Bonus Movie Songs: Johnny Desmond with Glenn Miller!

                                             

I was just saying how we were fortunate to have those a cappella records made during the recording ban to preserve the hit movie songs of 1943 and 1944.

There is another source for a lot of those songs: Glenn Miller's Army Air Force band featuring vocalist Johnny Desmond!

(Obligatory mention that Johnny Desmond portrayed Fred in 1956's "The Stingiest Man in Town," but you knew that!)

That was a terrific band of top musicians (mixing the classic Miller sound with the addition of strings) and Johnny sounded great with them and thankfully a number of non-commercial recordings (radio shows and V-Discs) are available for us to enjoy!

So, here's Sergeant Johnny Desmond singing "How Sweet You Are" from "Thank Your Lucky Stars":

And "Long Ago (And Far Away)" from "Cover Girl":

And here's "Irresistible You" from "Broadway Rhythm":

Then there's "Now I Know" from "Up in Arms":

They called Johnny the "G.I. Sinatra," so it's natural he would take on Frank's songs from "Higher and Higher" along with The Crew Chiefs:

Sounds good!

Johnny and The Crew Chiefs are also featured on Jerry Gray's arrangement of "The Trolley Song" from "Meet Me in St. Louis":

Drummer/vocalist Ray McKinley sings a couple of lines before the amusing second verse!

Let's sneak in the song that started us down this road, "I Love You" from the Broadway show "Mexican Hayride":

So great to have these songs performed by a great vocalist with a great band!

Bonus 78s - Recording Ban Movie Songs - Part 2 - 1944!

                       

So, when 1944 rolled around Decca and a lot of smaller record labels had settled with the American Federation of Musicians and were recording with musicians once again, so they had no further need for a cappella recordings.

But the giant RCA Victor and Columbia labels entered 1944 with no agreement, so they needed to issue vocal-only records in order to keep new product flowing.

So, let's listen to some 1944 movie songs from those labels! 

Side note: Capitol Records had also settled with the musicians' union in 1943, so they were back to business as usual, but I don't think they had issued any a cappella records. They had actually started up in April of 1942, which was just a couple of months before the recording ban started, so I guess they just rode out the storm.

RCA Victor had signed former Ted Weems vocalist Perry Como in 1943, so like Decca with Dick Haymes, they needed to get some product out there to keep their new singing star in the public eye. As a result, Perry recorded several records with a "mixed chorus."

Perry's first top-ten hit was his version of the beautiful Jerome Kern/Ira Gershwin standard "Long Ago (And Far Away)" from Columbia's "Cover Girl" starring Rita Hayworth and Gene Kelly:

I think that sounds great!

Dinah Shore had been successfully recording for Victor before the recording ban started, but she also cut some vocal only records with the "mixed chorus" (Decca credited the vocal groups, but Victor and Columbia did not).

Dinah appeared in a few movies in the mid-1940s, but like Perry Como, she preferred to concentrate on radio and later television, achieving huge success in those media in addition to a long string of hit records.

Dinah introduced the popular WWII song "I'll Walk Alone" in Universal's all-star "Something for the Boys" and had a huge hit record with it:

Very evocative of the era!

Dinah also appeared opposite Danny Kaye in the Goldwyn movie "Up in Arms," which was Danny's feature debut. Dinah had a hit with "Now I Know":

I had mentioned before that Dinah Shore had a somewhat different career arc from other singing stars in that she made a name for herself on the radio, especially Eddie Cantor's show, rather than having made her name singing with a band.

One of Dinah's rivals in the mid-1940s was Ginny Simms, who had come to prominence with the highly popular Kay Kyser band.

Ginny had appeared with Kay in his movies for RKO and made a few movies after beginning her solo career, including MGM's "Broadway Rhythm," in which she sang "Irresistible You." She recorded that song for Columbia with a choral background:

I do most associate movie Ginny Simms with her appearance in one of my favorite Abbott and Costello movies, "Hit the Ice" from 1943!

Let's jump back over to RCA for one more movie song released on their Bluebird subsidiary.

