The False Ducks Blahg

   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.com.  Here’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: 

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 3 Dec 2018 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: 

   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”

   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:

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:

 

 

   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: 

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:

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”:

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:

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:

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.

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: 

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:

   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: 

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.