"Jingle Bells" - Part 22 - So Korny!

Still in 1950 with "Jingle Bells," we go from the somewhat corny Dixieland of the Firehouse Five Plus Two to the straight-up corn of the Korn Kobblers!

Here they are with "Jingle Bells" on MGM Records:

I do think that's pretty fun!

What do you suppose the flipside to that record is?  Of course:

Santa sounds kind of maniacal, though, doesn't he?

This particular record was actually part of a mini-album of two records, with the recent holiday hit "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" on one side of the other record:

The flipside of that was this tune that I've never heard anywhere else:

I think the Korn Kobblers were in good form on this set, with clever instrumentation.

Here's Billboard's review from December 16 1950:

I think that review pretty much nails it, even down to the underwhelming cover art (seen at the top of this page)! (The score of 83 is the low end of the "excellent" range.)

The most telling thing is that this album is reviewed in the Children's records section and I do think that the Korn Kobblers by the relatively late date (for corn bands) of 1950 do seem like they're aiming more at the kiddie market. Part of that is it seems like Stan Fritts is almost over enunciating the lyrics so that kids will understand them.

(I do have to admit that by the early 1950s, even the great Spike Jones increasingly seemed to aim for the youngsters, recording several numbers with virtually no satiric edge.)

This earlier Christmas record by the Korn Kobblers is definitely edgier and weirder, especially for 1939:

What an odd record! They also cut it for Okeh Records in 1941, with slightly different lyrics:

Not sure what's behind the lyric changes, except that Joe Penner had passed away in between these recordings, so the latter says the duck belongs to Old MacDonald instead.

The Korn Kobblers were a spinoff of Freddie Fisher's Schnickelfritz band and kept the corny formula going for quite a while.

An interesting series of events had trombonist/singer Stan Fritts and the other members of Freddie Fisher's band leaving to form the rival Korn Kobblers. Don't know what the beef was, but Freddie had to form a new group.

Nels Laakso!

To replace ace trumpeter Nels Laakso, Freddie came up with George Rock, who, as we know, graduated from the Schnickelfritzers to Spike Jones and his City Slickers!

I find such connections to be fascinating!

For reference, here's Stan Fritts taking the vocal on this cut by Freddie Fisher's band in 1938:

I like that one a lot and feel that Stan's vocals were better with the Fisher band!

The flipside of that record, with Freddie's vocal, is awesome too:

That particular song was played by Freddie and the boys in the 1938 Warner Brothers movie "Gold Diggers in Paris," which is largely unmemorable, except for the chance to see them in action:

Very fun!

Hey, let's throw in Spike Jones's 1942 record of "The Wild, Wild Women" for a rare one-on-one Fisher/Jones comparison: 

And Spike's record has a brilliant flipside, so let's hear that too:

Great stuff from when the City Slickers were still more of a traditional corn band.

Jumping ahead, the pianist/arranger for the Korn Kobblers, Marty Gold, later got into arranging and conducting studio groups, making a lot of "bachelor pad" music. Here's a 1958 album cut of a sort-of Christmas song:

That is awesome and shows Marty never lost his sense of whimsy!

Back to the matter at hand, good job by the Korn Kobblers on that Christmas album!

"Jingle Bells" - Part 21 - Plus Two!

We're still in 1950 with "Jingle Bells," but as Artie Shaw was experimenting with newish music, the Firehouse Five Plus Two was doing decidedly the opposite!

Here they are with their take on "Jingle Bells":

One thing I will say, their record label being named Good Time Jazz is truth in advertising!

The group was made up of members of Walt Disney's animation department who used to play Dixieland music as a hobby, then realized they were pretty good and turned professional!

Here's s fun clip of them performing "Jingle Bells" while ostensibly at work:

Walt actually approved of the band, but insisted they never quit their day jobs, as they were invaluable to the studio.

Ward Kimball at work!

Leader/trombonist and pianist Frank Thomas in particular were brilliant animators, part of Disney's "Nine Old Men" who anchored the animation staff for years.

I really enjoy their records, as I dig intentionally corny music and they sound like they're having a blast!

This was the first record I had by them, way back in the day:

I think that's just awesome with the siren and all!

