August 2006
August 31, 2006
This week's Hit of the Week is brought
to you by
(Click on image for larger view)
The New
Whippet Six
Willys-Overland, Inc., Toledo,
Ohio
(From 1928 ad.)
Ten
Little Miles From Town
George Hall And His Orchestra
Irving Kaufman, vocal
1928
((Romeo 723 mx 3295)
Kashmiri
Moon
Elliott Jacoby And His Orchestra
1928
(Romeo 723 mx 3295)
Among
My Souvenirs
Gotham Society Orchestra
Irving Kaufman, vocal
1927
(Banner 6121-A mx 1196)
I
Could Stand A Lot Of Lovin' From You
Missouri Jazz Band
Arthur Fields, vocal
1928
(Banner 6202-B mx 1864)
Here are some fun dance band recordings
issued by two of the major late 1920s "dime store" labels, Romeo and Banner.
Romeo was a subsidiary label of
Cameo Records and was sold through the Kress dime store chain. Banner
Records were a product of the Plaza Music Company and were sold by the
S.S. Kresge chain.
Recordings on dime store labels
were frequently issued on other affiliated labels. For example, this
week's Romeo recordings were also issued on the Cameo label and the Banner
recording of "Among My Souvenirs" appeared on the Domino label with an
entirely different selection on its flip side. Dime store labels
also frequently disguised the actual names of the bands with recording
pseudonyms. For example, the "Gotham Society Orchestra" on "Among
My Souvenirs" is, in fact, the Mike Markel Orchestra. On the
Domino issue, the band is credited as "Markel's Society Orchestra."
These recordings are classic examples
of what a great many modern day jazz critics dismiss as "commercial" trash.
Personally, I consider them to be very charming and delightful.
I have been collecting vintage records
since childhood and yet I continue to be constantly amazed at the elevated
level of public taste in music and aesthetics in general in
the early 1900s. The recordings featured this week were specifically
made to appeal to the lowest mass market common denominator - and yet they
are incredibly beautiful and melodic and, in the case of "Kashmiri Moon,"
downright haunting. Even back then, however, the songs and
recordings were largely disposable. Just seven years after
this week's selections were recorded, the swing and big band era was starting
to come of age and such recordings were, by then, considered to be hopelessly
old fashioned and out of date.
Of course, there was a lot of really
great music in the swing and big band eras, some of which I occasionally
present on these updates. Between 1920 and 1945, musical styles
changed very rapidly - far more so than in recent decades.
What I find fascinating about the
recordings I picked out for this week's update, however, is
that, even by late 1920s standards, they were hardly considered to be remarkable.
They were average, commonplace dance records for the masses - i.e. people
who shopped in inexpensive dime stores. But compare the sort of music
such shoppers back then sought out verses the sort of music that a similar
demographic looks for at Kmart and Wal-mart, today's successors to the
old dime stores - well, I find the contrast to be rather sad.
Of the bands presented on this update,
George Hall's is the best remembered. Hall was most famous
in the mid 1930s when his band had a lengthy engagement at New York's Hotel
Taft and enjoyed wide exposure on network radio broadcasts.
Elliott Jacoby was an arranger,
composer and pianist who had several records issued under his name in the
late 1920s. I am not sure if he had an actual band of his own that
performed outside of the recording studios or whether the sessions under
his name were strictly made up of studio musicians. In the
mid 1940s, Jacoby provided the orchestration for a couple of Broadway productions.
Mike Markel, whose band appears
on this update under the "Gotham Society Orchestra" pseudonym, was a popular
bandleader at New York City supper clubs in the 1920s.
The Missouri Jazz Band was a recording
pseudonym used by several different record labels for different bands.
In the recording here, the actual band was Billy James' Dance Orchestra.
James was also a New York City bandleader. Unfortunately, other than
the fact that he made a good number of recordings for Banner and other
Plaza Music Company labels in the 1920s, I don't have much in the
way of biographical information about him.
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.
