Christmas 1965 with Nancy Wilson and Buck Owens

This post is a memorial to a fine singer, Nancy Wilson, who passed away on December 13 at age 81. To tie it in to the Christmas season, I am presenting a promotional record she made to support the US Marine Corps Reserve's Toys for Tots drive in 1965. Her side of the single, designed for radio play, was backed by two spots from Buck Owens, one of my favorite country artists. Both singers are appearing on my blogs for the first time.

Both Wilson and Owens were Capitol artists, and that label produced the promotional record for the Marine Corps Reserve. To fill out the program, I have added the Christmas singles that Nancy and Buck released in 1965. The Toys for Tots record is from my collection; I did not transfer the other items (even though I am sure I have the records somewhere), but have remastered them.

Nancy Wilson

For the promo, Wilson sings the "Toys for Tots" theme song that had been written in the late 1950s by Paul Francis Webster and Sammy Fain. It's quite a good tune, one that served the campaign well through the years. Owens, in contrast, wrote his own song for the campaign, one that was better suited to his voice and band. It's a catchy item that I remember hearing during the 1965 holiday season.

Wilson's Christmas single coupled the pleasing ballad "That's What I Want for Christmas" with the inescapable "What Are You Doing New Year's Eve." I believe Capitol first released the single in 1963, bringing it back for the 1965 season.

Buck's holiday release was the wonderful "Santa Looked a Lot Like Daddy," which became a good-sized hit for him. It was backed with "All I Want for Christmas Dear Is You," a title and concept almost identical to the A-side of Wilson's record.

Best wishes for the holiday season!

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Chick and Ella Peddle Oscar's 'Wacky Dust'

I have to admit that I am posting this 1938 record just so I could write the headline above. The 78 contains the hit version of "Wacky Dust" (music by Oscar Levant, words by Stanley Adams), performed by Chick Webb's band with vocals by Ella Fitzgerald.

It's a catchy tune, certainly designed to appeal to the cognoscenti with lyrics such as "Oh, I don't know just why / It gets you so high / Putting a buzz in you heart / You'll do a marathon / You'll wanna go on / Kickin' the ceilin' apart." 

But just so the moralists don't get too concerned, in the first couplet, the song assures us that all this intoxication is "from a hot cornet." Oh, okay.

Ella Fitzgerald and Chick Webb

When Chick and Ella recorded this record, songwriter Levant had not yet become a celebrity. He had written the 1934 tune "Blame It on My Youth," which is still heard today, had taken part in the 1937 Gershwin memorial concert, and had recently joined the panel on the radio show Information Please, where his musical knowledge and cutting wit brought him some renown. His "Wacky Dust" lyricist, Stanley Adams, was a well-known writer best known for the English words to "La Cucaracha."

The flip side of "Wacky Dust" is another song of considerable interest. A riff tune called "Spinnin' the Webb," written by Chick and Ella, it shows off the Webb band to good effect. Notable soloists are (I believe) trumpeter Taft Jordan and trombonist Sandy Williams, Chick's two instrumental stars. 

The tune looks ahead a few years to the proto-R&B popularized by such bands as Lionel Hampton and Lucky Millinder. Sitting in the sax section of Webb's band during the "Spinnin' the Webb" session was future R&B star Louis Jordan.

Chick Webb was to live less than a year following this record's release, dying from tuberculosis at the peak of his fame. His protégé, Ella Fitzgerald, took over the band.

Decca's sound is vivid, and has been newly (June 2023) remastered in ambient stereo.

Jeepers Creepers, It's Big T with Pops Whiteman

I've recently offered a number of Paul Whiteman records on my main blog, including the Gershwin items done for Decca records in 1938.

For those numbers, Whiteman fronted what he called his "Concert Orchestra." But the maestro also was in the studio during the same period with a band he dubbed his "Swing Wing." In total, Decca had Pops record a total of 16 titles from October 1938 to May 1939.

I believe the record on display for today's post may feature the radio band that Whiteman was leading for CBS at the time. He was the musical mainstay of the network's Chesterfield Time program throughout both years.

While I can't be sure the band personnel are consistent between radio and record studios, the soloists were entirely drawn from his radio contingent. These include the Four Modernaires vocal group, then near the beginning of their long career. The Mods would soon join Glenn Miller, where they would drop the "Four" denomination. At this time, they were a male quartet, but Paula Kelly would join them during their Miller tenure.

Prominent on both sides of the 78 is the great trombonist/singer Jack Teagarden. Big T was with Whiteman from 1933 through 1938, when he left to start his own band. "Mutiny in the Nursery" also features Joan Edwards, a stiff vocalist who had a long career on radio.

The 78 at hand presents the two main songs from the 1938 Dick Powell musical Going Places, written by Harry Warren and Johnny Mercer. In the film, the numbers are specialties for Louis Armstrong. The more famous is "Jeepers Creepers," which Armstrong sings to a horse. (Or so IMdB informs us.) The vocal and trombone soloist here is Teagarden, who would often appear with Armstrong in the years to come.

