Ella FItzgerald-Mack The Knife- Ella In Berlin

Here is a record from one of the greatest singers of the last century.  Worth the $4 I paid for it.  However, I found out when I got home that this is one of the records I inherited from Fred Turton.  So I now have two copies.  

On a side note, all the way back in October of last year, I saw Simple Minds live.  Kind of an impromptu move as I bought a ticket the night before the show.  That weekend, I was already spending a lot of time in the Theater District with The Flying Dutchman at the HGO on Friday and Seven Deadly Sins at the Huston Symphony on Saturday. Simple Minds at the Revention Center just conveniently made sense for Sunday.  Also, I few month prior, I posted their big US smash album, Once Upon A Time, ( you can check that out here) which brought back many memories for me.

Good show.  Had a good seat (10th row).  It had been a long time since I had been to a show with lights so that was a treat (it had also been a long time since I had been to a show with seating as well).  I was surprised how good the band was.  I mean I thought it would be a retro-money grab but they were actually quite polished.  I believe that they are still very popular and active around the world.  Singer Jim Kerr made light of the fact that the last time they were in Houston, it was 1986 (or perhaps ’84) and they “must have really sucked” to have waited so long to return.  He also made a joke about being compared to Simply Red.

Good mix of songs from all of their career with an emphasis on the 80’s stuff.  They had a young, female drummer (Catherine AD) who brought the group some added energy.  My favorite songs were “Theme For Great Cities”, everything from the Once Upon A Time Period , and female singer Sara Brown’s version of “Dirty Old Town”.   Overall, good show. I was glad a decided to do it. And yes, I did use my standing as a music journalist to take pictures on my I-phone during the show. For journalism’s sake only. 

Back to the record at hand, it would make sense that Fred would have this record and I am kind of kicking myself for not thinking about that when I bought it.  This disc, from Verve in 1960, is one of Ella Fitzgerald’s (1917-1996) best selling albums.

Recorded live in February of the same year at West Berlin’s (which was still a thing back then) Deutschlandhallen, the record won a Best Female Vocal Performance (Album) Award at the 3rd annual Grammy’s.  The single “Mack The Knife” also won Best Female Vocal (Single) as well.  In 1999, the album was placed in the Grammy Hall of Fame. It should be noted that the area was demolished in 2011 and while inaugurated by Adolf Hitler in 1935, it serves only fitting that such a great performance by an African American (the very antithesis of Hitler’s ideals) should take place here, a place which held rallies and speeches for the Nazi Party.

Fitzgerald is backed up by The Paul Smith Quartet (Paul Smith:piano, Jim Hall:guitar, Wilfred Middlebrooks:bass, Gus Johnson:drums) on these nine tracks, which include such standards as “Misty”, “The Lady Is A Tramp”, “Summertime”, and “Lorelei”.  It is the title track that makes me laugh as Fitzgerald did not know most of the words to this song.  But hey, who is going to let this little detail stand in their way?  Not Ella.  I would say any other artist would turn this in to a butcher job, but Fitzgerald elegantly commands her way around the song putting in her own lyrics to fill in the blanks.

For a sample , normally I do not like long songs, but I felt absolutely enamored by Fitzgerald’s version of “How High The Moon”.  As with “Mack, she does not know all the words, but instead she delivers one of the best scat performances not only of her career but in all of jazz.  It this was the only song on the album, this alone would justify why this is one of Fitzgerald’s greatest performances and albums.  It should also be noted that her work on this at times samples from Charlie Parker’s “Ornithology”, which itself is based on “How High The Moon”.

Great Album.  Top Rated.

Dean Franconi- The Lush String Sound of Dean Franconi and his Orchestra

This was $1.  It kind of fit the mold for your typical Donkey-Show Pot luck album.

I could not find a whole lot of information on Dean Franconi and was quite excited to write an easy post.  But after a bit of digging, I am working on the theory that Franconi is an alias of one Al Goodman, a somewhat prominent write, arranger and conductor of yore.  Born in Nikopol, Ukraine in 1890, Goodman somehow got to New York where he became Al Jolson’s musical director.  He moved on to works on Broadway and radio as well as a venture into television during its early days.  In terms of Broadway, he directed over 150 first night performances and would often hand off conducting duties after the initial show runs to focus on new productions.  For his period  (the pre-Golden era), he was one of Broadway’s most popular conductors.  He released a series of records under the Franconi moniker.  He would pass on in 1972.

