{"id":5721,"date":"2023-06-14T01:19:59","date_gmt":"2023-06-13T19:19:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/falseducks.com\/theblahg\/?p=5721"},"modified":"2023-06-14T01:19:59","modified_gmt":"2023-06-13T19:19:59","slug":"another-bakers-dozen-more-found-vinyl-records","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/falseducks.com\/theblahg\/?p=5721","title":{"rendered":"ANOTHER BAKER\u2019S DOZEN MORE FOUND VINYL RECORDS"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a> \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Back in April, I wrote another of my found vinyl blahgs with the unique title of A BAKER’S DOZEN MORE FOUND VINYL RECORDS<\/a>.\u00a0 I featured 13 records I had purchased over the past year or so and I provided background information as well as selections from each album.\u00a0 I decided to browse through my record collection and find 13 more.\u00a0 Some I’ve had for a few years and others were recent purchases.\u00a0 Some are more interesting than others while some have never seen any other releases than these vinyl representations.\u00a0 It’s not a baker’s dozen of delicious doughnuts but I think there’s something in here to please almost anyone…except fans of modern music…but don’t get me started. <\/span><\/strong><\/h4>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 I thought I would share some photos of my stereo setup as well as my record collection.\u00a0 Here’s a shot of my main record shelf:
\n<\/span><\/strong><\/h4>\n

\"My<\/a><\/p>\n

I don’t normally have a bag of yarn sitting in front of my shelf.\u00a0 There are four rows to the unit with all Sinatra records on the top shelf and a mixture of Big Bands, Vocalists, Harry Chapin, Billy Joel, Hoagy Carmichael, Dixieland bands, and Christmas albums across the other shelves.\u00a0 I also have an overflow section on the bottom of another book shelf:
\n<\/span><\/strong><\/h4>\n

\"additional<\/a><\/p>\n

These are records I have played but haven’t made their way to the main shelf.\u00a0 I also have a stack of records next to my stereo setup:<\/span><\/strong><\/h4>\n

\"My<\/a><\/h4>\n

The stereo consists of a double cassette player, CD player, receiver, and my Yamaha turntable on top.\u00a0 That’s a wedding picture of my wife and I on the right.\u00a0 It was taken in 1987…but that’s another blahg.
\n<\/span><\/strong><\/h4>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 In the last Baker’s Dozen blahg I ended off with some tracks by Bunny Berigan from a recent addition to my collection with the dubious title of “The Greatest White Trumpeter of All Time Bunny Berigan.”\u00a0 I had referenced three other Berigan albums I had in my collection which I owned because they had tracks by Frank Sinatra when Berigan and Sinatra were with Tommy Dorsey.\u00a0 I began culling my vinyl stash and I found one more Bunny Berigan album but it had no connection to Sinatra or Dorsey.\u00a0 The title of this one is “Take It, Bunny!”\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/h4>\n

\"Take<\/a><\/h4>\n

\"Take<\/a><\/h4>\n

Most of these tracks are from the mid to late 1930s and feature Berigan with his own and band and playing as a sideman with other bands.\u00a0 The very first track is Bunny Berigan’s theme song, “I Can’t Get Started.”\u00a0 It’s from 1936 and features Berigan’s trumpet talent and Berigan’s vocal.\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/h4>\n\nhttp:\/\/falseducks.com\/theblahg\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/01-I-Cant-Get-Started-With-You-1.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

Although all of the other tracks feature Berigan with many talented musicians, I want to offer up the second track on this album because it’s Berigan performing with the famous Glenn Miller.\u00a0 The track is “Solo Hop” recorded on April 25, 1935.\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/h4>\nhttp:\/\/falseducks.com\/theblahg\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/02-Solo-Hop.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/h4>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 The “Solo Hop” track from Glenn Miller and Bunny Berigan had a real dixieland vibe to it and dixieland is going to be a theme in this blahg.\u00a0 Within the past two months I picked up the 1960 album “That Happy Dixieland Jazz” by Jimmy McPartland And His Dixielanders.\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/h4>\n