The flipside is "The World Is Waiting for the Sunrise" as an instrumental, but Gene Lockhart would still have gotten royalties:

The banjo that opens the record really puts me in mind of the Les Paul and Mary Ford recording from a year later. Was Les possibly influenced by the Firehouse Five Plus Two?

"Jingle Bells" - Part 20 - Artie Shaw!

As we continue listening to recordings of "Jingle Bells," we're back to the real deal with Artie Shaw!

Here's Artie leading a band on Decca Records in 1950 with vocals by the Chickering Four:

That's a pretty modern sound by 1950 standards. I understand that Artie was intrigued by the bop music that had started appearing earlier.

Not that Artie's "Jingle Bells" is a bop record by any means, but he plays a little phrase on his clarinet which the band echoes that reminds me of "Salt Peanuts," Dizzy Gillespie's record from 1945:

Wow, that is some lineup on that record!

At this point Artie Shaw didn't have a regular band, so he recorded with studio musicians. This group includes Will Bradley on trombone and Chris Griffin on trumpet, two outstanding big band veterans.

Anyway, the Chickering Four, the vocal group on Artie's record does a good job. Per discographies, the lineup of the group at that time was Artie Malvin, Ray Charles, Eugene Lowenthal and Sid Bennett.

I know Artie Malvin sang with the Crew Chiefs in Glenn Miller's service band during WWII, then did tons of session work. I guess Ray Charles is the "other" Ray Charles, who later led the Ray Charles Singers. The other two I don't really know.

I also don't know if that's the lineup that recorded on Signature Records in 1947, but they cut some good sides.

Here's one with Ray Bloch's orchestra:

Pretty fun and it is actually baseball season right now!

Here's another one from 1947, just the group featuring lead singer Floyd Sherman (with maybe three of the other guys?):

About the only other thing I know about them is that they also played instruments and I'm guessing their name comes from the Chickering piano-making company!

The flipside of Artie Shaw's record of "Jingle Bells" is "White Christmas" and it features a totally different sound:

Artie liked to experiment with different sounds, so it's not surprising that the two sides of the record each have a different lineup of musicians. (It was much to his chagrin that a lot of his fans (and he had a ton) just wanted to hear "Begin the Beguine" over and over!)

Gwen Davies (first name spelled wrong on the label) seems like an odd choice for the vocal on "White Christmas," as she has sort of a cartoony voice, but it works.

However, I think she's more suited to this number:

That's pretty fun!

Cover art is totally wrong!

Naturally, Gwen did do some cartoon voices and recorded some kiddie records like this one from 1954:

Is it wrong that I think that's absolutely brilliant? (This is where you chime in with a hearty "Me too!")

Here's one more record from Artie in 1950, at home on a Cole Porter number:

Some different musical styles, but one thing in common: Artie Shaw's brilliant clarinet playing!

Hard to believe he'd give it up a few years later...

"Jingle Bells" - Part 19 - Betty Lou!

Still hanging around the late 1940s while digging up versions of "Jingle Bells," we come across this oddity from about 1947: radio star Tommy Riggs singing in the voice of his Betty Lou character:

It's an interesting record, but must seem really bizarre to the uninitiated, as it starts off like a Ken Griffin cut, but then a wacky child's voice starts singing!

As a brief initiation, Tommy Riggs was able to mimic a young girl's voice and switch back and forth with his own voice. This talent led him to a successful radio career in which he interacted with the fictional Betty Lou, who was presented as his niece.

OTR buffs know that's (left to right) Bob Burns, Tommy Riggs, Charlie McCarthy, Edgar Bergen, Rudy Vallee and Joe Penner!

Since he was principally a radio performer and the listening audience couldn't see him, he didn't need a dummy and he didn't throw his voice, so he wasn't quite a ventriloquist like Edgar Bergen.

But he was able to interact with Betty Lou the way Bergen interacted with Charlie McCarthy, creating the illusion that Betty Lou was a real girl.

Betty Lou was a little like Baby Snooks, but Fanny Brice stayed in that character and needed Hanley Stafford as Daddy to bounce off of (off of whom to bounce?).

