Mambo with Prado and Monroe

This is a follow-up to the recent reup of Pérez Prado's first LP on my other blog. This 1954 single combines the "Marilyn Monroe Mambo" with the "Steam Heat Mambo."

Just to be clear, Monroe does not appear on the song named for her. The closest we get to her is hearing the band chant "Marilyn Mon-roe" in the toneless manner that was popular among the ensembles of the time.

I wonder how many Monroe tributes there were in popular music. I know Ray Anthony had a hit with "Marilyn."

Was she spinning "Marilyn" or the "Marilyn Monroe Mambo"?

(Brief digression - There are photos online of Marilyn taken at a photo-op at Ray Anthony's house in 1952 promoting the "Marilyn" record. Just to show you how far we are away from those times, the Daily Mail identifies Anthony as a "crooner," even though he is toting his trumpet, and offers another photo of the two watching Mickey Rooney play the drums - and identifies him only as "a drummer." I hope they know that Monroe was an actor.)

The "Marilyn Monroe Mambo" appears on one of Prado's LPs, but I think the flip side of this 45 may be a non-LP tune. It is a mambo version of "Steam Heat," one of the songs from the great Adler and Ross show The Pajama Game.  Here, predictably, you get to enjoy the band chant "Steam Heat". And of course, Prado yells "Ugh!" as he does on most of his records.

The sound is reasonably good.

More Singles from Jerri Adams

Those of you who enjoyed the Jerri Adams post of a few months back will want to have this one. It consists of the rest of Jerri Adams' Columbia singles-only recordings, along with her only release on the Fraternity label.

These are fine outings, showing her ability to be convincing at all tempos and in a variety of genres, along her beautiful voice and excellent intonation. The quality of the material is variable, as usual with singles of this vintage.

"Why Tell a Lie," from September 1953, is the flipside to the "Moonlight in Vermont" (which was in the earlier post).

"Two's a Crowd" and "Alone Together" come from May 1954. On the latter, Percy Faith cooks up an accompaniment that sounds like a rhumba band playing through a hurricane. Faith backs her on all the Columbia sides where a conductor is indicated, except for the late Ray Conniff date.

"Snow Dreams" and "Guess I Had Too Much to Dream" feature her former vocal group, the Tattle Tales."Take My Hand" is the flip of the 1955 release of "Happiness is a Thing Called Joe," which was in my earlier post. ("Happiness" was also released in 54.)

"Walk Fast" and "If I Forget You" (an excellent record) are from 1956.

"I'm All Right Now" and "Looking for Someone to Love" are with Ray Conniff, circa 1958.

Finally, her only release on Fraternity Records from her home town, Cincinnati, dating from 1961. "Ivory Tower" was an effective, if pointless remake of a 1957 hit. It is backed by "All Around This Heart," written by arranger Edward H. Labonski.

All of these are from unplayed promos or store stock, except for the Fraternity single. The sound is exceptionally good.

The Blackwood Brothers Quartet

The Blackwood Brothers Quartet became famous for that gospel group's RCA Victor records starting in 1951, but before their major label acceptance, they issued singles on their own label - and continued doing so for a few years even after RCA gave them a contract.

Here are two 78s with the Blackwoods' imprint, which I believe represent two incarnations of the famous quartet.

The first comprises "A Land Where Living Waters Flow" and "If You've Never Learned to Pray." My best guess is that this group includes Bill Lyles, R.W. Blackwood, James Blackwood, Roy Blackwood, Doyle Blackwood, and pianist Hilton Griswold. This is the group shown on the label above. The photo below, from the informative site Grand Old Gospel Reunion, identifies the members.

The second single, however, has a somewhat different lineup. The label identifies the soloist on "My Desire" as tenor Bill Shaw, who joined the group circa 1952. (He is audibly a different tenor from the first record.) By that time, pianist Jack Marshall had replaced Griswold and the group had moved from Shenandoah, Iowa to Memphis. (The label for this release continued to use the old photo and Shenandoah location.)

The outstanding selection on these two records, for me, is the strongly rhythmic "Working on the Building," which points ahead to the approach that would lead the Blackwoods to tremendous popularity in the years to come.

