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 Williams, 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!

Word Association Wednesday: Peggy Knows

For today's WAW, we're sort of rearranging the words from Duke Ellington's I Didn't Know About You to arrive at the title of the Peggy Lee hit I Don't Know Enough About You.

So let's spin Peggy's original 1946 Capitol recording:

Peggy wrote the song with her then-husband, Dave Barbour, who leads the backing group and provides the snappy guitar work.

Very cute song — for some reason, I always enjoy references to button-shoes!

Columbia Confers

The other labels were quick to jump on the tune, including Columbia, which assigned it to Peggy's old boss, Benny Goodman:

Art Lund — who had been known as Art London back when he and Peggy were with BG's band — handles the vocal.

Victor's Version

RCA Victor's entry came from our pal Johnny Desmond:

At this point, Johnny was beginning his successful solo career after recently making a name for himself with Glenn Miller's AAF Band.

Decca Delight

And finally, here's a wonderful version by The Mills Brothers on Decca:

The song suits them so perfectly that you'd almost think Peggy and Dave had written it specifically for them.

So, we get a little bit about a lot of the music scene in 1946: two former band vocalists gone solo — one female, one male — a vocal group and a big band.

And as today's lineup proves, these artists may not have known enough about you, but they certainly knew their way around a hit record!

Monday Side-Session – Now We Know

For today’s side-session, we're taking a look at the contemporary covers of the lovely Duke Ellington-Bob Russell standard I Didn’t Know About You. I rounded up ten versions, all from 1944-45, so let's start spinning.

Jo Knows

Every label seemed to want a piece of this song, and the first release out of the gate was Jo Stafford's version on Capitol, backed by The Pied Pipers and Paul Weston:

What a wonderful record. Jo is simply the greatest. It's always a treat hearing her with The Pied Pipers, including June Hutton, Jo's successor in the group.

Lena Learns

We heard Lena Horne sing the song with Duke on a radio aircheck yesterday, and here she is again with her Victor recording:

Horace Henderson supplies the backing. Another winner!

Counting on Thelma

Columbia handed the song over to Count Basie, who features vocalist Thelma Carpenter:

I really like this one. Then again, you'll probably hear me say that more than once today!

Woody Weighs In

The other major label of the era, Decca, wasn't about to be left out, so here's Woody Herman:

This song fits Woody like a glove. He could really sing, not just sing surprisingly well for a bandleader.

Billie Believes

Let's move on to a couple of smaller labels, starting with female trumpeter/vocalist Billie Rogers on Musicraft:

Billie was a genuine trailblazer. Before leading her own band, she spent time with Woody Herman and proved she was much more than a novelty act.

Boyd's Band

Next up is Boyd Raeburn with vocalist Don Darcy on Guild:

Boyd is usually remembered for his progressive and adventurous arrangements, but this record shows his band could settle into a ballad quite nicely when the occasion called for it.

Hit Paraders

For a more traditional approach, here's Jerry Wayne backed by Mark Warnow on Sonora:

At the time, Jerry and Mark were familiar to listeners from radio's Your Hit Parade, and this recording came from a tie-in album connected with the program.

Weir It's At

Now let's cross the Atlantic for this British Decca version by Frank Weir and Anne Lenner:

Another lovely rendition.

Frank and his septet also appeared in the classic British horror anthology Dead of Night in 1945. Since Halloween is in a couple of days, I think I may need to pull that one off the shelf again.

Czeching In

V. Irmanov has serious style!

While we're overseas, let's stay on the continent for this Czech recording on Supraphon by Karel Vlach and vocalist Václav Irmanov:

Wow, that's delightful - I'm getting a strong Glenn Miller feel from the arrangement, and the phonetically sung English vocal has a charm all its own.

More from Mildred

We come back to the States to wrap things up with an aircheck of the wonderful Mildred Bailey:

Paul Baron conducts, and it's yet another lovely reading of the song.

So now we know: everybody knew about I Didn't Know About You!

Sundays with Duke #43: We Didn't Know

📀 July ’42: Victor’s Last Pre‑Ban Spin

Still in 1942 with Duke Ellington, we land on July 28 for his last Victor session before the recording ban started.

