Herb Jeffries and Frank Sinatra Share a V-Disc

This tribute to the recently deceased Herb Jeffries is a companion to the post of an early LP over at the Big 10-Inch Record. It consists of a circa 1946-47 V-Disc that Jeffries shared with Frank Sinatra.

In this case, the Jeffries side is far more interesting. The Voice's songs are bad dubs from two of his commercial recordings. The Bronze Buckaroo's tunes were made for V-Disc.

Some background: V-Discs were 12-inch 78s made specially for people in the US Armed Services from 1943-49. Some were commercial recordings; others were from radio or special V-Disc sessions.

The Jeffries side starts with a brief introduction of the "Hiya, fellas, here's some great tunes comin' at cha" variety, followed by an excellent version of "Ghost of a Chance." Then, in one of the singer's few forays into faster tempos, he launches into "Jump for Joy," the title song from Duke Ellington's 1941 musical, which Jeffries introduced. The good backing is by pianist Eddie Beal and a small group.

Sinatra's side contains two of his 1945 recordings with Axel Stordahl.

As with many of the later V-Discs, this was pressed on vinyl. This is a mixed blessing. The 10-ton tonearms used at the time could easily gouge the softer material. My copy, visually mint, is anything but that when played. However, the results on the Jeffries side at least are very pleasing.