February 2006

February 23, 2006
 

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. 
 
 

Hello Gorgeous
Buddy Rogers And His Orchestra          1932
(Victor 24001-A)
 

You Fascinate Me
Buddy Rogers And His Orchestra          1932
(Victor 24001-B)
 

We're together again for a new hit for a new week. I would like to  thank  Dismuke for the opportunity to present these wonderful recordings to a wider audience. They are finally getting some of the recognition they deserve.

This week's selection will present my absolute favorite band of the 
early 1930’s: Buddy Rogers and His California Cavaliers. 

Buddy Rogers (1901-1999) was a man of many talents, one could say he was a 1920’s and 1930’s Renaissance man. He began in the early 1920’s; in 1925 being booked at New York's famed Hotel Pennsylvania which was across from the now demolished Penn Station. He was known to play every instrument in the band, also having a knack at crooning.  Song writing and arranging were among his talents as well. 

In the mid 1920’s Rogers broke into the acting scene and quickly became a huge success.  The advent of the talkies increased his success and even earned him the title ‘Americas Boyfriend”.  He made a large number of musicals in the 1930’s, the decade of his greatest fame. Several of his musicals are available from film collectors on eBay;  Safety in Numbers is his best. 

Rogers  married the much older actress Mary Pickford, a relationship that lasted  until her death in 1979. Here's an interesting  quote from IMDB about their relationship: “Rogers reported that Clark Gable 'once told Mary (Pickford),  when we got married, that it wouldn't last six months' because he was 11 years younger than her. They were married for 42 years.” 

Although his band lasted from the early 1920’s until well into the swing era, I think that his best period was the early 1930’s. He made no recordings in the 1920’s, and his late 30’s recordings are good, but his  early 30’s recordings (only 8 sides for Victor in 1932, his Columbia sides were strictly vocal selections) are both sweet, hot and have complex arrangements. I find syncopated 20’s elements, sophisticated swing elements, and early 30’s sweetness in all the of Victor recordings I have. 

All in all,  Buddy Rogers’ recordings today stand up today as classics and outshine his  acting ability…..they should be more well known.

"Hello Gorgeous," by Walter Donaldson, is a great tune to start with, but the band jazzes it up in several ways. First, we get a trademark 
introduction to the tune by Buddy: “There she is boys…. Hello Gorgeous!” Next we are treated  to a peppy tempo, solid rhythm section and complex arranging. After the vocal the band lets loose with several sax solos and a swinging trumpet section. A GREAT recording.

"You Fascinate Me" (Rogers, Clare and Franklyn) is a peppy tune with a sweet melody line. After the vocal the band goes absolutely crazy with syncopated rhythm and trumpet solos. I am amazed at the smoothness of transition between elements in this recording. A true Art Deco masterpiece.

Both selections were recorded using an improved recording process that Victor used briefly in the early 1930s which resulted in a higher fidelity sound than was normally available on commercial records at the time.  Victor soon discontinued using the process, however, when it discovered that the records did not wear well when used with the heavy phonograph tone arms and steel needles still in widespread use. 

These 1932 Victor sessions are the perfect examples of why I love 20’s and 30’s music. They are bright cheerful tuneful and complex. It is my intention to offer other Buddy Rogers Victor sessions in future guest updates.

- 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.
 
 

O del mio dolce Ardor
Hedwig Von Debicka                             1929
(Polydoor J 24146)

Emperor Waltz - Parts 1 & 2
The Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Frederick A, Stock, conductor                1933
(Victor 7653-A, Victor 7653-B)
 

This opera selection is "O del mio dolce Ardor," the opening aria from Gluck's 1770 opera Paride ed Elena (Paris and Helen).  I really know very little about this recording other than that it was made by the Berlin State Opera soloist Hedwig Von Debicka in 1929. 

Soprano Hedwig Von Debicka was born in Warsaw, Poland in 1880 and made her opera debut in 1910.   This beautiful recording conveys a dreamlike quality and hints of melancholy.

