Cy Coleman and 'Playboy's Theme'

Cy Coleman was already a well-regarded composer in 1960, when he recorded his composition "Playboy's Theme" in honor of magazine mogul Hugh Hefner. Hef brought it out as the first single on his Playboy Records label.

"Playboy's Theme" is instantly memorable, and so became popular. It is not, however, terribly original, being influenced heavily by Bobby Timmons' "Moanin'," recorded in 1958 with Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers. (There's a great filmed version of the Messengers performing this live, with the original line-up of Blakey, Timmons, trumpeter Lee Morgan, tenor saxophonist Benny Golson, and bassist Jymie Merritt.)

In 1960, Coleman had already achieved moderate fame as a supper club pianist, with his trio, and had written a number of hits with lyricist Carolyn Leigh (notably "Witchcraft" and "The Best Is Yet to Come"). He and Leigh were just bringing their first musical to Broadway - Wildcat, with Lucille Ball. This was to be followed by the superb Little Me in 1962. Coleman then moved on to other successes with other collaborators.

Cy Coleman on Playboy After Dark

The flip side of this record shows Coleman's considerable skill as a vocalist, interpreting Leigh's lyrics for "You Fascinate Me So," a song from several years earlier. Coleman didn't have much of a voice, but he sure knew how to sing.

[Note (June 2023): This recording has now been remastered in vivid ambient stereo.]

Early Singles from Jerri Adams

Singer Jerri Adams had a relatively brief career, but everything she recorded is worth hearing. Her two Columbia LPs have been reissued on CD, but not, to my knowledge, some of these early singles.

Adams' early career was spent as a band singer in her hometown of Cincinnati. Her first record, from about 1952, was for the Dee Gee label, owned by Dizzy Gillespie, as a member of the Tattletales vocal group. She solos on "What Else Is There to Do," a song that makes "Gloomy Sunday" sound like "On the Sunny Side of the Street." That said, her vocal is very fine, with perfect control and intonation, and total involvement with the despairing lyrics. The other side is a chipper group outing on "When My Sugar Walks Down the Street." Dee Gee also issued another Tattletales single, but it doesn't appear to have an Adams solo. (I don't have the record.)

Frankie Laine heard the group and brought it to the attention of Mitch Miller, his producer at Columbia. Miller had no need for the group, but engaged Adams as a single. Her first Columbia session was in September 1953, with an orchestra led by Percy Faith. It produced two songs on the EP above, "Moonlight in Vermont" (her first Columbia single) and "Happiness Is a Thing Called Joe" (her second). The other two songs on the EP appear on Adams' first LP, "It's Cool Inside." "Love for Sale" was apparently a specialty of hers, but it sounds even more melodramatic than usual here.

The final item for today is her 1957 single of "Suddenly (The Meeting)," sounding much like Eydie Gorme, and "A Little Bit of Kindness." The backing here is my Ray Conniff, and is very much of its time. She handles this material very well.

Adams made only a few more records before retiring. The download includes a podcast interview with her produced several years ago by a family friend, Josh Burker.

'Today's Hits' with Bob Carroll

When I recently asked the readers of my other blog if they would like me to post some EPs by singer Bob Carroll, I was surprised that a number of people answered yes.

Who remembers this former big-band vocalist these days? Apparently some folks do. That's good because he was a fine artist, whose records I have always liked.

These two EPs may be the closest you will get to a Bob Carroll album. I don't have one in my collection, and as far as I can recall, he never made one.

Carroll first came to notice with the bands of Charlie Barnet and Jimmy Dorsey. He went on his own as early as 1947, and while he made many records, he never achieved great success as a singer. Later Carroll branched out into acting, both in musical comedy and drama, and worked steadily in that capacity.

These two EPs were in a series that RCA issued on its budget Camden label. (I have already posted one by Giselle MacKenzie.) They were a market response to other budget labels rushing out cheap cover versions of the current hit records. RCA generally used artists who had some name value.

CAE304 contains four big songs from 1955: "He" (Al Hibbler; the McGuire Sisters); "Suddenly There's a Valley" (Gogi Grant); "Love Is a Many Splendored Thing" (Four Aces); and "Autumn Leaves" (an older song; I think this was inspired by the Nat King Cole version). Alvy West provides the backing, which sounds like it was phoned in - literally.

CAE331 concentrates on much less well-known songs, from 1956: "To You My Love" (Nick Noble); "Held for Questioning" (Rusty Draper); "I'll Be Home" (Pat Boone's cover of the 1955 Flamingos record); and "Ivory Tower" (Gale Storm). The orchestra is led by Earl Sheldon.

Carroll is in excellent voice, although his decision to start "Love Is a Many Splendored Thing" with a forte falsetto note was perhaps not the best artistic decision of his career. Try instead his version of "Ivory Tower." Will Friedwald likens Carroll to Bing Crosby, but while the influence is there, to me he is closer to Tony Martin.