On the whole, Betty Lou reminds me most of Teeny, the little girl portrayed by Marian (Molly) Jordan on the "Fibber McGee and Molly" show. But almost always Molly would leave the room before Teeny entered and Teeny would interact with Fibber. I presume that was because it's hard to switch voices quickly. 

Tommy Riggs was really good at it, though!

OK, maybe that initiation wasn't so brief, but all of this being said, I think the "Jingle Bells" record is odd in that it's just Betty Lou singing the song pretty straight. They could have had a little skit with "Uncle Tommy" trying to get Betty Lou to sing the song with wacky antics ensuing - sort of like David Seville would do with the Chipmunks a decade later.

The flipside is "Silent Night," which is also sung by Betty Lou, but the straightforward singing is certainly appropriate for such a hymn:

So, I would've gone with wacky "Jingle Bells" on one side, straight "Silent Night" on the other!

This other record from an album of 78 rpm records from about the same time shows the sort of thing I mean:

But we do have an interesting artifact from a once prominent, but long forgotten radio star!

"Jingle Bells" - Part 18 - Square Dance!

We leave the somewhat square renditions of "Jingle Bells" from Rondo Records to some actual square dance versions!

First, from 1946 is this cut from a 78 rpm album of square dances from veteran country and western artist Carson Robison on RCA Victor:

Interesting that the tune is definitely "Jingle Bells" but the calls from Lawrence V. Loy make no reference to the title or anything seasonal.

(Maybe not the whole world!)

Next are a couple of records from Folkraft Records that don't have calls. I think the idea was that you'd play the record and have your own caller do the calls.

Here's the "American Squares Country Dance Band" from 1948:

And Harold Goodfellow and his Goodfellows from 1951:

I think those are both pretty snappy! No idea who the artists are, though!

Who knew "Jingle Bells" was such a popular tune for square dancing?

"Jingle Bells" - Part 17 - Rondo Records!

As we continue along with "Jingle Bells," we land on Rondo Records for a couple of renditions played on the organ.

The first one chronologically is from Elmer Ihrke and Skip Berg in 1949:

Pleasant enough version. Good as background music.

The flipside is "Silent Night," credited only to Elmer Ihrke:

I know Elmer was an organist and Skip Berg played celeste and they recorded a few sides for Rondo, but otherwise I haven't been able to dig up much information on either, but Elmer did get his picture on one album:

So, we kind of know what he looked like!

Much more famous was Rondo's premiere artist, organist Ken Griffin, heard on this record from (I think) 1949:

And here's the flipside:

Those are pleasant but not remarkable, but they are representative of Ken Griffin's style and he was very popular!

His popularity was really based on one/sort of two records...

Ken had recorded an instrumental version of a German song under the English title of "You Can't Be True, Dear" in 1948:

Again, pleasant enough, but it had something going for it, as it was big!

Rondo also released that same recording with a vocal by Jerry Wayne overdubbed:

Both of these records were huge hits, with the vocal version hitting number one while the instrumental version parked at number two!

They're both soooooo square, even by 1948 standards, but, boy, they were popular!

Even more fascinating is the little disclaimer on the record label!

There's even more in these "Billboard" ads:

I think it was based on a dispute over royalties between the original German publisher ad Biltmore Music Corp, the American representative.

Whatever the case, Ken Griffin was able to successfully ride the wave of popularity with several later releases on Columbia Records until his untimely passing in 1956.

"Jingle Bells" - Part 16 - Song-Smiths!

As we continue with "Jingle Bells," we find ourselves in 1947 with a couple of instrumentals from musicians with the surname Smith!

We start with Arthur Smith, famous for "Guitar Boogie," with, naturally, "Guitar Jingle Bells":

That is definitely Guitar Jingle Bells!

The original issue on Super Disc has such an unusual artist credit on the label: Arthur "Guitar Boogie" Smith's Sensational Trio (Formerly Rambler Trio). Awkward!

When MGM Records picked up the Super Disc recordings for national distribution in 1950, they went with a somewhat simpler credit:

Sounds good under any name!

MGM paired the "Guitar Jingle Bells" with this number:

It's an interesting amalgam of titles of other Christmas songs forming the framework for a more-or-less original song! 

