The Barry Sisters- At Home With The Barry Sisters

For the three years I have been doing this blog, I have yet to really nail a Hanukkah, which is into its 3rd day today.  Not sure why.  I mean. in the words of Adam Sandler, there are no real great Hanukkah albums.  There is a swath of Jewish/ Klezmer records I could post but I seem to forget to save them for this time of year (maybe next year I will do so).  So I do what I did last year, which is to throw something on from the first ladies of Yiddish singing, Minnie and Clara Bagelman, better known as the Barry Sisters, Merna and Claire.  I bought this record, not only because it was only $1 but due to the fact that I really enjoyed the Sister’s records in the past.  This record was priorly owned by Thea Singer.

This was the third LP from the Sisters (as far as I can tell).  Released in 1959, on Roulette Records, Good stuff.  Its the hip, swinging Yiddish the Sisters are famous for.  I liked a whole lot of this record which was arranged by Abe Ellstein.

For a sample, I went with the Jewish standard “Hava Nagila” as well as “Zuges Mir Noch Amool” which I felt was among one of the more swinging tracks I had discussed earlier.

Good little record.  Satisfactory.  Happy Hanukkah.

Joel Grey- Songs My Father Taught Me

This was only a dollar.  I bought this last year around the same period as Harvey (that’s the hurricane for non-natives).  At the time I did a whole month of Broadway records so this was quite relevant. Also I found out that if you Google Joey Grey, you get a lot of pictures of Matt LeBlanc with grey hair. Finally with the last weird fact, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off is playing while I write this, featuring Grey’s daughter , Jennifer Grey.

But that is not the paternal relationship we are focusing on today.  Rather, we look at Mickey Katz (1909-1985), a very popular musician and bandleader who played could be considered the missing link between Spike Jones and Wierd Al Yankovic. Known for his humor, his songs had a klezmer style and poked light of American and Jewish culture, via contemporary music.  As a popular performer on the Borscht Circuit, Katz produced a stage revue entitled Borscht Capades which toured the country if I am reading the album cover correctly.  Initially it was a hit but when it went to Broadway, a similar styled production debuted at the same time, thus splitting the audience and killing both shows.  The act did, however, did feature one 17 year Joey Grey, who was the son of Katz.

With this background, it makes sense that Grey would not only perform as The Master of Ceremonies in Broadway’s Cabaret, but that we would give a truly spectacular performance.  It was a quite a sizable performance.  How sizable?  Well, it got him well out of the shadow of his father.  Funny what an Oscar and a Tony will do.

So we have this album, originally released by Captiol in 1960, re-released sometime after Cabaret’s success in 1966.  The cover says file under Jewish music but this has a good mix of songs from various ethnic areas in the Eastern Hemisphere.  With Nat Farber arranging and conducting, Grey tears thru ten tracks of pure borscht. Grey also explains each of the songs a bit.

For a sample, I went with “Artsa Alinu”, a Israeli harvest song.

Decent record.  It delivers what it advertises. Satisfactory.

The Barry Sisters- A Time To Remember

If my calculations are correct, today marks the first night of Hanukkah.  Happy Hanukkah everybody! To celebrate this event, here is the effort from the Barry Sisters.  It was 43 and probably bought specifically for this event (or maybe Passover- who can remember?).

I have featured the Barry Sisters on this site before so if you want to learn anything else about Minnie and Clara, I suggest you either search for the last post or check Google.  Did I mention I am on vacation?

This record was released by ABC Records in 1967 and is a collection of pretty standard Yiddish tunes. Well, I believe they are pretty standard.  Not 100% up to date on my Yiddish material.  Anyway, this was done around the end of their career but still a good little record.  A couple real interesting pieces. Perhaps if I were not on vacation, then I would be inclined to write a little more or at least re-read the back cover and regurgitate that information (according to the back cover, the song “is a happy wishing song” translating into “I Wish, I Wish”).

For a sample, here is “Alevai, Alevai” which I am sure means something but am too lazy to look into any further.

Satisfactory.

The Barry Sisters- Sing Fiddler on the Roof

DSCN1231This was a quarter. I could have made a phone call 20 years ago for this. I bought it because I like Fiddler.

The Barry Sisters were a vocal pair who specialized in American Klezmer and Jazz vocals.  To the laymen, think Yiddish-Swing.  The sisters (Minnie and Clara Bagelman) were born in the Bronx and started singing Yiddish Songs at an early age.  Their first break came in the 30’s on radio shows.  At the suggestion of a producer of the radio program Yiddish Melodies in Swing, they dropped the Bagelman moniker and became Claire and Merna Barry. (Not sure why they changed the name. I would think Bagelman would be a better name on the Yiddish Entertainer circuit.)  They would perform Yiddish versions of popular jazz songs on the show from 1937 to the mid 1950’s  .  From here, they appeared on Ed Sullivan, The Jack Parr Show, and the Tonight Show.  They also entertained troops during the Yom Kippur War. The sisters stood out greatly from other Yiddish entertainers due to their glamorous appearance.  Also, according to Wikipedia, they spared no expense with their orchestra.  Merna would die of a brain tumor in 1976 at the age of 53.  Claire would hold on until 2014, where she past on at age 94.

Merna (left) and Claire
Merna (left) and Claire

As far as the album goes, it is alright. It is what you expected, a swinging take on Fiddler. The Sisters’ harmony is impeccable and their voices are very pretty.  At times, I kind of think of a Jewish version of the Sweeny Sisters.  But kidding aside, the Sister’s do a fine job with the songs from the musical.  Everything is in English so there is nothing showcasing their Yiddish skills.

DSCN1232My favorite song from the musical is “Tevye’s Dream” which is a chorus number and therefore, not on this album.  However,  all the rest of the big tunes are on here.  “Matchmaker”, “Sunrise, Sunset”, “If I Were a Rich Man”, and the title track all stand out.  However, I went with two of my other favorite songs, “To Life” and “Tradition”.  Both showcase the Sister’s voices and swinging sound.

Satisfactory record, although I must admit it grew on me after a few listens. And again, it was only a quarter so go call someone who cares.