Five Big Movie Songs from 1957

Here's another one of those EPs that collate the current hits into one hopefully irresistible package. This one comes from the Columbia folks, who in 1957 had strong (or at least reasonably successful) songs from four notable films.

But wait - the headline above says five movie songs, not four. That's because the hit from the film Love in the Afternoon wasn't the theme but an ancient waltz called "Fascination" that was used on the soundtrack. So I've added that tune to the package - in three version, two from the hit record and one from the soundtrack EP.

But back to the Columbia EP. Their set starts off with the label's big hope from August of 1957 - the title song from An Affair to Remember. It was entrusted to the golden pipes of Vic Damone, who the year before had celebrated his new contract with the label by turning My Fair Lady's "On the Street Where You Live" into a big chart hit.

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"An Affair to Remember" has the soaring quality that Vic (and Percy Faith) did so well, and the record is a winner, although not as memorable as his famed rendition of the My Fair Lady anthem. The Affair music is by the veteran Harry Warren with lyrics by Harold Adamson and Leo McCarey, the film's director. In the film, Vic's singing is heard over the opening credits.

We move from Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr's affair to the Old West - Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas and the Gunfight at O.K. Corral. This legendary tale brought forth a typically robust ballad from the master Dimitri Tiomkin (see the celebration of his music here), working with the great lyricist Ned Washington.

Who else but Frankie Laine could supply the vocal? He is fantastic, but as I wrote a while back, "Laine's inimitable singing was a popular success, although the record did not become as iconic as High Noon."

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The next song is a decided contrast - for A Face in the Crowd, director Elia Kazan used folk singer Tom Glazer to provide the music, with lyrics from screenwriter Budd Schulberg. I don't believe the Hi-Lo's single of the title song was a hit, but it is nonetheless a good record.

The group had just moved to Columbia and was enjoying increasing success with its records. The vocal arrangements of Gene Puerling became highly influential, and the penetrating tenor voice of Clark Burroughs was a distinguishing feature of their sound.

The EP's fourth song is sung by the young Jerry Vale, who already had been at Columbia for several years by the time he was tasked with Love in the Afternoon's title song. The film features 56-year-old Gary Cooper romancing 28-year-old Audrey Hepburn. This had to take place in the afternoon so it wouldn't interfere with Coop's early bedtime.

The film had a title song by Matty Malneck, with Johnny Mercer lyrics, which Vale handled well on the single release. The biggest hit from the film, however, was written in 1904. More about that below.

LINK to the Columbia EP

Music from Love in the Afternoon

In Love in the Afternoon, Coop is followed everywhere by a band of gypsies (not the Hendrix band, although that would have been interesting). This troupe provides the soundtrack.

Perhaps realizing that it would have limited appeal, the Verve label put the music out on an EP, and a short one at that. Its three songs are "Love in the Afternoon," "Hot Paprika" and "Fascination." The latter was the hit from the score, written way back when by Fermo Dante Marchetti. ("Hot Paprika," like the title music, is by Malneck.)

"Fascination" caught the public's fancy, and the biggest hit was by vocalist Jane Morgan, singing new lyrics by Dick Manning.

The gypsies perhaps being otherwise occupied, Morgan's record company, Kapp, brought in a group called the Troubadors as backing. The resulting single has Jane's vocal on one side and the Troubadors whistling on the other.

Kapp presented this to the public complete with the picture sleeve below showing Coop in ascot and Hepburn in pigtails - "old chic and young chick," as I remarked when I first posted this nearly 17 years ago. 

All recordings are remastered in ambient stereo.

LINK to Love in the Afternoon EP and Fascination single

Milton Berle Sings, and We Cry 'Uncle!'

On my other blog, we have been delving into the composer songbooks recorded by Lee Wiley in the 1940s, starting with Rodgers and Hart, so now it's time for an opposing viewpoint, as provided by comic Milton Berle in 1947. At the time, "Uncle Miltie," as he was known, was popular on the radio, and in a few years would become the first big star of television. When Victor issued this set of R&H tunes, radio was bringing the nation the Milton Berle Show, featuring such comedy stalwarts as Arnold Stang, Pert Kelton, Jack Albertson and Arthur Q. Bryan, the voice of Elmer Fudd.

So Berle could do comedy. He was not, however, known for his singing voice, and that was a liability when his was the name above the title on a Rodgers and Hart album. Miltie did have Broadway experience, but his singing resume was scant. He had appeared in the Earl Carroll's Vanities of 1932, but did not sing. He did have a singing part in the short-lived 1934 show Saluta. In the Ziegfeld Follies of 1943, he sang a Harold Rome song called "The Micromaniac." Later on, he was one of the producers of, but not a performer in, the Walter Kent-Kim Gannon musical of Seventeen.

