MARIE CARROLL AND BOB STRONG REVISITED.

November 19th, 2023

    This is going to be one of those short update blahgs.  In my last blahg, WHATEVER HAPPENED TO MISS REGINA HASSOCK OF 1947?  I mentioned  some live remotes that Marie Carroll did with Bob Strong and his orchestra that were available on a CD released by Circle Records with the title “Bob Strong And His Orchestra, 1944-1945”:

In that previous blahg, I said that I thought these were live remotes.  I also said I didn’t believe that Marie Carroll went into the studio and recorded any vocals with Bob Strong or any other orchestra with whom she had been associated over the years.  This updated blahg will correct that information. 

   When I wrote the last blahg, I had the above CD on order and had not yet received it.  Now that it’s in my possession, I can correct some of my information with some of the information from the liner notes.  Here’s what was said in the liner notes about these songs: 

The Bob Strong bands on this disc, in exceptional repro quality, are from two dates:  The first is but two and a half months after their Glen Island debut; The Second, almost nine months later…The popular ballads of the day are also accounted for in fine style.  Five of them are handled by Marie Carroll, whose vocal versatility was exceeded only by her physical attributes.  (MGM was constantly reported to be waiting at her door, along with many others.)  She’s June Christy Kittenish on “This Is It” and “You Was Right, Baby”, plaintive on Johnny Mercer’s “Out Of This World”; moody on the ’45 Academy Award nominee, “Love Letters”; romantic on “I Wish I Knew”, which made the ‘Your Hit Parade’s’ top-ten for eleven weeks.

The other important information from this CD is that all tracks were recorded for Lang-Worth on October 25, 1944 at Columbia Studios in New York or on August 13th, 1945 at Columbia Studios in Chicago.  All of Marie Carroll’s tracks are attributed to the August 13th, 1945 recording sessions.    Here’s a description of the Lang-Worth Transcriptions from the website https://www.jazzology.com/item_detail.php?id=SCD-44/45:

Lang Worth transcription discs. Lang Worth transcriptions were sold in a subscription series to independent radio stations that sought access to top-tier artists, on a dime-store budget. That enabled small stations, for example to provide the same high-quality programming their larger competitors offered. In this way, transcription discs helped to somewhat level the playing field during radio’s early years.

In this case, the Lang-Worth transcriptions for Bob Strong and His Orchestra were on 16 inch 33/3 rpm records.  If you want to know more about 16 inch records, then check out my earlier blahg, 16 INCHES OF TROUBLE OR LIKE FATHER LIKE SON.  The following 16 inch Lang-Worth record contains eight songs with only one on one side featuring Bob Strong and His Orchestra with one vocal by Marie Carroll who is referenced as Marion Carroll:

So I was mistaken, a much better word than saying wrong, when I said I didn’t think Marie Carroll went into the studio and recorded any vocals with Bob Strong or any other orchestra.  Clearly the Lang-Worth sessions were recorded, as mentioned, in the Columbia Studios in Chicago on August 13, 1945.  I’m not aware of any other studio sessions with Marie Carroll but then I wasn’t aware of these.  If you want to listen to any of Marie/Marion Carroll’s tracks with Bob Strong then please check out my previous blahg, WHATEVER HAPPENED TO MISS REGINA HASSOCK OF 1947?  There are links to YouTube where you can listen to the five songs that appear on the Circle Records CD.

   For  the remainder of this blahg, I thought I would link to some of the YouTube videos for the Bob Strong tracks from the Circle Records CD that did not feature Marie/Marion Carroll.  The CD liner provides some interesting notes about some of the tracks that make it worthwhile to post here. 

The music they put forth is a potpourri of unique arrangements of a broad  array of mostly familiar melodies.  You’ll here a pretty, easy listening adapatation from “Tannhauser”, Evening Star, featuring smooth reed work that may remind you of Glenn Miller; A swinging Coquette, whose booting sax and gutty trombone solos would have shaken one of its composers, Carmen Lombardo.

Here are “Evening Star” and “Coquette”:

After a mention of Marie Carroll’s tracks, the liner notes speak about some of the other vocals on the CD: 

The only other ballad, Always, also enjoyed nine weeks of acclaim on the Hit Parade some twenty years after Irving Berlin penned it in 1925.  Terry Ferris’ Ballad singing wanders a little, but is followed by a surprising up-tempo change-of-pace chorus where his second swing at the vocal fares much better.  Tony Feola gives a lust reading of Judy Garland’s hit train song On The Atcheson, Topeka and the Santa Fe. 

Here are those two tracks: 

There are two damaged tracks on the CD that receive a decent write-up: 

Tom Eldridge clearly has the best voice of the male creamers but these tracks unfortunately have some permanent groove damage from old man time…however, I would not have dropped these two tracks from the compact disc.  They certainly are not unbearable.

Those two tracks are “You Belong To My Heart” & “Waiting”: 

I’ll keep researching Marie Carroll but I’m happy at least I was able to correct some of my information.  Hey, I make mistakes…just don’t tell my wife that.

WHATEVER HAPPENED TO MISS REGINA HASSOCK OF 1947?

November 11th, 2023

    I’m writing this blahg which will be incomplete.  I’ve been trying to find more information about the subject but my research has come up short.  Be forewarned, this is yet another blahg inspired by continued interest and research on Frank Sinatra.  This harkens back to 1939 and forward in time but I can’t find an end date.  Confused?  So am I.  

   Yes, the topic at hand today is Miss Regina Hassock of 1947 but her true name is Marie Carroll or Margie Carroll or Marion Carroll depending on what you read and when you read it. I’ll get into a bit of an explanation soon enough but after almost two months of research here are the bullet points I’ve managed to put together:

  • Marie Carroll (aka Marion Carroll and Margie Carroll)
  • from Charleston, WV
  • sang with Jan Savitt, Johnny Long, Bob Strong, Bob Chester
  • March 1939 torch singer
  • 1939 limited time with Harry James
  • December 3, 1943 married Jack Cancelmi – she was with Art Farrar Orchestra
  • March 1944 with Maurice Spitalny’s Orchestra & married to Jack Cancelmi (drummer in Brad Hunt’s band) but separated by June 1944
  • March 14, 1944 Marie Carroll no longer with Spitalny but article on March 21, 1944 said they had patched up differences and were together again
  • June 1944 no longer with Spitalny
  • October 1944 solo
  • December 1944 with Bob Strong
  • January 1945 with Bob Strong – Victory Spotlight of Bands
  • April 1946 still with Bob Strong
  • March 1947 voted Miss Regina Hassock

   So, how did I get onto Marie Carroll?  Part of it starts with a photo.  This photo: 

That photo is really just an illustrated version of this photo: 

Marie Carroll at Roseland

Both photos come from the website, https://swingandbeyond.com/2023/10/02/on-a-little-street-in-singapore-1939-harry-james-with-frank-sinatra/, and the description details for the photo is the following: 

(At right: Frank Sinatra sings on a James broadcast from Roseland Ballroom in New York – July 1939. The girl seated on the bandstand is vocalist Margie Carroll.) (2)

Note the (2) after the description.  Here’s what that references: 

(2) Identification of the girl singer, Margie Carroll, who is also in the picture with James and Sinatra from Roseland Ballroom comes from George T. Simon’s review of the James band at Roseland in Manhattan in the summer of 1939. That review appeared in the September 1939 issue of Metronome. Bernice Byers, sang with the James band before Ms. Carroll, and Connie Haines, who joined the James band in early May of 1939, performed in that role after that. Ms. Carroll was evidently subbing for Ms. Haines at the time this photo was taken.

George T. Simon had referred to her again as “Margie” Carroll.  The following excerpt is from the book “Simon Says The Sights And Sounds Of The Swing Era 1935-1955″ The Best Writing of George T. Simon”:

MONDAY— – Interesting visitors at the office today. Guy Smith and Jimmy Campbell of Jan Savitt’s band dropped in to say hello. Then came Terry Allen, who’s now singing with Clinton, with a very pretty Miss Parker. Romance Dept.? Wonderful guy, modest as they come, that Allen! Just before closing Bud Elliot and Dave Faulkner of the Modem Rhythm Corp. stepped in with some ideas anent a radio show. Sounds good. Discussions of records, etc., on small stations. . . . Then supper and to a preview of Columbia Record Corp. radio show. Harry James featured. Some good ideas. Johnny Hammond supposed to m. c., but he was on coast making Goodman records. Afterwards a whole bunch of us went to Roseland to catch more of Harry. Suddenly, from out of nowhere, a gal got up on the stand and started to sing with the band. Sounded fine. Everybody impressed. Found out her name was Margie Carroll; she’d been singing with Paul Martel at the Arcadia. Wouldn’’t be surprised if Harry took her. That Harry Gomez name, by the way, is beginning to stick! . . . Before going to bed I dropped in at the New Yorker to see Seger Ellis and wife (Irene Taylor) and band, there on a one-nighter. That Choir of Brass idea is fine. Banifs rhythm section was weak, but Seger was already looking for a new drummer and pianist.

The fact that Simon referred to her as Margie Carroll doesn’t help us.  I wanted to learn more about Marie or Margie Carroll  but information is very sparse.  I tried turning to the BandChirps website, https://bandchirps.com/, but they have no entry for Marie Carroll.  The only mention of Marie Carroll on the BarndChips site is in the entry on Harry James, https://bandchirps.com/band/harry-james/:

James and his new orchestra debuted in February 1939 at the Benjamin Franklin Hotel in Philadelphia. Bernice Byres served as its first female vocalist.  Byres remained with the band until at least early April, with Connie Haines having taken over by June. James had heard Haines rehearsing at a music publishing office and hired her. He soon became dissatisfied with Haines, however, and she was gone by September, replaced by Marie Carroll, who herself was gone by the end of that month. James didn’t immediately hire anyone to replace Carroll, telling Down Beat magazine “we do not use a girl singer because everyone we’ve had yet has been unsatisfactory, and until we find one who stacks up as strong as the band, we won’t worry.”

So who was Marie Carroll?  Where did she come from?  What happened to her?  Those are questions that remain to be answered.  All of the bullet points I listed earlier come from newspaper and magazine articles. We know she was with Harry James in the summer of 1939 at the Roseland Ballroom in New York and for a short period of time with James at the New York World’s Fair in August of 1939.  The only listing I could find for her prior to being with Harry James in 1939 was an entry in The Miami Herald from February 15, 1939 where she was appearing at the Sweepstakes Club and being billed as a “Torch Singer”:

Marie Carroll Torch Singer

I’m assuming that the Torch Singer is the same Marie Carroll.  There was also an actress and a dancer around that time with the same name but are definitely not the same person.  I couldn’t find any other entry for Marie Carroll for 1939 or even before that year.

   Details such as her having sung with Jan Savitt, Johnny Long, Bob Strong came from later articles in 1943, 1944 and 1946.  The following article references an appearance of Marie Carroll with King Cole’s Orchestra in Shamokin, Pennsylvania in March of 1946.  It mentions some of the other bands she has been with before that :

Marie Carroll with King Cole

I had to work backwards from this article and try to pick up even earlier threads.    From March of 1944, I found a reference to Marie Carroll getting married:

Marie Carroll married

So she was married and was with the Maurice Spitalny Orchestra.  I worked back a little more and found reference to the marriage and a few more details: 

Marie is married

The above article was from December 2, 1943 and at that time she was with Art Farrar’s Orchestra and we learned that she’s from Charleston, West Virginia.  Obviously, Marie left Art Farrar after that to take the position of singer with the Maurice Spitalny Orchestra.  Here’s an article from January 31st, 1944 that explains how she ended up with Spitalny: 

Marie Carroll story

The marriage to Jack Conselmi and her association with Spitalny ended by summer of 1944.  By June 26th, 1944 it was being reported that Conselmi and Marie Carroll had separated and she was no longer with Spitalny’s band: 

Carroll and Conselmi are separated

Two articles ran a week apart in March of 1944, the first on the 14th and the second on the 21st, suggesting there was a problem in the Spitalny Orchestra with Marie Carroll.  The first detailed the split: 

Carroll and Spitalny Split

The second article, the following week, suggests they’ settled their differences: 

Carroll back with Spitalny

As we know, from the June 1944 article announcing her separation from Cancelmi, she was also gone from Spitalny’s orchestra. 

   We next pick up Marie Carroll’s information in December of 1944 with an advertisement for the Bob Strong Orchestra at Lakeside Park in Dayton, Ohio on December 9th of that year.  And guess who his female vocalist is?

Marie Carroll with Bob Strong

Her stint with Bob Strong can be tracked from this December 1944 advertisement to listings with Bob Strong into April of 1946.  It’s with the Bob Strong orchestra that we are able to now hear Marie Carroll sing.  A month after the December 9th appearance at Lakeside Park, the Bob Strong Orchestra, with Marie Carroll, appear on the The Victory Parade of Spotlight Bands broadcast of January 9, 1945.  This radio program survives and from it are three vocals of Marie Carroll with Bob Strong’s band, “Strange Music”, “Her Tears Flowed Like Wine”, and “Embraceable You”: 

Strange Music:

Her Tears Flowed Like Wine:

Embraceable You:

 

I do not believe that Marie Carroll went into the studio and recorded any vocals with Bob Strong or any other orchestra with which she had been associated over the years.  At least I couldn’t find any.  In addition to The Victory Parade of Spotlight Band broadcast there are some other remotes that have survived of Marie Carroll with Bob Strong.  These have been collected on the CD “Bob Strong & His Orchestra 1944-45” on the Circle Records label:

I have ordered a copy of this CD but it hasn’t arrived yet so I don’t have any liner notes to post here.  Someone has posted Marie Carroll’s tracks on YouTube but they are referenced to “Marion Carroll,” which is how she might have been listed on the CD.  Marie/Marion’s songs are “You Was Right, Baby!”, “This Is It”, “Love Letters”, “I Wish I Knew”, and “Out of This World”: 

The above five songs plus the three from The Victory Parade of Spotlight Bands are all of the available vocals I have discovered for Marie/Margie/Marion Carroll.  It’s really a shame because she has a nice voice and really sells her ballads and can really swing on songs like “This Is It.” 

   The only other highlight of her time with the Bob Strong Orchestra was that she married again in July of 1946.  DownBeat magazine noted her marriage: 

Marie Carroll married to Al Yost

I could find nothing else about Marie Caroll’s marriage to Al Yost. The only other significant item about Marie Carroll during her time with Bob Strong was a report in the February 15, 1945 DownBeat that Marie Carroll was being courted by Hollywood:

Marie Carroll in Hollywood

I tried to run this down but there’s no reference to any Hollywood activity our output by Marie Carroll. Maybe the screen test didn’t amount to anything.

   The next, and final piece of information, that I could find about Marie Caroll was a report that she had become Miss Regina Hassock of 1947. This article appeared in the Radio & Appliance Journal of April 1947.  You can click on it to view a larger article.

Miss Regina Hassock 1947

In March of 1947, the Radio Retailing magazine had also mentioned that Marie Carroll was Miss Regina Hassock for that year: 

That same edition of Radio Retailing also featured a full page spread with a photo of Marie Carroll as Miss Regina Hassock: 

Radio Retailing March 1947

The only other take away from this is that at some point she had been with the Bob Chester Orchestra. 

   That’s it!  Any other information I could find related to advertisements of appearances with the Bob Strong Orchestra but nothing to say what happened after being crowned Miss Regina Hassock!  I could find no obituary or anything else detailing her later life.  I even tried searching for Al Yost who we know was a tenor saxophone player.  There was an Al Yost who ran Yost Home Improvements in Pittsburgh after retiring as a tenor saxophone player.  Is this the same Al Yost?  You can learn about Al and his company, which continues on, even after his death, from the following website:  https://yosthomeimprovements.com/yost/our-story/?utm_source=al%20yost%20music%20page&utm_medium=our%20story%20link&utm_campaign=yosthomeimprovements.com.  Here’s a significant excerpt:

Our story first began in 1961 when Albert Yost Sr. retired from the Coast Guard Band after playing the tenor saxophone for 20 years.  Albert, originally from Pittsburgh, and his wife Catherine, from Brooklyn, decided to stay in the area and grow roots for themselves and their five children. With Albert’s knack for home repairs, opening a home improvement company was a natural choice.

The Yosts quickly turned their home into company headquarters. During the early days, Albert oversaw projects while Catherine fielded calls and stayed on top of paperwork. It also wasn’t unusual for Catherine to prepare full course meals for the crew. Soon the Yost’s two sons Albert Jr. and George joined the company, eventually taking it over in 1983.

I use the word “significant” because these notes say his wife’s name was Catherine and she was from Brooklyn.  If this is the same Al Yost then Marie Carroll had moved on from him at some point and Al Yost made a great life with Catherine. 

   So what happened to Marie Carroll?  I don’t know!!!  Maybe the CD I’ve ordered might have some details in the liner notes but beyond that, I’ve exhausted myself trying to find out what happened to her.  If anyone knows or if anyone wants to take up the search and continue where I left off, please let me know.  If I find out more, you know there’s going to be another blahg.

HEY, REMEMBER THAT BLAHG ABOUT DOTTIE REID I FINALLY WROTE?

October 15th, 2023

Scott is still cool in 2023    The answer to the question title of this blahg should be yes.  Afterall, it was only a couple of blahgs ago. In case you don’t know what I’m referring to or maybe you’ve been kicked in the head recently by a mule, or any other animal of your choice with a hefty kick, and possibly lost your memory, all or part of it, then you really should check out that previous blahg WHATEVER HAPPENED TO THAT BLAHG ON DOTTIE REID? 

Dottie Reid was a big band singer but if you check out that other blahg then you’ll learn all that.  The purpose of this blahg is an addendum to that other blahg.  I had posted a number of songs and live remotes by Dottie Reid but there were a few that I didn’t have access to until now.  Here’s what I said in that last blahg:

There are a couple of Buddy Rich albums featuring live remotes of his band, with Dorothy Reid, at the Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles.  They are inaptly titled “One Night Stand with Buddy Rich” and “One Night Stand with Buddy Rich Volume 2”.   I say inaptly because the first record features selections from Buddy Rich’s band at the Hollywood Palladium March 27th and 28th, 1946.  “Volume 2” features selections from Buddy Rich and company from the Hollywood Palladium on March 21, March 27th, and March 28th, 1946.  None of the tracks from March 27th from the first album are repeated in the selections from the same date on the second album. 

I was able to track down and post the tracks from “One Night Stand with Buddy Rich” which was essentially volume.  I eventually purchased Volume 2 to locate the missing tracks.  Here’s what I had to say about Volume 2 in that previous blahg: 

“One Night Stand With Buddy Rich Volume 2” features the song “Personality” from March 21, 1946 at the Hollywood Palladium, “Do You Love Me” from March 27th at the Palladium, and “Just A-Sittin’ And A-Rockin’ ” from March 28th.  I haven’t been able to track down a copy of the album but someone has posted a version of “Just A-Sittin’ And A-Rockin’ ” on YouTube which they reference as being from ” 3/1946″ which is probably from the Hollywood Palladium:

Before I talk about the “Just A Sittin’ And A Rockin’ ” track, let me post the front and back covers for “One Night Stand With Buddy Rich, Volume 2.”  Be sure and click on the images to view even larger images:

One Night Stand With Buddy Rich Volume 2

One Night Stand With Buddy Rich Volume 2

One other thing of note about Dottie Reid’s appearance with Buddy Rich is that she was billed as Dorthy Reid. 

