Hal Derwin with Artie Shaw

This is a follow-up to the recent post of 25 Hal Derwin vocals, which can be found on my main blog. Those Capitols come from 1946-47. Just before then, Derwin was singing with Artie Shaw's band under the name "Hal Stevens." Today we have four of the records he made with Shaw, all in 1945.

In July, Derwin and Shaw set down two songs that had been written for major musicals of the time. The wonderful "That's for Me" had been introduced by Vivian Blane and Dick Haymes in Rodgers and Hammerstein's superb State Fair. The less-wonderful but still enjoyable "Yolanda," from Freed and Warren, comes from the Fred Astaire vehicle Yolanda and the Thief.

Soon thereafter, Shaw switched to the small but ambitious label Musicraft. In August or September, he and Derwin were in the studio for two standards, "(I Don't Stand) A Ghost of a Chance" and "How Deep Is the Ocean."

Hal Derwin

Throughout these sides, Derwin sings well, with a warmth similar to his Capitol singles, but via a more formal, "band singer" presentation. Shaw's band is always a pleasure to hear. The leader takes solos on most of the tunes, and there is a glimpse of trumpeter Roy Eldridge on "Ghost of a Chance."

None of the vocals are particularly well recorded, but the overall sound is adequate, with occasional background rustle.

100 Years of 'Crazy'

Mamie Smith's important record of "Crazy Blues" was recorded 100 years ago this week - on or about August 10, 1920. To mark the occasion, I've resurrected a transfer I made many years ago, and to fill out the program I've added a cover record by the illustrious team of Noble Sissle and Eubie Blake, also from my collection.

"Crazy Blues" was unquestionably a popular and influential record, even though it is not what it is sometimes stated to be - the first recording by a female Black singer and a million seller. There had been other records by Black women, and Smith herself had made one earlier in the year, which was indeed the first pop release by a Black female soloist.

Mamie Smith

As for the sales claim, one of the most popular records of the era, Paul Whiteman's "Whispering," sold fewer than 250,000 copies, so the assertions of a million or even two million in sales are dubious at best. (Please see this article by discographer Allen Sutton for an informative and objective discussion of the record and its genesis.)

"Crazy Blues" came from Smith's second session, which was masterminded by songwriter Perry Bradford, who had the inspired idea to bring in the ensemble of Black musicians who became known as the "Jazz Hounds." Their interplay with the excellent Smith and Bradford's vivid imagery make the record compelling even today. Particularly noticeable are the swoops and slides by trombonist Dope Andrews.

A recent New York Times article claimed that Bradford's composition was something new, which was not the case. In fact, he was twice sued successfully for pulling parts of the song from two others he had written and sold off years earlier.

"Crazy Blues" was popular enough that it inspired cover versions, including the one by vocalist Noble Sissle and pianist Eubie Blake, recorded in November 1920 and issued on Emerson and under pseudonyms on other labels. It came out in the run-up to the May 1921 opening of their revue Shuffle Along on Broadway. That show, which played for more than a year, was reputedly the first to prominently feature syncopated jazz numbers. It also gave a boost to the careers of such important artists as Paul Robeson and Josephine Baker.

Blake in particular had a very long career - I remember seeing him on television several times. Mamie Smith was not so lucky. "Crazy Blues" was the high point of her fame. Bradford took the Jazz Hounds with him to another label, leaving Smith to be backed by stiff studio bands. The magic was not there and her career fizzled.

The sound from these century-old items is surprisingly good, despite the limited frequency response of the recording horns in use at the time.

Noble Sissle and Eubie Blake

Shorty Muggins and His Great Big Shovel

You would think that a record called "Got a Great Big Shovel"  would be perfect for my other blog, Big 10-Inch Record, but here it is on Buster's Swinging Singles.

This is actually a terrific record with a fun back story. Let me reveal first of all that "Shorty Muggins" is actually Sammy Davis, Jr.

Sam had begun recording for Capitol in early 1949, and after six months, his sides weren't selling. Davis, producer Dave Cavanaugh or someone else at the record company decided to try something different. So the songs that Sammy recorded on July 22 were issued under pseudonyms - this 78 of "Got a Great Big Shovel" and "We're Gonna Roll" as by "Shorty Muggins," and another 78 of "Dreamy Blues" and "What Can I Do" as by "Charlie Green."

