Seasonal Songs: "A Summer Song" (1964)

While we're listening to Summer sings, how about "A Summer Song" by Chad Stuart and Jeremey Clyde (AKA Chad & Jeremy)?

Here they are with the 1964 U.S. release on the World Artists record label:

I think that's one of the gems of the British Invasion!

But wait, there's more!

The U.K. single release on the United Artists label is a different take:

I'm kind of partial to this version with the boys singing the opening lines solo before singing the rest of the song together. A nice change!

Either way, a great record!

Seasonal Songs: "Kissin' Time" (1959)

When we last checked in with Bobby Rydell, he told us that Summer was coming on!

Now, that Summer's here, he lets us know it's "Kissin' Time" with his 1959 hit on Cameo Records:

I do love the reference to "The Battle of New Orleans" thrown in there!

And, of course, the later "Wildwood Days" mentions "Kissin' Time" in its lyrics!

Seasonal Songs: "Summertime Blues" (1958)

Happy First Day of Summer!

To celebrate, let's listen to the greatest Summertime record of them all: "Summertime Blues" by Eddie Cochran on Liberty Records in 1958:

I think Eddie Cochran was great and that records just two minutes of awesomeness!

That record is a classic, so naturally a lot of artists have recorded their own versions over the song years, with the records by Blue Cheer and The Who being particularly popular.

Most of those other versions don't grab me, although I do appreciate the various artists wanting to put their own spin on the song.

We have to jump all the way to 1987 for another version on "Summertime Blues" that I do dig and it comes from the soundtrack of "La Bamba," the Ritchie Valens biopic.

In the movie, Rockabilly icon Brian Setzer (of The Stray Cats) appears as Eddie Cochran and performs "Summertime Blues":

I think Brian Setzer is great, so how can you go wrong? I like how the arrangement allows room for a guitar solo.

One thing I will say is that the authority figures on Brian's version sound more like the ones on Robert Gordon's 1977 version (which isn't bad, but like the 1962 Beach Boys version just kind of seems like an album track) than on Eddie's original.

We leave the Rockabilly field for one more version that I like, which is country superstar Alan Jackson's take from 1994:

I'm an Alan Jackson fan anyway and I like how they take the song and give it the feel of Alan's earlier hit "Chattahoochee" to make it sound exactly how the Alan Jackson version of "Summertime Blues" should sound!

Seasonal Songs - "Wildwood Days" (1963)

Gotta love a song that takes place within a specific timeframe, such as "Wildwood Days" recorded by Bobby Rydell on Cameo Records in 1963:

He's right - Spring will soon be gone!

Baby Show?

 Reigning American League MVP Shohei Ohtani is awesome as a pitcher and hitter, but...

Does he really have anything on Baby Huey?

Maybe not!

"Casey at the Bat" - DeWolf Hopper (1922)

Not to go too far down the "Casey at the Bat" rabbit hole, but the poem was most associated with vaudeville performer DeWolf Hopper, who first recited it on stage in 1888 and continued to so so thousands of times until his death in 1935.

Fortunately, Hopper recorded "Casey at the Bat" or Victor Records in 1906:

Still very engaging!

Perhaps even more noteworthy is that DeWolf Hopper also recited the poem in a very early sound film in 1922:

That's just fascinating! 

The sound on film process used to capture this performance didn't catch on, but films such as this are fascinating little windows into the past!

Another notable contribution to the entertainment world from DeWolf Hopper was the result of his marriage to Hedda Hopper, the wannabe actress who became a noted gossip columnist.

Their son William Hopper gained fame as detective "Paul Drake" on the CBS TV series "Perry Mason":

Bonus 78s - Bob Gets Label Credit!

I had mentioned last time that Judy Garland's first commercially released recordings were cut with Bob Crosby's band although the band was not credited on the label.

So, did the Crosby crew record any non-Judy songs at that June 12, 1936 session?

The answer must be yes or I wouldn't have brought it up!

Here's Decca's coupling of "Pagan Love Song" and "Come Back Sweet Papa":

Sounds good!

