Eve Symington

Eve Symington was an intriguing cabaret singer with a brief career in the best night spots of 1930s New York City. A post on my other blog devoted to Rodgers and Hart's 1938 score for I Married an Angel includes her poignant recording of "Spring Is Here." This post presents three other recordings from the same period.

Symington (1903-72) came from a prominent family - her father was US Sen. James W. Wadsworth, Jr. She married Stuart Symington, a New York business leader, later a prominent Senator and presidential candidate. A long tribute to her can be found here.

She recorded only two 78s that I have found, both on Internet Archive. One was for Liberty Music Shop, with "Spring Is Here" backed by "My Romance," from the 1936 Rodgers and Hart show Jumbo. Symington's "My Romance" is just as good as her "Spring Is Here," well accompanied by the eminent Cy Walter and ensemble. She was a robust alto with excellent diction and intonation, and her singing was simple but heartfelt. Symington includes the verse of "My Romance," which was unfamiliar to me. (Sorry - this side has quite a bit of rustle.)

Her other two recordings come from the 1937 album A Night at the Waldorf, which also includes items from the bands of Leo Reisman and Xavier Cugat. For the album, Symington performed two unfamiliar songs, accompanied by Reisman. 

"La Petite Amie" is a charming number from a 1937 operetta by the French composer Georges Van Parys. Symington sings it in French. The operetta was co-composed by Philippe Parès, but the label credits Roger Bernstein, so that's a bit of a muddle.

The second side is a song called "Blackman's Lullaby" by Newt Oliphant. Like other such songs of the time, it was well-intentioned but is now embarrassingly dated. An excellent arrangement, though, with Reisman making eloquent use of a string section. These contrasting songs show the range of Symington's repertoire.

Symington's career in music ended not long after these records were made, when she moved to St. Louis with her husband, who became the head of Emerson Electric.

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

Shirley Ross and The Foursome Sing Gershwin

A few Gershwin recordings today from one of my favorite artists, Shirley Ross, backed by The Foursome vocal group - who also get two songs on their own.

The four numbers were recorded in July 1939, and came out in two Gershwin albums issued by Decca soon thereafter.

Shirley Ross made relatively few recordings, some of which I've posted on this blog. These include her earliest disc, made with Gus Arnheim (it can be found in a post mainly devoted to Mae West) and four songs from the 1940 Rodgers and Hart show Higher and Higher, in which she took a starring role on Broadway. Today she is remembered, if at all, as Bob Hope's partner in the movie songs "Thanks for the Memory" (from The Big Broadcast of 1938) and "Two Sleepy People" (from the follow-up film called, confusingly enough, Thanks for the Memory).

Shirley Ross

In this set, she sings two of my favorite Gershwin songs, "Mine" (from Let 'Em Eat Cake) and "That Certain Feeling" (from Tip-Toes). On both songs, she is backed by Victor Young's band along with The Foursome.

The latter group's solo songs are "Bidin' My Time" (from 1930's Girl Crazy) and "Oh, Lady Be Good" (from 1924's Lady Be Good). The former is another favorite of mine, and is particularly notable here because The Foursome introduced it in the original production. For this performance, the group includes the seldom-heard and very effective verse.

The members of The Foursome at the time of the recording were Del Porter, Dwight Snyder, Marshall Smith and Ray Johnson. The group was unusual because its members not only sang but played ocarinas, an ancient wind instrument that can be heard in quite a few records of the time, in part because of the group's advocacy.

The Foursome

The Foursome appeared in films as well. You can see them in the 1936 Eleanor Powell musical Born to Dance in such numbers as "Rap, Tap on Wood". In 1940, Bing Crosby recorded the Burke-Monaco song "Sweet Potato Piper" for Decca with The Foursome's backing. For those not familiar with the ocarina, it resembles a sweet potato, thus the song title.

The Foursome also appeared on Decca records by Dick Powell and Pinky Tomlin and made a number of other discs on their own. Later on, Del Porter started a band called the Feather Merchants, which eventually turned into Spike Jones and the City Slickers.

This post is now available in excellent ambient stereo.

The Many Washerwomen of Portugal

One of the most engaging singles of the 1950s was called "The Portuguese Washerwomen," or "Les Lavandières du Portugal" as it was known to its authors, the French songwriters André Popp and Roger Lucchesi. It became a hit in the US as an instrumental by pianist Joe "Fingers" Carr in 1956, about a year or so after the song achieved popularity in Europe.

