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.