Ralph Flanagan Intros His 1949 Records

Bandleader Ralph Flanagan was a hot commodity in 1949. So hot that RCA Victor records gave him a tremendous publicity push. After the success of his first single on the revived Bluebird label, Victor decided to release four Flanagan singles at once - and a special promotional record along with them.

This promo was designed for airplay. In it, Flanagan introduces each of his eight new single sides. The idea was that the disc jockey would introduce Flanagan, and the bandleader would then tee up each of his records. The whole thing would add up to a 30-minute show, which I've recreated (sans the DJ intro) for this post.

Victor founded its Bluebird subsidiary as a budget line in 1932, the depth of the Great Depression. It was highly successful with both genre artists and pop attractions, including the Glenn Miller band.

Deejay George Sanders interviews Ralph Flanagan

RCA folded the label after World War II only to bring it back in 1949. Appropriately, one of its first signings was Flanagan, one of several Miller-clone bands that popped up after the war. Interestingly, Victor also employed the official Glenn Miller "ghost" band, led by Tex Beneke, but Tex wanted to develop his own sound, so by 1950 he and the Miller estate parted ways.

Flanagan had no such compunctions, having recorded a Miller tribute for the small Rainbow label as far back as 1947.

Imitating the Miller sound wasn't considered a bad thing at the time - one of the many positive reviews in the download enthused that the Flanagan band was "styled to perfection after the mood and manner of the late Glenn Miller crew." It was so successful that other labels considered starting their own Miller-style bands - and Decca did so with former Miller arranger Jerry Gray.

Flanagan's was quite a good band, with excellent arrangements by the leader and sterling section work. Several Miller alums played on this date, including Billy Butterfield, Al Klink and Ernie Caceres. Also on hand were such stalwarts as Jimmy Maxwell, Buddy Morrow, and Bob Haggart. (There is a photo of the band in this post on my other blog.) 

Harry Prime

Each 78 release was designed to have one new song backed by a standard. The new song would be a cover of a tune that was becoming popular. As Flanagan mentions in one of his introductions, the idea was to give a dance-band slant to songs that were best known for hit versions by pop vocalists. One example is "Don't Cry, Joe," a Sinatra tune that here is presented in a danceable fashion by Flanagan, with a good vocal by Harry Prime.

Another, less successful item is "Whispering Hope," a hit by Jo Stafford and Gordon MacRae, which suits neither Flanagan nor Prime.

Harry had been featured by Randy Brooks, Tommy Dorsey and Jack Fina, but his greatest success was with Flanagan from 1949-54. He had a lovely voice, and while he was variable as an interpreter, at his best he was most pleasing. The Flanagan band did tend to quick tempos, and on such fare as "Tell Me Why" Prime lags behind the beat, suggesting that he might be happier with a little less pep from the bandleader's baton.

This 2005 interview with Prime (who died in 2017) suggests that he didn't much like Flanagan, who was uncomfortable with fame, even though the two had some success together.

Perhaps the most interesting items in this set are the instrumentals. Flanagan turned Victor Herbert's operetta aria "My Hero" into an unlikely instrumental success. His own riff tune "Swing to 45" is a vehicle for excellent solos, presumably by trumpeter Butterfield and tenor sax man Al Klink. (The title "Swing to 45" is likely a nod to Victor's new 45-rpm format. This transfer comes from a 78, then the standard in radio studios.)

All in all, it's a most pleasing program, in excellent, vivid sound. The originals were remastered from the gigantic Internet Archive collection. The download includes many articles and reviews.

Ralph Flanagan and his band have appeared many times on my other blog.

The "swing to 45" - 1950 Billboard ad