September 2007

September 20
 

 
When I’m With You I’m Lonesome
Harry Archer And His Orchestra                                 1926
(Brunswick 3157-B)

I’d Rather Be The Girl In Your Arms
Harry Archer And His Orchestra                                 1926
(Brunwick 3157-A)
 
 

Harry Archer led a 1920s era band based in Chicago which achieved a fair level of success as a result of broadcast exposure and recordings made for the Brunswick label.  Born in 1886, Archer was 40 when these selections were recorded - which made him slightly older than most Jazz Age dance band leaders.  He was also a successful composer of songs for a number of Broadway productions starting with a song that was featured in the 1911 musical Jumping Jupiter.   In 1912 he wrote the score to the musical The Pearl Maiden.   His early compositions were credited under his birth name Harry Auracher.  He continued to compose for Broadway and serve as music director for a number of productions through the early 1930s.   He also had an acting career and appeared in several silent films between 1916 and 1921.   Archer was married to actress Ruth Gillette. 

Both of these recordings are nice and peppy.  The lyrics to "I'd Rather Be The Girl In Your Arms" were obviously written for a female vocalist - but as was often the case with 1920s era recordings, they went ahead and recorded it with a male vocalist regardless. 

 - 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.
 
 

Morning Papers
Marek Weber And His Orchestra                      circa 1931
(HMV B 3898 mx 60-716)
 

Du Und Du
Marek Weber And His Orchestra                      circa 1931
(HMV B3898 mx 60-717)
 
 

Here are two very famous and, I think, pretty selections composed by "The Waltz King" Johann Strauss II.

"Morning Papers" ("Morgenblätter") was composed in 1863 and debuted in January 1864 at a ball held by the Vienna Authors' and Journalists' Association.    The French operetta composer Jacques Offenbach also composed a waltz for the ball and allowed the Association to name it.  Strauss followed suit with his contribution and the Association came up with the title "Morning Papers" for the Strauss composition and "Evening Papers" ("Abendblätter") for the Offenbach work.  Strauss' band premiered both compositions at the ball. 

"Du Und Du" comes from Strauss' 1874 operetta Die Fledermaus which is still frequently performed. 

Marek Weber was a very popular bandleader in Germany whose orchestra played a range of material from the classics to jazz until he was forced to flee the country when the National Socialists came to power. 

-  Dismuke
 

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Wipe It Off
Lonnie Johnson & Clarence Williams                                1930
(Vocalion 03013-B mx 403598)

Monkey And The Baboon
Lonnie Johnson & Spencer Williams                                 1930
(Vocalion 03013 A mx 403597)
 
 

This week's selections feature three influential jazz pioneers from New Orleans.

During his long career, Johnson was primarily known as a blues vocalist.   But he was also a pioneering jazz guitarist.  You can read a very interesting biography of Johnson in this Wikipedia article.

Clarence Williams and Spencer Williams were both extremely successful composers and jazz pianists.  While the two were not related, they did write a number of songs together including the classic "Royal Garden Blues."   Clarence Williams was also extremely influential on the business side of music as a talent scout for Okeh Records and through his own music publishing company and other entrepreneurial endeavors. 

Both of these selections were recorded by and issued on Okeh in 1930.  My copy, however,  comes from a 1935 repressing on the Vocalion label.   When Columbia acquired the Okeh label in 1926, it was allowed to continue as an independently operated subsidiary until 1931.  Okeh was very active issuing what were then known as "race records" - blues and jazz recordings primarily aimed at black audiences.  Okeh also was also one of the first labels to extensively record country music.   Columbia was hit especially hard by the Great Depression and all of its assets, including its catalog, subsidiary labels, studios and manufacturing plants, were acquired by the American Record Company in 1934 for a mere $70,500.  ARC had already acquired Brunswick and its subsidiary label Vocalion in 1932.  By the mid 1930s  ARCwas issuing much of its output of blues and country material on Vocalion so it was the logical label for it to use to reissue select recordings from its recently acquired Okeh archives. 
 
 

 - 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.
 
 

Note: A few people have been kind enough to email me with information about the "unknown" Japanese recordings I presented on the August 30, 2007  Hit of the Week "Extra."  I have updated the archived copy of the update with the new information. 
 
 
 

Princesita
Tito Schipa                                               1926
(Victrola 1182-A)
 

Granadinas
Tito Schipa                                              1926
(Victrola 1182-B)
 
 

Tito Schipa was a famous early 20th century Italian tenor.  He came to the USA in 1919 and performed with the Chicago Opera Company until 1932 and, after that, the Metropolitan Opera.   He also regularly performed in Italy and Argentina. 

Both of these selections come from zarzuelas or  popular Spanish operettas.  They come from what is known as the Romantic Era of zarzuela which prospered from the  late 1800s through the early 1930s.

"Princesita" ("Little Princess") is a very pretty tune from a 1916 zarzuela,  La corte del amo, by Jose Padilla and M.F. Palomero. 

"Granadinas" ("Farewell, My Granada") comes from theTomás Barrera - Rafael Calleja zarzuela Emigrantes which opened in 1905 at Madrid's Theatro de la Zarzuela. 

Just as the rise of the National Socialists in Germany in 1932 and its subsequent domination of Austria ended the Silver Age of Viennese operetta, the Spanish Civil War during that same period sent zarzuela into a near total decline.  Happily,  since the 1975 death of Spanish dictator Franciso Franco,  the art form has seen a significant increase in renewed interest both in Spain and elsewhere. 

-  Dismuke