Monday, December 07, 2020

Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition--Kay Kyser and His Orch., 1942

 


I almost forgot what day this is.  Good grief.  So, here's a great song--one directly related to Dec. 7, 1941--in a brilliant, utterly perfect arrangement.  Kay Kyser's band, as far as I know, leaned toward corniness, but clearly his musicians were top-flight.  I took this from the Internet Archive--it's one of the George Blood rips, which are the cream of the IC crop, 78-wise.  I hope they cleaned this side before playing it!  As you can see in the pic, the surface isn't exactly spotless.

This was the best-sounding of four different postings of this particular side.  Kay Kyser's recording was a No. 1 hit in 1943, and it more than deserved that honor.  I find the mournful introduction profoundly moving--and the precision of the playing downright astounding.  This is the record that had me going, "Hey, this band was good!"  And Loesser's song is genius.  That helps.

We can never forget the meaning of this day.


DOWNLOAD: Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition--Kay Kyser and His Orch., 1942.



Lee

6 comments:

Buster said...

Great record, and very popular in its day.

Ernie said...

Thanks for posting this, Lee, and reminding us what day it is. (Or was at this point, sorry, I'm late to the game...)

And thank you for your service!

Anonymous said...

Thank you, Lee. You're absolutely right that Kay Kyser's musicians were among the best. They had a great, tight, smooth sound. I think because of the "silliness" of Kay and the band's performance, they're overlooked especially considering KK and the band and singers made several patriotic and hilarious movies, as well as Kay's Kollege of Musical Knowledge broadcast for 8-10 years (with a short run on television). With other greats of the time, they went to the battlefronts to entertain and to bring home and a little happiness and great music and pretty girls to the GIs. I'd take Harry Babbitt over Frank Sinatra any day. And who can forget Ish Kabibble. Thanks again. Doc

n0str0 said...

Dear Mrs. Lee
Thank you for your effort to answer me, but I would like to make another request, if you can satisfy it.
I have been looking for Mahalia Jackson - Negro Spirituals (1951) for several years, but I can not find it. The reason ... I heard the performance of the song Amazing Grace by Mahalia and I was speechless.
... and I've been looking for it ever since
I would be grateful if you have it or if you can find it and you can upload it.
I wish you from Greece a wonderful weekend
n0str0

Buster said...

n0str0 - That recording is on an Apollo LP I uploaded several years ago. You can find it here:

https://mega.co.nz/#!WYtVFKTL!scY4ZZi7bLvNizs08sgYWzwLV4_-A4U0lebZceRxa58

n0str0 said...

Dear Mr. Buster
Thank you very much for your response, you are very kind.
But I would like to tell you that it does not have the version I am looking for, without wanting to look rude I put the link of the version I am looking for (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIlKyGlGgpw) .
Nevertheless, my thanks are many .
n0str0