We move from guitar virtuoso Arthur Smith to organ virtuoso Ethel Smith, who cut "Jingle Bells" for Decca Records in 1947:

Ethel Smith was very popular in the mid to late 1940s, with her glamorous appearance leading to her appearing in several movies in addition to her recording career.

Here she plays "Tico Tico" (her signature tune) in the 1944 MGM movie "Bathing Beauty":

That's a fun flick that also features Harry James and Xavier Cugat with their bands, plus Basil Rathbone!!

We jump ahead to 1966 for another organist named Smith - Jimmy Smith with this cut from the awesomely named "Christmas Cookin'" on Verve Records:

It definitely cooks!

Ethel and Jimmy on organ and Arthur on guitar - great musicians all!

"Jingle Bells" - Part 15 - Johnny Mercer!

While we're still hanging around Capitol Records digging up "Jingle Bells" recordings, we come across Johnny Mercer!

Johnny Mercer was one of the greatest lyricists in pop music history with an incredible list of hit songs over 30 or so years.

Johnny Mercer (left) with Capitol Records co-founders Glenn Wallichs and B.G. DeSylva

Along the way, he also co-founded Capitol Records in 1942 and recorded several successful singles for the company.

For our current purposes, Johnny recorded an extremely snappy version of "Jingle Bells" in 1947 with the Pied Pipers vocal group and Paul Weston's studio orchestra:

Presumably Johnny was responsible for the updated lyrics which add to the fun! 

And props for questioning what "up sot" means!

And was the inevitable flipside of this record? Naturally:

More updated lyrics with such a great 1940s sound!

The year before, Johnny recorded a mellow version of "Winter Wonderland" along with his frequent collaborators, the Pied Pipers and Paul Weston:

That track was reissued a couple of times with different non-holiday flipsides.

So, I think Johnny Mercer only had those three holiday/seasonal recording, so he never did get the EP treatment from Capitol!

The Pied Pipers did get this non-holiday EP in 1956 with a cool, ever-so 1956 cover:

The title song, "Dream," was written by Johnny Mercer and was a huge hit for the Pied Pipers in 1945:

That's as dreamy as a record named "Dream" should be!

June Hutton with the Pied Pipers

Jo Stafford had been the lead singer for the Pied Pipers when they came to prominence with Tommy Dorsey's band and when they first signed with Capitol Records, but June Hutton had replaced her when Jo started her own hugely successful solo career.

Hey, let's throw in a June Hutton recording of a sort-of "Jingle Bells"-esque song with backing from Axel Stordahl:

June and Axel were married at the time, as were Jo Stafford and Paul Weston!

Romance in the air at Capitol Records!

"Jingle Bells" - Part 14 - Les Paul (and Mary Ford)!

We continue to mine the Capitol Records vaults for more "Jingle Bells" and Christmas EPs and come away with a much less wacky artist than our friend Yogi Yorgesson - the pioneering guitar wizard Les Paul!

Les Paul probably did more than anyone to put the electric guitar on the map and that along with his pioneering use of multitracking have cemented his place in music history.

His playing and multitracking are on full display on his 1951 recording of "Jingle Bells":

That still sounds great!

Les was of course also known for his records with his wife Mary Ford (who had previously sung on Gene Autry's "Melody Ranch" radio show under her (sort of) real name Colleen Summers) and they recorded this offbeat number based on "Jingle Bells" in 1953:

That's an odd one with an odd vibe and I find it oddly fascinating!

Odd in another way is Les and Mary's take on "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" from 1955:

No threat to Spike Jones and George Rock!

It's fun, if cutesy, that the label credits the vocalist as "Liddo Marwy Ford."

(I don't know if Dorothy Parker ever saw that record label, but if she did, I'm sure she fwowed up!)

As with Yogi, Capitol released a Christmas EP of various Les and/or Mary tracks in 1955:

I think that was the first release of Les's recording of "Santa Claus is Coming to Town," which also wound up as the flipside of "Rudolph" the next year.

Here's that record:

The EP also included "Silent Night" with Mary, which had been the flipside of "Jingle Bells."

Here's that one:

Then they also included the flipside of "Jungle Bells," which was "White Christmas":

I think I have all that straight, but whatever the case, that four-song EP is solid!