   Now, as to the above YouTube video of Dorothy Reid performing “Just A Sittin’ And A Rockin’ “, I believe it probably is the same track that appears on the Volume 2 album.  The album references the track coming from the March 28th, 1946 appearance of Dorothy with Buddy Rich at the Hollywood Palladium whereas the YouTube video only references “3/1946.”  I believe they are the same but you can compare for yourself.  Here’s the album version: 

   Now for the other two tracks on the album that I could not post in the previous blahg.  First up is “Personality” from March 21, 1946 at the Hollywood Palladium:

And finally, here’s “Do You Love Me” from March 27, 1946 at the Hollywood Palladium:

   The only other recordings of Dottie Reid’s that I could not post about last time referred to some 1953 records she made with Chic Layne.  Here’s what I posted about that:

The next listing I can find for a Dottie Reid recording is the following reference from the May 23, 1953 issue of Billboard: 

Dottie Reid on Tonex

I came up with a blank in terms of other information for this recording, an image, or even the ability to stream it from somewhere.  The June 6th, 1953 issue of Billboard does make reference to two recordings by Dottie Reid with Tonex that may have been issued on the Twentieth Century label.  Unfortunately there’s no information about the songs themselves:

Dottie Reid 20th Century

  I could find no updates for the Tonex recordings but I’ll keep looking.  Maybe someday I’ll find those recordings and have to pen another addendum blahg with the title, “HEY, REMEMBER THAT ADDENDUM BLAHG ABOUT DOTTIE REID WHERE I SAID I MIGHT HAVE TO WRITE AN ADDENDUM BLAHG TO THE ADDENDUM BLAHG?”  Maybe you’ll get your memory back and remember both of these blahgs.  Until then, stay away from mules…oh yeah, and goats.


SINATRA: SYLVAN BEACH TO CRYSTAL BEACH. AND WHAT ABOUT SCHENECTADY?

September 20th, 2023

Scott is still cool in 2023   If this blahg has a title then I must have figured out what I was going to say.  I’ll offer up a warning right at the beginning that this is going to be another one of those Sinatra related entries.  I’d been working on it for a while in my mind and through emails with other Sinatra fans but I think I’m ready to start typing this out.  If the title doesn’t say, “To Be Or Not To Be” or “Did That Really Happen?” or “Sylvan Beach to Crystal Beach and Schenectady In-between” then I’m ready to post this.  Maybe it will have one of those titles because a couple sound intriguing.  Read on. 

   As you know, and I have mentioned in previous blahgs like “Down A Rabbit Hole With Linda Keene“, I send out a daily post about what Sinatra was doing for every calendar day.  In the Linda Keene blahg I had talked about a post I made for April 17th.  On that date I posted the following: 

April 17, 1950 Strictly From Dixie
Henry Levine Orchestra
NBC Blue Network
WJZ
New York City
10:30 – 11:00 p.m.
Monday Evening
Henry Levine Orchestra & Soloists
Martha Lou Harp    blues singer
Guest  Singer: Frank Sinatra
Sinatra on Strictly From Dixie

I had not known about this show and in researching it, I discovered the lovely Linda Keene…but that’s another story.  If you want to know about that, start with the aforementioned Linda Keene blahg or my three part series, TRACING LINDA KEENE, PART 1: THE FLORENCE SUTTLE YEARS, TRACING LINDA KEENE, PART 2: THE MOMENT IN MY LIFE, and TRACING LINDA KEENE, PART 3: ONE MORE FOR THE ROAD.

   Where this story begins is way back in 1939.  In the summer of 1939, Frank Sinatra began touring with Harry James and his Orchestra.  By August, they had settled in for a long run at the Fountain Lake Bandshell at the World’s Fair in New York.  Their first day was August 19, 1939 and this is what I had listed for August 19:

1939 New York World’s Fair, Fountain Lake Bandshell (August 19 – September 2)
Harry James and his Orchestra with Frank Sinatra
Harry James and Sinatra at the New York World's Fair

Note, that in brackets, I had posted what I thought was the complete run of their engagement at the World’s Fair from August 19th to September 2nd.  The September 1st and 2nd dates are what began to be called into question.  One of the members of our Sinatra group emailed me the following:

    Wondering where you found a listing for 9/2 ? Did not see anything in The Times and there was no listing of a remote on that Saturday night. The band  had a date outside of Buffalo on 9/3 and then on to Chicago. A gruelling bus trip in 1939 and they had played 14 consecutive days at The Fair. 

 Back in 2021, we began to note a conflict regarding September 1st, 1939.  Here’s what we listed and below that are some details of the mystery. 

1939 Sylvan Beach, New York (One Nighter)
Harry James and His Orchestra with Jack Palmer, Connie Hayes, and Frank Sinatra

1939 New York World’s Fair, Fountain Lake Bandshell (August 19 – September 2)
Harry James and His Orchestra with Frank Sinatra

Here were some details I provided at the time.

1939 New York World’s Fair, Fountain Lake Bandshell (August 19 – September 2)
Harry James and His Orchestra with Frank Sinatra

Here is the listing of James at the World’s Fair (New York Daily News September 1)

 

New York World's Fair September 1, 1939

 But also there’s also adverts for him at Sylvan Beach (Syracuse Herald-Journal, August 30)

 

Adding to this mystery was the fact that Harry James was also listed at the New York World’s Fair on September 2nd, 1939, his supposed closing night, as well an engagement at The Casino in Bemus Point, New York.  Here’s what the September 2nd listing looked like:

1939 New York World’s Fair, Fountain Lake Band Shell (August 19 – September 2)
Harry James and his Orchestra w/Frank Sinatra1939 The Casino, Bemus Point, N.Y. (One Nighter)
Harry James and His Orchestra with Connie Hayes, Jack Palmer, Frank Sinatra

Here were our details about the two conflicting engagements:

 Here is yet another September 1939 mystery:
Here is a listing for James at the Worlds Fair on this date (New York Daily News – September 2)

New York World's Fair September 2nd

But also there are multiple ads for them at Bemus Point (Warren Times Mirror/Dunkirk Evening Observer/The Kane Republican, August 30; Warren Times Mirror August 31)

 So, the question was how could Harry James be at the New York World’s Fair on September 1st and 2nd but also be at Sylvan Beach on the 1st and Bemus Point on the second?

   When the question was first asked of me about the September 2nd closing date and its accuracy, I of course set out to defend my listing for the New York World’s Fair by offering more evidence.  Here’s what I posted to everyone:

The following is from the New York Daily News, Sat, Sep 2, 1939:

Harry James September 2, 1939

Note that Harry James was listed as playing at the World’s Fair on September 2nd. Here was one of my subsequent posts:

Are we any closer to a consensus on September 2, 1939?  The evidence for Beemus Point Casino is compelling but then we also have the listing from the Daily News that James and company were still at the World’s Fair.

This is the list for programs on September 3, 1939 at the World’s Fair

Harry James NYWF

Note that Hal Kemp is in the Band Shell.

Compare that to the September 2nd, 1939 listing:

Harry James New York World's Fair

Note the September 2nd, 1939 listing has the Bunny Berrigan Orchestra at the Fountain Lake Band Shell at 7:30 but there’s no mention where Harry James was playing but the listing below from September 1st has Harry James in the amusement area:

Harry James NYWF 0901

So what does this all mean?  I don’t know!  There are no reviews of James at Bemus Point.  I checked a number of other New York State papers and found the ads for Beamus Point but no review.  There’s also no review of James on September 2nd at the World’s Fair. 

We do know that Harry James was billed at Olcott Beach on September 3rd.

Harry James at OlcottOlcott Beach is approximately 400 miles from New York City.  Bemus Point is also around 400 miles from New York City.

Bemus Point is 103 miles from Olcott Beach.  Certainly travelling to Bemus Point on September 2nd and then Olcott Beach for the 3rd would make sense.

That was when I began to believe that the September 2nd, 1939 entry for the New York World’s Fair was probably incorrect and that Bemus Point would have been more accurate.  This was also when I began to believe that maybe our listing for September 1st was wrong and I should look more into the Sylvan Beach entry. Here’s what I worked out in my mind and then posted to our group:

Looking at all the articles and news and such, I’m inclined to believe that Harry James and ensemble were not at the World’s Fair in New York after August 31st.  That would make the following itinerary more likely to be true:

September 1, 1939 Russell’s Danceland, Sylvan Point, NY

September 2, 1939 Casino, Bemus Point, NY

September 3, 1939 Olcott Beach, NY

If you assume that Harry James finished on August 31st in New York then looking at the map below, it was quite easy to drive to Sylvan Beach for September 1st and then straight across and down to Bemus Point for the 2nd and then up to Olcott Beach for September 3

Map of James route

One of our Sinatra group members took up the challenge and reached out to someone in Bemus Point.  Here was his post about it: 

I’ve always believed in going to the source when all else fails.

This morning I called the casino in Bemus Point, N.Y.  A very polite gentleman listened to my question and then told me to hold on while he checked their records. The casino has the history of all the name acts that played there in the 1930s and 40s. The James band played a one-nighter on 9-2-39.

Well, that confirmed September 2nd, 1939 but what about September 1st, 1939 at Sylvan Beach?  Here was my post after hearing confirmation about Bemus Point:

I checked the same newspaper Syracuse Herald Journal that advertised Dorsey at Sylvan Beach in 1941 and found they were advertising Harry James at Sylvan Beach on September 1st , 1939 as tonight only:

 Would be odd to advertise as Tonight Only and Harry James wasn’t there.  I’m still looking for any other reference.

 Eventually, one of our group, the same person who reached out to Bemus Point, resolved the issue with the following post:

Hi Philers,

                  I contacted the historian of an area that includes Sylvan Beach, N.Y.

Scott was right. The band closed at the World’s Fair on 8-31-39.

                  They arrived in Rome, N.Y. on the afternoon of September 1st. The big hype locally was the return of Jack

Palmer. He was from Rome. James and Co. had dinner at the Grand Hotel in Rome ( name was changed to Commander Hotel

in the 1980s ).  See enclosed photo.

                  The concert at Russell’s Danceland took place that evening. Jack Henke ( historian ) told me that a color

photo from the stage was displayed for many years at the Pancake House in Sylvan. Front and center was Jack Palmer

playing a trumpet solo. Frank was in the background ( I’ve seen the photo. Never knew the location ). Between sets the

band ate at Eddie’s. He had established the place in 1934 with his wife Phoebe. While the band was eating, she noticed

a skinny little guy was sitting out on the curb smoking. Phoebe went out and told him to come in and have something to

eat. And he did.

                  Now, there was a remote of the James band broadcast that evening on CBS, from 12:A.M. to 12:30. Jack

assured me that the station in Rome was able to air such a program. It is listed in the New York and Boston papers.

Here are the two images attached to the post:

Dinner at Sylvan Beach

SBJParticle

So what about Crystal Beach, you may well ask.  Give me a moment to finish and then you can ask.  At one point after the information was posted and confirmed about Bemus Point, I posted some additional information about Sylvan Beach and another Sinatra connection: 

As an aside, I was looking into Russell’s Danceland at Sylvan Beach and one website mentions that Sinatra and Dorsey played there on July 17th, 1941 but we’ve never had that in our listings.  I’m going to try and run it down to confirm.

Here was the post where I detailed what I found about Tommy Dorsey at Sylvan Beach:

This is the listing I found that mentions Dorsey on July 17, 1941 at Sylvan Beach, NY:

HISTORY OF SYRACUSE MUSIC “OFFICIAL SITE” – CHAPTER 37 – MORE FAMOUS NAMES WHO PERFORMED OR SPOKE IN SYRACUSE BETWEEN 1941-1945

Feb 7-9, 1941                Louis Armstrong                           RKO Keith’s Theater

Apr 18, 1941                 Howard Thurston (Magician)       RKO Strand

May 9-11, 1941             Count Basie                                  RKO Strand

May 23-25, 1941           Sally Rand                                    RKO Strand

June 16-18, 1941            Vincent Lopez Orchestra             RKO Keiths

June 20-22, 1941            Bill “Bojangles” Robinson           RKO Strand

June 22, 1941                 Gene Krupa                                   Sylvan Beach

July 17, 1941                  Tommy Dorsey Orchestra            Sylvan Beach

Aug 24, 1941                  Kate Smith                                    N.Y.S. Fair

Jan 6, 1942                      3 Stooges (Curly, Larry, Moe)      Strand Theater

Here was my follow-up post about Dorsey and Sinatra at Sylvan Beach in 1941:

Here’s the ad and a small article about Dorsey at Sylvan Beach, July 17, 1941:

Tommy Dorsey at Sylvan Beach

 TD at Sylvan Beach

 Note Sinatra not mentioned but the week before he was mentioned in a small article:

TD Sylvan Beach 3

So, if it wasn’t for the Harry James at Sylvan Beach mystery, I probably wouldn’t have found out about Tommy Dorsey and Sinatra at Sylvan Beach in 1941.

   Now on to Crystal Beach.  Ask away.  What’s that?  What about Crystal Beach?  Let me tell you.  There had already been another unsubstantiated early Sinatra engagement that I could never verify.  It concerned Crystal, Beach, Ontario here in Canada.  Here was my follow-up post after the resolution to the Sylvan Beach issue:

Now that you’ve finalized the answer to Sylvan Beach 1939 with Harry James, I’d like some answers about Tommy Dorsey at Crystal Beach in Crystal Beach, Ontario, Canada.  I’m not sure of the exact date and I’ve found no article or ads to substantiate the rumors that Sinatra and Dorsey played there.  Websites dedicated to Crystal Beach swear they were there but no date given.  There’s even a mock poster in circulation, also without a date:

Sinatra at Crystal Beach

 I’ve checked Buffalo newspapers and Toronto newspapers but can’t find anything to suggest they were there.  If anyone else wants to take a crack at it, let me know.

Just to give you an idea of where Crystal Beach, Ontario, is, have a look at the following map: 

Crystal Beach map

The distance is about 26 miles.  Many of the big bands who had played in Buffalo or Fort Erie would also play the Ballroom in Crystal Beach.  I have read some of the posts from seniors through memory projects who clearly remember seeing Sinatra with Tommy Dorsey at Crystal Beach and the poster above springs either from someone’s memory or imagination.  The poster too clearly featured Sinatra rather than focusing on Tommy Dorsey and of course there was no date attached to it.  So, I began my research and the posts began.  Here was one of my first posts on the subject :

On a side note,  I found this:

July 17, 1965

FS Jr with TD Band at Crystal Beach

Not the original Dorsey and not Sinatra Sr. but interesting.

I also added the following post about Tommy Dorsey at Crystal Beach:

So far the only reference I can find to Tommy Dorsey at Crystal Beach was July 14th, 1955 with his brother Jimmy.

Dorsey Brothers at Crystal Beach

Here was another post in response to another member of our Sinatra group:

I’ve read so many posts from people who say they saw Sinatra at such and such a place with or without Dorsey and I haven’t been able to confirm most of them.

There’s a great book called:

“Let’s Dance: A Celebration of Ontario’s Dance Halls and Summer Dance Pavilions”

When I searched through the book I could find no reference to Dorsey at Crystal Beach.  Strange though that if you read the section on “Summer Gardens” in Kitchen-Waterloo (pages 86-87), someone who was interviewed, recalls “I shrieked at a skinny Frank Sinatra there.”

Strange, I hadn’t heard the one before and couldn’t prove it.

 

   I finally decided to reach out to someone in Fort Erie and they sent a contact for the archivist with Fort Erie Times.  I asked them to look into Dorsey playing  Crystal Beach sometime between 1940 and 1942.  Those were the years that Sinatra was touring with Dorsey.  While waiting for a response, I received this post from a member of our group:

Charlotte Nielsen interview with Mr. Truckenbrodt

April 23, 1985

F.T. They used to advertise ••• it was a quarter million dollar ballroom. Well of course in nineteen twenty-five, that’s a lot of money. And of course, interestingly, like the boat, I’ve been involved in the ballroom all my life because I went to work in the ballroom when I was twelve taking tickets and we used to say working on the ropes because it used to be five cents a dance, later on ten cents a dance like the song says. But you’d pay five cents for a ticket and then we would go out with the ropes. we had long long ropes and we would then sweep the people off the back of the floor, you see, at the end of the dance. The new people with the new five cents would come on in the front and dance their .•. There was ..• I think three minutes was a dance .•• After the first two minutes we would begin to work out with the ropes and push the people off and then we’d have to see that everybody got off because they had to pay their next ten cents before they could get on again.

C.N. So you worked at this Crystal Beach Ballroom as a child?

F.T. Yes, yes. Well, I worked there from twelve until I was twenty.

C.N. Could you describe it? Tell me about the bands, the people .•.

F.T. Well, it was unbelievable. As I said, when you try to tell about Crystal Beach you can’t. You can’t make people believe how wonderful it was because there were two bands that played: A Canadian band (12) ( ( ( and an American band. and they were what we knew as, in those days, as the bands, right. And in my time essentially it was Bert Niosi, who I watched on television two years ago, when he had his fiftieth anniversary at the Palais Royale in Toronto. He used to play the Palais in the winter and Crystal Beach in the summer. And I knew all the Niosis Johnny and Joe and Burt and my sister used to babysit Burt’s children when she was a little girl. Joe Niosi was in the airforce with me so we used to see each other in Ottawa. He was the number one airforce band during the war. But at any rate .. • And Harold Austin was the orchestra that came over on the boat. and you see with union rules, they had to have a Canadian band or the American couldn’t play. So the Canadian band started at eight o’clock and the boat came in at nine fifteen and at nine thirty Harold Austin played. And Harold Austin played from nine thirty until eleven and then Burt Niosi and his band would come on at eleven and play through till twelve. Now can you imagine what a joy this was, because Harold Austin left Buffalo at eight o’clock every night, seven days a week from Decoration Day till Labour Day and all the people of Buffalo would come out at eight o’clock, you know, people who had worked during the day, and they’d dance to this eighteen piece orchestra all the way across on this beautiful maple dance floor on the back deck of the Canadiana on a hot summer’s night, moon over the water, and land at Crystal Beach and walk just over to the ballroom and then dance away the night at the ballroom and then get back on the boat and dance their way back to Buffalo till twelve fifteen at night. I can remember seeing still the Harold Austin orchestra coming down the covered walk from the bridge with their bass fiddles and their saxaphones. They looked like the Buffalo Symphony Orchestra coming out after a concert. And then at eleven o’clock you’d see them all packed up with their bags going down to get on the boat again. Well, can you think what excitment this is with the boat and the dance hall and all this sort of thing.

C.N. No, I don’t quite understand.

F.T. And you see, the whole village, the whole place in the summer turned around the boat, because it was like Martha’s vineyard or (13)  Nantucket. In the early days, everybody came on the boat because they didn’t have cars particularly during the depression in the early nineteen twenties. People might have had a car but they didn’t take it to Crystal Beach. But everybody in Buffalo could take the streetcar down to the dock at the end of Commercial Street and take the hour ride to Crystal Beach and be there for the day or for the evening and have their swim and go back. But it was always a different crowd, an adult crowd, that came on the. late boat at night, eight o’clock, and then go back and dance there.

C.N. Are you saying the band played both on this boat, the Canadiana

and at the ballroom at Crystal Beach? But you were in the ballroom working?

