A Bit of Intrigue...

As I dig around the past, I often run into something that puzzles me and it causes a bit of intrigue in my little world!

I had mentioned that singing star Don Cornell had performed with the McFarland Twins' band before joining Sammy Kaye.

Nothing unusual about that, as singers and musicians often "graduated" from lesser-known bands to bigger name bands. Kind of like being called up from the minor leagues to The Show!

But I've always heard the story that when Don Cornell first joined Sammy Kaye, he was using his real name of Lou Varlaro, but due to Italy being an Axis nation during WWII, audiences were not accepting of him due to his Italian surname.

So the story goes that Sammy decided that Lou should have a new name and as such came up with "Don Cornell" unbeknownst to Lou. Sammy introduced Don Cornell during a performance and Lou/Don didn't know who he was talking about!

That's one of those wacky show biz stories you hear. Maybe true, maybe not, but fun.

The intrigue comes in with the "Hey! Zeke" record by the McFarland Twins. The singer is billed as Don Cornell, so Lou Varlaro was already Don Cornell before he joined Sammy Kaye!

The "Hey! Zeke" session took place on January 23, 1942 and the session information interestingly lists Don Cornell as the vocalist and Lou Varlaro as the guitarist! Don Cornell did play guitar, but he was probably only paid once!

Anyway, I thought maybe that "Hey! Zeke" was released after Don joined Sammy Kaye and Bluebird figured they would credit him with his new name, but according to "Billboard," the record was out by February:

Then there's this blurb from March:

So, "Billboard" says he was already Don Cornell while with the McFarland Twins. So, where did the whole story about Sammy Kaye renaming Lou/Don come from?

That was 80 years ago, so who's still around that would know?

We'll never know, but Don Cornell had many popular records with Sammy Kaye (before and after following Zeke into military service) and went on to a long and successful career of his own.

Since we're hanging around 1942 with that wartime spirit, let's hear Don's first record with Sammy Kaye:

A must on your WWII playlist!

Bonus 78s - The McFarland Twins!

When discussing the 1937 Warner Brothers Movie "Varsity Show," I mentioned that among the members of Fred Waring's Pennsylvanians who portrayed college students were the saxophone-playing McFarland Twins.

I also mentioned that they co-led a band after leaving the Waring organization.

Since you don't hear much about them, why don't we listen to some of their records?

First off, from 1940 on the Okeh label (a subsidiary of Columbia), we have their theme song, "Darkness":

In addition to being a big band buff, I'm also a them song aficionados, so I love to hear the theme songs of various bands. And "Darkness" sounds like a theme song!

For the flipside, Bert Ennis and the Glee Club return for "The Bells of St. Mary's":

You may notice that the label says "Sweet and Swing Time with the McFarland Twins and their Orch," so they're obviously trying for a catchy "Swing and Sway with Sammy Kaye"-type slogan.

By 1941 they were going with the catchier "Music that Wins by the McFarland Twins," as seen on this Okeh recording of  "I Close My Eyes" with Bert Ennis:

The flipside of that record is the patriotic "We're All Americans," which includes the Norton Sisters, who were later featured with Vaughn Monroe, among the many singers:

It seems like the McFarland Twins cut a number of novelty records, many with a patriotic theme as the country was preparing for war.

In addition to the Sammy Kaye-type slogan, I get a Sammy Kaye-type vibe from the McFarland Twins on the whole.

So, it may not be surprising that future Sammy Kaye star vocalist Don Cornell had been singing with the McFarland Twins when he was "discovered" by Sammy!

Don was with the band when they cut a session for Bluebird Records in 1942.

Since WWII was in full swing by then, the patriotic novelties kept coming, including "Hey! Zeke," which was the band's most popular record:

It's corny but fun!

The flipside is a Waring-irsh version of the old Paul Whiteman hit "When Day is Done":

I don't think the McFarland Twins had any additional recording sessions and I'm not sure how long George and Arthur kept the band going, but they left some enjoyable records behind!

1940s Christmas Playlist - Part 18 - "December"

Still in 1949, our Christmas music playlist includes the song that might get my vote for the most underrated Christmas song ever: "December" by the team of Al Rinker and Floyd Huddleston.

Floyd recorded the song as soloist with a chorus and orchestra led by Gordon Jenkins for Decca Records:

I think that's just a terrific song and I've always been surprised that there was apparently only this one commercial recording of it back then.