Betty Garrett

For the R&H album he was called upon to duet with Betty Garrett in "This Can't Be Love" and "Ev'rything I've Got" and do a solo on "Mountain Greenery." He does OK with the by-play in the first song, but quickly dispenses with the melody when called on to sing. He is acceptable in "Ev'rything I've Got," a comic song, but someone who could sing would be better. "Mountain Greenery" is beyond him in every way.

Fortunately, three good performers are along for the program. Betty Garrett is very well suited to her solo take of "The Lady Is a Tramp." I have heard her in steadier voice than in "Manhattan," and she doesn't have the top note.

Vic Damone and Marie Greene

But on "Manhattan" she had the good fortune of being paired with the young Vic Damone, who was making his first records (at Berle's behest). He's in great voice, and singing in a higher register than he did later on. You'll also notice this in "There's a Small Hotel," which he shares with Marie Greene. She was a singing actress who made some recordings for Signature and Columbia, and with Shep Fields and Les Brown.

Vic and Marie also duet on "Falling in Love with Love." Marie solos on "Here in My Arms."

In short, the album is enjoyable, if you can tolerate Berle.

Bonus: "The Milton Berle Polka"

I've added a bonus consisting of a 1949 record called "The Milton Berle Polka," presumably honoring the comic's eminence in the nascent television industry. The artists are the Marlin Sisters, in reality Goldie and Gittile Malavsky. They were heard on my other blog supporting Frankie Yankovic in his classic recording of the "Blue Skirt Waltz." The Berle record is an enjoyable example of that elusive genre, the polka exploitation song.

Celebrating Milton Berle made the Marlin Sisters glum 

The Berle/R&H cover at top was reused from a Dinah Shore Gershwin set of 1945, which can be found here, in a newly revised version in ambient stereo. I wonder if Victor used the cover design for other sets.

The Berle R&H album was remastered from Internet Archive originals. The sound is fine.

LINK

Completing the Vic Damone Silvertone 78s

Vic Damone c1946-8

Some time ago on my main blog I posted most of the recordings that the great singer Vic Damone made for Sears' Silvertone Record Club circa 1946-7. These were among his first records, along with the three songs he contributed to an early 1947 Rodgers and Hart album and perhaps some of his Mercury output.

Those Silvertone singles came from my collection. Now I have found the remaining three Silvertone sides on Internet Archive and am presenting them here to compete the set of 14.

The new items start with "My Blue Heaven" (with Ted Dale's orchestra), which was the first Damone Silvertone. Also in the set are two with Tutti Camarata - "Something to Remember You By" and "Dancing in the Dark."

These all demonstrate that Vic was an accomplished singer right from the start, although certainly under the spell of Sinatra. The sound is good, but note that the single with Camarata has quite a bit of surface noise.

The recordings I posted previously are in better shape, and I've newly remastered them in ambient stereo.

From the 1947 Sears Christmas catalog

The Silvertone Record Club was a high-toned pop and light classical label that Sears operated from 1946-49. 

From my earlier post: "I believe that Sears contracted with Mercury for its Damone output ... Many of the songs first issued on Silvertone show up in his Mercury discography as well. It seems likely that the masters reverted to Mercury after the Sears imprint went under.

"So why transfer these if some can be found on Mercury issues? First, because the majority come from 12-inch masters, and I believe that Mercury shortened them for subsequent release. Second, not all of them were re-released. And most importantly, they are fine examples of Damone's balladry, and thus enjoyable in and of themselves."

LINK

Vic Damone and Patti Page Chat and Sing

By 1948, Patti Page and Vic Damone, both 20 years old, had emerged as stars for the young Mercury record company. Each had enjoyed a hit or two - Patti with "Confess" and Vic with "I Have But One Heart," among other songs. So the label decided to put them together for a few numbers. 

For promotion, Mercury sent a special record to disk jockeys that contained a scripted dialogue between the two, laboriously called "Patti Page and Vic Damone Interview Each Other for Your Radio Show." This post brings you that three-and-a-half minute conversation, along with the four sides that it was designed to promote.