The Modernaires: from top,
Chuck Goldstein,
Ralph Brewster, Hal
Dickinson, Bill Conway

The two numbers are exceedingly well done by a talented ensemble that included trumpeter Charlie Teagarden, tenor saxist Art Drellinger, pianist Frank Signorelli, guitarist Allan Reuss, bassist Artie Shapiro and drummer George Wettling. The arranger is not named, although the charts are strongly reminiscent of the work of John Scott Trotter, who was working with Bing Crosby at the time. (Bing also was a Decca artist.) The style is somewhat similar to the Bob Crosby band's melding of swing with what has come to be known as Dixieland.

These sides show that Whiteman, whose musical approach evolved throughout the 1920s, had adapted well to the swing era - as always by employing the finest talent he could find.

A Whiteman Chesterfield band, with Jack Teagarden amidst the trombones (trust me)

Al Hibbler, 'Unchained Melody' and 'Daybreak'

"Mannered", "overstated", "full of idiosyncrasies" and with "bizarre vocal pyrotechnics" - that's how Wikipedia describes Al Hibbler's singing style. I can't disagree, and would add that Hibbler tended to adopt an English accent, despite hailing from Tyro, Mississippi. Also, he was clearly influenced by the histrionic Billy Daniels, whose singing I dislike.

Even so, I love Al and have most of his records. He was a compelling singer with a terrific voice.

Hibbler came to prominence in the 1940s after replacing Herb Jeffries as Duke Ellington's male vocalist. After leaving that ensemble, he began recording as a solo for several labels, achieving his greatest success with US Decca.

This present post presents his biggest hit, a vocal version of "Unchained Melody," based on Alex North's theme from the 1955 film Unchained, a prison flick improbably starring Elroy "Crazylegs" Hirsch. Todd Duncan handles the song in the movie, but his warbling apparently did not rate a single release. So Decca hustled Hibbler into the studio shortly after the film came out and quickly issued its own 45. Despite Jack Pleis' unimaginative backing, Hibbler's rendition was very popular, rising to number three on the charts. Les Baxter's version for Capitol sold even better, hitting number one. (You can find the Baxter performance on my other blog.) A decade later, "Unchained Melody" was a major success for the Righteous Brothers, with Bobby Hatfield singing and Bill Medley producing.

Al Hibbler

But today's focus is on the flip side of Hibbler's single. It is the lovely song "Daybreak", and I am featuring it here as a companion post to one on my other blog, which presents Andre Kostelanetz's LP coupling Ferde Grofé's Mississippi Suite and Jerome Kern's Mark Twain Suite. As I note there, "Daybreak" is adapted from the "Mardi Gras" section of the Mississippi Suite, with lyrics by Harold Adamson. The suite dates from 1925 and the song from 1942. It's not clear why Hibbler dusted off the "Daybreak" sheet music at that late date, but his performance is sensitive and convincing.

I am sure I have the coupling on 45, but rather than search through my almost completely disorganized singles collection, I instead pulled out the LP Hits by Hibbler and transferred the songs from that source. The sound is very good, projecting the singer's vocal quality in a lifelike manner, English accent and all.

Martha Raye Swings It

Today we hear from Bing Crosby's other co-star in Waikiki Wedding, Martha Raye. We have her Brunswick recording of "(If You Can't Sing It) You'll Have to Swing It," also known by the title "Mr. Paganini." This song is from an earlier Crosby opus called Rhythm on the Range, which was Raye's first feature film.

Those of you who remember Raye probably think of her as a comic actor. She populated quite a number of films during the 30s and 40s. But she was literally born into vaudeville (backstage during one of her parents' shows), and had experience as a band singer and in nightclubs. As far as I can tell, this Brunswick 78 was her first issued recording. It dates from May 1939, three years after the film was made - and well after Ella Fitzgerald had a hit with the song.

In Rhythm on the Range, Raye is supported (if that is the right word) by a strange assortment of musicians including trumpeter Louis Prima, novelty musician Bob Burns and his home-made "bazooka," and the Sons of the Pioneers. It's too bad they couldn't have enlisted Leopold Stokowski to conduct.

Louis Prima, Martha Raye, Bob Burns

The accompaniment on the 78 is more straightforward, being under the direction of the young David (here Dave) Rose. Rose and Raye were married at the time, and made records for both Brunswick and Columbia in 1939. All were compiled on an Epic LP in 1954 (with "Mr. Paganini" in an alternate take).

The flip side of the Brunswick disc is a peculiar swing version of "Ol' Man River," which must have made Jerome Kern's gray hair stand on end.

Raye did not make many other records. There are a few songs on Decca and Mercury, a 1949 LP on the Discovery label that I have just reuploaded on my other blog, and a later joint LP with Carol Burnett, which I also have.

