Bonus 78s - Recording Ban Movie Songs - Part 1 - 1943!

                                           

While discussing the song "I Love You," I had mentioned the strike by the American Federation of Musicians that led to a recording ban that started in 1942 and was not fully settled until the end of 1944 and how, as a result, the record companies released some sides that featured singers with no instrumental backing.

What has always struck me about that whole scene is how those a cappella records were especially needed so consumers could buy records of songs they had heard in movies.

Not that movies were the only source of hit songs, but there a lot of movie musicals in the 1940s and they did generate a lot of hit songs.

So, I thought we should listen to a few a cappella recordings of hit movie songs!

We start off with some 1943 records from Decca.

It seems to me that Decca had more of these singers-only releases and I presume it's because they really needed to keep new material flowing, as Decca was just a record label, unlike the heavyweight RCA Victor and Columbia labels, which were part of larger business conglomerates that didn't rely only on record sales to make money.

I'm also presuming that's why they settled with the musicians' union in 1943, well over a year before Victor and Columbia.

In any event, Decca had the biggest singing star of the day on their roster - Bing Crosby!

Bing had hit movie after hit movie, generating hit song after hit song, so you can see why they wanted new Crosby records.

From his movie "Dixie," here's Bing with his huge hit "Sunday, Monday or Always" with the Ken Darby Singers providing the vocal backing:

I like the sound of that a lot!

And of course I need to mention that Ken Darby had provided the vocal arrangements on Ronald Colman's 1941 recording of "A Christmas Carol," which was also on the Decca label! 

Decca had recently signed a new singing star, Dick Haymes, so they needed to make sure they put out some records by him so the public would not lose interest.

So, he teamed with the Song Spinners on a series of releases including a number of movie songs.

Here's their big hit version of the Oscar-winning "You'll Never Know," which had been introduced by Alice Faye in the movie "Hello, Frisco, Hello":

I think that sounds terrific!

Dick and the Song Spinners also scored with "It Can't Be Wrong," based on Max Steiner's theme for the Bette Davis picture "Now, Voyager":

Another good one!

Let's hear one more! Here's "In My Arms" from MGM's "See Here, Private Hargrove" (In which it was sung by Bob Crosby):

Dick Haymes had recently left Tommy Dorsey's band after having previously sung with Benny Goodman and Harry James and I think he never sounded better than on these records with the Song Spinners!

Also on the Decca roster was popular radio singer Kay Armen, and she cut some sides with the Balladiers (whoever they are), including "How Sweet You Are," which was sung by Dinah Shore in the all-star Warner Brothers movie "Thank Your Lucky Stars":

That's another lovely record!

Dinah Shore was on the RCA Victor label at the time and she did make some a cappella records for them, but not this song. Victor may not have gone down that road yet, though. 

We'll get to Dinah soon!

I don't get the impression that these records are held in high esteem by 1940s music fans, but I like them a lot from both musical and historical perspectives!

Bonus 78s - It Happens Every Spring!

If you've seen the 1949 movie "It Happens Every Spring" or watched the trailer, you must have notice that it had a catchy title song, which was sung over the opening credits!

Well, said song was placed with all of the big record labels at the time, and they had some of their top artists record it. So, let's give 'em a listen!

Columbia Records had Frank Sinatra record it, backed by his usual collaborator Axel Stordahl:

Decca released this one by Dick Haymes with Gordon Jenkins:

And Capitol had Margaret Whiting with backing from Frank DeVol:

Those are three very talented singers and they all get outstanding arrangements. Stordahl, Jenkins and DeVol, all big band veterans, really knew what they were doing!

Next, we have former Benny Goodman vocalist Art Lund on the newish MGM Records label with Johnny Thompson (whom I don't know other than he backed Art Lund on several MGM records):

I like the vocal backing by The Crew Chiefs, who had formed with Glenn Miller's Army Air Force band, where they often backed Johnny Desmond!