This record, released in 1967 on the Design label, features many popular tunes of the time, most notably “Somewhere My Love” from Dr Zhivago, “Is Paris Burning?”, and “Hawaii” as well as tango favorites “El Choco and “La Cumparsita”.  As the title would suggest, the tracks are string heavy.  Any of these would make for a good sample, but I decided to go with “Espana Waltz”.

Good enough record.  Probably not among Goodman’s proudest moment, hence the alias, but the price was at least right.  Satisfactory.

Frankie Laine- Command Performance

What a way to end the month.  Six albums from frequent blog guests.  Should make for an easy week.  Here is a record I got for a buck. 

Way ahead of schedule these days so it has been awhile since this was current.  In that vein, we lost two things this year: Chicago great Stan Mikita and Houston’s own Chicago bar, TK Bitterman’s.  This picture above, which is one of my favorites despite being blurry, sums up both nicely.  I found it nicely odd to find a picture of Mikita hanging in a bar in Houston. Of course, by the time you read this, both passing will be well in the past.

This album came out on Columbia Records in 1955.  Pretty standard fare from one of the smoothest singers from the last century. I think this is a collection of re-recordings of the earlier hits of Frankie Laine but I am not 100% for sure.  I bought this pretty much for the song I am going to post “Jezebel” as well as the Hank Williams’ standard “Your Cheatin’ Heart”.  Back to the sample, it was a number #2 single in 1951. It sold over a million copies and became a staple, covered by many.  Laine, however, was the first to make it a hit.  The single featured the Norman Luboff Choir and was conducted by Mitch Miller.  This version is much more bare boned.

Satisfactory. Record.

Original Broadway Cast- Guys and Dolls

Two awesome things happened this year.  First, I saw my favorite musical Guys and Dolls on stage (which I documented sometime last month on this blog). Second, I finally found a record of the musical, thus enabling me to write about it.  This is the original Broadway cast album from Decca.

Guys and Dolls opened on Broadway in 1950.  Based on several short stories from noir writer Daymon Runyon with lyrics and music by Frank Loesser, the show featured Robert Alda as Sky Masterson, Sam Levine as Nathan Detroit, Isabel Bigley as Ms Sarah Brown, and Vivian Blaine as Adelaide.

Loesser
Runyon

It ran 1,200 shows and won 5 Tony’s including a Best Choreography for Michael Kidd, Best Actor/Actress awards for Alda and Bigley, and best overall musical. It has been revived and re staged many times.  It has also garnered much praise from fans and critics. Bob Fosse called it “the best American musical ever”. As stated above, it is my favorite.

But most of that admiration for me , (like most golden era musicals for people born before the era) , came from the 1955 movie version.  This version features Marlon Brando as Masterson, Frank Sinatra as Detroit, and Jean Simmons as Sarah Brown.  Blaine reprised her stage role for the film.  Other stage holdovers include Stubby Kaye, PS Pulley, and Johnny Silver.  The film was directed Joe Mankiewicz.

The movie was successful and pretty good, overall.  It followed the original production pretty well. It featured the great songs and good performances. Kidd choreographed the dancing on this as well, but was able to take advantage of bigger sound stages, thus giving us dance numbers on a grander scale.  What is not to like?

Some drama before production.  Sinatra much wanted to sing the key song of the work, “Luck Be A Lady” and therefore lobbied pretty hard for the role of Masterson.  The studio, however, wanted to ride that fast rising star that was Brando.  The two men had actually competed for roles the years prior.  Anyway, Sinatra was relegated to Detroit.  Simmons was not the first choice of the director, but realized early that she was perfect for the role.  And I always thought that Blaine stole a lot of significant parts of the show. I believe her role in the original production was tailor made for her after it was determined that playing Sarah Brown would not work.

