Songs from the 'My Sister Eileen' Musicals

When Ruth McKenney started writing about moving to New York with her sister Eileen, she began a multimedia enterprise that spawned New Yorker articles, a book, a play, a film, a Broadway musical, a Hollywood musical, and a television show. And perhaps some other things I've missed.

Today we'll concentrate on the musical offspring of the My Sister Eileen stories - the 1953 Broadway production Wonderful Town, and the 1955 Hollywood film issued under the original title. The two musicals had different scores - Wonderful Town by Leonard Bernstein, Betty Comden and Adolph Green; My Sister Eileen by Jule Styne and Leo Robin. (Columbia Pictures apparently didn't want to pay for the Broadway score.)

Wonderful Town has sired a series of albums, including one by the original cast and another from the 1958 television production, both with Rosalind Russell as Ruth. There was no cast album from the film, possibly because the score was too skimpy. In that production, only Betty Garrett (Ruth) was known as a singer. (Yes, I realize that Jack Lemmon issued a few vocal LPs.) For me, the high point of the film is not a song but a spectacular dance duel between Bob Fosse and Tommy Rall, who were competing for Eileen.

This post is not concerned with any recordings by the original casts; rather it examines the records that appeared in the market covering songs from these musicals. Most are from Wonderful Town, but the few from My Sister Eileen are worth hearing as well.

Wonderful Town

Let's start with Wonderful Town and my favorite song from either score - "Ohio," in a heartfelt version by the superb Lisa Kirk. The work has witty lyrics by Comden and Green and a loping tune (possibly inspired by Gershwin's "Bidin' My Time") that suggests Bernstein thought that Ohio is out West where the tumbleweeds blow. Rosalind Russell and Edith (Edie) Adams introduced the song.

The Hi-Lo's (Gene Puerling, Bob Strasen, Clark Burroughs, Bob Morse)
and Lisa Kirk

"A Quiet Girl" is a hymn-like Bernstein creation here in a uncharacteristically restrained - and very beautiful - reading by the Hi-Lo's. Frank Comstock suggests the composer's debt to Aaron Copland in his arrangement. This song was done first by George Gaynes as Bob Baker, Ruth's eventual love interest.

In Wonderful Town, Eileen betrayed her feelings for Frank in the excellent and unaccountably neglected "A Little Bit in Love." Here we have the talented Sandy Stewart several years before her big hit "My Coloring Book." The song comes from an Epic EP devoted to songs from the score.

Sandy Stewart and Lena Horne

The most popular song from either musical was possibly "It's Love," here in a typically polished version from the great Lena Horne. Edie Adams and George Gaynes introduced it.

One of Bernstein's most felicitous inspirations was the "Wrong Note Rag," near the end of the Wonderful Town score. Pianist Jack Fina, who made his name with Freddy Martin, has some fun with the piece, although he seems almost pained by the wrong notes.

Jack Fina and Arthur Fiedler

Finally, we have a medley of the Wonderful Town songs from the Boston Pops and Arthur Fiedler. The conductor was more attuned to musical humor than Fina, and he nails the manic quality of the "Wrong Note Rag." Arranger Dave Terry comes back to it a few times in this exceptionally well-done compilation. It comes from the LP Curtain Going Up, available newly remastered on my other blog.

My Sister Eileen

We switch to My Sister Eileen for "There's Nothin' Like Love," here in a effective arrangement by Ralph Flanagan that features baritone saxophonist Stan Webb and the smooth vocalist Johnny Amaroso, who also played trumpet in the band. On film the singers were Bob Fosse (Frank) and Janet Leigh (Eileen).

Art Mooney and Johnny Amaroso

Next, some old-style corn called "Give Me a Band and My Baby," just the thing for Art Mooney and his crew, who specialized in such material. The bandleader's biggest success was "I'm Looking Over a Four-Leaf Clover" in 1948. His hits in 1955 were "Honey-Babe," a march from the film Battle Cry, and "Nuttin' for Christmas," the lament of a juvenile Barry Gordon.

Sammy Davis, Jr.

Finally, Sammy Davis, Jr. does wonders with the Styne-Robin "It's Bigger Than You and Me," a crass tune that the vulpine Bob Baker (Jack Lemmon) croons to Ruth (Betty Garrett). With Davis, arranger Sy Oliver provides a brassy introduction, followed by Sam embarking on some jaunty vocalese that sets the tone for the number.

These selections were cleaned up from my collection and Internet Archive.

About the McKenneys

Ruth and Eileen McKenney

Ruth (1911-72) and Eileen (1913-40) McKenney grew up in East Cleveland, Ohio. Ruth wrote her stories for The New Yorker in the 1930s. They became a book in 1938. She was more multi-dimensional than the film suggests, being socially aware and a member of the Communist Party for quite a few years.

