Monday Side‑Session: Doin’ Somethin’

Yesterday I mentioned that Duke Ellington’s great 1940 showcase for Cootie Williams, Concerto for Cootie, took on a second life a couple of years later when Bob Russell added lyrics and turned it into the pop song Do Nothin’ Till You Hear from Me.

So today, we’ll take a little tour through some notable versions of that tune.

🎙️ Ban‑Era Birth of a Ballad

The American Federation of Musicians recording ban was still in effect when the song appeared, so Duke couldn’t record it right away. But the band began performing it in 1943, as we hear on this aircheck featuring vocalist Al Hibbler:

The melody is the same, of course, but the new arrangement — with Lawrence Brown’s trombone and Al’s vocal — makes it feel like a different song entirely from Concerto for Cootie, if you follow me.

📻 Reissues, Renamings & Rising Fame

Duke must have liked the lyrics, because the band kept the song in rotation on broadcasts and personal appearances, even though Victor was late settling with the musicians’ union and couldn’t record it. Meanwhile, as the song gained popularity, Victor reissued the original 1940 Concerto for Cootie under the new Do Nothin’ Till You Hear from Me title — and it became a big hit.

Meanwhile, Decca and Capitol both settled with the AFM in the fall of 1943, and each label jumped on the song and released popular versions.

💿 Decca Dives In

Decca handed the tune to Woody Herman, who delivered it with his own vocal:

The song really suits Woody — relaxed, confident, and right in his wheelhouse.

📀 Capitol Comes Calling

Capitol gave the song to Stan Kenton, featuring Red Dorris on the vocal:

This was from Stan’s very first Capitol session, but the band already had its own unmistakable sound.

Red also played tenor sax, so he fits that classic side character mold of the sax player with a fun nickname who steps up for the occasional vocal.

🎼 Columbia Comes Through at Last

By the time Victor finally settled with the federation in late 1944, the song wasn’t quite as fresh, so Duke didn’t record it for the label. Fortunately for us, he did cut a studio version with Al Hibbler for Columbia in 1947:

You can hear that Al is leaning a bit more into his idiosyncrasies than he did in 1943, though not as much as he would during his later solo career. He was a unique vocalist, to be sure!

🌟 Ella Elevates, Webster Warms

Let’s jump ahead to 1957 for Ella Fitzgerald’s epic seven‑and‑a‑half‑minute version from her Verve album Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Duke Ellington Songbook, Volume One:

Ella sings it as though it were written just for her, and Ben Webster’s tenor is as magnificent as ever.

As a bonus, here's Ella performing the song with Duke on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1965:

So wonderful to see!

🎺 Satchmo Stamps His Signature

Louis Armstrong joins Duke for this track from their 1961 Roulette album Recording Together for the First Time:

It’s great to hear Satch put his own stamp on the song.

🎚️ Brown’s Bold, Brassy Back‑to‑Backs

For an Ellington‑adjacent version, Lawrence Brown returns to the tune for an instrumental take on his 1965 Impulse! album Inspired Abandon:

Sounds great — warm, confident, and unmistakably Lawrence.

And he’s back with Duke again for this instrumental version from the 1966 RCA Victor album The Popular Duke Ellington:

A totally different vibe, but both cuts show just how masterful Lawrence Brown was on the trombone.

🎺 Cootie Comes Back

We sneak back to 1960 to (sort of) come full circle as Cootie Williams returns with this cut from his awesomely title Warwick album Do Nothing Till You Hear from Cootie:

I included this one today and not yesterday, as it plays more as Do Nothin' Till You Hear from Me rather than as Concerto for Cootie, if that makes any sense!

🎵 A Melody’s Many Lives

A great ride through both versions of Duke’s melody — the instrumental original and the lyrical reinvention that took on a life of its own.

Word Association Wednesday: The Prelude Gets Blue

Following Sunday’s “Prelude to a Kiss,” today’s WAW took the shortest possible ride on the mental express line — straight to Blue Prelude, the moody 1933 masterpiece by Gordon Jenkins and Joe Bishop.

We’ve got fifteen versions spanning nearly two decades, so let’s get spinning...

The First Blue Notes (1933)

The earliest recording turns out to be Glen Gray and the Casa Loma Orchestra, who cut an instrumental take for Brunswick in January 1933:

(Raises hand) I’ll admit — before digging into this, I didn’t realize Casa Loma got there first. I always assumed the debut belonged to Isham Jones, since both Bishop and Jenkins were working with his band at the time. But apparently Bishop brought the tune to Glen Gray before anyone else.

Still, Isham Jones wasn’t far behind. His version — arranged by Bishop — followed in April 1933 for Victor:

It’s a terrific chart, with Sonny Lee shining on trombone and a wonderfully present tuba from Richard Kissinger in the rhythm section. Within a year or two, most bands would swap the tuba for string bass, but here it adds a great period flavor.

