November 2007
November 22
This week's Hit of the Week is brought
to you by
Flowers For Thanksgiving
(from 1929 ad)
Note: I am very pleased
to welcome back guest contributor Eddie The Collector. Eddie will
be providing this week's main update. 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.
The Benson Orchestra was formed
in 1920 by cellist and agent Edgar A. Benson, though it was originally
under the direction of pianist Roy Bargy. Based at Chicago's Marigold Gardens,
a notorious gangster hangout, the orchestra was considered one of the best
bands in the city. They began recording for Victor in September of 1920
with very interesting early sessions featuring what some have suggested
was first example of stop-time rhythm recorded by a dance band. Using section
arranging and solo instruments to play against a whole section in harmony,
the band was very progressive for its era. Their recording of ''Wabash
Blues'' sold over 750,000 copies in 1921.
After a falling out with Benson
in late 1921, Bargy left the group to form his own orchestra taking many
Benson members with him. Pianist Don Bestor was hired to replace him. Under
Bestor's direction the orchestra featured much of the same fine musicianship,
including saxophonist Frankie Trumbauer. When Bestor left the group in
1925 to form an orchestra of his own, trumpeter Fred Hamm took over
as leader. The group continued playing under various leaders for several
more years, though starting with Hamm, the leaders recorded under their
own name, sub-titled ''A Benson Orchestra.''
Go
Emmaline
The Benson Orchestra Of Chicago
1924
(Victor 19484-A)
This arrangement showcases the organization's
prowess in playing the hot, up-tempo music of the day. There are
plenty of hot horn breaks and a couple of examples of stop-time rhythm
that the Benson group popularized.
Words
The Benson Orchestra Of Chicago
1924
(Victor 19484-B)
A fairly ordinary version of this
song, not as good as the previous side - makes a good "B" side. The
Fletcher Henderson version on Vocalion provides an unbeatable standard.
My
Sweetie's Sweeter Than That
The Benson Orchestra Of Chicago
1923
(Victor 19239-A)
This one has some jazzy violin in
the middle followed by piano and then some more stop time toward the end.
It's interesting to hear these musical devices once you know of their origination
- makes you appreciate these records even more.
Wow
The Benson Orchestra Of Chicago
1923
(Victor 19239-B)
What an apt title - WOW!, listed
as a Shimmy Fox Trot - to describe the venues and time in which the Benson
organization played: Chicago in 1924, playing in gangster-patronized
establishments, providing music for bootleg gin and jazz-crazed flappers
to get up on a table and shimmy. They had it all!
- 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.
Nat Shilkret, born in 1895 or 1899
depending on source, was one of the mainstays of the Victor Talking Machine
Company ( later RCA Victor) in its early days as an executive and as a
conductor. He was somewhat of a musical prodigy as a child on the
violin and clarinet and was a good enough musician that he never had to
rely on the civil engineering degree that he later earned in order to make
a living. Rather, he played with the top orchestras in New York,
including the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra.
In 1924, he joined the Victor Talking
Machine Company as director of the company's light music division, and
subsequently founded the Victor Salon Orchestra, sometimes called the Victor
Orchestra, and he also led bands with names such as the International Novelty
Orchestra, Shilkret's Rhyth-Melodists and the Shilking Orchestra - combining
his and Eddie King's, a Victor executive, names.
Through his recordings, he became
one of the top pop bandleaders of the late '20s and early '30s, with credits
including hot dance numbers such as "Honey Bunch," "Sweet Thing," and "Zulu
Wail," and pop numbers such as "Ain't She Sweet" and "Me and My Shadow."
He also composed songs as a lyricist.
