Memorial Day 2021--Your blogger at the keyboard

 

Six Memorial Day pieces, all played by me on my trusty Casio WK-3800.  I know--Casio; ha, ha!  But this keyboard has some pretty amazing patches, I think the term is.  Some quick practicing on a few of these, with Praise for Peace redone just now at a slower tempo--I realized I had been speeding through it, and that just wasn't correct for a number called Praise for Peace.  We start with God Save America, which dates from 1942, and no political commentary intended--it's just a very nice patriotic number with some charming chromaticism in the harmony.  The only problem with altered chords, of course, is a higher chance of fumbling--but you won't be hearing any of the flubs, because they all went to the great delete folder in the sky.  Keller's American Hymn, aka American Hymn, aka Speed our Republic, O Father on high, is a terrific 1866 (?) tune by the German-American composer Matthias Keller (1813-1875), which was joined in 1869 to a text (Hymn of Peace) by Oliver Wendell Holmes.  Here's a wonderful YouTube performance of that version by Quire Cleveland.  That post deserves many more thumbs up.

William Billings' Revolutionary War classic Chester makes its return, and there are two "new" numbers, including Walter J. Goodell's America, My Country, which goes back at least to 1924.  The other is We Bless Thee for Thy Peace, O God, which is matched with Josiah Booth's 1887 tune, Northrepps.  Thanks to the priceless resource, The Cyber Hymnal, for that night-before-church find.

DOWNLOAD: Memorial Day 2021

God Save America (W. Otto Miessner, 1942)

America, My Country (Walter J. Goodell)

Chester (William Billings)

Praise for Peace (aka Praise Ye the Triune God) (Friedrich F. Flemming: Flemming, 1811)

We Bless Thee for Thy Peace, O God (Josiah Booth: Northrepps. 1887)

Keller's American Hymn (Matthias Keller, 1866?)

Played by Lee Hartsfeld, Casio WK-3800

Lee

A belated Happy 100th Birthday to Hal David! (1946-1962)

Well, another birthday--this time, the late Hal David's--and it's his centenary, as Diane (who suggested this post) just reminded me.  And I'm putting this up late--Hal's day was May 25th--but I had to do a lot of digging to locate my Hal-without-Burt selections, so... that's my excuse.  And here are sixteen Hal David goodies, all with composers other than Burt (in particular, Leon Carr and Lee Pockriss) and spanning the years 1946-62.  The best of the images has to be the Top 30 Tunes label for Johnny Get Angry, with its amusing typo, Johnny Gets Angry (I retained it in the listing).  And I was surprised to discover that Hal had penned, not only the lyrics for that 1962 Joannie Sommers hit, but also the words for 1959's My Heart Is an Open Book.  That one also appears here in fake-hit form, courtesy of the Broadway label.

The most unusual (as opposed to the silliest) selection in our list has to be I've Got a Walkie Talkie, a 1946 George Olsen side crooned by Judith Blair;  It's in a Guy Lombardo big band style (George, what happened to you?), badly recorded for the Majestic label (I had to do some artful re-EQing), and the lyrics aren't Hal's best (even with such a promising title; not), but the notion of a walkie talkie functioning, in effect, as a modern cellphone is interesting and weird.  1949's I Wish I Had a Record (Of the Promises You Made) is one of my favorite Perry Como sides, and it's easy to imagine this number doubling as a country novelty.  Mitch Miller's Orchestra accompanies Kitty Kallen on Mother, Mother, Mother (Pin a Rose on Me), and so we know Miller produced the side, too.  I'm not crazy about the tune, but we can hear hints of Hal's brilliance with words--it's a light novelty number, but there are many clever turns, and we have an early example of Hal telling a story in lyrics.  So, Hal was a storyteller even before he met Burt--cool.  Little Crazy Quilt is highly competent but unexceptional (though the superbly versatile Page is always wonderful to hear), and Goo-Goo Doll is... extremely not serious.  And unfortunately (for camp's sake), it's neither technically bad nor in especially bad taste--it's  merely harmless.  As a novelty, a letdown, iow.  But Hal certainly did a good job tailoring the lyrics for Steve Allen's sense of humor, which was never what we could call evolved (or funny).  And did goo-goo dolls actually sound like that?  I recall that the peacocks who used to roam my yard sounded exactly like the sound effects at the close.

