Monday Side‑Session: More Sophistication

We follow yesterday’s overview of Duke Ellington’s Sophisticated Lady with a handful of contemporary cover versions, all from 1933!

The instrumental versions started flowing almost immediately after Duke’s original 1933 recording took off. Here’s a lovely one by Glen Gray and the Casa Loma Orchestra from a rare Victor session:

I believe the violin solo is by Mel Janssen, who was acting as the band’s front man at this point while president Glen Gray remained in the sax section. Victor was the first label to bill the group as Glen Gray and the Casa Loma Orchestra, in contrast to their concurrent Brunswick releases, which simply credited The Casa Loma Orchestra. Within a couple of years, Glen would be leading the band outright and billed accordingly on Decca.

I’ve mentioned before how important the Casa Loma band was in the evolution that led to the big‑band era. Another huge influence was arranger Don Redman, who cut some remarkable records in the early 1930s - including this version of Sophisticated Lady:

This one was released under Don’s own name on the Brunswick label, but the same recording also appeared under the pseudonym Earl Harlan and his Orchestra on the budget labels - Perfect, Banner, Melotone, and the rest of that family. You practically need to be Philo Vance* (or your favorite early‑’30s sleuth) to untangle it all. Regardless of the label gymnastics, it’s a terrific Redman arrangement.

We get a different kind of We get a different kind of sophistication from this hotel‑style recording by Richard Himber on Vocalion:

Richard Himber is credited as Dick Himber on this label, and I know that's a nickname rather than a pseudonym, but still...

Much less sophisticated - at least in theory - were The Georgia Washboard Stompers, who turned in this cool take for Bluebird:

Apparently the Georgia Washboard Stompers are the same loose aggrragtion as the Washboard Rhythm Boys whom we heard playing Duke's Old Man Blues. They went by a bunch of names for various labels. What would Hezzie think?

Still in 1933 but heading in yet another direction, we have a solo piano version by the great Art Tatum on Brunswick:

That’s some astounding virtuosity!

To sneak in one more instrumental version, we hop over to England for this one from Billy Cotton on the Regal Zonophone label:

We close out this side‑session with one of the very few vocal versions of “Sophisticated Lady” from the early 1930s. And if we could pick just one group, it would be The Boswell Sisters, who waxed it for Brunswick in 1933:

I know I say it every time we spin one of their records, but the Bozzies were something else. And Connie/Connee is in a league of her own!

Curiously, this label lists only Duke Ellington as composer without mentioning Mitchell Parish as lyricist, so no label is safe from intrigue today!

One of the quiet delights of chasing Sophisticated Lady through 1933 is realizing she never shows up wearing the same outfit twice. Victor dresses her in formal evening wear, Brunswick gives her a smart tailored suit, and the budget labels send her out the door in a perfectly good knockoff with a different name pinned to the lapel. Don Redman becomes Earl Harlan, the Casa Loma boys gain or lose Glen Gray depending on which corporate parent is footing the bill, and the same performance can look like three different records if you’re flipping through a stack too quickly. Our sophisticated lady wasn’t just a song - she was a master of costume changes.

I hope you enjoyed our little stroll in and around 1933 with that sophisticated lady!

*William Powell portrayed Philo Vance in the 1933 Warner Brothers picture The Kennel Murder Case. Great flick!