "The Manhattan Dance Makers" was a recording pseudonym for the Ben Selvin Orchestra.

Ernie Golden's Orchestra is the only group credited on the recordings that was an actual band.  Golden's orchestra was based in New York City and had a long engagement at the Hotel McAlpin.  "C-O-N-S-T-A-N-T-I-N-O-P-L-E" was a very successful novelty hit in 1928.  The lyrics are rather dumb - but I have always thought that Constantinople was a rather neat name for a city.  Two years after this song came out, the city's name was changed to the much less exotic sounding Istanbul.  "The University Six" was a recording pseudonym for the California Ramblers. 

 

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. 
 
 

Sea March
Scottdale String Band                      1927
(Okeh 45188 mx 81737 )

Down Yonder
Scottdale String Band                      1927
(Okeh 45188 mx 81732)
 

Old time string bands such as the Scottdale String Band were among the predecessors of what we now know as Country & Western music.   Back in the 1920s and into the 1930s, however, it was frequently referred to as "hillbilly music" due to its mostly rural audience.   I am not especially fond of a lot of the very early country but there are exceptions such as this recording of "Sea March" which I think is rather catchy.    I am not very  knowledgeable about early country so, unfortunately, I don't have much information about the Scottdale String Band other then than the fact that they did cut a number of records on the Okeh label, most of which are considered desirable by country music collectors. 

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Charley, My Boy
Bennie Krueger's Orchestra
Billy Jones, vocal                                1924
(Brunswick 2667-A)

Pleasure Mad
Bennie Krueger's Orchestra                 1924
(Brunswick 2667-B)
 
 

Here are two excellent examples of mid 1920s "hot dance" music. 

Bennie Krueger's band was based in Chicago and became known nationally through its recording contract with Brunswick.  The band was one of the very first to sign up with MCA (Music Corporation of America), the pioneering booking agency that eventually was responsible for booking many of the top bands in the dance band era.

Krueger was a saxophone player and was featured on a few 1920 recording sessions with the Original Dixieland Jazz band.  Prior to that time, the saxophone was rarely used in jazz bands and Krueger was reportedly added to the sessions at the insistence of Victor Talking Machine Company management in order to make the band conform more to  the company's view of what a jazz band ought to sound like.   The saxophone subsequently became standard fixture in most jazz and dance bands. 

This week's selection "Charley, My Boy" also features piano passages by Phil Ohman and Victor Arden.  Ohman and Arden were a very popular 1920s piano duo and regularly recorded for Brunswick.  My guess is that their appearance on this recording was a cross promotion attempt to give them greater visiblity and, thereby, enhance the sales of their Brunswick releases. 

When you listen to Billy Jones' vocal, observe that the lyrics were actually written to be performed by a female.   Such reverse gender lyrics were not especially uncommon on popular recordings well into the 1930s.   To the best of my knowledge, no sexual innuendoes were intended on such recordings nor were any widely inferred by the record buying public.  I have read that such performances were the result of the record companies being afraid of potential legal action from the music publishers if a song's lyrics were, in any way, altered.  On the other hand, there are some songs such as "Am I Blue" that I have heard recorded by male artists using the original female lyrics and by others with the appropriate changes to the gender specific words.    At any rate, discussions about sexuality were largely taboo in polite conversation in the early 20th century.   As a result, while such recordings might sound somewhat risqué to modern ears, they were not perceived that way at all by their original audiences.

 

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. 
 
 
 
 

Gypsy Love - Overture
Edith Lorand And Her Viennese Orchestra                       circa early 1930s
(Decca 20032-A mx 133651 )

Vivat Hungaria
Edith Lorand And Her Viennese Orchestra                      circa early 1930s
(Decca 20032-B mx 133667)
 

Edith Lorand was a Hungarian violinist.  In the early 1920s she moved to Berlin where she became a very prolific recording artist in the then popular genre called "salon music" which consisted of light classical, operatic and popular tunes played by small ensembles of classically trained musicians.   Lorand became a very well known and popular star throughout  Europe touring extensively and appearing on radio and in film.  Sadly, because she was Jewish, her fortunes began to crumble when the National Socialist Party came to power in Germany and theatres would no longer book her out of fear of harassment by the Nazis.   Despite the popularity of her records, her recording contract was not renewed for similar reasons.   In 1934 she fled to Budapest.  Unfortunately, anti-Semitism was also on the rise in Hungary and she was forced to flee to the United States in 1937.    Lorand did record and perform in the United States but she was unable to recapture the same level of success she had enjoyed in 1920s Europe.   For a sad yet interesting overview of her career, see this website.

Both of this week's selections were written by famous composers of Viennese operetta.   "Gypsy Love" is from the overture of Franz Lehar's 1910 operetta of the same name (Zigeunerliebe).  "Vivat Hungaria" was composed by Emmerich Kalman.  I assume that song is from one of his operettas, but I am not sure which.