Seven Pretty Dreams is Hal back in storytelling mode, with a lovely melody to match, and the text is simply beautiful.  Betty Johnson's elegant vocal and Hugo Winterhalter's accompaniment make this Grade-A 1950s pop.  Eydie Gorme's A Girl Can't Say has tune writer Leon Carr playing Bacharach-style tricks with the phrases, and the result is fascinating.  I didn't know anyone was fiddling with form to quite that extent in pre-Burt days.  Hal's words are expertly clever.  I Came Back to Say I'm Sorry is like an R&B shuffle slowed down to 16 rpm, but after my initial reaction ("Ugh!"), I've come to like this performance.  Phoned-in lyrics, but that'll happen whenever someone's output is as huge as Hal's. The Boy on Page Thirty-Five is clever enough, though it sounds like something Hal could have dashed off while taking a snooze--too ordinary an effort, in this blogger's opinion.  My Heart Is an Open Book, luckily, is a big step up, and here we have a melody as memorable as the lyrics--even this fake hit version scores well.  Also from 1959, maybe my all-time favorite Frankie Laine side, The Valley of a Hundred Hills--a pop masterpiece on all levels, and the perfect marriage of melody and lyrics.  Again, Hal is telling a story, and a memorable one.  This could easily have been throwaway fluff; instead, along with Geisha Girl, it's the best offering in the list, imo.  And the stereo sound is wonderful.  There's nothing quite like a 7" stereo single.

Unloved and Maybe Tomorrow (But Not Today) are not examples of Hal-quality Hal--the latter is especially annoying.  But the closing number, 1962's My Geisha, with its lovely melody by Franz Waxman, mostly atones for the two clunkers--Hal's lyrics can't be called inspired, but they're expertly done and possess a David-Bacharach kind of elegance.  Meanwhile, Jerry Vale's vocal is superb.  The side is too beautifully done to write off as fluff, and I suppose the lack of lyrical depth is inevitable, since it's a title song for a movie. 

A belated Happy Birthday to a superbly gifted wordsmith, whose best work will hopefully be remembered for decades to come. 

DOWNLOAD: Hal David Without Burt, 1946-1962

PLAYLIST 

I've Got a Walkie Talkie (David-Rodney-Block)--Geroge Olsen and His Orch., vocal: Judith Blair, 1946 

I Wish I Had a Record (Goodhart-Altman-David)--Perry Como w. Mitch Ayres and His Orch., 1949 

Mother, Mother, Mother, Pin a Rose on Me (H. David--A. Altman)--Kitty Kallen w. Mitch Miller's Orch., 1950 

Little Crazy Quilt (Hal David-Leon Carr)--Patti Page w. Jack Rael and His Orch., 1955 

Goo-Goo Doll (Jack Wolf-Hal David-Leon Carr)--Steve Allen w. Dick Jacobs Chorus and Orch., 1955 

Don't Throw My Love Away (David-Carr)--Joan Weber, 1955 

A Girl Can't Say (Leon Carr-Hal David)--Eydie Gorme w. Dick Jacobs Cho. and Orchestra, 1955

Seven Pretty Dreams (Leon Carr-Hal David)--Betty Johnson w. Hugo Winterhalter's Orch. and Cho., 1955 

I Came Back to Say I'm Sorry (David-Carr)--The Lancers w. Dick Jacobs Cho. and Orchestra, 1956 

The Boy on Page Thirty-Five (David-Carr)--Cathy Carr w. Dan Belloc Orch. and Chorus, 1956 

My Heart Is an Open Book (H. David-L.Pockriss)--Vocals and Orch. by Popular Radio & TV Artists (Broadway label, 1959?) 

The Valley of a Hundred Hills (H. David--S. Edwards)--Frankie Laine, Orch. c. by Richard Hyman, 1959 

Unloved (H. David, L. Pockriss)--Tommy Edwards, 1960

Maybe Tomorrow (But Not Today) (David-Hampton)--Danny Peppermint w. Orchestra and Cho., 1962 

Johnny Gets (sic) Angry (H. David-S. Edwards)--Unknown (Top 30 Tunes 10; 1962?) 

