Paul Whiteman is back! Part 7 (1920-1934)

 

So, by sheer luck, I found (in my piles and piles of CD-Rs) the disc containing my Paul Whiteman folders, all populated by mp3s exported from my MAGIX sound-editing program.  A big relief--I was home free.  Then I discovered that everything was out of order, the tracks strewn about in a way that didn't correspond to the previous six posts.

Then I remembered that I had shuffled the tracks, that they hadn't been posted in the same order that I ripped them.  Hence, the disorder.  But what to do?  Then I clicked on a sub-folder (sub-sub-folder?) titled "Playlists," and suddenly things fell into place.  Folders 1 through 6 were in the posted order, and there were three more folders (Pts. 7, 8, and 9) with enough material for three new entries.  

And the moral of this story is, um... to stop confusing myself like that.  I only have society to blame.  Er, I mean, only myself.

So, after a mere three-year delay, the superb "Pops" is back at the blog. Today's selections (following from Pts. 1-6) span fourteen years--1920 to 1934--and they're kind of a sped-up survey of Paul's "Ambassador Orchestra" beginnings at Victor, through his 1928-1930 departure to Columbia, and to his return to Victor (which, though its labels still read "Victor," was now the Radio Corporation of America, RCA).  

Speaking of Whiteman's return to Victor (RCA), we start with 1934's Beach Boy, arranged by Adolph Deutsch and featuring Bob Lawrence, singing way up in his range (with periods of falsetto).  This selection sounds like 1934 pop-Hawaii (you've heard of "pop-Hawaii," no?), and that's exactly what it is.  Very pleasant, with a little touch of exotica.  Just a pinch.  Next, the Ferde Grofe-arranged Ukulele Lady--one of the all-time "King of Jazz" classics, and, last time I checked, there was nothing known about the highly skilled Southern Fall Colored Quartet, who provide a memorable vocal refrain.  As you can see, the label gave them one of the standard anonymous vocal-refrain designations--"male quartet."

Then, another Grofe chart: The charming Learn to Smile by Louis (The Love Nest) Hirsch, 1921, followed by the superb My Road (1924, and sounding very Grofe-ish), whose flip side shows up near the end of this list.  Next, the jazzy, strong 4/4 (as opposed to the 2/4 or 2/2 meters which still prevailed in the early '20s) If I Can't Get the Sweetie I Want (I Pity the Sweetie I Get), from 1923.  Once again, the arrangement is almost certainly Grofe's, and, in addition to a number of cool sound effects, there are Rhapsody in Blue-sounding phrases interspersed throughout--except, Gershwin didn't pen Rhapsody until 1924!  No arranger credits at the Williams College website for the lively Rosie or Dearest, either, though as before I suspect Grofe (the antiphonal character of Rosie is highly Grofe).  And Ferde is mostly likely the excellent pianist on the latter, 1920 masterpiece, which comes complete with a fine Dixieland closing (a standard early-PW feature).

Your Land Is My Land, a fairly famous Sigmund Romberg number, is Grofe in a lovably hokey mode--there's nothing quite like the four bars following the vocal section, during which The Star-Spangled Banner, Dixieland, and Yankee Doodle all happen at the same time.  Corn, maybe, but brilliant corn.  (Brilliant corn?)  Then, two memorable 1924 Grofe charts, Love Has a Way, and the Isham Jones classic, I'll See You in My Dreams, whose melody sounds fresh as ever after 98 years.

On to Columbia, with Jack Fulton's falsetto (which you either love or laugh at) gracing the 1928 Blue Night, lushly arranged, as usual, by Tom Satterfield.  Then, back to Victor and 1922 with You Won't Be Sorry, then half a decade's jump to 1927, with the Grofe-arranged gem, Just Once Again, featuring a vocal by Austin Young (whose vocal stylings I also love).  Sorry about the moderate surface crackle.  Then, we're back to post-Columbia Whiteman with Jack Fulton crooning Oley Speak's Sylvia in a lovely Roy Bargy treatment.

Boom!  And we're back to the early 1920s with the Nacio Herb Brown-George Gershwin medley When Buddha Smiles ("introducing" George's Drifting Along with the Tide), The One I Love Belongs to Somebody Else, and the twelve-incher My Wonder Girl-Coral Sea by Paul's "Ambassador" Orchestra, 1920.

Then, two more Grofe charts--the corny but fun Roses of Yesterday, and Rudolf Friml's highly famous Rose-Marie.  Back to 1935, with the King's Men singing the comical chorus to Cole Porter's Me and Marie, a German-style waltz which sounds like a warmup for Lawrence Welk's TV show.

To the Whiteman...

DOWNLOAD: Paul Whiteman, Part 7 (1920-1934)

Beach Boy (A: Adolph Deutsch)--Vocal, Bob Lawrence, 1934.

Ukulele Lady (A: Grofe)--Vocal by Southern Fall Colored Quartet, 1925

Learn to Smile (A: Grofe)--1921

My Road--1924

If I Can't Get the Sweetie I Want--1923

Rosie--1920

Dearest--1923

Your Land and My Land (A: Grofe)--Vocal by Jack Fulton, Charles Gaylord, Austin Young, 1927

Love Has a Way (A: Grofe)--1924

I'll See You in My Dreams (A: Grofe)--1924

Blue Night (A: Tom Satterfield)--1928 (Columbia 1553-D)

You Won't Be Sorry--1922

Just Once Again (A: Grofe)--Vocal by Austin Young, 1927

Sylvia (A: Roy Bargy)--Vocal by Jack Fulton, 1931

When Buddha Smiles--Medley--1921 (HMV B 1332, U.K.)

The One I Love Belongs to Somebody Else--1924

My Wonder Girl--Coral Sea--1920

Roses of Yesterday (A: Grofe)--Vocal by Austin Young, 1928 (Columbia 1553-D)

Rose-Marie (A: Grofe)--1924

Me and Marie--Waltz (Porter)--Vocal by The King's Men, 1935.

Lee