So when I saw the stage production (which was done so well with a largely Latino cast), I was taken aback over just how funny it was, especially the ending.  And after I thought about it , it really made a lot of sense.  Brando was a dramatic actor and a lot of the comedic elements of his role were naturally excised.  Likewise, Sinatra was not going to be the comedic foil to Brando, and thus played the role of Detroit (who has a more comedic role in the musical) a bit more straighter than originally intended.  So seeing it on stage was great for me.  Not taking anything away from the movie, but it was like seeing something for the first time when I saw it on stage.

According to the Playbill, most of the comedic genius of the work can be attributed to Abe Burrows.  Burrow’s , a former radio comedy writer, took the original book by Jo Swerling (as well as the songs already written by Loesser) and turned in a re-write of what may be the model of a perfect comedy musical.  This sense of timing that we honed on radio was not lost in the production I saw.  Anyway, like I said, it was just funny to watch.  A lot of back and forth and snappy one timers. And the music as among the best ever written.  Many of them have entered the realm of the standard but none so much as “Luck Be A Lady”.  One thing you really notice on stage (as well as in the movie version) is the effect of the chorus in this song.

For a sample, I normally like to highlight songs from the stage version that were not in the movie.  When I saw it live, I knew ” A Bushel and A Peck”, a stage number by Adelaide and the Hot Box girls, pretty well,  I was also somewhat familiar with the romantic numbers. “More I Cannot Wish You”, “My Time Of Day”, and “I’ve Never Been In Love Before”.  I was unfamiliar , however, with “Marry The Man Today”, the last big number between the two female leads.  I thought this was a great number and kind of put a different spin on the works.  So I was quite pleased seeing this. Thus, I am submitting it as a sample along with the “Guys and Dolls” reprise.  It is a song where Brown and Adelaide talk of the biggest mistake people make throughout history; thinking that someone will change after marriage. It should also be noted that the three songs from the movie (including one written specifically for Sinatra) were not missed.

I also  wanted to go with my favorite number “Sue Me”, although I prefer the film version better.  No offense to Sam Levine but it is Sinatra, man. Not much you could do even if you wanted.

So what a weird week.  Short posts all week except Saturday.  Very much the opposite of the norm. Top rated record.

Lawrence Welk- Galveston

I can’t make out the price tag clearly but it looks like I paid $3 for this record which had a bunch of songs I liked on it.

I have had records on the blog from musicians who played in Lawrence Welk’s band before but I believe this is the first record from the King of Champagne Music, himself.  Welk, born in Strasburg, North Dakota in 1903, was best known for the TV show that bore his name.  It ran for an amazing run from 1951 to 1982. In comparison to its contemporaries such s American Bandstand, the Welk Show catered to an older crowd (not to get too preachy but after seeing both Hammilton! and a Latino-centric cast in Guys and Dolls this year, watching these re-runs for back story for this blog seemed very outdated).  Its re-runs would continue to air on PBS and its squeaky clean image would be mocked by many including music satirist Stan Freberg and SNL’s Fred Armisen,  Welk died in 1992 at the age of 89.

This record came out in 1969 on Ranwood Records and features many popular songs of that period including the Jim Webb penned title track, which was a huge hit for Glen Campbell.  Other songs that I liked include Webb’s ” By The Time I Get To Phoenix”, “Those Were The Days”, and “The Impossible Dream”.  However, I decided to go with “Hey Jude” as the sample. After some thought, I decided to go ahead an put “Galveston” on as well.

Meh.  Never been that much of a champagne drinker myself.  I did really like the sample as well as the title track but that was about it for me and those were on the strength of the songs, not the performance. Are you really surprised I don’t like Welk? Were you expecting I would react differently?  Maybe for $1, yeah, but $3 is a bit pricey for this.

Arthur Murray’s Music for Dancing- Fox Trot

Another week starts today.  This record was $1.  Bought it last year.  Great track list.  Well, for better or for worse, I got my wish and am writing this post fresh (not months in advance).  Although I somewhat regret this move as now I am struggling to get this week out.

 

I did not realize this until the second act, but I spent Mother’s Day weekend watching Bellini’s Norma at the George R Brown (SPOILER ALERT: Not actually a bad mother as the extended title would apply.  I guess audiences in the 1800’s did not care of the major plot motive is spelled out in the title. ). This was the last production (knock on wood) at the George R Brown as the HGO’s normal home, the Wortham Center should be ready next season  after repairs from Harvey.  Don’t get me wrong. I appreciate everything that the HGO did to get this season off the ground.  However, looking forward to getting back home next season.  Among other things, the seats were tough, downright brutal for the first shows until the brought cushions in.