"Emperor Waltz" was composed by Johann Strauss in 1889, who was the waltz king long before Wayne King. This is a beautiful tune, as is most central European operetta and light music of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

- Matt From College Station

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February 16, 2006

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. 
 

Treat Me Like A Baby
Sunny Clapp And His Band 'O Sunshine
Jeanne Geddies, vocal                            1931
(Victor 22682-B)
 

Learn To Croon
Sunny Clapp And His Band 'O Sunshine
Jeanne Geddies, vocal                            1931
(Victor 22628-A)
 

This week's update is unique - it features a great, albeit obscure, 
band and contains the only recorded performances of vocalist Jeanne Geddes.   When I played this record on one of the live Radio Dismuke broadcasts I appeared on in December ,  Dismuke went absolutely crazy for this record and  insisted that I include  it on a  future Hit Of The Week Update. 

Sunny Clapp is best known for composing "Girl of My Dreams" in 1927, but also led an excellent Texas-based territory band.  He recorded between 1929 and 1931 with several of his recordings being made in San Antonio. 

Both selections here are given a rather “hot” treatment with plenty of trumpet, clarinet and sax solos. Jeanne Geddes gives us an excellent “flapper style”, as I call it, vocal. Although this was recorded in 1931, it has a distinctive 1920’s flavor. The vocal and hot solos lend the tunes a 20’s ambiance, but the arrangements are rich, complex and sweet (at moments). The use of guitar and tuba remind us of both the 20’s and 30’s. That being said, this is an excellent example of a musical transition piece and is one of the favorite records in my collection. 

"Treat Me Like A Baby" was written by Andy Razaf and Jack Palmer. It is a very obscure title, but one of my favorite songs.

"Learn To Croon" was featured in the 1931 Broadway Musical  You Said It and written by Harold Arlen and Jack Yellen.  It was a very successful  musical.  This song is different from the 1933 hit “Learn To Croon” that Bing Crosby  performed in the film College Humor.

- 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.
 
 

March Of The Toys
Victor Concert Orchestra                              1927
(Victrola 9148 -A)

Selections From "Babes In Toyland"
Victor Light Opera Company                         1927
(Victrola 9148 -B)

Selections From "The Red Mill"
Victor Light Opera Company                         1927
(Victrola 9149 -B)

Selections From "Sweethearts"
Victor Light Opera Company                          1927
(Victrola 9149 -A)
 
 

Here are four great operetta medleys by Victor Herbert (1859-1924), one of the best composers of the 20th century. 

Babes In Toyland opened at New York's Majestic Theatre in 1903. The songs are classic and several film versions of this operetta have been made.

"March of the Toys." performed here by the Victor Talking Machine Company's in-house band is one of the more famous songs from Babes In Toyland.

The Red Mill opened in 1906 at New York's Knickerbocker Theatre.  In 1927 Fatty Arbuckle directed a silent film version of The Red Mill starring Marion Davies. 

The operetta Sweethearts opened at the New Amsterdam Theatre in 1913 and contains some of my  favorite Victor Herbert music with beautiful music and vocals.  Sweethearts was made into a Jeanette MacDonald / Nelson Eddy musical in 1938 and was MGM's first full Technicolor feature. 

- Matt From College Station
 

 
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. 
 

As Time Goes By
The Columbians
Smith Ballew, vocal                                   1931
(Columbia 2536-D mx 151778)
 

If I Didn't Have You
Fred Rich And His Orchestra
Smith Ballew, vocal                                   1931
(Columbia 2536-D mx 151777)
 

This week's update will consist of two great recordings from 1931 by Fred  Rich and his Orchestra. The Fred Rich band recorded abundantly throughout the 1920’s, frequently under recording pseudonyms such as "The Columbians," and played at the Waldorf=Astoria Hotel.  He also led many studio sessions for Columbia featuring popular jazz musicians of the day such as the Dorsey Brothers, Joe Venuti, Bunny Berigan, Benny Goodman, and Tony Parenti.