Vocal maven Will Friedwald takes Martha Raye very seriously as a jazz artist. His Biographical Guide to the Great Jazz and Pop Singers has a chapter delving into her slim recorded opus in great detail. Will loves her singing; I much prefer someone like Shirley Ross who is less histrionic.

Shirley Ross in Songs from 'Higher and Higher'

In my last post, I promised some songs by Bing Crosby's Waikiki Wedding co-star, Shirley Ross. If the latter name sounds familiar, it's probably because of her famous duet with Bob Hope in The Big Broadcast of 1938, "Thanks for the Memory." Whatever fame she has rests on that and other duets with Hope, notably "Two Sleepy People."

Ross' memory should not reside solely with her several appearances in Bob and Bing movies, fine as they are. She was a superior vocalist. Unfortunately her sensitive style is captured on too few recordings.

Ross began her career as a band vocalist in the early 1930s. Her few 78s with Gus Arnheim came to the attention of Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart, who began using her as a demo singer.

Following her appearances in several Hope or Crosby films, the Rodgers-Hart team called upon her to fill one of the lead roles in their latest Broadway musical, Higher and Higher, which opened in April 1940. That work had a superb score, but it did not impress either the critics or the public, so closed relatively quickly.

Shirley Ross, Jack Haley and Martha Eggert in Higher and Higher

Before the opening, Ross recorded "It Never Entered My Mind," "Nothing But You," "From Another World" and "Ev'ry Sunday Afternoon" for Decca, with Ray Sinatra's orchestra. Ross herself introduced "It Never Entered My Mind" and "From Another World" in the show. The former song has probably my favorite Lorenz Hart lyrics, with seemingly every couplet containing a subtle double-entendre (e.g., "You have what I lack myself / And now I'll even have to scratch my back myself"). Ross' rueful reading is affecting, and especially worth hearing because it contains the complete lyrics, which are almost never heard these days.

Ross herself thought she was better suited for the screen than the stage. After the failure of Higher and Higher, her career dimmed. Her death more than 30 years later was little noticed, probably because she was then known as Bernice Blum - her real first name and her husband's last name. But Hope and Crosby reportedly found out and sent flowers.

The download includes my transfer of the 78 coupling of "From Another World" and "Ev'ry Sunday Afternoon." The other two songs are included as well. While they are not my transfers, I did work over the sound.

Next up, we'll hear from Bing's other Waikiki Wedding co-star, Martha Raye.

Bing in Hawaii (and Iceland)

This is a tale of four locales - Hawaii, Hollywood, England and Iceland. They all pertain to the Bing Crosby picture-label 78 shown at right.

As you can see at right, the Hawaii location is the setting of The Groaner's 1937 flick Waikiki Wedding, produced of course in Hollywood. Leo Robin and Ralph Rainger wrote the tune "Blue Hawaii" for the film. Bing sang it with the wonderful Shirley Ross on the screen. For shellac purposes, he did a solo with Lani McIntire and His Hawaiians. McIntire was a steel guitar whiz who earned his island cred as a member of the legendary Sol Ho'opi'i Trio. "Blue Hawaii," although popular at the time, didn't really make a lasting impression on the public until murmured by Elvis Presley in the 1961 film of the same name.

Waikiki Wedding's big hit, which won an Academy Award, was "Sweet Leilani," a Harry Owens tune that Bing insisted on using in the film over the producer's objections. Owens led the band at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel in Honolulu, where Crosby first heard the number. On the commercial record, Bing cedes the first two vocal choruses to unnamed vocalists, presumably from the McIntyre ensemble.

Lobby card: Martha Raye and Shirley Ross flank Bing

Bing waxed two other songs from the score, both Robin-Rainger efforts. Victor Young provided the backing on "Sweet Is the Word for You"; Jimmy Dorsey handled "In a Little Hula Heaven." Young, Dorsey and McIntire were all on the payroll at Decca, where Crosby was the chief money-maker.

This post is designed to show off the nifty picture labels that Decca affiliate Brunswick slapped on the lacquer for sale in England and probably other markets. I found my copy in a interesting shop in Iceland, of all places. Brunswick issued two such 78s for Waikiki Wedding, and two additional discs for Bing's songs from Double or Nothing, also from 1937. I only have the "Blue Hawaii"/"Sweet Is the Word for You" coupling, alas. I'm not sure if Decca in the US employed a similar picture-label scheme, but I've never seen an example, if so.

My 78, visually mint, was almost unplayable. So I pulled out one of Decca's "Bing in Hollywood" reissue LPs from the 1960s and transferred the four Waikiki Wedding songs from that source. All are in the download.

Now that this blog has made a dramatic return to life, I'll see if I can locate a 78 or two by Crosby's co-star, Shirley Ross. Watch this space, just not too intently.