Here's the Four King Sisters singing "The Trolley Song," as introduced by Judy Garland in MGM's "Meet Me in St. Louis":

The King Sisters had been singing with the Alvino Rey band (Alvino and Luise King were married) and made some popular records but later found their greatest fame with the King Family on 1960s TV.

Next we go back to Columbia Records for the gentleman who kind of jump-started the whole former-band-singer-turning-solo-star thing - Frank Sinatra!

Frank had sang (sung?) with Harry James's band, then achieved great popularity with Tommy Dorsey before making the bobby-soxers swoon in his solo theater appearances.

He started making movies and signed with Columbia Records, who had to get some records out to take advantage of the publicity!

Frank's movie debut as a solo star was "Higher and Higher," which had some great songs by Harold Adamson and Jimmy McHugh including "I Couldn't Sleep a Wink Last Night" and "A Lovely Way to Spend an Evening," which were paired on this record:

The uncredited chorus is the Bobby Tucker singers with Axel Stordahl supervising.

Another song from "Higher and Higher" had a title that ironically summed up the whole situation:

The music stopped, but they kept on singing!

I really enjoy these records and I'm glad these great movie songs were preserved as such - band or no band!

Bonus 78s - Recording Ban Movie Songs - Part 1 - 1943!

                                           

While discussing the song "I Love You," I had mentioned the strike by the American Federation of Musicians that led to a recording ban that started in 1942 and was not fully settled until the end of 1944 and how, as a result, the record companies released some sides that featured singers with no instrumental backing.

What has always struck me about that whole scene is how those a cappella records were especially needed so consumers could buy records of songs they had heard in movies.

Not that movies were the only source of hit songs, but there a lot of movie musicals in the 1940s and they did generate a lot of hit songs.

So, I thought we should listen to a few a cappella recordings of hit movie songs!

We start off with some 1943 records from Decca.

It seems to me that Decca had more of these singers-only releases and I presume it's because they really needed to keep new material flowing, as Decca was just a record label, unlike the heavyweight RCA Victor and Columbia labels, which were part of larger business conglomerates that didn't rely only on record sales to make money.

I'm also presuming that's why they settled with the musicians' union in 1943, well over a year before Victor and Columbia.

In any event, Decca had the biggest singing star of the day on their roster - Bing Crosby!

Bing had hit movie after hit movie, generating hit song after hit song, so you can see why they wanted new Crosby records.

From his movie "Dixie," here's Bing with his huge hit "Sunday, Monday or Always" with the Ken Darby Singers providing the vocal backing:

I like the sound of that a lot!

And of course I need to mention that Ken Darby had provided the vocal arrangements on Ronald Colman's 1941 recording of "A Christmas Carol," which was also on the Decca label! 

Decca had recently signed a new singing star, Dick Haymes, so they needed to make sure they put out some records by him so the public would not lose interest.

So, he teamed with the Song Spinners on a series of releases including a number of movie songs.

Here's their big hit version of the Oscar-winning "You'll Never Know," which had been introduced by Alice Faye in the movie "Hello, Frisco, Hello":

I think that sounds terrific!

Dick and the Song Spinners also scored with "It Can't Be Wrong," based on Max Steiner's theme for the Bette Davis picture "Now, Voyager":

Another good one!

Let's hear one more! Here's "In My Arms" from MGM's "See Here, Private Hargrove" (In which it was sung by Bob Crosby):

Dick Haymes had recently left Tommy Dorsey's band after having previously sung with Benny Goodman and Harry James and I think he never sounded better than on these records with the Song Spinners!

Also on the Decca roster was popular radio singer Kay Armen, and she cut some sides with the Balladiers (whoever they are), including "How Sweet You Are," which was sung by Dinah Shore in the all-star Warner Brothers movie "Thank Your Lucky Stars":

That's another lovely record!

Dinah Shore was on the RCA Victor label at the time and she did make some a cappella records for them, but not this song. Victor may not have gone down that road yet, though. 

We'll get to Dinah soon!

I don't get the impression that these records are held in high esteem by 1940s music fans, but I like them a lot from both musical and historical perspectives!