"Pagan Love Song" has terrific solos from bassist/arranger Bob Haggart and drummer Ray Bauduc (name misspelled on label!), who teamed up a couple of years later for the tremendous novelty "The Big Noise from Winnetka," which we heard here.

Ray and Bob were half of a great rhythm section along with guitarist Nappy Lamare and pianist Bob Zurke.

The third Crosby song from that session was "Sugar Foot Strut," which was paired with "Savoy Blues" from a June 16th recording session:

Those 1930s records by the Bob Crosby orchestra are a lot of fun!

It was a tight-knit group of musicians who had left Ben Pollacks group and assembled under Gil Rodin then hired Bob Crosby to front the band.

Bob was a good frontman and pretty good singer (no match for brother Bing!), but he was smart enough to stay out of the way and let Eddie Miller and Yank Lawson and Matty Matlock and the rest of the boys play some great dixieland!

Happy Birthday, Judy!

Hey, today is the centennial of the birthday of Judy Garland!

In honor of the occasion, let's listen to some 78s from the start of her solo career!

First up is both sides of her "platter preem" for the Decca label:

The label says Judy was 13 years old, but the tracks were recorded on June 12, 1936, so if our math is correct, she had just turned 14!

The very hot uncredited band on that session was Bob Crosby's great band with arrangements by bassist Bob Haggart. 

At the time Judy hadn't made her feature movie debut and apparently Crosby band director Gil Rodin didn't want the band to be credited on the record of an unknown singer!

Judy's first feature for her home studio of MGM was 1937's "Broadway Melody of 1938" in which she stole the show by singing "You Made me Love You" (with special lyrics) to a picture of MGM superstar Clark Gable.

Here's her Decca record of the song:

That shows off her acting skills too!

Judy sang her early signature song "Zing! Went the Strings of My Heart" in 1938's "Listen, Darling" (which I talked about here) and cut the song for Decca at a 1939 session, but the label didn't release it until 1943. 

Here it is:

Victor Young's studio orchestra included Spike Jones on drums. Spike was unknown in 1939, but by 1943 was riding high with his City Slickers and "Der Fuhrer's Face!"

Of course, Judy's most famous movie of the 1930s was MGM's "The Wizard of Oz." Here's Decca's coupling of two songs from the picture, including the Oscar-winning "Over the Rainbow":

Very intriguing is the flipside recording of "The Jitterbug," that song having been cut from "The Wizard of Oz" before its release. Legend has it that "Over the Rainbow" barely survived the cut, which is crazy to think!

Some fun records!

Take away all the baggage and you have an extremely talented and likeable star who was about as great a vocalist as ever graced a movie soundstage!

Casey Bats Again!

Just a mention that the "Casey at the Bat" segment of Disney's "Make Mine Music" feature was so popular, it inspired a sequel in the form of 1954's "Casey Bats Again" short!

It picks up immediately from where "Casey at the Bat" ends, but actually seems to span a number of years. No spoilers from me, though!

"Casey Bats Again" doesn't feature a personality narrator in the manner of Jerry Colonna, but goes with an uncredited, generic 1950s-ish narrator. 

Still fun, though!

Bonus 78 - "Casey (The Pride of Them All)" (1946)

I feel like we need another baseball song as well as more Jerry Colonna, so from the Two Birds Department, here's Jerry's 1946 recording of "Casey (The Pride of Them All)" on Capitol Records:

They get a lot onto that record!

Solid backing from Frank De Vol, as always!

Producer Walt Disney (left) gets an earful from Jerry Colonna!

That song part of a segment from the Walt Disney compilation movie "Make Mine Music," which has several fun segments featuring recording stars (you can see Dinah Shore and Andy Russell with Jerry on the sheet music at the top), some of which, including "Casey," were later released as separate shorts:

Good fun!

The story is (of course) a takeoff on Ernest Thayer's famous poem "Casey at the Bat: A Ballad of the Republic, Sung in the Year 1888" (although the cartoon is apparently set in 1902).