The first selection, "As Time Goes By," was composed by Herman Hupfeld and was featured in the 1931 Broadway musical  Everybody’s Welcome.  It is more  famous for its 1942 revival in the film Casablanca.

Next your ears will be treated to "If I Didn’t Have You," a wonderful 
tune by  Harburg and Ager. Both sides feature jazz violinist Joe Venuti and vocalist, Smith Ballew.

- 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.
 
 

Jubilee Medley - Parts 1 & 2
Paul Whiteman And His Orchestra
Ramona Davies, Ken Darby, Bud Lin, 
The Kings Men, vocal                                        1935
(Victor 36175-A, 36175-B)

All Points West - Parts 1 & 2
Paul Whiteman And His Concert Orchestra
Bob Lawrence, narrator                                     1935
(Victor 36198-A, 36198-B)
 

I will present two recordings by the great Paul Whiteman Orchestra for this week's "Extra." 

First, you will hear parts one and two of the "Jubilee Medley," which was recorded in 1935. The Cole Porter musical comedy  Jubilee opened October 12, 1935 at the Imperial Theater, New York City and ran for 169 performances.  The tunes here by Whiteman include: "Just One of Those Things," "Why  Shouldn’t I," "Me and Marie," "A Picture of Me Without You," " Begin the Beguine", and "When 
Love Comes Your Way."  Featured vocalists are Ramona Davies, Ken Darby,  Bud  Linn and The King’s Men. This recording is both energetic and haunting and  is as close as we will ever come to attending the 1935 Broadway premier.

“All Points West”, while performed by Paul Whiteman and his Orchestra , is not what you would expect from this band because it is a musical  narrative. The narrative tells the sad story of a train announcer at New York's Grand Central Station.  Structured more like a miniature radio program with beautiful musical interludes, it is unlike anything I’ve heard before or since. Bob Lawrence is the powerful voice behind the microphone bringing this Lorenz Hart – Richard Rodgers work to life.

"All Points West" was specifically written for and first performed at a concert of the Philidelphia Orchestra on November 27 and 28, 1936 with Paul Whiteman serving as guest conductor. 

- Matt From College Station
 
 

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Thinking Of You
Oreste And His Queensland Orchestra
Arthur Fields, vocal                                   1926
(Edison 51885-R mx 11322)
 

This update will be devoted to a few of my more recent 78 rpm acquisitions. 

There have been a number of songs over the years called "Thinking of You."  This particular composition was written by Walter Donaldson and Paul Ash.   I think it is a very pretty yet haunting tune and one that has occasionally been a subject of discussion on my Message Board. 

I have featured other versions of the song in previous updates:  one by Sam Lanin And His Orchestra in the September 9, 2004 update and one by Honey Duke And His Uke in the June 9, 2005 update.

Migliaccio Oreste, an Italian immigrant born in 1882, led a mid 1920s dance band at the Queensland Ballroom on Wyckoff Avenue in Brooklyn.  He made a number of records for Edison , many of which feature "hot" jazz passages.

This recording comes from an old Edison Diamond Disc.  Diamond Discs were a quarter inch thick and weighed a full pound.  Because they were recorded with non-standard vertical "hill and dale" grooves of the sort found on old cylinder recordings, the records require specialized playback equipment. 

Edison was late to convert to the electrical recording process which was introduced by most rival record labels in 1925, so this selection was made through an acoustic recording horn.   During the acoustic era, Edison's Diamond Discs, while they may not have featured the era's most popular artists, were superior in terms of their playback fidelity.  By the time this recording was made, however, that technology was obsolete and sales of Edison's records and phonographs were rapidly declining.  When the stock market crashed in 1929,  Edison was the very first label to cease operations as a result.
 