Eileen moved to the West Coast in the 1930s and worked as a Disney artist. She married the writer Nathanael West (Miss Lonelyhearts, The Day of the Locust). She and West were killed in an automobile accident a few days before the play My Sister Eileen opened on Broadway.

Ruth's daughter believed her mother never quite recovered from Eileen's death.

LINK

Ralph Flanagan's First Recordings

Ralph Flanagan became known for reviving the Glenn Miller sound via his recordings for RCA Victor. Not too long ago, we explored the bandleader's first Victors, along with the promotional records that the company produced in support.

That all took place in 1949 - but Flanagan had been active in the recording studio a few years before for a smaller record company, and utilizing the same Milleresque approach.

This post presents those recordings, which Rainbow Records issued via a 78 album in April 1947. The album cover above pushes the Miller angle and barely mentions Flanagan. This made sense - Miller was famous and beloved - particularly so following his wartime demise. Flanagan was an obscure arranger, who I believe was working for Tony Pastor at the time.

Releasing the album may have been one of the best business decisions that Rainbow ever made - although it was not without its headaches. The recordings were made either in 1946 or early 1947, at a time when Rainbow was releasing the likes of Marshall Young ("Mah-Zell Means Good Luck"), the Auditones and the Gomez Rhumba Orchestra. Fine artists, I'm sure, but not the type to set the charts ablaze.

Ralph Flanagan

But the Miller tribute did get noticed. It was the subject of praise, including a laudatory review in the May 24, 1947 Billboard, followed by the headache - a June lawsuit from the Miller estate, claiming that Rainbow was trying to deceive the public. It's not clear what happened to the suit, but Rainbow kept on selling the Flanagan records, even reissuing them in 1954 to capitalize on Hollywood's Glenn Miller Story. (There was a mini-industry of Miller tributes and reissues at the time.)

The Rainbow set was a commercial success right out of the gate - Cash Box reported that it was enjoying "phenomenal sales." But what of the music? It's pretty good - well played by a band salted with former Miller sidemen, including sax players Al Klink and Ernie Caceres and trumpeter Bobby Hackett. Flanagan was a gifted mimic of Miller's style, so most aficionados will enjoy the set. I enjoy it myself, despite a few too many "boo-wah" derby-fanning brass effects.

1954 EP cover

The download includes the artwork for the original album, which only mentions Hackett in passing and credits only one solo to him, on "Beale St. Blues." Later on, when the he became known as a soloist via Jackie Gleason's mood music LPs, the label credits were changed to read "Ralph Flanagan and Orchestra Featuring Bobby Hackett." The trumpeter also is mentioned prominently on the cover of the LP and EP reissues.

In assembling the album, Flanagan's idea was to adapt Miller's set-building rubric of "something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue," without repeating anything Miller had recorded. The oldies were Kern's "Make Believe" and Berlin's "Always," the new ones Flanagan's own "Low Gear" and "Come On In" (the latter a quick rewrite of "In the Mood"), the borrowed items Tommy Dorsey's theme song "I'm Getting Sentimental Over You" and Benny Goodman's "Goodbye," and the blue numbers the "St. Louis Blues" and "Basin St. Blues." While it is literally true that Miller had not recorded any of these songs, the "St. Louis Blues March" was one of the AAF band's best-known pieces.

I transferred four of the songs from my copy of the reissue EP, and cleaned up the other four from Internet Archive transfers. The sound is very good indeed - especially with ambient stereo processing.

Ralph Flanagan Intros His 1949 Records

Bandleader Ralph Flanagan was a hot commodity in 1949. So hot that RCA Victor records gave him a tremendous publicity push. After the success of his first single on the revived Bluebird label, Victor decided to release four Flanagan singles at once - and a special promotional record along with them.

This promo was designed for airplay. In it, Flanagan introduces each of his eight new single sides. The idea was that the disc jockey would introduce Flanagan, and the bandleader would then tee up each of his records. The whole thing would add up to a 30-minute show, which I've recreated (sans the DJ intro) for this post.

Victor founded its Bluebird subsidiary as a budget line in 1932, the depth of the Great Depression. It was highly successful with both genre artists and pop attractions, including the Glenn Miller band.

Deejay George Sanders interviews Ralph Flanagan

RCA folded the label after World War II only to bring it back in 1949. Appropriately, one of its first signings was Flanagan, one of several Miller-clone bands that popped up after the war. Interestingly, Victor also employed the official Glenn Miller "ghost" band, led by Tex Beneke, but Tex wanted to develop his own sound, so by 1950 he and the Miller estate parted ways.

Flanagan had no such compunctions, having recorded a Miller tribute for the small Rainbow label as far back as 1947.

Imitating the Miller sound wasn't considered a bad thing at the time - one of the many positive reviews in the download enthused that the Flanagan band was "styled to perfection after the mood and manner of the late Glenn Miller crew." It was so successful that other labels considered starting their own Miller-style bands - and Decca did so with former Miller arranger Jerry Gray.