Seasonal Songs - "I Love You" (1944)

                                            

Now that we're firmly into the Spring season, let's listen to a seasonal song!

There aren't nearly as many Spring songs as Winter songs, but there is quite a nice sneaky Spring song in the form of Cole Porter's "I Love You" from the 1944 Broadway musical "Mexican Hayride."

There were a number of recordings of the song in 1944, led by Bing Crosby's big hit version on Decca Records:

Bing was at the top in 1944, with hit records, the popular "Kraft Music Hall" radio show and the multi-Oscar winning movie "Going My Way." I don't think such pop culture domination has ever been equaled!

Bing was able to record "I Love You" with instrumental backing from John Scott Trotter because Decca had settled with the musicians' union and was recording as per usual.

Capitol Records had also settled and they had Paul Weston back their new singing star, Jo Stafford:

As noted before, Jo had led the Pied Pipers vocal group with Tommy Dorsey's band, then moved with them over to Capitol before starting her successful solo career.

Another popular version of "I Love You" was recorded by Enric Madriguera and his Orchestra with vocalist Bob Lido on the Hit label:

A lot of smaller labels had also settled with the union and filled the void with recordings of hit songs in 1943 and 1944. 

I'm not sure what the deal is with this next 1944 record, but it seems like it was recorded for use on WOR, the big New York radio station which recently celebrated its 100th year on the air.

Whatever the case, it's by veteran bandleader Jan Garber, "The Idol of the Air Lanes," who during the early to mid-1940s had adopted a more swingy musical approach as opposed to his earlier and later Lombardo-inspired style.

Here's Jan's band with Bob Davis on the vocal:

I appreciate that as the only real big band version of the song!

Another small label, Sonora, had noted Broadway arranger Russell Bennett record "I Love You" for his "Broadway Hits of Today" album:

I like that a lot! Extremely charming vintage sort-of-serious sound!

So, Decca and Capitol and several smaller labels were recording again, but huge players RCA Victor and Columbia did not settle with the musicians' union until very late in 1944, so "I Love You" couldn't get recorded by popular bands like Tommy Dorsey, Harry James, Benny Goodman or a ton of others who were signed to those two labels.

RCA Victor and Columbia (and Decca before their settlement) did, however, continue to record some new sides featuring singers only. 

Columbia issued several numbers by new singing sensation Frank Sinatra with the Bobby Tucker singers as the only accompaniment, but the label did not have Frank (or anyone else) record "I Love You" at the time.

RCA had recently signed their own new vocal star, Perry Como (formerly of the Ted Weems band), and his first records for the label were a cappella recordings featuring a mixed chorus as backing.

Here's Perry's version of "I Love You":

I like that a lot and don't really miss the instrumentalists!

So, the hit song "I Love You" from the hit musical "Mexican Hayride" was very popular in 1944, but whatever happened to that show anyway?

Well, the movie rights were purchased by Universal-International and for some reason, the studio repurposed the material into a 1948 vehicle for Bud Abbott and Lou Costello!

Along the way, all of the songs from the musical were dropped! Why would a penny-pinching studio like Universal lay out the money for a Cole Porter musical and not use the songs?

I'm a big Abbott and Costello fan, and although the oddly disjointed plot of "Mexican Hayride" doesn't make much sense, to me the boys are in good form and have some great routines in the film, probably none of which were from the show!

I'm guessing that because the movie version of "Mexican Hayride" is basically just another A & C movie is the reason why the show seems to have drifted into obscurity.

In any event, "I Love You" is a great song with which to celebrate Spring!

Movie Time: "The Pride of the Yankees" (1942)

                                         

I had mentioned while discussing 1949's "The Stratton Story" that it was directed by Sam Wood, who had directed thee another baseball biopic "The Pride of the Yankees" from 1942.

"The Pride of the Yankees" is a regarded as a classic, perhaps the best and most famous baseball-related movie from the classic Hollywood era.

So, it it deserving of that status? Does it hold up?

Short answer: Yes!

