Pat Friday's Decca Recordings

In my earlier post on singer Pat Friday, I mentioned that I had been unable to locate her Decca recordings of 1940. My friend Bryan Cooper, an authority of music of the era, has come to the rescue with transfers from his collection, which I am very pleased to present here.

Along with the Enterprise 78s previously shared, these are the only commercial 78s that the singer recorded, although off-air dubs of some radio programs survive.

Decca matched Friday with stodgy staff conductor Harry Sosnik for one session on February 16, 1940, with four titles resulting.

The first single coupled "I've Got My Eyes on You" with the elaborately titled "Would'st Could I But Kiss Thy Hand, Oh Babe." Cole Porter wrote the former for Fred Astaire and Broadway Melody of 1940. The Porter song is taken too slowly and seriously. Astaire certainly couldn't have danced to this tempo.

Pat Friday

On "Would'st Could I," Sosnik livens things up a bit, and Friday copes well with the antique lingo. The tune was written and recorded by Will Osborne. No offense to Will - and I am no expert on archaic languages - but I wonder if "would'st could I" was ever appropriate grammar. If there are any 500-year-old people out there, would'st could thou enlighten us?

The second coupling was "You, You Darlin'" and "The Gaucho Serenade." The former song comes from a film titled Tear Gas Squad, which could not have been a musical. But it did star Dennis Morgan, who could sing after a fashion, and I assume he introduced the number, which was recorded quite a few times in the 1940s. Friday's reading is very effective.

"The Gaucho Serenade" was written for the film of the same name and its star, Gene Autry. Here the singer and conductor did not agree on the tempo. She seemed to think it too fast, and I agree with her.

Decca's sound is good, enhanced by Bryan's fine transfers. Many thanks to him for bringing these elusive records to light.