Saturday, July 25, 2020

He was the world's most famous dance band leader. By 1956, he was doing fake hits for Waldorf.




Yup, Paul Whiteman and His Orchestra on Waldorf, faking the 1956 hits.  Of course, Paul got to do much more on the label besides sound-alikes--for example, he did a 50th anniversary LP, which is coming in the mail as we speak.  I got a great price on it.  Hope it plays as nicely as it looks in the pics.

In addition to fake hits, Paul did five LPs for Waldorf (for its Grand Award label), and I've yet to post his Grand Award Hawaiian Magic, a copy of which Buster sent me some time back.  I must get to that.  Paul recorded yet another Rhapsody in Blue for Grand Award (as part of the anniversary set), which features Eugene Weed on the piano.  This track was inexplicably reissued on a Synthetic Plastics Company boxed set called A Century of American Music, which you can presently get for a buck from Discogs (That's about what I paid for it).  Then again, it may not be the Waldorf version, given how loosely the SPC set plays with the credits.  For instance, it features the Phil Flowers recording of Rock Around the Clock but tells us we're hearing Bill Haley.  Ah, nope.  Something close to the same boxed set, with a different cover (and no Rhapsody in Blue), was also released by SPC, with a different cover and Vincent Lopez getting the blame.

But we're here to talk about today's offering,  8 Top Hits (Waldrof Music-Hall MH 3333; prob. 1956), featuring Paul Whiteman and a host of singers and quartets.  And my copy came without a cover, so I scanned my EP cover, with sports the same photo, so it's close enough.  The jacket image at Discogs isn't very good, so I passed on using it.  The sound came out better than I expected, and it was good to begin with, so we'll hearing some fine 1956 fidelity.  The surface is about a VG, but I killed all or most of the clicks and pops, as usual, so...  But there's the question as to whether Paul Whiteman was actually involved with these tracks.  That is, was his name stuck on the jacket simply to give this 10-inch LP extra cred?  I'm leaning in that direction.  Unfortunately, I don't have the EP singles (18 Top Hits 203 and 204) which contain seven of these tracks, and which might (or might not) confirm who did the conducting duties.  So I dunno.  However, at Discogs there's a listing for the Waldorf LP 18 Top Hits LP (33-TH-9), on which the orchestra credit for Miracle of Love is given to Enoch Light, not to Paul, as here.  You can't believe a thing you read on these cheapies--not even on the Waldorf labels, which were the closest things to legit issues in the world of budgets.

So we can probably assume that Paul's name is being used her for its celeb value, but it's still incredibly cool to see him associated with fake hits.  Loren Becker only gets two credits this time (!), with Artie Malvin getting four.  The Zig Zags Quartet appears twice, with the Rhythm Rockets getting only one shot.  (One shot!  Get it?)  The versions are very good, even if many are in that big band style that Enoch favored.  The very underrated songwriter Bob Merrill (who apparently was never forgiven for writing Doggie in the Window) is represented by the excellent Eileen Rodgers hit, Miracle of Love, well-faked here by Sylvia Textor.  True Love is beautifully sung by Artie Malvin and Lois Winters, and it's too bad I can't stand the number.  That it's by Cole Porter does nothing to endear it to me.  Blueberry Hill isn't very good, though maybe Artie Malvin would have had a more appropriate instrumental backing on Bell, for which he also sang.  In all, a fun set.

In terms of fidelity to the originals, our Bell label bonus singles are a whole different story.  The Bob Miller fake of Little Darlin' made the amazing choice to copy the Gladiolas original, not the monster-hit cover version by the Diamonds (which some argue is better than its source, which it may be).  It's a delight to hear such an effective copy of the "R&B" version (and I'm using quotes because traditionally, and in spite of what you've heard, "R&B" never referred to a specific style--rather, the R&B charts reflected what was popular with black record buyers--hence, Bing Crosby's White Christmas was an R&B hit as well as a "pop" smash).  And you wouldn't believe how much needle-dig noise I had to remove from the Little Darlin' rip.  But it was worth the trouble.  African-American saxophonist and bandleader Buddy Lucas is listed as the singer on Hound Dog and When My Dreamboat..., so I have no I have no reason to doubt it--and he has the right feel and the right kind of rough voice, so I'm fine with Bell's choice.  Then we get Artie Malvin doing The Green Door again--only minus the Enoch Light sound, which in this case is a good thing.  Marion Colby's Dim, Dim, the Lights is terrific in the way it captures the sound of the Bill Haley hit version, and the lovely and talented Edna McGriff  (a vocalist with Buddy Lucas' band) was somehow coaxed by the Bell sublabel Favorite (if you can imagine a sublabel of Bell) into waxing a superb version of Sh-Boom, that monotonous early rock hit which used the chords to I Got Rhythm (including the circle-of-fourths bridge), and which was brilliantly and brutally trashed by Stan Freberg.  (I personally like both versions--the original and the unkind parody.)  Edna's version is jazzy and sultry, which is quite an accomplishment when the material is so minimalist.

