January 2007

January 25, 2007
 

 
 

Why Can't You Love That Way
Blue Diamond Orchestra                                  1929
(Supertone 9478-B)

Bottoms Up
Blue Diamond Orchestra                                   1929
(Supertone 9478-B)

Lonely
Blue Diamond Orchestra                                  1929
(Supertone 9465-A)

Tip-Toe Through The Tulips
Ernie Golden And His Orchestra                       1929
(Supertone 9465-B)
 
 

I apologize up front for the dreadful condition of these recordings - and I came close to not including them because of it .  I tried to clean them up as best I could - but there is only so much that could be done with them.

All of the recordings come from two records I picked up awhile back on the old Supertone label.  Supertone was one of the low priced, in-house store brand labels sold through Sears Roebuck catalogs.   Despite the mention of  the RCA Photophone process on the label, until late 1930,  Supertone records were pressed by Richmond, Indiana based Gennett Records.   Photophone was an electrical recording process designed primarily for motion pictures that Gennett licensed from RCA.  This licensing agreement was reached prior to RCA's own entrance into the record industry through its 1929 acquisition of the Victor Talking Machine Company.   The majority of  Supertone sides - including those featured here - also appeared on the Gennett label.   Brunswick/Vocalion records was the supplier for the final months of the Supertone label before Sears discontinued it in 1931. 

The "Blue Diamond Orchestra" was a recording pseudonym.  On "Why Can't You Love That Way" and "Bottoms Up" the band performing was Lou Gold And His Orchestra.  On "Lonely" the band was William Stoess' Miami Ramblers.

"Why Can't You Love That Way" is a Charles Bourne - Jack Val - Henry Creamer composition from  First National Pictures film In The Next Room.  This recording was made in September 1929 - but the film was not released until January 26, 1930.   This particular recording is the first I have heard of the song - though other versions were recorded.  I think it has a rather catchy tune and the arrangement on this recording after the vocal  is nice and somewhat "hot."

"Bottoms Up" is a Cliff Friend composition from George White's Scandals of 1929. 

Personally, I think this performance of "Lonely"  is pretty dreadful - and that, combined with it being the side in the very worst condition of the four,  made me seriously consider leaving it out.  Judge for yourself.   The credits on the label list the composers of this song as being Hirsch- Wilkite - but I was unable to locate any additional information about it.   This song should not be confused with the 1927 song by the same name composed by Maurice Yvain with lyrics by P. Cartoux and E. Costil - a recording of which by the Jacques Renard Orchestra I featured in my October 9, 2003 update. 

The Al Dubin- Joe Burke song "Tip Toe Through The Tulips" was introduced by Nick Lucas in the 1929 Warner Brothers musical talkie Gold Diggers of Broadway.   The song enjoyed a late 1960s revival when Tiny Tim recorded an unfortunately  accurate impersonation of how Nick Lucas performed the song.   Most 1929 dance band recording of the song were performed in an up-tempo manner - as is this one.    After the vocal, the recording features some rather nice jazz passages.   The Ernie Golden Orchestra was a popular New York City band which was, for a while, associated with that city's Hotel McAlpin. 

- 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.
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 

Golden Trumpets - Schottische
Sousa's Band                                       circa 1912
(Victor 35228-B)
 

Oui, Oui, Marie (Wee Wee Marie)
Yerkes Jazarimba Orchestra                   1918
(Columbia A 6088 mx 49548)
 
 
 

John Phillip Sousa was known as "The March King" not only because he composed approximately 135 marches but also because he led America's most famous military band in the late 1800s and early 1900s. 

Sousa's band started recording during the 1890s when wax cylinder records dominated the market.  On most of the band's recording sessions during the disc record era Sousa was not present and conducting duties were handled by his trombone player, Arthur Pryor who later went on to form his own successful military band and became a music director for the Victor Talking Machine Company. 

I listed the recording as being from "circa 1912" because that is the date for the catalog number on my copy.   I do not have any further, more specific, discographical information about the recording's date and Victor records of that era do not include matrix numbers on the label.   After Victor came out with double sided records in 1908, quite a lot of material that was issued on single sided records during the previous few years was re-issued on double sided discs.  I have no way of knowing whether this is an example of that or not. 

The schottische was the name of a very popular dance during the Victorian era.  "Golden Trumpets" was composed by Thomas H. Rollinson who was a very prolific American composer.  During the 1880s, Rollinson composed a number of schottische songs.  I have not been able to find any date on this particular composition however.   Rollinson lived until 1928 so it is possible that the song dates from around the time of this recording. 
 
