Ray Anthony Plugs His New Record

The year is 1957, and bandleader Ray Anthony is looking for a hit. His band is still popular, he was appearing in films - that year, This Could Be the Night - he is making albums and is on TV. But chart hits were hard to come by.

It wouldn't be too long before his version of Henry Mancini's Peter Gunn theme would make the best-seller lists, but in the meantime, he was issuing novelties like today's pairing - "Cello-Phane," written by Anthony himself (supposedly), and "The Lonely Trumpet" by Hugo Strasser and Claus Ritter.

Capitol was behind this new release all the way. There was the full-page ad in Billboard seen at right, a promotional tour by the bandleader, and a promo record, shipped with the fond hope that deejays would play Ray's quick introductions to the two songs.

In brief, he remarks in the intros that "Cello-Phane" is interesting because it utilizes a cello, and "The Lonely Trumpet" notable because it features a Hammond organ.

"Cello-Phane" turns out to be "In the Mood" played on a cello with wordless vocal accompaniment - and a trumpet break, of course. Ray did not write "In the Mood"; in fact, it's hard to figure out who did. The hit Glenn Miller record said the author was Joe Garland, but Wingy Manone claimed the riff was based on his "Tar Paper Stomp" of 1930.

"The Lonely Trumpet" was by the then-young German bandleader Hugo Strasser. It also is attributed to Claus Ritter, but he was a lyricist and this version does not use the words. Here, the lonely trumpeter is of course Ray himself. Not sure who the lonely organist - or cellist - are.

As far as I can tell, the disc did not make the charts, so the promotion effort was in vain.

Wonderfully, I believe Ray is still with us, at age 103.

By the way, the This Could Be the Night soundtrack I mentioned above is newly remastered in ambient stereo, with new graphics and complete scans. It features the chanteuse Julie Wilson along with Ray's band.

LINK to Cello-Phane and The Lonely Trumpet

Lonely Ray Anthony with then-wife Mamie Van Doren

Ray Anthony on Parade

Ray Anthony started his band in the Glenn Miller mode, but grew out of the Miller manner into a more varied approach as the years went by. This 1954 EP adopts the Dixieland style, collecting single sides from 1949, 1950 and 1953.

The bandleader had for some time included Bob Crosby-style big-band Dixieland in his book, probably in an attempt to recognize the popularity of the Dixieland revival that began in the 1940s. That movement had room for such rediscovered musicians as Kid Ory and George Lewis, as well as the Chicago school of Bud Freeman and others and such revivalist bands as Turk Murphy.

Anthony himself has a credible Dixie solo on the first tune, "Darktown Strutters' Ball," with phrasing reminiscent of Louis Armstrong and Bobby Hackett. "When the Saints Go Marching In" adopts a quasi-live ambiance most likely created in the studio with a dubbed-in audience. Anthony himself leads the singing - or, more accurately, shouting - of the lyrics.

While bands such as Anthony's tried to co-opt the Dixieland style, the musicians also tended to look down on Dixieland ensembles, so they tended to kid the Dixie style at the same time as they tried to capitalize on its popularity. This can be heard on "Spaghetti Rag," where pianist Eddie Ryan uses what sounds like a tack piano, which is associated with the corniest versions of the style, later giving rise to such phenomena as "Crazy Otto" and his ilk, with the bowler hats and sleeve garters. Yikes.

Anthony would go on to record an entire Big Band Dixieland LP in 1955, including a remake of the "When the Saints Go Marching In."

This EP is a companion to a post on my main blog of Anthony's 1951 LP Houseparty Hop.

"Thanks, Fred, for congratulations" (?) - a 1954 Billboard ad