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 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:
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:
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.
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
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
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)
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)
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:
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
Note that Hal Kemp is in the Band Shell.
Compare that to the September 2nd, 1939 listing:
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:
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.
Olcott 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
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:
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:
Note Sinatra not mentioned but the week before he was mentioned in a small article:
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:
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:
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
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.
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
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:
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:
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.
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:
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 SONGS, 12 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.
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:
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.
I did find an image for a music festival poster in 1970 that mentions the Omega Jazzband:
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.
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.
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
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.
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:
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.
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.
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.
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:
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”:
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”.
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.
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.”
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.
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.
The second is on the Jazz Archives label with the title of “Through The Years:”
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.
Here I go being late with another blahg. Really, I had an excuse. I’ve been working hard to finish the last of the audio podcasts for my book, “Pippa’s Passing.” Also, after living with the book for six months I decided that there was another ending or continued ending that was begging to be told. That made a 21st chapter and I wanted to finish writing it and then create an audio podcast of the alternate/continued ending. I have begun posting the podcasts on various sites. So far 17 chapters are available from wherever you stream podcasts. Here are links to some of them:
In previous blahgs like 12 MONTHS -12 RECORDS -12 SONGS and 12 MONTHS – 12 MORE RECORDS – 12 MORE SONGS, I posted about records I had purchased over a period of time and then shared some tracks from the albums. I thought I would revisit that theme. Over the past year I’ve probably purchased another 12 or more records from thrift stores or record stores and haven’t shared any of it. I’m about to rectify that by posting about some recent additions. 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. So here we go, in no particular order. Okay, there is going to be one particular order and that will be the last album that I will post about at the end after a ghost story.
The first up is an album called “Ben Bagley’s Irving Berlin Revisited.” This was released in 1967 on the MGM Records label. The reason why I purchased it was that I’m a huge fan of the late great jazz artist Blossom Dearie. The album features two songs by her that I had never heard.
From the album here is Blossom Dearies singing on “It’ll Come To You”:
The second selection of Blossom Dearie from this album is “Wild About You”:
Next up is a mix between dixieland and ragtime. It’s “Those Fantastic Charleston Years” by the The Charleston Hot Peppers. This was put out on the Polydor label in 1962.
From that album are two selections, with the first being the title track “Charleston” :
When my daughter heard the above track she said it reminded her of “It’s A Wonderful Life” with Jimmy Stewart and Donna Reed dancing on the gymnasium floor as it opened up to reveal a swimming pool beneath and Stewart and Reed eventually fall into the water. Great scene and a great memory.
And now we have “When Buddha Smiles”:
It’s back to the vocals again but this time it’s Mel Tormé. I have posted links to Mel in previous blahgs such as THIS IS 100, PART TWO and MY UNBELIEVABLE LIFE- STARRING ME. I didn’t used to be a big fan of Mel’s but I remember when my children were younger we went camping and we had a portable radio. A station we listened to did a respective that evening of Mel Tormé and I was hooked. When I was in Ottawa recently, I picked up the album “Mel Tormé Loves Fred Astaire.” That’s part of the ghost story I will tell later but right now it’s about the music and Mel. This album is a reissue on the Bethlehem label from 1977.
The original album was “Mel Tormé Sings Fred Astaire” issued on Bethlehem in 1956. Still, it’s Mel Tormé and up first is a swinger with Mel singing “Something’s Gotta Give”:
Let’s slow things down and listen to Mel sing “A Foggy Day:”
It’s time to swing again and we’re back to dixieland, “Real Dixieland!”, an album by the Rampart Street Paraders.
This album actually appears to be a compilation of tracks taken from two other albums, “Rampart And Vine” (1955), and “Dixieland, My Dixieland” (1956) both on the Columbia label. I’m going to start things off with “Sugar (That Sugar Baby O’ Mine)” from the Rampart and Vine album:
And now one that swings, from the “Dixieland, My Dixieland” album, here’s “After You’ve Gone”:
Continuing on with the Dixieland theme, I want to talk a little about The Firehouse Five Plus Two. Here’s a quote about this band from the Wikipedia entry:
The Firehouse Five Plus Two was a Dixieland jazz band, popular in the 1950s, consisting of members of the Disney animation department. Leader and trombonist Ward Kimball was inspired to form the band after spending time with members of the Disney animation and sound department and finding that they had a lot in common as jazz aficionados. The lunchtime chats escalated into a full on lunchtime jam session as Kimball, an amateur trombonist, and animator Frank Thomas, a pianist, would find they “sounded pretty good all by ourselves.”
