What Folks Were Listening to 90 Years Ago

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The Great Depression was rough on most business, especially the record industry, which after all did not produce the necessities of life.

Even so, some labels soldiered on. Brunswick Records had a particularly strong lineup of artists, led by the formidable Bing Crosby. The flyer at left from September 1934 details just what Brunswick had to offer the record-buying population 90 years ago. I thought it might be fun to assemble those 14 songs and make a post out of them.

Brunswick's acts at the time, as summarized on the flyer, included the leading bands of Glen Gray and Ted Fio Rito, along with the relatively new Freddy Martin ensemble - and Bing, of course.

Bing's Songs from She Loves Me Not

One of Crosby's most famous songs came from the film She Loves Me Not, with Kitty Carlisle and Miriam Hopkins. It is "Love in Bloom," soon adopted by comedian Jack Benny and thereafter associated with him as much as Bing.

Kitty Carlisle remonstrates Bing for getting into her eyeliner

The singer's performance is more mannered than would be his norm later on, but the singing is nonetheless first-rate. The backing on the Ralph Rainger-Leo Robin song is by Irving Aaronson and His Commanders.

The flip side also is fairly well-known - the Gordon-Revel "Straight from the Shoulder (Right from the Heart)." Crosby's flossy singing is at least partially tongue-in-cheek.

Glen Gray with Kenny Sargent and Pee Wee Hunt

One of the best bands of that time (or any time) was Glen Gray and the Casa Loma Orchestra, which merited second billing on the Brunswick flyer. Gray's first hit was his theme song "Smoke Rings," as illustrated on the billboard above. In September 1934, the band was offering its relaxed and polished version of Will Hudson's sophisticated "Moonglow" (which the label spells "Moon Glow") as one of its six releases of the month.

The record benefits from the marvellously laid-back singing of Kenny Sargent, who is far more natural here than the contemporary Bing. Sargent also does wonderfully well by Irving Berlin's masterful "I Never Had a Chance." Finally, "Long May We Love" is contrived, but enjoyable.

Pee Wee Hunt and Kenny Sargent hoist Annette Hanshaw on the Camel Caravan radio show (for some reason)

Kenny was just one of the two splendid vocalists in the band (both of whom were also instrumentalists). The other was rhythm singer Pee Wee Hunt, a distinctive stylist who was popular even into the 1950s. He is engaging in Winston Tharp's "You Ain't Been Living Right" and particularly "I Never Slept a Wink Last Night" by Nat Simon and Andy Razaf, a song otherwise unknown to me.

The Gray segment is completed by "Jungle Fever," an instrumental that somehow comes from the film Operator 13, a Civil War romance.

The Casa Loma Band, with the imposing Glen Gray at right

Ted Fio Rito with Muzzy Marcellino

Ted Fio Rito

Bandleader Ted Fio Rito also was in demand in 1934, having had two hits earlier in the year - "I'll String Along with You" and "My Little Grass Shack in Kealakekua, Hawaii." His four offerings for September were not so successful, but are worth hearing, certainly.

Fio Rito's main vocalist here is Muzzy Marcellino, who also played the guitar. (Twenty years later he would be the ethereal whistler on the soundtrack of The High and the Mighty.) Muzzy's first song was "We Went Hunting (The Big Bad Wolf Is Dead)," written by Will Jason and Val Burton and introducted by Wheeler and Woolsey in the film Cockeyed Cavaliers. This seems to be a cheery Depression-fighting song - and Muzzy (and Fio Rito's Debutantes) are suitably jaunty.

Muzzy Marcellino and Fio Rito's Debutantes

Marcellino also is heard in the novelties "Hot Dogs and Sasparella" and Fio Rito's "Crickets in the Grass" - not great but not bad either. But the finest song is given to Ray Hendricks, who sang with many bands - Dorothy Fields' and Jimmy McHugh's "Thank You for a Lovely Evening," recorded by several artists that year and still occasionally heard.

The Young Freddy Martin

Freddy Martin and ensemble

The esteemed bandleader Freddy Martin was still in his twenties and on the way up and when he started recording for Brunswick - largely for its budget labels, but here we have two songs on the main marque.

Terry Shand

"We're Just Poor Folks (Rolling in Love)" - another Depression-aware title - comes from a W.C. Field film, The Old Fashioned Way. (That's the one where Fields plays "the Great McGonigle.") Here it is handled by Martin's main vocalist, pianist Terry Shand, who had a long career both as a singer and songwriter, with such fare as "Dance with a Dolly (with a Hole in Her Stocking)." 

Just as good was "Born to Be Kissed," a relatively little-known song by the successful team of Howard Dietz and Arthur Schwartz. Here it is given to a trio, who are nice to listen to, although a soloist might have been preferable.

These recordings all were cleaned up from Internet Archive transfers. The sound is quite good.

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