A Parade of 'Easter Parades'

What you see at left is perhaps the first Easter parade in song - it is a still from As Thousands Cheer, the 1933 revue with music by Irving Berlin that introduced his "Easter Parade."

I believe the right foreground displays Clifton Webb and Marilyn Miller, who first sang the number. At left is co-star Helen Broderick.

Webb recorded the song for Victor with conductor Leo Reisman, and it's the first entry in today's "Parade of 'Easter Parades'," a collection of 10 diverse interpretations of the song, including the best known renditions and some lesser recognized discs as well.

Henry Hall

Following its introduction, it wasn't long before Berlin's holiday classic made it across the Atlantic and intro the hands of Henry Hall, the conductor of the BBC Dance Orchestra. The label for his 1935 recording says that the song is from a West End revue called Stop Press, about which little information has survived. We do know that either the producers or Berlin himself altered the lyrics to fit London - removing the reference to Fifth Avenue, and to "the rotogravure," which, come to think of it, is a term that may baffle anyone younger than me. ("Rotogravure" refers to the picture supplements of Sunday newspapers, taking its name from the printing process used for their production.)

A much different approach to the song was taken in 1939 by the Jimmie Lunceford band, performing a stylish arrangement by Sy Oliver. This swing version has a smooth vocal by Trummy Young, trombonist in the band and later a long-time associate of Louis Armstrong.

Jimmie Lunceford and Trummy Young

Our next selection could hardly be more of a contrast - it is Andre Kostelanetz's lush reading from his 1942 album Musical Comedy Favorites, Volume II. Both volumes are available on my other blog.

Bing Crosby had a go at the song for his 1942 film Holiday Inn, where he warbled to Marjorie Reynolds and her Easter bonnet, as seen below. For his commercial recording Bing had to be content with the Decca microphone and maestro John Scott Trotter. (The complete Holiday Inn recordings are here.)

Bing and Marjorie Reynolds

The most famous recording of "Easter Parade" may be the one in the 1948 film of the same name, as performed by Judy Garland and Fred Astaire, who look splendid promenading below. The soundtrack version may be celebrated, but in truth Garland's singing does blare a bit.

Judy and Fred

Freddie Mitchell

Judy is not nearly as blaring, however, as the tenor sax of Freddie Mitchell in his 1949 R&B version for the Derby label. Freddie turned most everything into a boogie - literally so in this release, which first came out as "Easter Boogie," with Mitchell as co-author, but later was retitled "Easter Parade," with Berlin reinstated as composer. On the disc, the leader's tenor sax solo quotes Illinois Jacquet's legendary break in Lionel Hampton's "Flying Home." As usual on Mitchell's records, a tinny sounding upright piano is prominent.

The following year, the duo of Margaret Whiting and Jimmy Wakely were in the Capitol studios to record one of their bigger hits, "Let's Go to Church (Next Sunday Morning)" along with its flip side, their take on "Easter Parade." Both featured the same creaky organ accompaniment.

Back then, the fashion in jazz circles was to record a noted soloist accompanied by sumptuous strings, following the success of alto saxophonist Charlie "Bird" Parker in that setting. Trumpeter Roy Eldridge got the treatment in late 1951, with his accompaniment arranged and conducted by George Williams. Eldridge recorded this cushiony interpretation for Mercury.

Roy Eldridge

To close we have an enjoyable version from the Ray Charles Singers, who made a long series of excellent records in the 1950s and 60s. This is from their Spring Is Here collection for M-G-M. The recording, from 1955, also features the Columbus Boychoir, for reasons that aren't obvious.

The Ray Charles Singers at a recording session. The leader is to the right of the microphone.

The recordings in this collection were remastered from Internet Archive and my collection.

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Harold Arlen Sings Harold Arlen

The eminent songwriter Harold Arlen liked to sing, and made records from the 1920s into the 1960s. For this post, we'll review 13 recordings of his own songs made in the 1930s, most in the company of bandleader Leo Reisman. This is a companion to the "Lee Wiley Sings Harold Arlen" post on my main blog, which includes two of these songs - "Stormy Weather" and "Fun to Be Fooled."