RCA Victor issued the only big band version, by Freddy Martin and his Orchestra with a vocal from young Merv Griffin:

1949 was the same year that Merv recorded "I've Got a Lovely Bunch of Coconuts" with Freddy's band. I remember Merv joking about that being his only hit record!

In addition to those regular commercial releases, we also have a couple of 1949 versions from alternate sources!

The first is Kay Starr, who recorded it on a transcription disc:

Then we have what I've always thought of as the definitive version. It's by Spike Jones, who included it as the serious song on the June 25, 1949 broadcast of his show, sung by Dick Baldwin:

I knew the song from that LP release, which I listened to over and over before I had ever seen the movie!

OK, now I really have spring fever!

Christmas 1945 - Part 1 - The Records

Since we landed in 1945 with "The Fireside Book of Christmas Stories," I'm not going to leave for a while!

So, here's a look at some of the notable Christmas records from 1945!

We start off with a cut from Dick Haymes, outstanding crooner of the 1940s who had previously sung with the bands of Harry James, Benny Goodman and Tommy Dorsey - as solid a resumé as anyone!

This is the only recording of this song of which I'm aware:

I think this was recorded in 1944 but released in 1945, so close enough!

Of note is that Ken Darby and Victor Young performed similar roles on both this record and Ronald Colman's adaptation of "A Christmas Carol," also on Decca Records.

Bob Wills fiddles while Tommy Duncan strums.

Christmas of 1945 was significant as it followed the end of WWII. A time for celebration indeed, but this record from Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys shows a different side:

Bob Wills had a great band and singer Tommy Duncan was one of the best Western Swing vocalists ever!

I think this next record is one of those rare gems you come across every now and again.

It's by Mark Warnow, who was leading the orchestra on the "Your Hit Parade" radio show, and vocalist Dick Todd who was also featured on that show. We throw in the fun B-side as well, as it contains a snappy version of "Jingle Bells":

I think that's just great!

Dick Todd was from Montreal and was sometimes called the Canadian Crosby, because he kind of sounded like Bing. I think he does, but I think he sounds even more like Bob Crosby, Bing's brother!

This next record is interesting as the label implies that it's a band led by legendary songwriter Hoagy Carmichael. I don't think of him as a bandleader and I don't know what his contribution to the record other than composing the song would be. Did he play piano on the recording? It's good, though:

Singer Martha Mears is an interesting personality as she did a ton of voice dubbing in the 1940s for actresses who were not as capable in the singing department!

Nice to hear her as herself!

None of the pop songs from above really went anywhere, but I think they all had merit.

This next record didn't become a standard, but it was a huge hit on the Country (then called "Folk") charts. Here's singing cowboy Tex Ritter:

At this point in time, there still wasn't a flood of holiday releases each year, but some standbys did get recorded.

"White Christmas" was only three years old, but already a standard. Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians gave it their typical treatment. I see sources that indicate this record was from 1946, but "Billboard" reviewed it in 1945, so here we go:

So totally square, but not unpleasant! Guy Lombardo was really popular for a really long time!

Far more hip (hep?) is this treatment of "Jingle Bells" by the Slam Stewart Quintet:

Great work from Slam, formerly of Slim & Slam of "Flat Feet Floogee/Flat Foot Floogie" fame, and a stellar group including vibraphone master Red Norvo. Love Slam's humming along while bowing!

Frank Sinatra with Axel Stordahl

Frank Sinatra had preceded Dick Haymes in both the Harry James and Tommy Dorsey bands and they and other former band vocalists were making strong inroads by 1945, crowding out the bands.

Frank had this nice double-sided record of Christmas carols, which I think are from 1945? It should be easier to tell. I like 'em so here they are:

Very nice with the usual outstanding musical direction of Axel Stordahl, who had worked with Sinatra in the Dorsey band.

So, so some good new records for listeners to enjoy while spending the holidays with their loved ones in 1945!

In retrospect, there was a song published in 1945 that became a Seasonal/Holiday standard.

We'll check it out next!