F.T. Yes, and in the ballroom. Taking tickets, yes.

C.N. You said, “Everybody could do this.” These were’nt rich people? They were everyday people? Oh yes! Sure. Oh!

F.T. And young people. Marvelous young people. We had such great gangs of people here. And we all went to the ballroom at night. Everybody did. And we all went to the beach in the afternoon. You know, it was just a wonderful time. And then of course, we began to have the name bands at the ballroom too as the big bands became famous. And we would have •.• Almost all summer, Saturday night there’d be a big band. And my favourite orchestra was Jimmy Dorsey. And I was absolutely in love with Helen O’Connell. And I had all the records, you know, my old poor old seventy-eights on this scratchy Victrola that I played all these things. And then suddenly Jimmy Dorsey was coming. Can you imagine the excitement? So I met Helen O’Connell and Bob Everly and got their autographs on my poster. I was just so thrilled. And we had Benny Goodman and Tommy Dorsey. Oh, it’s so hard to do it all at once. But there was hardly a name band that we didn’t have. Larry Clinton. You name me some and they were probably here. And I can’t tell you the name of the orchestra. I just remember the girl singer was Louise King who I was terribly proud of. And then we had a terrible, terrible time one Labour Day. And I was working on the door (14) ( ( and Artie Shaw was corning. Well that was after .•• Like each year one of the big bands would become the band of the year. We had Jimmy Dorsey and Tommy Dorsey with Frank Sinatra and Benny Goodman and Glenn Miller of course, and then suddenly there was Artie Shaw playing.

 It  was a fascinating memory but it didn’t narrow down a firm date for Sinatra Dorsey at Crystal Beach.  Here was part of my reply:

Assuming Dorsey played a Saturday night, I checked gaps in our listings and every Saturday night from April to September in 1940, 1941, and 1942 are all accounted for in our listings.

I gained access to Ontario, Canada newspaper archives today and searched for Tommy Dorse or Sinatra for those years and nothing comes up except the Canadian National Exhibition dates for those years.

The post brought this response from one of our members:

But how do we account for all the people bearing witness ?

Dorsey’s name comes up again and again in the history of the Crystal

Lake Ballroom. I’m sure the band would have been welcomed any day

of the week. As Frank was fond of saying: Dorsey was the General

Motors of the big band era. Last week I read about an eye witness

describing how the young women were hovering near the stage and

squealing as Frankie crooned away.

Here’s how I responded:

I can’t account for it.  One person with no evidence to back it would convince me it didn’t happen but several people remembering it makes no sense.  This is like Sylvan Lake with Harry James.  It made no sense compared to the other evidence that he was still advertised at the World’s Fair and live remotes for a September 1st, 1939 for the World’s Fair were still being listed.  In the end, we know how that worked out with Sylvan Lake actually occurring.  I also found a previously unlisted Sylvan Lake in 1941 with Dorsey and Sinatra because of the research into Sylvan Lake.  So, anything’s possible.

The fact that the mock-poster for Crystal Lake exists is obviously based on someone’s belief or knowledge that Dorsey and Sinatra were there.  I’ve heard nothing from the contact I was given for the Fort Erie Times so I’ve reached out to them again.  Maybe my initial request went into someone’s spam.

I haven’t given up on Crystal Lake and I’m still trying to run down Schenectady.  The fact that Sinatra himself once said he played there with Dorsey is enough to send me searching.

Ok, so now I’ve thrown in Schenectady.  I’ll explain that in a bit.  My comment that my first inquiry to the archivist at the Fort Erie Times might have gone into spam was probably correct because I received the following email:

Hello Scott,

I didn’t get your previous email but the Museum can provide you with some background.

In 2009, William Kae wrote a book called “Crystal Beach Live – Buffalo and Toronto Entertainers & More”. There is information in that book regarding Tommy Dorsey playing at Crystal Beach Park. The following is taken from that book:

Page 199
“Jimmy and Tommy Dorsey had bands together and separately … Jimmy’s band came to Crystal Beach, as did Tommy’s, and after the brothers reconciled, the Dorsey Brothers Orchestra also played at the park. The Tommy Dorsey Orchestra under Warren Covington played Crystal Beach twice during the big band era and returned in 1988.”

Page 202
“Old Blue Eyes sang with the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra from 1939 through 1942. Tommy Dorsey, however, never played at Crystal Beach during those years. This poster has to be one of the biggest faux-pas on record.”  [ A photo of a poster is in the book and is and exact match to the poster that you attached to your email.]

We hope this helps your research project.

Regards,

Jane Davies
Manager
Fort Erie Museum and Cultural Services
Box 339, Ridgeway, ON
L0S 1N0

Thank you Jane Davies.  So much, for all those people who remember Sinatra being there. 

   So what about Schenectady?  One of our group, during the Sylvan Beach search had posted the following:

The search for this date reminded me of a tape I listened to many years ago.

               As the vamp started on “N.Y.,N.Y.,” Frank would sing out “Milwaukee” or “Alamogordo” or some other city

decidedly not measuring up to the Big Apple. On the night in question, he let out with “Schenectady.” Then Frank said

he had played there with Dorsey many years ago. Another time I received a call from the office of the writer William

Kennedy. They had heard Sinatra once played in our area with the Dorsey band. “Was it Schenectady ? or Albany?

or . . .” I told them I didn’t know.

               That band played a lot of one-nighters more than 80 years ago. And newspaper coverage was very meager

in relationship to what happens today.

   I began to research the Schenectady and Albany connections but to date have found nothing.  I have searched through Schenectady and Albany newspapers but have found nothing.  I have found some information that suggests Dorsey and Sinatra once played the Rain-Bo Room of the Kenmore Hotel in Albany.  Here’s one mention:  https://nippertown.com/2019/10/11/historic-albany-nightclub-once-frequented-featured-the-likes-of-frank-sinatra-cab-calloway-and-duke-ellington-to-reopen/:

Inside the expansive back room in the northwest corner of the old Kenmore Hotel hangs a drab, grey curtain concealing the last piece of history tied to the space.

The curtain protects a mural called “The Court of Cleopatra,” painted on the wall above a modest stage on which Frank Sinatra, Tommy Dorsey, Cab Calloway and Duke Ellington played. It’s a depiction of the Queen of Egypt, whose beauty was unparalleled and whose intelligence matched that of the powerful men she seduced, most notably Julius Caesar and Mark Antony. It’s placement high upon the wall implied that this was the room in which the masters of the universe was expected to frolic.

Unfortunately I couldn’t find any information to pinpoint a date or even prove that Dorsey and Sinatra were together at the Kenmore Hotel.  Of course Sinatra would sing at the Knickerbocker Arena in Albany on January 30th, 1990 and November 13th, 1991.  Sinatra was the first act to open the new Knickerbocker Arena when he played there in 1990 but  earlier appearances with Dorsey remain a mystery. 

   There are also other Sinatra concerts that people have alleged to have seen or heard about but never happened.  I recently came across the following website that mentions Sinatra at the Canadian National Exhibition in Toronto in 1948:  https://www.vintageinn.ca/tag/cne-history/.  That never happened.  Here’s what they posted:

In 1948 Frank Sinatra performed under the big tent.

I found this GREAT post on a Sinatra family forum page about his visit thru the eyes of an attendee, which I will share with you now.

I was able to retrieve a couple of memories from my Mom about the 1948 Concert held under the big tent at the CNE in Toronto.They are wonderful memories of a time totally lost. I asked her to try and write everything down when she feels up to it.

The tent was jammed to the limit with fans, and not one speck of trouble occurred. My mom remembers the wood floor that was layed out for the dancing. Can you imagine trying to pull that off nowadays? If we could only have times like that today!

She remembers his famous bow tie, and how all the girls were just swooning at the front of the stage.She had the best time. My parents’ seats (they were newly engaged at the time), along with my Uncle and Aunt were quite a distance from the stage, but the minute Frankie came on my Mom and Aunt were off like a shot, my Dad and Uncle following. As I mentioned before, she was right up to the stage, and loving every minute.You can imagine her excitement, as she’d been a bobby soxer through and through, buying every magazine, and record. And here she was FRONT AND CENTRE STARING UP AT HER IDOL! Hopefully she’ll be able to write her memories of this great time down.

Take Care,from the Second Generation of Sinatra Fans-Ann

I had a bit of a laugh last night, as my Mom recalled another interesting fact about the concert in Toronto.

There was a dance floor put up in front of the stage, and the guys were wanting to dance. The girls on the otherhand were just standing there staring at their beloved Frankie!!!! But then again what else would one expect! He was sooooo cute!!!

Here was my comment, which you can read in the comment section:

Hello,

I have done extensive research on Sinatra’s appearances in Canada and there’s no record of a 1948 CNE concert. He was with Dorsey at the CNE in 1941 in Toronto and then the Mutual Street Arena in 1949 in Toronto. He did not return to Toronto until 1975.

I think the guy’s mother is misremembering ( I know, it’s not a real word).

You can flip through images for the whole 1948 program for the CNE and the big draw was Olsen & Johnson. The program does not mention Sinatra:

https://www.icollector.com/1948-Canadian-National-Exhibition-Program_i33705507

I have access to the Toronto Star newspaper archives as well and I checked the daily listings for the CNE in August/September 1948 and Sinatra was not listed.

I am certain there was no performance by Sinatra at the CNE in 1948. The Grandstand opened that year and all the big draws were at the Grandstand and not in a tent.

I also wrote a blog about some of Sinatra’s Canadian appearances, including his CNE concerts:

SINATRA–CNE–1984–SEPTEMBER IN THE RAIN

Of course, I had to get a plug in for one of my blahgs.  If you read through the other comments on that page you will also find this comment: 

Hi Liz, do you know if there’s any evidence of Sinatra visiting or performing at the Brant inn in Burlington in the late 40’s? My grandmother worked there and claimed he ‘stole a kiss’ from her.

That never happened either.  I’ve done a comprehensive study of all of Sinatra’s performances in Canada and the CNE in 1948 in Toronto certainly wasn’t among them nor have I ever seen another mention of a possiblity of Sinatra at the Brant Inn in Burlington.  The only other reference to Sinatra in Canada that is left unanswered is a reference to The Curlu in Toronto.  From the Wikipedia entry for The Curlu, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Carlu, you will find this: 

Itself a highly regarded work of Art Moderne the Eaton’s Seventh Floor was at the heart of Toronto’s cultural life for many years. The Auditorium played host to the major performers of its day, including Billie Holiday, Duke Ellington and Frank Sinatra.

That’s one I don’t even know where to begin to try and verify.  I think I’ll leave it for now.  Maybe someday I’ll resolve the Schenectady/Albany question but I’m happy at least I had a hand in solving the Sylvan Beach and Crystal Beach mysteries.  There may be other mysteries but I’m taking a break for now…maybe for at least the next five minutes.

 

 

 

WHATEVER HAPPENED TO THAT BLAHG ON DOTTIE REID?

August 19th, 2023

Scott is still cool in 2023    What’s that phrase, Mea Culpa?  Maybe that’s not quite right.  That phrase means my fault or my apologies but I’m already admitting that.  I also don’t want to say “sorry, not sorry” because that’s not true either.  The fact is that there was a blahg I meant to write but put off for so long that I actually forgot about it.  I even forgot about the subject.  In two previous blahgs, 2021 – WHAT DID I ACCOMPLISH THIS YEAR?  and THE 2022 FALSE DUCKS VIDEO RAMBLE I mentioned that I was going to do a blahg on Dottie Reid.  I don’t remember the circumstances or if I did any research at the time.  I vaguely remember a title “Two Lucys and a Dottie” or “A Reid, A Reed, and a Polk.”  The reference in both was to the singers Dottie Reid, Lucy Reed, and Lucy Ann Polk.  I think I’ll save the two Lucys for another blahg and break out Dottie Reid and keep my promise to finally write a blahg dedicated to her.  Here goes. 

   As I said, I don’t remember what sparked my interest in Dottie Reid.  I think it came about as a result of research I did for my blahg, SOME FORGOTTEN SONGBIRDS where I had presented information and song samples of some now forgotten female singers; most of whom performed with big bands and orchestras.  I must have come across Dottie Reid because I became impressed by her singing and then of course immediately, or gradually, forgot about her.  Not today (or however long it takes me to write this blahg)! 

   A good resource to find out about vocalists with big bangs is the website, www.bandchirps.comHere’s the information they provided about Dottie Reid: 

Little Rock, Arkansas, native Dottie Reid sang with more bands than you could shake a stick at, rarely staying long in any. At first a brunette and then a blonde, Reid’s voice was once described by a reviewer as a mix of Anita O’Day with Jo Stafford.

Reid joined Gray Gordon’s newly reorganized orchestra on October 25, 1941, in Chicago. A month later she arrived in New York with only $30 in her pocket, looking for work. She quickly landed a singing job with the alternating house bands at the Stork Club, a job which lasted only one day. Bandleader Bob Allen, in need of a female vocalist for his new orchestra, received a tip about Reid from one of Down Beat magazine’s New York staff, and he went to listen. She joined his band the next day at the Rosemont in Brooklyn.[1] Allen’s band was broadcast on NBC, giving Reid a radio outlet.

By May 1942, Reid had moved on to Muggsy Spanier’s orchestra, taking over from Edythe Harper, who left to have a baby. With Spanier she made her first recording. In July, Reid was with Vido Musso’s band in the Midwest. Her stay was only temporary, however, as she preferred doing club work in New York. She left in August for Bob Astor’s orchestra, replacing Dell Parker. By December, she was with Barney Rapp and Artie Paulson.

By the first of 1943, Reid had joined Jack Teagarden’s band, where she settled longer than usual and might have stayed even longer had it not been for Teagarden. Tired of losing male vocalists to the draft, he decided to forego having a boy singer and use two females instead, alternating between them. To that end, he signed Phyllis Lane, who joined the band mid-July at the Orpheum in Los Angeles. Reid was less than thrilled with the arrangement, and she quit the band at the end of its stay at the theater, telling journalists that the experiment “didn’t work out very well.”[2]

On her own now, Reid remained in California, joining Dave Barbour’s new five-piece combo when it opened at George Grasel’s club in North Hollywood in mid-August. Barbour’s wife, vocalist Peggy Lee, was pregnant at the time and had no plans to perform until after she’d given birth. In late September, Reid teamed up with female boogie-woogie pianist Allein Lair at the Chi Chi in Palm Springs. The pair proved popular with the cocktail lounge crowd, and they were held over.

Reid was back on the bandstand by February 1944 with Robin Mohr’s orchestra. In July she was with Herbie Fields, but by October she was singing for Johnny Richards, with whom she recorded. A review at the time said Reid looked bored in Richards’ band and had bad stage manners. In April 1945, she joined George Paxton’s outfit, though she was dropped after less than a month. She then joined Randy Brooks in early June but stayed only a few days, leaving to tour with Benny Goodman for seven weeks. She made two recordings with the King of Swing.

After leaving Goodman, Reid sang solo at Kelly’s Stable in New York, where she stayed for several months. By February 1946, she had joined Buddy Rich’s band, where she also recorded. She remained with Rich until September when she returned to Kelly’s Stable, staying there until November. That month, she temped in Dean Hudson’s band at Roseland, trading jobs with singer Naomi Wright late that month, who had been performing in Miami. Reid stayed in Miami until late February 1947 when she returned to club work in New York.

In April, Reid sang for Chubby Jackson’s sextet at the bassist’s Esquire Club in Valley Stream on Long Island. Jackson, self-styled as the Happy Monster, favored wild, experimental jazz with advanced harmony, key changes and tempo switches. When patrons asked him to play something danceable or made sarcastic remarks about his decidedly undanceable rhythms, Jackson would often angrily exclaim, “This music is made for listening, not dancing.” Reid got a charge out of singing to Jackson’s group, never knowing what the musicians were going to do next to try and hang her up. She considered it great training.

On November 25, 1947, while touring with Spanier’s six-piece band, Reid had the unfortunate distinction of both opening and closing on the same night at the Blue Note in Chicago. Rumors flew as to the cause, with some saying she had developed tonsillitis, others saying Spanier had been difficult, and still others claiming that the club’s management hadn’t liked her and had fired her. The truth was that Reid, due to rehearsal difficulties prior to her arrival, didn’t sing with Spanier that night, instead only singing two songs accompanied by a pianist. In addition, Pat Flaherty, the vocalist from the other act on the bill, Herbie Fields’s combo, was on notice, and Fields indicated that she would only work for two weeks if at all. Club management, seeing that one woman wasn’t singing and the other only managed two songs, decided that paying the 20 percent federal tax levied on clubs that employed vocalists wasn’t worth it and asked Reid to leave. She returned to New York.

Other than a short stint with Buddy Morrow’s band in mid-1948, Reid stayed on the night club circuit throughout the rest of the 1940s and into the mid-1950s. On September 8, 1949, she married Sammy Kaye trombonist Mervyn Gold in New York. In September 1951, she appeared on television, taking over Nancy Reed’s spot on the Ted Steele show on WPIX in New York for four weeks. Reid returned to the bandstand in December 1956 when Goodman picked her as vocalist for his Far East tour. By May she had joined the Dorsey orchestra. Jimmy was in the hospital at the time and passed away in June. She remained with the band, which fell under the direction of Lee Castle. She soon returned to the night club circuit, however, where she continued to perform as late as 1966. She and Gold divorced in 1967.

Of course this information isn’t complete because despite listing a number of bands Dottie performed with, during her band hopping phase, the information above does not mention her performing with the band, Johnny Blowers and Gang.  In my blahg, 2021 – WHAT DID I ACCOMPLISH THIS YEAR?, here’s what I wrote regarding the recording with Blowers:

   I think I’ll quickly end this blahg before it becomes a brag fast.  Some of my blahgs this year introduced or reintroduced some forgotten bands, especially Bob Scobey, as well as some forgotten songbirds.  I was thinking about doing another blahg on some more forgotten songbirds, which I may yet do in 2022, but I’ll end this blahg with a song by one I recently discovered.  Her name is Dottie Reid and she only did a handful of recordings with bands led by Buddy Rich, Benny Goodman, and Muggsy Spanier.  There are also some live remotes available of recordings she did with these bands.  I’ll save those recordings and her biography for another blahg but I came across a V-Disc recording she did with Johnny Blowers and Gang in 1948.  Here’s an image of that V-Disc: 

Born To Be Blue V-Disc - Dottie Reid

Here’s her version of “Born To Be Blue”: 

The website www.discogs.com has a listing for this V-Disc, https://www.discogs.com/release/7909466-Dottie-Reed-Bea-Wain-Born-To-Be-Blue-Fools-Rush-In , and they reference the recording to 1948.  The BandChirps website concludes her big band association with by mentioning a short stint with Buddy Morrow in 1948.  So, we need to gather together some more information about what happened after 1948.  I did find an obituary of sorts but it doesn’t give a source: 

Died at age 97 in Arizona, United States.

Big band singer and jazz artist died on December 3, 2018 at age 97. Dottie sang with Jimmy Dorsey, Buddy Rich, and did a world tour with Benny Goodman. She was married to eminent trombonist Merv Gold (and later divorced). Born June 15, 1921 in Arkansas, she lived in New York and moved to Arizona in 2004. A lover of animals and music, she is survived by nieces and nephews, Rozanne Gold and Dr. Leon Gold, among others. Her beautiful voice will be missed.