The band was also formative in creating the Good Time Jazz label under fellow aficionado Lester Koenig, who managed all the band’s releases from 1940’s The Firehouse Five Plus Two Story, Volume 1 to 1970’s Live at Earthquake McGoon’s. Walt Disney was approving of the band, letting them play at the company’s Christmas parties, at Disneyland, and other social functions, on the single condition that they never fully leave their jobs at the studio.
I think I may have another Firehouse Five Plus Two album somewhere so I’ll look around and see what I have and maybe post about it in the future. Maybe I just bought the same album again. Who knows? Obviously, I don’t! The album I picked up recently at a thrift store in Ottawa is “The Firehouse Five Story, Vol. 2”.
First up is a jazzy song that asks the question, “Who Walks In When I Walk Out?”
Of course, if you’re going to have a song by the Firehouse Five Plus Two then you have to have a song associated with a Firehouse. Here’s “Firechief Rag”:
The next album from which I want to offer up samples is one I picked up at a local pawn shop in Belleville. Greenbacks Pawnshop has a huge selection of used records. I picked up the 1962 album “Billy Eckstine & Quincy Jones – At Basin Street East” for $10.
“Billy Eckstine does some fabulous singing on this album backed by the Quincy Jones Orchestra. The very first track on the album is a favourite of mine entitled “Alright, Okay, You Win”:
I often catch myself singing “Alright, Okay, You Win” because I remember seeing Joe Williams sing this on a tribute to Frank Sinatra back in 1990. Check out this video of Joe Williams’ performance:
This next selection from “Billy Eckstine & Quincy Jones – At Basin Street East” is a bit of a cheat because I can offer up four songs because they’re all included in a Duke Ellington medley. Here are “Don’t Get Around Much Anymore”, “I’m Just A Lucky So And So”, “Caravan”, and “Sophisticated Lady”:
Now for the Ghost Story. In the middle of March this year, I took a week of holidays and over a couple of days, my wife and I went to Ottawa to visit a friend and to check out record, dvd, and thrift store haunts. One of the places I love to visit is “The Turning Point” which has a large selection of used DVDs and records. Here’s a shot of the store from the front:
In case you couldn’t tell from the photo, they profess to being “Ottawa’s #1 CD Store”, “Ottawa’s #1 Record Store”, and “Ottawa’s #1 DVD Store.” Oh yeah, and they’re haunted! True story. I think my friend Bryan and I were there about 5 or so years ago and the owner mentioned it to us at the time but I don’t think I ever believed him. Now, I’m a believer.
Here’s a shot of the upstairs where they keep all of their used records:
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:
I don’t know the year of the record but research suggests that Shalom Records operated between the late 1960s to sometime in the 70s. After finding this treasure, I went downstairs to pay for my purchases and to tell the owner about my encounter with the ghost. He wasn’t surprised in the least. He said this sort of things happens a lot and sometimes it’s a very convenient ghost. The owner said on a number of occasions someone would come into the store and ask for something the store didn’t have but then the very next day someone would bring the item in. That too, happened more than the owner cared to say. Well, it worked in his favour and mine because I now own this record and can offer up selections. The first is a number with a vocal by Sweet Emma Barrett on “Sister Kate”:
Unfortunately there are no songs on this album with ‘ghost’ or ‘spirit’ in the title but we do get “The Saints” which is of course the great dixieland standard, “When The Saints Go Marching In.”
That’s it for this time. I don’t know if there really is a Ghost at The Turning Point but I’d like to think there is or else the owner has an invisible helper. Okay, just one more from this ghost gifted album that I paid for. I’ll close with another great standard, “Way Down Yonder In New Orleans.”