Norma was good. I really liked it.  Good music and great singing.  The War,War chorus in the second act was my favorite.  Local reviews were mixed, but you guys are barely even new sources anymore, so stick it. I thought it was a fine production.

I thought I already posted an Arthur Murray album but nothing comes up in the search so…..Arthur Murray, the king of Dance instruction was born in the kingdom of Galicia in the Austria-Hungary Empire in 1895, neither of which exist today.  Two years later, he came to New York with his parents.  In order to meet girls, he learned to dance at an early age .  After showing much promise as a dancer, he entered the world of Dance instruction.  From his first lessons, he built an empire spanning 500 of his own dance studios, Tv shows, lessons by mail (with fold out foot patterns), and records such as this one.  Murray passed on at his home in Hawaii in 1991 at the age of 95.  As of 2007, some 220 of his dance studios were still in business, making him the second oldest franchise in America.

This album, released in 1959 on RCA Victor, focuses on the Fox Trot, the most popular dance in the world according to the liner notes.  The fox trot, originated from African Americans in the 1910’s and became popular across America in the 1930’s.  Despite being “discovered” by Vernon and Irene Castle, sources attribute the name to vaudeville actor Harry Fox.

So along with a foot diagram on the back cover, Arthur Murray’s Orchestra, led by Ray Crater and produced by Johnnie Camacho, blazes thru 12 songs, mostly classic standards of the day.  Such titles include “Mack The Knife”, “Autumn Leaves”, “Canadian Sunset”, “The Third Man Theme” and “St Louis Blues”.  There is also the aptly penned “Arthur Murray Taught Me Dance In A Hurry”.

The songs are well arranged and orchestrated.  There is also vocal choruses scattered throughout,  Pretty good little album.  I guess with dancing albums, you run the risk of the music being to formal.  However, most of the songs really swing.

I had so many choices to choose from as many of the songs listed above are standards on this blog.  However, I am going back under the sea with a cut from Bioshock made famous by the Andrew Sisters, “Bei Mir Bist DU Schon”.  Not sure what that means?  That is ok.  The song explains it.

Really impressed with this album. Satisfactory.

Enoch Light and his Orchestra- At Carnegie Hall Play Irving Berlin

This was a dollar.  I jump on Command Records whenever I can find them.  This is the album this month arranged by Lew Davies. Should have done a better job vetting these I guess but at this point, it is too late.  

Irving Berlin (1888-1989) was perhaps America’s greatest song writers, having penned over 1,500 numbers as well as scoring 19 Broadway productions and 18 films. His first hit was “Alexander’s Rag Time Band”.  He also penned “God Bless America”, “White Christmas”, and The Gong Show’s Chuck Barris’ Christmas favorite, “Easter Parade”.

This album is a collection of Berlin tunes recorded in Carnegie Hall on 35/mm film (which according to a previous post, produced a high quality output).  I believe their is no audience as this sounds like s studio recording.  Anyway, this is the typical wonderfully arranged, orchestrated and recorded record one would expect from Command.  It was also released in 1962.  Not really feeling writing this week so I will keep this one brief.

For a sample, I went with “How Deep Is The Ocean”, written by Berlin during what Wikipedia says was the low point of his career in 1932.  It is one of the few of his songs to be introduced on radio rather than stage/screen.

Anyway, as always a good little record from a good label.  Satisfactory.

Lena Horne and Harry Belafonte- Porgy and Bess

I think this was $4.  I also think I got this specifically for Black History Month.  Tried getting caught up this weekend but failed miserably and now have to gun thru this post.

Porgy and Bess is a mixed bag of sorts.  George Gershwin’s’ great jazz opera premiered in 1935 but received mixed reviews due to its racial charged theme.  Basically, it appealed to no one.  Several of the songs, however, including ” Summertime” and “I Got Plenty O’ Nothing” became popular standards.  Oddly enough, the musical/opera got a second life when it was done in 1976 at the Houston Grand Opera.  I meant to write more about all these subjects but time has gotten the better of me.  Use Google to answer any questions you may have.

