Monday Side-Session: Johnny Sees the Light

For today’s side‑session, we dig into the versions of I’m Beginning to See the Light recorded by one of the tune’s architects, Johnny Hodges.

💡 1961: A Verve Vault

We kick off in 1961 with this unreleased‑at‑the-time Verve track:

Hodges walks in with a murderers’ row of Ellington bandmates — Ben Webster, Ray Nance, Lawrence Brown — and the whole thing feels too good, too alive, too perfectly lit to have been shelved for decades. Absolute mystery.

🍾 1965: Champagne Bubbles

We jump to 1965, where Johnny pairs up with none other than Lawrence Welk for a Dot Records detour:

Nobody on earth would confuse the Welk band with the Ellington orchestra, but this collab clicks. The backing is pure mid‑60s studio sheen, and Johnny’s alto slices right through it like he’s dusting the place with elegance.

🎹 1965: Con‑Soul Goes Full Sixties

Same year, different universe: Johnny teams with organ powerhouse Wild Bill Davis for RCA Victor’s Con‑Soul & Sax:

This one doesn’t just sound sixties — it glows sixties. Organ heat, alto glide, the whole room humming like a neon sign.

🎹 1966: Stridin' with the Fatha

Then in 1966, Johnny returns to the studio for Verve and links up with legendary pianist Earl “Fatha” Hines for Stride Right:

They’re not just striding — they’re strutting! Hines lays down that big, confident stride and Hodges threads the melody like he’s stitching gold into the carpet.

Johnny didn’t just see the light — he kept finding new bulbs to keep it glowing!

Sundays with Duke #45: We See the Light

While still in 1944 with Duke Ellington, we land on one of the most enduring pop songs from his songbook — I’m Beginning to See the Light.

💡 1944: Joya Steps Into the Spotlight

Let’s spin Duke’s Victor record featuring Joya Sherrill:

I think that’s a terrific record, and it’s the basis of my retro crush on Joya!

Duke recorded the song as part of his first session after the recording ban — the same one that included Joya singing I Didn’t Know About You, which we heard back here a couple of Sundays ago.

🎶 The Tune Stays in Duke’s Piano

The song was very popular, and Duke continued to play it for the rest of his career. He made a number of recordings with guest vocalists, as we’ll see, but I think he recorded only one instrumental version with the band — from his 1960 Columbia album Piano in the Background.

Let’s spin it:

A fun, bright take!

🎻 1966: Pops in the Park

Duke also released this live instrumental version with Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops from the 1966 RCA Victor album The Duke at Tanglewood:

That’s really nice! As Duke himself remarked: "Ah, it was a wonderful night for the piano player."

🎤 Ella Begins the Vocal Parade

Ella Fitzgerald had released a popular version of the song with The Ink Spots back in 1945 and returned to it in 1957 with Duke and the band for the Verve Duke Ellington Songbook album:

Ella has a lot of fun with the song. And did that snappy trumpet intro from Clark Terry!

🎺 Satchmo & Duke Reunite

Then in 1961, Louis Armstrong recorded a version with Duke that wound up on their The Great Reunion album on Roulette:

Sounds good!

🇸🇪 Alice sees Swedish Light

Moving to 1966, Alice Babs and Duke included I’m Beginning to See the Light on their Serenade to Sweden collab:

It’s not an obvious pairing, but Alice fit in well with Duke and the band. Legend has it that Johnny Hodges actually raised an eyebrow when he heard Alice sing — high praise indeed!

🎙️ Teresa Takes Off

Duke returned to the song in 1973 when he recorded this version with Teresa Brewer for their It Don't Mean A Thing If It Ain't Got That Swing album:

The ever-delightful Teresa gives it a wild ride on this track from Duke’s last studio sessions before his death later that year.

🔁 Full Circle with Joya

Let’s wrap up with an Ellington‑adjacent version from 1965 as Joya Sherrill brings us full‑circle:

That’s from Joya’s Sings Duke album on Twentieth Century Fox and includes Billy Strayhorn and Ray Nance in the band.

If we were only beginning to see the light before, we sure see it now!

Warehouse Whispers

I’m Beginning to See the Light features lyrics by Don George set to a melody credited to Duke, Johnny Hodges, and Harry James. I had gone into some detail about the song back here, but five and a half years later, I still can’t figure out how Harry was involved!

Threaded Thursday: Still Lovesome

 

Threaded Thursday: Still Lovesome 🌸🍂

My sources say that's a pink rhododendron!

