Louisiana Hayride

Another nice collection in the Art Deco series. For a cool site dedicated to the Boswell Sisters, check out www.bozzies.com. Cover and booklet info here. Enjoy. +

Tracks

1. Rock and Roll
2. Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea
3. Louisiana Hayride
4. Shuffle Off to Buffalo
5. Sophisticated Lady
6. Song of Surrender
7. Sleep, Come on and Take Me
8. That's How Rhythm Was Born
9. Sentimental Gentleman From Georgia, The
10. Coffee in the Morning and Kisses in the Night
11. Forty-Second Street
12. Minnie the Moocher's Wedding Day
13. Darktown Strutter's Ball, The
14. If I Had a Million Dollars
15. It's Written All Over Your Face
16. Charlie Two-Step
17. Trav'lin All Alone
18. St. Louis Blues
19. Dinah
20. Object of My Affection, The

It's The Girls

There have been sister vocal groups before and after, but none have ever equaled the impact on popular music that the Boswell Sisters brought to the scene. Though they made their first recording for Victor in 1925, it was the Brunswick years 1931-1935 that they made their most popular recordings which they made along with the best in the business - the Dorseys, Joe Venuti among others. Enjoy. +

Tracks

1. It's the Girl
2. That's What I Like About You
3. Heebie Jeebies
4. Concentratin' (on You)
5. Wha'd Ja Do to Me?
6. I'm All Dressed up With a Broken Heart
7. When I Take My Sugar to Tea
8. Don't Tell Him What Happened to Me
9. Roll On, Mississippi, Roll On
10. I'm Gonna Cry (Cryin' Blues)
11. This Is the Missus/Ladies and Gentleman/That's Love/Life Is Just a Bowl Of Cherries
12. My Future Just Passed
13. What Is It?
14. Shine on Harvest Moon
15. Gee, But I'd Like to Make You Happy
16. We're on the Highway to Heaven
17. Time on My Hands
18. Nights When I'm Lonely
19. Shout, Sister, Shout
20. It's You

Cheerful Little Earful

Here's the second volume of Ben Selvin. On the post for volume one I cited the entry from Wikipedia which reports that Selvin's output is estimated at 13,000 - 20,000 song titles. I now doubt that seriously based on something I read in Scott Yanow's book under his entry for Chick Bullock. Yanow stated that Bullock recorded more than 4,000 songs during his career, when the number is actually about 740 (according to Peter Murphy's 1983 discography). I say "about" because I've found 3 or 4 or so titles that weren't listed, as well as determining that 1 record is decidedly not Bullock. Anyway, most of Bullock's songs were issued on several labels even though they were the exact same recording, often on as many as nine different labels (also accounting for pseudonyms). I suspect that the case is similar for Ben Selvin, though he was far more prolific than Bullock, and that there is sloppy counting going on. So again, 20,000? How many recording sessions per year would that require? I bet the count doesn't match up with the known recording dates. Anyway, this is another fine collection from this label. Enjoy. +

Tracks

1. Free and Easy [1]
2. Smile, Darn Ya, Smile
3. Why?
4. Mona
5. Do Ya Love Me? (Just a Tiny Bit, Do Ya?) [1]
6. Why Do You Suppose?
7. I Miss a Little Miss (Who Misses Me in Sunny Tennessee)
8. Do Ya Love Me? (Just a Tiny Bit, Do Ya?) [2]
9. 'Tain't No Sin
10. Thank Your Father
11. When I Am Housekeeping for You
12. Let Me Sing and I'm Happy
13. Thank Your Father [2]
14. I'm in the Market for You
15. Whole Darned Thing's for You
16. Why Have You Forgotten Waikiki?
17. My Man from Caroline
18. I'm in the Market for You [2]
19. Free and Easy [2]
20. Cheerful Little Earful
21. Whole Darned Thing's for You [2]
22. It's Easy to Fall in Love
23. You Said It

Blowin' Up A Breeze

Chu Berry is perhaps best known for his tenor saxophone work with Cab Calloway's Cotton Club Orchestra. Prior to joining Calloway's orchestra, Berry worked with Sammy Stewart, Benny Carter, Teddy Hill, and Fletcher Henderson. Though Berry based his style on that followed by Coleman Hawkins, the older man regarded Berry as his equal. His composition "Christopher Columbus" was the last important hit recording of the Fletcher Henderson orchestra, recorded in 1936. It is one of the most popular riff tunes from the swing era and used as the final showstopper in Benny Goodman's first Carnegie Hall Jazz concert dating from 1938. Berry also played for a while in the Count Basie Big band. His most impressing recording with that band is "Oh, Lady Be Good". (from Wiki). Enjoy. +