\"That<\/a><\/p>\n

\"That<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 I’ll be honest that I love Dixieland and when I see an album in a thrift store bin that falls into that category then I’m going home with it.\u00a0 I had never heard of Jimmy McPartland so this was a good introduction.\u00a0 But where to start when this album is filled with nothing but Dixieland classics?\u00a0 Why not start with a song that gives a nod to the alleged birthplace of Dixieland: New Orleans.\u00a0 Here’s “Way Down Yonder in New Orleans” and it features McPartland doing a vocal.\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/h4>\nhttp:\/\/falseducks.com\/theblahg\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/03-Way-Down-Under-In-New-Orleans.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

If you have to choose another Dixieland classic performed by so many other bands, why not go with the old chestnut, “When The Saints Go Marching In”?\u00a0 I find McPartland’s version refreshingly different and we are treated to another vocal by McPartland.
\n<\/span><\/strong><\/h4>\nhttp:\/\/falseducks.com\/theblahg\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/05-When-The-Saints-Go-Marching-In.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 I didn’t want to just drop in Jimmy McPartland and then dash along to someone else.\u00a0 Over two blahgs, I gave a nod to Bunny Berigan more than once so I thought I’d offer something else by McPartland.\u00a0 I came across a reference to an album that McPartland did where he covered songs from the musical “The Music Man.” The 1958 album is aptly titled “The Music Man” Goes Dixieland.
\n<\/span><\/strong><\/h4>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/h4>\n

Of course it’s probably weird to hear anyone cover “Ya Got Trouble” other than the great Robert Preston but if you want to hear what Jimmy McPartland can do on the vocal, give a listen. Oh yeah, the instrumental parts are pretty good, too!
\n<\/span><\/strong><\/h4>\nhttp:\/\/falseducks.com\/theblahg\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/03-Ya-Got-Trouble.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

Slowing it down a little, here’s McPartland’s treatment of “Goodnight My Someone.”\u00a0 Strictly instrumental this one.\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/h4>\nhttp:\/\/falseducks.com\/theblahg\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/05-Goodnight-My-Someone.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

I’m definitely going to have a look out for that album.<\/span><\/strong><\/h4>\n

<\/h4>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 The Dixieland theme continues with our next album but the songs are all vocals from a group called The Cheerleaders.\u00a0 The album is from 1958 on the Carlton album and is “The Cheerleaders Sing Dixieland Jazz”.\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/h4>\n

\"The<\/a><\/h4>\n

\"The<\/a><\/h4>\n

I could not find out much about The Cheerleaders.\u00a0 Most of the information is from the back cover:\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/h4>\n

What makes a “good group”? The answer is obviously a personal one and each of us would define it in his own terms. But there are certain things that must be common to both your definition and mine: The Cheerleaders sing in tune. Now there’s a gimmick in itself. Pat Pinney, Donna Manners, Tom Roddy, and Joe Pryor (as you listen from the top voice down) work as a unit \u2013 no one is flying off on an irresponsible tangent like a loose neutron which has just spotted a pretty female proton next door. There is cohesiveness in the way The Cheerleaders perform. A unity that can only verify their having been together since 1950, and digging it!<\/i><\/h4>\n

The shame of the music business is sometimes its lack of immediate recognition for deserving artists. There are many logical and illogical reasons for this which we needn’t burden ourselves with here. Suffice to say that The Cheerleaders, although perhaps new to your record player, have a large and loyal following thanks to appearances in such diverse media as New York’s “Blue Angel”, Palace Theatre, and T.V.’s Dave Garroway, Tennessee Ernie, Betty Hutton and Frank Sinatra shows.
\n<\/em><\/h4>\n

I also found a site that posted this review of the album from Billboard Magazine on November 17, 1958:
\n<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

“The bright, bouncy sound achieved by The Cheerleaders in this platter is more in the mood of the old Pied Pipers and Modernaires groups than anything that came out of New Orleans. About half of the songs are “semi-Dixie” treatments of oldies like “Copenhagen,” and the rest, like “Woodchoppers’ Ball,” are almost straight swing vocals. Nice stereo work, with singers “centred” before Side Robin’s ork. rather than confined to one channel. Group’s fans should like it.”<\/em><\/h4>\n

Let’s start then with selections from the album.\u00a0 Since the Billboard article says that “Copenhagen” is “semi-Dixie” then let’s give it a listen:\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/h4>\nhttp:\/\/falseducks.com\/theblahg\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/05-Copenhagen.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