The earliest Arlen vocals in the Discography of American Historical Recordings come from 1928, when he recorded 10 or so titles with the Arnold Johnson Orchestra, all of which he arranged, none of which he composed. He is listed on different recording sheets as Harold Arlen or Harold Arluck. (His birth name was Hyman Arluck.)

The first vocal in the collection dates from November 1930, when he recorded his "Linda" with cornetist Red Nichols and his band. Arlen was already an assured singer and, while he never had much range, is in fresh voice throughout this set. Ted Koehler was the lyricist of "Linda." Arlen worked extensively with him for the next several years.

Red Nichols

Nichols also led the next date, from February 1931, just a few weeks after Arlen's college musical You Said It opened on Broadway. On the record, Arlen (uncredited on the label) sang "Sweet and Hot" with a great deal of personality. His feeling for lyrics - in this case by librettist Jack Yellen - was evident. The other familiar songs from this score were "You Said It" (which is in the Lee Wiley collection) and "Learn to Croon."

The following year, musical stage couple Dorothy Stone and Charles Collins introduced a dance called the "Collinstone Fox Trot" via the song "Stepping into Love," with lyrics by Ted Koehler and music by Arlen. Bandleader Leo Reisman made a record of it, with the composer on the vocal. Musically it is striking; lyrically less so.

Harold Arlen and Ted Koehler

Reisman was an influential bandleader. Most of the remaining songs in this set were issued under his name, including the next - "Stormy Weather," from the Cotton Club Parade revue of 1933. Arlen presents the song simply; he undersells the heartache inherent in the lyrics. It's just as effective this way.

Leo Reisman

"Happy as the Day Is Long" is from a 1933 Cotton Club production. The recording is unusual because it starts with colloquy between Arlen and Reisman. This is possibly Arlen's best vocal on record; he is infectious, and is supported by a spirited arrangement and driving bass saxophone solo by Adrian Rollini.

"Ill Wind," from the following year's Cotton Club Parade, is one of Arlen's finest songs, hear in a neat performance by the composer and a unsubtle one by pianist-bandleader Eddy Duchin, an alumnus of the Reisman band.

Eddy Duchin

From that same Cotton Club revue came "As Long as I Live," which was coupled with "Ill Wind" on Duchin's Victor release.

Arlen had written the standard "It's Only a Paper Moon" with the immensely talented lyricist E.Y. (Yip) Harburg in 1932. Two years later, he prepared the score of Life Begins at 8:40 with Harburg and Ira Gershwin.

Yip Harburg

Arlen recorded four of the songs from the score with Leo Reisman - "You're a Builder Upper," "What Can You Say in a Love Song," "Fun to Be Fooled" and "Shoein' the Mare." All four are both lyrically and musically sophisticated. (The latter is distinctly sexist as well.)

"You're a Builder Upper" is a rhythmic and lyrical delight, and Arlen delights in singing the intricate words by the masters Harburg and Gershwin. In "What Can You Say in a Love Song," they rattle through the lyrical clichés of 90 years ago and today ("Mmmm - so sweetly. Mmmm - completely. Mmmm - forever more. What can I say in a love song / that hasn't been said before").

"Fun to Be Fooled" is one song from the score that has achieved some permanence. But the most popular at the time may have been "Let's Take a Walk Around the Block," which neither Arlen nor Wiley recorded.

Brief digression: Perhaps the best song from this period - and reportedly Arlen's favorite - is "Last Night When We Were Young," also not taken up by Wiley or the composer. The only recording from the time may have been by Lawrence Tibbett, for whom it was written. Arlen and Harburg prepared the number for Tibbett's backstage film musical Metropolitan, but it was not used. Victor did record it and release it on Red Seal, coupled with "On the Road to Mandalay," which Tibbett sang in the film.

Finally, we have two songs from the 1937 Arlen-Harburg musical Hooray for What: "In the Shade of the New Apple Tree" and "God's Country." 