My Geisha (You Are Sympathy to Me) (David-Waxman)--Jerry Vale, Arr. and Cond. by Glenn Osser, 1962 

 Lee

A fake-hits birthday!

 

I usually don't make a point of my birthday at the blog, but I've reached the age after 63, and I thought I'd celebrate with two fab forgeries: Birthday and When I'm 64.  Brought to you by The Candy-Rock Generation and Unknown.

When I'm 64, yes.  Wait--that's now.  Whoa.  At this rate, I'll be 65 next year.

DOWNLOAD: Birthday fakes

Birthday--The Candy-Rock Generation, 1969

When I'm 64--Unknown (Arc AS 796)

Lee

The Revelers: Gems from "Oh, Kay!" (1927), plus more shellac classics (1909-1928)

 

Not too long ago, David asked me to post any Revelers sides I own, and Gems from "Oh, Kay!" is my sole Revelers side.  So... here it are.

Someone took less than ideal care of the disc, as you can tell by the damaged label (top image--gramophone needles played heck with paper labels), and this is after photo-shopping.  Two serious gouges in the grooves, so you'll hear some sonic "turbulence" halfway through, but nothing drastic.  I had to creatively work around the missing groove portions with my MAGIX program.  And, did I say "my sole Revelers side"?  Well, it's my sole all-Revelers side, but I'm betting the farm that it's the Revelers at the start of the Eveready Hour Group's Down South--and the group members' names are part of the long track roster, so I can't see how it couldn't be them doing the opening quartet chores.  (Opening quartet chores?)

Down South was a very popular number (maybe it still is) by British composer William H. Myddleton, whose real name was George Arnold Haynes Safroni-Middleton.  Kind of funny (if that's the word) that a famous minstrel-style "I long to be back in the South" ditty was written by an Englishman.  What was next?  God Bless America by a songwriter born in Siberia?

And we get a repeat (hopefully, in better, more up-front fidelity this time) of the 1926 Chicago Symphony Orch.'s recording of Elgar's Pomp and Circumstance, followed by the song version of the "walking song" section--Land of Hope and Glory, superbly sung by the Victor Male Chorus, 1925.  Continuing the theme of  American-style works from European composers, we have Giuseppe Creatore's arrangement of French composer Adolphe Sellenick's Indian March (that's Adolphe on the left), and I guess that completes the imported-Americana titles.  Bandmaster Creatore's fame rivaled that of John Philip Sousa's, I read on line (Wikipedia, probably), and I had no idea.  Imagine the days when light concert music ruled--the past is hardly all sunshine and roses, but there are some portions we wish we could have back.  For me, it would be the days of light music everywhere.  And I suppose Gems from "No, No Nanette" would fall into the light music category, given the operetta sound to the side.  Gorgeous and classic Vincent Youmans numbers, and I used to have a No, No Nanette revival LP.  Used to.  It grew legs and walked away, I guess.  Tea for Two (the highlight of the medley, for me) is one of my all-time favorite songs, and the song has been done a disservice by having its verse (introductory section) eliminated in so many performances--that verse is essential to the song's beauty.  The song also lends itself to sing-songy and monotonous interpretations, but when sung with feeling at a medium tempo, it's pure gold.  The modulation to the key of the major third (in the chorus) never grows old for me.

And I also promised David the flip side of Homer Rodeheaver's Victor recording of Jesus, Rose of Sharon (a Charles Gabriel masterpiece), and so here it is (along with Sharon): an A.H. and B.D. Ackley gem, Where They Never Say Goodbye.  I personally regard Rodeheaver's baritone as quite solid, and I much prefer his electrical sides, because they give us an idea of his vocal power.  "Rodeheaver" is pronounced Rode-ah-Haiv-er, and no one was more surprised than me to learn that.  Homer's two 1925 78s boast superb sound quality, especially given that 1925 was the year microphone recordings became a thing--commercially, that is.