Here’s a nice picture of Dottie Reid in her prime:  Dottie Reid

   It’s hard to create a definitive list of Dottie Reid’s recordings because I have not found an official discography.  From the BandChirp biography of Dottie and the obituary above, we can note that she made recordings with Benny Goodman, Muggsy Spanier, and Buddy Rich plus the recording with Johnny Blowers and Gang. 

   The earliest recording I have found for Dottie Reid was from June 1st, 1942 when she recorded with Muggsy Spanier and His Orchestra.  The song was “More Than You Know”

Muggsy Spanier & Dottie Reid - More Than You Know

   This is the only recording I have found from Dottie Reid with Muggsy Spanier.  She would rejoin Spanier in 1947 but they would not record together again.

   I have also discovered a discography for Johnny Richards and his orchestra that notes that Dottie Reid recorded with that band in 1944:

Johnny Reid Discography

Of interest in the above portion of the Johnny Richards discography is the entry for “I’m Gonna See My Baby” from December 4th, 1944 that notes a vocal by Dottie Reid.  Here is an image for the Musicraft 78 of that recording followed by the song below it:

 

 I'm Gonna See My Baby by Johnny Richards and his Orchestra; Dottie Reid;

 

   The following are the recordings she did with Benny Goodman in 1945: 

–It’s Only A Paper Moon

–I’m Gonna Love That Guy

Here are those two recordings: 

It's Only A Paper Moon 78

I'm Gonna Love That Guy 78

The website www.discogs.com also has an entry for a 2004 CD called “Benny’s Girls, Goodman’s Rare Songbirds” that features three tracks by Dottie Reid with Goodman and two of them are unreleased tracks.  Here are the images for the CD front and back cover:

Benny's Girls CD

Benny's Girls rear cover

The information on the CD lists the following tracks with vocals by Dottie Reid: 

–My Head Says Yes But My Heart Says No – Vocals – Dottie Reid

–How Little We Know (previously unreleased) – Vocals – Dottie Reid

–I’m Gonna Love That Guy (Like He’s Never Been Loved Before) (previously unreleased alternate take)

“How Little We Know” is listed as previously unreleased and the version of “I’m Gonna Love That Guy” on this CD is also previously unreleased because it was an alternate take.  I found a CD that has the Columbia matrix number for “It’s Only A Paper Moon”, “I’m Gonna Love That Guy”, “My Head Says Yes But My Heart Says No”, and “How Little We Know.”  All were apparently recorded on June 18, 1945.  Here’s “How Little We Know”:

   The song, “My Head Says Yes But My Heart Says No” was also previously unreleased.  Give it a listen: 

I could not find a source for the alternate take of “I’m Gonna Love That Guy” so I’m going to move on like Dottie did from Benny Goodman to another band. 

   The BandChirp biography above stated that by “February 1946, she had joined Buddy Rich’s band, where she also recorded.”  I found one Buddy Rich discography that mentions two 78rpm releases on Mercury of two songs by Dorothy Reid, “You’ve Got Me Crying Again” and “It Couldn’t Be True”:

Buddy Rich Dorothy Reid Discography

Here are “It Couldn’t Be True” followed by “You’ve Got Me Cryin’ Again”

 

   

   I’ve also found listings for other songs by Dorothy Reid with Buddy Rich with the titles “The Wonder Of You”,  “Mindin’ My Business”, “Where Did You Learn To Love?”, “Do You Love Me?”, “It Couldn’t Be True”,  “Just A-Sittin’ And A-Rockin’ “, “Personnality” and “Rumors Are Flying” but these all to be remotes from late 1945 and into 1946.  Some of these remotes are available and I’ve been able to extract a few of the Dorothy Reid songs. 

One of the earliest remotes or radio programs available is the Victory Parade of Spotlight Bands from December 24, 1945 from the Valley Forge General Hospital, Phoenixville, PA:Victory Parade of Spotlight Bands

This radio program was broadcast the day before Buddy Rich and Dorothy Reid opened at the Terrace Room in Newark, New Jersey.  Here’s the advertisement for their opening:

From that Victory Parade of Spotlight Bands broadcast, here is Dorothy Reid’s vocal on “Mindin’ My Business” followed by “I Can’t Begin To Tell You”:

 

  

   There are a couple of Buddy Rich albums featuring live remotes of his band, with Dorothy Reid, at the Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles.  They are inaptly titled “One Night Stand with Buddy Rich” and “One Night Stand with Buddy Rich Volume 2”.   I say inaptly because the first record features selections from Buddy Rich’s band at the Hollywood Palladium March 27th and 28th, 1946.  “Volume 2” features selections from Buddy Rich and company from the Hollywood Palladium on March 21, March 27th, and March 28th, 1946.  None of the tracks from March 27th from the first album are repeated in the selections from the same date on the second album.  Here are the covers for both albums on the Joyce label:

One Night Stand with Buddy Rich - 1946

One Night Stand With Buddy Rich Volume 2

The tracks featuring Dorothy Reid from the first album are “I’m Always Chasing Rainbows” from March 27th, 1946 while “Day By Day” and “You’ve Got Me Crying Again” are from March 28th, 1946. 

Here’s “I’m Always Chasing Rainbows” from March 27th:

Next up is “Day By Day” from March 28th:

Here’s the live version of “You’ve Got Me Cryin’ Again” from March 28th.  Note that the announcer makes reference to the recording of “You’ve Got Me Crying Again” which was done for Mercury on February 5th, 1946.

   “One Night Stand With Buddy Rich Volume 2” features the song “Personality” from March 21, 1946 at the Hollywood Palladium, “Do You Love Me” from March 27th at the Palladium, and “Just A-Sittin’ And A-Rockin’ ” from March 28th.  I haven’t been able to track down a copy of the album but someone has posted a version of “Just A-Sittin’ And A-Rockin’ ” on YouTube which they reference as being from ” 3/1946″ which is probably from the Hollywood Palladium:

The same person who posted that song also has another version of “Day By Day” with Buddy Rich and Dorothy Reid from the Quonset Naval Air Station, Rhode Island on January 25, 1946:

I have not found a source to stream “Do You Love Me” or “Personality” but apparently Dorothy also performed the song “Oh! What It Seemed To Be” on March 21, 1946 at the Palladium and that recording is available to stream on YouTube:

   Buddy Rich and Dorothy Reid were still at the Hollywood Palladium in April of 1946 and a couple of songs are available from a live remote on April 16, 1946, “The Wonder Of You” and “It Couldn’t Be True (Or Could It?)”.  Both are available on YouTube and you can hear the announcer reference the studio recording of “It Couldn’t Be True”:

   In August of 1946 Dorothy was still with Buddy Rich and there is a live remote of Buddy Rich and Dorothy from the Aquarium Restaurant in New York, on August 9, 1946.  From that broadcast we can hear Dorothy’s vocal on “Rumors Are Flying”:

   There may be other remotes available for Dorothy Reid with Buddy Rich but I haven’t come across any others.   I did find this review from Billboard magazine May 11, 1946 of Dottie Reid with Buddy Rich at the Golden Gate Theatre in San Francisco on May 1, 1946 and Dottie is referenced as having sung “Where Did You Learn To Love Like That?”  Unfortunately, I cannot find a remote of her singing the song.

Dottie Reid in San Francisco

Essentially, Dottie or Dorothy Reid’s recording output also slowed after her last recordings with Buddy Rich in February of 1946.  There is, of course, the VDisc recording she did in 1948 with Johnny Blowers but the next listing I can find for a Dottie Reid recording is the following reference from the May 23, 1953 issue of Billboard: 

Dottie Reid on Tonex

I came up with a blank in terms of other information for this recording, an image, or even the ability to stream it from somewhere.  The June 6th, 1953 issue of Billboard does make reference to two recordings by Dottie Reid with Tonex that may have been issued on the Twentieth Century label.  Unfortunately there’s no information about the songs themselves:

Dottie Reid 20th Century

   So that ends the musical offerings I have for Dottie Reid.  The BandChirps biography helped detail most of the bands with which she performed or recorded.  I want to offer up some nice photos of Dottie Reid during her big band era.  Here’s a wonderful photo of her with Chubby Jackson from July of 1947:

Dottie Reid also made the cover of the August 25, 1948 issue of Down Beat magazine: 

Down Beat August 25, 1948

That’s it for now.  Have I done justice to Dottie Reid?  Maybe, maybe not.  Time certainly hasn’t because she should have been better known and there should be a CD or some kind of compilation of her recordings and all of her live remotes.  I’ll keep looking and see what I else I can find. 

   Not bad for a blahg I forgot that I had committed to.

GET LOST GALANZ!

August 10th, 2023

   This is a short update to a blahg I wrote a couple of months ago.  That blahg was THE NEW WASHING MACHINE AND THE NEW DISHWASHER. GUESS WHICH ONE I HATE?  In that blahg I detailed how my new Galanz dishwasher broke down and my attempts to get Galanz to be responsible had failed.  I had started emailing Galanz on February 26th of this year and after a few emails and phone calls I was promised in an email on May 11th that I would receive a full refund no later than June 12th.  I never received the promised “cheque is in the mail” from Galanz and I continued to email and phone them over the next 6 weeks before giving up.  It was the same old thing.  I would escalate it to a supervisor and they would promise to get back to me within a week and nothing would happen.  They said the cheque had been lost in the mail and they were going to look into issuing a new one.  I never heard from them again and no cheque ever arrived.  I put a screw in the loose metal strip that was causing the problem and put silicone around it.  Problem solved.  As for Galanz, I researched and found the promised “cheque in the mail” was a scam they pulled with many customers. Check out this website to see complaints regarding Galanz and how they never resolve their customers’ issues:

https://www.bbb.org/us/nj/ridgefield-pk/profile/manufactured-home-supplies/galanz-americas-ltd-co-0221-90184883/complaints

DON’T EVER PURCHASE A GALANZ PRODUCT!  YOU WILL REGRET IT!!

 

ANOTHER BAKER’S DOZEN MORE FOUND VINYL RECORDS

June 14th, 2023

    Back in April, I wrote another of my found vinyl blahgs with the unique title of A BAKER’S DOZEN MORE FOUND VINYL RECORDS.  I featured 13 records I had purchased over the past year or so and I provided background information as well as selections from each album.  I decided to browse through my record collection and find 13 more.  Some I’ve had for a few years and others were recent purchases.  Some are more interesting than others while some have never seen any other releases than these vinyl representations.  It’s not a baker’s dozen of delicious doughnuts but I think there’s something in here to please almost anyone…except fans of modern music…but don’t get me started.

   I thought I would share some photos of my stereo setup as well as my record collection.  Here’s a shot of my main record shelf:

My Record Shelf

I don’t normally have a bag of yarn sitting in front of my shelf.  There are four rows to the unit with all Sinatra records on the top shelf and a mixture of Big Bands, Vocalists, Harry Chapin, Billy Joel, Hoagy Carmichael, Dixieland bands, and Christmas albums across the other shelves.  I also have an overflow section on the bottom of another book shelf:

additional records

These are records I have played but haven’t made their way to the main shelf.  I also have a stack of records next to my stereo setup:

My Stereo Setup

The stereo consists of a double cassette player, CD player, receiver, and my Yamaha turntable on top.  That’s a wedding picture of my wife and I on the right.  It was taken in 1987…but that’s another blahg.

   In the last Baker’s Dozen blahg I ended off with some tracks by Bunny Berigan from a recent addition to my collection with the dubious title of “The Greatest White Trumpeter of All Time Bunny Berigan.”  I had referenced three other Berigan albums I had in my collection which I owned because they had tracks by Frank Sinatra when Berigan and Sinatra were with Tommy Dorsey.  I began culling my vinyl stash and I found one more Bunny Berigan album but it had no connection to Sinatra or Dorsey.  The title of this one is “Take It, Bunny!” 

Take It Bunny Front

Take It Bunny Rear

Most of these tracks are from the mid to late 1930s and feature Berigan with his own and band and playing as a sideman with other bands.  The very first track is Bunny Berigan’s theme song, “I Can’t Get Started.”  It’s from 1936 and features Berigan’s trumpet talent and Berigan’s vocal. 

Although all of the other tracks feature Berigan with many talented musicians, I want to offer up the second track on this album because it’s Berigan performing with the famous Glenn Miller.  The track is “Solo Hop” recorded on April 25, 1935. 

  

   The “Solo Hop” track from Glenn Miller and Bunny Berigan had a real dixieland vibe to it and dixieland is going to be a theme in this blahg.  Within the past two months I picked up the 1960 album “That Happy Dixieland Jazz” by Jimmy McPartland And His Dixielanders. 

That Happy Dixieland Jazz Front

That Happy Dixieland Jazz Rear

   I’ll be honest that I love Dixieland and when I see an album in a thrift store bin that falls into that category then I’m going home with it.  I had never heard of Jimmy McPartland so this was a good introduction.  But where to start when this album is filled with nothing but Dixieland classics?  Why not start with a song that gives a nod to the alleged birthplace of Dixieland: New Orleans.  Here’s “Way Down Yonder in New Orleans” and it features McPartland doing a vocal. 

If you have to choose another Dixieland classic performed by so many other bands, why not go with the old chestnut, “When The Saints Go Marching In”?  I find McPartland’s version refreshingly different and we are treated to another vocal by McPartland.

   I didn’t want to just drop in Jimmy McPartland and then dash along to someone else.  Over two blahgs, I gave a nod to Bunny Berigan more than once so I thought I’d offer something else by McPartland.  I came across a reference to an album that McPartland did where he covered songs from the musical “The Music Man.” The 1958 album is aptly titled “The Music Man” Goes Dixieland.

Of course it’s probably weird to hear anyone cover “Ya Got Trouble” other than the great Robert Preston but if you want to hear what Jimmy McPartland can do on the vocal, give a listen. Oh yeah, the instrumental parts are pretty good, too!

Slowing it down a little, here’s McPartland’s treatment of “Goodnight My Someone.”  Strictly instrumental this one. 

I’m definitely going to have a look out for that album.

 

   The Dixieland theme continues with our next album but the songs are all vocals from a group called The Cheerleaders.  The album is from 1958 on the Carlton album and is “The Cheerleaders Sing Dixieland Jazz”. 

The Cheerleaders Sing Dixieland Jazz

The Cheerleaders Sing Dixieland Jazz (rear)

I could not find out much about The Cheerleaders.  Most of the information is from the back cover: 

What makes a “good group”? The answer is obviously a personal one and each of us would define it in his own terms. But there are certain things that must be common to both your definition and mine: The Cheerleaders sing in tune. Now there’s a gimmick in itself. Pat Pinney, Donna Manners, Tom Roddy, and Joe Pryor (as you listen from the top voice down) work as a unit – no one is flying off on an irresponsible tangent like a loose neutron which has just spotted a pretty female proton next door. There is cohesiveness in the way The Cheerleaders perform. A unity that can only verify their having been together since 1950, and digging it!

The shame of the music business is sometimes its lack of immediate recognition for deserving artists. There are many logical and illogical reasons for this which we needn’t burden ourselves with here. Suffice to say that The Cheerleaders, although perhaps new to your record player, have a large and loyal following thanks to appearances in such diverse media as New York’s “Blue Angel”, Palace Theatre, and T.V.’s Dave Garroway, Tennessee Ernie, Betty Hutton and Frank Sinatra shows.

I also found a site that posted this review of the album from Billboard Magazine on November 17, 1958:

“The bright, bouncy sound achieved by The Cheerleaders in this platter is more in the mood of the old Pied Pipers and Modernaires groups than anything that came out of New Orleans. About half of the songs are “semi-Dixie” treatments of oldies like “Copenhagen,” and the rest, like “Woodchoppers’ Ball,” are almost straight swing vocals. Nice stereo work, with singers “centred” before Side Robin’s ork. rather than confined to one channel. Group’s fans should like it.”

Let’s start then with selections from the album.  Since the Billboard article says that “Copenhagen” is “semi-Dixie” then let’s give it a listen: 

The next selection slows it down a bit on “Nocturne For The Blues”: 

   The Internet Movie Database page for The Cheerleaders, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1318579/ lists some appearances by The Cheerleaders in 1954 on The Red Skelton Show and The Nat King Cole Show.  I could not find videos for these but The Cheerleaders also appeared on Gary Crosby’s summer 1954 radio show and the audio is available for that appearance.  Gary Crosby was, of course, the son of Bing Crosby and duets with The Cheerleaders on one of the numbers.  Is it a duet if it’s Gary plus the four Cheerleaders?  Regardless, here’s that duet on a song called “Red Top:” 

The program aired on August 15, 1954 and also featured a guest appearance by Frank Sinatra.  Sinatra did not sing with The Cheerleaders but they did get to do a solo effort on a song called “This Must Be The Place:” 

As far as I can tell, this is the only album put out by The Cheerleaders.  Discogs, https://www.discogs.com/release/10925346-The-Cheerleaders-Dollar-Bill-Second-Hand-Rose/image/SW1hZ2U6MzA1NDY4ODU= also lists a promo 45rpm record featuring two songs, “Dollar Bill and “Second Hand Rose.”  No date is given for the release and I couldn’t find audio of those two songs.  Here, at least, are images of the two sides of the record: 

  

   Let’s move on to some more instrumental music before getting back into the vocal albums.  Here’s one I almost forgot to include.  I normally record the album and then take a picture of the front and rear covers so I can post them.  Well, I took the photo but forgot to record the LP.  The album is “Dixieland Left And Right” featuring Johnny Best And His All Stars & Dick Cathcart And His All Stars.  Here are the photos I took of the front and rear of the jacket: 

Johnny Best And His All Stars And Dick Cathcart And His All Stars – Dixieland Left And Right

Johnny Best And His All Stars And Dick Cathcart And His All Stars – Dixieland Left And Right Rear

Notice that the rear cover has nothing to add, information wise, than to provide the track listings.  It’s possible that the inner liner, which mine is missing, might have contained more information because there was a gatefold edition where the inside opened like a book to reveal more details.  Here’s a picture of what the gatefold version looked like: 

Johnny Best And His All Stars And Dick Cathcart And His All Stars – Dixieland Left And Right - Gatefold

I couldn’t find a larger or clearer image for the gatefold jacket but we can see it does contain more information than the front or rear covers combined. Here’s the introduction to the record:

About the Sounds…

This music is exhilarating, energized, effusive and ebullient Dixieland jazz.

It’s Two Bands – set in the most compelling and intriguing manner yet with both taste and tantalization.

Arranger Matty Matlock, trumpet leaders John Best and Dick Cathcart and Mercury Recording Director David Carroll present here, with artistry and artifice, something new, something fresh, something unique.

Instead of typing out all of the information for all of the recordings, I will only provide the relevant information to two of the tracks.  The first is “Little Sir Echo.”  Here’s what the gatefold information has to say: 

LITTLE SIR ECHO

This number is, of course, ideal for the two band “echo” answering idea.

   The introduction has “A” band (L) and “B” band (R) supplying the “echoes.” At 0.52 the second chorus starts with a bass solo (Marty Corb) from “B” band in the right channel. Then comes an interlude with “A” band (L) answered by the “B” ensemble on the other side. The third chorus starts with a guitar solo from the “B” guitarist (Allan Reuss) on the right and after a further answering engagement, the arrangement finishes with both bands eventually together.