For those who don't know, it's the story of Lou Gehrig, the all-time great first baseman of the New York Yankees (boo!!!), who succumbed to ALS at the age of 37.

I think the main strength of the film is Gary Cooper as Gehrig. I think Coop is great anyway, but this role suits him so well, as he imbues Lou Gehrig with as much class and dignity and everything you'd want in an American hero.

He's supported by Teresa Wright who provides a tremendous amount  of appeal as Lou's wife Eleanor. The love story of the Gehrigs was promoted quite a bit in contemporary advertising to draw in non-baseball-loving moviegoers.

Baseball fans, though, no doubt enjoyed seeing some of Gehrig's teammates portraying themselves, especially Babe Ruth, who is quite engaging! 

Gary Cooper (left) and Walter Brennan in "The Westerner" (1940)

And we can't sleep on the solid performance of the versatile Walter Brennan as Lou's sportswriter mentor. Brennan had appeared with Gary Cooper in a few movies before, including his Oscar winning (his third!) role as Judge Roy Bean in 1940's "The Westerner." You'd hardly know it was the same guy!

Speaking of the Academy Awards, "The Pride of the Yankees" was nominated for a ton of them (11!) but only won one for best editing. That actually makes sense when one considers how they had to work new footage of Gary Cooper batting in with tock baseball footage.

Gary Cooper was nominated for Best Actor, but he had just won the year before for "Sergeant York" and he was up against James Cagney for "Yankee Doodle Dandy."

Teresa Wright (left) and Greer Garson in "Mrs. Miniver" (1942)

Teresa Wright was nominated for Best Actress, losing to Greer Garson for "Mrs. Miniver," but she did take home the Best Supporting Actress for "Mrs. Miniver" herself!

Teresa Wright was on fire at the beginning of her career, up through 1946's "The Best Years of Our Lives," but her later movies weren't up to her earlier standards. She was a lovely and intelligent actress, though.

"Mrs. Miniver" also won awards for Best Picture and Best Director (William Wyler). "The Pride of the Yankees" had been nominated for Best Picture, but Sam Wood was not nominated for Best Director, although he was nominated for "Kings Row," so there's that!

In any event, here's a trailer for "The Pride of the Yankees":

I'm a Red Sox fan, by the way, so it feels funny saying good things about something Yankees-related, but the statute of limitations is up after 80 years!

Movie Time: "The Stratton Story (1949) - The Spoilers!

                                    

If you haven't had a chance to watch MGM's 1949 "The Stratton Story" starring James Stewart and would like to do so, you should do so before checking out these promo pieces.

It always been tough not to learn too much about a movie before seeing it and it's even harder with the internet, but if it's possible to see a movie like "The Stratton Story" without really knowing what the "story" is, there are some interesting twists and turns.

That being said, June Allyson might give too much away in this trailer:

And Jimmy Stewart spills a lot in this little interview:

Interesting stuff from Mr. Stewart, though!

I have a couple of notes about the cast and crew (naturally)...

This is Jimmy Stewart's fist biographical role, although most people wouldn't have known what Monty Stratton was like, as opposed to Jimmy's later Glenn Miller or Charles Lindbergh roles. He's always convincing, however, even though he looks and talks the same as usual!

It's also Jimmy's first movie co-starring June Allyson. They were in a total of three, but I always thought they were an odd pairing.

I never really grasped why June Allyson was as popular as she was, as I thought she was pleasant, but nothing more, until my mother (who was a frequent movie-goer back then) said that she (and her friends) liked her because she wasn't jealous of her!

Agnes Moorehead does a good job as Monty's mother, even though in real-life she was not nearly old enough to be Jimmy Stewart's other. She never looked or acted young!

I think the standout performance is by Frank Morgan as an old baseball scout who becomes Monty's mentor. Frank was so popular as a befuddled comic type, that he didn't often get a chance to show off his dramatic chops, but he delivers the goods here in one of his last roles.

"The Stratton Story" is also one of the final credits for director Sam Wood, who's not talked about much these days, but has a pretty impressive résumé, including an earlier prestige baseball biopic, 1942's "The Pride of the Yankees," among other classics.