In France, the best selling record was probably by vocalist Jacqueline François, backed by the band of Michel Legrand. But there were many other versions, including an instrumental by Popp himself. There also were cover records in several other languages. For the US market, new lyrics by Charles Tobias turned it into a song called "Kiki," which came out well before Carr's single became a hit. This post examines all those different permutations.

We start with the instrumental by André Popp, issued by Philips. Popp had a long career, but in his youth, he had a penchant for wacky compositions - one such effort was issued in the US as by "Elsa Popping and Her Pixieland Band." Later Popp mellowed into the composer of such easy listening staples as "Love Is Blue." He was a well-respected and recognized writer and musician.

Jacqueline François had become a star in France following the success of "Mademoiselle de Paris" in 1948. She was quite a good singer - I have many of her records - and "Les Lavandières du Portugal" was deservedly popular. As the title suggests, the song has to do with Portuguese washerwomen, who beat their linens at the river while ogling young men and drinking manzanilla. (An English translation is in the download.)

Giving us the ol' side-eye are Joe "Fingers" Carr, Jacqueline François and André Popp

For the US market, the thought apparently was that such a tale would be of minimal interest, so the well-known lyricist Charles Tobias came up with the charming story of a Parisian girl named Kiki. We have already encountered a terrific version of "Kiki" by Betty Clooney, which can be found on the main blog. This set includes a single by Hugo Winterhalter's orchestra with chorus. The song works much better in Clooney's deft solo reading, but this one is entertaining, too, if a little overblown for the subject. Unfortunately for Betty and Hugo (and Charles Tobias), the "Kiki" version went nowhere.

Billboard, September 3, 1955

For the next attempt to crack the US market, Capitol went back to the original title, "The Portuguese Washerwomen," but jettisoned the words in favor of an instrumental by old-timey pianist Joe "Fingers" Carr, the stage name for arranger-producer Lou Busch. I am generally averse to bowler-hat and sleeve-garter piano plunkers, but this isn't so bad.

I mentioned that the tune was popular in other countries - Secondhand Songs lists versions in Czech, Danish, Finnish, German, Polish, Spanish and Swedish. I've included one of the Danish recordings - "Vaskepigerne I Portugal" by a group called Lørdaspigerne (which is "The Saturday Girls" in English).

I haven't found a record about the washerwomen in the Portuguese language. I did find a blog post from Portugal that complained that the music used a Spanish, not Portuguese rhythm, and that the washerwomen were even drinking Spanish wine (manzanilla). The author also grumbled about sports commentators pronouncing Portuguese names with a Spanish accent, but that's not germane to our discussion.

These recordings come from Internet Archive and my own collection. The sound is excellent.

Stanley Pope Conducts Elgar

Back in the day, you could find classical vinyl records in several formats. My other blog features 10-inch and 12-inch "long play" records, and even some 10-inch "medium play" discs (which had shorter playing time). Almost all of these were 33-1/3 rpm releases.

The 45 rpm format, introduced in 1949, originally was used for singles (i.e., one song per side), but it wasn't long before an "extended play" (EP) version appeared, with two songs on each side. These were largely given over to pop records - repackaging of older singles, themed collections (e.g., "Hits from My Fair Lady"), and so on. But even classical recordings came out on EP, not so much in the US, but in Europe and perhaps elsewhere. Today's post brings us an example of that species.

Elgar's Pomp and Circumstance Marches were well suited to the EP format. There are five such marches (six if you count the one reconstructed from sketches 70 years after the composer's death). However, only four will fit onto an EP, two per side. This allows the label to include the best-known marches (No. 1 and No. 4), along with No. 2 and No. 5.

The trio section of No. 1 is famed in its guise as "Land of Hope and Glory," a setting made by Elgar for his 1902 Coronation Ode, in honor of new King Edward VII. In the US, it is best known as the traditional graduation hymn - a tradition associated with Elgar. It reputedly began at Yale University in 1905 when the composer received an honorary degree, and the tune was used for the recessional.

The trio of No. 4 is hardly less memorable than No. 1, and in both works, they are beautifully set off by the march tunes. No. 1 has an organ accompaniment in the final section, included in this recording. The other marches are less familiar, but most enjoyable. 