'Shorty Muggins' in 1949

"Got a Great Big Shovel" is a wildly entertaining double-entendre blues that features Sammy doing his best imitation of Big Joe Turner. The flip side is hardly less successful. A young Gerald Wiggins plays superb piano on both numbers. The requisite honking tenor sax is by Cavanaugh, who at one point interrupts Davis by continuing his solo for a second chorus. The online Davis sessionography says that "members of the Woody Herman band" also participated. Presumably they were Joe Mondragon on bass and Shelly Manne on drums.

On the other 78 (not included here) Sammy did an imitation of another R&B icon, Charles Brown (Charles Brown/Charlie Green, get it?). Anyway, Sam's incognito records were no more popular that the ones under his own name, so for the next session he was back to being Sammy Davis, Jr. while leaving "Got a Great Big Shovel" behind for such fare as 1931's "Smile, Darn Ya, Smile." Sam was always known for his versatility.

Davis' Capitol contract would lapse at year end, but he would go on to achieve much more success at Decca. See my other blog for a recent post with 21 of his songs for that company. My friend Ernie hipped me to Shorty Muggins and Charlie Green in the comments to that post, so thanks once again to Ernie for his inspiration!

Two Rare Margaret Whiting Singles

1950 publicity photo

I am celebrating Margaret Whiting's Capitol recordings this week with reups of 48 of her songs on my main blog (forthcoming) and on this blog, and by offering four new titles right here.

These new items were transferred at the request of my friend, vocal connoisseur John Morris.

First is a single from 1950 - the familiar song "My Foolish Heart" (by Victor Young and Ned Washington) and the lesser-known "Stay with the Happy People" (Jule Styne and Bob Hilliard).

The second coupling is from 1955 -  "Lover, Lover (Never Leave Me)" (James V. Kern) and "I Kiss You a Million Times" (Geoff Clarkson and Floyd Shaver), which is my favorite of the bunch.

Frank DeVol provides the smooth backing on all four numbers.

As always, Whiting is in excellent voice, singing with her usual warmth, clear diction and good intonation.

My Buick, My Love and I

My pal Ernie and I share a love for old promo records, so I was intrigued when he sent me a link to this specimen - "My Buick, My Love and I" by the illustrious team of Gisele MacKenzie and Gordon MacRae, dating from 1951.

It turns out that this song has a bit of a back history - and some more recent history as well.

I  also discovered in the course of doing this post that I actually had uploaded this song several years ago as a bonus to a MacKenzie album. But this post is far more complete and the transfer is much better.

Olds, Buick and Pontiac in Song

Songs promoting specific automobiles go back almost as far as the contraptions themselves. And they were contraptions in 1905 when Gus Edwards and Vincent P. Bryan came out with "In My Merry Oldsmobile." The song became popular and was used by the Olds people for many years as a theme song.

The 1905 Oldsmobile

Other songwriters recognized a good thing, so in 1909 Victor Smalley and Bernie Sidler decided to extol the virtues of the 10-year-old Buick marque with their song "I Love My Horse and Wagon, but Oh! You Buick Car." Then in 1922, there was a more romantic item called "Take Me on a Buick Honeymoon" by Art Hickman and Ben Black.

Neither of these Buick songs had the enduring appeal of "In My Merry Oldsmobile." It probably was the most famous automotive promotional song until Ronny and the Daytonas came out with "GTO" (usually called "Little GTO") in 1964. It was written in honor of the then new Pontiac GTO, the first of the so-called "muscle cars" of the 60s. Accounts differ about whether the song was the idea of the Pontiac promotional people or the musicians, but there is no doubt that Pontiac used it to hype the new GTO into a bit of a craze.

I am sure there have been many more auto-related songs - not to mention jingles - but let's turn to "My Buick, My Love and I."

'My Buick, My Love and I'

It's not clear where the idea of "My Buick, My Love and I" originated, although I suspect it was commissioned by Buick in 1951 from movie composer Frank Skinner and lyricist Jack Brooks. It first came out on both sides of an SRS-Capitol promotional release with one side by MacRae and MacKenzie, and the other by the Mellomen, a well-known studio quartet that featured Thurl Ravenscroft and Bill Lee. I haven't been able to discover what Buick did to promote the song at the time, save for a fellow recollecting that his college marching band had to play it at all their games because they had received a donation from Buick. That in itself does not seem like much of a marketing plan, so there must have been more to it.

Regardless, Skinner was fond of the piece and wanted to get it more exposure. He paid to have the promo record sent out to deejays, scaring up enough interest that Capitol decided to issue a commercial version of the MacRae-MacKenzie rendition, backing it with their duet on "A Lover's Waltz.