The next selection slows it down a bit on “Nocturne For The Blues”:\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/h4>\nhttp:\/\/falseducks.com\/theblahg\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/08-Nocturne-For-The-Blues.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 The Internet Movie Database page for The Cheerleaders, https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/name\/nm1318579\/<\/a> lists some appearances by The Cheerleaders in 1954 on The Red Skelton Show and The Nat King Cole Show.\u00a0 I could not find videos for these but The Cheerleaders also appeared on Gary Crosby’s summer 1954 radio show and the audio is available for that appearance.\u00a0 Gary Crosby was, of course, the son of Bing Crosby and duets with The Cheerleaders on one of the numbers.\u00a0 Is it a duet if it’s Gary plus the four Cheerleaders?\u00a0 Regardless, here’s that duet on a song called “Red Top:”\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/h4>\nhttp:\/\/falseducks.com\/theblahg\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/The-Cheerleaders-Red-Top.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

The program aired on August 15, 1954 and also featured a guest appearance by Frank Sinatra.\u00a0 Sinatra did not sing with The Cheerleaders but they did get to do a solo effort on a song called “This Must Be The Place:”\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/h4>\nhttp:\/\/falseducks.com\/theblahg\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/The-Cheerleaders-This-Must-Be-The-Place.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

As far as I can tell, this is the only album put out by The Cheerleaders.\u00a0 Discogs, https:\/\/www.discogs.com\/release\/10925346-The-Cheerleaders-Dollar-Bill-Second-Hand-Rose\/image\/SW1hZ2U6MzA1NDY4ODU=<\/a> also lists a promo 45rpm record featuring two songs, “Dollar Bill and “Second Hand Rose.”\u00a0 No date is given for the release and I couldn’t find audio of those two songs.\u00a0 Here, at least, are images of the two sides of the record:\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/h4>\n

\"\"<\/h4>\n

\"\"<\/h4>\n

<\/h4>\n

<\/h4>\n

<\/h4>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/h4>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 Let’s move on to some more instrumental music before getting back into the vocal albums.\u00a0 Here’s one I almost forgot to include.\u00a0 I normally record the album and then take a picture of the front and rear covers so I can post them.\u00a0 Well, I took the photo but forgot to record the LP.\u00a0 The album is “Dixieland Left And Right” featuring Johnny Best And His All Stars & Dick Cathcart And His All Stars.\u00a0 Here are the photos I took of the front and rear of the jacket:\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/h4>\n

\"Johnny<\/a><\/h4>\n

\"Johnny<\/a><\/h4>\n

Notice that the rear cover has nothing to add, information wise, than to provide the track listings.\u00a0 It’s possible that the inner liner, which mine is missing, might have contained more information because there was a gatefold edition where the inside opened like a book to reveal more details.\u00a0 Here’s a picture of what the gatefold version looked like:\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/h4>\n

\"Johnny<\/a><\/h4>\n

I couldn’t find a larger or clearer image for the gatefold jacket but we can see it does contain more information than the front or rear covers combined. Here’s the introduction to the record:
\n<\/span><\/strong><\/h4>\n

About the Sounds…<\/h4>\n

This music is exhilarating, energized, effusive and ebullient Dixieland jazz.<\/h4>\n

It’s Two Bands – set in the most compelling and intriguing manner yet with both taste and tantalization.<\/h4>\n

Arranger Matty Matlock<\/em>, trumpet leaders John Best<\/em> and Dick Cathcart<\/em> and Mercury Recording Director David Carroll<\/em> present here, with artistry and artifice, something new, something fresh, something unique.<\/h4>\n

Instead of typing out all of the information for all of the recordings, I will only provide the relevant information to two of the tracks.\u00a0 The first is “Little Sir Echo.”\u00a0 Here’s what the gatefold information has to say:\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/h4>\n

LITTLE SIR ECHO<\/h4>\n

This number is, of course, ideal for the two band “echo” answering idea.<\/h4>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 The introduction has “A” band (L) and “B” band (R) supplying the “echoes.” At 0.52 the second chorus starts with a bass solo (Marty Corb) from “B” band in the right channel. Then comes an interlude with “A” band (L) answered by the “B” ensemble on the other side. The third chorus starts with a guitar solo from the “B” guitarist (Allan Reuss) on the right and after a further answering engagement, the arrangement finishes with both bands eventually together.<\/h4>\n

Give a listen to “Little Sir Echo:”<\/span><\/strong><\/h4>\nhttp:\/\/falseducks.com\/theblahg\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/01.01.-Little-Sir-Echo.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