Also noteworthy is that writer Douglas Morrow won an Academy Award for Best Motion Picture Story for the "Stratton Story."

So, we have quite the movie here!

Movie Time: "The Stratton Story" (1949)

I had mentioned that the trailer for MGM's 1952 baseball movie "Big Leaguer" namedrops 1949's "The Stratton Story."

So, what about "The Stratton Story" itself?

Well, it's a biopic of pitcher Monty Stratton of the Chicago White Sox starring James Stewart and it's really good!

The movie is baseball-themed to be sure, but it's more about Monty's personal journey and his relationship with his wife (played by June Allyson in the first of her multiple co-starring roles with Jimmy Stewart). As such, it can be enjoyed by non-baseball fans as well.

You'll notice that the poster at the top of the page and the lobby card at the bottom give no indication that Monty Stratton is a ballplayer, but with the MGM hype machine of the 1940s, I can't imagine that most potential movie-goers weren't aware! 

I have a couple of promotional things to share, but I won't do that right now, as if you haven't seen "The Stratton Story," you should do so!

Bonus 78 - Baseball Bloch!

                                              

As mentioned, the New York Giants baseball team looms over 1953's "Big Leaguer" from MGM.

So, let's go back a few years to 1947, for this tribute to the team by Ray Bloch on Signature Records:

A couple of things to note include the misplaced apostrophe on the label. It sounds like it's a song about one giant marching!

Another is that is that it's credited to Ray Bloch and his Military Band, although it's presumably the same bunch of musicians who cut the their songs on that session. Fun, though!

Such a song from when the Giants were still in New York playing at the Polo Grounds brings an instant feeling of nostalgia!

We heard the flipside of Ray Bloch's record back here when talking about The Chickering Four, but let's hear it again:

William Bendix's character in "Kill the Umpire" would totally agree!

Ray Bloch doesn't get talked about too much these days, but it's worth a mention that he was the musical director for the Ed Sullivan TV show for its entire run from 1948-1973.

He must have had some stories!

Movie Time: "Big Leaguer" (1953)

I had mentioned that a pre-name change Jeff Richards was features as a baseball player in 1950's "Kill the Umpire" starring William Bendix.

Post-name change and under contract MGM, he had a larger role as a baseball player in "Big Leaguer" from MGM in 1953!

The movie isn't really any great shakes, but I like baseball movies and it has one thing that sets it apart from other B-movies: Edward G. Robinson!

Robinson is cast as real-life former big-leaguer Hans Lobert, who now runs kind of a baseball tryout school for the New York Giants.

As Eddie G. as Lobert says to the kids: "Your grandfathers used to watch me play second base for the Giants."

I think Edward G. Robinson is awesome and casting him as an old-time baseball "lifer" is just crazy enough to work!

Jeff Richards is totally convincing as a third base prospect and Richard Jaeckel and William Campbell make good impressions as fellow hopefuls.

Also on hand as himself is Hall of Fame Giants pitching legend Carl Hubbell as himself, which is fun.

Vera-Ellen is the lone female in the mix as Lobert's niece, but she's not really much of an actress. She and Richards do make a good-looking couple, though!

Interesting to note that this was the first feature film directed by Robert Aldrich, just a couple of years before 1955's "Kiss Me Deadly," but those seem like light years!

Here's the trailer:

Note that the trailer namedrops "The Stratton Story," MGM's baseball biopic hit of 1949. Despite its title, "Big Leaguer" is not in the same league!

But will Jeff Richards make good as a baseball player and also get the girl? Well, it is a 1950s B-movie...

Bonus "Jingle Bells" - Yumpin' Yiminny!

Seems about time for a wacky version of "Jingle Bells!"

So, here's Ole Svenson and his Smorgasbord Band with "Yingle Yingle Yumping Beans" on S&G Records from 1950:

Pretty wacky!

Here's the flipside "I Vant a Xmas Drum":

The very end of the record is awesome!

I love Christmas music and I love novelty records, so I'm predisposed to enjoying this record, but there's another reason that it intrigues me...