We're pulling the thread from Billy Strayhorn's A Flower Is a Lovesome Thing and arriving at this beautiful instrumental version by The Vince Guaraldi Trio, recorded for Fantasy in 1958:

The tune served as the title track of Vince's second album, so he was clearly fond of Strayhorn's composition. I'd like to think Billy himself was pleased with this thoughtful, understated interpretation.

Vince's trio on the session featured guitarist Eddie Duran and bassist Dean Reilly, and the album is filled with equally tasteful performances. 

Falling Leaves, Floating Notes 🍁

Among them is the perennial favorite Autumn Leaves, which feels especially appropriate during this autumnal stretch between Halloween and Thanksgiving:

Like the title track, Vince approaches the standard with warmth and restraint, letting the melody do the work. It's a lovely performance from a lovely album.

Christmas Is Coming... 🎄

And speaking of Vince, the holiday season is approaching faster than we'd like to admit. That means I'll be spinning his soundtrack for A Charlie Brown Christmas early and often in the weeks ahead!

Word Association Wednesday: Passionate About Flowers

For today's WAW, we follow up on Billy Strayhorn's Passion Flower with another fragrant entry from his musical garden: A Flower Is a Lovesome Thing.

Billy wrote the song for the Duke Ellington orchestra in 1941 around the same time as Passion Flower. In fact, it originally carried the working title Passion before acquiring its more distinctive name. 

Like Passion Flower, it was designed as a showcase for Johnny Hodges' incomparable alto saxophone.

🌸 Johnny in Full Bloom

Although A Flower Is a Lovesome Thing was performed by the Ellington orchestra in concert in 1941, it wasn't officially recorded until 1947, when Johnny led a studio group for Sunrise Records:

A glance at the label reveals something very much like an "Ellington Unit," with several of Johnny's Ellington bandmates along for the ride and Billy Strayhorn himself at the piano bench.

But make no mistake: this is Johnny’s show all the way.

🌷 The Flower Bed Gets Bigger

Interestingly, the full Ellington orchestra recorded A Flower Is a Lovesome Thing a year earlier, in 1946, for the Capitol Transcriptions service, with Billy again handling piano duties:

Johnny is front and center here too. The arrangement blooms beautifully, which makes it all the more surprising that Duke never made a commercial studio recording of the work for Victor.

🌹 Adding the Petals

At some point Billy added lyrics, and the first vocal version arrived in 1957 when Ozzie Bailey recorded the song with Luther Henderson's sextet for the MGM album Last Night When We Were Young:

A lovely performance. Ozzie spent time with Duke's orchestra, while Luther was a friend and colleague of both Duke and Billy, so this recording keeps things in the Ellington orbit.

💐 A Bouquet from Joya

Billy returned to the piano bench for the next vocal outing, Joya Sherrill's version from her 1965 album Sings Duke:

That's Ellington stalwart Ray Nance on violin, adding a chamber-music touch that gives the performance an especially elegant, haunting glow.

I've mentioned it before, but I really like how former and then-current Ellington bandmates continued to work on side projects over the years such as Joya's wonderful salute to Duke!

🌺 Flowers for Ella

Then came Ella Fitzgerald's gorgeous rendition with the Ellington orchestra for the 1966 Verve album Ella at Duke's Place:

Ella's regular pianist, Jimmy Jones, joins the session, and Johnny Hodges drops in for yet another reminder that nobody could caress a ballad quite like he could.

🌼 The Master Gardener

And of course, we have to finish with the composer himself. Here's Billy Strayhorn's own solo performance of A Flower Is a Lovesome Thing from 1963:

Backed by the Paris String Quartet on The Peaceful Side, Billy delivers the song with all the tenderness and grace it deserves.

🌱 Digging in the Strayhorn Garden

Billy was passionate about flowers, and this piece is one of the finest bouquets he ever arranged.

🌸 Now that's a lovesome thing. 🌸

Sundays with Duke #44: Billy's Passion

We’re still sitting chronologically in 1944 with Duke Ellington, but although our next record was first released that year, it was actually recorded in 1941. It's Billy Strayhorn’s exquisite ballad Passion Flower.

The First Bloom

Here it is as recorded for Bluebird in 1941 by a Johnny Hodges‑led Ellington unit:

I’ve lost track of how many times I’ve used Johnny, alto, and gorgeous in the same sentence — yet here we are again!

Traanscription Takes

Duke began featuring the song in concert after the Hodges record was released, but he never cut a full‑band studio version for Victor in the 1940s. Instead, Passion Flower lived in the margins of the era — in the transcription studios.

First is this 1945 take for the World Broadcasting Service:

And here’s the 1946 version for the Capitol transcription service:

Billy Strayhorn sits in on piano for both of these non‑commercial recordings — always a treat to hear him inside his own harmony.