The former is a racy number for the time, contrasting seduction techniques of old with the current day. The latter is a patriotic paean - "Hi there, Yankee, give out with a great big thank-ee / You're in God's country" and "We've got no Mussolini, got no Mosley / But we've got Popeye and Gypsy Rose Lee." It's not one of Harburg's best, but it did reflect his beliefs. In 1950 he was blacklisted for refusing to name Hollywood Communists. He wrote at the time, "As the writer of the lyric of the song 'God's Country,' I am outraged by the suggestion that somehow I am connected with, believe in, or am sympathetic with Communist or totalitarian philosophy," he told the House Un-American Activities Committee.

This was the end of Arlen's recorded vocals for the 1930s. He next was in the recording studio for one of the songs from his 1944 musical Bloomer Girl, which had lyrics by Harburg.

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Lambert Conducts Weinberger's 'Chestnut Tree' Variations

Jaromír Weinberger

Under the Spreading Chestnut Tree is the second best-known work by the Czech composer Jaromír Weinberger (1896-1967), following his opera Schwanda the Bagpiper. If you are familiar with the latter - or its orchestral excerpts - you will know what to expect from the former: tuneful, kaleidoscopic, fascinating and charming all at once. A true successor to the dances from Smetana's The Bartered Bride.

The 1939 premiere of Under the Spreading Chestnut Tree was a high point in a decade of frustration for the composer. His works had been banned in Germany and then Austria. He fled to the US in 1939. Even so, he had difficulties in getting the new composition performed. As he wrote in the New York Times, "On Aug. 31, 1939, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in London wrote me a letter, stating that my Variations Under the Spreading Chestnut Tree had been scheduled for a performance Nov. 30 at Albert Hall. Three days later the outbreak of war had postponed such a plan indefinitely."

But John Barbirolli, the music director of the New York Philharmonic, intervened with a performance on October 12 of the same year. It was well received.

The next day, Howard Taubman wrote in the Times, "The melody of Under the Spreading Chestnut Tree ... is a simple one, and Mr. Weinberger has fashioned his variations cunningly. In each of the seven variants he has attempted to evoke some English scene or sentiment, since the tune is English in its origin." The variations are titled "Her Majesty’s Virginal," "The Madrigalists," "The Dark Lady," "The Highlanders,"  "Pastorale," "Mr. Weller, Senior. Discusses Widows with His Son, Samuel Weller, Esq." [from Dickens' The Pickwick Papers] and "Sarabande."

Constant Lambert

Barbirolli did not record the work, but two other noted conductors - Constant Lambert and Artur Rodziński - quickly did so. It's not clear who was first. As I explained on another occasion, "Lambert's session with the London Philharmonic was on December 21, 1939. Sources differ on the Cleveland date: Michael Gray says it was December 13, 1939; Donald Rosenberg in The Cleveland Orchestra Story specifies January 9-10, 1940."

The Rodziński/Cleveland reading appeared a few years ago on my other blog, and has now been remastered to fix a pitch discrepancy. This post newly presents the Constant Lambert set, in good sound for the time and masterfully conducted, as always.

As you may be aware, I have been remastering and posting Lambert records here and on my main blog for some time, both from my own collection and as they have appeared on Internet Archive. This performance comes from the latter source, transferred from the US Victor pressings and remastered by me.

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Bing's 'Top o' the Morning' - Songs and Promos

Continuing or series of posts about Bing Crosby and his film songs, today we examine the Irish-themed Top o' the Morning, from 1949.

For this post in addition to the five songs from the film, we have a series of broadcast introductions that Bing recorded for disc jockey use. The intros would have been sent with a scripted question for the DJ to ask, and Bing would respond with his thoughts about the record to be heard next. These gimmicks must have been popular, because the labels kept producing them. This site has several examples.

It's always amusing to hear Crosby responding fully in his "genial Bing" character to these disembodied queries. He was a pro.

Ann Blyth has a crush on Bing

The plot involved some rigmarole about Bing going to Ireland as an insurance investigator - investigating the theft of the Blarney Stone (no blarney) - meeting up with the local policeman (Barry Fitzgerald, of course), and romancing the constable's daughter (Ann Blyth, 25 years Bing's junior).

The songs were good, if not the most successful ever produced for a Crosby film. Two were by stalwarts Johnny Burke and Jimmy Van Heusen, including the title song. "Top 'o the Morning" did become fairly well known, and lent its name to a much-later Irish compilation from the singer.

