Freddy Martin concert: 1945-1952

Weird. Blogger.com suddenly didn't recognize me. I had to sign in from scratch. It's... it's a plot, I tell you!

Had to try my user name twice, as I misremembered it on the first try. Like everyone else, I hate user names and passwords. But without them the Internet would be a lot less secure. Faster, yes, but less secure.

So, I guess I don't really hate them. (Yes, I do.) No, I don't. (Fun-ruiners. Pains in the ass.) No, no. They are needful. Necessary. (They suck.) Please--without them, the Net would be nothing but chaos. (Yeah, well, what is it now?) Shut up. (Make me.)

I'll continue this argument with myself away from the Dell. Maybe I can talk reason to me. Meanwhile, here are five super Freddy Martin tracks, beginning with yet another take on Chopin's Etude in E Major (Op. 10, No. 3). We last heard it in the form of No Other Love. This one, I believe, came first. It was the title song to a 1945 movie. Artie Wayne sings:

A Song to Remember (Stoloff-Chaplin-Cahn), Freddy Martin and His Orch. w. Artie Wayne, 1945.

Poor Chopin--just because he had no rights to his material, couldn't they have stuck his name in the credits just to be nice?

Next, Freddy Martin picks on Rachmaninoff. This kind of bullying, I approve of. Almost as awesome as Martin's treatment of Tchaikovsky. Arranged by Martin himself, says the label:

Rachmaninoff Concerto No. 2 (Arranger: Freddy Martin), Freddy Martin and His Orchestra, 1945.

Now, three by Merv Griffin. Of course. Like, I'd cover 1945-1952 Freddy without including Merv? Be serious.

Deep in a Dream (Van Heusen-De Lange), Freddy Martin with Merv, 1951.

The Aba Daba Honeymoon (Fields-Donovan), Freddy Martin with Merv, 1951.

The Good Humor Man (Worth-Sloan-Seussdorf), Freddy Martin with Merv, 1952.

And we close with a re-repost of Martin's magnificent treatment of Misirlou, from 1948. Stuart Wade sings, Barclay Allen tickles the old 88:

Misirlou (Wise-Leeds-Russel-Roubanis), Freddy Martin and His Orch. featuring Stuart Wade and Barclay Allen, 1948.

A great example of the style/genre dubbed "exotica." The credit for which at least one reviewer gave to Raymond Scott. Sounds likely. Scott invented everything, right?

Except rock and roll, which Elvis Costello invented. I mean, Lou Costello.




Lee

Music for Saturday morning--Jo Stafford, Polly Burgin, and others

We begin with 1941 and the Victor label. Specifically, Tommy Dorsey and His Orchestra featuring Jo Stafford. This 78 had an area of bad surface noise that necessitated the removal of eight bars (see if you can spot where). Luckily, those eight bars were expendable. Jo's vocal (the important part) is intact:

For You (Joe Burke-Al Dubin), Tommy Dorsey and His Orch., featuring Jo Stafford, 1941. From 12" Victor 78.

The flip is a terrific arrangement by Deane (sic) Kincaide, who played alto and tenor sax in the band. Toward the end of the record, the style is sounding almost like rhythm and blues:

Swing Low, Sweet Chariot, Tommy Dorsey and His Orch., 1941. Flip of above.

Next, Rosalie Allen and the Black River Riders, from 1946. This showed up during one of my recent thrifting excursions (thrifting excursions?). I mean, one of my recent junk searchs. Or, one of my latest quests for vernacular discards of interest:

Me Go Where You Go, Amigo (Brower-Christy-Razaf), Rosalie Allen with the Black River Riders, 1946. From RCA Victor 78.

Just as un-P.C. in their own way are two sort-of-maybe-country sides from 1949 or 1950. The singer is Polly Burgin, a.k.a. Polly Bergen. She's backed by jazz greats Joe Venuti (on the violin) and Matty Matlock (on the clarinet). Plus three more. These sides put the "than" in "slicker than slick":

Honky Tonkin' (Williams), Polly Burgin, 1949 or 1950. From a Kem label 78.

Mount'n Boys Have Fun with Mount'n Girls (Pober-Buck), Polly Burgin, 1949 or 1950. Flip side.

