Carol Bruce and Martha Raye Keep 'Em Flying

In 1941, one of Hollywood's many contributions to a nation getting ready for war was to send the insufferable team of Abbott & Costello to a pilot-training camp to film the comedy with music Keep 'Em Flying. I can't imagine that setting those dimwits loose in a armed services camp would have provided any comfort to concerned Americans, but it must have had some beneficial effect. Keep 'Em Flying was actually their third such movie, following Buck Privates and In the Navy.

In the time-honored Hollywood tradition, Universal Studios commissioned songs from the talented team of composer Gene de Paul and lyricist Don Raye, then threw out the best number. It was "You Don't Know What Love Is," which was to be sung by Carol Bruce, appearing in her first feature film following her Broadway success in Louisiana Purchase. Fortunately for Bruce, she did get to present this superb torch song in 1942's Behind the Eight Ball, another farce, this time with the Ritz Brothers.

Even though the song was cut from Keep 'Em Flying, Universal put it out on a promotional record that is the subject of today's post. To keep things consistent, the studio backed Bruce's number with another number apparently deleted from the final print, "Together," which was sung by the film's other female lead, Martha Raye.

I've never seen the 78, so I was surprised to find a transfer during my recent traversal of Internet Archive's giant and gigantically confusing music collection. Following quite a lot of remastering, I've uploaded it for this blog's followers.

Raye's big number in the film was "Pig Foot Pete." You can see some of her performance and a clip of Bruce's singing in the extended trailer for Keep 'Em Flying below. It was as much an ad for the Army Air Corps as for the movie itself. If you watch, you'll have to put up with Abbott & Costello bits that are alternately witless and maudlin.



This is a companion to a post on my main blog covering the early career and recordings of Carol Bruce.

Note: blog follower Bryan Cooper has contributed what appears to be the complete Keep 'Em Flying pre-recordings, including additional Carol Bruce and Martha Raye songs. There is a new link to this package in the comments.