How was your Christmas? You know I wouldn’t ask if I didn’t have a story to tell. That’s what these blahgs are all about: stories from me. Sometimes what I have to say might make you laugh or smile or wonder why I haven’t gone off my nut before this. Maybe my story might pale in comparison to yours but I’ll continue to offer up my stories and we’ll see how mine stacks up.
This Christmas of 2022 was the whitest I’ve seen in years. I was reflecting on that with my wife and realized in the past five or six years that we have had a green Christmas or light dustings of snow that didn’t amount to much. In fact, the last time we had a huge snowfall was on Christmas in 2017 because I wrote a blahg about it: BEING SICK ON CHRISTMAS IS NO FUN, BUT HERE WE GO. That year I had to shovel out the end of my driveway so my wife could take me to the hospital with the worst sore throat I’ve ever had. I don’t care to relive it so read that blahg at your leisure.
I’ve posted before about my lawn display of Christmas inflatables and things really looked nice until the major snow came and buried everything and I couldn’t find them again until the New Year. I don’t have any pictures of my display from Christmas 2022 so I’ll offer up some photos from inside the house instead.
First up is our Christmas tree. We get a real tree every year but there are no local Christmas Tree farms open in our area. So, this is the second year we’ve purchase a tree from the local Firefighters. It cost $60 but it goes to a good cause. Here’s a photo of this year’s tree:
Notice that the star at the top is different this year. When we plugged in our old star it would not light up and when I tried to put in replacement bulbs, they all burned out. Here’s what our star topper has looked like in previous years:
We had that old star for a long time so it might have outlived its lifespan. My wife went to Canadian Tire and bought another one of the same shape and size but it shone in a bronze colour and I didn’t like it. I stopped at Walmart the following day and purchased the current one. I think it’s nice and the shining whiteness made it feel more like Christmas to me. Maybe I can get the old one working again or we might just stick with the replacement. Bonus marks to anyone who noticed that my 2022 tree was taller and thinner than the one above in a photo from 2018. I’ll talk more about the tree later
I like nutcrackers. There, I’ve said it. There’s something about them that makes me want to collect them and display them at Christmastime. Here’s another photo from 2018 when I displayed most of my nutcrackers:
That wasn’t all of the nutcrackers because I had to put some of the nutcrackers on a speaker and others on the floor. This year I decided to build a little shelf to put on the cabinet in the photo so that nutcrackers would be on display up the wall. Here’s the result:
You can see that there are still some on a speaker and others on the floor. Throughout 2022 I bought about a dozen used ones at thrift shops and they stayed on my piano during the year until joining the above collection. My daughter Abbie gave me the hockey player nutcracker on the second shelf for Christmas and which I picture on the left. I think he’s fun.
The other thing we take pride of in our house at Christmas is our mantle display of Christmas related figures. Here’s what that looked like in 2018:
It’s a challenge to fit everything on the mantle and I usually buy two or three more and try to fit them in. Here’s what the display looked like this year:
Click on any of the above photos to get a larger view. Then you can really see some of these treasured figures close up.
Now, let’s talk about what happened to our Christmas. The plan was to have my daughter Emily and her husband Charlie drive down from Toronto on December 24th and bring my son Noah with them. 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:
Emily, Charlie, and Noah did not get to our house until December 26th so we held off opening presents until that day. I had stopped at my Mother’s house on December 23rd to bring the 28 pound turkey to my house to cook and bring out to her house on Christmas day. It was cooking for 7 hours in my house and it smelled awesome. The bird, like us, did not make it to Christmas dinner at my Mother’s until December 26th. Jeanette, Abbie, and I nibbled a little at it Christmas day with instant mashed potatoes and a little of the stuffing that was inside the bird. On December 26th we had the turkey proper at my Mother’s with real mashed potatoes, stuffing, carrots, peas, and turnip along with rolls and three different kinds of of pie (pumpkin, apple, and pecan if you’re interested). Besides my children, my wife, my son-in-law and my Mother, we had dinner with my brothers Dan and Todd and my friend Tom who had no place else to go. It was just as good on Boxing Day as it would have been on the real Christmas day.