Bo-la-Bo
Emerson Xylo-Phiends
1920
(Emerson 10139 mx 4849)
Bo-la-Bo
Ted Lewis And His Jazz Band
1920
(Columbia A2895 mx 78924)
I recently stumbled across a Myspace
profile for Matt Tolentino, a musician based here in the Fort
Worth/Dallas area who plays vintage music. One of the
musical selections he features on his Myspace profile is his version of
the 1919 song "Bo-la-Bo." Ever since I came across it, the tune has
been stuck in my head - so that inspired me to dig out a couple of vintage
versions of the song from my collection.
The song was introduced by Ted Lewis
and His Band in the Greenwich Village Follies of 1919 and is billed
as an "Egyptian Fox Trot." At the time exotic pseudo Oriental
and pseudo Middle Eastern themes were very much in vogue in American popular
culture and music and would become more so with the early 1920s discovery
of King Tut's tomb and the success of Rudolf Valentino movies.
This song is an excellent example of the trend.
The Red
Hot Jazz archive suggests that the Emerson Xylo-Phiends were most likely
the All Star Trio, a popular musical group in the late 1910s and early
1920s which featured xylophonist George Hamilton Green, pianist Victor
Arden and saxophonist Wheeler Wadsworth.
Of the two versions, I prefer the
Ted Lewis recording which is what first introduced the song to me.
I think it is a very odd but somehow endearing recording.
Speaking of Myspace.com, a couple
of months ago I put up a Myspace profile for Radio Dismuke as a means
of promoting the station. Through it, to my surprise, I have ended
up becoming acquainted with quite a number of individuals who enjoy the
station as well as others who share my love and fascination for the early
1900s decades. It has also enabled me to discover the very
wide and diverse range of interests held by people who have an appreciation
for this music. You can visit the Radio Dismuke Myspace
profile by clicking here.
And if you have a Myspace profile, feel free to submit a friends request.
August 17, 2006
This week's Hit of the Week is brought
to you by
The Texas Hotel
Fort Worth, Texas
(From 1920s postcard.)
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.
Whoopee!
Medley
Colonial Club Orchestra
1928
(Brunswick 20089)
New
Moon Medley
Colonial Club Orchestra
1928
(Brunswick 20089)
The tunes for this week are by the
Colonial Club Orchestra, which has been featured here on previous Hit of
the Week upsates several times.
The Colonial Club Orchestra was
actually a recording pseudonym that almost always masked the Bob Haring
Orchestra. Although Bob Haring primarily recorded for Brunswick
under various names, he also recorded for many dime store labels
such as Cameo, Romeo and Regal. On these labels he can be found
as "The Society Night Club Orchestra", "The Caroliners" and
the "Hollywood Dance Orchestra". Occasionally he also appears under
his own name on the dime store labels.
Haring was a skilled bandleader
and arranger, working with many top talents such as Libby Holman, Scrappy
Lambert and Dick Robertson during his decade long tenure. These selections
showcase the Haring orchestra at its best.
The first selection features tunes
from the popular broadway musical and film Whoopee!
which debuted December 1928 and ran for 379 performances. It originally
starred Eddie Cantor and Ruth Etting. Cantor was carried over to film the
1930 Technicolor Hollywood version. It is interesting to note that
the film and stage productions were both produced by Florenz Ziegfeld.
Here we enjoy the title tune and other songs from the stage production.
Other than the title song, no tunes from this medley were used in the film
version.
Next, we are treated to selections
from The New Moon. This Romberg-Hammerstein musical opened at the
Imperial theatre in 1928 and ran for 509 performances. Grace
Moore filmed this with Lawrence Tibbett in 1930.
- 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.
Washboard
Blues
Casa Loma Orchestra
Connie Boswell, vocal
1932
(Brunswick 20108)
Four
Indian Love Lyrics
Casa Loma Orchestra
1932
(Brunswick 20108)
Connie Boswell, the jazz singer
from New Orleans, brings us Hoagy Carmichael's "Washboard Blues."
