Buddy Clark

This is the 100th anniversary of the birth of the great vocalist Buddy Clark. (Thanks to Will Friedwald for that intelligence.) To mark the occasion, I've uploaded one of his 1948 singles, which I recently acquired.

On one side, Buddy takes on Leon René's "Gloria", a song that later became a doo-wop favorite. I have to say I prefer Ronnie Deauville's hypersensitive interpretation, but this is a good one, too. The flip is Harold Rome's "The Money Song", from the show That's the Ticket. The one was also recorded by Martin and Lewis, and Clark's rendition is to be preferred to that raucous affair.

Buddy Clark

On both sides, Clark has the backing of two notable singing groups, the well-known Modernaires, and the Skylarks, who also recorded with Bing Crosby, Tommy Dorsey and others, and were often on American television.

Clark died in a 1949 plane crash, at the peak of his popularity. It's a shame he isn't better remembered.

The sound on these sides is good. I think this may be the only green-label Columbia promo 78 I own (the rest of them are white). Love the crew cut DJ on these labels.

Jeri Southern - What Do You See in Her

Another "orphaned" Jeri Southern track - by that I mean a song that didn't appear on LP and hasn't been reissued, to my knowledge (which can be faulty, admittedly).

It's a good one - "What Do You See in Her" - well suited to Southern's typical approach. It's on the flip side of "An Occasional Man," which if not a hit, at least made it into the Billboard Top 100 in 1955.

Composer Frank Weldon may be best known for "Christmas in Killarney." Lyricist Hal David worked with Burt Bacharach for many years.

Frank Merriweather directs the orchestra, and the Decca sound is good.

There are two collections of Jeri Southern singles on my other blog, Big 10-Inch Record. Another orphaned track, "Querida," appeared here recently.

Cоветская Mузыка (Soviet Music)

I have labelled this above "Soviet Music," and it did originate in the Soviet Union, but the music is still being heard today in Russia and other countries. What we have here is the Brass Band of the USSR Ministry of Defense playing the socialist hymn, "The Internationale," and the National Anthem of the Soviet Union, which now has been adopted as the National Anthem of Russia. (The words are different, but that's a moot point with this instrumental version.)

One wouldn't expect socialist hymns and national anthems to be turning up on 45s, but this one did, courtesy of Melodiya, the Soviet state record company. It has a nice picture sleeve with Karl Marx to the fore and Soviet artwork on the rear. I would guess this dates from around 1980. The Band, conducted by one N. Nazarov, recorded all the anthems from the Soviet republics.

This is an enjoyable record; the performances are splendid. The sound is typical Melodiya style - somewhat distant and resonant.

The Kirby Stone Four and Ed Sullivan, 'Boy Singer'

The Kirby Stone Four were a late 50s-early 60s pop group who often appeared on Ed Sullivan's televised variety show in the US. Sullivan, a former New York newspaper columnist, made a uniquely stiff MC. He would stand with arms folded, which at the end of an act would erupt into sweeping arm motions as he exhorted the audience, "C'mon, let's hear it for these boys, now!" This was one of the set of catchphrases that Sullivan employed on each show (this would have made for a great drinking game, come to think of it).

Sullivan's pronounced mannerisms made him a prime subject for impressionists - any number of which appeared on Sullivan's own show. "We've got a really big show for you tonight" was his top catchphrase, at least for the impressionists, who invariably pronounced "show" as "shew".

Ed Sullivan

Kirby Stone Four

In 1958, Sullivan got together with the Kirby Stone Four to do this novelty number, written by Stone and Mike Gardner, another member of the group. Sullivan is identified as "boy singer" on both sides of the record, even though he only appears on "It's a Really Big Show Tonight," and does not sing even there. The song pokes mild fun at Sullivan's mannerisms and his love for spectacle on his program ("We've got World War II with the original cast," as the lyrics have it).

On the other side of the record the group combines "Whispering" with "Groovin' High," the Dizzy Gillespie bop anthem that was based on the older song's chords. In this, they perhaps were inspired by Lambert, Hendricks and Ross, who had achieved some notice for vocal versions of jazz tunes beginning in 1957. The Kirby Stone group is much smoother (and blander) that LH&R, traits accentuated by Columbia's overuse of reverb on the vocals. This side (but not the Sullivan side) appears on the group's 1958 LP Baubles, Bangles and Beads.

Peggy Glanville-Hicks and 'Music Before Columbus'

This is one of the more high-class promotional records I have come across. It was issued in advance of an October 1957 exhibition of pre-Columbian musical instruments at New York's Andre Emmerich Gallery.

To mark that occasion, Emmerich put out this 7-inch, 33-rpm record in a gatefold sleeve. One side is an introduction to the exhibition (and the artworks) by CBS commentator Charles Collingwood, an art collector. The other contains music for the old instruments commissioned from Australian composer Peggy Glanville-Hicks. For some reason, they called the exhibition "Music Before Columbus," which would lead you to think you would hear ancient music - not something newly composed.

P. Glanville-Hicks

The Collingwood commentary is useful, although romanticized (the indigenous pre-Columbian peoples of Mexico are just like us? I think not). The brief Glanville-Hicks suite of a prelude and presto is attractive and well presented by a group including flutist Samuel Baron, who seemingly played on every other classical record made in New York in the 50s.

Charles Collingwood

Why Glanville-Hicks (whom Collingwood calls a "young composer" - she was 45 in 1957)? Well, she was a critic for the New York Herald-Tribune at the time - that might have something to do with it.

I don't want to seem cynical - the Emmerich Gallery was a distinguished institution, with a specialty in pre-Columbian art. And what they produced is enjoyable, and using art in service of promotion was laudable.

Jeri Southern - Querida

I recently acquired a 78 by Jeri Southern containing what I believe is another unre-released song, called "Querida". It is on the flip side of "Dancing on the Ceiling," which subsequently appeared on LP.

"Querida" is a good song, well sung by Southern. "Dancing on the Ceiling," one of the best Rodgers and  Hart songs, is a fine example of the singer's combination of intensity and inwardness.

Jeri Southern

The recording was made in New York in September 1952. Ex-big band arranger Norman Leyden leads the musicians.

Good sound, although there is some sibilance on Southern's vocal.

This is an addendum to the two sets of uncollected Southern singles available on my other blog, Big 10-Inch Record.

Don Elliott and Tom Talbert

West Coast style jazz wasn't always made on the West Coast; here is a New York based ensemble playing in the cool style in 1952. This record is from the first session led by multi-instrumentalist Don Elliott, here performing on the trumpet, vibes, and the wonderfully named "mellophone," a type of tenor horn.

I suspect this 78 is also one of the first sessions for arranger Tom Talbert, who was to achieve a small amount of renown later in the decade for his own LP "Bix Duke Fats" and his arrangements for the excellent Patty McGovern vocal LP "Wednesday's Child." (I have both of these, but I think they are available on CD.) Talbert was from the West Coast but moved East to seek more opportunities.

One key influence on the West Coast sound was the so-called "Birth of the Cool" recordings led by Miles Davis and arranged by Gil Evans in 1949-50. The B side of this record is "Darn That Dream," which had been recorded (although in a Kenny "Pancho" Hagood vocal rendition) during the Birth sessions.

Elliott, a favorite of this blogger, recorded fairly prolifically during the 1950s, but later concentrated on production music and recording. In addition to his instrumental prowess, he was a fine singer, although that skill is not displayed here.

These sides and some others by Cal Tjader were later collated on a Savoy LP. The sound is fairly good.