I didn't have time to look up Victor Herbert's marvelous Algeria, but the chorus to The Rose of Algeria is one of the loveliest numbers I've ever heard.  1909 is the recording date for the Victor Light Opera Chorus' Gems from "Algeria," and frankly I think the whole delightful medley has an ahead-of-its-time sound.  Which is to say, though Herbert is typically sort of tucked away as a pre-showtune or strictly operetta composer, I hear the a prototype for the Broadway musicals to come.  I'm no authority on showtunes, but I think Herbert does not get his due as one of the songwriters who laid down the law for Broadway shows.  For instance, his 1919 I Might Be Your Once-in-a-While was profoundly sophisticated for the time--Herbert was working ahead of the Gerswin/Porter/Kern/et al. curve with that one.  The song isn't in our playlist, but I did feature it a while back on a hill-and-dale Pathe 78.

We close with an incredible live recording (from 1927!) of the 2500-strong, all-male Associated Glee Clubs of America, as they peak the 1927 mixing board meter with their excellent performance of British composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor's Viking Song.  (The mixed-race Coleridge-Taylor referred to himself as "an Anglo-African,")  This famous choral number is the obvious source for the Monty Python Spam sketch, and it's all about the British shipbuilding industry.  I read someplace (but where, I know not) that this outdoor concert was piped into a radio station via phoneline.  The engineer clearly had mixing capability, because we can hear the volume cut back whenever it peaks.  I doubt any auto-limiters were being manufactured back then, so I'm picturing a guy at a vintage mixing board, monitoring things with old-fashioned headphones and manually reducing the input signal when necessary--likely, with a knob and not a slider.  That, or someone yanked the microphone away at peak-volume moments (not likely).

DOWNLOAD: Revelers, and more (1909-1928)

Lee

Strange LP of 1967-1969 fake hits--Or, Is it possible to make The 1910 Fruitgum Company sound worse?

 

Answer: Yes, it's possible not to do justice to The 1910 Fruitgum Company.  Who would have guessed?  But not a bad group of fakes, overall, the worst aspect being the sound, which I improved considerably, I think.  Naturally, I would think so.  This coverless LP came stuffed into a thrift copy of 25 Hit Tunes, which was distributed by Hit Tunes, Inc., a subsidiary of R.T.V. Sales, Inc., and produced by (of all people) Starday Recording & Publishing Co. in conjunction with Keel Mfg. Corp.  Did you get all that?  There'll be a quiz.

That particular LP contains Tequila by The Champs, Sheila by Tommy Roe, I Wonder Why by Dion and the Belmonts, and I Got Rhythm by the Carlocks, and Groovin' by the Spads.  Yup, I remember those two Top 40 hits by... wait a minute.  The Carlocks and the Spads?  Meanwhile, the track listing on my copy doesn't exactly match the one at Discogs, and one of the companies--R.T.V. Sales, Inc., maybe?--put title-revision stickers on the back cover.  But we won't be hearing that LP.

Rather, we will be hearing the simply titled Hit Tunes, which also has 25 hits, but none of them credited to anyone (in the purest fake-hit fashion), and with matrix numbers rather than a regular catalog number, and a label which appears to be called Jaro.  And the Jaro labels that come up on Discogs--none of them seem to be this one.  I can't believe this came as a mail-order extra with the Starday/R.T.V. Sales LP, but then who knows?  "And you get a totally confusing bonus group of fakes with every order!"

I remember maybe 2/3 of these from their first time on the airwaves, while other titles--all hits--aren't familiar at all.  These include Elenore, Too Weak to Fight (orig. Clarence Carter, 1968), Cloud Nine, Time Has Come Today (Chambers Brothers, re-released 1967), and Master Jack (Four Jacks and a Jill, 1968).  Now, Time Has Come Today seems like the sort of song I'd remember, so I guess I just forgot Time with time.  Maybe I found it too annoying to remember.  A good number of songs that I would never have rushed out to buy, along with some very nice memories mixed into the mix.  And I guess I recall The 1910 Fruitgum Company with affection.  My sister had their singles, and certainly worse rock/pop has been made.  Maybe.  As noted earlier, the two 1910 covers (Yummy Yummy Yummy and Chewy Chewy) are a bit amateurishly done, but they're not the kind of hits we'd expect to receive loving covers ("All right, Take 20!").  And, for anyone who wasn't, um, lucky enough to hear these two numbers back in the day (maybe you weren't born yet), they were not followed by Tummy Tummy Tummy Ache or Belching Belching, though those would probably have hit the charts, too.  I just remember that The 1910 Fruitgum Company was one of several groups made up of studio pros, as part of the genre labeled "bubblegum."  I could quickly look up "bubblegum" (and the responsible producers), but I don't feel motivated.  I just remember folks complaining about the stuff being too immature for rock, but then rock, by that point, was officially anti-anyone-over-25, so this pretty much put rock in a hard place.  I mean, on what logical grounds can music for the young be dissed for its youth appeal?  Or whatever I just typed?