Now back to the tree. In 2019 I wrote a Christmas themed blahg called MEATS AND CHEESES AND BABY JESUS. In that blahg I debuted a new Christmas entertainment with the same name as the blahg. Here’s an excerpt from that entertainment:
I should add that I also have a tradition of disposing of the Christmas tree. At the bottom of our property is a creek that runs fast and deep in the spring after the snow melts. Our annual live Christmas tree, after its stint in the house, rests out behind our garage until I can get to the creek in the spring and chuck it in. It’s swept up in the current and disappears. I tried following a tree one year and got about half a kilometer before the creek took a bend through a farmer’s field and was carried out of sight. In my imagination there is a Valhalla for our Christmas trees down where the creek ends or maybe it manages to make its way to the sea. More likely there’s a dam of trees somewhere along the creek route overflowing and flooding the farmer’s fields or perhaps the basement of his farmhouse.
This year’s tree was no exception to the tradition of launching the tree into the creek in the New Year. It didn’t quite work out as planned but I recorded a video of my attempt to properly launch the tree:
I went back the next day and the tree had dislodged itself and was on its final journey. Thus ended Christmas. I guess the theme here is that all good things come to those who wait or Christmas is just as good the second day round. I hope you enjoyed yours!
It’s January 2nd, 2023 and you know what that means? It means that I’m a day late posting my 2023 False Ducks Video Ramble. I recorded this on New Year’s day but I’m just getting around to posting it. That’s pretty good for me. At least I’m not months late which seemed to be the theme of posting blahgs here in the fall of 2022. Oh well, all is forgiven…at least by me. Maybe that’s a resolution to be more forgiving of myself. We’ll see. The photo at right was taken a few minutes ago. Forgive the hair, I just got up from a nap. I won’t comment yet on the ramble. Just listen and enjoy!
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.
I guess the correct title for this blahg should be: “SAY IT AIN’T SO…NO MORE THE WEEPIES.” Earlier in this month I posted my 2022 False Ducks Video Ramble, THE 2022 FALSE DUCKS VIDEO RAMBLE, in which I mentioned that Deb Talan and Steve Tannen, known collectively as The Weepies, have split up. I hadn’t heard any news of the duo throughout 2021 so I checked their Facebook page earlier this month and read the following post:
The Weepies final shows EVER are coming up in January 2022!
It’s been a time of big change all around for sure. Before the pandemic we realized we had to go our separate ways. We are both so grateful for the time we spent making music, putting it out into the world, and sharing it with all of you. It was magical, and we’re both forever changed and enriched by that time. As we move on to other creative projects we hope that you, like us, will treasure the era when we made music as The Weepies.
Thank you for the support through the years. We’ll see you in the days ahead.
All the best to all of you.
Deb & Steve
What a punch to the gut! I checked out their Wikipedia entry and found that the following last line had been added:
Talan and Tannen got married in 2007 and had their first son in October that year.They went on to have two more sons later. They later divorced, which was finalized on New Year’s Day 2020
Again, what a punch to the gut. Readers of this blahg will know that I’m a huge fan of The Weepies and had seen them twice in concert in Toronto. I wish them the best but I’m still deeply saddened by this news.
I guess the biggest thing for me, besides the fact that there won’t be any more new The Weepies albums, is that I won’t get to see Steve and Deb live together again. Perhaps they’ll tour Canada again separately and I’ll probably go to their individual concerts but I’ll never see The Weepies live again. I saw them twice in Toronto back in 2016 and 2018. Here is a picture when they played The Drake in 2016:
I wanted to take some video of the concert but I couldn’t shut off the bright light on my cell phone. I decided to record part of the concert from my pocket but I only managed to record part of the song “Jolene” sung by Steve and part of his next song about a Jig. Here they are:
I did manage to find the following video online that someone posted from that concert in Toronto. This is The Weepies performing “Ever Said Goodbye”:
I wish had recorded more and especially some of Deb Talan’s great vocals. She sang a couple of songs from her yet to be released CD “Lucky Girl” when she was in Toronto but I could only find the following video of one of those new songs, “Butterfly”, from her Detroit, Ohio concert two nights prior to the Toronto concert.