"Oh, 'Tis Sweet to Think" is a lyric by the 19th century poet Thomas Moore set by him to a traditional melody, I believe. Here it is a duet for Bing and Ann Blyth.

"The Donovans" is an 1896 song with words by Francis Fahy set by Alicia Adélaide Needham to the old Irish air "The Wind that Shakes the Barley." The modern adaptation is by Walter Kent.

But the best tune of all is from the Burke-Van Heusen team, "You're in Love with Someone," a tender, memorable item indeed, and perfect for our peripatetic crooner.

Bing also sang "When Irish Eyes Are Smiling" in the film, but there was no recording at the time, presumably because he had just done it three years earlier. I have included that earlier disc as a bonus.

These are from my collection - the sound for the songs is just fine, the promos are serviceable. There are two promos for each song, except for the "When Irish Eyes Are Smiling" bonus.

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The Songs from Bing's 'Double or Nothing'

Bing Crosby's 1937 film Double or Nothing - via songsmiths Johnny Burke and Arthur Johnston - supplied four superb numbers for the singer to perform. Today's post covers Bing's commercial versions and several airchecks as well. Finally, the great Fats Waller makes an appearance.

First, about the film: let me assure you that the plot is one you have encountered many times before - Bing and accomplices must surmount a number of challenges to double their money. If they do, they get a million. If not, they get nothing. Even in the 1930s this premise was usually confined to B-pictures.

The music is much more enjoyable. In the US, the songs came out on Decca. At the top you can see the picture labels that the English Brunswick company used for its release. That's co-star Mary Carlisle with Bing. Brunswick issued a similar set for Waikiki Wedding, which you can find here and here.

The most enduring of the Double or Nothing songs is probably "The Moon Got in My Eyes." This collection has three versions - the Decca recording and Kraft Music Hall radio performances from October and November 1937. The latter two originated from transcriptions made for Bing's new music director, John Scott Trotter, who had recently joined him from Hal Kemp's band.

"The Natural Thing to Do" was the second hit of the film score, attracting many cover versions. For this set we have Crosby's Decca 78 along with a radio duet with his comic sidekick Bob Burns. It's from the first Kraft Music Hall program of the 1937-38 season and has special lyrics, probably provided by Johnny Burke. Burns had apparently been the host of the summer replacement show, and the lyrics of this version hinge on him turning the show back over to Crosby. Burns was a musician, but could not sing and seems ill at ease here.

Bob Burns and Bing

The least remembered song from the Double or Nothing quartet is "All You Want to Do Is Dance." Even so, it's a good number that Crosby does very well. The arrangement shows off the familiar Trotter sound that would complement Bing for many years to come. I haven't found an aircheck of this number.

The final song is "(You Know It All) Smarty." In addition to Bing's commercial recording, we have his radio performance from October. I've added a bonus in the form of the intensely swinging Victor recording by the inimitable Fats Waller. I wonder what the songwriters thought of his free interpretation.

All but the Waller selection are from my collection. The sound is good to excellent.

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Fats Waller

A Visit to Pico and Sepulveda with Freddy Martin

The sign . . . the song

Today's subject is Freddy Martin's 1947 disc of "Pico and Sepulveda," which somehow became the theme song of Dr. Demento's long-running novelty record show in the 1970s and even inspired a raft of amateur cover versions.

Eddie Cherkose

"Pico and Sepulveda" is a wacked-out recitation of Los Angeles street names which culminates in a yearning desire to settle down in the La Brea Tar Pits "where nobody's dreams come true." The lyrics were the inspiration of Eddie Cherkose, who also wrote under the name Eddie Maxwell, including several songs for and with Spike Jones. For "Pico and Sepulveda" Cherkose managed to get Jule Styne to write the music. If you chant "Pico and Sepulveda," you'll get the gist of the tune.

Freddy Martin was under contract with the Victor people, so he, his band and Cherkose ended up at the new Ambassador label, where the "Pico" song was release number 1001. (In other words, 1.) For label purposes, Martin became Felix Figueroa - Figueroa being another LA street name. It's not clear who is singing, but it could be Cherkose.