Give a listen to “Little Sir Echo:”

The next tune has always been a favourite when I’ve heard it by vocalists or bands.  The song is “Please Don’t Talk About Me When I’m Gone.”  Here’s what the liner notes say about this version. 

PLEASE DON’T TALK ABOUT ME WHEN I’M GONE

“Another trumpet player’s favorite,” asserts Matty Matlock.

   Trumpet-leader Best plays the first half of the charge – from his place in “A” based on the left. There are xylophone figures from both channels. The bridge is taken by the xylophone alone on the left (Gene Eaton). The last eight measures features vibraphone (Frank Flynn) on the right side.
The second chorus highlights the “B” band – on the right – with the banjo.
The last chorus brings in both bands. There’s an amazing break with tuba on the right channel in unison with xylophone on the left. The bridge has here drum breaks on the left (Jack Sperling) followed by drummer Nick Fatool in band “B” on the right. For the last eight bars the complete ensemble brings the number in a happy Dixieland close

Here’s “Please Don’t Talk About Me When I’m Gone:”

It’s an interesting concept to have two different bands playing in opposing speakers on the left and right.  To my knowledge and research, it does not appear that Johnny Best and His All Stars & Dick Cathcart and His All Stars ever recorded together again. 

   Johnny Best passed away in 2003.  His obituary from the San Diego Union Tribune newspaper provides us with a little more information about him:

September 28, 2003

His trumpet solos punctuated some of the most familiar tunes of the big-band era, helping to define and shape the sounds of such legends as Glenn Miller and Artie Shaw.

As he rose to prominence, Johnny Best exhibited a quality uncommon to musicians of his time: easily adapting to the varying arrangements, parameters and personalities of rival bands.

“It was quite a feat, being able to play in two of the most popular bands of the era,” said Dan Del Fiorentino, curator of the Museum of Making Music in Carlsbad. “Johnny left a unique mark, and the big-band era wouldn’t have been the same without him.”

Mr. Best, whose trumpet solos were featured in such big-band hits as “Stardust” and “Frenesi,” died Sept. 19 at his La Jolla home. He was 89.

“He had a good sound on the instrument,” said Billy May, a former band leader and musical contemporary. “Playing the trumpet can be an endurance contest with your lip, and Johnny had command. He played on ‘Begin the Beguin,’ which put Artie Shaw in business.”

Although the popularity of big bands began to fade in the 1950s, Mr. Best’s talents remained in demand. After World War II, he performed with an array of notable band leaders, including May, Benny Goodman, Bob Crosby, Tommy Dorsey, Ray Conniff and Harry James.

He also worked steadily as a studio musician, often commuting to Hollywood in the late 1950s after buying an avocado ranch in Pauma Valley.

In recent years, which found him playing at San Diego venues, he had been working on an oral history of his career. At the urging of his family, he recorded his memories on tape, which his stepchildren hope to convert into a book.

“On top of everything, Johnny was a really nice guy,” Del Fiorentino said. “He got a lot of solo work because everybody liked him. Sitting and talking to him, I got the sense that he was more than just a little passionate about what he did.

“It was his life – and he loved it.”

John McClanian Best, a La Jolla resident since 1967, was born in Shelby, N.C. He formed his own orchestra in high school and played in bands at Duke University and Davidson College.

Before World War II, he played with the Les Brown, Charlie Barnet, Artie Shaw and Glenn Miller bands. He played for the Shaw hits “Frenesi,” “Traffic Jam” and “Old, Old Castle in Scotland.”

His trumpet solo on the 1940 Miller hit “Stardust” was among his most memorable and a personal favorite.

“He had this lilt – an unorthodox way of changing chords, of going from A to B, so to speak,” Del Fiorentino said, “A casual listener might say, ‘That’s interesting.’ But if you were a musician, your mouth dropped.” During the war, Mr. Best served in the Navy and played in Shaw’s Navy band, entertaining troops in Europe and the South Pacific. “He was part of a great trumpet section with Frank Beach and Conrad Gozzo,” May said.

In “Orchestra Wives,” a 1942 movie featuring the music of the Glenn Miller Orchestra, Mr. Best’s trumpet solo on “At Last” was among three hit songs featured. Except in creating the music, actor John Payne took the part of Mr. Best on screen.

Mr. Best played on V-disc recordings, distributed during World War II by the U.S. government to military personnel overseas. “He felt he was serving his country in two ways, through the band and the V-discs that boosted morale,” Del Fiorentino said. “He was a real patriot who loved his country.”

Mr. Best’s postwar career included sessions with Billie Holiday, Frank Sinatra, Louis Armstrong and Nat “King” Cole.

After settling in California in the 1950s, he played in various combos in nightclubs in the San Diego and Los Angeles areas.

“When he wasn’t picking avocados in his orchard in Pauma Valley, he organized and managed frequent jazz concerts in the San Diego area as well as fronting for groups on extended overseas tours,” said stepdaughter Elizabeth Frazee.

In 1967, he married Mary Lou Janis, a La Jolla widow. He settled in La Jolla but often visited his avocado ranch, where in 1982 a fall from a tree broke his back and left him a paraplegic.

During two months of recovery at UCSD Medical Center, he entertained hospital staff and patients on his trumpet, Frazee said.

Using a wheelchair, Mr. Best continued to play and travel, performing until 2001. “He practiced every day until about six months ago,” said stepdaughter Marie Janis.

He often played the first notes of the song “Mary Lou” to beckon his wife from another room in their home, Janis said. Similar fanfares greeted other family members whose names corresponded to song titles or lyrics.

Mr. Best’s wife died in September 1996 during the couple’s trip to Hobart, Australia.

Survivors include a brother, Herman Best of Charlotte, N.C.; stepchildren, Leonard Janis of Chula Vista; Theil Shelton, Elizabeth Frazee and Louise Duchein, all of Santa Barbara; Paul Janis and Susan Edwards, both of San Diego; Barbara Kennedy of Palmdale; Robert Janis of St. Petersburg, Fla.; and Marie Janis of La Jolla; and 11 grandchildren.

Private services were scheduled.

Donations are suggested to San Diego Hospice or the John Best Memorial Book Fund Trust in care of San Diego National Bank. The fund was established to create a book of Mr. Best’s life story based on the oral history he recorded.

I don’t know if the book of Johnny Best’s memories was ever published but in 1998, Johnny Best did an extensive video interview with Monk Rowe for the Hamilton College Jazz Archive in San Diego.  The entire video, running well over an hour, is available on YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQWk99bSpWQ

   Dick Cathcart passed away in 1993.  He had a featured obituary in the New York Times on November 12, 1993:

Dick Cathcart Obit

There are some wonderful videos of Dick Cathcart performing on the Lawrence Welk Show but I particularly enjoyed the following one that featured Cathcart prominently on trumpet along with the Lennon Sisters, including his wife Peggy, on the Dixieland standard “Ja-Da”: 

 

 

   I’ll be honest that the following record from 1962 did not turn out to be one of my favourites.  The album cover was appealing and you’d think with the title “Red Hot & Peppy Fields” that it would be more appealing.  Have a look at the covers: 

Red Hot & Peppy Fields Album Front

Red Hot & Peppy Fields Album Rear

The take away is the word “belting” which is used a few times on the liner notes. 

“Red Hot & Peppy” is a collection of familiar Blues and Ballads and Ragtime Tunes belted with a bucketful of bright cheer.

Here is a singer, belting like they used to, selling like you liked them to. Remember? And all the belting and the selling so neatly tied up in this package will stir you right up to the top of your total recall.

That seems to be the problem with this album.  She’s belting them out but I find it too brassy for my tastes.  I like the band behind her but we don’t get any information who they were.  Still, listen for yourself and see what you think.  Give a listen to “Bye Bye Blackbird:” 

You would think that a Dixieland standard like “Bill Bailey, Won’t You Please Come Home” might stand up well but, again, the instruments work well but get drowned out by Peppy Fields: 

The rear cover mentions that Peppy’s brother was Irving Fields.  “Red Hot & Peppy Fields” does not feature her brother Irving but Peppy did release a single with the Irving Fields Trio featuring the songs “After You’ve Gone” and “Some Of These Days.”  Here’s the photo cover:

Peppy Fields with the Irving Fields Trio

I could not find anywhere to listen to those two songs online.  Peppy Fields passed away in 1998 at the age of 1993. 

The Irving Fields Trio were a little more popular and they even appeared in two Soundies.  I have mentioned Soundies in a few blahgs and this is usually the description I used:

“Soundies are three-minute American musical films, produced between 1940 and 1947, each containing a song, dance, and/or band or orchestral number. Produced professionally on 35mm black-and-white film, like theatrical motion pictures, they were printed in the more portable and economical 16mm gauge.

The films were shown in a coin-operated “movie jukebox” called the Panoram, manufactured by the Mills Novelty Company of Chicago. Each Panoram housed a 16mm RCA film projector, with eight Soundies films threaded in an endless-loop arrangement. A system of mirrors flashed the image from the lower half of the cabinet onto a front-facing screen in the top half. Each film cost 10 cents to play, and there was no choice of song; the patron saw whatever film was next in the queue. Panorams could be found in public amusement centers, nightclubs, taverns, restaurants, and factory lounges, and the films were changed weekly. The completed Soundies were generally made available within a few weeks of their filming, by the Soundies Distributing Corporation of

Here’s a nice Soundie of “I guess I Took Too Much For Granted” with Leona Fredericks doing the vocals with The Irving Fields Trio:

If you really want to hear The Irving Fields Trio swing then check out this Soundie of the trio doing “Mexican Hotfoot”:

Irving Fields died in 2016 at the age of 101.  He published an autobiography entitled “The Pianos I Have Known.” 

In 2015, at the age of 100, Irving Fields gave an interview about his tips for longevity: 

To me, that’s more interesting than his sister Peppy’s album. 

 

   Keeping with the vocal side but continuing with Dixieland, here’s an album I picked up that did not disappoint.  It’s the 1960 album, “Eydie in Dixieland” featuring Eydie Gormé.  I won’t quibble that the album title actually hyphenates “Dixie-land.” 

Eydie in Dixie-land Front

Eydie in Dixie-land Rear

If there is one drawback to this album it’s that we don’t get a list of the musicians backing Eydie.  We can see that Don Costa arranged and produced the album but there’s no information about the band playing on each number.  Oh well, we’ll have to just let the music speak for itself.  Where to begin when offering up tracks?  Most of the songs are well known in the Dixieland circles but the song “Limehouse Blues” struck me as one that isn’t really is well known on the vocal side.  Here’s Eydie’s version:

I thought the other track I would present would be a comparison piece.  I lamented how Peppy Fields’ version of “Bill Bailey, Won’t You Please Come Home” didn’t do anything for me.  Listen to what a singer like Eydie can do with the old chestnut:

I won’t talk further about Eydie Gormé.  I will mention, however, a personal note.  I was privileged to see Eydie Gormé with her husband Steven Lawrence perform along with Frank Sinatra as part of his Diamond Jubilee World Tour.  They came to Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto on November 12th, 1991. 

Sinatra Gorme Poster 1991

The Diamond Jubilee ticket stub

I found that Steve and Eydie were a bit schmaltzy by 1991 but I enjoyed them.  I taped the concert on a mini cassette-recorder.  I remember converting Steve & Eydie’s portion to a digital file but I’d have to go looking for it.

 

 

   Okay, so let’s move back to the instrumental but still keeping with the Dixieland theme.  This time it’s Kings of Dixieland Volume 2 from 1959:

Kings of Dixieland Volume 2 Front

Kings of Dixieland Volume 2 Rear

What is it about Dixieland bands with striped coats and straw hats posing on old cars?  Check out the cover of the one and only album put out by Canada’s own “Bridge City Dixieland Jazz Band”:

By the way, if you want to find out more about the “Bridge City Dixieland Jazz Band” then you check out two of my other blahgs, ZOEY, FRANK, JUNE & ALL THAT JAZZ and BRIDGE CITY AGAIN, PIRATES, AND HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO CANADA! 

   Getting back to Kings of Dixieland, you will note that this is Volume Two on the Crown Records label.  If you check out the band’s listing on Discogs, https://www.discogs.com/artist/2254890-Kings-Of-Dixieland you will notice that the listings for Kings of Dixieland on the Crown Record label run up to Volume 8 but there is no listing for Volume 1.  I guess that makes sense because you don’t call your first album Volume 1 unless you know you’re going to issue other Volume titled records.  The only album in the discography listing for Kings of Dixieland on Crown Records without “Volume” in the title is “The Fantabulous Kings Of Dixieland”:

The Fantabulous Kings Of Dixieland

Is this Volume 1?  Check out the musicians listed on “The Fantabulous Kings Of Dixieland”:

Bass – Marty Corb
Clarinet – Matty Matlock
Drums – Ben Pollack
Piano – Clyde Ridge
Saxophone – Jack Ordean
Trombone – Ray Conniff
Trumpet – Clyde Hurley, Dick Cathcart

Now check out the musicians listed for the Volume 2 LP: 

Bass, Horn [Bass] – Red Callender
Clarinet – Heinie Beau
Drums – Nick Fatool
Guitar – George Van Eps
Liner Notes – Frank Evans (3)
Piano – Ray Sherman
Saxophone – Eddie Miller (2)
Trombone – Moe Schneider
Trumpet – Dick Cathcart

Only Dick Cathcart repeats on Volume 2.  Yes, the same Dick Cathcart that I highlighted earlier in this blahg who played on “Dixieland Left And Right”.  For kicks, I checked out the musician ensemble for Volume Three and here’s what we learn:

Bass, Tuba [Bass Horn] – Red Callender
Clarinet – Matty Matlock
Drums – Milt Holland, Nick Fatool
Guitar – Allan Reuss
Liner Notes – John Marlo
Piano – Ray Sherman
Tenor Saxophone – Eddie Miller (2)
Trombone – Moe Schneider
Trumpet – Dick Cathcart

Many of the same musicians from Volume Two appear on Volume Three.  Matty Matlock who played clarinet on “The Fantabulous Kings Of Dixieland” is back on Volume Three.  Maybe it was a rotating group of musicians with some subbing for others based on their availability to record at the time.  Let’s just give up trying to figure it out and get on with presenting the music.  Here’s the very first track, “New Washington And Lee Swing”:

Here’s another from the album with a title I don’t usually associate with Dixieland.  This time it’s “Wait Till The Sun Shines Nellie” and it’s given a true Dixieland treatment:

 

   Now for a change of pace.  Next up is “AMF Presents Music For Swingers”…no not those kind of Swingers.  As the cover says, the record is “Dedicated to the millions of swingers in the United States and all over the world who regularly enjoy the fun of bowling.” 

Music For Swingers Front

Music For Swingers Rear

There is nothing from the rear cover that gives us any mention of the musicians who played on this album or even what the AMF stood for.  I thought the AMF might have something do with Bowling but couldn’t make the initials work.  I also thought the AMF might have be the American Music Federation or something like that.  The only real clue was the sentence that starts “One particular song, the “Swingers Theme,” originated as the music for a jingle used in a series of television commercials produced for AMF.”  The liner notes credit the song “Swingers Theme” to a Ben Allen.  When I tried researching the song title with the name “Ben Allen”, I came up with this listing from the “Catalog of Copyright Entries Third Series” from 1969:

Swingers Theme Copyright Entry

Here we learn not only is Swingers Theme attributed to Ben Allen but is associated with the American Machine & Foundry Co.  That is not at all what I thought AMF stood for.  So why is the American Machine & Foundry Co associated with Bowling?  Well, this comes from the Richland County, Ohio, History website, https://richlandcountyhistory.com/2021/09/26/how-shelby-launched-the-golden-age-of-bowling-1953/, and provides us with the connection:

How Shelby AMF Launched The Golden Age of Bowling : 1953

The Golden Age of Bowling in the United States took place in the 1950s and ‘60s, and the epicenter of all that fun was Shelby, Ohio. That was where AMF had its Bowling Division factory, and it was their job to produce every sort of innovative new aspect of the sport that eventually came to be the standard bowling experience across the nation.

The number of Bowling Alleys in the USA went from 6,000 in 1955 to 11,000 by 1963, and during this same period, the number of people in Bowling Leagues rose from just under 3 million to over 7 million. Without question, this explosion of popularity can be attributed to one single factor: the automatic pinsetter.

America’s pinsetter machines were manufactured in Shelby. In fact, within a year of locating their bowling operations to Shelby, AMF began calling it the Pinspotter Division.

Before that revolutionary concept of bowling was introduced, every alley required a team of pinsetter boys who ran up from behind to stand the bowling pins back up. When AMF invented the robotic system that could mechanically collect and re-set pins in the alley, the game moved much more quickly.

Frank Gilbert told me he was one of the pinsetters as a kid, and sometimes the bowling alley would let them bowl for free if they set their own pins.

It didn’t take bowlers long to get used to the idea that re-placing the pins could be so quick, and right away every bowling alley in America wanted them. That was when AMF bought the empty Shelby Cycle factory to set up shop producing pinsetter machines.

It was a complex operation in 1953 when the factory opened, and in the first few frames of its production it took 200 Shelby folks to turn out 200 pinsetter machines a month.

Within a year there were 500 people, and by the time Shelby had established itself as the most important bowling hub of the nation there were 950 employed in the game.

I haven’t been able to find the audio or even video for the jingle that featured “Swingers Theme.”  At least, I can present the version of that song from this album: 

Before I offer another song from the album, I want to post a video of a song called “Bowling Brings Out The Swinger In You” from 1967.  That phrase appears at the bottom of the front cover of “AMF Presents Music For Swingers.”  This video is the audio for the 45rpm record of The Twilights, an Australian group, singing “Bowling Brings Out The Swinger In You”: 

“Bowling Brings Out The Swinger In You” and “Swingers Theme” sound the same to me.  Check out the labels for the 45rpm single: 

At the bottom, in both label images, you can make out that the song is copyrighted by the American Machine & Foundry Co.  The 45rpm record was 1967 and was sold or given away in bowling alleys and so probably was the album ““AMF Presents Music For Swingers.” 

   So what other track do I post here from this album?  The first side is mostly swinging tracks but things slow down a bit with the strings for the “B” side.  Why not present a song that speaks to what you do after the bowling is over.  It’s all about “Headin’ Home:”

   I bet you didn’t think I could get so much out of an album dedicated to Bowling!  Watch those balls! 

  

   This blahg, which is supposed to present a baker’s dozen albums, is going to blow past that.  I’ve already done that when I presented tracks from the Jimmy McPartland album ” ‘The Music Man’ Goes Dixieland”; an album I don’t even own.  I even presented some soundies from the the Irving Fields Trio and a 45 about bowling by The Twilights!  So why not slip in two albums by the same artist that came to me from two different thrift stores?  The first one I purchased was the 1962 album “Dixieland (Live Performance In New Orleans)” featuring Pete Fountain. 

Dixieland- Pete Fountain Front

Dixieland- Pete Fountain Rear

At least this album provides us with a list of the musicians performing with Pete Fountain.  Here’s the line-up

Clarinet – Harry Shields, Pete Fountain
Piano – Roy Zimmerman
Tenor Saxophone – Lester Bouchon
Trombone – Jack Delaney
Trumpet – George Girard
Trumpet, Vocals – Tony Almerico

I guess if this is “Live Performance in New Orleans” then I’m probably obligated to present “Way Down Yonder In New Orleans.”  It’s a very short version and most of the track is taken up by introductions to the musicians listed above and including others such as Johnny Castang on drums. 