By the late 1920s, the popularity
of Shilkret's records, along with the fact that being an in-house studio
band made his records less expensive to produce, became a source of friction
between Victor and its top-name artist, Paul Whiteman who also performed
both popular music and light classics. In April, 1927, the Whiteman
band was in the Victor studios to re-record George Gershwin's "Rhapsody
In Blue" using the new electrical recording process which had not been
available when Whiteman introduced the work in 1924. Before
the session started, Whiteman got into a dispute with Gershwin and walked
out of the studio. Shilkret ended up directing the recording, though
the label still gave credit to Whiteman. Increasingly, Victor
began to assign choice "popular concert" type recordings to Shikret instead
of Whiteman, something that Whiteman bitterly resented and which played
a major role in his decision to move to Columbia when his contract with
Victor expired in 1928.
When the record industry began to
falter in the early '30s, Shilkret moved into radio.
Later he moved to Hollywood, where he joined the film industry as a composer
- usually credited as Nathanial Shilkret - working on movies such as the
Laurel & Hardy operetta vehicle Swiss Miss, and their adaptation
of The Bohemian Girl. Shilkret later joined CBS as music director
during the declining postwar years of radio. He passed away in 1982, well
into his eighties, after a comfortable retirement.
Rio
Rita
Nat Shilkret And The Victor Orchestra
Lewis James vocal
1927
(Victor 20474-A)
This is the title song of a very
successful 1927 musical. The musical was staged by Florenz Ziegfeld with
Ethelind Terry as Rita. The production also originally united comedians
Wheeler and Woolsey as a team and made them famous.
In 1929, Radio Pictures (later known
as RKO) purchased the rights to film this lavish musical. The film became
the biggest and most expensive production for Radio Pictures for 1929
- the last portion of the film was photographed in Technicolor. The
film was highly successful. Bebe Daniels starred as Rita in the movie
in place of Terry, effectively re-launching Daniels' career. The
movie also launched John Boles into stardom and both Daniels and Boles
starred in a number of musicals in the years following. They proved to
be so popular with audiences of the day that they were both hired by RCA
Victor to make a number of phonograph records. Based on the success of
this film, Wheeler and Woolsey were also given contracts to star in a series
of comedies.
Shilkret provides a beautiful arrangement
of this song with some tango effects, complete with castanets; Lewis James
provides the vocal.
The
Kinkajou
Nat Shilkret And The Victor Orchestra
Billy Murray vocal
1927
(Victor 20474-B)
The Kinkajou - in the wildlife world
a funny looking creature that looks to be the product of a cartoonist's
pen - lends its name to one of the myriad numbers of 1920s dance crazes
that presumed to displace the Charleston and Black Bottom. It didn't.
The dance was created by Mrs. Edna Passpae after Ada Mae's dance routine
in the stage version of Rio Rita. Edna debuted the dance at the Dance
Master's of America (DMA) Convention on May 22, 1927, winning first prize
at the event. The dance combines a number of steps: the strut step,
little side steps, glides, a heel step or grind in open position and the
final step is called a "twinkle".
Other dances introduced along with
The Kinkajou were the Dixie Stomp and Lindbergh Glide. The 1929 movie
version of Rio Rita featured a performance of "The Kinkajou" by
Dorothy Lee, but it was cut out of the film's 1932 re-release which is
all that survives today.
Again, Shilkret's arrangement is
superb, using a seldom-heard instrument in '20s dance bands, the accordion
- however, it sounds good! Billy Murray provides the vocal.
- Eddie The Collector
November 15
This week's Hit of the Week is brought
to you by
Matson Line - Oceanic Line
(from 1932 ad)
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.
Hot
Coffee
Jack Payne And His Band
1932
(Imperial 2677 mx 6014)
How'm
I Doin
Jack Payne And His Band
1932
(Imperial 2783 mx 6252)
I'll
Do My Best To Make You Happy
Jack Payne And His Band
1932
(Imperial 2774 mx 6201)
Masquerade
Jack Payne And His Band
1932
(Imperial 2757 mx 6227)
Dance
Medley No 1 Part 1
Jack Payne And His BBC Dance Orchestra
1931
(Columbia CB 368 mx CA 12076)
Dance
Medley No 1 Part 2
Jack Payne And His BBC Dance Orchestra
1931
(Columbia CB 368 mx CA 12077)
Although Jack Payne began his career
leading bands during WWI, he did not gain worldwide popularity until his
radio broadcasts in 1925. This early 1925 success of gaining radio airplay
helped him get a position as the dance band director of the BBC from 1928-1932
(although he left the BBC in 1932, he returned in 1946).