Jerry Vale

I wanted to mark the recent passing of a fine singer, Jerry Vale, and even though I don't collect his records, I do have a few promotional items such as this 78 from early in his career.

Vale appears to be about 12 on this unusual promo label, but he was actually 23 when Columbia issued this single in spring 1954. The singer had been a Columbia artist for just over a year at that point.

Vale had a number of mild successes as a single artist such as "Innamorata" and "Pretend You Don't See Her," but he did well with his albums, starting with his tribute to Buddy Clark in 1958 - an LP that turns up far more often than Clark's own records do.

Vale really hit his stride with his easy going Columbia LPs from the mid-60s - ironically, at about the time that the mode for crooners was fading.

This particular single is a good one, with "Go" and "I'll Follow You" performed persuasively and backed by characteristically elaborate Percy Faith arrangements. Sorry that the record surfaces on this item are a little noisy.

Jane Morgan and Fascination

Following up on my recent post of the abbreviated Love in the Afternoon soundtrack, I thought I might as well post the big hit record of "Fascination" from that soundtrack, along with its special picture sleeve. The vocal is by, and probably made the career of, Jane Morgan, an accomplished night club singer who became associated with the song.

Here, Morgan sounds wistful, which is right for the lyrics. On this and her other records, she is too bland for my taste - but she was popular at the time. She pronounces "fascination" as "fasceenation," which sounds wrong to me, but I am no expert on such things.

Morgan was backed by the Troubadors, who made other records for Kapp at the time. The aural evidence suggests they comprised violin, bass, accordion, vibraphone and guitar. This combination of accordion and vibraphone allowed them to simulate the sound of the cimbalom used on the soundtrack. I can find no other information on the Troubadors, and I don't own any of their few LPs.

This single has Morgan's vocal version of "Fascination" on one side, and a "whistling instrumental" of that tune on the other. The unidentified whistler sounds like Muzzy Marcellino of "The High and the Mighty" fame, although that's just a guess as to his identity.

Herb Jeffries and Frank Sinatra Share a V-Disc

This tribute to the recently deceased Herb Jeffries is a companion to the post of an early LP over at the Big 10-Inch Record. It consists of a circa 1946-47 V-Disc that Jeffries shared with Frank Sinatra.

In this case, the Jeffries side is far more interesting. The Voice's songs are bad dubs from two of his commercial recordings. The Bronze Buckaroo's tunes were made for V-Disc.

Some background: V-Discs were 12-inch 78s made specially for people in the US Armed Services from 1943-49. Some were commercial recordings; others were from radio or special V-Disc sessions.

The Jeffries side starts with a brief introduction of the "Hiya, fellas, here's some great tunes comin' at cha" variety, followed by an excellent version of "Ghost of a Chance." Then, in one of the singer's few forays into faster tempos, he launches into "Jump for Joy," the title song from Duke Ellington's 1941 musical, which Jeffries introduced. The good backing is by pianist Eddie Beal and a small group.

Sinatra's side contains two of his 1945 recordings with Axel Stordahl.

As with many of the later V-Discs, this was pressed on vinyl. This is a mixed blessing. The 10-ton tonearms used at the time could easily gouge the softer material. My copy, visually mint, is anything but that when played. However, the results on the Jeffries side at least are very pleasing.

Love in the Afternoon

I had a request to reup this EP, which was an early share on my other blog. I thought I might as well go ahead and retransfer it for posting here. The notes that follow, however, are a rerun from six years ago:

This certainly is not the best soundtrack album I own, but it's probably the shortest - 3 songs.

This is the only soundtrack ever issued for the Hepburn-Cooper-Chevalier opus Love in the Afternoon, a somewhat odious young girl - old man comedy. There sure were a lot of those in the 50s, with other examples also involving Chevalier (Gigi) and Hepburn (Funny Face).

I don't recall why, but the music features the cimbalom, which hardly seems the thing for its Parisian setting. There must have been a reason.

The listed musical adapter for the movie is Franz Waxman, but these songs were not written by him. The big hit here was Fascination. An old song, but its use in the movie inspired the recording of a vocal version by Jane Morgan, which became quite popular.