Before moving on to the next Pete Fountain album I’ll offer a second track from “Live Performance in New Orleans.”  With most Dixieland albums we find that all of the songs are similar classics such as “Bill Bailey”, “Tin Roof Blues”, and “When The Saints Go Marchin’ In.”  I decided to select the title that didn’t seem like something I’ve heard over and over again on every other Dixieland album.  Here’s “Ballin’ The Jack:” 

   A funny aside about the song “Ballin’ The Jack” or “Balling The Jack” concerns one of the first times I heard the song.  It was on the album “Jerry Colonna Entertains At Your Party.” 

Jerry Colonna Entertains At Your Party

I have a few Jerry Colonna albums but I like the cover on this one.  I would have loved to have gone to a party where Jerry Colonna was entertaining.  Have a listen to his version of “Balling The Jack” from YouTube:

   Sticking with Pete Fountain, I’ll insert here the other album I picked up when planning to do this second blahg of Baker’s Dozen.  I found that I was going to be short two albums for this blahg so I searched through a number of stacks at a thrift store in Kingston, Ontario and came up with a couple I thought would fit well into my narrative.  One of them was another Pete Fountain record with the title of “Standing Room Only” from 1965 on the Coral label. 

Pete Fountain Standing Room Only Front

Pete Fountain Standing Room Only Rear

The front cover has an actual photo of “Pete’s Place” at 800 Bourbon Street in New Orleans.  This live album is three years after “Live Performance in New Orleans” and features a different cast of musicians playing with Fountain: 

Clarinet – Pete Fountain
Piano – Earl Vuiovich
Drums – Nick Fatool
Tenor Saxophone – Eddie Miller
Trombone – Bob Havens
Trumpet – Charley Teagarden
Vibes – Godfrey Hirsch
Bass – Oliver Felix

From the rear cover there’s a nice write up for the first song I want to post.  Memories of You, Eubie Blake’s beautiful song, is a showcase for the lyrical talents of Eddie Miller and Pete. Although their instruments are of contrasting character, they exhibit a real rapport in their sympathetic, “singing” variations.  Here’s “Memories of You:” 

   Before I continue with another track from the 1965 album”Standing Room Only,” I want to show a video of what it was like inside “Pete’s Place” in 1965.  The same year as the release of this album there was a Universal short called “Pete’s Place” which highlighted a little bit of Mardis Gras and then cut to the interior of “Pete’s Place” to feature music by Pete Fountain and Godfrey Hirsch: vibes, Earl Vuiovich: piano, Paul Guma: guitar, Oliver “Sticks” Felix: bass, Paul Edwards: drums.  Here’s the poster for the short and below that is the video that is hosted in YouTube.

Pete's Place Poster

PBS also did a special on Pete Fountain in 1980.  Here’s a description of the special before it was re-aired in 2017 “A pre-reality TV era PBS takes a look at Pete’s rise as a musician, joins Pete and his band in their Winnebago as they cross the country to a well-paying gig, and stop in at a crawfish boil hosted by Pete. It also examines Pete’s rise to fame with the Lawrence Welk Show and has some great footage of Bourbon Street and The Half-Fast Walking Club on Mardi Gras.” 

Pete Fountain passed away on August 8, 2016 at the age of 86.  He did a lot of playing and a lot of rambling in his time.  From the “Standing Room Only” album here’s a “Ramblin’ Medley:” 

  

   Keeping with the ‘Pete’, here’s another album that’s allegedly by another Pete but I have my doubts.  This time it’s Pete Hurtz And His Dixiaires with their album “Midnight In New Orleans.” 

Pete Hurtz And His Dixiaires – Midnight In New Orleans Front

Pete Hurtz And His Dixiaires – Midnight In New Orleans Rear

This album is a Canadian release and surprisingly is the only album I can find by Pete Hurtz.  In fact, the only information I can find about Pete Hurtz comes from the rear of the album jacket: 

Pete Hurtz And His Dixiaires have marched and stomped the route from Memphis to New Orleans “many a time” and even did their type of Dixie stomping in towns above the Mason Dixon line…Pete Hurtz was born January 19th, 125 years after the date of birth of his hero, General Robert E. Lee, in Charleston, South Carolina not far from where the first shot was fired in the Civil War. Before going into the service he had drifted down to New Orleans and acquired a reputation of “sitting-in” and vowed that one day he would have a Dixieland band of his own, which he did upon his release from the Army.

It is also interesting to note that Pete Hurtz’ one year old son bears the first name of Grant–Please note that Hurtz married a girl from Concord, New Hampshire, a true northerner!

For the record, pardon the pun, General Robert E. Lee was born in 1807 so if Pete Hurtz was born 125 years later then that would have been in 1932.  Having his birth year and all the other biographical information, including the name of his son, from the jacket then you would think it would be easy to find out more online somewhere about Pete Hurtz.  That is not the case.  We don’t even know what instrument Pete Hurtz played.  I’m not even sure there really was a Pete Hurtz.  My doubts about him and the Dixiaires came after to listening to the song “Manhattan” from this album.  It twigged something in me when I heard the song.  First, listen to the alleged Pete Hurtz and the Dixiaires version: 

I realized I had heard this same version played on an album by the Bill Berry Quartet entitled “Jazz & Swinging Percussion.”  On the Bill Berry Quartet album, the song is called “Broadway By Night.”  Here’s a YouTube video of the song that actually shows a portion of the front cover.

Here’s the front cover of the Bill Berry Quartet album:

If you read the comments section to the above YouTube video for the Bill Berry Quartet, I posted eight years ago, under my scobeyfan name, the following comment: 

This is odd. I have the same album with the same songs on two different labels by two different bands. The first claims to be The Dixie Rebels (Palace Label) and the 2nd is by Pete Hurtz and his Dixiaires (Maple-Leaf Records). Your version by the Bill Berry Quartet is the exact same as my two. I suspect it was some studio band with this record released on different labels. Who knows who the real band was.

Here’s the front and rear covers to The Dixie Rebels album I reference on the Palace label: 

The Dixie Rebels Front

The Dixie Rebels Rear

There is nothing on the back cover to identify the musicians or even the release date of the album.  This is really the summary of what we have from the rear cover about the Dixie Rebels:

In this album were are proud to present the DIXIE REBELS, a group of outstanding young collegiates who are destined to become one of America’s foremost exponents of Dixieland music. Their renditions of “When The Saints Go Marching In” and “Down On Basin Street” are memorable true interpretations of Dixieland at its best.

The track on this album that matches “Manhattan”  from the Pete Hurtz album and “Broadway At Night” from the Bill Berry Quartet album is “Down On Basin Street.”  Listen closely and compare it to the tracks I posted above.

All three of the tracks have similar run times so I’m sure they’re all the same version.  As for the Dixie Rebels, there was a band by that name that released albums on the Command label.  I even wrote a blahg about them under the title AYE AYE ITUNES, THIS CUSTOMER IS ALWAYS RIGHT.  The Dixie Rebels on the Command label actually featured Pee Wee Irwin playing under the name “Big Jeb Dooley.”  I don’t believe they are associated in any way with the Dixie Rebels from the Palace label.  I have compared all of the tracks on the Pete Hurtz “Dixieland” album and those on the Dixie Rebels “Dixieland” album and they are all the same.  The only difference is that the track titles on each is the same on the first side but different on the flip side although the instrumentals are the exact same. 

Pete Hurtz – Dixieland                                       The Dixie Rebels – Dixieland
When The Saints Go Marching In                    When The Saints Go Marching In
Big Town Dixie                                                     Big Town Dixie
Broadway Blues                                                   Broadway Blues
Billboard March                                                    Billboard March
Swinging Dixie                                                     Swinging Dixie
Times Square                                                       Dixieland Blues
Dream Street                                                        New Orleans Blues
Manhattan                                                            Down On Basin Street
Dixieland Blues                                                  Way Down Yonder

The Bill Berry Quartet album has a slightly different track listing:

Dream Street
Almost Like Being In Love
Manhattan Blues
Times Square
Broadway And 10th
Schubert Alley
Old Devil Moon
June Is Busting Out All Over
Broadway By Night
How Do You Speak To An Angel
Blow Gabriel Blow
The Night Was Made For Love

Only the titles “Dream Street” and “Times Square” repeat from the The Dixie Rebels and Pete Hurtz albums.  “Dream Street” from the Bill Berry Quartet album matches “Broadway Blues” on the other two albums.  “Manhattan Blues” matches “Swinging Dixie”, “Times Square” matches “Big Town Dixie” while “Broadway and 10th” matches “Dixieland Blues”on the Pete Hurtz album and matches “Way Down Yonder” on the Dixie Rebels LP.  “Schubert Alley” matches “Dream Street” on the Hurtz album and “New Orleans Blues” on the Dixie Rebels album.  We already know that “Manhattan” from the Hurtz album matches “Broadway By Night” from the Bill Bailey Quartet which also matches “Down On Basin Street” from the Dixie Rebels.  The songs “Almost Like Being In Love”, “Broadway And 10th”, “Old Devil Moon”, “June Is Busting Out All Over”, “How Do You Speak To An Angel”, “Blow Gabriel Blow”, and “The Night Was Made For Love” are unique to just the Bill Berry Quartet album. 

   So, what have we learned?  Darned if I know!  The Pete Hurtz album is the same as the Dixie Rebels album and half of the tracks match the Bill Berry Quartet album.  There is more information available about the Bill Berry Quartet but if it really was the Bill Berry Quartet on all three albums then why are there some different tracks on the “Jazz & Swinging Percussion” record?  We may never know.  I say we just enjoy the music.  Here’s “Dream Street” from the Pete Hurtz “Dixieland” record which is in turn “New Orleans Blues” from the Dixie Rebels “Dixieland” album which in another turn matches “Schubert Alley” from the Bill Berry Quartet record, “Jazz & Swinging Percussion.”  Ah, skip it.  Just listen and enjoy.

 

 

   I have yet another dixieland album from a band for which I started out with next to no information.  The album is “The Sensational Barons of Dixieland Visit the Bowery” on the Kent label from 1959. 

The Barons of Dixieland front

The Barons of Dixieland rear

The rear cover offers no information about the Barons and I’m not sure that the front cover is accurate either unless you believe the Barons consisted solely of three trumpets and a saxophone.  The woman in the middle, however, looks amazingly like the late Juliet Prowse.  Compare her image on the cover from 1959 to this photo of her taken with Elvis in 1960: 

Juliet Prowse and Elvis

With that red hair and those legs, knowing Juliet was a dancer, it has to be her.  The only doubt about this album comes from the musicians and not knowing who they were.  I guess I’ll have to just let the music speak for itself.  Here’s “Sweet Sue” from the album but if you don’t mind I’ll think of it as Sweet Juliet. 

On further research I found that there were other albums featuring these tracks.  Discogs has a listing for an album with the title “Mardi Gras in Dixie” by The Mardi Gras Dixielanders, https://www.discogs.com/master/805632-The-Mardi-Gras-Dixielanders-Mardi-Gras-In-Dixie, and it has the same tracks as the Sensational Barons album and in the notes section for the album is the following:

These records have the same tracklist:
–Barons of Dixieland – The Sensational Barons of Dixieland Visit the Bowery
Pee Wee Russell, Bud Freeman And Buck Clayton With His All-Stars – Dixieland
Buck Clayton, Vic Dickenson, Lou Carter, Pee Wee Russell, Bud Freeman, Jo Jones – New Orleans Dixieland
therefore are possibly the same.

The “Buck Clayton, Vic Dickenson, Lou Carter, Pee Wee Russell, Bud Freeman, Jo Jones – New Orleans Dixieland” album lists the following musicians

Clarinet – Pee Wee Russell
Drums – Jo Jones
Piano – Lou Carter
Saxophone – Bud Freeman
Trombone – Vic Dickenson
Trumpet – Buck Clayton

Russell, Freeman, and Clayton are also listed on “Pee Wee Russell, Bud Freeman And Buck Clayton With His All-Stars – Dixieland.”  Add to that, I found another Discogs entry with the same tracks.  The album is “Dixieland U.S.A.” with the following musicians listed: 

Bass – Arnell Shaw
Clarinet – Pee Wee Russell
Drums – Jo Jones
Piano – Lou Carter
Tenor Saxophone – Bud Freeman
Trombone – Vic Dickenson
Trumpet – Buck Clayton

Note that the only addition is Arnell Shaw on Bass.  Here’s the cover that appears to show all of the musicians: 

Dixieland U.S.A

I think we finally learn who the Sensational Barons of Dixieland really were…well at least the individual musicians.  Who knows if they ever really called themselves the Sensational Barons of Dixieland?  Let’s hear from the ensemble one more time on a tune called “Billboard:” 

 

  Now for a band I had heard of but never heard.  Confused?  The band is the Preservation Hall Jazz Band and the album I found was “New Orleans, Volume 1” from 1977. 

Preservation Hall Jazz Band Front

Preservation Hall Jazz Band Rear

The majority of the band members were in their early to late 70s when this album was released.  Here’s a list of the musicians at that time.

Banjo – Narvin Henry Kimball
Clarinet – Willie Humphrey
Drums – Josiah “Cie” Frazier
Piano – James Edward “Sing” Miller
Trombone – Frank Demond
Trumpet – Percy G. Humphrey
Tuba – Allan P. Jaffe

Like I did with Pete Fountain, I’m going to expand the Baker’s Dozen of this blahg to include two albums by the Preservation Hall Jazz Band but I’m going to start first with this 1977 release.  From this album is the tune “Panama” which I will dedicate to a cat we once had named Panama.  You can read about Panama in my blahg, THE CHRISTMAS CAT.  I miss her and I think she’d have liked knowing there was a song title with her unique name.

“Panama” is the longest track on the album at almost ten minutes.  To balance it out, the next track is going to be “Over In Gloryland” with a run-time of 2:40. 

   After listening to this album, I wanted to hear more so I decided to track down and order the first album by this group but with a slightly different name.  The first album was from 1964 and had the same title as the name the band was using at that time, “New Orleans’ Sweet Emma And Her Preservation Hall Jazz Band.” 

SweetEmmaFront

SweetEmma Rear

The musicians from the first album

Banjo – Emanuel Sayles
Bass – Alcide (Slow Drag) Pavageau
Clarinet – Willie Humphrey
Drums – Josiah “Cie” Frazier
Piano – Sweet Emma Barrett
Trombone – Jim Robinson
Trumpet – Percy Humphrey

Three of the musicians from this first album in 1964 carried over to the 1977 album. Willie Humphrey, Josiah “Cie” Frazier, and Percy G. Humphrey.  If you look at the front cover, many of the musicians on this first album were already senior citizens.  There’s quite a different sound, I think, with this earlier album.  This is a live album and the band really plays to the audience.  Give a listen to the first track “Basin Street” which introduces the musicians:

The song was too short to even whet your appetite for this group.  Have a listen to them really swinging on “Little Liza Jane:” 

Before I move off from the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, I want to offer up a short documentary about the group over the years.  There’s even some historical footage of the musicians and “Sweet Emma Barrett” who might not have been all that sweet. 

I’m going to throw in one more song by the Preservation Hall Jazz Band.  In my first Baker’s Dozen blahg, A BAKER’S DOZEN MORE FOUND VINYL RECORDS, I posted three different versions of the song “Ice Cream” by the Omega Jazz Band, Frank Traynor’s Jazz Preachers, and The Climax Jazz Band.  This time the Ice Cream is being served up by Sweet Emma and Her Preservation Hall Jazz Band. 

  

   For Pete’s sake aren’t we done with this Baker’s Dozen yet?  Nope.  I have to present one more Pete.  The third, bust last Pete, is Pete Jolly and the album is “When The Lights Are Low” by the Pete Jolly Trio. 

Pete Jolly LP Front

Pete Jolly LP Rear

Earlier in this blahg, I wrote “I found that I was going to be short two albums for this blahg so I searched through a number of stacks at a thrift store in Kingston, Ontario and came up with a couple I thought would fit well into my narrative.”  The first was the Pete Fountain album “Standing Room Only” and the second was this Pete Jolly album.  This record is pretty far removed from the Dixieland presented by Pete Hurtz and Pete Fountain.  The trio consists of Pete Jolly on piano, Jules Bertaux on bass, and Robert Neal on drums.  The piano at times is front and centre and you really have to listen for the other two instruments.  A good example is the trio’s version of the song from “Snow White”, “Whistle While You Work.” 

I’ve always enjoyed the song “My Old Flame” so that’s my next selection. 

In another past blahg, SOME FORGOTTEN SONGBIRDS, I presented a version of “My Old Flame” by Helen Young and it bears repeating: 

  

   Well, that’s it for this Baker’s Dozen.  We’ve had some vocals and some instrumentals.  We’ve been to New Orleans and heard some live performances.  We’ve heard from three different Petes and two bands that might have been two other bands or three other bands…I’ve lost count.  I enjoy doing these blahgs featuring music from my record shelves.  I also like looking through old vinyl at thrift stores.  It’s almost like that quote from “Forrest Gump”:  My mom always said life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get.”  Substitute going through vinyl bins and it’s pretty much the same thing.

 

 

 

A SHOUT OUT TO MY DAD.

May 24th, 2023

    I wasn’t going to post a new blahg so soon but today I’m feeling nostalgic.My dad at our wedding. Today, May 24th, 2023, is my Dad’s birthday.  He would have been 86.  My Father passed away in January of 2019.  I first started blahging about my Father’s health issues in WHAT HAPPENED TO MR. HENDERSON? and then when he died, I talked about his passing in THE PASSING OF GEORGE ARTHUR HENDERSON.  I was really consumed with grief over my Father’s passing so I wrote about dealing with my grief in another blahg, ME AND MY GRIEF.  Two years later, I started to feel like I couldn’t remember what my Father’s voice sounded like so I found examples of my Father’s voice and then wrote about them in the blahg, MY FATHER’S VOICE

   I don’t want to right another full blahg about my Father and how sad I’m feeling today.  I just want to give a shout out to Dad and tell him “I Love You” and everything I’ve accomplished in my life is a direct result of him in part.  He’s responsible for who I am.   If that isn’t a song cue, I don’t know what is.

THE NEW WASHING MACHINE AND THE NEW DISHWASHER. GUESS WHICH ONE I HATE?

May 20th, 2023

   You know you’ve been writing blahgs for a long time when you start to revisit issues from long ago.  In January of this year, our Washing Machine needed to be replaced.  It wasn’t spinning the water out of the clothes properly and sometimes it would mysteriously leak.  I began to wonder how long we had had that Washing Machine but then I remembered that I had written a blahg once about our old one and when we had purchased it.  That blahg was THE WASHING MACHINE and it was published on February 16, 2012.  That meant the Washing Machine I needed to replace was approximately eleven years old.  It certainly didn’t owe me anything.  It had, in Vulcan terms, lived long and prospered. 

   I know the title of this blahg is “THE NEW WASHING MACHINE AND THE NEW DISHWASHER. GUESS WHICH ONE I HATE?”  I’m not going to hold in you in suspense.  I love the Washing Machine.  New GE Washing MachineHere’s a quick description GE Adora 27-inch 4.9 (IEC) Cu. Ft. Top Load Washer with Stainless Steel Drum in White, Model # GTW495DMNWS.   It has a glass lid so you can look inside and watch your clothes being washed.  I guess that’s a thing to do if you don’t have a television or a device to stream something more interesting.  But it you are the type of person who likes to watch your clothes being washed or like watching paint dry then have at it! 

