Today's (Make That 1955's) Hits with Charlie Spivak

Trumpeter Charlie Spivak was a long-time RCA Victor artist, but tastes had changed in 1955 from the heyday of the big bands, so he was assigned to record cover songs for RCA's budget Camden label.

Charlie's presence does work on this EP, however, which consists entirely of mainstream songs - no R&B or R&R.

Camden churned out a variety of such sets at the time, several from 1955. These were issued both as EPs, as here, and in the LP format. The idea was to combat the budget labels that were cranking out cover records day and night. On this blog, we recently heard from Camden's Snooky Lanson; there also were older entries by Bob Carroll and Gisele MacKenzie. The main blog has played host to Stuart Foster and various artists.

The secondary ensemble on Spivak's record was the Honey Dreamers, a vocal group who were promoted to headliners in 1956 for another of these Today's Hits releases, which recently appeared here. Like Spivak, they came up in the 1940s and represented an vocal tradition that was being supplanted in the mid-1950s. At about the same time, the group made a very good Gershwin LP that has appeared on my other blog.

The Honey Dreamers: Bob Davis, Nan Green, Marion Bye, Bob Mitchell and Jerry Packer

Also on the Spivak date is a vocalist named Audrey Morris. Oddly, there was a singer of that name under contract to RCA's "X" label at the same time, but the aural evidence is that this is not her. In fact, I have no information on this other Audrey Morris.

Spivak's trumpet is heard throughout the EP. He was never a jazz artist, but listening to his lovely tone is always a delight.

Here are the songs on the EP:

• "Learnin' the Blues" - A big hit for Frank Sinatra, the Vicky Silver song was written for and first recorded on a local label by Joe Valino in 1954. (I have quite a few Valino records, and have been meaning to transfer them for 15 years or so.) The Honey Dreamers handle the vocals.

• "I'll Never Stop Loving You" - Nicholas Brodsky and Sammy Cahn wrote this for Doris Day to sing in Love Me or Leave Me, where she played Ruth Etting. The Other Audrey Morris sings it well enough, although she misses the fatalistic edge that Day brought to the song.

• "A Blossom Fell" - Howard Barnes, Harold Cornelius, and Dominic John wrote this clunky song of betrayal, and Nat King Cole's unique warmth and sincerity made it a hit. The Other Audrey Morris is not in his league.

• "Something's Gotta Give" - Johnny Mercer's dynamic song was written for Fred Astaire, who is incomparable singing it in Daddy Long Legs. The Honey Dreamers do it nicely, but they are once again up against a legend.

"I'll Never Stop Loving You" and "Something's Gotta Give" were nominated for an Academy Award for best song, but lost to "Love Is a Many Splendored Thing" - which appeared on one of the Today's Hits EPs featuring Bob Carroll.

As for the Real Audrey Morris, she was a very good singer who made two LPs in the 1950s, one for "X" and one for Bethlehem. The latter is a real gem. I may prepare a post for the main blog featuring both albums.

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