At this point the tune seems to have existed only as an instrumental. But by May 1933, Jenkins had added lyrics — and if the melody was already moody, the words sealed the deal.

The first vocal version came from prolific studio singer Chick Bullock, backed by his Levee Loungers on a budget‑label release:

Chick was a terrific singer, but an eye condition limited him to studio work.

Next up was Adrian Rollini with his studio group, featuring Howard Phillips on the vocal:

I love Adrian's switching between vibes and bass sax, though Phillips’ vocal is a bit emphatic. Not so for the next singer…

On June 13, the say after Adrian's record date, Bing Crosby recorded his version for Brunswick:

This is the one that put the song on the map — Bing’s career was exploding, and Blue Prelude rode the wave.

For one more 1933 entry, we get a female vocalist: Loretta Lee, singing with George Hall’s orchestra on Bluebird.

And yes — those early‑’30s buff Bluebirds are irresistible.

A Theme Is Born (1940-1941)

We jump to 1940 for the best‑known incarnation of Blue Prelude: as Woody Herman’s theme song. Here's his Decca recording, with Woody himself on the vocal:

Between Isham Jones’ 1933 version and this one, Woody had joined the Jones band, Jones retired, and the musicians reorganized with Woody as leader. Blue Prelude became his theme, and composer Joe Bishop was still on hand, arranging and playing flugelhorn.

The song was now a standard, and the recordings kept coming.

Also from 1940: Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys, with Joe Ferguson on the vocal:

You know I’m all over a vintage Western Swing take on a standard!

From 1941, we get Jimmie Lunceford with Dan Grissom on Decca:

A jaunty treatment, with typically superb work from altoist Willie Smith.

Postwar Shades of Blue (1945–1949)

In 1945, former Basie vocalist Helen Humes recorded a lovely version for the small Philo label:

That bowed‑bass intro from Alfred Moore is a knockout!

Label intrigue: Philco thought “Philo” sounded too close to their name, so the label became Aladdin!

Next, the sultry Lena Horne stepped up on the Black & White label in 1947:

Beautifully supported by Phil Moore.

Also in 1947, Woody Herman revisited the tune for his Columbia album 8 Shades of Blue:

A lot had happened in seven years — a new theme (Blue Flame), a move from Decca to Columbia, the triumph of the First Herd, and then disbanding. Note the label credit: Woody Herman with Orchestral Acc. — this was a studio group, not his working band.

The 1950 Curtain Call

We close with three versions from 1950...

First up: The Ames Brothers on Coral:

More label intrigue: This cut was issued as the flipside of second pressings of the Ames’ hit Sentimental Me, which was the original flipside of their smash Rag Mop. But when Sentimental Me also became a hit, Coral swapped it out so they wouldn’t have to sell two blockbusters on one disc!

Next, an unissued‑at‑the‑time Decca recording by the great Mildred Bailey:

Knowing this was among her final recordings before her early death in 1951 gives it heartbreaking poignancy.

And finally, we come full circle: Gordon Jenkins himself recorded Blue Prelude for his Decca album Playing His Own Compositions, with Bonnie Lou Williams singing his lyrics:

Mr. Jenkins really was a remarkable talent!

Fifteen preludes to a whole lot of blues — and if the prelude is this sad, imagine what the actual blues sound like!

"Ride 'Em Cowboy" (1942)

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!

Christmas Countdown - Day 10 - "Wintertime Dreams" (1936)

For Day 10 of our Christmas Countdown, Woody Herman returns with another seasonal song from 1936, "Wintertime Dreams," which I think was his first recording as a bandleader! 

Here's Woody and his band on Decca:

Kind of interesting that one of the co-writers of "Wintertime Dreams" is Felix Bernard, who had co-written "Winter Wonderland" a couple of years before. Lightning didn't strike twice!

Another version of "Wintertime Dreams" was recorded by Shep Fields and His Rippling Rhythm Orchestra with uncredited vocalist Dick Robertson on Bluebird:

I'm sure I've said before that Shep Fields's records are fascinating to me. I don't always go for such heavily-stylized sweet bands, but something about the Rippling Rhythm gets me!

Christmas Countdown - Day 9 - "(Who Is My Baby Gonna Love All Winter) Now That Summer Is Gone"

                                 

Our countdown to Christmas hits Da 9 with the long-titled seasonal song "(Who Is My Baby Gonna Love All Winter) Now That Summer Is Gone" from 1936!

Let's hear the great Red Norvo and his great band with the great vocalist Mildred Bailey (Red's wife) on Brunswick:

Red Norvo's band had a lot going for it, not the least of which was Red's own xylophone playing, which just gives his records a different sound!

For another version of the song, we have Woody Herman and his band on Decca:

This is very early in Woody Herman's bandleading career, as he had recently more or less taken over Isham Jones's band when Jones retired, but he and the band already sound solid!