'Irish Stew' with Neal Hefti

Neal Hefti is known for big-band arranging and for composing such fare as the Batman Theme, but he also made many records under his own name.

This particular EP dates from before his period of greatest fame, when he penned arrangements for Basie and Sinatra and whipped up scores for the movies. "Irish Stew" is from about 1954, and consists of Hefti's takes on four familiar Irish tunes.

The record is an early example of his technique of using voices as an instrumental choir, something he would continue on some Epic records that gained a certain amount of popularity.

Label "X" also had Hefti do an EP called "Scottish Broth" This was combined with the Irish-themed record to make a 10-inch LP. For the Scottish cover, Hefti was depicted with a set of bagpipes, which I suppose was an improvement over the breeches, bow tie and concertina he affects here. As far as I know, he confined his instrumental prowess to the trumpet on actual recordings.

Dinah Shore with Hits from 'The King and I'

This Dinah Shore EP is one half of a miniature celebration of this wonderful singer and personality, going on today here and on my other blog, where you will find her 10-inch LP, "Dinah Shore Sings the Blues".

Back in those days, record companies fought with one another to record the latest hits from Broadway - and prospective hits even before they opened. For the biggest names - such as Rodgers and Hammerstein - they would cover all the songs from a given show. Such was the case with 1951's "The King and I." RCA Victor brought Shore, Robert Merrill, Patrice Munsel and Tony Martin into the studio to record the songs. Dinah's recording of "Getting to Know You" came out on a single in 1951 (coupled with "The End of a Love Affair").

This EP, circa 1953, combines "Getting to Know You" with three others, all in excellent versions conducted by Henri René. The sonorous bass-baritone of the Met's Robert Merrill is heard with Dinah on "Shall We Dance."

RCA was saving on photography costs in 1953 - this EP and the LP on my other blog use the same photo of the photogenic Miss Shore. It's not badm but how much better is the contemporaneous glamour shot at left, in color! She was one of those people who got better looking as she aged, unlike the rest of us (well, me anyway) who have suffered the indignities of age from the time we hit our 20s.

The English Singers

What better way to revive this semi-dormant blog with an obscure Christmas record, which also happens to be one of the favorite discs in my collection.

It is by the English Singers, a pioneering ensemble that specialized in madrigals and other forms of early music, but also performed works by contemporary composers who looked to the past or to folksong for inspiration.

This record is an example of the latter repertoire. It consists of a setting of "The Holly and the Ivy" by Rutland Boughton from his 1915 nativity play Bethlehem. The other side has an extraordinary setting of the ancient carol "Corpus Christi" by Peter Warlock.

These were among a series issued in 1927-30 by the Roycrofters, an influential arts and crafts collective in western New York state, on its short-lived Roycroft label. I wish the Roycrofters' dedication to craft ideals had extended to its record pressings. These are by the budget Cameo label, and are remarkably noisy. This does not affect my enjoyment, nor, to be honest, does the wandering pitch of the singers involved.

As I mentioned in a post on my other blog, the English Singers had a great reputation. They were artistically important, although technically fallible. If you enjoy this glimpse of their artistry, there is a CD that collects all their Roycroft recordings.

Update: I have newly transferred the "Corpus Christi" / "The Holly and the Ivy" coupling, and added three additional Roycroft songs from the English Singers:

• "In Dulci Jubilo" in a setting by R.L. Pearsall
• William Byrd's "O Christ Who Art the Light"
• "The Wassail Song" in the Ralph Vaughan Williams arrangement

Waltzing with Ormandy and Jim Flora

I have to admit I chose this item more for the cover than for the music - although the sounds are good, too. The artwork is by the famously quirky Jim Flora, who designed albums from RCA Victor and Columbia in the 1940s and 1950s. This EP is circa 1954.

Here we have one of the rarer covers, I think - it's to an EP of waltzes from the Philadelphia Orchestra and Eugene Ormandy, and as far as I know does not correspond to an LP cover (I could be wrong). Although the cover is not signed, it is certainly Flora, whose bizarre style is unmistakable, although sometimes imitated at the time. (More about Flora here. Plenty of merchandise - you can even get Flora wallpaper, should you want his strange creatures to be your constant companions during your leisure hours.)

Jim Flora

The main item on the EP is the waltz sequence from Richard Strauss' opera Der Rosenkavalier. On the cover, Flora depicts a suitably rose-colored knight sniffing rather than proffering the rose, while Sophie could not be less impressed.

As always with the Philadelphians, the performance is both immaculate and delightful, although lacking any touch of decadence. The fill-up is a fine performance of the waltz from Tchaikovsky's Serenade for Strings.

I think these performances date from April 1946 (Tchaikovsky) and November 1947 (Strauss), although the ensemble also recorded them in 1952. I say that because there seems to be some added reverb, which was Columbia's habit with reissues of the period; also there is very little signal above 10kHz, unlikely for a 1952 recording. Also, the Michael Gray discography claims the 1952 Serenade for Strings was never issued.