   The actual story about purchasing the machine wasn’t as interesting or as long as the story about the previous Washing Machine that needed replacing.  We looked at a few online but found that the stores in our area didn’t have any in stock.  We went to Lowes and looked at a few and I think we decided on an LG but then we went to Home Depot and found this GE Machine for a decent price. We went home and ordered it online and our delivery was scheduled for January 18th. 

   The most important thing we had to determine, next to the price and having it delivered, was ensuring it would fit in the spot that would be vacated by the old machine.  In my previous blahg, THE WASHING MACHINE, from 12 years ago, I wrote the following:  Our bathroom has two closets.  The rear closet contains linens and the front closet houses our Washer and Dryer.  Both closets have bi-fold doors.  The linen closet has a single bi-fold door but the laundry closet has two bi-fold doors that meet in the middle.  The Washing Machine ClosetThe laundry closet also contains a shelf with a hot water heater and all of the water and electrical hook-ups for the laundry duo.  This limits the size of what Machines can fit in the closet and have the door closed.  I’ll skip to the end about the new Washing Machine and how it fit by saying “IT FIT!”  Check out the picture to the left after everything was installed properly.  The new Washing Machine is on the left in the photo. 

   So, here’s where things got tricky.  The plumbing connections for the Washing Machine are also shared with the dishwasher which faces out into our kitchen.  If you look carefully at the picture of our laundry pair you will see a small shelf to the left of the Washing Machine.  On top of that shelf is our hot water tank and below the shelf is the rear of the dishwasher.  I only mention this because a couple days before our Washing Machine was set to arrive, our dishwasher began to have issues.  It would no longer pump out water.  I determined it was the pump and because the pump would cost almost $200 to replace and because I wasn’t keen on trying to swap out the pump, I also determined we needed a new dishwasher.  Our old dishwasher was a GE which we nicknamed Harvey because it had a small dent on the right hand side.  If you’re not a Batman fan then you wouldn’t understand that “Harvey Dent” was the person who would become the villain “Two Face.”  Skip it.  Harvey was eight or nine years old and we thought we’d replace it at the same time we were replacing the Washing Machine. 

   You may have noticed by now that I capitalize “Washing Machine” but not dishwasher.  I do that for two reasons.  First, I respect and admire the Washing Machine that has not given us any problems.  Second, respect any machine because they’ll rise up and kill us all eventually.  I believe it will start with Toasters and then Washing Machines.  I’m not that scared of the dishwasher…yet.  I digress. The Galanz I think we might have looked at some dishwashers in stores but the short version of the dishwasher story is I ordered it online hoping that I could find one in stock somewhere locally and that it would be cheaper than what we had shelled out for the Washing Machine (no disrespect intended Washing Machine).  There was only one dishwasher in stock in our price range in all of Belleville.  The Brick had a Galanz in stock and I could pick it up the next day.  The next day, January 18th, being the day our Washing Machine was also being delivered. 

   As you can imagine, the evening of January 17th was very busy.  I had to remove the old Washing Machine and put it on the back deck because I needed to get at the plumbing section to hook up the Washing Machine and the new dishwasher.  I left the old dishwasher in because it still had some water in it and there was no more room for a used appliance on our back deck.  On January 18th I picked up the Galanz from The Brick and when I got home after work, the new Washing Machine had been delivered and as a bonus, the delivery people from Home Depot had taken away our old one.  I didn’t even have to pay for that extra gesture.  It was good that the old Washing Machine had been taken away because that left room for Harvey to be put out on the back deck. 

   The installation of both machines was not that hard.  I had to remove Harvey and then install and hook up the Galanz before I could install and connect the new Washing Machine.  To my dismay, however, the water hoses from the old Washing Machine were even older than 12 years because they had been with a Washing Machine we had a long time ago.  This meant a quick trip to Canadian Tire to get new hoses.  The cost was worth it because when we tested the Galanz and the Washing Machine, everything worked and there were no leaks.  I still haven’t gotten around to staring through the glass lid of the Washing Machine to see if my clothes are being properly washed.  I trust the Washing Machine.  Hear that, Washing Machine?  I trust you! 

   Inside the GalanzaThis is where you ask me which machine I don’t love.  Let me be clear, it’s the Galanz!  It was not a great replacement for Harvey despite the reviews.  Harvey had a removable cutlery basket in a recessed spot in the door.  The Galanz has a removable cutlery basket in the main lower rack which then doesn’t allow the extra space for dishes.  I still have a hard time loading it because it’s not laid out like Harvey but the main problem with the Galanz is that within two weeks it began to have a problem.

   Below is the email chain I started with Galanz on February 26th and details the problem with the machine and the problems I had with Galanz the company to try and get the issue repaired:

February 26, 2023

Hello,

On January 17th, 2023 I purchased Galanz Dishwasher GLDW12FWEA5A from The Brick here in Canada. I picked up the dishwasher on January 18th and properly installed it the same dame.

Within two weeks we began to have an issue with the rubber seal on the lower right hand side. The rack would catch on it and the seal would pop out from under the metal strip that held it in place. We would have to pop it back in. This happened maybe twice a week. Today, we tried to pop it back in and found that the bottom rack would still catch on it because the metal strip holding it in place is secured by a metal grommet or fastener at the bottom and now it will not snap in by the fastener.

What can be done to repair the issue?

I am attaching a copy of my original purchase form from the brick as well as a photo of the rubber seal and metal strip in question.

Please let me know next steps.

Scott Henderson
Demorestville, ON

—————————–

February 26, 2023 response from Galanz:

Dear Scott Henderson,

We would like to acknowledge that we have received your request and a ticket has been created.
A support representative will be reviewing your request and will send you a personal response.(usually within 24 hours).

Thank you for your patience.

Sincerely,
Galanz Customer Service Team

1-800-562-0738

—————————–

February 28, 2023 response from Galanz:

Dear Scott,

Thank you for contacting Galanz Customer Service.

Please, share the picture of the label at the back of the unit with the model and serial number, your shipping address, and the best callback number so that we can arrange a service dispatch as the unit is under warranty.

For further queries and concerns, please feel free to contact our customer service team at 1-800-562-0738 or via email at customerservice@galanzamericas.com.

Best Regards,

Anna Newman
Galanz Customer Service Team
1-800-562-0738

—————————–

My response of March 1st, 2023:

Hello,

Attached is the photo you requested showing model and serial number found actually on the inside of the door to the dishwasher. My shipping address and phone number are below.

Note:  I included my full address which include my postal code

—————————–

March 3, 2023 – response from Galanz:

Dear Scott,

Thank you for contacting Galanz Customer Service. We value you as our customer and sincerely apologize for the inconvenience you are facing with the Dishwasher.

Please confirm the zip code of your shipping address “85 County Rd 15 Demorestville, ON K0K 1W0, so we can proceed further.  (note:  they emailed me with my full shipping address with postal code)

For further queries and concerns, please feel free to contact our customer service team at 1-800-562-0738 or via email at customerservice@galanzamericas.com.

Best regards,

Carol Soloman
Galanz Customer Service Team
1-800-562-0738

—————————–

March 4, 2023 – My response:

Postal code is K0K 1W0

Note: I didn’t state the obvious to them that their previous email to me asking for my zip code, which is an American thing and I live in Canada, already contained my postal code.

—————————–

April 1, 2023 – Me emailing Galanz again after almost a month with no response

Hello,

I responded to this a few weeks backs confirming my address but haven’t heard anything. Here it is again:

I provided my full mailing address with postal code again.

—————————–

April 25, 2023 – Me emailing Galanz more than three weeks later after receiving no response.

Hello,

This has been going on for two months and I have had no follow up regarding the issue despite sending all information to Galanz. What is going to be done to fix my issue?

Scott Henderson

————————

April 25, 2023 – response from Galanz:

Dear Scott Henderson,

We would like to acknowledge that we have received your request and a ticket has been created.
A support representative will be reviewing your request and will send you a personal response.(usually within 24 hours).

Thank you for your patience.

Sincerely,
Galanz Customer Service Team

1-800-562-0738

————————

April 27, 2023 – response from Galanz:

Dear Scott,

Thank you for contacting Galanz Customer Service. We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience that you faced with your dishwasher.

We have already forwarded your matter to the relevant department and the reference number is 106254. Once we receive the update from the concerned team, we will get back to you. Your patience is highly appreciated throughout the process.

For further queries and concerns, please feel free to contact our customer service team at 1-800-562-0738 or via email at customerservice@galanzamericas.com.

Best regards,

Carol Soloman
Galanz Customer Service Team
1-800-562-0738

————————

May 9, 2023

I telephoned Galanz. I explained the situation and my frustration that nothing had been resolved in almost 3 months. I was told the problem was that there was no service technician in my area. I was further told that the issue had been escalated to a supervisor and that he had planned to call me back that day. I didn’t say how suprised I was or how convenient it all seemed that a supervisor had planned to call me back the same day I stopped emailing and telephone Galanz directly. The person I spoke to asked me if I had received an email regarding a refund or if I had received a refund. I answered that I had not. He said they were planning on issuing me a refund and a supervisor was to have contacted me about this. The person I spoke to said he was going to take charge of this situation himself so I didn’t have to deal with the supervisor. I was told within two hours I would receive an email about my refund. I didn’t say anything about not trusting him or anyone at Galanz but just thanked him and said I would await the email.

————————

May 9, 2023 – response from Galanz:

Hi Scott,

Thank you for contacting Galanz Customer Service and sharing all the required documents.

We have forwarded your matter to the relevant department for a refund since the replacement unit is currently out of stock. Once we get a response from the relevant department, we will get back to you via email or call. After the verification of the details, it will take 21 business days for the check to be mailed to your address.

Your patience is highly appreciated throughout the process.

For further queries and concerns, please feel free to contact our customer service team at 1-800-562-0738 or via email at customerservice@galanzamericas.com.

Best regards,

Josh Sailor
Galanz Customer Service Team
1-800-562-0738

————————

May 11, 2023 – response from Galanz:

Hi Scott,

We are glad to inform you that your refund check has been issued by our bank. Please allow 21 business days for transit.

If you have not received your check by 6/12/2023, please let us know so that we can further investigate.

For further queries and concerns, please feel free to contact our customer service team at 1-800-562-0738 or via email at customerservice@galanzamericas.com.

Best regards,

Zoey Richards
Galanz Customer Service Team
1-800-562-0738

   I’m still waiting for my refund.  I know that once I receive the refund then there won’t be any warrant on the machine.  I’ve decided I’ll try and fix the issue myself and drill a hole and put a screw through the metal strip holding the rubber seal.  I’ll seal it with silicone and hope for the best.  I’d have done that by now but I didn’t want to void the warranty.  What warranty?  I’m still not even sure what the Galanz company refers to as a refund and whether it’s a full refund or they’re going to deduct money for the two weeks it properly worked.  Here’s where I sum it all up.  I HATE YOU GALANZ!  I MISS HARVEY!

   By the way, Harvey is still on my back deck.  It’s hard letting go of the good memories we had together.  Even harder is having to lug it out to the road for someone to pick up for scrap.

I miss you Harvey!

A BAKER’S DOZEN MORE FOUND VINYL RECORDS

April 24th, 2023

    Little did I know that when I published my first False Ducks blahg, THE BLAHG & THE MOST HAPPY SOUND in October of 2011 that I’d not only be writing new blahgs almost twelve years later but also be continuing to reintroduce forgotten music.  In that first blahg I posted about an album by Margaret Ann & The Ja-Da Quartet with the title “The Most Happy Sound.”  I offered tracks from the album and some 45 rpm singles by the group.  In previous other blahgs such as 12 MONTHS -12 RECORDS – 12 SONGS12 MONTHS – 12 MORE RECORDS – 12 MORE SONGS, and my most recent blahg, MORE VINYL & THE GHOST OF THE TURNING POINT I offered up songs from records I had purchased at thrift stores or in used record shops. That most recent blahg also quoted me as saying “I’m only going to post about 7 right now but I’ll look through the stack near my stereo and see if I can do a part two for this blahg.”   Well this is that part two…sort of. 

   I did go through all of the records stacked up around my stereo and I did find some more records that I hadn’t posted about.  I found 10 records that have never received a mention in any of my blahgs and I purchased three more records over the weekend.  Here’s the rundown with the first ten being previous thrift store purchases and the last three being my most recent acquisitions:

  • –Les Brown Jr. – Wildest Drums Yet!
  • –Omega Jazz Band
  • –Beverly Kenney – Born To Be Blue
  • –Pete Daily’s Dixieland Band
  • –Frank Traynor’s Jazz Preachers
  • –Climax Jazz Band Volume 1 Stereo
  • –Lester Lanin and His Orchestra – The Madison Avenue Beat
  • –Willis Jackson Quintet – Please Mr. Jackson
  • –Drumsticks – Trumpets – And Dixieland
  • –Golden Era of Dixieland Jazz
  • –Dukes of Dixieland – Come To The Cabaret
  • –Tony Pastor Meets Ike Carpenter
  • –The Greatest White Trumpeter of All Time Bunny Berigan

I love vinyl records.  Some of these old Orchestra and Dixieland Band albums have never seen reissues on CDs or more likely some of the songs appeared in huge volume sets that cost a lot more than the $2.99 a piece I paid for the above records.  That price has gone up over the years.  Value Village, a big thrift store here in Canada, used to charge $1.99 but $2.99 seems to be their new norm.  I can still find some records for $1 at smaller thrift stores but sometimes the records are not in great shape.  I try not to purchase anything that skips or if the jacket is split all around.  In this blahg, you’re in for some treats.  There may be some scratchy sounds or pops and clicks but that’s the allure of vinyl.   Enjoy! 

   First up is Les Brown Jr. with his album, “Wildest Drums Yet!”  This is on the Crescendo label. 

Les Brown Jr. – Wildest Drums Yet! (Crescendo GNPS 79)

In researching Les Brown Jr., I discovered that he passed away on January 9th of this year, 2023.  Here’s the Variety obituary for him:

Les Brown Jr., a musician whose entertainment career also included acting, writing, directing and producing, died of cancer Jan. 9 at his home in Branson, Mo, his family announced. He was 82.

Brown Jr. was the son of composer and band leader Les Brown Sr., who led Les Brown and His Band of Renown. After the death of his father in 2001, Brown became the full-time leader of his father’s band, continuing to perform throughout the world and in a regular big band show in Branson, Mo.

In his youth, Brown Jr. also worked as an actor on many TV shows and films, including “Gunsmoke,” “Lassie,” “General Hospital,” “F-Troop,” “The Lucy Show,” “Green Acres,” “Gilligan’s Island,” “Wild, Wild Winter” and “The Baileys of Balboa,” the latter in which he had a co-starring role as Jim Bailey.

His extensive music career began with the solo album “Wildest Drums Yet!” and included being the drummer and vocalist for his band the Rockin’ Foo, performing with the likes of Carlos Santana during his touring days. He was also a concert promoter and record producer for jazz and country music artists including Merle Haggard, Shirley Jones, Doris Day, Mickey Gilley, The Lettermen and Loretta Lynn.

He later hosted a national radio show on the “Music of Your Life” network, and most recently a show titled after the Band of Renown on SiriusXM’s 40s Junction.

Brown Jr. was born in New York City in 1940 to Les and Claire Brown. He will be remembered for his love of horseback riding, sports cars and his dog, Romeo.

Brown Jr. is survived by his wife of 21 years, Alexa Brown, daughter Emily Cabral, son Christopher Brown, grandchildren McCoy, Winden and Soleil Brown, stepson Blake Worrell, stepdaughters Kelli and Erin Ellis, sister Denise Marsh-Jordan, nephews Jeff Marsh and Michael Lyons, cousins Teri Brown and Bruce Brown and uncle Clyde Brow.

Now, if you spotted the reference to Gilligan’s Island in the obituary then you’re probably wondering about that.  Les Brown Jr. appeared as the drummer Bingo for the musical band “The Mosquitoes.”  Remember Bingo, Bango, Bongo, and Irviving?  Here’s a clip of that fictional band performing “Don’t Bug Me” & “He’s A Loser” from that Gilligan’s Island episode: 

From the album “Wildest Drums Yet!” here is “One Mint Julep”: 

And the title track, “Wildest Drums Yet”:

 

   Moving on down the list, we come to the Omega Jazzband.  I don’t know much about this band so I’d normally direct anyone to the rear cover of the album to learn more.  Here are the front and rear covers:

 

Omega Jazzband front

Omega Jazzband rear cover

 

Yes, you probably have noticed that the rear cover liner notes are in German.  Here’s the Google translation:

This LP was created in March 1973. Recording time: 3 days. Tape consumption: 3800m. Consumption of drinks: 5 crates of beer. 3 bottles of whiskey. 2 bottles of vodka. 10 liters apple schnapps. Contributors to the Recordings: Omega Jazz Band. Sound engineer: Peter Wagner. Production: James Fruchtnicht. Peter Wagner. Omega jazz band.

John Hendrik from Rias Berlin had written a query looking for the most popular Berlin jazz band. Result: No. 1: Omega jazz band. This result will not surprise connoisseurs and fans, because the happy jazz, which the group has been playing for 12 years, inspires every listener anew.

The band has been playing together for 6 years with Michael (Mike) Littbarski trumpet, Wolfgang Banaskiwitz clarinet, sax, vocals, Cordes Hauer trombone, vocals, Karsten Krempien banjo, vocals, Manfred (Duddi) Duttkowski bass and Hagen Kauffman drums, percussion .

Many titles are from the so-called 20s and 30s. The arrangements are clear and concise, but very modern and cheerfully packaged. “Being there” is everything for the group as well as for the listener. Fixed venues in Berlin are the Eiershell, the Leierkasten, the Quasimodo, the Latin Quarter and Shop Pop. Apart from guest appearances in Sweden and France, the band plays in almost all German cities.

Band leader is Hagen Kauffmann. He collects and smokes pipes, is usually always in a good mood, knows all the bars in Berlin and drums with a beard.

Mike Littbarski is the musical leader of the group. He plays about 500 pieces, loves vodka, coca, pizza, women, needs little sleep and adores Louis Armstrong.

Wolfgang Banaskiwitz, on the other hand, needs a lot of sleep. He likes to eat well, loves France in addition to his music and plays with a beard.

The only pedestrian is Cordes Hauer. He collects wire-rimmed glasses and antique dolls, adores Eddie Condon jazz and sings with a beard.

Karsten Krempien is a wild car driver. Besides dents, he also collects banjos. He likes to eat, but drinks even more and makes sure the group is in good spirits. He also sings with a beard.

Manfred Duttkowski is the bass man -a hobbyist of stature. He always has his tool box with him.

When listening to this record, something of the good mood and the cheerful music will surely stick in the listener.

So, what have we learned?  This is a German band and a number of the musicians have beards.  Oh, and they had been playing for 12 years.  There is a CD that compiles tracks from four of their albums with the title “30 Years of Music.”  Unfortunately I don’t know if the 30 years is from 1973 or when they first started playing together 12 years before that.