The first record paired "Isn't It Romantic" with "Say Something Sweet to Your Sweetheart." The former is a wonderful Rodgers and Hart song written for Maurice Chevalier and Jeanette MacDonald to introduce in the 1932 film Love Me Tonight. The Damone-Page duet was stimulated by the 1948 Veronica Lake-Billy De Wolfe musical Isn't It Romantic, which reintroduced the song but otherwise had tunes by Livingston and Evans. Vic is fine here, but Patti tends to sing not to him but to the microphone.

Patti and Vic gyrate and sing

"Say Something Sweet" is a strikingly old-fashioned soft-shoe from Sid Tepper and Roy Brodsky - not unpleasant, actually, although Vic tries too hard.

This record was a fairly early example of overdubbing, with the orchestral backings pre-recorded by English bandleader Eric Robinson. It came out in October 1948, and did achieve some popularity.

Damone and Page were back in the studio in December for a session led by Mercury A&R chief Mitch Miller. The first song is "You Was!", written by bandleader Sonny Burke with lyricist Paul Francis Webster. It's a number that was popular with the record companies - Doris Day and Buddy Clark recorded it, along with Peggy Lee and Dean Martin, and several others.

The flip side was "Yes, Yes, Yes!", with Damone sounding a great deal like Sinatra. Page is fine here, and the harmony passages are good, but Vic struggles with the melody line. I can't tell you much about this particular song, but I did look to see if there were other songs with the same title. I discover two different tunes titled "Yes, Yes, Yes" with no exclamation point (Larry Fotine and Walt Solek), "Yes! Yes! Yes!" with three exclamation points (Blind Blake and His Royal Victoria Calypsos), and the final variation, "Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes!" with four (Joe "Fingers" Carr).

The promo record came out a bit after the release of the second single - during the conversation, Patti and Vic make reference to the weather getting warmer, so late winter or spring of 1949.

Cash Box, January 22, 1949

Mercury Artists Introduce Their 1948 Christmas Records

My friend Ernie brought this promotional record to my attention, and he has himself posted the contents in two of his giant Christmas collections. But I wanted to post it, too, because the records that the Mercury artists introduce have all appeared on my main blog at one time or another. But you don't have to go chasing them - I've packaged the bundle together in this single post.

The singers involved are Vic Damone, John Laurenz, Frankie Laine and Eddy Howard, all leading artists for Mercury in 1948. This particular promo record went out to disk jockeys with hopes that they would play the contents as introductions to the vocalists' respective Christmas offerings.

First, Vic Damone promotes his coupling of "White Christmas" and "Christmas Morn," which I included as part of a Damone holiday collection not long ago.

John Laurenz

John Laurenz is up next. He is the least known of the quartet, although he made quite a few records for Mercury in the late 40s. Laurenz was a warm vocalist, sort of a combination of Bing Crosby and Buddy Clark, with some Perry Como thrown in.

His record is "A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year," which appeared in a holiday compilation back in 2018. I hope to prepare a post devoted to Laurenz's other recordings for the main blog in the new year. 

Frankie Laine promotes his "Tara Talara Tala" and "You're All I Want for Christmas." My other blog shared these tunes back in 2016 as part of a Mercury holiday LP that also included the Eddy Howard selections in this group ("The Christmas Song" and "I'll Be Home for Christmas") - and the Damone items for that matter.

Billboard, November 13, 1948

Eddy Howard was a singing bandleader whose Christmas songs seem to have been issued first in 1947 on the Majestic label. Mercury must have purchased the master recordings, as it sometimes did with smaller labels that were folding.

Our final selection is the flip side of the Mercury promo record, an advance copy of Vic Damone's next record, "My Heart's in the Middle of July," scheduled for a January 1 release date. That song is of seasonal interest - and it's good - so it makes for a nice conclusion to this program.

Thanks again to Ernie, and happy holidays to all!

Vic Damone's SIngles from 'Rich, Young and Pretty'

The soundtrack record for the 1951 musical comedy Rich, Young and Pretty (the title describes star Jane Powell) found a home on the main blog many years ago and is still available.

The film has a nice score by Nicholas Brodszky and Sammy Cahn, and the tunes are well presented by Powell and Danielle Darrieux. (Despite being only 12 years older than Powell, Darrieux played her mother.) The glowering father was Wendell Corey, mercifully left off the soundtrack LP. (Would that the same were the case for Fernando Lamas.)

Also missing from the soundtrack album is juvenile lead Vic Damone, who certainly can sing and does so well in the film. Presumably M-G-M could not get the rights to include him in its LP from his record company, Mercury.

Mercury instead had Damone do his own versions of three songs from the score. And while Powell handles "Wonder Why" and "I Can See You" beautifully in the film, it's great to have Vic's versions on a single.