The next tune has always been a favourite when I’ve heard it by vocalists or bands.\u00a0 The song is “Please Don’t Talk About Me When I’m Gone.”\u00a0 Here’s what the liner notes say about this version.\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/h4>\n

PLEASE DON’T TALK ABOUT ME WHEN I’M GONE<\/h4>\n

“Another trumpet player’s favorite,” asserts Matty Matlock.<\/h4>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 Trumpet-leader Best plays the first half of the charge – from his place in “A” based on the left. There are xylophone figures from both channels. The bridge is taken by the xylophone alone on the left (Gene Eaton). The last eight measures features vibraphone (Frank Flynn) on the right side.
\nThe second chorus highlights the “B” band – on the right – with the banjo.
\nThe last chorus brings in both bands. There’s an amazing break with tuba on the right channel in unison with xylophone on the left. The bridge has here drum breaks on the left (Jack Sperling) followed by drummer Nick Fatool in band “B” on the right. For the last eight bars the complete ensemble brings the number in a happy Dixieland close<\/h4>\n

Here’s “Please Don’t Talk About Me When I’m Gone:”<\/span><\/strong><\/h4>\nhttp:\/\/falseducks.com\/theblahg\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/02.02.-Please-Dont-Talk-About-Me-When-Im-Gone.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

It’s an interesting concept to have two different bands playing in opposing speakers on the left and right.\u00a0 To my knowledge and research, it does not appear that Johnny Best and His All Stars & Dick Cathcart and His All Stars ever recorded together again.\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/h4>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 Johnny Best passed away in 2003.\u00a0 His obituary from the San Diego Union Tribune newspaper provides us with a little more information about him:
\n<\/span><\/strong><\/h4>\n

September 28, 2003<\/span><\/em><\/h4>\n

His trumpet solos punctuated some of the most familiar tunes of the big-band era, helping to define and shape the sounds of such legends as Glenn Miller and Artie Shaw. <\/span><\/em><\/h4>\n

As he rose to prominence, Johnny Best exhibited a quality uncommon to musicians of his time: easily adapting to the varying arrangements, parameters and personalities of rival bands. <\/span><\/em><\/h4>\n

“It was quite a feat, being able to play in two of the most popular bands of the era,” said Dan Del Fiorentino, curator of the Museum of Making Music in Carlsbad. “Johnny left a unique mark, and the big-band era wouldn’t have been the same without him.” <\/span><\/em><\/h4>\n

Mr. Best, whose trumpet solos were featured in such big-band hits as “Stardust” and “Frenesi,” died Sept. 19 at his La Jolla home. He was 89. <\/span><\/em><\/h4>\n

“He had a good sound on the instrument,” said Billy May, a former band leader and musical contemporary. “Playing the trumpet can be an endurance contest with your lip, and Johnny had command. He played on ‘Begin the Beguin,’ which put Artie Shaw in business.” <\/span><\/em><\/h4>\n

Although the popularity of big bands began to fade in the 1950s, Mr. Best’s talents remained in demand. After World War II, he performed with an array of notable band leaders, including May, Benny Goodman, Bob Crosby, Tommy Dorsey, Ray Conniff and Harry James. <\/span><\/em><\/h4>\n

He also worked steadily as a studio musician, often commuting to Hollywood in the late 1950s after buying an avocado ranch in Pauma Valley. <\/span><\/em><\/h4>\n

In recent years, which found him playing at San Diego venues, he had been working on an oral history of his career. At the urging of his family, he recorded his memories on tape, which his stepchildren hope to convert into a book. <\/span><\/em><\/h4>\n

“On top of everything, Johnny was a really nice guy,” Del Fiorentino said. “He got a lot of solo work because everybody liked him. Sitting and talking to him, I got the sense that he was more than just a little passionate about what he did. <\/span><\/em><\/h4>\n

“It was his life \u2013 and he loved it.” <\/span><\/em><\/h4>\n

John McClanian Best, a La Jolla resident since 1967, was born in Shelby, N.C. He formed his own orchestra in high school and played in bands at Duke University and Davidson College. <\/span><\/em><\/h4>\n

Before World War II, he played with the Les Brown, Charlie Barnet, Artie Shaw and Glenn Miller bands. He played for the Shaw hits “Frenesi,” “Traffic Jam” and “Old, Old Castle in Scotland.” <\/span><\/em><\/h4>\n

