Revisiting Bing's 'Waikiki Wedding'

About five years ago I shared picture labels of Bing Crosby issued on a 78 with two songs from his 1937 film Waikiki Wedding. I had found the record in Iceland, about as far away from Hawaii as you can get.

Bing actually recorded four songs from the film, and I have now discovered the two missing picture labels amidst the bounty of Internet Archive. They adorn the 78 of "In a Little Hula Heaven," where Crosby is backed by Jimmy Dorsey's band, and "Sweet Leilani," with Lani McIntire and His Hawaiians. The latter song was the handiwork of bandleader Harry Owens; the other three were by Leo Robin and Ralph Rainger.

"Sweet Leilani" was the big hit from the score. Not content to provide the background, McIntire or one of his troupe handle the first few vocal choruses, adding to the charm of the record and providing contrast to Bing's warbling. 

These picture labels were a product of UK Brunswick, which seemingly made "In a Little Hula Heaven" the lead number of the four, with Crosby's name highlighted with the tag "in his hits from Waikiki Wedding." "Hula Heaven" is forgotten, but another song from the score, "Blue Hawaii," lives on, thanks not so much to Bing but to Elvis and his 1961 film of the same name. The Robin-Rainger song was the only one carried over from the earlier film to El's epic. The other big song from the 1961 film was "Can't Help Falling in Love," where Elvis attempted to out-croon Bing.

The download includes all four songs from Bing's film, taken from an LP release because neither the Iceland nor the Internet Archive 78 was in good condition. This time around I have added an ambient effect that provides some air around the mono sound.

Shirley Ross, Bing Crosby, Martha Raye, Bob Burns

Fred and Ginger (and Harriet) Follow the Fleet

Here is one more in the series devoted to the films of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, with the commercial recordings of both artists. Today's subject is Follow the Fleet, a 1936 vessel for their singing and dancing talents. The film also introduced vocalist Harriet Hilliard, who recorded the two Irving Berlin numbers she sang in the film - and which are added to today's playlist.

Astaire and Rogers both recorded two of the score's best and most famous numbers - "Let Yourself Go" and "I'm Putting All My Eggs in One Basket" - Fred for Brunswick and Ginger for English Decca (even though her songs were backed by the American bandleader Jimmy Dorsey).

Astaire had the film's best number - "Let's Face the Music and Dance" - to himself, also the lesser "I'm Building Up to an Awful Let-Down," "We Saw the Sea" and "I'd Rather Lead the Band." Fred is accompanied by Johnny Green and orchestra, who are perfect for the assignment.

Astaire's singing is, as always, wonderful, and three of the songs were hits. Rogers is in better form here than in some of her other outings in this series, aided by the excellent Dorsey band. She's far from a good singer, but it's wonderful to have these souvenirs.

It's also nice to have the Harriet Hillard recordings, made for Brunswick with her bandleader husband, Ozzie Nelson. This was years before Ozzie, Harriet and sons became popular on radio and then television. (That's Harriet in the corner of the poster above, looking innocent with co-star Randolph Scott.)

On these records, Ozzie manages to feature himself over Harriet, confining her to the "vocal chorus by" duties, well after the extended band intros. Hilliard was a better singer than Rogers, certainly, but she had a thin voice and could be inexpressive. She was in tune, though. Nelson's band was typical of the time, proficient but stylistically behind the times, sounding stodgy next to Jimmy Dorsey's troupe and unsophisticated compared to Johnny Green's.

Hilliard's songs are both good Berlin efforts. "But Where Are You?" is a simple tune and it needs more than the On. The. Beat. treatment that the Nelsons provide. Harriet is much better in "Get Thee Behind Me, Satan."

The download, as usual, includes a large number of restored posters, lobby cards and stills. The transfers are cleaned up from raw materials found on Internet Archive.

The Evolution of 'Time Was'

Miguel Prado

In the past, I've posted two versions of the lovely song, "Time Was" - one by Buddy Clark with Wayne King, and more recently one by Bob Manning on his Lonely Spell LP. "Time Was" has an interesting history, involving three different incarnations, all of which surfaced in the space of a few years. Today we'll look at the various versions in contemporary recordings.

"Time Was" started life as the ballad "Duerme" ("Sleep") by the Mexican composer Miguel Prado (1905-87) with words by Gabriel Luna. Its first recording was likely in June 1937, with the Orquesta Castillito directed by Paulina Alvarez and the vocal by Prado himself. I haven't been able to locate a copy of this recording, which was made in Havana.

Al Bowlly

The following year, "Duerme" turned up in the film Di Que Me Quieres, as sung by Rosita Rios both in the film and for Victor. The recording was made in New York, the setting of the movie. Rios' record is the first in our set.

