Posts Tagged ‘Dottie Reid’

THIS IS 150…ISH, PART ONE

Saturday, February 1st, 2025

   Well it happened again. Scott Reading A BookI reached a milestone in my blahgs by posting my 150th blahg.  The 150th blahg happened with the posting  of  DARKWING DUCK AND THE NFT CASH GRAB…UNBOXING!  In the past when I’ve reached the 50 mark I would post a special blahg reviewing the previous 50.  Starting with the 50th blahg, I posted, THIS IS 50, PART ONE, and because the blahg was so long, I had to break it up a bit and post a second part, THIS IS 50, PART TWO.  The next 50 were covered in THIS IS 100, PART ONE and THIS IS 100, PART TWO.  In case you’re wondering, it took me four years and two months to reach number 50.  My first blahg, THE BLAHG & THE MOST HAPPY SOUND was first published on October 2nd, 2011 and number 50 debuted on December 2nd, 2015.  I didn’t reach 100 until August 25th, 2021 which was more than five years and eight months later.  Finally, number 150, which was the previous blahg, and not this one, was posted on January 14th, 2025 and that was almost three years and five months after number 100.  I lost ground between 50 and 100 but have sped up a bit between 100 and 150.  So, let’s get into the review of 101 to 150.  I guess Unpacking the 2025 False Ducks Video Ramble is going to have to wait a little while longer.

101.  THIS IS 100, PART TWO was the second half of summing up blaghs 51 through 100.  If I had to pick one of those blahgs to focus on it would have to be STILL THINKING FOR MYSELF.  It highlights my philosophy that you should think for yourself.  That means being informed and not listening to the rot and untruths from others.  This is where I get political for a moment.  The United States reelected Donald Trump as their President and I don’t think his supporters did any thinking for themselves.  He was spouting lies and fact checking proved that.  Now the world has to pay for the nonsense and horror he’s going to put us through.  If you’re going to vote, don’t follow the others off a cliff by listening to only one voice.  Do your research.  Check the facts.  The only voice you should listen to is your own…unless you’re a Donald Trump, Doug Ford, or Pierre Poilievre supporter then you should definitely shut up and let mine be your voice of reason.

 

102.  THE SOUND OF MY OWN VOICE.  On reviewing 101 I said mine could be the voice people should listen to when it comes to politics.  I’ve had some experience with doing radio sketch comedy through our Dead From The Neck up program but I’ve come to realize I’m not the best narrator when it comes to my written work. I’m no Jean Shepherd, the narrator of the 1983 film, “A Christmas Story.”  I put together audio recordings of me reading each of the chapters from my novel “Pippa’s Passing” and added computerized voices and music and sound effects.  I think the computerized version of Pippa was better than me.  Here’s chapter 6 “Revelations At The Avocado House.”  Judge for yourself.  Then again, maybe like Mohamed Ali, I am the greatest. 

 

103.  DEAR SCOTT HENDERSON. This was a blahg about writing a letter to myself in the future, from when I was younger, asking how to get through or get around things.  The big thing was I figured it all out for myself and if I had had a response from my future self it would have probably said “Dear Dumb Ass, Figure It Out For Yourself.  I Did.”  I wouldn’t be the person I am today without the experiences, the disappointments, the grief, and the heartache I’ve experienced over the years.  Okay, not so much heartache as I have the love of a good woman, Jeanette, and that’s made me the better for meeting her.  I’ll revise that letter to my younger self to say “Dear Dumb Ass, You’re Going To Meet A Wonderful And Beautiful Person Named Jeanette.  DON’T F**K IT UP! 

 

104.  BUILDING A CHRISTMAS SPECIAL.  I was working on putting together a 2021 Dead From The Neck Up Christmas special.  This blahg highlighted some of my pre-recordings where I did all of the voices but not all of the music and sound-effects were mixed in.  I really liked the aired version of “The Red Menace” but my rehearsal recording of it showed I was having some fun with it:

 

105.  THE 2021 DEAD FROM THE NECK UP CHRISTMAS SPECIAL.  This was the debut of the Christmas Special I mentioned in the blahg “Building A Christmas Special”.  If you want to hear the whole special, it’s available on YouTube: 

 

106.  2021 – WHAT DID I ACCOMPLISH THIS YEAR?  Well, that’s a good question.  I guess the milestone was reaching 100 blahgs in 2021.  Now I’ve passed 150 with this blahg.  Not bragging…just kidding, I really am bragging! 