Throughout the 1930's the Payne
band toured Europe and even traveled as far as South Africa. His band also
was one of the most prolific of recording bands in Great Britain at the
time. From the late 1920s to 1932 he recorded with the Columbia label,
but moved to Imperial after they gave him a special "Jack Payne" label.
Imperial became Rex in 1934 and Jack Payne continued to record on that
label. The band disbanded in 1937 and Payne continued his work in
radio and band booking.
My favorite selection out of this
week's recordings is Jack Payne's version of "Hot Coffee." This is a very
upbeat and swinging selection that is sure to wake anyone up in the morning.
Although it has elements of swing, it still echoes of 1920s music - that
is why I find most early 1930s recordings so interesting; they combine
the best of both worlds.
Very close runners up are
the "Dance Band Selections" (Parts One and Two).
I have always been a fan of medleys
but these are especially peppy and complex. They showcase the Payne band
at their best with the best fidelity possible of the era: a
laminated Columbia pressing.
- 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.
This
Is Romance
The Masked Singer
1933
(Edison Bell A 5622 mx 1098)
Snuggled
On Your Shoulder
Sylvia Froos
1932
(HMV B 4163 mx 40 4745)
This week we have two very excellent
vocalists of the early 1930s: the the crystal clear Masked Tenor and the
elegant Sylvia Froos.
"This Is Romance" was recorded by
The Masked Tenor on the very rare gold label Edison Bell-Winner label in
1933.
Who is the Masked Tenor, you might
ask? Well, it is British vocalist and guitarist Jimmy Mesene. Jimmy Mesene
began life as the son of a wealthy British shipper, but when the Great
Depression took away the family fortune he fell back on his skills as a
singer and guitarist. During the 1930s he played with many big name bands,
including Joe Loss, Nat Gonella and Teddy Joyce. He also made some solo
vocal recordings under various pseudonyms, with The Masked Tenor being
one of them. He also wrote songs under a number of false names. In the
1940's he performed with Al Bowlly as the "Radio Stars with Two Guitars".
By 1947 he moved to the USA and
settled later in Canada. This information comes from The
Biography Of Jimmy Mesene, on the world wide web.
Sylvia Froos began as a vaudeville
star in the mid to late 1920s, but her career really took off when she
had her own NBC radio program in the early 1930s.
At this point, she was a vocalist
for the Arden-Ohman orchestra and a soloist for RCA Victor. This recording,
"Snuggled On Your Shoulder," was made during her time at Victor and is
a good representation of her work, illustrating her abilities as a singer
in the Ruth Etting mold.
After leaving Victor in 1932, Froos
continued with radio broadcasts (with Al Jolson, Fred Allen, Paul Whiteman,
Johnny Green, Harry Richman) and made several film appearances. Of
the short features she made, the most notable are with Vitaphone. She appeared
with Eddy Duchin in a 1934 short and with George Price in Soft Drinks
and Sweet Music, also in 1934.
Later on she worked in nightclubs
and on stage, and was very helpful to members of The
Vitaphone Project. She passed away in 2004 at the age of 90.
Several of her appearances are available
on DVD. Her short Rambling Round Radio Row is featured as an extra
in the Busby Berkeley DVD collection. Also her 1934 feature film Stand
Up And Cheer was released this year on DVD by Fox. She sings two songs
in this movie. Her short, Soft Drinks and Sweet Music is available
at http://www.doctormacro.info .
- Matt From College Station
November 8
This week's Hit of the Week is brought
to you by
Motor Coaches Wichita Falls
- Fort Worth.