"Ole Svenson" is really Bernie Jones, a singer/saxophone player who worked with Spike Jones and his City Slickers!

And "Yingle Yingle Yumping Beans" was co-written by former Slicker Del Porter! (Although how did it need four writers when it's already using the "Jingle Bells" melody?)

The Spike Jones connection gives this record some serious cred in the novelty world!

Bernie/Ole played with Spike from 1950-1955 after having worked with Ozzie Nelson's band. I understand he developed the character while with Ozzie.

The Ole Svenson character popped up on a couple of Spike's records, including his 1953 recording of "I'll Never Work There Anymore" on RCA Victor:

That's cute, but it doesn't have the oomph of Spike records from the 1940s. But I always enjoy hearing George Rock and it's great to hear Dick Morgan get a verse too.

Also in 1953, Spike had a concept album on RCA Victor, "Bottoms Up," which featured polkas ostensibly from different countries.

So, who better to sing the Swedish polka, "A Din Skál A Min Skál," than Ole? Here it is:

I feel like the "'Yumpin' Yimminy Fans" thing is a joke I'm not getting!

Del Porter would sometimes come back to the fold for guest vocals and he appears on a few "Bottom Up" tracks including the German polka, "Gesundheit Polka":

That's got a little more oomph and Del's vocals are always enjoyable!

The Ole Svenson character obviously sounds a lot like Yogi Yorgesson, the alter ego of Harry Stewart who broke through to mass popularity with his hit coupling of "Yingle Bells" and "I Yust Go Nuts at Christmas" in 1949.

The lines get blurred in 1955 when Yogi cut "The Ballad of Ole Svenson" on Capitol Records:

I wonder why Yogi used the Ole Svenson name. There's no particular reason to use that name on this Davy Crockett-inspired novelty. Just an inside joke?

You may recall that Yogi had some records for the same S&G label as Ole before Yogi signed with Capitol.

Bernie Jones kept using the Ole Sveson name on TV and records, including this 1957 album on the Verve label, "Hi-Fi Polka Party" by The Polka Dots Starring Ole Svenson, as produced by Spike Jones:

And since I seem to be doing a deep dive, I'll point out that the melody of "I Vant a Xmas Drum" is the Civil War pro-Union tune "Kingdom Coming."

Arrangers Eddie Sauter and Bill Finegan also used the song as the basis for their 1952 hit "Doodletown Fifers" on RCA Victor:

OK, I think that covers everything for now! Whew!

Movie Time: "Kill the Umpire" (1950)

                                         

You may recall that at the end of the "Screen Directors Playhouse" adaptation of "It Happens Every Spring," we heard that director Lloyd Bacon's current movie was "Kill the Umpire."

As it happens, that's my other favorite baseball movie!

It stars William Bendix as an umpire-hating baseball fan who reluctantly attends umpire school, leading to all sorts of wacky antics!

Here's a reissue trailer:

Some of the gags are very cartoonish, which is understandable, as the screenplay was by Frank Tashlin, who first came to prominence as an animation director at Warner Brothers before he moved into the live-action field.

William Bendix was a versatile performer, adept at drama and comedy, but he's best-remembered for starring in the radio/TV show "The Life of Riley" and he's in that mode here as Bill Johnson.

William Bendix doesn't want anything to distract Tom D'Andrea from his umpirely duties!

Interestingly, Bill's pal at umpire school is played by Tom D'Andrea and they display good chemistry, which someone must have noticed, as D'Andrea was cast as Riley's pal Gillis when the Bendix version of "The Life of Riley" premiered on TV in 1953.

A couple of other future "Riley" regulars, Henry Kulky and Emory Parnell, have small roles in "Kill the Umpire," which is fun!

Also in the cast is Ray Collins, who had been in "It Happens Every Spring." Also in both movies was future "Skipper" Alan Hale, Jr.!

Jeff Richards with future "Dennis the Menace" TV mom Gloria Henry

Further intriguing casting is Jeff Richards (billed here as Richard Taylor - his real name) in an early role shortly after he left his pro baseball career to pursue acting. He's well-cast as a baseball player! I'd say he's best-remembered as Benjamin, the second-oldest brother in 1954's "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers."

