Threaded Thursday: Holiday in Hades

Turning up the heat a bit, we follow yesterday’s look at “Hell’s Bells” with another pair of numbers that keep us in that extremity (as our friend Mr. Dickens would say) - both from the pen of the Larry Clinton!

The Visual Pun: Shades of Hades (1936/1938)

Before forming his own band, Larry was already a highly successful arranger for top outfits like Glen Gray and the Casa Loma Orchestra. For them, he wrote the wonderfully titled Shades of Hades in 1936.

Let's spin that Decca recording:

The Casa Loma band always struck me as very arrangement‑driven, so it’s no surprise they gravitated toward Clinton’s charts. He gave them exactly the kind of crisp, clever writing they thrived on.

After forming his own band, Larry got the chance to record his own version for Victor in 1938.

I have to say, I love the title as a visual pun - it looks like it should rhyme, but it absolutely doesn’t when you say it aloud!

The Hit He Couldn't Have: Satan Takes a Holiday

For our next Hades-themed tune, we back up to 1937, when Larry was submitting arrangements to Tommy Dorsey. Among them was his original composition Satan Takes a Holiday, which became a massive hit for the TD orchestra.

Here's that Victor record:

Dave Tough does his usual great job on the drums or traps, as it were!

The success of Dorsey’s recordings of “Satan” and “The Dipsy Doodle” (another Clinton original) helped push Larry toward starting his own band. However, because both he and Tommy recorded for Victor, the label didn’t want competing versions. Larry was actually blocked from recording his own hit for twenty years!

The Hi-Fi Redemption (1957)

Larry finally cut his own version of Satan Takes a Holiday for RCA Victor for the album Larry Clinton in Hi-Fi, with a stellar group of studio musicians.

Once again, the drummer steals the show! This time it's Jimmy Crawford (formerly of the Jimmie Lunceford band). His fills absolutely sparkle. If pressed, I might even say "Craw" is my favorite drummer of the entire swing era!

The Spooky Side

An interesting tidbit: The British labels of the time showed the tune as 'Spooky' Takes a Holiday! With that in mind, let's listen to a British version. Here's trumpeter/vocalist Nat Gonella and his Georgians in 1937 on the Parlophone label:

Very intriguing to hear the seldom heard lyrics!

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Who's your MVD (Most Valuable Drummer) on this spooky ride - Davey or Craw?