As we continue with the films of Bud Abbott and Lou Costello, we hit "Ride 'Em Cowboy," their first release of 1942 for Universal Pictures!
This movie was apparently in production before "Keep 'Em Flying" but the latter movie was rush-released due to a tie-in with the War Department's "Keep 'Em Flying Week."
Whatever the case, this is their second film in a row to feature Dick Foran as the romantic lead as well as with "'Em" as part of the title!
Dick Foran plays a more sympathetic role than usual, as he's not just a brash fellow steamrolling everybody in sight! This is actually a bit of a throwback to the singing cowboy series of westerns he had made for Warner Brothers in the 1930s.
His love interest is the lovely Universal starlet Ann Gwynne, who is the grandmother of modern-day movie star Chris Pine (Chris's dad, TV actor Robert Pine, is married to Ann's daughter Gwynne Gilford)!
Since this film has a western-ish setting, someone had the great idea to include the studio's resident cowboy star, Johnny Mack Brown. Johnny's character is called "Alabam'" and as we know, Johnny had been an All-American at Alabama prior to his film career!
I think "Ride 'Em Cowboy" is a fun movie, but it's pretty formulaic, with Bud and Lou basically providing the comedy relief again rather than carrying the story. But, oh, they are funny!
Don Raye and Gene DePaul are back to provide the songs and the hit from the movie is a real gem - "I'll Remember April" (co-written with Pat Johnston), probably the best song to be introduced in an A & C movie!
Dick Foran sings the song in the movie, but since it's in a standalone scene, it often got cut a lot during TV broadcasts, just like "Pig Foot Pete" from "Keep 'Em Flying" did.
I don't know if Dick Foran made any records at all, but "I'll Remember April" has been recorded many times over the years.
But from back in the day, we have this nice version on Bluebird by Charlie Barnet featuring vocalist Bob Carroll:
Bob Carroll was a really good singer and this shows the swinging Barnet band could play a ballad!
Another swinging bandleader, Woody Herman, sang it with his band on Decca:
And Martha Tilton sang it on an early release from the new Capitol Records with Gordon Jenkins:
Let's sneak in one more (reasonably contemporary) version from a couple of years later, with alto man Johnny Bothwell and this instrumental version from 1945 on Signature Records:
Such a great song!
There are a bunch of other songs in the movie, with The Merry Macs and (for some reason) Ella Fitzgerald(!)
I don't think any of the songs were commercially recorded at the time, although there was a promo disc of two songs by The Merry Macs (I don't have access to the audio):
I kind of surprised that The Merry Macs didn't record "Wake Up, Jacob" and "Beside the Rio Tonto" for Decca!
For some reason, Louis Jordan recorded "Wake Up, Jacob" for Decca in 1954:
Don't know what's up with that, but I always enjoy Louis and his Tympany Five!
Since Ella Fitzgerald was in the movie incongruously anyway, I guess they figured they'd have her sing her dynamite specialty, "A-Tisket, A-Tasket," which she had first recorded with Chick Webb's band in 1938!
Let's hear that Decca record:
Again, always glad to hear it!
Next up: an interloping studio!