 

107.  THE 2022 FALSE DUCKS VIDEO RAMBLE.  For some reason, this did not post to YouTube.  If you’re seeing the video below then I’ve fixed the issue. If I can’t find it then I’ll put in a placeholder which is my 2022 Christmas Tree Launch video which was posted in January of 2023 because I was launching the Christmas 2022 Christmas tree…or at least I tried to.

 

108.  SAY IT AIN’T SO – NO MORE WEEPIES.  Well it happened.  A great band that I really enjoyed, broke up.  They were a husband and wife team and they divorced.  They were/are Deb Talan and Steve Tannen.  They’re just as good on their own but they were magical together.  Here’s a video of Deb Talan from last year, 2024, and here’s her introduction:

Got a superduper band together in my Artbarn, to play through a couple songs from my upcoming album. Bryan Vanderpool —drums, vocals, Dan Padley–electric guitar, Drew Morton–bass, Dave Helmer–acoustic guitar. Jason Smith filmed, with some support from Jeremy Mims, and another very nice fellow whose name I am forgetting right now….Peter….Pete Coolcarguy. Thanks everyone : ):

Note that Deb mentions an upcoming album.  Can’t wait! 

As for Steve Tannen, I can’t find anything new from him.  I do like his song “Sing Me To Sleep” from 2000 so I’ll post that:

 

109.  FREEDOM CONVOY…NOT SO MUCH…GO HOME! A bunch of disgruntled Canadians didn’t like masking mandates or Covid 19 vaccine mandates.  They decided to block downtown Ottawa and honk their horns around the clock.  They went home but not before the Canadian government had to use the the Emergency Measures Act to get them out.  Was the Government right about using it?  Ask the people in Ottawa who got to sleep again and had their city back.  Some of the protest organizers have been convicted in court.  I won’t comment on that either.  Maybe their future selves should have written to them and started with “Dear Dumb Asses.” 

 

110.  RUSSIA: GET OUT OF THE UKRAINE! This was a very short blahg but deserves repeating.  This is going to be another quick blahg.  Russia needs to get out of the Ukraine!  We need to support the Ukrainians any way we can and then later go after Putin for war crimes.
Little despots who try to annex other countries have always failed in the past.
The world is watching!! 

Donald Trump is talking about annexing Greenland and possibly Canada.  I’m sure Greenland would say the same as all Canadians, WE ARE NOT FOR SALE.

 

111.  PIPPA’S PASSING.  This was the first blahg where I mentioned I was writting a new novel called “Pippa’s Passing.” I had only written 57,000 words at that point and thought I would complete it with another 35,000 words for a total around 92,000.  I surpassed that with a novel clocking in at around 120,000.  The image at the right is the cover designed by my daughter.  You can order a copy of the novel on Amazon:  https://www.amazon.ca/Pippas-Passing-Scott-Henderson/dp/1738299120/ref=sr_1_1?crid=17VQS8Y4W6XVN&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.tZB__wB1CglXGVRj0WczhXkKeBXVXCHKTAWgkJXR50ZwZk3lK82YLeGm-7ee9xQdT8tVNCQzog7zOt4MsipidonKxaKnLjWMymaUyuS8GZ6qPY0NqaFijKeb8KumYT_LTzKfM0R88ZYv5GgSHJacTNELjnTJQDXU_sNhbCHYJF7yDE3q8aTa8siucAv6s3CQPKazfhYqvd4Hpyc23x2i0g.9H8XJQlIpSBeyh2JgVuAhJdIx3ysQ_dFI757fXrkwTk&dib_tag=se&keywords=pippa%27s+passing&qid=1738167750&s=books&sprefix=pippa%27s+passing%2Cstripbooks%2C239&sr=1-1. 