Connie Boswell, and her sisters
Martha and Helvetia, were really an unlikely phenomenon. They
started singing the blues in New Orleans night spots and later performed
in Vaudeville. They lucked out in 1929 and recorded two sides for
Okeh, accompanied by the Dorsey Brothers Orchestra. While this wasn't their
first recording, it did showcase their unique style and launched
their career.
Connie Boswell was paralyzed
from the waist down. As with FDR, this was regarded as something
to be concealed at the time and she remained seated in a chair or was supported
during all her performances. The sisters appeared on radio and in many
films before the group broke up in the mid 1930s due to marriages.
Connie, however, continued on very successfully as a soloist for many years.
"Four Indian Love Lyrics" is an
instrumental recording and another Hoagy Carmichael composition.
- Matt From College Station
August 3, 2006
This week's Hit of the Week is brought
to you by
(Click on image for larger view)
Chrysler Imperial Roadster
(From 1929 ad.)
To
Be In Love (Espesh'lly With You)
Sammy Fain, vocal
1929
(Velvet Tone 1943 V mx 148508)
What
A Day
Sammy Fain, vocal
1929
(Velvet Tone 1943 V mx 148509)
Sammy Fain was a highly successful
1920s and 1930s era composer with hits such as "Let a Smile Be Your Umbrella,
" "You Brought a New Kind of Love to Me," "When I Take My Sugar To
Tea," "By A Waterfall" and many others to his credit. He continued
to compose for movies into the 1970s.
Fain was also known, however, as
the "Crooning Composer" for the vocal recordings he made in the late 1920s
and early 1930s for Columbia and its bargain subsidiary labels, Harmony,
Diva and Velvet Tone. On some of the recordings Fain performed
his own compositions. On others, such as the two presented here,
he performed works of other popular composers of the era.
I have been looking for a
copy of this record ever since Rich Conaty played this version of "To Be
In Love (Espesh'lly With You)" on his Big
Broadcast radio program. I am very fond of the song and I think
this is a very peppy version of it. I can't say that Fain has
an especially wonderful voice - it reminds me a bit of a teenager whose
voice has changed. But the enthusiasm with which he sings the song
gives it a lot of charm - and the small jazz band accompaniment is excellent.
Fred Ahlert and Roy Turk are the song's composers.
"What A Day!" was composed by Harry
Woods and was recorded by several bands, including the Ted Weems Orchestra.
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.
La
Madre Del Cordero
Orquesta Poplar
1934
(Mexican Victor 75093-B)
Alla
En El Rancho Grande
Emilio Caceres Y Si Orquesta Del Club Aguila
Herrera and Quiroga, vocal
1934
(Mexican Victor 75094-A)
These recordings come from a pressing
by RCA Victor's Mexican subsidiary and are examples of the music that was
popular at the time in Northern Mexico and in Spanish speaking communities
in Southern Texas.
The second recording, "Alla En El
Rancho Grande" was recorded in San Antonio on April 4, 1934 and was issued
on American Victor's bargain subsidiary Bluebird label.
Unfortunately, I do not have
any information on the band playing "La Madre Del Cordero" which is credited
only as being a generic "popular orchestra." Victor did record
a version of the song in San Antonio a few days earlier on March 26 by
Orquesta Pajaro Azul which was also issued on Bluebird. Since
I do not have that record, however, I have no way of knowing whether or
not this Mexican pressing is of the same recording..
Emilio Caceres is best remembered
as a highly regarded jazz violinist. His San Antonio based band made
several swing oriented recordings for Bluebird and he also performed in
other cities such as Detroit and New York and made appearances on Benny
Goodman's Camel Caravan radio program. Caceres's brother,
Ernie, also performed with the band and he eventually became a member of
the Jack Teagarden and Glenn Miller orchestras. The family's
musical tradition is still alive as two of Emilio's grandsons, David
and Anthony are
both professional jazz musicians based in Texas.
Unfortunately, I am not aware of
having any of Emilio Caceres' jazz oriented recordings in my 78 rpm collection.
Matt From College Station, however, has a few and has agreed to make them
the subject of one of his future guest contributions.
|