Did you sense a theme here? Me, neither.

It's just good music. Good music doesn't need a theme, save for itself. Something like that.

Lee

Morton Gould, 1946--"Rendezvous"

"This being 1946, I've got to look all serious and stuff...."--Morton.

This near to Halloween, maybe I should be putting up Morton Ghoul, instead. Assuming there is a Morton Ghoul.

Eerie listening--Andre Ghostelanetz, Percy Cape, David Rose (From the Grave), Annunzio Hauntovani, The Ray Coffin Singers, 101 Screams....

But, this time around, we've got Morton Gould. These tracks were ripped from the 12" 78-rpm set Rendezvous. The record numbers say 1947, but the inside cover says 1946. 1946, it is:


















This is what the labels look like:


















Is it possible? Was elevator music actually issued by Columbia on its Masterworks label? Answer: yup, until around 1953, at which point light instrumental pop was transferred to the regular, ordinary Columbia popular ("CL") series. Hence, a bunch of early Columbia EZ exists in both "ML"- and "CL"-prefix form. Isn't that fascinating?

Oh. Yeah, that is rather dry. But so's a lot of elevator music! (Laugh track, fade)

And, in fact, the elevator music of old often sounds anything but dry--almost as if to spite its reputation for blandness and soporiferousness (love that word), classic EZ changes its mood every chorus and, typically, runs the gamut from soft to loud. Soothing but not boring. Not that I took to this sort of music at first--in fact, my ears rejected it flat out when I first encountered it on vinyl, years ago. I didn't mind "store music" (my childhood term for EZ), but I sure couldn't conceive of listening to an entire LP's worth of the stuff. Why was it released it on vinyl at all, I wondered? I thought it existed only on dusty discs stored away in the National Muzak Archives, or someplace like that.

The terrible truth, at last--at one time, your blogger couldn't stand this stuff. However, because I kept running into it, I decided I had to study it, that there was no choice. I did, and I grew to like it. I could not have predicted this.

Anyway, great stuff here--to my ears, Morton Gould was way ahead of his era. Consider the fact that this first arrangement was recycled in Living Stereo for the Gould LP of the same name (Beyond the Blue Horizon). A 1946 arrangement that sounded at home in 1961.

These sides boast crisp and clear fidelity--that's the good news. The bad news: moderate surface noise that regularly intrudes and which forced me to clip more of the upper end than I wanted to. I hate it when that happens:

Beyond the Blue Horizon (Whiting), Morton Gould and His Orchestra, 1946. From 78-rpm set Rendezvous.

Shadow Waltz (Warren).

Night and Day (Porter).

Time on My Hands (Youmans).

What Is This Thing Called Love? (Porter).

Tea for Two (Youmans).

Stardust (Carmichael).

Through Your Eyes to Your Heart (Gould).

This moderately scratchy Rendezvous has been brought to you by the friendly chap at MY(P)WHAE.


Lee

"Bummel Petrus" and "Bugle Call Rag"

Everybody's favorite intermezzo is Max Werner-Kersten's Bummel Petrus (Peter the Vagabond), no? It's mine, for sure, though it sounds an awful lot like a polka.

Something else it sounds an awful lot like--the Hogan's Heroes theme. Listen to the first two bars, and you'll hear what I mean. Weirder yet, the start-and-stop nature of the piece, combined with the wonderful whistling chorus toward the end, makes this sound like a much later production. Except for the surface noise, which brings everything back to 1928 and shellac and worn gramophone needles. Ah, those were the days.

This has to be the coolest polka I've ever heard:

Bummel Petrus--Intermezzo (M. Werner-Kersten), International Novelty Orchestra, dir. by Nat Shilkret. Possibly 1928. From a much-played 78.

Now we jump ahead eleven years to more swingin' times, courtesy of the most swingin' outfit of them all--Andre Kostelanetz'. Actually, this one swings more than adequately--and what an imaginative arrangement by Phil Wall, who arranged and played piano for Paul Specht in the 1920s. Looks like Phil also played piano for the Hit of the Week Orchestra. Now we know.