Just Jazz

We jump ahead to 1952 for a lovely version from Capitol's The Just Jazz All Stars Featuring Louis Bellson:

It’s practically an Ellington family photo: Clark Terry, Juan Tizol, Harry Carney, Willie Smith, Wendell Marshall and Billy Strayhorn himself, joined by Wardell Gray on tenor and John Graas on French horn. Louis Bellson, then Duke’s drummer, anchors the proceedings.

Duke’s Trio

Duke returned to the tune in 1953 for this trio reading, included on The Duke Plays Ellington:

A quiet, elegant take — Duke letting Strayhorn’s melody breathe.

Blue Bloom

Another full‑band version followed in 1956 for the Blue Rose album on Columbia:

This track didn’t include an overdubbed Rosemary Clooney vocal, since the tune didn’t yet have lyrics.

Nancy Sings

Lyrics eventually arrived courtesy of Milt Raskin, and Nancy Wilson was the first to record a vocal version for her 1960 Capitol album Like in Love:

Milt plays piano on this non‑Ellington track, conducted by Billy May, while Willie Smith channels Johnny Hodges.

Ella's Take

Now that Passion Flower had lyrics, Ella Fitzgerald recorded a vocal version with Duke for their 1966 collaboration Ella at Duke’s Place:

Very nice — and Johnny’s alto is as smooth as ever.

Private Passion

Let's go back to 1962 for this instrumental arrangement that the band recorded in 1962, with Billy back at the piano:

A private recording, financed by Duke, unreleased at the time.

Billy’s Own Final Word

As I like to do with a Strayhorn tune, let’s let Billy himself close the chapter — with this intimate cut from his 1963 United Artists album The Peaceful Side:

Always a gift to hear Billy in a quiet room, playing something that bloomed from his own hands.

Twenty-Five Years of Bloom

So we’ve traced more than two decades of Passion Flower — a melody that kept unfolding, kept deepening, kept finding new colors.

Billy planted it, and the world kept tending it.

Happy Halloween!

🎃 Happy Halloween — Spike Style!

In keeping with the situation, let’s spike things up with both sides of a wonderfully ghoulish Spike Jones 45 rpm single from 1959 on Warner Bros. Records.

Side A: (I Was a) Teenage Brain Surgeon

The label credits the vocal to “Jack the Ripper” — obviously a gag — but that booming, cavernous basso profundo is unmistakably Thurl Ravenscroft.

It’s a pitch‑perfect spoof of the era’s seemingly ubiquitous “I Was a Teenage Whatever” craze, and Spike leans into the absurdity with gusto.

Side B: Monster Movie Ball

Flip the disc and you get this straight‑up rock‑and‑roll romp. The vocalist is credited as “The Fiend‑Ager” — a pun so bad it loops back around to brilliant — but the real singer, Ken Stevens, is also credited.

I’ve always thought this one was a terrific tune: all the classic movie monsters cleverly woven into the lyrics, with Peter Lorre standing out as the only actor name‑checked directly. A tiny but delightful detail.

Spike vs. Rock ’n’ Roll

I seem to recall Spike once saying rock and roll was ruining his career — something to the effect that you can’t parody something that’s already a mess. So if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em… and record a rock‑and‑roll song!

Both tracks come from Spike Jones in Stereo (1959), a concept album full of monsters, creeps, and Halloween‑friendly mayhem. The title may be generic, but the cover art gives the game away instantly!

I’ve had that album for as long as I can remember — since I Was a Teenage Record Collector — and these two cuts were always my favorites. So when I later came across the single coupling them — credited to Spike Jones and his Sickniks — I thought, “Good idea, Warners!”

🎃 Have a great Halloween!

Now I want to watch I Was a Teenage Werewolf!

Friday Fun: Haunting in 1929

Ghosts? Goblins? Growl trumpet?

With Halloween arriving tomorrow, let's spend a few minutes in Duke Ellington's haunted musical mansion.

First up is the 1929 Victor recording of Haunted Nights:

The eerie atmosphere is helped immeasurably by guest guitarist Teddy Bunn and the wonderfully growling trumpet of Cootie Williams.

And since every good shellac record deserves a flip, here's the other side, The Duke Steps Out:

A cheerful contrast to the eerie A-side, this one carries composer credits for Duke, Cootie and Johnny Hodges.

By this point, the orchestra also featured long-time Ellington mainstays Barney Bigard, Harry Carney, Tricky Sam Nanton, Juan Tizol, Fred Guy and Sonny Greer.

No tricks. Just treats. And perhaps one friendly ghost lurking in the brass section!