Pretty neat that the baseball action could still happen in a similar manner 134 years later!

A Bit of Intrigue...

As I dig around the past, I often run into something that puzzles me and it causes a bit of intrigue in my little world!

I had mentioned that singing star Don Cornell had performed with the McFarland Twins' band before joining Sammy Kaye.

Nothing unusual about that, as singers and musicians often "graduated" from lesser-known bands to bigger name bands. Kind of like being called up from the minor leagues to The Show!

But I've always heard the story that when Don Cornell first joined Sammy Kaye, he was using his real name of Lou Varlaro, but due to Italy being an Axis nation during WWII, audiences were not accepting of him due to his Italian surname.

So the story goes that Sammy decided that Lou should have a new name and came up with "Don Cornell" unbeknownst to Lou. Sammy introduced Don Cornell during a performance and Lou/Don didn't know who he was talking about!

That's one of those wacky show biz stories you hear. Maybe true, maybe not, but fun.

The intrigue comes in with the "Hey! Zeke" record by the McFarland Twins. The singer is billed as Don Cornell, so Lou Varlaro was already Don Cornell before he joined Sammy Kaye!

The "Hey! Zeke" session took place on January 23, 1942 and the session information interestingly lists Don Cornell as the vocalist and Lou Varlaro as the guitarist! Don Cornell did play guitar, but he was proabbaky only paid once!

Anyway, I thought maybe that "Hey! Zeke" was released after Don joined Sammy Kaye and Bluebird figured they would credit him with his new name, but according to "Billboard," the record was out by February:

Then there's this blurb from March:

So, "Billboard" says he was already Don Cornell while with the McFarland Twins. So, where did the whole story about Sammy Kaye renaming Lou/Don come from?

That was 80 years ago, so who's still around that would know?

We'll never know, but Don Cornell had many popular records with Sammy Kaye (before and after following Zeke into military service) and went on to a long and successful career of his own.

Since we're hanging around 1942 with that wartime spirit, let's hear Don's first record with Sammy Kaye:

A must on your WWII playlist!

Bonus 78s - The McFarland Twins!

When discussing the 1937 Warner Brothers Movie "Varsity Show," I mentioned that among the members of Fred Waring's Pennsylvanians who portrayed college students were the saxophone-playing McFarland Twins.

I also mentioned that they co-led a band after leaving the Waring organization.

Since you don't hear much about them, why don't we listen to some of their records?

First off, from 1940 on the Okeh label (a subsidiary of Columbia), we have their theme song, "Darkness":

In addition to being a big band buff, I'm also a them song aficionados, so I love to hear the theme songs of various bands. And "Darkness" sounds like a theme song!

For the flipside, Bert Ennis and the Glee Club return for "The Bells of St. Mary's":

You may notice that the label says "Sweet and Swing Time with the McFarland Twins and their Orch," so they're obviously trying for a catchy "Swing and Sway with Sammy Kaye"-type slogan.

By 1941 they were going with the catchier "Music that Wins by the McFarland Twins," as seen on this Okeh recording of  "I Close My Eyes" with Bert Ennis:

The flipside of that record is the patriotic "We're All Americans," which includes the Norton Sisters, who were later featured with Vaughn Monroe, among the many singers:

It seems like the McFarland Twins cut a number of novelty records, many with a patriotic theme as the country was preparing for war.

In addition to the Sammy Kaye-type slogan, I get a Sammy Kaye-type vibe from the McFarland Twins on the whole.

So, it may not be surprising that future Sammy Kaye star vocalist Don Cornell had been singing with the McFarland Twins when he was "discovered" by Sammy!

Don was with the band when they cut a session for Bluebird Records in 1942.

Since WWII was in full swing by then, the patriotic novelties kept coming, including "Hey! Zeke," which was the band's most popular record:

It's corny but fun!

The flipside is a Waring-irsh version of the old Paul Whiteman hit "When Day is Done":

I don't think the McFarland Twins had any additional recording sessions and I'm not sure how long George and Arthur kept the band going, but they left some enjoyable records behind!