Here's a fun clip of Les and Mary performing their hit "The World is Waiting for the Sunrise":

Fun fact: the lyrics to that 1919 song were written by Gene Lockhart - Bob Cratchit from 1938's MGM version of "A Christmas Carol!"

           

"Jingle Bells" - Part 13 - Yust Nuts!

For lucky part 13 (on the 13th!) of our "Jingle Bells" survey, we get wacky once again, this time with Yogi Yorgesson, the alter ego of of comic singer/songwriter Harry Stewart!

The very title of this take-off on "Jingle Bells" from 1949 tells you about all you need to know:

"Yingle Bells" was actually a big hit in 1949, reaching the top ten on the "Billboard" charts!

The flipside was even more popular, topping out at Number Five:

To me, "I Yust Go Nuts at Christmas" is a brilliant Christmas novelty single.

It has the wacky Swedish accent, but the comic portrayal of a chaotic Christmas with the family is a universal theme.

Dialect humor was still very popular in the U.S. in the late 1940s and such things ran from good-natured spoofing to offensive racism. I think is solidly in the former category.

I think the key is that you're laughing along with Yogi, not at him.

This particular record was the first that Harry Stewart recorded directly for Capitol Records and was so successful that follow-ups were inevitable.

Capitol combined the two sides of that first single with the two sides of another for the following EP from 1954:

The other single was originally released in 1951 and had these two sides:

Oddly, "The Christmas Party" is shown as "The Christmas Story" on the cover, although it's correct on the label. That song is particularly dated, as such goings-on are no longer tolerated, but it was thought of as good fun at the time.

You can see (hear) that the above two "songs" follow the "I Yust Go Nuts at Christmas" formula, with Yogi singing the song, then providing a narration in the middle.

Here's a video clip of Harry Stewart as Yogi Yorgesson sing a non-Christmas song:

That's the only "live" footage I've ever seen of him!

That particular song, "All Pooped Out," was one of the releases that Yogi had on the small S&G label in 1949:

That caught the attention of Capitol Records, who picked up Harry/Yogi's contract:

Kind of like being called up to the Show!

The Mrs. is really her!

I had been aware that Harry Stewart had died in an automobile accident in 1956, but what I did not know for a long time was that his widow, Gretchen, later married Jim Jordan, radio's "Fibber McGee," after Marian "Molly" Jordan passed away.

In my little world, Fibber McGee marrying Mrs. Yogi Yorgesson is mind-blowing!

All I can say is that Gretchen must have had a high tolerance for shtick!

"Jingle Bells" - Part 12 - The Voice!

We leave the singing cowboys and their "Jingle Bells" to meet up with a very un-cowboy singer - one Francis Albert Sinatra!

Frank Sinatra was, of course, one of the most popular singers of the twentieth century, and he recorded a number of Christmas songs over the years, including two versions of "Jingle Bells" that offer a snapshot of different points in his career.

Frank seems more amused than Axel!

The first is on Columbia Records in 1946, backed by his usual arranger, Axel Stordahl, and the Ken Lane Singers:

That's "The Voice," the 1940s Sinatra who took the bobby-soxers by storm after having left Tommy Dorsey's band in 1942 along with arranger Stordahl.

This track reflects the lush ballad style that Frank favored at the time.

Frank rode a wave of popularity throughout the 1940s, but hit a rough patch in the early 1950s, but re-staked his claim to fame with a Best Supporting Actor Academy Award for "From Here to Eternity" and a new recording contract with Capitol Records.

Frank checks the lyrics while Gordon Jenkins conducts.

He started working with a variety of arrangers, including Nelson Riddle, Billy May and Gordon Jenkins, who backed Frank on his 1957 album "A Jolly Christmas," which included this cut:

This shows how Frank had evolved into more of a swinger by the late 1950s, as opposed to the skinny, bow-tie wearing kid of the 1940s.

The backing vocals on the Christmas album are provided by the Ralph Brewster Singers, Ralph Brewster having been a member of the Modernaires when they sang with Glenn Miller.

For some additional fun, here's a clip from Frank's 1957 TV series, in which he sings "Jingle Bells" with a very special guest:

Good chemistry between those two!