A Parade of 'Easter Parades'

What you see at left is perhaps the first Easter parade in song - it is a still from As Thousands Cheer, the 1933 revue with music by Irving Berlin that introduced his "Easter Parade."

I believe the right foreground displays Clifton Webb and Marilyn Miller, who first sang the number. At left is co-star Helen Broderick.

Webb recorded the song for Victor with conductor Leo Reisman, and it's the first entry in today's "Parade of 'Easter Parades'," a collection of 10 diverse interpretations of the song, including the best known renditions and some lesser recognized discs as well.

Henry Hall

Following its introduction, it wasn't long before Berlin's holiday classic made it across the Atlantic and intro the hands of Henry Hall, the conductor of the BBC Dance Orchestra. The label for his 1935 recording says that the song is from a West End revue called Stop Press, about which little information has survived. We do know that either the producers or Berlin himself altered the lyrics to fit London - removing the reference to Fifth Avenue, and to "the rotogravure," which, come to think of it, is a term that may baffle anyone younger than me. ("Rotogravure" refers to the picture supplements of Sunday newspapers, taking its name from the printing process used for their production.)

A much different approach to the song was taken in 1939 by the Jimmie Lunceford band, performing a stylish arrangement by Sy Oliver. This swing version has a smooth vocal by Trummy Young, trombonist in the band and later a long-time associate of Louis Armstrong.

Jimmie Lunceford and Trummy Young

Our next selection could hardly be more of a contrast - it is Andre Kostelanetz's lush reading from his 1942 album Musical Comedy Favorites, Volume II. Both volumes are available on my other blog.

Bing Crosby had a go at the song for his 1942 film Holiday Inn, where he warbled to Marjorie Reynolds and her Easter bonnet, as seen below. For his commercial recording Bing had to be content with the Decca microphone and maestro John Scott Trotter. (The complete Holiday Inn recordings are here.)

Bing and Marjorie Reynolds

The most famous recording of "Easter Parade" may be the one in the 1948 film of the same name, as performed by Judy Garland and Fred Astaire, who look splendid promenading below. The soundtrack version may be celebrated, but in truth Garland's singing does blare a bit.

Judy and Fred

Freddie Mitchell

Judy is not nearly as blaring, however, as the tenor sax of Freddie Mitchell in his 1949 R&B version for the Derby label. Freddie turned most everything into a boogie - literally so in this release, which first came out as "Easter Boogie," with Mitchell as co-author, but later was retitled "Easter Parade," with Berlin reinstated as composer. On the disc, the leader's tenor sax solo quotes Illinois Jacquet's legendary break in Lionel Hampton's "Flying Home." As usual on Mitchell's records, a tinny sounding upright piano is prominent.

The following year, the duo of Margaret Whiting and Jimmy Wakely were in the Capitol studios to record one of their bigger hits, "Let's Go to Church (Next Sunday Morning)" along with its flip side, their take on "Easter Parade." Both featured the same creaky organ accompaniment.

Back then, the fashion in jazz circles was to record a noted soloist accompanied by sumptuous strings, following the success of alto saxophonist Charlie "Bird" Parker in that setting. Trumpeter Roy Eldridge got the treatment in late 1951, with his accompaniment arranged and conducted by George Williams. Eldridge recorded this cushiony interpretation for Mercury.

Roy Eldridge

To close we have an enjoyable version from the Ray Charles Singers, who made a long series of excellent records in the 1950s and 60s. This is from their Spring Is Here collection for M-G-M. The recording, from 1955, also features the Columbus Boychoir, for reasons that aren't obvious.

The Ray Charles Singers at a recording session. The leader is to the right of the microphone.

The recordings in this collection were remastered from Internet Archive and my collection.

LINK

Harold Arlen Sings Harold Arlen

The eminent songwriter Harold Arlen liked to sing, and made records from the 1920s into the 1960s. For this post, we'll review 13 recordings of his own songs made in the 1930s, most in the company of bandleader Leo Reisman. This is a companion to the "Lee Wiley Sings Harold Arlen" post on my main blog, which includes two of these songs - "Stormy Weather" and "Fun to Be Fooled."

The earliest Arlen vocals in the Discography of American Historical Recordings come from 1928, when he recorded 10 or so titles with the Arnold Johnson Orchestra, all of which he arranged, none of which he composed. He is listed on different recording sheets as Harold Arlen or Harold Arluck. (His birth name was Hyman Arluck.)

