Monday Side-Session – Now We Know

For today’s side-session, we're taking a look at the contemporary covers of the lovely Duke Ellington-Bob Russell standard I Didn’t Know About You. I rounded up ten versions, all from 1944-45, so let's start spinning.

Jo Knows

Every label seemed to want a piece of this song, and the first release out of the gate was Jo Stafford's version on Capitol, backed by The Pied Pipers and Paul Weston:

What a wonderful record. Jo is simply the greatest. It's always a treat hearing her with The Pied Pipers, including June Hutton, Jo's successor in the group.

Lena Learns

We heard Lena Horne sing the song with Duke on a radio aircheck yesterday, and here she is again with her Victor recording:

Horace Henderson supplies the backing. Another winner!

Counting on Thelma

Columbia handed the song over to Count Basie, who features vocalist Thelma Carpenter:

I really like this one. Then again, you'll probably hear me say that more than once today!

Woody Weighs In

The other major label of the era, Decca, wasn't about to be left out, so here's Woody Herman:

This song fits Woody like a glove. He could really sing, not just sing surprisingly well for a bandleader.

Billie Believes

Let's move on to a couple of smaller labels, starting with female trumpeter/vocalist Billie Rogers on Musicraft:

Billie was a genuine trailblazer. Before leading her own band, she spent time with Woody Herman and proved she was much more than a novelty act.

Boyd's Band

Next up is Boyd Raeburn with vocalist Don Darcy on Guild:

Boyd is usually remembered for his progressive and adventurous arrangements, but this record shows his band could settle into a ballad quite nicely when the occasion called for it.

Hit Paraders

For a more traditional approach, here's Jerry Wayne backed by Mark Warnow on Sonora:

At the time, Jerry and Mark were familiar to listeners from radio's Your Hit Parade, and this recording came from a tie-in album connected with the program.

Weir It's At

Now let's cross the Atlantic for this British Decca version by Frank Weir and Anne Lenner:

Another lovely rendition.

Frank and his septet also appeared in the classic British horror anthology Dead of Night in 1945. Since Halloween is in a couple of days, I think I may need to pull that one off the shelf again.

Czeching In

V. Irmanov has serious style!

While we're overseas, let's stay on the continent for this Czech recording on Supraphon by Karel Vlach and vocalist Václav Irmanov:

Wow, that's delightful - I'm getting a strong Glenn Miller feel from the arrangement, and the phonetically sung English vocal has a charm all its own.

More from Mildred

We come back to the States to wrap things up with an aircheck of the wonderful Mildred Bailey:

Paul Baron conducts, and it's yet another lovely reading of the song.

So now we know: everybody knew about I Didn't Know About You!