To the maybe-Paul Whiteman tracks and the Bell bonuses!






DOWNLOAD:  Paul Whiteman and His Orch.--8 Top Hits (Waldorf MH 3333; prob. 1956)


And the actual cover image, found at a WordPress site by Sky Raven, who provided the link.  Many thanks!  As you can see, identical save for the extra print:






8 Top Hits--Paul Whiteman and His Orch. (Waldorf Music-Hall MH 3333, 10-in. LP; prob. 1956)

Out of Sight, Out of Mind--The Zig Zags Quartet

Green Door--Artie Malvin w. the Rhythm Rockets
Cindy, Oh Cindy--Loren Becker w. the Zig Zags Quartet
Blueberry Hill--Artie Malvin
Hey! Jealous Lover--Loren Becker
Miracle of Love (Bob Merrill)--Sylvia Textor
True Love (Cole Porter)--Artie Malvin and Lois Winters
You'll Never, Never Know I Care--The Zig Zags Quartet

Bonus Tracks (All 45 rpm singles)


The Green Door--Artie Malvin (Bell 11; 1956)

Hound Dog (Leiber-Stoller)--Buddy Lucas w. Jimmy Carroll and Orch. (Bell 3; 1956)
When My Dreamboat Comes Home--Same
Little Darlin' (Maurice Williams)--Bob Miller w. the Michael Stewart Quartet (Bell 35; 1957)
Dim, Dim, the Lights (Ross-Dixon)--Marion Colby w. Gil Stevens and His Orch. (Bell 1083; 1955)
Sh-Boom (Life Could Be a Dream)--Edna McGriff and the Tomcats (Favorite 21000X; 1954)



                                                                                                                         Edna McGriff

Lee


20 comments:

Eric said...

Thank you for this continuing series of cover versions and their covers. I have a couple of dozen recordings of a similar nature all sung by Barry Frank. If you would like me to post them here, let me know.

Buster said...

The contrived cover images on these LPs are always good fun. This one appears to have the least-portable portable record player I've ever seen, and a woman dancing awkwardly in high heels while holding a handbag. Too bad Pops Whiteman couldn't have been the man clapping along.

Lee Hartsfeld said...

Do you mean upload and link to them? Sure. I assume these are Bell sides (I haven't checked Barry out at Discogs yet).

Ernie said...

Well, you're the Paul Whiteman expert, do the sides sound like Whiteman? And somewhere I have the 2xLP 50th anniversary set. Pulled Christmas Night in Harlem off of it for Christmas in July. It's good stuff. Got the old band back together. :)

Lee Hartsfeld said...

Buster,

That made-to-survive-a-war player struck me as kind of strange. I agree--it doesn't look very handy for toting.

Ernie,

There's not the remotest Whiteman sound to these, but then Paul always used the arrangements of others, so there was no basic Whiteman sound, really. In the 1940s, he tried a flat-out swing sound, but the sides weren't successful, I don't think. You probably know that Billie Holiday sang for him on one Capitol side, under the assumed name, "Lady Day." These all sound like your usual pre-1958 Waldorf fakes. Come 1958, Waldorf decided to do rock fakes that sounded like rock and roll. With memorable results...

Eric said...

Here is some Barry Frank who was a singer who did a lot of cover work for Bell Records. I knew Barry, who was an entertainer and MC at the Raleigh Hotel, one of the medium sized hotels in the Catskills. He was a funny and nice gentleman, who unfortunately had a debilitating stroke that left him comatose for the last years of his life. So I collected any Barry Frank records I found at yard sales, and one day I got in touch with someone who was a Barry Frank fan and was making a compilation of his records. Here are the results
https://mega.nz/file/ypI0XYTI#intk0DFyfvgjwc95VGSrpXu-MWYw8EExYt4QMiN73VA
and an article on the singer.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barry_Frank

I think I'll look up Loren Becker next.

Anonymous said...

Thanks, Lee for this and the last post. Really enjoy them. Fakes or not, they are a cut above the others since Enoch Light had a hand in them. Just look at his later Grand Award and Command LP's. Ernie is right about the 2 LP Paul Whiteman 50th Anniversary set. It really is nice. I have a digital download of it I purchased here in Germany. I am always looking for, have to be digital though, are Enoch Lights own personal LP's from Waldorf. Basically none are available. Pity.
Bryan

Buster said...

Eric - Thanks for the Barry Frank collection. I have a few of those Bell cover records myself.

