Bobby Short's First Records

The great cabaret singer-pianist Bobby Short (1924-2005) started issuing LPs in 1955, with his first Atlantic release. But a few years earlier the small and short-lived Trend label issued his first records - one single and then one EP, which included the single.

Today's post is devoted to the fruits of that 1953 session, where he was backed by the band of the 23-year-old Buddy Bregman, who also may have been making his debut on records.

Short, who was 29 at the time of the Trend date, had been on stage for two-thirds of his young life, having started in shows at 11. His first recording session had been for the National label in 1944, but those sides were apparently never issued.

With his considerable experience, it is not surprising to find that the singer we hear on the Trend sides sounds very much like the artist who became increasingly familiar to cabaret enthusiasts as the years went by.

His song selection would not be out of place on any of his later albums, either. It starts off with "Let There Be Love," the biggest (only?) hit by Lionel Rand and Ian Grant, dating from 1940. This is a perfect vehicle for Short, whose phrasing makes a meal, so to speak, of such passages as "chile con carne and sparkling champagne." His strong but flexible sense of rhythm keeps it from seeming affected.

Next comes perhaps the most interesting song on the EP, "Sunday in Savannah," again the greatest hit of the obscure songwriter Hugh Mackay (also spelled MacKay and McKay). This slice-of-life-down-south song is so reminiscent of the work of Willard Robison that the original Trend 78 attributed it to him.

My guess is that Short learned the song from the first, 1952 LP of fellow cabaret singer Mabel Mercer, who did attribute it correctly. Regardless, it's a strikingly good composition that was later revived by a number of singers, notably Nina Simone. Here, Bregman's band is joined by the Jud Conlon Rhythmaires, who had accompanied Bing Crosby for several years. They don't add anything to the proceedings, but that's not Short's doing, as far as I know.

Short was known for his good taste, and he continues to show it with his third selection, "Taking a Chance on Love," a Vernon Duke-John Latouche-Ted Fetter song introduced by Ethel Waters in 1940's Cabin in the Sky. (Waters' memorable film version can be seen on YouTube.)

The composer of the final song, Bart Howard, was a cabaret pianist who once was Mercer's accompanist. "Let Me Love You" was on Mercer's third LP, but I believe that Short's EP had already been recorded by then. Howard was a talented songwriter. You can also hear "Let Me Love You" in Marian Bruce's interpretation here, and Howard's "My Love Is a Wanderer" performed by Shannon Bolin via this link.

The Trend and Kapp EPs

I mentioned that Trend was a short-lived label. Its catalogue was bought by the Kapp label, which reissued the Short EP in about 1957. My transfers of "Let Me Love You" and "Taking a Chance on Love" come from the Kapp release. The other songs are derived from a Trend 78 found on Internet Archive, which I used because it has better sound than the EP.

Note: This is newly available in excellent ambient stereo sound.