What I have never revealed is that the novel was inspired by reading of the passing of a girl I went to Quinte Secondary School with.  Her name was Sherry Cornwall.  I didn’t know her well but the character of Pippa was inspired by Sherry.  I wrote about Sherry’s passing in 2012 in a blahg with the title, STELLA AND SHERRY, I HARDLY KNEW YE. It took me ten years to finally write the novel “Pippa’s Passing” after being inspired by Sherry’s passing.

 

112.  SOME THINGS TO CELEBRATE–TEN YEARS ON.  “Pippa’s Passing” was mentioned again with me stating I had finished it to a total of 116,000 words.  Of course, six months later I would add another chapter and top the 120,000 word mark.  I also talked about celebrating my 35th wedding anniversary to my lovely wife Jeanette.  Another celebration was the fact that I was hired to write the liner notes for the new Linda Keene release from Fresh Sound Records,  “Linda Keene, One More For the Road. The Dixie Songbird’s Complete Recordings.”  The CD set included two songs from a 78rpm acetate I had discovered and purchased from Ebay.  Here’s one of those songs, “Muddy Waters”:

 

113.  WHAT IS 60?  There must be a theme going on here.  This was another reflective mood blahg about turning 60 and linking it to a poem I wrote once about talking to my future self.  The poem was “to old one.”  In this case, I  was writing to my future self and not my future self writing to me.  Clear?  Probably not.  Read the poem.

to old one

I imagine one day
I’ll be old —
and knowin’ me
one day will be about
all I can hack —
so I’m writin’ this to my old self
not what I was
but what I’ll be
for that one day

I’m tellin’ myself
to be happy
bein’ old
’cause maybe by then
I’ll have deserved that
but now I can’t accord any dignity
in addressin’ my old self
and this’ll only make sense
later on
to an old man

but old one,
that’s you or I mean me,
yer ruptured youth
is writin’ to you here
’cause we’re two different persons
you and me
and you know things
I’ve yet to comprehend
and you’ve forgotten things
I’ve yet to live
but that’s ’cause
yer memory and you
are old old one

and there was a time
when I needed you
to talk to me
and tell me
how I got by things or
over ’em or
through ’em
but that’d be cheatin’
and I matured into that truth

but old one
young one
still needs you
’cause I need to know
I’m still gonna be me
but old me
and someone new to talk to
if only in my mind
when we’re one

so know yer youth
old one
and keep in touch
or get in touch
with this
young one
who needs not to know
you’re old old one
but old enough to remember being
young once
and writing to
yer old self
to hear if
you stayed
old
long enough
to receive this poem
written by
yer young one once

 

114.  THE NEW YEAR’S DAY 2023 FALSE DUCKS VIDEO RAMBLE.  I still haven’t found the 2022 Video Ramble but at least I can link to 2023:

 

115.  HOW WAS YOUR CHRISTMAS?  Christmas of 2022 was postponed.  There was a huge snowstorm over Christmas and my daughter Emily and her husband Charlie, and my son Noah couldn’t get to our house until Boxing Day.  It will still a good time.  Here’s what I posted:  Well, it started snowing December 23rd and didn’t stop until late Christmas night on the 25th.   The roads were closed out our way and the major highway between Toronto and Belleville was also closed.  I had a large snowdrift in front of my garage door to the top and I had to dig it out to get at my snowblower.  On Christmas Eve, Abbie and I walked out in the falling snow to the end of our driveway and by then it was knee high.  Here’s a video of Jeanette and I heading out Christmas morning to clear the driveway again:

 

116.  MORE VINYL & THE GHOST OF THE TURNING POINT.  The Turning Point is a used record store in Ottawa…and it’s haunted!

Here’s the story:

Notice that all of the records are stacked upright and the centre aisle has trays of these stacked records.  I had gone through one section looking for some Billy Joel and Bruce Springsteen that my son didn’t already own but to no avail.  I ended up picking up the Mel Tormé record I mentioned earlier in this blahg.  When I go to record stores I’m also on the hunt for old Dixieland Jazz albums so I had just walked past one of these trays of stacked records and I said aloud to my wife “I wonder if there’s any Dixieland Jazz around here.”  Suddenly, half of one of the stacks flipped forward and because I was facing the rear of the stack that was flipped, I ended up seeing the back cover of this album:

Needless to say, I was a little taken aback but was determined to buy this record recommended by a ghost.  The official title of the album is “New Orleans Dixieland Superstar Jazz Artists” by, of course, New Orleans Dixieland Superstar Jazz Artists.  Here’s the front cover:

Here’s “When The Saints Go Marching In” from that album.