The first vocal in the collection dates from November 1930, when he recorded his "Linda" with cornetist Red Nichols and his band. Arlen was already an assured singer and, while he never had much range, is in fresh voice throughout this set. Ted Koehler was the lyricist of "Linda." Arlen worked extensively with him for the next several years.

Red Nichols

Nichols also led the next date, from February 1931, just a few weeks after Arlen's college musical You Said It opened on Broadway. On the record, Arlen (uncredited on the label) sang "Sweet and Hot" with a great deal of personality. His feeling for lyrics - in this case by librettist Jack Yellen - was evident. The other familiar songs from this score were "You Said It" (which is in the Lee Wiley collection) and "Learn to Croon."

The following year, musical stage couple Dorothy Stone and Charles Collins introduced a dance called the "Collinstone Fox Trot" via the song "Stepping into Love," with lyrics by Ted Koehler and music by Arlen. Bandleader Leo Reisman made a record of it, with the composer on the vocal. Musically it is striking; lyrically less so.

Harold Arlen and Ted Koehler

Reisman was an influential bandleader. Most of the remaining songs in this set were issued under his name, including the next - "Stormy Weather," from the Cotton Club Parade revue of 1933. Arlen presents the song simply; he undersells the heartache inherent in the lyrics. It's just as effective this way.

Leo Reisman

"Happy as the Day Is Long" is from a 1933 Cotton Club production. The recording is unusual because it starts with colloquy between Arlen and Reisman. This is possibly Arlen's best vocal on record; he is infectious, and is supported by a spirited arrangement and driving bass saxophone solo by Adrian Rollini.

"Ill Wind," from the following year's Cotton Club Parade, is one of Arlen's finest songs, hear in a neat performance by the composer and a unsubtle one by pianist-bandleader Eddy Duchin, an alumnus of the Reisman band.

Eddy Duchin

From that same Cotton Club revue came "As Long as I Live," which was coupled with "Ill Wind" on Duchin's Victor release.

Arlen had written the standard "It's Only a Paper Moon" with the immensely talented lyricist E.Y. (Yip) Harburg in 1932. Two years later, he prepared the score of Life Begins at 8:40 with Harburg and Ira Gershwin.

Yip Harburg

Arlen recorded four of the songs from the score with Leo Reisman - "You're a Builder Upper," "What Can You Say in a Love Song," "Fun to Be Fooled" and "Shoein' the Mare." All four are both lyrically and musically sophisticated. (The latter is distinctly sexist as well.)

"You're a Builder Upper" is a rhythmic and lyrical delight, and Arlen delights in singing the intricate words by the masters Harburg and Gershwin. In "What Can You Say in a Love Song," they rattle through the lyrical clichés of 90 years ago and today ("Mmmm - so sweetly. Mmmm - completely. Mmmm - forever more. What can I say in a love song / that hasn't been said before").

"Fun to Be Fooled" is one song from the score that has achieved some permanence. But the most popular at the time may have been "Let's Take a Walk Around the Block," which neither Arlen nor Wiley recorded.

Brief digression: Perhaps the best song from this period - and reportedly Arlen's favorite - is "Last Night When We Were Young," also not taken up by Wiley or the composer. The only recording from the time may have been by Lawrence Tibbett, for whom it was written. Arlen and Harburg prepared the number for Tibbett's backstage film musical Metropolitan, but it was not used. Victor did record it and release it on Red Seal, coupled with "On the Road to Mandalay," which Tibbett sang in the film.

Finally, we have two songs from the 1937 Arlen-Harburg musical Hooray for What: "In the Shade of the New Apple Tree" and "God's Country." 

The former is a racy number for the time, contrasting seduction techniques of old with the current day. The latter is a patriotic paean - "Hi there, Yankee, give out with a great big thank-ee / You're in God's country" and "We've got no Mussolini, got no Mosley / But we've got Popeye and Gypsy Rose Lee." It's not one of Harburg's best, but it did reflect his beliefs. In 1950 he was blacklisted for refusing to name Hollywood Communists. He wrote at the time, "As the writer of the lyric of the song 'God's Country,' I am outraged by the suggestion that somehow I am connected with, believe in, or am sympathetic with Communist or totalitarian philosophy," he told the House Un-American Activities Committee.