The other side of the record is another Latin semi-novelty, "She of the Black Coffee Eyes," written by Harold Spina, best known for "Annie Doesn't Live Here Anymore." That might be Martin's then-singer Stuart Wade vocalizing on the flip side; both he and the "Black Coffee Eyes" crooner were baritones, anyway.

Freddy Martin, presumably not at the 'Pico and Sepulveda' session

Cherkose also recorded a few items with saxophonist Neely Plumb, who otherwise led bands for cover records. One such song, for the Rhythmtone label, was yet another Latin novelty called "That Half-Hacienda of Mine," with vocal by "Eddie Maxwell (the Semi-Spaniard)" and Plumb leading the "Frijole Philharmonic." On another Rhythmtone release called the "Double Corncerto" Plumb was in charge of the Alfalfa Philharmonic. I would not be surprised to learn that both songs appeared on Dr. Demento's show.

I have spared you the experience of these Neely Plumb numbers; the download includes just "Pico and Sepulveda" and its discmate, cleaned up from an Internet Archive original.

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Milton Berle Sings, and We Cry 'Uncle!'

On my other blog, we have been delving into the composer songbooks recorded by Lee Wiley in the 1940s, starting with Rodgers and Hart, so now it's time for an opposing viewpoint, as provided by comic Milton Berle in 1947. At the time, "Uncle Miltie," as he was known, was popular on the radio, and in a few years would become the first big star of television. When Victor issued this set of R&H tunes, radio was bringing the nation the Milton Berle Show, featuring such comedy stalwarts as Arnold Stang, Pert Kelton, Jack Albertson and Arthur Q. Bryan, the voice of Elmer Fudd.

So Berle could do comedy. He was not, however, known for his singing voice, and that was a liability when his was the name above the title on a Rodgers and Hart album. Miltie did have Broadway experience, but his singing resume was scant. He had appeared in the Earl Carroll's Vanities of 1932, but did not sing. He did have a singing part in the short-lived 1934 show Saluta. In the Ziegfeld Follies of 1943, he sang a Harold Rome song called "The Micromaniac." Later on, he was one of the producers of, but not a performer in, the Walter Kent-Kim Gannon musical of Seventeen.

Betty Garrett

For the R&H album he was called upon to duet with Betty Garrett in "This Can't Be Love" and "Ev'rything I've Got" and do a solo on "Mountain Greenery." He does OK with the by-play in the first song, but quickly dispenses with the melody when called on to sing. He is acceptable in "Ev'rything I've Got," a comic song, but someone who could sing would be better. "Mountain Greenery" is beyond him in every way.

Fortunately, three good performers are along for the program. Betty Garrett is very well suited to her solo take of "The Lady Is a Tramp." I have heard her in steadier voice than in "Manhattan," and she doesn't have the top note.

Vic Damone and Marie Greene

But on "Manhattan" she had the good fortune of being paired with the young Vic Damone, who was making his first records (at Berle's behest). He's in great voice, and singing in a higher register than he did later on. You'll also notice this in "There's a Small Hotel," which he shares with Marie Greene. She was a singing actress who made some recordings for Signature and Columbia, and with Shep Fields and Les Brown.

Vic and Marie also duet on "Falling in Love with Love." Marie solos on "Here in My Arms."

In short, the album is enjoyable, if you can tolerate Berle.

Bonus: "The Milton Berle Polka"

I've added a bonus consisting of a 1949 record called "The Milton Berle Polka," presumably honoring the comic's eminence in the nascent television industry. The artists are the Marlin Sisters, in reality Goldie and Gittile Malavsky. They were heard on my other blog supporting Frankie Yankovic in his classic recording of the "Blue Skirt Waltz." The Berle record is an enjoyable example of that elusive genre, the polka exploitation song.

Celebrating Milton Berle made the Marlin Sisters glum 

The Berle/R&H cover at top was reused from a Dinah Shore Gershwin set of 1945, which can be found here, in a newly revised version in ambient stereo. I wonder if Victor used the cover design for other sets.

The Berle R&H album was remastered from Internet Archive originals. The sound is fine.

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