April 2005

April 14, 2005
 

There's A Cradle In Caroline
Al Goering And His Collegians (Ben Bernie Orch)
Vaughn De Leath, vocal                           1927
(Vocalion B 15627)
 

Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man
Ben Bernie and His Hotel Roosevelt Orchestra
Vaughn De Leath, vocal                           1928
(Brunswick 3808-A)
 

Joy Bells
Harold Leonard And His Waldorf-Astoria Orch.
Vaughn De Leath, vocal                           1927
(Columbia 1105-D mx 144566)
 

Together, We Two
Vaughn De Leath - Ed. Smalle, vocal        1927
(Victor 21042-A)
 

Unlike a lot of show business billings, Vaughn De Leath's nickname "The First Lady of Radio" is actually highly accurate.   In early 1920 she gave a performance of "Swanee River" in the New York City studio of inventor Lee De Forest's experimental radio station that is believed to have been the very first live broadcast of a vocalist.    Up to that time a singer's ability to project one's voice loudly was absolutely essential so that one could be heard at the back of a concert hall and be picked up by acoustical recording horns.   On early broadcasts, however, there was concern that excessively loud or high notes would damage the transmitting equipment.   As a result, De Leath had  to sing softly - and, in doing so, she became the first "crooner."     She also became one of the first American radio personalities to broadcast to Europe through the trans-Atlantic cable.  In 1930 she appeared in one of the very early experimental television broadcasts and as early as 1931 was performing on twice weekly experimental television broadcasts conducted by CBS. 

Over the years,  I have come across a few recordings with unaccredited female vocals that really impressed me.   Eventually, I learned that they were by Vaughn De Leath. 

One of those recordings is this week's selection of "There's A Cradle In Caroline" which is one of my favorite 78 rpm records in my entire collection.  If I had to spend time on a desert island and could only take a small number of my 78 rpms with me to listen to, this would be one of them.  It has been in my collection for a number of years now and I have yet to become tired of hearing it.   From the very first time I played it, I found De Leath's vocal to be downright haunting.   And I think the band and the very imaginative "hot" dance band arrangement is simply outstanding.    My copy is on the Vocalion label - a low priced subsidiary of Brunswick.  The orchestra is billed as "Al Goering's Collegians" - and for years I just assumed that it was the name of an actual band.   I eventually learned that recording was, in fact,  made by Ben Bernie and His Orchestra and first issued on Brunswick 3656.   But there was a real life Al Goering.  He was Ben Bernie's piano player.  Since Brunswick did not want to use big name artists whose records people were willing to pay premium prices for on its bargain label,  they decided to issue the Vocalion pressing under Goering's name.

De Leath also performs with the Ben Bernie Orchestra on "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man" which comes from Jerome Kern's Showboat.  Both this recording and "There's A Cradle In Caroline" are excellent examples of why I consider Ben Bernie's to have been one of the better 1920s era dance bands.   His later recordings from the 1930s, however, were not as good in my opinion. 

I have not been able to locate much information about Harold Leonard's Waldorf-Astoria Orchestra.  There was a Harold Leonard who had a band in Canada in the early 1920s called the Red Jackets.  I would assume that they are both the same person - but I have no way of knowing for sure.

Ed Smalle was a studio vocalist for Victor during the 1920s.  For a while, he was a member of the popular Victor 1920s era vocal group The Revelers. 
 

 

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. 
 
 

Wien, Du Stadt Meiner Träume
Richard Tauber, vocal
Orchestra Conducted By Ernst Hauke             1928
(Decca 29011-B mx XXB 7962)

Im Prater Blühn Wieder Die Bäume
Richard Tauber, vocal
Orchestra Conducted By Ernst Hauke             1928
(Decca 29011-A mx XXB 7953)
 

Richard Tauber was a highly regarded tenor who had a strong following on both sides of the Atlantic in the 1920s and 1930s.  While he recorded a wide variety of music, he is best known for his performances of Viennese operetta. 

I recently purchased several Tauber 78 rpms and will eventually feature them here in the months ahead. 

This week's selection of "Wien, Du Stadt Meiner Träume" ("Vienna, City of My Dreams")  is one of my favorite Tauber recordings.  I have been familiar with it for a number of years thanks to an LP reissue.   The song was written by Austrian composer Rudolf Sieczynski.  Unfortunately, I don't have much information about Sieczynski or whether the song comes from an operetta.

"Im Prater Blühn Wieder Die Bäume" is one of the better known works of operetta composer Robert Stolz

Both of these selections were recorded in Berlin and were originally issued on the German Odeon label. 