 

117.  A BAKER’S DOZEN MORE FOUND VINYL RECORDS.  I highlighted some more records I had found at thrift stores.  Here’s the list:

  • –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’ll highlight only one in this recap, “Frank Traynor’s Jazz Preachers”:

Here’s one of the songs from the album called Apex Blues:

This blahg is all about adding value so here’s one from the album Frank Traynor’s jazz preachers plays show tunes.” (is it me or is that title grammatically incorrect?) Here’s “76 Trombones”:

 

118.  THE NEW WASHING MACHINE AND THE NEW DISHWASHER. GUESS WHICH ONE I HATE?  I’ll answer the question.  I love the Washing Machine.  GE Adora 27-inch 4.9 (IEC) Cu. Ft. Top Load Washer with Stainless Steel Drum in White, Model # GTW495DMNWS.  The Dishwasher is a Galanz GLDW12FWEA5A.  I don’t really hate the Dishwasher but customer service with Galanz was awful.  You’d think my future self might have written me and said, Dear Dumb Ass, Don’t Buy A Galanz.  In case any of you are not getting the message, here it is:  DON’T BUY A GALANZ! 

 

119.  A SHOUT OUT TO MY DAD.  I was feeling nostalgic for my Father, George Henderson.That blahg was written on May 24th, 2023, four years after my father passed away.  I still miss him.  I sometimes say the only thing I got from my dad was the white hair.  I think I got much more…and I’m thankful for all of it. 

 

120.  ANOTHER BAKER’S DOZEN MORE FOUND VINYL RECORDS.  There’s another title that’s probably not grammatically correct.  I presented 13 more records I had found at thrift stores and linked to other albums and videos that made the total closer to twenty.  Here’s the list of the thirteen records I reviewed: 

  • “That Happy Dixieland Jazz” by Jimmy McPartland And His Dixielanders
  • “The Cheerleaders Sing Dixieland Jazz”
  • “Dixieland Left And Right” featuring Johnny Best And His All Stars & Dick Cathcart And His All Stars.
  • “Red Hot & Peppy Fields”
  • “Eydie in Dixieland” featuring Eydie Gormé.
  • Kings of Dixieland Volume 2
  • “AMF Presents Music For Swingers”
  • “Dixieland (Live Performance In New Orleans)” featuring Pete Fountain.
  • Pete Fountain “Standing Room Only”
  • Pete Hurtz And His Dixiaires – “Midnight In New Orleans.”
  • “The Sensational Barons of Dixieland Visit the Bowery”
  • Preservation Hall Jazz Band – “New Orleans, Volume 1”
  • Pete Jolly – “When The Lights Are Low”

Yes, a lot of those were Dixieland albums but the Pete Jolly album was a nice instrumental.  Here’s “That Old Feeling:”

 

121.  GET LOST GALANZ!  An update about poor customer service from Galanz regarding my dishwasher.  They said they couldn’t repair my issue and said they were sending me a refund by cheque.  Never happened.  It’s been 18 months and I haven’t received anything.  Here’s what I wrote in that blahg:

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!!

By the way, I fixed the issue myself, probably voiding the warranty I couldn’t get honoured from Galanz. 

 

122.  WHATEVER HAPPENED TO THAT BLAHG ON DOTTIE REID?  I finally got around to writing the blahg about the singer “Dottie Reid” I had promised to write.  In that blahg, I mentioned that she once recorded with Johnny Richards.  Her one official recording with the Richards outfit was on December 4, 1944 when she recorded the song “I’m Gonna See My Baby.”  Here’s an image of the 78 rpm record.

