"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...