Here they are The Great Hall in 2018:
I did record the entire audio of the recording and I thought I would post the entire concert here for download. Here the link:
Here are a few individual samples. First up here is “Hideaway”:
Next is Steve’s great version of “Sing Me To Sleep”:
Deb Talan closed the show with the following stirring version of “Stars”:
I thought I would take the time to post some of their other live performances. YouTube has many excellent videos of The Weepies in live performances so I thought I’d re-post some of them here so you can get a feeling of what we’ll all be missing out on now that they’ve separated. First up is a rare slow tempo version of their song “Be My Thrill.” This was previously done uptempo so I’ll offer up the official music video of that song followed by the slow tempo version. The slow live version is from their appearance at the Oregon Zoo on August 20th, 2011.
Also from 2011 is The Weepies performing “Gotta Have You” from their album “Say I Am You” at the Troubadour in West Hollywood, CA on August 17, 2011:
Staying with 2011 here are The Weepies (Deb Talan, Steve Tannen, Jon Flaugher) performing “I Was Made for Sunny Days” on a beautiful summer evening at the Britt Festival, Southern Oregon – August 23, 2011. I love “I Was Made for Sunny Days” and find myself singing this infectious song:
The Weepies went back again to the Troubador in West Hollywood, CA on August 14th, 2016 and here’s “The World Spins Madly On” from that concert:
Here is a compilation video of The Weepies at the Kirkland Performance Center in Kirkland, Washington on May 17, 2018. It features the songs “Hideaway”, “Walk On”, “Crooked Smile”, “I Don’t Know Why”, “Old Coyote”, “My Little Love”, “Wish I Could Forget”, and “Sing Me To Sleep”:
Here’s another compilation video from 2018 when The Weepies appeared at Sony Hall on December 16, 2018. This compilation features clips from the songs “Walk On”, “Growing Up”, “Little Bird”, “All That I Want”, “Gotta Have You”, and “Sirens”:
Jumping back to 2015, this is a full version of “Sirens” from their last album performed live at the State Theater, Falls Church, Virginia on June 21st, 2015:
Another one from 2016, this time it’s a full version of “All That I Want” from their performance at The Wilbur Theatre in Boston, MA on December 11, 2016:
The following is not a live performance but the official video of “Sunflower” incorporates video of a live performance by The Weepies at an unknown venue:
I wanted to post a couple of videos that I never got to hear The Weepies perform live but are fantastic songs and something rare and unique from them. The first is “Mend” from the soundtrack of the movie, “Wish I Was Here”:
The second is from a compilation album of Springsteen’s Born To Run album recreated on ukulele by various artists. I love Steve’s vocal here on “Backstreets”:
I am sure there are more live videos out there to be discovered. I’ll keep on looking. Farewell The Weepies. I wish Steve and Deb the best. Thanks for all of the music!!
What a busy January this has been! I recorded this Video Ramble nine days ago and I haven’t even had a chance to post it. Since then the temperature has dropped even colder and we had a wicked snow storm last week. I had a Covid scare last week and was home for a couple of days waiting on the results of a couple of rapid tests. Both were negative but then our furnace conked out again on Friday night and again Saturday afternoon. This is the third time in the past two weeks. Let’s hope they have fixed the problem this time. My Father used to do this for a living but I’m not the son who inherited any of that knowledge. Speaking of my Father, he passed away on January 19th, 2019. On January 20th of this year, I remembered the anniversary of his passing. I think that’s okay because I really don’t want remember his passing but rather his life. Love you Dad!
Have a look at the 2022 Ramble video and I’ll highlight some things below.