Omega Jazzband 30 Years

I did find an image for a music festival poster in 1970 that mentions the Omega Jazzband:

Berliner Pop Festival

So what about their music?  I found it reminiscent of an album I discussed in a previous blahg, ZOEY, FRANK, JUNE & ALL THAT JAZZ.  The album was “Radio” by Borgy’s Banjo Reunion.  That album actually came out in 1974 so maybe it was inspired by the Omega Jazzband.  It’s pleasant enough but I find it a little heavy on the banjo and kazoo in spots.  Here are a couple of samples.  First up is “Everybody Loves Saturday Night” with a vocal.

I’m also going to offer up “Ice Cream” which I find myself singing lately but not the version by Omega Jazzband.  That song will be included later in this blahg but performed by a different band.

  

   Beverly Kenney was not someone with whom I was familiar.  The album cover for “Born To Be Blue” struck me as seductive and sultry and I’m a sucker for vocals by singers that were previously unknown to me.

Beverly Kenney - Born To Be Blue

Born To Be Blue - Rear Cover

In researching Beverly Kenney, I discovered that her life was short and sad.  Here are some excerpts from her Wikipedia entry: 

Beverly Kenney (January 29, 1932, Harrison, New Jersey – April 13, 1960, Greenwich Village, New York City) was an American jazz singer.

Kenney’s career began as a birthday singer for Western Union. After moving to New York City, she recorded a demo tape in 1954 with Tony Tamburello (the demo was released in its entirety in 2006 under the title Snuggled on Your Shoulder).

By the end of the year, she moved to Miami and worked regularly at the Black Magic Room. For several months she toured with Jimmy and Tommy Dorsey’s Dorsey Brothers Orchestra before returning to New York. Kenney said “Tommy and Jimmy liked me, but they thought I was too much of a stylist for the band. After a few months on the road, I left, and returned to New York,” where she sang in clubs with George Shearing, Don Elliott, and Kai Winding.

Between 1956 and 1960, Kenney recorded three albums for Royal Roost and three for Decca. Her first release, Beverly Kenney Sings for Johnny Smith (1956), was recorded when she was 24 and backed by a quartet led by jazz guitarist Johnny Smith. She then began a residency at Birdland accompanied by the Lester Young Quintet. Her TV exposure consisted of one appearance on The Steve Allen Show on May 18, 1958, performing a song she wrote, “I Hate Rock ‘n’ Roll” and one appearance on Playboy’s Penthouse, where Kenney coaxed host Hugh Hefner into joining her to sing “Makin’ Whoopee”.

Kenney attempted suicide twice and succeeded the third time ingesting a combination of alcohol and Seconal on April 12, 1960, in a one room apartment in the University Residence Hotel located at 45 East 11th Street in Greenwich Village, Manhattan, New York.

Very tragic indeed.  A beautiful voice who obviously struggled with mental health and possibly addictions.  Here’s a video of her during happier times on “Playboy’s Penthouse” and yes you do get to view the duet she did with Hugh Hefner.

Fresh Sound Records have issued many of her albums on CDs with bonus tracks.  You can check out her artist page at  https://www.freshsoundrecords.com/search?controller=search&orderby=position&orderway=desc&search_query=beverly+kenney&submit_search=

I think I’ll let her music now speak for itself.  Most of the tracks on “Born To Be Blue” are very lush and Beverly’s voice evokes a sadness that was probably representative of her life.  Give a listen to the title track “Born To Be Blue”:

I like the whole album but there are moments of tenderness that are not as depressing and Beverly herself mentions on the liner notes she really wanted to do “Beyond The Next Hill” which is a more hopeful tune.

 

   Okay, let’s move on with something more upbeat.  It’s back to Dixieland with Pete Daily’s Dixieland Band

Pete Dailey's Dixieland

Pete Daily's Dixieland Band

I noticed from the liner notes on the back cover that the musicians varied on some of the tracks.  This album was released in 1950 and might have been a compilation but no other details are available.  Let’s get back to swinging with the old chestnut, “When The Saints Go Marching In”: 

I’ll slow it down ever so slightly with a song titled “I Want To Linger.”  And yes wouldn’t we all like to linger longer with this band on a sunny day?

  

   Keeping with the Jazz but travelling back around the world, we’re going to draw on Australia and hear from Frank Traynor’s Jazz Preachers with their self-titled 1967 album. 

Frank Traynor’s Jazz Preachers

Frank Traynor’s Jazz Preachers

Here’s a little bit of information about Frank Traynor from his Wikipedia entry:

Frank Traynor (8 August 1927 – 22 February 1985) was an Australian jazz musician, trombonist and entrepreneur based in Melbourne. He led Australia’s longest continuously running jazz band, the Jazz Preachers, from 1956 until his death in 1985. He founded the Melbourne Jazz Club in 1958. He founded and ran Frank Traynor’s Folk and Jazz Club (1963–75), which played a central role in the Australian folk revival.

The album I’m presenting was only issued in Australia and Canada in 1967.  Lucky then, I’m in Canada and found this copy.  Here are a couple other finds regarding Frank Traynor.  YouTube has a couple of videos of Judith Durham singing with Frank Traynor’s Jazz Preachers.  The first is “Trombone Frankie” from 1963:

Next up is Judith Durham and Traynor’s Preachers performing “Jelly Bean Blues”:

Judith Durham passed away in August of 2022 at the age of 79 but from the 1967 album “Frank Traynor’s Jazz Preachers” I’m going to start off with a song that I posted earlier in this blahg by the Omega Jazzband.  The song is Ice Cream but this time it’s all Frank Traynor’s Jazz Preachers:

I guess you can see that a lot of the records in this blahg fall into the Jazz or Dixieland Jazz category.  I’m crazy about Jazz that way so why not post a song that reflects that?  So here’s “The World’s Jazz Crazy, Lord” with a vocal by Helen Violaris:

  

   I’m going to fly back home again to Canada and post the next album from a strictly Canadian jazz band.  This time it’s The Climax Jazz Band:

Climax Jazz Band Cover

Climax Jazz Band Volume 1 Stereo Rear cover

I hope you noticed that the front cover has signatures from some of the band members.  There’s Bob Erwig, Bruce Bakewell, Juergen Hesse, Jack Vincken, and Chris Daniels.  There are other signatures by Joseph “Corn Bread” Thomas, someone known only as Stephen, and one I can’t make out.  Click on the image for a larger version to see the signatures.  This album like the Omega Jazzband is also from 1973.  There’s a video on YouTube with photos and music by The Climax Jazzband performing “Bloor Street Breakdown.”  Here’s part of the description for that video that includes a little bit of history of the band: 

It all started on Bloor Street West in Toronto. In 1971 Albert Nightingale, the owner of the Olde Brunswick House placed an ad for a dixieland band for 6 nights a week. Bassist Chris Daniels and trombonist Geoff Holmes applied and The Climax Jazz Band was born. We replaced an act of wrestling dwarfs. A jazzband obviously sounded to be able to become more popular in the general student neighbourhood of the University of Toronto. For about 5 years we played there 6 nights a week in Albert’s Hall. The Canadian Talent Library decided to issue a LP and we all went in the Toronto RCA studios to record. In this clip I play the only tune from this album that I composed. With Albert’s Hall being our basis our band took off in many directions, more recordings, several trips to New Orleans and the start of being part of the international jazz festival circuit. We met many famous musicians and we became the band to record the pilot shows for the TV jazz programs hosted by Peter Appleyard. The permanent personnel in the band at that time consisted of Chris Daniels bass, Geoff Holmes trombone, Bob Erwig cornet, Bruce Bakewell clarinet, Juergen Hesse banjo and Graig Barrett drums.

Here’s the video for “Bloor Street Breakdown”:

In 2000, the CD “The Climax Jazz Band – The Early Years 1973-1975” was released on the Tormax label.  It included selections from their first three recordings:  “Climax Jazz Band Volume One Stereo”, “The Climax Jazz Band, The Entertainers”, and “I Can’t Escape From You, The Climax Jazz Band Featuring Ken Colyer.” It reproduced the iconic cover from their first album and the liner notes included a little more about the history of the band.  The images below are from that CD and you click on them to view a larger image.

The Climax Jazz Band The Early Years 1973-1975 front cover

The Climax Jazz Band The Early Years 1973-1975 liner notes

I’m going to work a little backwards with tracks from this album because the final track is “Introductory Blues” and they introduce the members of the band.  In my mind, that should have been the first track of the album. 

The introductory track on side one is a song called “Tight Like That” which seems in keeping with a band with the word “Climax” in their name. 

I’m going to sneak in one more track by this Canadian group, not because they are Canadian and I’m showing any sense of national pride, but because it’s “Ice Cream” and why not offer up a third version of this song from yet a third country?  We had a version from Germany with the Omega Jazzband, a version from Australia by Frank Traynor’s Jazz Preachers and finally The Climax Jazz Band from Canada with their rendition. 

  

   And now for something really novel.  Here’s the album “The Madison Avenue Beat” by Lester Lanin and His Orchestra. 

Lester Lanin and His Orchestra – The Madison Avenue Beat

Lester Lanin and His Orchestra – The Madison Avenue Beat Rear

From the back:  “Have Fun Listening and Dancing to 58 Radio and TV Commercial Favorites.”  There are 16 tracks on this album with the Orchestra swinging the music from jingles for companies such as Pillsbury, Kelloggs, Gillette, Colgate, and the Ford Motor Company just to name a few.  I’m not sure if you can dance to the tunes but it’s fun listening.    There’s some strange product pairings here.  Take this for example for “Chiquita Banana & Beechnut Coffee”.  Those two as a combined flavour don’t appeal to me but the music sure does bounce. 

Or how about a combination of “Post; Dutch Masters; Mott’s; Tetley”?  Cereal, Cigars, Apple Sauce and Tea?  Yum!

 

   The next album is showing its manners by including “Please” in the title.  Here we have the Willis Jackson Quintet with “Please Mr. Jackson.”  “Please Mr. Jackson” is the debut album by saxophonist Willis Jackson. It featured Willis Jackson on saxophone, organist Jack McDuff and guitarist Bill Jennings, as well as Alvin Johnson on drums and Tommy Porter on bass.  It was recorded and released in 1959 on the Prestige label.

Please Mr. Jackson

Please Mr. Jackson rear cover

This is what I call cool jazz.  There are only six track on the album and they range from 4 minutes to 8 and a half.  Give a listen to “Cool Grits” being the longest track on the album:

We don’t have any Ice Cream but we do have this great Quintet and if asked nicely “Please Mr. Jackson” they will kindly play the title track. 

  

   “Drumsticks – Trumpets – And Dixieland.”  How’s that for a title?  Unfortunately that’s about all you get with this album.  Take a look at the front cover:

Drumsticks – Trumpets – And Dixieland

The front cover lists songs performed but also an ensemble of artists such as Buster Bailey, Vic Dickenson, Marty Napoleon, Arvell Shaw, Rex Stewart, George Wettling, “Pee Wee” Irwin, Claude Hopkins, Milt Hinton.  The rear cover only lists other albums that appeared on the International Award Series label.  We don’t get a date for this album nor any other information than the musicians and the track listing.  Did they perform together or as one collective band?  I don’t know.  All I know is that there’s Drum Sticks, Trumpets, and it’s Dixieland.  I guess I’ll have to settle for that.  From the album here is  “High Society”: 

All of the other songs on this album are Dixieland classics so I’ll offer up the only song I didn’t recognize by title, “Late Date”: 

  

   Here’s another album with very few details.  Here is “Golden Era of Dixieland Jazz”: 

Golden Era of Dixieland Jazz

Golden Era of Dixieland Jazz

The group doesn’t seem to have a name but there are some familiar names among the musicians.  Claude Hopkins, Pee Wee Erwin, Vic Dickenson, Buster Bailey, Milt Hinton, George Wettling all performed on the “Drumsticks – Trumpets – And Dixieland” album mentioned above.  The only other thing I know is that the album was released in 1957.  It covers songs from 1887 to 1937 and then is released 20 years later in 1957.  I think my math is right.  Who cares, I was an English major.

   When comparing “Golden Era of Dixieland Jazz” against “Drumsticks – Trumpets – And Dixieland” I found that both albums had six songs all the same with the same running time.  When I listened to them, they were exactly the same.  The only two songs on “Golden Era of Dixieland Jazz” that do not appear on “Drumsticks – Trumpets – And Dixieland” are the last two songs on Side B, “I Would Do Anything For You” and “Birth Of The Blues.”  I guess I know which two songs I’m offering.  Here’s “I Would Do Anything For You”:

And finally “Birth Of The Blues”:

  

   And now we come to the three albums I purchased last weekend.  The first is the Dukes of Dixieland with “Come To The Cabaret”.

The Dukes of Dixieland - Come To The Cabaret

The Dukes of Dixieland Cabaret Rear

Here’s a little history about “The Dukes of Dixieland”:

The Dukes of Dixieland was an American, New Orleans “Dixieland”-style revival band, originally formed in 1948 by brothers Frank Assunto, trumpet; Fred Assunto, trombone; and their father Papa Jac Assunto, trombone and banjo. Their first records featured Jack Maheu, clarinet; Stanley Mendelsohn, piano; Tommy Rundell, drums; and Barney Mallon, tuba and string bass.

Fred and Frank Assunto both died young, and the original Dukes of Dixieland disbanded in the early 1970s. In April 1974, producer/manager John Shoup restarted the Dukes of Dixieland with Connie Jones as leader, leased Louis Prima’s nightclub atop the Monteleone Hotel in the French Quarter and renamed it “Duke’s Place”. The Dukes of Dixieland have not been affiliated with the Assunto family since 1974. The Assunto family has denied giving away permission to use the band name with the new line-ups, none of which have included any of the original musicians.

Luckily, this album was released in 1967 so the musicians should mostly be the original members. As far as I know, this album has never been released on CD but there are a lot of fun tracks on this album.  I’m going to start first with the last track, “Hellzapoppin'”:

Here’s a recommendation for everybody from the first track,”Don’t Sleep In The Subway”:

 

   This next album is not even an album at all.  It was not recorded as an album and despite the title, “Tony Pastor Meets Ike Carpenter”, the two do not perform together.

Tony Pastor Meets Ike Carpenter

The rear cover only mentions other albums on the Camay label.  I became a fan of Tony Pastor when I was researching Linda Keene’s stint with Pastor which I detailed in TRACING LINDA KEENE, PART 2: THE MOMENT IN MY LIFE.  I have since purchased a couple of CDs of his released on the Circle label and the Collectors’ Choice Music label featuring live performances with a young Rosemary Clooney.  I highly recommend them.  So, when I saw this album, I thought I’d pick it up.  I didn’t know who Ike Carpenter was but it didn’t matter because he doesn’t perform with Pastor.  The curio here is that all of these performances are taken from Snader Telescriptions.  These were short films of musical performances intended as television filler in the early days of television. Dozens of artists were presented and hundreds of films were made.  From Wikipedia: 

Snader Telescriptions, produced for television from 1950 to 1952, were film versions of popular and classical music performances. Singers, dancers, orchestras, and novelty acts appeared in the Snader musicals. They were produced by Louis D. Snader, a Southern California theater owner who branched out into television and then real estate.

I found a much more detailed information source for the Snader Telescriptions from a website dedicated to the discography of Peggy Lee.  It’s very extensive and informative and you can check it out here:  https://peggyleediscography.com/p/LeeResearchSnader.php.  It even details the release of Telescription audio on the Camay lable.

    Here is one of the Tony Pastor songs that appears on the album but is actually the Telescription as posted on YouTube:

Here’s the actual track from the album by comparison:

Here’s another of Tony Pastor’s telescriptions that is represented on the album.  This time it’s “Margie”:

And here’s the audio track from the album: 

 

I’ll present one more song from the album by Tony Pastor with an unknown female singer.  I could not find any more information nor could I find the telescription video.  The song is “Kiss Me” 

To be fair to Ike Carpenter, I’ll present a couple of tracks by his Orchestra.  I could not find the telescription video for either of these but I had found references to the fact that Carpenter was indeed filmed for the Snader Telescriptions.  The first is “It’s The Talk Of The Town” with an unknown male singer:

And here’s Ike Carpenter and his Orchestra with an unknown female singer and backup voices on “Love That Boy”: 

 

 

   Finally we come to the last album in my baker’s dozen.  This is a compilation album of old Bunny Berigan tracks that was put out on the Sandy Hook label in 1982.  It has the dubious title of “The Greatest White Trumpeter of All Time.”

Bunny Berigan Greatest White Trumpeter

Bunny Berigan rear cover

I don’t know if the claim of “Greatest White Trumpeter” still holds but I’d have to nominate Billy Butterfield, Ruby Braff, and Bob Scobey.  I featured a Butterfield track in my second blahg about multiple found records, 12 MONTHS & 12 MORE RECORDS & 12 MORE SONGS and did a whole blahg about Bob Scobey in  WHAT ON EARTH IS SCOBEYFAN?  I haven’t discussed Ruby Braff but I recently purchased a double Ruby Braff CD, “The Canadian Sessions” so maybe I’ll talk about Ruby Braff in the future.

Ruby Braff The Canadian Sessions

   This Bunny Berigan album is not the only Berigan LP in my collection.  I’m a huge collector of Frank Sinatra and I have quite a number of records of Sinatra and Tommy Dorsey and Bunny Berigan was part of Dorsey’s Orchestra during some of the time Sinatra was with Dorsey.  Here are a couple of albums from my Sinatra collection that not only feature Berigan but feature Berigan specifically in the tracks and in the record title. The first is on the Fanfare Records label and includes live broadcast tracks.

Tommy Dorsey featuring Bunny Berigan

Tommy Dorsey featuring Bunny Berigan rear

The second is on the Jazz Archives label with the title of “Through The Years:”

Through The Years Front

Through The Years rear

   I won’t post about Berigan’s tragically short life, he was only 33 when he died, but I will let the music speak for itself.  I found a couple of old short films on YouTube with Berigan that show him playing the trumpet as well as singing.  The first is taken from a Vitaphone short called “Mirrors” from 1934 featuring Freddie Rich and his Orchestra.  At the 45 second mark you can see Berigan playing his trumpet. 

The clip above is taken from the full Vitaphone short and if you want to see the full version, which for no great reason has been colourized, then you can check it out here:

The second video I found is also of Freddie Rich and His Orchestra from a 1936 short titled “Song Hits On Parade”.  It’s a medley of three songs, “You Can’t Pull The Wool Over My  Eyes”, “Until Today”, and “Tiger Rag.”  Berigan is featured prominently on “Until Today” playing his trumpet and lending his pleasing vocal to the song. 

   Okay, now some tracks from the Sandy Hook album, “The Greatest White Trumpeter of All Time.”  First up is “Running Wild.”  This is a song that became associated with Marilyn Monroe when she performed it in the film, “Some Like It Hot.”  From October 22, 1936, here’s Berigan’s version:

Although there are no vocals by Berigan on the album, we do have vocals on a couple of songs by Gail Reese and one with Dick Wharton doing the singing.  Here’s Gail Reese and Bunny Berigan on “It’s Wonderful”: 

The last track I’ll feature from this album is the one with Dick Wharton singing Hoagy Carmichael’s “Stardust.”  Listen to Berigan’s horn on this one.  What a thrill! 

 

   That’s it for this baker’s dozen batch.  I’ll keep on buying records when I find them and I’ll post about them.  After all, found music that’s really good truly is The Most Happy Sound.  Sorry, I couldn’t resist.