"Careless" (1939) - Part 2!

One more version of 1939’s “Careless” comes from an unusual source for such a nice ballad – The Hoosier Hot Shots!

Here they are (also on Vocalion) with Skip Farrell handling the vocal:

The boys were solid musicians, so it’s really no surprise they could play it straight!

"Careless" (1939)

I mentioned last time that I really like the Dick Jurgens records that feature vocals by Eddy Howard.

So, let’s hear their big hit “Careless” from 1939 on the Vocalion label:

Dick and Eddy co-wrote the tune with the band’s pianist Lew Quadling and Eddy later used it as the theme for his own band!

"What Goes on Here in My Heart" (1938)

Next up is “What Goes on Here in My Heart” from Paramount’s 1938 feature “Give Me a Sailor,” which stars Martha Raye and Bob Hope after their successful pairing in “College Swing” earlier in the year.

Martha really carries the film, but Bob is continuing to show he’s star material.

Martha’s sister is played by Betty Grable, who was still waiting to break through in movies and Bob’s brother is played by stage performer Jack Whiting in a rare movie role.

For the song, another from Paramount's prolic Robin & Rainger team, let’s listen to this nice version from Dick Jurgens and his Orchestra with star vocalist Eddy Howard on the Vocalion label:

Play me any Jurgens/Howard record and I’m happy!

"How'dja Like to Love Me" (1938) - Part 2!

Above is the British version of the sheet music for "How'dja Like to Love Me" from the 1938 Paramount feature "College Swing."

The British versions can be very interesting due to changes that would appear to be for the benefit of the British public.

This one is extreme as it not only has completely different artwork, it also sports the British title of the movie, which was "Swing Teacher Swing!"

Must be a reason. Something to do with "college" not meaning exactly the same thing both here and there?

I'm presuming that it has the big picture of John Payne and Florence George (who are the romantic leads but not really in the movie that much) because British audiences were probably not familiar with the stars of the movie at that time.

They probably had no clue who Bob Hope was in 1938, as they wouldn't have heard him on the radio.

Gracie Allen is shown on the sheet music, though, and maybe British audiences knew Burns & Allen from other movies, but not from American radio.

Gracie carries the movie and does a great job. George Burns's role is pretty much tacked on to give him some scenes with Gracie. George is a good straight man to be sure, but Gracie is also very funny when interacting with Bob Hope and with Edward Everett Horton.

In any event, let's listen to another version of "How'dja Like to Love Me," this one from Horace Heidt and his Brigadiers on Brunswick Records:

Of course, I have a few things to point out!

The billing of Horace Heidt and his Brigadiers always seems odd, as shortly after they switched to the longer-running Horace Heidt and his Musical Knights name!

Also, this is the period when Alyce King of The King Sisters had quit the Heidt band and vocalist Charlie Goodman was singing with the other three sisters, so the group was just The Kings!

This "Downbeat" blurb from December 1937, totally sanitizes the whole thing:

As for the record itself, the vocal is pretty hep and, it's also interesting to hear a few guitar touches from Alvino Rey, but Horace Heidt was a total square!

"How'dja Like to Love Me" (1938)

We run into another popular comedy team, the husband-and-wife duo of George Burns & Gracie Allen in Paramount’s “College Swing” from 1938! 

George and Gracie made a number of films in the 1930s, then concentrated more on radio, developing the domestic sitcom format that they carried over to TV, although Gracie made a couple of solo movie appearances in the 1940s. 

“College Swing” is a fun movie with a fun cast performing some fun specialties and a bunch of songs from Frank Loesser and Burton Lane!

“How’dja Like to Love Me” was performed in the movie by Martha Raye and Bob Hope. This was only Bob’s second feature, but you can see he has the goods! 

A snappy version of the song was recorded by Jimmy Dorsey and his band for Decca Records, with trombonist Don Matteson (Mattison) handling the vocal:

 

I really like the Dixieland-ish beat anchored by Ray McKinley on drums!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Bing says, "Top o' the morning!"

"Without Your Love" (1937)

We go to 1937 for another comedy team, but unlike the Ritz Brothers, Stan Laurel & Oliver Hardy seem to have no trouble making new fans!

Laurel & Hardy’s starring vehicles weren’t the type of movies to have popular songs shoehorned into them, so they don’t really appear on a lot of vintage sheet music, but this one from the Hal Roach/MGM feature “Pick a Star” is pretty neat!

The boys are barely in the movie and seemed to have been added to give a bit of a marketing push, although they're oddly not billed by name in the credits of the movie, but rather are just shown with their theme song playing!

They play versions of themselves as actors on a movie set and are extremely charming in a scene with Patsy Kelly.

The rest of the cast is also a lot of fun, sort of an all-star 1930s B-movie comedy cast!

As for the song, “Without Your Love” got a nice recording on Bluebird Records from Shep Fields and his Rippling Rhythm Orchestra with Bobby Goday on the vocal:

I know that Shep Fields was the type of bandleader that Benny Goodman was shoving out of the way, but I really like the whole “rippling rhythm” style. Buckets of period charm!

"You Turned the Tables on Me" (1936)

It seems like time for a song from a movie featuring another wacky comedy team, so here’s “You Turned the Tables on Me” from the 1936 Fox film “Sing, Baby, Sing,” which marked the feature debut of the Ritz Brothers! 

I hear/read all the time that modern audiences don’t like the Ritz Brothers, which I understand, but I enjoy them. Of course, I have a fondness for shticky comedy teams, so don’t go by me! 

In any event, the wonderful Alice Faye (future wife of Phil Harris) introduced “You Turned the Tables on Me” in the movie, but she didn’t commercially record the song. 

But it did get a lot of recordings, none better than this hit version by Benny Goodman’s band with Helen Ward:

 

Granted that we’re a couple of years beyond the last few hotel-type bands we’ve been hearing, but BG and the boys sound light years ahead!