Thinking Of You
Nat Shilkret And The Victor Orchestra
Lewis James, vocal                                    1927
(Victor 20996 B)
 

This is an entirely different composition called  "Thinking of You" - this time by Bert Kalmar and Harry Ruby.  It was featured in the Broadway musical The Five O'Clock Girl which opened on October 10, 1927 at the 44th Street Theatre and ran for 280 performances. The Five O'Clock Girl enjoyed a 14 performance revival in 1981. 

I think the particular arrangement featured on this recording is outstanding. 
 

Climbing The Stairs
Jack Denny And His Mount 
Royal Hotel Orchestra                                 1929
(Brunswick 4604)
 

I think this is a very charming, if a bit unusual, recording.  The tolling bell effects in the last part of the recording are quite interesting.

Jack Denny was a Canadian bandleader who appeared regularly at the Mount Royal Hotel in Montreal.  The hotel still stands but has since been converted into a complex of of shops, apartments and offices.  In the 1930s, Denny's band was also featured at New York's Waldorf = Astoria Hotel.
 

By A Lazy Country Lane
Ted Wallace And His Campus Boys
Elmer Feldkamp, Ed Kirkeby; vocals            1931
(Columbia 2441 D mx 151434)
 

This is another very charming recording -and, towards the end, it features some very nice jazz passages by trumpeter Jack Purvis.

"Ted Wallace" was a recording pseudonym used by the Ed Kirkeby band.  Kirkeby himself accompanies Elmer Feldkamp on the vocal.
 

Fioretta
Bob Haring And His Orchestra
Dick Robertson, vocal                                 1929
(Brunswick 4288)
 

I first became familiar with his song when someone posted a whole bunch of transfers of Edison records of various types for download.  Among them was a recording of "Fioretta" by B.A. Rolfe And His Lucky Strike Dance Orchestra from an old Edison Needle Type Electric disc.  I immediately fell for the recording which, unfortunately, was not in such good condition.   The Bob Haring version featured here, while nice,  is nowhere near as good, in my opinion, as the B.A. Rolfe recording which is very peppy and includes some really cheerful xylophone passages.   However, since Edison Needle Type Electric records were only made for a few months and are extremely rare, it is not likely that I will stumble across a copy at an affordable price anytime soon. 
 
 

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.
 
 

Milwaukee Blues
Charlie Pool And The North Carolina Ramblers       1930
(Columbia 15688 D mx 150779)

One Moonlight Night
Charlie Pool And The North Carolina Ramblers       1930
(Columbia 15688 D mx 150775)
 

Here is an early "hillbilly" record which I no longer have in my collection.  The record is extremely rare and, if I had put it up for sale, I could probably have gotten over $100 for it in the condition it is in.  I traded it to Matt From College Station, an occasional guest contributor here, for a stack of records.  He intends to trade it with someone he knows for a more jazz oriented recording of similar rarity - which, as part of the trade agreement,  Matt will eventually share with everyone on a future Hit of the Week update. 

While I enjoy finding and owning records which I know to be rare, I am not especially fond of most recordings in this particular musical genre.  I don't believe that I ever actually listened to this record all the way through until I digitalized it for this "Extra" shortly before I traded it. 

While both sides  were recorded in 1930,  the record wasn't issued until 1931 - a very bad year for record sales.   Early country records were primarily sold in poorer, rural markets which were hit very hard by the Depression.   As a result, only a relatively small number of copies were pressed for many country issues - and even fewer survive in good condition.   Poor households were less likely to change the steel needles in their wind-up phonographs after a single playing - something which is mandatory if one wishes to preserve one's records.  Most early country recordings I have come across from this era tend to be in absolutely horrible and often unplayable condition. 

Unfortunately, since country is outside of my main area of collecting interest, I do not have much background information to share about Charlie Pool or the North Carolina Ramblers.   The good news is that the record will eventually end up in the hands of someone who will appreciate and enjoy it far more than I am able to.