There are some Spike-Jones-style touches to listen for: the ocarina and piccolo solos, and the wonderful each-note-played-by-a-different-instrument moment that occurs in the first half. And I thought Jones pioneered that gimmick. Oh, and don't miss the Bolero borrowing:

Bugle Call Rag (Pettis-Meyers-Schoebel), Andre Kostelanetz Presents, 1938. From Brunswick 78.

Damn, that was good. Unfortunately, the flip--Turkey in the Straw--is beyond hope. It looks O.K., but it's got invisible groove damage. Probably from being played with an invisible needle.

Ha, ha! Get it? An invisible needle!

Hm. The cats aren't laughing at my joke. I think they might be asleep....











Lee, composer of the Cats Everywhere Polka

When brains fart--a personal account

Well, when I miss the boat, I go right into the lake.

Steven Strauss just reminded me that the Pied Pipers had moved to the Capitol label with Jo Stafford from Tommy Dorsey's band. He was responding to my Hollywood Hillbillies/Tommy Dorsey Family (Mountain Branch) post, which features a 1947 hillbilly send-up recorded by Dorsey for RCA Victor. I theorized that the HH's might have been The Pied Pipers, as if they had stayed with Dorsey while Jo Stafford moved to Capitol for a solo career. They hadn't, of course--The Pipers, including Stafford, had been fired by Dorsey, after which they were signed by Capitol. I ought to know this, seeing as how I've posted three or four Capitol Pied Pipers sides at this very blog. (D'oh!)

I'm not sure why my brain recorded a false history, save for the fact that I associate Tommy Dorsey and RCA with Stafford's solo career. With Dorsey, Jo was sometimes featured as a lone vocalist, and she was given special treatment with the Pipers. It stuck in my brain that, having been groomed for Piper-less vocals, Stafford had moved to Capitol to carry on alone, while the other Pipers stayed with Dorsey. Ahhhhhhhh... no.

In fact, Stafford came into her solo own (solo own?) at Capitol, where the official split happened.

Jo's solo sides with Dorsey were magnificent--I like them better than her later tracks, in fact. And I don't have a one, either on 78 or LP or CD. Once upon a time, I had a nice Japanese vinyl edition of Jo with Tommy.

Anyway, this has been "When Brains Fart--A Personal Account." Brought to you by D'oh!, makers of fine products that occasionally break down.



Lee

Email from me (MeMail?)

It's weird, the way my inbox receives my own answers to the comments at my own posts. I suppose I could tell Outlook Express to block everything that comes from me, but I don't think I will. After all, I might want to write myself sometime--say, if I'm on vacation and I feel like e'ing home to see how I'm doing ("So, Lee. What's up?"). Of course, I'd probably tease myself a little: "Bet you wish you were here! Ha, ha, ha! Sorry, that was mean. Anyway, how are the cats?"

Have I mentioned that Perry's paws, in the short span of one week, look better than ever? They do. It's amazing. That Cortisone shot worked wonders. I've explained to Perry that he's very lucky to have Dr. Mike as his vet. Perry responded that the winding country roads that lead to Dr. Mike's clinic are unnerving. Fine, I said. I'll drive.

Oh. I used that joke before. Sorry.

So, Halloween is coming, in case you're like me and you have an easy time losing track of holidays and celebrations. I'm a person who always knows what day of the week it is, approximately what time (without looking at a clock), and (usually) the month and day thereof. Yet, I can be two weeks from my Birthday and just suddenly realize, "Hey, my Birthday's in two weeks. Let's see--what day will that be?" It's an astonishing talent. I might write a book about it one day.

Anyway, Halloween is coming. I know, because Dracula told me:


















And because the CVS drug store chain has a bunch of cool Halloween stuff on its shelves, like this PEZ cat:















Here's the same fierce feline in color:


















And, I forgot to mention, with an arty background.

Well, bat-droppings! I had one more to post, but Blogger's photo upload feature stopped again. Oh, well, at least I got three pics up. That's three more than I was able to post with the Woodforde-Finden entry.

But I don't know--my Halloween display items might get downright nasty if I don't get them up pretty soon in a group photo. And if the Blogger photo feature isn't working.... Hm. That could be a problem.

I'll have to use alternate hosting. I do not want to upset my Draculas, Frankenstein monsters, E.T.s, mummies, and so forth. Who knows what they might do? To me, I mean.

Lee