The version that I first was aware of and am most familiar with is by Kay Starr. Hers was also from 1949, but was recorded for Standard Transcriptions, which provided records for radio stations that couldn't be purchased in stores.

I first encountered on a CD back in 1990:

I'm always on the lookout for new-to-me vintage Christmas music, which was harder to find in those dark, pre-internet days and that CD was a fun little item, with Kay Starr's track worth the price of admission on its own! An instant favorite of mine!

That particular track has been anthologized quite a bit since 1990.

Interestingly, the backup is by the Billy Butterfield Quintet, but Billy does not play trumpet on the track. The backing vocal group is Three Beaus and a Peep, a fun name reminiscent of Six Hits and a Miss!

I think Kay Starr was great and could sing any kind of material. Like most of the other singers of the post-WWII period, she had experience as band singer, even cutting a couple of sides with Glenn Miller when she was 17!

"December" is kind of a generic title, but at some point it dawned on me that the song was the same as a track on Jackie Gleason's 1967 album "'Tis the Season" on Capitol Records:

How sweet it is!

I guess I had heard that before Kay Starr's version, but without knowing the words, I didn't make the connection right away.

Anyway, once the internet came along, I discovered the Gordon Jenkins record at some point and was happy to see that Floyd Huddleston got the chance to record his song! (These things really do make me happy!)

Al Rinker, the cowriter, is an interesting show biz character. He was pals with Bing Crosby back in Spokane and they had a singing act. Al's older sister, the great singer Mildred Bailey, was working with Paul Whiteman's band and got them an audition with Whiteman in 1925. They teamed with Harry Barris to form the Rhythm Boys and were popular with the band, setting the stage for Bing's superstar solo career!

If you could "George Bailey" Al Rinker into never having been born, would Bing Crosby never have become a star? Hmmm...

Back to "December," there have been a ton of other songs with that title, but the only other version of the song in question I've run across is on the excellent 2017 album "It's Christmas Time Again" by Christian singer Charles Billingsley:

He gets the vibe right, which is somewhat rare for a contemporary artist tackling vintage material!

Back to Floyd Huddleston, he co-wrote another, even less-known Christmas song, "I've Got the Christmas Spirit," recorded by former Sammy Kaye vocalist Don Cornell for Coral in 1952:

I do like these little unknown gems!

1940s Christmas Playlist - Part 9 - "Santa Claus for President" (1947)

Still in 1947, our Christmas playlist continues the Santa Claus theme, as he apparently is coming down Santa Claus Lane with a turn onto Pennsylvania Avenue!

Or at least that's what Sammy Kaye's record (featuring vocalist Don Cornell) on RCA Victor would suggest:

That's a fun little record! I like how it's a whole little skit.

I had mentioned last time that Sammy Kaye records can be somewhat corny, but were always professionally done. I think this record bears that out. The playing is very tight. These were talented musicians.

And, honestly, "Swing and Sway with Sammy Kaye" is as catchy a slogan as there's ever been in the entire history of show biz! There, I said it!

Sweet bands were highly dependent on their vocalists and Sammy always had good ones, none better than Don Cornell, who went on to a successful solo career.

As for "Santa Claus for President," I think that's the only recording of the song.

I'm intrigued that the label says it's the "Song Hits" Magazine's Record of the Month. Don't know what it's about, though. It seems like an odd pick!

This is the cover of the December 1947 issue, but it gives no hint:

Maybe that's not the right issue, but, hey, we get to see Linda Darnell!

Interestingly, Peter Tinturin, write of "Santa Claus for President" turns up in 1951 as the co-writer of "A Root'n Toot'n Santa Claus" with Oakley Haldeman, co-writer of "Here Comes Santa Claus." How do these things come about?

Anyway, Tennessee Ernie Ford recorded "A Root'n Toot'n Santa Claus" for Capitol Records:

Despite all the pea-pickin' humor, Ernie had the pipes!

And tenor saxist/vocalist/bandleader Tex Beneke had a great big band arrangement on MGM:

That's a lot of fun!

I'm guessing the vocal group is named the Mood Four as a holdover from when Tex was leading the Glenn Miller Orchestra. You know, "In the Mood" and all?

Anyway, getting back to Sammy Kaye, he and his band had cut an earlier one-off Santa Claus song back in 1941:

That sounds like a holdover from the 1930s to me, when the band always had a singing song title. By 1947, the arrangements were a bit varied. Still way more sway than swing, though!

So, Santa's on his way, running for president and rootin' and tootin' along!