On this recording, all four are handsomely played by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra under Stanley Pope. The conductor generally takes quick tempos, which work well. (The need to keep side length under control may also have hurried things along.)

These days Pope is little remembered, probably because he left very few recordings for posterity. There are these marches, Schumann's Symphony No. 4 and a few transcriptions, including one of symphonies by Robert Simpson and Havergal Brian.

Born in 1916 in London, Pope studied conducting with Paul Kletzki and eventually conducted widely in Europe. He died in 1995. I have only found one photo of him - the one on the EP cover above. With his Van Dyke beard and penetrating stare, Pope gives off Mephistophelian vibes, but who knows what he was really like on the podium or elsewhere.

The marches were made in December 1954 in the Walthamstow Assembly Hall, which was frequently used for recordings, and which here produced pleasing sound - just a bit tubby. The download includes two laudatory reviews and two ads - one is below, promising "extended pleasure," which I hope the EP provides.

Astaire and the Gershwins Return in 'Shall We Dance'

Here's another in a series collecting the commercial recordings associated with Fred Astaire's films. The last entry, Swing Time, featured the music of Jerome Kern and Dorothy Fields. For this post, 1937's Shall We Dance, we return to the work of the Gershwin brothers, whose songs previously have been heard in A Damsel in Distress.

As before, the Gershwins produced a raft of classic songs for the production - "Let's Call the Whole Thing Off," "They Can't Take That Away from Me" and "They All Laughed," with "I've Got Beginner's Luck" and the title song being only a little less memorable.

Johnny Green

For Astaire's Brunswick recordings, pianist-conductor Johnny Green provided the backing, perfectly suited to the dancer's vocals and personality. In addition to the songs mentioned above, Astaire recorded "Slap That Bass," and both that song and "Shall We Dance" capture his tap dancing along with his singing.

There are no commercial recordings of Ginger Rogers from Shall We Dance, to my knowledge, but Johnny Green contributed an instrumental disc - joining Dave Terry for a two-piano medley of songs from the score. It's included in the download.

I've also added Astaire's 1948 version of "They Can't Take That Away from Me," done for The Barkleys of Broadway. Finally, the file also includes the delightful instrumental "Promenade (Walking the Dog)," from a much later recording.

As usual, the file also contains many restored posters, lobby cards and stills from the film - although I have to observe that the lobby cards in particular are garish. Fortunately the music is as elegant as can be.

When Tony Bennett Was 'Joe Bari'

Bennett / Bari

Yes, there was a time (at least several years) when the famous pop singer Tony Bennett was known as "Joe Bari." And before that, there was a time when Joe Bari was known as Anthony Benedetto, his birth name.

There was nothing unusual about stage names back in the day, or even today. But Bennett's days as Joe Bari are little known; one of the few pieces of evidence is a rare 78 "Joe" made for the tiny Leslie label in 1949, just before he became Tony Bennett and went to the much bigger Columbia label.

Anthony Benedetto chose the name Joe Bari when he started singing about 1940, and stayed with that tag when he came back from the war and renewed his career in show business.

One of his first breaks was the Leslie recording date. In his autobiography, Tony says he was excited to do the recording because it was being produced by George Simon, the editor of the influential magazine Metronome. Simon was co-composer of one of the songs on the disc, "Vieni Qui," done as a duet with singer Pat Easton.

I found this rare record on Internet Archive because I was searching for anything by Easton, who was married at the time to Joe Derise. This may be the only record she made under her own name.

Bennett recalls that the group backing him was called the Tattlers, who had recently made a recording of "Jamboree Jones" with Bing Crosby. Actually, the Crosby session was in April 1950, about a year after Tony's Leslie date. The accompanying vocal group isn't identified on the label, which only credits Marty Manning as leading the band. The presence of Pat Easton, however, suggests that it might have involved Derise, but that's speculation.

"Vieni Qui" is backed by "Fascinating Rhythm," a Gershwin classic that Bennett was proud to have recorded on his first date. In the event, the Italian specialty is better done than the Gershwin tune. Oddly, Bennett's sense of rhythm fails him on the latter number.

At about the same time as the Leslie date, Bennett caught the attention of Pearl Bailey. She added him to her stage show, Bob Hope saw him perform, took him on the road, and simplified his given name to Tony Bennett. Soon thereafter Tony's demo record of "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" found its way to Mitch Miller, and his Columbia career began.

Note (July 2023): this has now been remastered in ambient stereo.