One More 78!

Before we leave "Varsity Show," we sneak in one more recording of a song from that 1937 movie!

Fred Waring had stopped recording in the early 1930s, so he did not record any of the "Varsity Show" songs at the time of the film's release.

He resumed recording in 1942 and had a bunch of releases on Decca Records before the recording ban set in. It's kind of ironic that when Fred finally decided to start recording again, the musicians association wouldn't let him!

One of the songs he cut before the ban was "Moonlight on the Campus":

As you can see from the photo at the top, the Pennsylvanians had about as many singers as musicians, as Fred was heavily featuring choral arrangements by this time.

Fred Waring's other big interest was a new-fangled blender that he promoted and is still named the Waring Blendor (with the sporty O).

Here's a demonstration:

Bonus 78s - Varsity Show!

Hey, let's listen to some 78s of the songs from 1937's Warner Bothers feature "Varsity Show!"

As I mentioned last time, "Varsity Show" has about 40 minutes missing from the original release, so not all of the songs are in the surviving print as they originally presented, but Decca Records recorded them all.

Leading man Dick Powell was the only featured cast member to have a recording contract at the time and he recorded four of the Johnny Mercer/Richard Whiting songs for Decca with backing from Lou Forbes.

Here's the most popular song from the movie, "Have You Got Any Castles, Baby?":

I'm guessing that Dick Powell sang that in the movie, but as it stands, we only hear it in a reprise from Priscilla Lane then Buck & Bubbles in the finale.

The flipside is "Moonlight on the Campus," which I don't think appears in the current print:

We do see Dick Powell sing "You've Got Something There" as a duet with Rosemary Lane, but he cut it solo for Decca:

The flipside of that record is "Love is on the Air Tonight," which is another song that is only in the finale:

I'm very partial to songs like that which are rich in period flavor. It's about radio (as opposed to TV) and namedrops Bing Crosby and Rudy Vallee (and Jell-O!), which is really fun!

Fred Waring was on his self-imposed hiatus from recording in 1937 - he felt that records would compete with his radio and personal appearances - so other artists needed to fill the gap to record the other songs from "Varsity Show."

Another Mercer/Whiting song is "On With the Dance," which is first sung by Rosemary Lane in the movie, then it pops up in the finale. Decca had Will Osborne and his Orchestra record it:

Interesting that the label says the vocal is by Dorothy Rogers and chorus, but it's really more of a duet between Dorothy and Will Osborne (with chorus)!

Decca also released an unusual version of "On With the Dance" by stringed instrument virtuoso Roy Smeck and his Serenaders with vocalist Donald King:

It's different but I like it!

Frances Langford channels her inner Roy Smeck!

The song "Little Fraternity Pin" (written by Roy Ringwald and Paul Gibbons) is listed in the opening credits, but does not appear in the shortened version of "Varsity Show." Decca had Frances Langford recorded this lovely version with The Foursome and backing from Phil Ohman:

The Foursome was led by future Spike Jones cohort Del Porter and we had previously head them singing "Jingle Bells" with Dick Powell!

Pricilla Lane sings "I'm Dependable" with Fred Waring (the sing was co-written by Fred's brother Tom) in the movie and Decca had Ben Pollack and his band record it with vocalist Frances Hunt:

Drummer/leader Ben Pollack always had solid bands!

The swingiest number from "Varsity Show" was "Old King Cole" by Johnny Mercer and Richard Whiting and it was sung twice(!) by Johnny "Scat" Davis. Johnny wasn't making records at that time, so Decca assigned it to pianist Edgar Hayes and his band:

Pretty snappy! I believe the uncredited vocal is by trombonist Clyde Bernhardt.

And to show that Decca Records really went to town, here's four songs from "Varsity Show" on a two-sided record from pianist Franke Carle (moonlighting from Horace Heidt):

So, lots of 1930s fun in some different styles!

Thanks, Decca!