The Cool and Lam series are the following books written by Erle Stanley Gardner as A. A. Fair. The series consists of the following 29 books (now 30, with the discovery of an unpublished work in 2016). I have read 1-9 in the following list plus number 30 as it was written to be the second book in the series but was left unpublished until 2016. So, I’ve read exactly one third of the books in the series. This is from the Cool and Lam Wikipedia page:
The Bigger They Come (1939)
Donald Lam is hired by Bertha. His first assignment is to serve a subpoena on a man that nobody can find. This first entry in the series turned on a real loophole in the extradition laws of the State of Arizona which made it possible, under certain conditions, to commit a murder without being punished provided one remained in Arizona. After its publication, a public outcry caused the Arizona Legislature to convene in special session to plug the loophole.Gardner had used this device earlier in his ‘Ed Jenkins’ stories, locating the loophole in California law (this time, fictitiously) so that Jenkins (though a known crook) could operate in California without being extradited for crimes in other states. The Cool and Lam stories were written under the pen name “A.A. Fair”, and Gardner’s authorship was not revealed till the 1940s.
Turn on the Heat (1940)
William Morrow and Company, January 1940
Dr. “Smith” is looking for his wife who left him 20 years before. It was made into a 1958 TV pilot for an unproduced show called Cool and Lam.
Gold Comes in Bricks (1940)
William Morrow and Company, September 1940
A blackmailing gambler, a corrupt lawyer, and an expert in salting gold mines, all are grist to Donald’s mill.
Spill the Jackpot! (1941)
William Morrow and Company, March 1941
Set in Las Vegas. A runaway bride and a slot machine-fixing ring seem to have no connection. Bertha loses the weight, and falls in love! But…
Double or Quits (1941)
William Morrow and Company, December 1941 Detectionary: “First—the missing jewelry. Second—the client found dead in his garage, and Cool and Lam are trying to get from an insurance company double indemnity for the lovely widow.” Bertha begins fishing.
Owls Don’t Blink (1942)
William Morrow and Company, June 1942
Donald has two intertwining cases: finding a lost girl and bringing to justice a murderer. Set in the French Quarter of New Orleans. America has entered the war, and Bertha thinks she has helped gain Donald’s immunity from the draft.
Bats Fly at Dusk (1942)
William Morrow and Company, September 1942
Donald has calmly volunteered for the Navy to fight the Japanese, and Bertha fumes. She works on a case involving a blind man and a pet bat, with help from Donald via telegram. Donald’s —Police Detective Frank Sellers—is introduced. Bertha gets in over her head and quits; Donald flies down on a military pass, solves it, and flies back. Bertha only finds out later.
Cats Prowl at Night (1943)
William Morrow and Company, August 1943
Bertha must locate a client’s missing wife, who controls all his money. No signs of Lam are seen at all, though he is heard of. She manages somehow, but almost fails. Frank proposes to her.
Give ’em the Ax (1944)
William Morrow and Company, September 1944
Donald returns, and takes control of the agency. The case is of a wife cheated with car insurance and blackmail.
Crows Can’t Count (1946)
William Morrow and Company, April 1946
A case involving both stolen and smuggled emeralds, the latter half of which is set in the nation of Colombia.
Fools Die on Friday (1947)
William Morrow and Company, September 1947
Donald Lam tries to put “psychological handcuffs” on a potential poisoner, but things do not work out the way he planned. “Fools Die on Friday is about the best of the series since the first two. Perhaps since the very first.
Bedrooms Have Windows (1949)
William Morrow and Company, January 1949
Case involving “a pocket edition “, in which Donald himself is suspected by the police of a serious crime. Sleazy nightspots, dubious photographs, a stay at an auto court goes wrong—could there be blackmail? More spice than usual. Gardner originally wrote this series under a pen name because he wondered if some of the plot points he intended to use with Cool and Lam would be bad for his image. However, laxer standards in the 1940s and on made him decide to admit writing the series.
Top of the Heap (1952)
William Morrow and Company, February 1952
Previously, Bertha has complained that Donald had been getting the agency in over its head lately. Donald then promptly shows the agency was used as a cat’s paw to prove a phony alibi, in a case involving gangsters, gambling houses, Point shaving, a former stripper, a money laundering scam, and phantom gold mines. Bertha is mad enough to try and dissolve the partnership. Available in the Hard Case Crime series.
Some Women Won’t Wait (1953)
William Morrow and Company, September 1953
The question is: did Donald’s beautiful young client poison her rich and decrepit husband, or didn’t she? Set in Hawaii. Bertha tries to dance the hula.