 

I won’t re-post that track but will add a radio broadcast from March 10, 1945 which was Victory Parade of Spotlight Bands, a live remote from The Main Ballroom of The Hotel Roosevelt in New York City for the members of Torpedo Boat Squadron #39 stationed at The Brooklyn Navy Yard.  It’s a fifteen minute program where you get to hear Dottie Reid doing vocals on “A Little On The Lonely Side” and a live version of I’m Gonna See My Baby”:

 

 

123.  SINATRA: SYLVAN BEACH TO CRYSTAL BEACH. AND WHAT ABOUT SCHENECTADY?  I wrote this blahg about trying to solve the mystery of whether Sinatra and Harry James played Sylvan Beach, New York in September of 1939 and whether Sinatra and Tommy Dorsey ever played Crystal Beach here in Ontario, Canada.  The answers are yes, no, and I don’t know.  Yes, Sinatra played Sylvan Beach September 1st, 1939:

No, Dorsey and Sinatra never played Crystal Beach.  That makes the poster below, a fake: 

I don’t know, that refers to Schenectady.  I could never find any proof about that.  I did, however, uncover a new listing for December 8th, 1939 that had gone undocumented.  December 8th, 1939 Broadmoor Ballroom, Colorado Springs, Colorado, Sinatra was there with Harry James.  The following articles detail the event, how poor the turnout was, and how a College student who sponsored the event had to leave school because the audience attendance was not as expected. 

 

 

124.  HEY, REMEMBER THAT BLAHG ABOUT DOTTIE REID I FINALLY WROTE?  Hey, remember blahg number 122 WHATEVER HAPPENED TO THAT BLAHG ON DOTTIE REID?  Well, you should, it was just reviewed above.  This second blahg was an addendum where I talked about and featured tracks of Dottie singing live with the Buddy Rich Orchestra in 1946.  Those tracks were from an album called “One Night Stand with Buddy Rich” Volume 2.

I didn’t have this album when I did my first blahg on Dottie Reid but had purchased it by the time I wrote the addendum second blahg.  As, I have no other update on Dottie Reid, I’ll repost the three tracks from the above album that feature Dottie Reid.  First is “Just A Sittin’ And A Rockin’” from March 28, 1946 at the Hollywood Palladium:

   Next 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:

One day I’ll write an addendum to that addendum blahg if I ever track down any other Dottie Reid vocals. 

 

125.  WHATEVER HAPPENED TO MISS REGINA HASSOCK OF 1947?  In case you haven’t read this one, it’s all about the big band singer, Marie Carroll.  She was also known by Margie Carroll and Marion Carroll.  I did some tracking of her through newspaper and magazine archives but was not ever able to find an obituary.  Here was the last piece of information I posted about Marie Carroll:

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.

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:

That’s it.  After 1947, I could find nothing.  I did find a song by her from 1939 that is supposedly with Harry James.  Here’s the video on YouTube of her singing “I’ve Heard That Song Before.”

The most significant thing is not the audio recording but the comments to the video.  Here’s what’s written in a couple of comments:

Thanks very much for posting this – Margie Carroll was my husband’s grandmother and this is the first time we’re hearing a recording of her! Can you let us know where we might be able to find this broadcast?

Hi there- thank you so much for posting this. I am one of Margaret’s grandsons and am still very much hoping for any additional information you can provide about this recording or album. I would really love to track it down for my family. Please let us know. Thank you so much.

I’ve reached out to the people who made the comments but haven’t heard anything back.  If I do, I guess I’ll be writing an addendum to my Marie Carroll blahgs as well. 

  

   Speaking of addendum, there’s going to be an addendum to this blahg.  I always find that there’s so much crammed into these 50, 100, and 150 blahg milestone postings that I have to break it in half.  Stay tuned for “This is 150…ish, Part Two.

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

Sunday, 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 1.  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.

 

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WHATEVER HAPPENED TO THAT BLAHG ON DOTTIE REID?

Saturday, 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.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: 

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.

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2021 – WHAT DID I ACCOMPLISH THIS YEAR?