That session yielded the lovely Ellington composition Sentimental Lady.

Let’s spin it:

Another showcase for the gorgeous alto of Johnny Hodges. Rex Stewart adds a nice little cornet solo as well.

📈 Hit Parade Surprise

Due to the recording ban, Victor delayed the release of the record until August 1943, which was a smart move — it topped the (then‑titled) Harlem Hit Parade!

✏️ We Didn't Know This Title

As with many popular melodies written by Duke, this one acquired lyrics (by Don George) and became the pop standard I Didn’t Know About You.

I’ve always thought it interesting that the title was changed — Sentimental Lady feels like such a quintessential Ellington name.

🎙️ 1944: Joya Steps to the Mic

Once Victor settled with the musicians’ union in late 1944, Duke and the band recorded the new vocal version on their first session.

Let’s spin that record featuring Joya Sherrill:

A lovely record — from Joya’s debut recording session with the band — and yes, I’ll admit it again: I have a retro‑crush on Joya!

Duke’s band didn’t undergo as many personnel changes as most bands during the recording gap, but Ben Webster, Rex Stewart, Juan Tizol and Ivie Anderson had all left, with Joya, Cat Anderson, Taft Jordan and Al Sears among the new members.

📻 Lena & Duke for the Troops

An interesting version of I Didn’t Know About You comes from a January 1945 episode of the AFRS radio series Jubilee.

Host Ernie “Bubbles” Whitman will explain:

Lena Horne + Duke for the troops — that’s the kind of morale boost you can hear in the air!

But did Ernie call Lena Butterball? Did that used to be a compliment?

🎤 Ella Gives It Wings

Duke continued to feature the song for a while, but seems to have moved away from it after Joya left the band.

But it got a huge boost in 1957 when Ella Fitzgerald joined Duke and the band for this cut from the Duke Ellington Songbook on Verve:

Those sessions are truly a treasure. And how wonderful to hear Johnny’s alto kick off the track!

🎼 Back to Instrumental Roots

Moving to 1959, Duke brought the tune back to its instrumental roots for this version from the sessions for the Columbia album Blues in Orbit:

This was unreleased at the time, but later showed up as a bonus track in the 1980s. Good thing — it’s a wonderful reunion for Johnny and the melody.

🌹 A Lady Revealed

If we didn’t know about the sentimental lady, we sure do now — Joya, Lena and Ella are all very convincing!

Monday Side‑Session: Hoppin’ to the River

You may have noticed from the label above that the V‑Disc featuring Duke Ellington’s Main Stem leads off with another Ellington number — Hop, Skip, Jump.

Jumpin' with Johnny

That tune was recorded in November 1943. Let’s spin it:

A nice mid‑tempo feature for Johnny Hodges’ alto sax, the band played it on radio and in live appearances, but never got the chance to record a studio version for Victor because of the recording ban.

Same Tune, New Locality

Things take an interesting turn in 1946, when Duke finally gets the chance to record the tune — but now it has a new name: Rockabye River.

As far as I can tell, this recording was only issued in the U.S. as the lead side in the Victor album Esquire’s All American Hot Jazz Volume 2 in 1947. Let’s spin it:

The tune gets a bit of a makeover, but it still functions as a showcase for Johnny — who gets label credit — while adding some wonderfully brassy growl trumpet from Cat Anderson.

Another Day, Another Arrangement

But wait, there’s more: Duke and the band recorded another version of the tune — still under the Rockabye River title — for the Capitol Transcription service just a couple of days after the 1946 Victor session.

Let’s spin that one:

A shorter arrangement, still centered on Johnny’s alto, with perhaps even more of Cat’s growl trumpet cutting through.

The tune seems to fade into the sunset by 1948 after a handful of additional live performances, but we’re left with these three distinct recordings — each one a slightly different angle on the same Ellington gem.

Warehouse Whispers

I’m presuming Victor didn’t release Rockabye River in 1946 for whatever internal reason, but eventually decided it would be a strong selling point to include a “new” Ellington side in the Esquire set.

It also shows the embarrassment of riches in the Ellington catalog. A recording that would be a highlight for virtually any other band was just another day at the office for Duke!