Beware the Curves (1956)
William Morrow and Company, November 1956
Suspect in the murder is trying to figure out if it is safe for him to return to his beloved six years later. The victim was her husband who had sent the suspect to die in Amazonia to marry her.
You Can Die Laughing (1957)
William Morrow and Company, March 1957
Donald clashes with a client, with whom he has a written contract to locate a certain woman. He thinks the client is lying to him, but takes the case.
Some Slips Don’t Show (1957)
William Morrow and Company, October 1957
Set in San Francisco and environs. Practically everyone ends up on a plane at one point or another, so almost anyone could have caused that guy to be found dead in his motel room. Donald knows it wasn’t him. The worry is: do the police know that? Fancy footwork with fake keys and real claim checks could help.
The Count of Nine (1958)
William Morrow and Company, June 1958
A rich dilettante “Explorer” finds his poisonous blow gun he had brought back from the Amazon used for a murder. Or so it seems … This one is notable for two things: First, Gardner re-uses a favorite trick from his Perry Mason series; juggling duplicate bits of evidence. Instead of guns or bullets, Lam has a more interesting set of twin jade Buddhas with a ruby in the forehead. It will pay the reader to watch closely who has which, and when, and why. Secondly, the key plot point has a resemblance to G. K. Chesterton’s Father Brown story, The Arrow of Heaven. This may be unintentional, but arguably, Gardner has come up with a more imaginative use of the concept.
Pass the Gravy (1959)
William Morrow and Company, February 1959
Stacked blondes, hitch hikers and trips by several people to Reno to gamble are incidental to the two main points. 1. What are the legal issues surrounding the exact way the assets of a spendthrift trust are to be distributed? 2. And what are the exact legal circumstances surrounding the death of a man with a double indemnity policy on his life? If he is dead.
Kept Women Can’t Quit (1960)
William Morrow and Company, September 1960
An armored car is robbed while one of the two guards are inside having donuts and coffee and ogling the waitresses; and when Police Detective Sgt. Frank Sellers catches one of the robbers, he is accused of pocketing the loot for himself. Naturally, he puts the pressure on Donald to solve the case for him, gratis, and get him off the hook. Much money floats about – in fact, a little too much. Whose? (At this time, thousand-dollar bills were still in fairly wide circulation, making it possible to use only a little space to hide fairly large sums.
Bachelors Get Lonely (1961)
William Morrow and Company, March 1961
Industrial espionage, a Peeping Tom, little is what it seems. More than one woman falls for Lam in the course of this investigation, due to his habit of playing square and treating them like human beings. Sgt. Sellers is a little dense at first, taking Lam for the Peeping Tom. The investigation moves to Arizona at one point.
Shills Can’t Cash Chips (1961)
William Morrow and Company, November 1961
Bertha lands a nice, respectable insurance adjustment claim, and hands it to Donald. Donald uncovers assorted ulterior motives, pretends to be an ex-con, hot-wires his own car to impress a gorgeous witness and gets leaned on by a gangster. Then one of the parties involved ends up dead.
Try Anything Once (1962)
William Morrow and Company, April 1962
A worried heel of a husband is hand-wringingly anxious to keep his late night visit to a motel with a cocktail hostess quiet. Unfortunately for him, the deputy D.A. in a hot murder trial was found dead in the motel pool the same evening. The resulting investigation will expose the husband. Donald smells a rat lurking within this story, but finally accepts the fat fee offered to keep Bertha happy. The attempt to protect the client has unexpected side effects, including several women removing their garments for one reason or other, a horrifically false accusation against the straight-shooting Donald and the exciting courtroom climax he engineers in the above-mentioned trial.
Fish or Cut Bait (1963)
William Morrow and Company, April 1963
When Cool and Lam are hired for day-and-night coverage of a harassed woman, a tortuous tale involving a high-class ‘escort service’ unfolds. Donald is dismissed from the case, but inserts himself back in self-defence after the madam comes to an untimely end. He must convince the police it wasn’t him.
