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.

Martha Raye Swings It

Today we hear from Bing Crosby's other co-star in Waikiki Wedding, Martha Raye. We have her Brunswick recording of "(If You Can't Sing It) You'll Have to Swing It," also known by the title "Mr. Paganini." This song is from an earlier Crosby opus called Rhythm on the Range, which was Raye's first feature film.

Those of you who remember Raye probably think of her as a comic actor. She populated quite a number of films during the 30s and 40s. But she was literally born into vaudeville (backstage during one of her parents' shows), and had experience as a band singer and in nightclubs. As far as I can tell, this Brunswick 78 was her first issued recording. It dates from May 1939, three years after the film was made - and well after Ella Fitzgerald had a hit with the song.

In Rhythm on the Range, Raye is supported (if that is the right word) by a strange assortment of musicians including trumpeter Louis Prima, novelty musician Bob Burns and his home-made "bazooka," and the Sons of the Pioneers. It's too bad they couldn't have enlisted Leopold Stokowski to conduct.

Louis Prima, Martha Raye, Bob Burns

The accompaniment on the 78 is more straightforward, being under the direction of the young David (here Dave) Rose. Rose and Raye were married at the time, and made records for both Brunswick and Columbia in 1939. All were compiled on an Epic LP in 1954 (with "Mr. Paganini" in an alternate take).

The flip side of the Brunswick disc is a peculiar swing version of "Ol' Man River," which must have made Jerome Kern's gray hair stand on end.

Raye did not make many other records. There are a few songs on Decca and Mercury, a 1949 LP on the Discovery label that I have just reuploaded on my other blog, and a later joint LP with Carol Burnett, which I also have.

Vocal maven Will Friedwald takes Martha Raye very seriously as a jazz artist. His Biographical Guide to the Great Jazz and Pop Singers has a chapter delving into her slim recorded opus in great detail. Will loves her singing; I much prefer someone like Shirley Ross who is less histrionic.