North Texas Coach Company
(from 1928 ad)
Note: I am very pleased to welcome
back guest contributor Eddie The Collector. Eddie will be providing
this week's main update. 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.
The name "All Star Orchestra" was
not one of those generic puff names - it was an orchestra whose personnel
read like a Who's Who of the most significant jazz musicians of the late
1920s - indeed an All Star Orchestra. The idea was to record versions
of songs that were anything but "stock." Nat Shilkret, the band's director,
was given wide latitude by Victor executives to put together bands that
would do much more than simply pad the margins on record sales. Shilkret
recorded 18 sides between December, 1927 and November, 1929 - 16 of which
were released. Some of the band's musicians were already legendary,
including Miff Mole, Joe Venuti and Carl Kress. Others, such as Jimmy
McPartland, Chauncey Morehouse and John Cali, would later be remembered
as some of the great musicians of their time. Still others were destined
to become among the world's most popular bandleaders of the next two decades
- Benny Goodman, Tommy Dorsey and Glenn Miller.
Among the band's singers were some
of the era's biggest names, including Gene Austin, Johnny Marvin, Scrappy
Lambert,
Franklyn Baur and Frank Munn.
Oh!
Baby!
All Star Orchestra
1928
(Victor 21423-A)
This side, with its Scrappy Lambert
vocal, along with Victor 21605 I'm More Than Satisfied, both recorded on
March 21, 1928, are significant in that they were Benny Goodman's first
in New York and also the first time Benny Goodman recorded with Tommy Dorsey.
Add
A Little Wiggle
All Star Orchestra
1928
(Victor 21423 B)
This is the hotter, up-tempo side
of this combination - both sides are from the 1928 musical Rain Or Shine,
later adapted to the screen in 1930. Listen for a few bars of
"Feelin' Good" during the latter part of the record, also a part of this
musical. Benny Goodman plays good solos on this side, as well.
There's
A Rainbow Around My Shoulder
All Star Orchestra
1928
(Victor 21667-A)
This Al Jolson/Billy Rose composition
was one of the most popular tunes of the day, rendered by virtually every
dance orchestra extant, and by Al Jolson on Brunswick. This arrangement
was recorded on August 9, 1928, and is exemplary, even without a vocal.
It goes from one hot solo to another, beginning with Tommy Dorsey, followed
by Joe Venuti and on through 'till the end, accompanied by the great timpani
present in Shilkret recordings of this era.
She
Didn't Say 'Yes,' She Didn't Say 'No'
All Star Orchestra
Johnny Marvin, vocal
1928
(Victor 21667-B)
This novelty number has a Johnny
Marvin vocal backed up by Joe Venuti's violin. Just before the end,
we hear another one of Tommy Dorsey's solos.
- 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.
In
My Harem
Victor Military Band
1913
(Victor 17325-A)
Where
Did You Get That Girl
Victor Military Band
1913
(Victor 17440-A)
One usually associates military
bands with marches and patriotic music. But when the ballroom dancing
craze burst upon the scene in the early 1910s, it was the military bands
that the record labels turned to for recordings capitalizing on the trend.
The dance craze continued unabated and played a central role in American
music and popular culture through the end of World War II. By the
1920s the military bands had given way to big name bands specializing in
dance music.
Both of these selections feature
medleys by major Tin Pan Alley composers who also had successful music
publishing firms.
"In My Harem" is an Irving Berlin
medley consisting of the title song along with "Wait Until
Your Daddy Comes Home" and "Snookey Ookums."
"Where Did You Get That Girl" is
a medley of tunes composed by Harry Puck which featured lyrics by Bert
Kalmar - both of whom were also partners in their own publishing firm,
Kalmar & Puck Music Company. In addition to the title selection,
the medley features ""For Days And Days" and "Everybody Snap Your Fingers
With Me" which was also recorded by Al Jolson.
- Dismuke
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