Shirley Ross and The Foursome Sing Gershwin

A few Gershwin recordings today from one of my favorite artists, Shirley Ross, backed by The Foursome vocal group - who also get two songs on their own.

The four numbers were recorded in July 1939, and came out in two Gershwin albums issued by Decca soon thereafter.

Shirley Ross made relatively few recordings, some of which I've posted on this blog. These include her earliest disc, made with Gus Arnheim (it can be found in a post mainly devoted to Mae West) and four songs from the 1940 Rodgers and Hart show Higher and Higher, in which she took a starring role on Broadway. Today she is remembered, if at all, as Bob Hope's partner in the movie songs "Thanks for the Memory" (from The Big Broadcast of 1938) and "Two Sleepy People" (from the follow-up film called, confusingly enough, Thanks for the Memory).

Shirley Ross

In this set, she sings two of my favorite Gershwin songs, "Mine" (from Let 'Em Eat Cake) and "That Certain Feeling" (from Tip-Toes). On both songs, she is backed by Victor Young's band along with The Foursome.

The latter group's solo songs are "Bidin' My Time" (from 1930's Girl Crazy) and "Oh, Lady Be Good" (from 1924's Lady Be Good). The former is another favorite of mine, and is particularly notable here because The Foursome introduced it in the original production. For this performance, the group includes the seldom-heard and very effective verse.

The members of The Foursome at the time of the recording were Del Porter, Dwight Snyder, Marshall Smith and Ray Johnson. The group was unusual because its members not only sang but played ocarinas, an ancient wind instrument that can be heard in quite a few records of the time, in part because of the group's advocacy.

The Foursome

The Foursome appeared in films as well. You can see them in the 1936 Eleanor Powell musical Born to Dance in such numbers as "Rap, Tap on Wood". In 1940, Bing Crosby recorded the Burke-Monaco song "Sweet Potato Piper" for Decca with The Foursome's backing. For those not familiar with the ocarina, it resembles a sweet potato, thus the song title.

The Foursome also appeared on Decca records by Dick Powell and Pinky Tomlin and made a number of other discs on their own. Later on, Del Porter started a band called the Feather Merchants, which eventually turned into Spike Jones and the City Slickers.

This post is now available in excellent ambient stereo.