 
 

 

"Oui, Oui Marie" was a popular World War I song with a very peppy, ragtime style tune.  This recording is actually a medley of three songs.  Following "Oui Oui Marie" is "I'm Going To Fight My Way Back To Carolina" followed by "Everything Is Honky Dory Down In Honky Tonky Town."  At the end of the recording, the band returns to "Oui Oui Marie."   This recording is the first I have heard of "Everything Is Honky Dory Down In Honky Tonky Town."  I think it is very catchy and will definitely be on the look out for other versions of it. 

- Dismuke

January 18, 2007
 
 

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. 
 
 
 

 
 

Danger Love At Work
Hal Kemp And His Orchestra
Maxine Grey, vocal                                          1937
(Victor 25628-B )
 

The Loveliness Of You
Hal Kemp And His Orchestra
Bob Allen, vocal                                               1937
(Victor 25628-A)

"Danger Love At Work" was featured by Alice Faye in the 1937 20th Century Fox motion picture You Can't Have Everything.   This particular recording of the song is one that Dismuke had been searching for ever since he first heard it on a local big band radio program when he was a kid.  He was both shocked and thrilled when I pulled this out from the stack of records I brought with me to the recent Radio Dismuke New Year's Eve live broadcast. 

When Hal Kemp entered the University of North Carolina he was already an experienced bandleader having led a band in high school. While in UNC he organized  a campus band and called it the Carolina Club Orchestra. This band recorded several sides for Okeh records in the mid to late 1920's, but they are very hard to find - I happen to be fortunate enough to have a few in my collection.

Kemp was a very popular band leader and was arguably at the height of his popularity when he recorded these two sides in 1937. They are well arranged and I find them to be some of the best recordings of the post 1935 big band era. Snappy vocals by the talented Maxine Gray add to the zip and class of these excellent songs.

Unfortunately, Kemp died in an auto accident in 1940.  He was popular and most certainly could have achieved timeless fame.
 

- Matt From College Station

 

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.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 

Halloh 1930 Part 1
Harry Jackson's Tanz Orchester                    1930
(Tre Ergon TE 5769 mx 03184)

Halloh 1930 Part 2
Harry Jackson's Tanz Orchester                    1930
(Tre Ergon TE 5769 mx 03185)

Hallo1930 was an exciting German revue that featured popular dance, comic and vocal acts of Berlin.  During the Weimar Republic years of the 1920s and early 1930s, Berlin was known for it's entertainment - particularly in its nightclubs and cabarets. All of this ended when Hitler and the National Socialists took control.

This Tri-Ergon disc features two sides of medleys from this revue. While the recording and the record itself was made in Germany, this disc was issued strictly for the French market as the label has some sort of French dealer's and/or tax stamp and has a warning on the label that the record does not have a mechanical license for German distribution. 

Tri-Ergon or "the work of three"  was the name of a very early German sound-on-film process patented by three German inventors Josef Engl, Hans Vogt, and Joseph Massole.    The process used a photo electric cell to transform sound vibrations into light waves which could be optically recorded to the edge of a film strip through a photographic process.   The Fox Film Corporation in the United States acquired the rights to process in 1927 which they combined with other patents Fox owned.  Fox named its sound-on-film process "Movietone" and Fox-Movietone newsreels became a fixture in theaters across America from 1928 though 1963. 

While most of the songs in the medley on this recording may seem unfamiliar to the American vintage music enthusiast, one will surely recognize "Just A Gigolo" and" The Wedding of the Painted Doll." The former was popular in Europe before it was recorded in the USA while the latter was featured in the MGM musical The Broadway Melody. As an aside, The Broadway Melody is considered the first full musical film.

Harry Jackson's Tanz Orchester is a recording pseudonym for the Géza Komor dance orchestra. 

I found this record at a Texas antique auction among a pile of German and French records. It's a wonder that this record made it to Fort Worth, Texas - I definitely am lucky to have it. 

- Matt From College Station
 

[Correction:  Unfortunately, when Matt wrote the text for this update, he relied on some research I had done on the Tri-Ergon label and on some inaccurate information I passed along to him.    A reader from Germany subsequently wrote Matt and kindly let him know that the disc did indeed have a mechanical license for German distribution and that the text on the label states that the license is ONLY for German distribution.   My interpretation of the Google translation tool results was that it said otherwise.   The reader also writes that the stamp on the label is an additional mechanical license for distribution in Belgium assigned by a French license company.  That is what the "Belg" on the stamp indicates.  The other marks on the stamp describe the record:  "Tri" for the Tri-Ergon label, "25cm"  for the size of the disc and "grün" for the color of the label.  He also informs us that the vocalist on the recordings is Wilhelm Gombert.   My thanks to the reader for the correction and my apologies to everyone else for the inaccurate information.  - Dismuke]
 

Next Thursday:  The Blue Diamond Orchestra

January 11, 2007
 
 

Note: I am very pleased to welcome back guest contributor Eddie The Collector.  Eddie will be providing both the main update as well as the "Extra."  The  records and commentary are Eddie's - my only contribution was to transfer and digitalize the recordings.   You may read more about Eddie as well as view his photo and contact information by clicking here. 
 