That's the story as related in a late 1951 Billboard article. And while it may be true, it is almost exactly the same tale that Capitol had put out a year earlier with regard to "Hoppy, Topper and Me," a Margaret Whiting record about cowboy star Hopalong Cassidy. It too was first issued as a promo and then a commercial disc. (The Hoppy song also has appeared on this blog.) In both cases, I suspect Capitol was just trying to attract some attention and press coverage.

What they were promoting - the toothy 1952 Buick

"Hoppy, Topper and My Buick" - err, "My Buick, My Love and I" was not a commercial success, as far as I can discern, and the critic at Billboard sneeringly advised deejays that "spins should be paid for at the regular commercial rate." But the song did later find some use as the theme of Milton Berle's Buick-Berle Show that appeared on American TV from 1953-56.

It's not a bad tune in the old-timey style popular in the early 50s, although it was clearly inspired by "In My Merry Oldsmobile." In recent years the song has had a surprising revival. I was amazed to find that it has been recorded by comic-turned-crooner Seth MacFarland and Nashville legend Reba McIntyre. I do not know what sparked their interest.

The download includes the versions by the MacKenzie-MacRae duo and the Mellomen, along with the Macs' recording of "A Lover's Waltz," which Capitol had previously issued backed by the unpromisingly titled "On Rosary Hill" (not included). As far as I can tell, these are the only records Mac and Mac made together.

By the way, if you want to check some automotive promo items on my other site, there is a post devoted to a 1970 album by The Going Thing, a Ford-sponsored group, and one to the dealer introduction show for the ill-fated Edsel, not one of Ford's better ideas.

More from Ray McKinley

My other blog recently posted an extensive selection of the recordings that drummer-singer-bandleader Ray McKinley made for RCA Victor from 1947-50. Now frequent contributor Bryan Cooper has come up with four more McKinley sides to add to the pile, along with some repeats that come from cleaner copies of the 78s.

All four of the new songs are vocals, split between McKinley and Artie Malvin. Ray does the singing on "What Did I Do?" and his own "Bahama Mama." Artie - identified as "Arthur" on one label - handles "All the Way from San Jose" and "The Morning Glory Road."

Artie Malvin

Malvin had been in Glenn Miller's Army Air Force band with McKinley. He later sang with other orchestras, made a large number of budget-label cover records, and worked as a composer and arranger, winning Emmys and a Tony nomination. He does well by the "San Jose" and "Morning Glory" songs, which were new at the time.

"What Did I Do?" was  taken up by many artists after being introduced by Betty Grable in When My Baby Smiles at Me. I posted Margaret Whiting's version on my other blog some years ago.

The best piece here may be McKinley's "Bahama Mama," which he sells effectively while backed by a Kenton-tinged arrangement of uncertain parentage.

The four repeats of my earlier post are "Put 'Em in a Box, Tie 'Em with a Ribbon," "You Can't Run Away from Love," "The Third Man Theme" and "I Don't Want to Be Kissed."

Thanks again to Bryan for his ongoing, very welcome contributions!

1948 Billboard ad

Mary Healy Sings "Star Dust"

Mary Healy

My friend Bryan Cooper has come up with another rare gem for us - the soundtrack recording of Mary Healy singing "Star Dust," from the 1940 film of the same name. This makes a wonderful addendum to his previous contribution of the commercial recordings that Healy made from 1938-40 together with soundtrack recordings from Second Fiddle. You can find those records on my other blog.

Healy played a singer in Star Dust, which starred John Payne and Linda Darnell. The title song is her big number in the film, and Bryan has transferred it from a studio disc. The sound is excellent.

The song "Star Dust" dates from 1927. Composer Hoagy Carmichael wrote it and recorded it as an instrumental. Mitchell Parish added words in 1929, but Wikipedia tells us the song didn't really become popular until a few years later via a ballad instrumental from bandleader Isham Jones. I've included both the original Carmichael record and the Isham Jones version as bonuses in the download.

For those who worry about such things, the song was originally called "Star Dust" but Carmichael's Gennett record labelled it "Stardust" and over time the compound name has become the more frequently used. I am calling it "Star Dust" here because the film's name is Star Dust, and because the sheet music, Carmichael and Jones spelled it that way.

The Carmichael record comes from YouTube and the 78prof. The sound is OK, but the combination of a low-bit rate and noise reduction has led to some digital hash in the sonic background. The Jones disc was remastered from a lossless needle drop on Internal Archive.

Thanks again to Bryan for his continuing contributions!