Damone also offers one song that isn't on the soundtrack LP: "How D'Ya Like Your Eggs in the Morning?" In the film, this tune is delivered by the Four Freshmen as singing waiters in a peculiar breakfast boîte where the patrons cook their own meals at their tables. Young lovers Damone and Powell endure predictable mishaps.

The Four Freshmen march away from Damone and Powell

It's actually a catchy and clever song, and racy for the period ("How d'ya like your eggs in the morning? / I like mine with a kiss."). Damone's single is highly effective.

Apparently Vic or the Mercury folks couldn't find another Rich, Young and Pretty song they liked: they backed "Eggs in the Morning," appropriately, with "In the Cool, Cool, Cool of the Evening." Hoagy Carmichael and Johnny Mercer contributed that number to Bing's Here Comes the Groom, another 1951 musical. Damone's reading, aided by the Pied Pipers, is exceptionally good.

Jane and Vic canoodle while Wendell fumes

Vic had the benefit of backings and presumably arrangements from George Siravo, a favorite around here who has appeared on the main blog several times - as has Damone. 

The singer was to be paired with Jane Powell twice more - in 1954's Athena and 1955's Hit the Deck. Vic appears on both soundtrack LPs - Athena can be found here.

The download includes many posters, lobby cards and stills from Rich, Young and Pretty. The recordings were cleaned up from originals found on Internet Archive.

Vic Damone's 'Haunted Heart'

Here is a quick supplement to my recent post about the 1948 musical Inside U.S.A. It is Vic Damone's take on the big ballad from that show, "Haunted Heart."

Our friend David Federman asked for this version, saying it is his favorite of the beautiful Dietz-Schwartz song. To me, the prize goes to Buddy Clark, but I won't argue the matter. Both are wonderful - as is the Perry Como single. (The Buddy and Perry versions are in the Inside U.S.A. download.)

Damone is backed by Salvador "Tutti" Camarata on "Haunted Heart." Toots had already dispensed with his first name on record labels, styling himself as "Camarata," a la Liberace. Regardless, he was a fine arranger.

The flip side is "Tell Me a Story," an OK pop tune of the day also recorded by Sammy Kaye. Leading the band is Mitch Miller, then the A&R head of Mercury before moving the Columbia a few years later.

The young Vic Damone

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Vic Damone and Ralph Marterie

I recently was preparing a reup of one of trumpeter Ralph Marterie's LPs for my other blog, and enjoyed the listening experience so much, I pulled out a few other Marterie records for sharing.

One is this EP that paired the bandleader with the wonderful vocalist Vic Damone in four romantic tunes. This is presented as a "Sorority Serenade," reminiscent of the "Freshman-Sophomore Frolics" and the "Junior-Senior Prom" that were the names of two Ralph Flanagan LPs I recently offered on the 10-inch blog.

The songs are all associated with well known recordings - "Serenade in Blue" with the Glenn Miller-Ray Eberle recording, and the others with Frank Sinatra (at least in my mind). Damone stands up well to comparisons, his sole lapse being a unwelcome (and insecure) venture into falsetto.

The EP is from circa 1954 - "Serenade in Blue" and "That Old Feeling" were issued as a single in late 1953. The sound is excellent. The cover features dual disembodied heads depicting the principals, and even a bonus pair of severed heads from depiction of the sorority soiree.

Vic Damone

A lovelorn Vic Damone for you today, calling up Mrs. Jones only to find that her lovely daughter has chosen another. A sad tale, and all too frequent - particularly in 20th century pop songs.

Yes, "Hello Mrs. Jones, Is Mary There?" may have a trite lyric, but that doesn't keep Damone from giving the song his considerable best, and the result is completely convincing.

The record dates from early 1955 - my copy is old store stock and comes complete with an inventory tag telling me they received it on February 25. As far as I can determine, it was not a big seller.

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The flip side is a lesser song, "Foolishly," also done well by Damone, whose output was consistently excellent.

"Hello Mrs. J" also was recorded in the UK by Dickie Valentine, then at the height of his popularity. He had many songs on the charts that year - this not among them.

Conductor on this date was Hugo Peretti, then near the beginning of his career. He went on to much success as a songwriter and producer in the company of his cousin Luigi Creatore ("Hugo & Luigi", who even had their own logo). That said, the arrangements here really aren't very good.

This one is by request of a good friend and longtime supporter of my blogs. There is much more Vic over at my other blog, some of which is still available - Big 10-Inch Record.