---

April 7, 2005
 
 

Cherokee
Charlie Barnet and His Orchestra              1939
(Bluebird B-1073-A)
 

The All Night Record Man
Charlie Barnet and His Orchestra
Judy Ellington, Charlie Barnet vocal          1939
(Bluebird B-1073-B)

Afternoon Of A Moax
Charlie Barnet and His Orchestra              1940
(Bluebird B 10721-A)

All This And Heaven Too
Charlie Barnet and His Orchestra
Larry Taylor,  vocal                                 1940
(Bluebird B-10751-A)

Where Do You Keep Your Heart?
Charlie Barnet and His Orchestra
Larry Taylor,  vocal                                 1940
(Bluebird B-10751-B)
 

Charlie Barnet grew up in a wealthy family and developed a childhood fascination with recordings of black jazz artists.   Later on, he became one of the first white bandleaders to hire black musicians.   Barnet dropped out of Yale during his freshman year to play reed instruments for various dance bands.   By the time he was 20, Barnet formed his first band for an engagement at the Paramount Grill in New York City.

While the  Barnet band enjoyed moderate success throughout the early and mid 1930s, it was this week's recording of "Cherokee," composed by fellow bandleader Ray Noble, that made it one of the more popular bands in the USA. 

Less than three months after "Cherokee" and "The All Night Record Man" were recorded, the band was playing at the very popular Palomar Ballroom in Los Angeles - the same ballroom where Benny Goodman found success and launched the swing era four years earlier.  A couple of nights before the engagement was to end, a fire broke out on the bandstand during an intermission and the entire building was soon engulfed in flames.  The fire spread so rapidly that band members were unable to retrieve their instruments and all of the band's scores were destroyed.   Barnet was well liked in the business and several other bandleaders, including  Duke Ellington and Benny Carter, came to his assistance and loaned him their scores until he was able to have his own library recreated.   To read a  first-hand account of the Palomar fire and to see several interesting photos, including one of the Barnet orchestra on the bandstand on the night of the fire, follow this link. 

Barnet's band remained active until the late 1950s and he continued to put together bands for occasional appearances into the 1960s.   It is possible that Barnet had more wives than Artie Shaw who was famous for having married eight times.   Barnet married at least six times - but some sources claim that the actual number was as high as eleven.   Either way, that's quite a lot. 

This week's selections provide examples of the Barnet orchestra in both "swing" and "sweet" modes.    One interesting thing to keep an ear open for is the take-off on the NBC radio chimes in the opening notes of "The All Night Record Man."
 
 

 

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. 
 
 

Chocolate Soldier Selection
Vessella's Italian Band                              1911
(Victor 35217-A)

Woodland Whisperings - Idyl
Arthur Pryor's Band                                  1911
(Victor 35217-B)
 

The Chocolate Soldier  is the best-remembered operetta of composer Oscar Straus (no relation to the famous Strauss operetta family).  The operetta, a musical version of George Bernard Shaw's  successful play Arms And The Man,  was less than successful when it opened under the name Der tapfere Soldat (The Gallant Soldier) in 1908 in Vienna and closed after only 62 performances.    The American production, however, was given a new name, The Chocolate Soldier and became a big Broadway hit and eventually toured the country. 

G. B. Shaw was very reluctant to lend is work for the endeavor fearing that if the operetta became successful its fame would eclipse that of his play.  He eventually agreed under three conditions:  that his original dialogue would not be used, that the operetta be advertised as an unauthorized parody of Shaw's play and that he receive no royalties - which turned out to be quite costly to Shaw.   In the 1930s, MGM became interested in producing a film version of The Chocolate Soldier as a Nelson Eddy - Jeanette MacDonald picture.    Having learned his lesson, Shaw demanded a high price for the movie rights to his storyline.   The amount was more than MGM was willing to pay, however.   As a result, the movie was finally produced in 1940 - without Jeanette Mac Donald - under the name The Chocolate Soldier but with  a storyline based on Ferenc Molnar's The Guardsman.  Straus' music, however, is featured in the movie. 

Oscar Straus is one of my favorite operetta composers based on his 1907 operetta Ein Walzertraum (A Waltz Dream)   So far I have not come across any 78 rpm recordings from that operetta - but when I do, they will most definitely be included on a future Extra update. 

"Woodland Whisperings" was composed by Hungarian bandmaster Alphons Czibulka.   I am not sure what year the work was first published or if it was part of one of his operettas.  You can read more information about Czibulka by following this link.