"Duerme" became "Dreaming" for a 1940 record by the great South African-born English vocalist Al Bowlly, with an orchestra directed by an uncredited Ronnie Munro. This is a well-sung version. The lyrics are standard-issue, although resonant because of the war: "Dreaming, dreaming of you in the firelight's glow / Sweetheart I want you to always know / Each night I dream of you."

Late that same year, Xavier Cugat recorded the song with its original lyrics as sung by his then-wife, Carmen Castillo. Cugat's version did gain some traction. 

Xavier Cugat and Carmen Castillo

Tito Guízar

The next version was by the excellent Mexican vocalist Tito Guízar, resident in the US since 1929. Both Guízar and Cugat used the original Luna lyrics, although both of the copies in this collection were labelled "Time Was (Duerme)." My guess is that these pressings came out after the song became popular with new English lyrics by S.K. Russell.

Perhaps the most successful of those English language records was that of Jimmy Dorsey, which is also the worst of all the renditions featured here. The vocals start with Bob Eberly, who is effortful as usual, but pleasant enough. 

Then Dorsey decides to "swing it," and brings in Helen O'Connell for an up-tempo chorus. She was just not a very good singer, sad to say. The song ends with an elaborate alto solo from the leader.

Helen O'Connell and Bob Eberly

The best record is surely that of Wayne King, from just a month after Dorsey. King leads off with a fine soprano sax solo (at least I assume it is King), followed by a superb vocal by an uncredited Buddy Clark. (He was anonymous because he was under contract with another label.)

Wayne King

Clark makes the most of the Russell lyrics, which aren't great, but much better than what Al Bowlly sang. (The words tell us of "Picnics and sleigh rides / And mid-winter hay rides" and the like.) I passed over this record quickly in my survey of Clark's recordings with Wayne King, so I've included it once again in this compilation. It's well worth hearing a second time.

BONUS - My friend and longtime blog follower Mel has passed along his own favorite interpretation of "Time Was." It is a swinging version by Janet Brace, a very good singer who started with big bands, notably Johnny Long's, then made a few singles for Decca. This comes from her only LP, Special Delivery, issued by ABC-Paramount in 1956. A quartet led by Don Elliott accompanies her.

I don't believe I have this record myself, so I am especially grateful to Mel for his contribution. I should gather up Janet's singles for a post - she was talented!

The link to this item is in the comments.

Bing in Hawaii (and Iceland)

This is a tale of four locales - Hawaii, Hollywood, England and Iceland. They all pertain to the Bing Crosby picture-label 78 shown at right.

As you can see at right, the Hawaii location is the setting of The Groaner's 1937 flick Waikiki Wedding, produced of course in Hollywood. Leo Robin and Ralph Rainger wrote the tune "Blue Hawaii" for the film. Bing sang it with the wonderful Shirley Ross on the screen. For shellac purposes, he did a solo with Lani McIntire and His Hawaiians. McIntire was a steel guitar whiz who earned his island cred as a member of the legendary Sol Ho'opi'i Trio. "Blue Hawaii," although popular at the time, didn't really make a lasting impression on the public until murmured by Elvis Presley in the 1961 film of the same name.

Waikiki Wedding's big hit, which won an Academy Award, was "Sweet Leilani," a Harry Owens tune that Bing insisted on using in the film over the producer's objections. Owens led the band at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel in Honolulu, where Crosby first heard the number. On the commercial record, Bing cedes the first two vocal choruses to unnamed vocalists, presumably from the McIntyre ensemble.

Lobby card: Martha Raye and Shirley Ross flank Bing

Bing waxed two other songs from the score, both Robin-Rainger efforts. Victor Young provided the backing on "Sweet Is the Word for You"; Jimmy Dorsey handled "In a Little Hula Heaven." Young, Dorsey and McIntire were all on the payroll at Decca, where Crosby was the chief money-maker.

This post is designed to show off the nifty picture labels that Decca affiliate Brunswick slapped on the lacquer for sale in England and probably other markets. I found my copy in a interesting shop in Iceland, of all places. Brunswick issued two such 78s for Waikiki Wedding, and two additional discs for Bing's songs from Double or Nothing, also from 1937. I only have the "Blue Hawaii"/"Sweet Is the Word for You" coupling, alas. I'm not sure if Decca in the US employed a similar picture-label scheme, but I've never seen an example, if so.

My 78, visually mint, was almost unplayable. So I pulled out one of Decca's "Bing in Hollywood" reissue LPs from the 1960s and transferred the four Waikiki Wedding songs from that source. All are in the download.

Now that this blog has made a dramatic return to life, I'll see if I can locate a 78 or two by Crosby's co-star, Shirley Ross. Watch this space, just not too intently.