Lee Hartsfeld said...

Eric--Thanks for the zip and the background on Barry. I've listen to several sides and like them--save for "Shelley Baby," maybe. (That was not meant to rhyme.) What label put out this CD? I see your cover image at Amazon, minus a track listing.

Bryan--I have a couple Grand Award Enoch Light instrumental LPs. It would take me a little while to unearth them, but I could give you the titles once I find them. Maybe they're something you'd like.

Lee Hartsfeld said...

I've listened to several sides, rather. And I see that the Cat king Cole label has a similar set available. "Cat King Cole" has all the sound of a legit label.

Eric said...

https://mega.nz/file/zxIykaYI#Oqc0OOa3Xvc6tf62p40ycV9USwbikKtgJw_sdLGbzAg
https://mega.nz/file/iwQCUQDD#zGuy3ezYc52qFmN8w6dYJhrwRLBSlb0Vp5vsSvQ3fhA
https://mega.nz/file/CpYShILQ#XGuAhJyxvL8Vo6SGctwBEDq8GsPOZkMlb2g0L1ybfn8

Roaring 20s, Flirty 30s & I Want to be Happy Cha Cha. Enoch Light albums on Grand Award. He always used the best studio players.

Paul Whiteman on Grand Award - Hawaiian Magic
https://mega.nz/file/K9JAHALC#slqL6NMF8VKkek5QWAmoUw8VHyHNBHplCzbKvq3obfA

As usual these are not my rips, but my rip-offs...so praise to the original poster...it might have been you. Hope they make you smile.

Eric said...

While I am at it: Here's an Artie Malvin recording on Waldorf called "Rock and Roll". I don't have a Loren Becker album.

https://mega.nz/file/ykRyzCQY#cKH0iIroDrnhgze9x98BRIOLSvy7xmb_xHtAwPCccmc

Lee Hartsfeld said...

Thanks, Eric. And I posted the Malvin LP a while back at this post, whose link I just revived: https://musicyouwont.blogspot.com/2018/08/two-budget-10-inch-lps-of-surprisingly.html

Eric said...

I very well might have gotten it from you.

Diane said...

I have that Whiteman 50th package, too, but haven't heard it yet. Got it from a big estate haul, where the records had been stored badly, and there's only so many I can clean at a time before my lungs cry uncle. One of these days (and thanks for reminding me).

Sky Raven said...

If you are interested, I found the album cover at this site https://recordcovers.files.wordpress.com/2015/06/waldorf-mh3333-8tophits.jpg.
Burt

Anonymous said...

Thanks, Lee and Eric for the information and rips. You guys are just great. About 10 years ago I came across several blogs on the web. They introduced me to the so-called SABP=Space Age Bachelor Pad type of music. I fell in love with it. My father loved Big Bands and my mother loved '50s-'60s lounge singers etc. When I heard SABP music I fell in love with similar styles and the additional sounds of it. Plus the exotica artists. Out of all this Enoch Light stood out for me. Enoch really stands out as an innovator in the music field. I am glad I have internet radio. My two favorite stations are Atomic City and SomaFM Illinois Street Lounge. Mosty Atomic City though. Hey, if you know of any innovative internet radio stations pass them on. I am open to anything, as long as it is REAL music. The kind they, sad to say, do not make any more. Again thanks for the music...Bryan

Anonymous said...

Thank you so much, Eric...
I should be in bed as it very late here in Berlin, Germany.
I currently am listening to The Flirty 30s vol.1. I grew up in California and every Saturday and Sunday my father would putter around outside and listen to an old 1950s? standup radio in our garage. Wow, what that would fetch in today's dollars? Anyway, his favorite station was out of LA and they played the big bands. He would stand around conducting the music coming from that radio. We had 2 TV sets, one from the 50s with a roundish screen with 13 stations. There was a way to get UHF stations too. But between the 7 and 8 station nobs was where the radio was. But the radio was never played in the house until my eldest sister got a radio. Even then, quiet as a mouse it was. So my memories are from the garage radio big bands and summer vacations at the beach and radios there. Oh, Ed Sullivan, Lawrence Welk, Jackie Gleason, and Andy Williams. Maybe that is why I love Enoch and similar. Sorry for this long rambling post. Lee you can edit this or delete this. At least memories of my childhood, too bad times have changed, but memories do not.
Bryan...Can not wait to here the other goodies that were posted...

Lee Hartsfeld said...

Sky Raven--Thanks much! I'll insert that image.

Diane said...

I just found a bunch of Enoch Light LPs! Can't wait to clean and listen. Everything from Grand Award (one is "Flirty '30s"!) to Command and Project3. Glad to see comments from fellow fans. And thanks, Bryan, for the recommend on Atomic City radio.