In any event, "Kill the Umpire" is a lot of fun, with Bill Bendix in top form!

A Bit More of "It Happens Every Spring"

                                            

For just a little more of the 1949 movie "It Happens Every Spring," we retro-tune into the April 14, 1950 broadcast of "Screen Directors Playhouse" for this radio adaptation starring Ray Milland:

If you've seen the movie, you'll notice that this is not a strict adaptation of the move, but it's a fun show on its own!

It's fun to hear Ray Milland from the movie and I think radio actor Frank Nelson (best known as the guy who would always say "Yeeeessssss?" on the Jack Benny program before giving Jack a hard time) is a riot in the would-be father-in-law role!

Left to right: Ray Milland, Paul Douglas and Ted de Corsia

The most intriguing bit of casting, however, is Ted de Corsia as Monk, the role played by Paul Douglas in the movie. That's because Ted was in the movie, but he played Jimmy Dolan the manager, who is played here by Parley Baer!

Announcer Jimmy Wallington mentions that director Lloyd Bacon's current movie is Columbia's "Kill the Umpire," which leads us to...

Bonus 78s - It Happens Every Spring!

If you've seen the 1949 movie "It Happens Every Spring" or watched the trailer, you must have notice that it had a catchy title song, which was sung over the opening credits!

Well, said song was placed with all of the big record labels at the time, and they had some of their top artists record it. So, let's give 'em a listen!

Columbia Records had Frank Sinatra record it, backed by his usual collaborator Axel Stordahl:

Decca released this one by Dick Haymes with Gordon Jenkins:

And Capitol had Margaret Whiting with backing from Frank DeVol:

Those are three very talented singers and they all get outstanding arrangements. Stordahl, Jenkins and DeVol, all big band veterans, really knew what they were doing!

Next, we have former Benny Goodman vocalist Art Lund on the newish MGM Records label with Johnny Thompson (whom I don't know other than he backed Art Lund on several MGM records):

I like the vocal backing by The Crew Chiefs, who had formed with Glenn Miller's Army Air Force band, where they often backed Johnny Desmond!

RCA Victor issued the only big band version, by Freddy Martin and his Orchestra with a vocal from young Merv Griffin:

1949 was the same year that Merv recorded "I've Got a Lovely Bunch of Coconuts" with Freddy's band. I remember Merv joking about that being his only hit record!

In addition to those regular commercial releases, we also have a couple of 1949 versions from alternate sources!

The first is Kay Starr, who recorded it on a transcription disc:

Then we have what I've always thought of as the definitive version. It's by Spike Jones, who included it as the serious song on the June 25, 1949 broadcast of his show, sung by Dick Baldwin:

I knew the song from that LP release, which I listened to over and over before I had ever seen the movie!

OK, now I really have spring fever!

Movie Time: "It Happens Every Spring" (1949)

                                           

With Baseball season underway, I do enjoy watching baseball movies!

My all-time favorite baseball movie is probably "It Happens Every Spring," a 1949 film from Twentieth Century-Fox starring Ray Milland as a chemistry professor who becomes star baseball pitcher!

It's just a very entertaining movie that hits all the right notes!

I think Paul Douglas steals the movie as Milland's catcher in only his second featured movie role, following "A Letter to Three Wives" from earlier in 1949.

He mentions the earlier film as he introduces this fun trailer for "It Happens Every Spring":

You'll notice that Paul Douglas also references his time as a radio announcer and we had heard him in that role on  "A Modern Scrooge" from "Treasury Star Parade" in 1942!

Also in the movie's cast is Ray Collins, who had worked with Orson Welles on the radio, including both Campbell Playhouse broadcasts of "A Christmas Carol" in 1938 and 1939. Ray ultimately found his greatest fame as Lt. Tragg opposite Raymond Burr on the popular "Perry Mason" TV show.

So, yes my fancy turns to baseball movies - it does indeed happen every Spring!