 
 

Meyer Davis was not a band leader in the traditional sense.  He was one of the first dance band contractors, supplying orchestras for society gatherings, weddings, hotel ballrooms, country clubs and presidential balls.  There were several Meyer Davis orchestras, often more than one performing on the same night in the same city.  His work helped pioneer the new business of musical booking.

Davis formed his first orchestra in 1915, one of the very first dance bands to be established. By 1919 his multiple band empire was well established.  Davis controlled the major market share of society functions in Washington, Philadelphia, New York City and Boston for over 30 years.  He continued in business until the 1960's, recording sporadically.  Always keeping up with the times, in 1961 he released the now infamous and collectible Meyer Davis Plays the Twist album.

My Old Girl's My New Girl Now
Meyer Davis' Swanee Syncopators
Eddy Thomas, vocal                                              1928
(Brunswick 4112 )
 

This up-tempo tune by Irving Ceasar and Cliff Friend, recorded in October, 1928, has a vocal chorus by Smith Ballew (identified on the label as Eddy Thomas) and showcases the wonderful Davis orchestra at its best in the late 20's.

Irving Mills was a music publisher and owner of Mills Music with his brother Jack.  He was also a singer, song writer, A&R man and manager of several bands that included Cab Calloway, Bennie Carter, Fletcher Henderson and the Duke Ellington Orchestra.  The Hotsy-Totsy Gang records made under Irving Mills' name between 1928 and 1930 assembled some of the greatest white jazz musicians of the era--Smith Ballew, Hoagy Carmichael, Jimmy and Tommy Dorsey, Benny Goodman, Joe Venuti. 
 

I Couldn't If I Wanted To
Hotsy Totsy Gang 
Milton Irving, vocal                                                1928
(Brunswick 4112)

In this hot number by the Hotsy Totsy Gang, following a vocal delivered by "Milton Irving" (in reality Irving Mills), Tommy Dorsey takes over on his trombone and rules the remainder of the recording - the orchestra gets in a couple of measures in between, but it's mainly Tommy Dorsey all the way to the finish, with a few clarinet notes thrown in by brother Jimmy right at the end!

- Eddie The Collector

 

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.
 
 
 
 
 

"Campus Boys" was just one of the many aliases that Harry Reser's Orchestra appeared under on the Plaza/ARC labels - this title alone, Singin' in the Rain, recorded in New York on June 6, 1929, appears on 14 different labels in America/Britain/Australia and under nine different aliases!  Harry Reser, as most record collectors know, was the ne plus ultra of banjoists - he literally wrote the book on banjo technique and theory and it is still in publication.  He never retired - he died in 1965 in his 70's while tuning his guitar in the orchestra pit of the Broadway musical Fiddler on the Roof.

Singin' In The Rain
Campus Boys
Buddy Blue, vocal                                                  1929
(Banner 6439 A mx 2331)

This song was featured in one of the very first full-length talkies, Hollywood Review of 1929, featuring some of the most famous MGM contract actors and actresses of the day, i.e., Conrad Nagel, Jack Benny, John Gilbert (his swan song, as he did not make a successful transition to talkies), Marion Davies, Norma Shearer, Marie Dressler, and several others.  This recording, made in June, 1929, features the usual and expert banjo-playing of Reser, then a vocal by former Ft. Worth resident Smith Ballew, identified on the label as Buddy Blue (of future "and His Texans" fame).
 

Dubin's Dandies was usually an alias for Adrian Schubert's Orchestra.  Schubert was Musical Director for the Plaza/ARC group of labels (Banner, Domino, Regal, etc.) from 1925 to 1930; he then transferred to Crown, and in the years from 1922 to 1933 made countless records.  Some Dubin's Dandies recordings, however, were made by the Billy James Orchestra.  James was a New York City area bandleader and pianist. 
 

Sweet Baby
Dubin's Dandies
Irving Kaufman, vocal                                               1929
(Banner 6439-B)

This hot from June 1929  was made by the Billy James Orchestra. It has always been a favorite of mine, especially since it has a trumpet solo by Manny Klein (1908-1994) following the vocal by Jack Kaufman.  Klein's expertise was such that he had been a stand-in for the indisposed Bix on Paul Whiteman's 1928 version of Makin' Whoopee.  Klein was on literally hundreds of records during the next nine years and even in 1960 played on a Dixieland album called Dixieland Blues featuring pianist Johnny Maddox.  I usually find Dixieland renderings of that era very hokey, but this is a tremendous album, not the least of which because 52 year old Klein is still in rare form at this point in his career.
 

 - Eddie The Collector