This was the end of Arlen's recorded vocals for the 1930s. He next was in the recording studio for one of the songs from his 1944 musical Bloomer Girl, which had lyrics by Harburg.

LINK

Eve Symington

Eve Symington was an intriguing cabaret singer with a brief career in the best night spots of 1930s New York City. A post on my other blog devoted to Rodgers and Hart's 1938 score for I Married an Angel includes her poignant recording of "Spring Is Here." This post presents three other recordings from the same period.

Symington (1903-72) came from a prominent family - her father was US Sen. James W. Wadsworth, Jr. She married Stuart Symington, a New York business leader, later a prominent Senator and presidential candidate. A long tribute to her can be found here.

She recorded only two 78s that I have found, both on Internet Archive. One was for Liberty Music Shop, with "Spring Is Here" backed by "My Romance," from the 1936 Rodgers and Hart show Jumbo. Symington's "My Romance" is just as good as her "Spring Is Here," well accompanied by the eminent Cy Walter and ensemble. She was a robust alto with excellent diction and intonation, and her singing was simple but heartfelt. Symington includes the verse of "My Romance," which was unfamiliar to me. (Sorry - this side has quite a bit of rustle.)

Her other two recordings come from the 1937 album A Night at the Waldorf, which also includes items from the bands of Leo Reisman and Xavier Cugat. For the album, Symington performed two unfamiliar songs, accompanied by Reisman. 

"La Petite Amie" is a charming number from a 1937 operetta by the French composer Georges Van Parys. Symington sings it in French. The operetta was co-composed by Philippe Parès, but the label credits Roger Bernstein, so that's a bit of a muddle.

The second side is a song called "Blackman's Lullaby" by Newt Oliphant. Like other such songs of the time, it was well-intentioned but is now embarrassingly dated. An excellent arrangement, though, with Reisman making eloquent use of a string section. These contrasting songs show the range of Symington's repertoire.

Symington's career in music ended not long after these records were made, when she moved to St. Louis with her husband, who became the head of Emerson Electric.

Fred and Ginger's Commercial Recordings for 'Top Hat'

I thought I might follow up my recent post of the Carefree commercial recordings with the singles from Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers' most famous film, 1935's Top Hat. 

As with Carefree, Fred and Ginger's records were done for two different companies, Brunswick (Fred) and Decca (Ginger). And as before, Astaire recorded more songs than Rogers - five to four.

Fred was, of course, a far more accomplished singer than Ginger, who could barely carry a tune. I will say that she seems more at ease here than she did three years later, at the Carefree sessions. Even so, her discs can be considered more souvenirs than masterworks of recording.

But who wouldn't want to have a chance to sing these glorious Irving Berlin tunes, written for the film. Both Astaire and Rogers have a go at the famous "Cheek to Cheek" and "The Piccolino," a novelty number that despite being set in Italy has a Latin beat. Ginger liberally rewrites the melodic line of "Cheek to Cheek."

There also are separate recordings of "No Strings," which in the film marks the nadir of the two's relationship. Both also do "Isn't This a Lovely Day," which accompanies their reconciliation. It's one of Berlin's best songs and Astaire's best vocals - also a good effort by Rogers.

The only song recorded by Fred but not by Ginger was, logically, "Top Hat," another iconic Astaire number. Both this number and "No Strings" include the sound of his remarkably rhythmic dancing.

For "Isn't This a Lovely Day" and "Top Hat" Fred is accompanied by Johnny Green, who in his mid-20s was already a well-known songwriter and a popular bandleader who backed Astaire both on records and the radio.

"Isn't This a Lovely Day?"

Astaire's other songs were conducted by Leo Reisman, who made a great many records in the 1920s and 30s. (FYI - the flip side of Astaire's "The Piccolino" is a Reisman instrumental, not from the film and not included here.)

Rogers' backings were by Decca bandleader Victor Young, who would soon relocate to Hollywood and find greater fame in the movies.

According to the Discography of American Historical Recordings, the Rogers 78s were issued only in England. I had to work from lossy originals for her recordings of "Isn't This a Lovely Day" and "No Strings." All other items were cleaned up from lossless originals found on Internet Archive. The sound is in general quite good.

The download includes many posters, lobby cards and stills from the film. 

The great Top Hat ensemble - Edward Everett Horton, Helen Broderick, Eric Blore, Ginger and Fred, Erik Rhodes