His trumpet solo on the 1940 Miller hit “Stardust” was among his most memorable and a personal favorite. <\/span><\/em><\/h4>\n

“He had this lilt \u2013 an unorthodox way of changing chords, of going from A to B, so to speak,” Del Fiorentino said, “A casual listener might say, ‘That’s interesting.’ But if you were a musician, your mouth dropped.” During the war, Mr. Best served in the Navy and played in Shaw’s Navy band, entertaining troops in Europe and the South Pacific. “He was part of a great trumpet section with Frank Beach and Conrad Gozzo,” May said. <\/span><\/em><\/h4>\n

In “Orchestra Wives,” a 1942 movie featuring the music of the Glenn Miller Orchestra, Mr. Best’s trumpet solo on “At Last” was among three hit songs featured. Except in creating the music, actor John Payne took the part of Mr. Best on screen. <\/span><\/em><\/h4>\n

Mr. Best played on V-disc recordings, distributed during World War II by the U.S. government to military personnel overseas. “He felt he was serving his country in two ways, through the band and the V-discs that boosted morale,” Del Fiorentino said. “He was a real patriot who loved his country.” <\/span><\/em><\/h4>\n

Mr. Best’s postwar career included sessions with Billie Holiday, Frank Sinatra, Louis Armstrong and Nat “King” Cole. <\/span><\/em><\/h4>\n

After settling in California in the 1950s, he played in various combos in nightclubs in the San Diego and Los Angeles areas. <\/span><\/em><\/h4>\n

“When he wasn’t picking avocados in his orchard in Pauma Valley, he organized and managed frequent jazz concerts in the San Diego area as well as fronting for groups on extended overseas tours,” said stepdaughter Elizabeth Frazee. <\/span><\/em><\/h4>\n

In 1967, he married Mary Lou Janis, a La Jolla widow. He settled in La Jolla but often visited his avocado ranch, where in 1982 a fall from a tree broke his back and left him a paraplegic. <\/span><\/em><\/h4>\n

During two months of recovery at UCSD Medical Center, he entertained hospital staff and patients on his trumpet, Frazee said. <\/span><\/em><\/h4>\n

Using a wheelchair, Mr. Best continued to play and travel, performing until 2001. “He practiced every day until about six months ago,” said stepdaughter Marie Janis. <\/span><\/em><\/h4>\n

He often played the first notes of the song “Mary Lou” to beckon his wife from another room in their home, Janis said. Similar fanfares greeted other family members whose names corresponded to song titles or lyrics. <\/span><\/em><\/h4>\n

Mr. Best’s wife died in September 1996 during the couple’s trip to Hobart, Australia. <\/span><\/em><\/h4>\n

Survivors include a brother, Herman Best of Charlotte, N.C.; stepchildren, Leonard Janis of Chula Vista; Theil Shelton, Elizabeth Frazee and Louise Duchein, all of Santa Barbara; Paul Janis and Susan Edwards, both of San Diego; Barbara Kennedy of Palmdale; Robert Janis of St. Petersburg, Fla.; and Marie Janis of La Jolla; and 11 grandchildren. <\/span><\/em><\/h4>\n

Private services were scheduled. <\/span><\/em><\/h4>\n

Donations are suggested to San Diego Hospice or the John Best Memorial Book Fund Trust in care of San Diego National Bank. The fund was established to create a book of Mr. Best’s life story based on the oral history he recorded.<\/em> <\/span><\/h4>\n

I don’t know if the book of Johnny Best’s memories was ever published but in 1998, Johnny Best did an extensive video interview with Monk Rowe for the Hamilton College Jazz Archive in San Diego.\u00a0 The entire video, running well over an hour, is available on YouTube:\u00a0 https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=HQWk99bSpWQ<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/h4>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 Dick Cathcart passed away in 1993.\u00a0 He had a featured obituary in the New York Times on November 12, 1993: <\/span><\/strong><\/h4>\n

\"Dick<\/a><\/h4>\n

There are some wonderful videos of Dick Cathcart performing on the Lawrence Welk Show but I particularly enjoyed the following one that featured Cathcart prominently on trumpet along with the Lennon Sisters, including his wife Peggy, on the Dixieland standard “Ja-Da”:\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/h4>\n