A Public Health Push from Frank and Dinah

One of the most unusual recordings in Frank Sinatra's lengthy catalog is 1946's "It's All Up to You," a duet with Dinah Shore. Unlike the standard "My Romance," which they recorded at the same November session, "It's All Up to You" was a public service announcement in music - a plea to the citizens of North Carolina to get behind public health measures.

The single was part of a larger effort to improve the health of the state's citizens. The genesis of the campaign was North Carolina's poor record in providing manpower for the Second World War. About half the state's draftees were rejected for medical reasons. Clearly much more needed to be spent on public health, and the Frank-Dinah duet was designed to support that drive. (The download has an outline of the state's "Good Health Plan.")

Sheet music cover

Heading up the musical part of the campaign was bandleader and North Carolina native Kay Kyser. He enlisted the support of his label, Columbia, who offered the services of Sinatra and Shore. Also on board were frequent Frank songwriters Jule Styne and Sammy Cahn. Styne's tune is catchy, and Cahn's lyrics were unusual in his catalogue. It certainly was the only time he had Sinatra tout the wonders of "clinics where the poor can go for moderate fees."

The record was only distributed in North Carolina, and the original single (label above) is something of a rare bird. The song was included in Columbia's Sinatra box set in the 90s, but this transfer is from a copy of the 78 found on Internet Archive. 

I was surprised to see that the label attributes the backing to Kyser. The aural evidence says it's Sinatra's regular arranger-conductor Axel Stordahl, and the Sinatra sessionography supports that.

The flip side of "It's All Up to You" was a genuine Kyser recording. Appropriately, it's his rendition of "Carolina in the Morning," with a vocal by Gloria Wood and the Campus Kids. After consulting Nigel Burlinson's Kyser discography, it appears to me that this title was not otherwise released.

Dinah Shore Sings Gershwin

My friend Ernie complained that my last post wasn't a single - it was two records. Well, Ern, I guess I am cheating again, because here is another two-record set.

In it, Dinah Shore applies her considerable skill and charm to four Gershwin tunes, early ("Do It Again"), late ("Love Walked In") and in-between ("The Man I Love," "Someone to Watch Over Me").

Dinah was then (1945) at the height of her popularity as a singer, so of course Victor periodically produced 78 albums for her. I have an earlier one called Musical Orchids, whatever that may mean, dating from 1943.

Rather than using a hard cover, this present album is presented in a soft double envelope, with the colorful front cover above, a center spread detailing the songs, and a back cover glorifying the artist (below).

Click image to enlarge

I have presented a few of these soft-cover albums over the years. Their biggest drawback is that they offer little to no protection to the shellac within. Somewhere along the line, probably in moving, I managed to crack both records in four places. I found a good transfer of the 78 coupling "Love Walked In" and "Someone to Watch Over Me" on Internet Archive, so it's been substituted for my crunchy copy. For the other two songs I have resorted to lossy copies, which still do sound good. (Note (February 2024): these have now been remastered in ambient stereo.)

If you like Dinah, you'll find the results worthwhile. She's in good voice, and the backings by Al Sack are lovely, reminiscent of those that Axel Stordahl was producing for Frank Sinatra during the same period. Sack, a talented and in-demand arranger, died in 1947 of heart disease at age 36.

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Dinah Shore with Hits from 'The King and I'

This Dinah Shore EP is one half of a miniature celebration of this wonderful singer and personality, going on today here and on my other blog, where you will find her 10-inch LP, "Dinah Shore Sings the Blues".

Back in those days, record companies fought with one another to record the latest hits from Broadway - and prospective hits even before they opened. For the biggest names - such as Rodgers and Hammerstein - they would cover all the songs from a given show. Such was the case with 1951's "The King and I." RCA Victor brought Shore, Robert Merrill, Patrice Munsel and Tony Martin into the studio to record the songs. Dinah's recording of "Getting to Know You" came out on a single in 1951 (coupled with "The End of a Love Affair").

This EP, circa 1953, combines "Getting to Know You" with three others, all in excellent versions conducted by Henri René. The sonorous bass-baritone of the Met's Robert Merrill is heard with Dinah on "Shall We Dance."

RCA was saving on photography costs in 1953 - this EP and the LP on my other blog use the same photo of the photogenic Miss Shore. It's not badm but how much better is the contemporaneous glamour shot at left, in color! She was one of those people who got better looking as she aged, unlike the rest of us (well, me anyway) who have suffered the indignities of age from the time we hit our 20s.