The director for the HGO’s production had trouble finding black actors who wanted to play the roles.  This would be a common theme for stagings of the musical.  In particular, Harry Belafonte refused the screen role of Porgy in the 1950’s film.  Which makes his participation of this record strange on one hand and a testament to the quality of the song writing on the other.   It might also explain his lackluster effort on this album.

This was released in 1959.  Both Lena Horne and Belafonte recorded their solo pieces with their own orchestras.  They came together for a few duo’s.  Horne’s performance, is in stark comparison to Belafonte’s, whereas she hits the songs out of the park.  

Well, for a sample, I went with “There’s  A Boat That’s Leaving Soon For New York”, as it showcases the two together and I really did not have time to write about any of the other songs.

Good Album. Satisfactory. Spelling, grammar, and facts be damned.

 

The Supremes- Sing Rodgers & Hart

DSCN4847 (800x783)This was $3.00.  I should have scheduled this week better as I have two show tune albums back to back.  I kind of went heavy on the Broadway albums this month.  I do not know why.  The tendency is to keep going with a theme when I am picking out records for the month.rodgers-hart-portrait-1

Although Richard Rodgers is best known for his work with Oscar Hammerstein, his initial work with lyricist Lorenz Hart is still pretty prolific.  The duo, who met in 1919 at Colombia University, penned over 500 songs and 28 musicals. Many of their songs have become standards.74275088

Whereas Hammerstein’s lyrics were optimistic, warm (sometime on the edge of corniness), and had a broader appeal, Hart’s work was more sophisticated , clever, and more of a New York slant.  Pal Joey was the duo’s crown achievement.  Hart suffered from both depression and alcoholism (because nothing fixes the blues like a depressant) which led to the duo’s split in 1943.  Hart died of pneumonia shortly there after at the age of 48.  Among their other achievements was their work on the 1937 play, I’d Rather Be Right, which starred the King of Broadway, George M Cohen as FDR.  James Cagney showcased it in the Cohen biopic (which is mostly fabrication), Yankee Doodle Dandy.  According to somewhere, Cohan had requested Cagney for the role.

This record, released by Motown in 1967, showcases the strength of Rodgers and Hart’s catalog.  With liner notes by Gene Kelly, this album includes a lot of the bigger numbers including “The Lady is a Tramp”, “Lover”, “Mountain Greenery”, “My Heart Stood Still”, “Falling in Love with Love”, and “Blue Moon”.  DSCN4848 (800x780)

The previous owner of this record did not care for this record much as the word “Stinks!” is written on the back.  Several titles are also scratched out.  I think this is unfair as I think that it is an excellent record.  The previous owner singled out “Lover”, “My Romance”, “My Heart Stood Still”, and “Falling in Love with Love” as the highlights.  supremes-the-51c6f2ab741a7

For a sample, I went with one of the scratched out numbers “This Can’t Be Love” from the Boys From Syracuse.

Satisfactory record.

George Burns- George Burns Sings

DSCN3702I thought for sure I bought this at a record show, but there it is , the Half Price Books’ tag staring right at me.  With discount, I must have paid $4.George-Burns1

I remember when I was young, everybody making a big to-do about George Burns’ 100 birthday celebration.  Then when he finally turned 100, he was too sick to celebrate.  Then he died, shortly thereafter in 1996.1960-july-26-bobby-darin-george-burns-3

This record came out 1969 on Buddah Records as what I a assuming was a novelty record.  That would have made him 73 at the time of this recording. This record has George singing some old standards along with some modern tunes.  There is little here that is radical an I am far too tired today to expand on this. DSCN3703

I was torn between two songs as a sample.”  First off, I did not like any of the standards.  I thought “With A Little Help From My Friends” was one of the better tunes.  On the other hand, if you can sit through segments “King of The Road”, ‘%9th Street Bridge Song”, and “I Kissed Her on the Back Porch”, hearing Burns singing “I Can’t Get No Satisfaction” is pretty darn funny in the “Medley”.  Here are both tunes for your approval….. or disapproval………whatever.George_burns_and_kermit

Meh.  I was kind of expecting this album to be better than it was.

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