Saturday, January 1st, 2022

    Today is the last day in 2021. I’m not sorry to say I’ll be glad to see it gone.  Scott Henderson on the last day of 20212021 wasn’t a bad year but any year, especially the second in a row, where we’re all still dealing with Covid 19, isn’t anything to brag about.  I thought I would take a moment to look back on this year and list some of my accomplishments.  So here’s another self-serving blahg but really a blahg to help remind me what I did do this year and what might be left to be done in 2022. 

   Well, I wrote 21 blahgs in 2021, 22 if I manage to get this one posted today, so that’s pretty good.  I looked at my blahg situation and realized back in January that if I doubled down, I could reach the 100 blahg mark by the fall.  I did even better by publishing the 100th blahg, THIS IS 100, PART ONE, on August 25th and if you include this blahg, again pending it’s publication today, this will be number 107.  I posted my first blahg, THE BLAHG & THE MOST HAPPY SOUND, on August 2nd, 2011 and ten years later I’m still writing.  If you want to know more about me or what I’ve been up to in the past 10 years then read the previous 106 blahgs or at least the recaps THIS IS 50, PART ONE., THIS IS 50, PART TWO, THIS IS 100, PART ONE, and THIS IS 100, PART TWO. 

   In addition to the 100 blahg goal, I had set some other tasks for myself.  If you check out the first blahg I posted in 2021,  THE FALSE DUCKS VIDEO BLAHG #4: OH, DIDN’T I RAMBLE, I detailed some other things I wanted to do this year.  The corresponding blahg, THE RAMBLE UNPACKED, updated details on some books I wanted to read, some albums I wanted to listen to, some movies I wanted to watch, and a cuckoo clock I wanted to repair.  I accomplished all of that and more.  I also continued on a goal to watch all of Bette Davis’ films in chronological order.  I think I had started this goal in 2020 and it continued this year.  I had started with Bad Sister from 1931 and worked my way through to “Pocketful of Miracles” from 1961, which is a Christmas movie, before taking a break for the Christmas holidays.  That’s a total of 71 films and it would have been 72 if I could have found a place to watch her second film, “Seed”, from 1931.  If anyone knows where I can view this film, please let me know. 

   I also got back to collecting all of the volumes in The Complete Short Fiction of Clifford D. Simak.  I had previously purchased Volume One because it contained the release of “I had no head and my eyes were floating way up in the air” which was submitted in the 1970s for publication in Harlan Ellison’s “The Last Dangerous Visions”.  That anthology has never been published but that lost Simak story is available in the new Simak anthology “I Am Crying All Inside and Other Stories: The Complete Short Fiction of Clifford D. Simak, Volume One”.  The Complete Short Fiction of Clifford D. Simak Volume Eleven I began to purchase all of the other volumes because they also included his War and Western stories in addition to his short Science Fiction stories. Open Road Media Science & Fantasy who publish these volumes usually will release four volumes at once in electronic format then months later will release them in paperback format all on the same date.  I had purchased the first eight in paperback and was waiting for the publication of volumes 9-12.  The electronic versions of these last four volumes have been available for a few years but only Volume Eleven, “Dusty Zebra And Other Stories”, was released in October this year.  Why skip nine and ten and also omit twelve?  It boggled my mind.  My wife got me Volume Eleven for Christmas.  Here’s hoping in 2022 we see the other three missing volumes in paperback. 

   Looping back to the topic of Covid 19, I am proud to say I have both vaccines and a few days ago on December 27th, I got my booster shop.  My arm was sore for a day and I was tired the day after receiving the booster but everything else was fine.  My message for everyone for 2022:  GET A VACCINE OR GET YOUR BOOSTER!  My brother and his wife and children didn’t get to come up to Canada for Christmas this year because the family came down with Covid 19.  I know my sister-in-law was pretty sick for a few days but I shutter at the thought of how worse it could have been if she hadn’t had her vaccines.  That’s all I’ll say about Covid for the rest of this blahg. 