Flanagan's was quite a good band, with excellent arrangements by the leader and sterling section work. Several Miller alums played on this date, including Billy Butterfield, Al Klink and Ernie Caceres. Also on hand were such stalwarts as Jimmy Maxwell, Buddy Morrow, and Bob Haggart. (There is a photo of the band in this post on my other blog.) 

Harry Prime

Each 78 release was designed to have one new song backed by a standard. The new song would be a cover of a tune that was becoming popular. As Flanagan mentions in one of his introductions, the idea was to give a dance-band slant to songs that were best known for hit versions by pop vocalists. One example is "Don't Cry, Joe," a Sinatra tune that here is presented in a danceable fashion by Flanagan, with a good vocal by Harry Prime.

Another, less successful item is "Whispering Hope," a hit by Jo Stafford and Gordon MacRae, which suits neither Flanagan nor Prime.

Harry had been featured by Randy Brooks, Tommy Dorsey and Jack Fina, but his greatest success was with Flanagan from 1949-54. He had a lovely voice, and while he was variable as an interpreter, at his best he was most pleasing. The Flanagan band did tend to quick tempos, and on such fare as "Tell Me Why" Prime lags behind the beat, suggesting that he might be happier with a little less pep from the bandleader's baton.

This 2005 interview with Prime (who died in 2017) suggests that he didn't much like Flanagan, who was uncomfortable with fame, even though the two had some success together.

Perhaps the most interesting items in this set are the instrumentals. Flanagan turned Victor Herbert's operetta aria "My Hero" into an unlikely instrumental success. His own riff tune "Swing to 45" is a vehicle for excellent solos, presumably by trumpeter Butterfield and tenor sax man Al Klink. (The title "Swing to 45" is likely a nod to Victor's new 45-rpm format. This transfer comes from a 78, then the standard in radio studios.)

All in all, it's a most pleasing program, in excellent, vivid sound. The originals were remastered from the gigantic Internet Archive collection. The download includes many articles and reviews.

Ralph Flanagan and his band have appeared many times on my other blog.

The "swing to 45" - 1950 Billboard ad

A Pajama Party with Julius La Rosa!

Julius La Rosa was not with RCA Victor records very long (only in 1956-57), but he was popular enough to be chosen as the face of the promotional efforts for the label's spring 1957 release. Considering that Elvis Presley's first LP was among those releases, this was quite an honor.

As part of its campaign, RCA saw fit to release a promotional EP and call it the "Julius La Rosa Pajama Party," an almost excessively odd idea until you consider that it was co-sponsored by the folks from Schrank's Dreamware, a pajama company. You received the EP with each purchase of a nightie. Also on board for the promotion were Canada Dry ginger ale and Coty cosmetics.

The Life magazine ad below ties all these themes together, while displaying La Rosa's LP along with those from Perry Como, Eddie Fisher and Elvis, who do not appear on the promotional record. The EPs in the background are by Ralph Flanagan and Teddi King, who are represented on the promo.

I suppose I could imagine La Rosa, Flanagan and King as entertainment at a pajama party. But Bob Scobey and his clunky Frisco Jazz Band? Dennis Farnon and his "Mother Magoo Suite"? The Three Suns and Pipe Organ?? Having been a young person in good standing during the 1950s, I cannot conceive of any situation that would have caused me to play the any of these records for my friends.

Anyway, I do love the portrait of Julie on the wall. And I especially love his spoken introductions to each number, the texts of which must have been thrust in front of him about 30 seconds before they was recorded. Only Bing Crosby and occasionally Frank Sinatra could make such scripted nonsense work - but nonetheless I find it endearing. The truth is, I avidly enjoy all such promotional items.

The download includes RCA's trade ad for this promotion, which utilizes the grim-looking La Rosa portrait from his sole Victor LP. Please head on over to my main blog for a transfer of that LP along with 12 sides taken from Julie's single output for the label.

Ralph Flanagan - Top Pops

This EP is something of a follow-up to the two Ralph Flanagan LPs I recently featured on my other blog.

"Top Pops" presents four popular songs of the time (1953-54). "Stranger in Paradise" is from the 1953 Broadway show Kismet (but of course was derived from one of Borodin's Polovtsian Dances). "From the Vine Came the Grape" was a hit for the Gaylords. Lou Monte had a popular version of "Darktown Strutters' Ball" - Italian style, as was his shtick (to mix ethnicities).  "Make Love to Me" was brought to renewed popularity by Jo Stafford in 1954. It was originally "Tin Roof Blues", a 1923 New Orleans Rhythm Kings recording.

The EP features the familiar Flanagan sound, derived from Glenn Miller, but nonetheless attractive. The songs are well recorded and the pressing is good.