Up for Grabs (1964)
William Morrow and Company, March 1964
Insurance again, this time a company that wants to set up an ongoing project to expose phony whiplash claims. Big ongoing retainer, big fees for each claim – Bertha’s eyes glitter at all the legit dollars up for grabs. Donald is packed off to a dude ranch in Arizona to investigate the plaintiff in the first claim, with stern instructions not to stir this one up. It’s not his fault someone’s wife ends up dead in the Sierras, or that Sgt. Sellers is so annoyed at his ‘amateur’ interference that he throws away a key piece of evidence at the scene of the death.
Cut Thin to Win (1965)
William Morrow and Company, April 1965
Gardner has Lam himself review the case – from the back of the 1966 Pocket Books edition. Bertha has her doubts about taking a certain case, “…but I talked her into it when our client laid twelve one-hundred dollar bills on his desk. ‘Fry me for an oyster’, Bertha said. ‘It’s your baby, and you can change the diapers’. Less than a week later, Sgt. Frank Sellers announced he was going to take away my license, Bertha Cool announced that our partnership was dissolved and my secretary was crying on my shoulder. ‘Donald, please – please be careful’. ‘It’s too late to be careful now’ I told her. ‘I’m dealing either with a crooked lawyer, a jealous boyfriend, a scheming daughter, one hell of a wealthy father or a combination of any number of them. When you go up against a combination of that sort, you can’t be careful'”.
Widows Wear Weeds (1966)
William Morrow and Company, May 1966
Blackmail was a dirty business, and Donald Lam liked to stay clear of it. But for his partner, Bertha Cool, no business was too dirty to handle at the right price. And the price for this job was certainly right. What was wrong, though, was a payoff for pictures that weren’t worth a dime, a free dinner that cost the blackmailer his life, and more than a couple of double-crosses that framed Donald Lam quite neatly for a charge of murder.
Traps Need Fresh Bait (1967)
William Morrow and Company, March 1967
Someone is advertising for a witness to an auto accident in such a way as to seem to be suborning perjury. Also, an earlier claim was settled with evidence obtained in this way. The client wants Cool and Lam to find out what is back of it all. Gardner kept up with the law, and knew of the implications of the recent Miranda Rights decision of the Supreme Court for gathering evidence. He believed he had found a loophole allowing evidence improperly gathered under the new rules to be admissible, if obtained investigating another incident, such as a private detective searching a flat without permission. When Donald introduces the loophole, it brightens up Sgt. Sellers’ day no end.
All Grass isn’t Green (1970)
William Morrow and Company, March 1970
Dope smuggling and a witness who is both more, and less, than he seems. It all starts when a client wants to find a missing writer – just to talk to him. A little digging (with descriptions of tracing techniques) shows his girlfriend has vanished too, and the trail goes south, to the Mexican border. Crossing the trail, going north, is a shipment of cannabis. Unsurprisingly for this business, someone ends up dead and the whole thing lands in court. Sorting out who did what and why taxes even Donald Lam’s talents to the limit. Lam shows his considerable ability in courtroom manoeuvring, which reminds the reader that he was a lawyer once.
The Knife Slipped (1939)
Hard Case Crime, December 2016
Originally written to be the second book in the Cool and Lam series but rejected by Gardner’s publisher, The Knife Slipped was found among Gardner’s papers and published for the first time in 2016. Assigned to prove a philandering husband’s infidelity, Donald Lam uncovers a scheme to enable a certain type of municipal corruption. As well as a dead body.
I won’t talk about the Weepies in this blahg. I’m saving that. I do mention Dottie Reid who will also be the focus of an upcoming blahg but here’s a teaser of her singing with Muggsy Spanier and his orchestra on “More Than You Know”:
In my previous blahg, 2021 – WHAT DID I ACCOMPLISH THIS YEAR?, I posted about attending the Transformers convention in December in Mississauga. I was lucky enough to be selected for the annual script reading when I auditioned for the character of 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
Abbie had recorded the audio of the script reading and I finally got it from her last week and here’s the reading:
That’s about it for unpacking the 2022 Ramble. It’s still cold but I’m still going strong. Enjoy the day! Enjoy your life! Live, love, and be happy!
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? 
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