   Just before Christmas, my daughter Abbie and I were able to attend the Transformers Convention in Mississauga, December 10-12.  The convention in 2020 had to be cancelled due to, I’m not saying it because I promised, and this past July’s convention was moved to this December.  My daughter and I usually have a blast at these conventions and we had a good time this year as well.  Here are a couple of YouTube videos of the dealer room.  They’re not mine but it gives you an idea of how much product is to be found. 

   My daughter found some treasures and so did I.  The convention also has panels with artists and voice talent and Saturday night of the convention usually features a script reading.  All attendees can audition for the script reading and Abbie was chosen for the script reading in 2019 but I had never been chosen.  I wasn’t going to audition and we were just hanging around in our hotel room when I decided to go down and watch others audition.  At the last minute, I did an audition for a character called Tripredacus.  The audition line they gave me made it sound like this character was a gangster but everyone auditioned with loud booming voices.  I decided to try out with an Edward G Robinson public enemy number one gangster type voice and I was selected.  I had to text Abbie and she managed to get down in time to see me do the reading with the others who had been selected.  She took some audio or video and when I get it from her, I’ll post it here. 

   I was very pleased to be selected for Tripredacus even though I didn’t know who  that was.  Later research from the Transformers Wiki for Tripredacus, https://tfwiki.net/wiki/Tripredacus, explains that he’s a character from Transformers Beast Wars.  Here’s their explanation: 

Tripredacus is a slimy “Battle Master” who prefers to emerge from underground to attack Maximal fortresses in the dead of night, tenaciously crushing all before him, spreading plague-like destruction wherever he goes. The weapons of his composite members form a slashing mega-missile launcher that he uses to tear his way into battle.

Tripredacus is composed of the three-member Tripredacus Council:

  • Ram Horn
  • Sea Clamp
  • Cicadacon

I don’t know if that is clear to you but that Transformers Wiki entry also detailed that in 1997 the three figures of Ram Horn, Sea Clamp, and Cicadacon were released separately and all three could be combined together to make the Tripredacus figure.  After my script reading triumph, I was determined to find these three figures to combine into my own Tripredacus.  On Sunday, Abbie and I returned to the Dealer Room to search for the three figures.  I had set a price point of $60 for my Tripredacus but if you check that out on Ebay, it’s way too low.  One dealer did have a Ram Horn complete for $40:

Ram Horn

I decided to keep looking.  Eventually Abbie found a dealer with an assortment of bagged figures.  In one bag, in a box on the floor, we found the other two figures, Sea Clamp and Cicadacon 

Cicacacon

The figures were complete except their weapons and the dealer wanted $40 for the bag containing the pair.  Abbie and I were looking them over and wondering what the odds were that we’d find these two together when the dealer offered to sell me the pair for $20.  This was a no-brainer!  I decided that these two for $20 plus the Ram Horn from the other dealer for $40 would match my price point of $60 for all three figures.  Below is an image of my Tripredacus that Abbie combined for me this week from Ram Horn, Sea Clamp, and Cicadacon: 

   Another accomplishment from this year was the work I have done with Fresh Sound Records for the upcoming 2022 release of the complete recordings of Linda Keene.  I can’t talk more about it and I can’t share the booklet mock up that was sent to me but stay tuned.  The release is going to be spectacular. 

   In my last blahg, THE 2021 DEAD FROM THE NECK UP CHRISTMAS SPECIAL, I posted the new Christmas special I completed with my friend Stephen Dafoe and our announcer, my other friend, Bryan Dawkins.  That deserves re-posting because it too was another accomplishment for me in 2021: 

   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 or 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”: 

What a beautiful version of that song from a forgotten songbird.  More on her, in a later blahg. 

   Tomorrow is New Year’s Day and the start of 2022.  Let’s hope it’s special for all of us and we find ourselves healthy and happy.  Celebrate every day and all your accomplishments.  In 2013 I closed a blahg with the following quote and it too bears repeating:  “After wishing everyone health and hugging and kissing, Frank Sinatra would always close with “In the next year, may we find peace in the world and peace among ourselves.”  That’s an accomplishment I’d gladly toast to!  Happy New Year!

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