Anyone with any info on the Jaro label, please comment.  In fact, there's been a near-radio silence around here, even though my files have been moving.  Feel free to comment, so at least I know that people are out there.  I mean, maybe my stuff is being downloaded by spies from one of Pluto's moons.  (You never know.)  My thanks to the four guys who have commented, and it's not like I'm counting or anything.  Even "This album sucks" would be fine (but only so long as that's your actual opinion).  I never take such feedback personally--unless you call whimpering and beating on a pillow in frustration and moaning "Why?  Why??" an example of taking something personally.  Cultures vary in that regard.  Somewhere, there's a society in which that constitutes a normal reaction.

So, competent studio musicians, despite some bad lead singing at times (Both Sides Now, for instance), but I'm a little surprised that the label gives zero indication as to where this was made, or what label group it was connected to.  Not even a regular catalog number.  Sheesh.  Well, actually, I have some fake-hit 7" EPs that are similarly lacking in that regard, but they're probably mail-order items that, at one point, had sleeves.  If only this hadn't been stuffed into the wrong jacket--a jacket that was weird enough to begin with.  I... I've been doing these too long.  They're driving me rational.

I was 10, 11, and 12 (one of those three) when these came out (the originals, that is), so I wonder why each and every one isn't familiar.  Was 1967/1968 when I started to tune out rock?  Hm.  That's possible, though it seems a little early.  Of the groups I didn't like at the time but which I like now, The 5th Dimension probably tops the list.  Everyone, I think, has a personal list of groups he or she didn't like at the time but likes now.  I could picture an entire Facebook page devoted to that topic.  ("Tell us why you want to join this page.")

And I don't even remember Bang-Shang-A-Lang, but I certainly remember the Archies.  I'm still astonished that comic characters could cut records.  At any rate, Bang-Shang-A-Lang certainly sounds like an Archies title.  It also sounds like something The Marcels might have put out.  The title, I mean.

Oh, and I was going to add that no one could sound less like Donovan than whoever did Hurdy Gurdy Man here.  And I guess I'm just now realizing the song is the same two bars over and over.  That's pushing it, even for rock.  It all has an "I'll get this song started eventually..." feel.  (I like Donovan, regardless.)  And Naturally Stoned reminds me so very much of this era--there was constant talk of reaching a natural (as opposed to the other) kind of high.  Actually, nature abounds with substances that'll do the trick, so "natural high" always struck me as kind of... redundant?

They should have called this Yummy Hits, except maybe that would have had an R-rated sound...  ("No, son, you're not getting Yummy Hits!")  And were there any contemporary pop music critics who literally said, "Phooey Phooey to Chewy Chewy"?  I'll bet there were.  To the fakes!!

DOWNLOAD: Hit Tunes (Jaro 105/106; year unknown)

Time Has Come Today
Little Green Apples
Take Me for a Little While
The House That Jack Built
Master Jack
With Pen in Hand
Yummy Yummy Yummy
Hurdy Gurdy Man
Six Man Band
Naturally Stoned
Sealed With a Kiss
Hi-Heeled Sneakers
Bang Shang-A-Lang
Chewy Chewy
Both Sides Now
Elenore
Too Weak to Fight
For Once in My Life
Hold Me Tight
Abraham Martin and John
Cloud Nine
Stormy
Sweet Blindness
I Love How You Love Me (revived by Bobby Vinton in the late 1960s)
Kentucky Woman

Hit Tunes (Jaro 105/106)

Lee