Tracks

1. Now You're Talking My Language
2. (Back Home Again In) Indiana
3. Too Marvelous for Words
4. Limehouse Blues
5. Chuberry Jam
6. Maelstrom
7. My Secret Love Affair
8. Ebb Tide
9. Sittin' In
10. Stardust
11. Body and Soul
12. Forty Six, West Fifty Two
13. Blowin' Up a Breeze
14. On the Sunny Side of the Street
15. Monday at Minton's
16. Gee Baby, Ain't I Good to You
17. Dream Girl, Pt. 1
18. Dream Girl, Pt. 2
19. Get Lost, Pt. 1
20. Get Lost, Pt. 2

Mahogany Hall Stomp

The great Bunny Berigan with some nice sides including a remake of his biggest hit I Can't Get Started. Enjoy. +

Tracks

1. Roses In December
2. Mother Goose
3. Frankie And Johnnie
4. Mahogany Hall Stomp
5. Let'Er Go
6. Turn On That Red-Hot Heat (Burn Your Blues Away)
7. I Can't Get Started
8. The Prisoner's Song
9. Why Talk About Love?
10. Caravan
11. A Study In Brown
12. Sweet Varsity Sue
13. Gee, But It's Great To Meet A Friend
14. Ebb Tide
15. Have You Ever Been In Heaven?
16. Mama, I Wanna Make Rhythm
17. I'd Love To Play A Love Scene (Opposite You)
18. I Want A New Romance
19. Miles Apart
20. A Strange Loneliness
21. In A Little Spanish Town
22. Black Bottom

You're Telling Me

2 hits for 2 bits - how can you beat that? From a review on Amazon: Nobody is quite sure what happened to Charlie Palloy, the mysterious bandleader, guitarist, and baritone who recorded for the bargain-priced Crown Records label between 1932 and 1933. Was he a better-known musician working under a stage name or just a good Bing Crosby impersonator destined for obscurity? Regardless, these 23 tracks capture one of the Depression-era's most enigmatic and talented bandleaders in fine form. His budget-priced 78s (sold through Woolworth's for a quarter) were forged on the repertoire of Crosby's latest hits, but Palloy's single-note guitar solos--a hint at the sounds of jazz guitar to come--make these interpretations utterly fascinating. From the stripped-down arrangement of "Young and Healthy" to the full-bodied swing of "Sentimental Gentleman from Georgia," Palloy shines. His slightly ragged voice is somehow endearing and his talent on the frets is unmistakable. What other bandleader in the '20s or '30s would sing, scat, and do a guitar solo on "Forty-Second Street"? Guitarist-bandleader Nick Lucas may be a better-known figure than Palloy (after all, he did popularize "Tip Toe Through the Tulips"), but that's a shame: Palloy is every bit as interesting and his playing is just as remarkable. --Jason Verlinde. This is a fantastic collection. Enjoy. +

Tracks

1. It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)
2. Young and Healthy
3. And So I Married the Girl
4. Stormy Weather
5. Say It Isn't So
6. Sentimental Gentleman from Georgia
7. Learn to Croon
8. Brother Can You Spare a Dime?
9. (Hi-Ho Lack-A-Day) What Have We Got to Lose?
10. Me Minus You
11. Forty Second Street
12. I've Got to Sing a Torch Song
13. Hustlin' and Bustlin' for Baby
14. On a Steamer Coming Over
15. You'll Never Get up to Heaven That Way
16. What a Perfect Combination
17. Gold Diggers Song (We're in the Money)
18. Pettin' in the Park
19. You're Telling Me
20. Try a Little Tenderness
21. One Little Word Led to Another
22. Just an Echo in the Valley
23. Cop on the Beat, the Man in the Moon and Me

Unemployment Stomp

Last night I was reading a book called The Thirties: A Time To Remember and couldn't help but note (again) the many similarities (consumer debt, failing banks, plummeting stocks, rising unemployment, etc.). The thing that irks me is the spate of adamant assurances that prosperity is just around the corner, then and today. But in lieu of a diatribe I turn to more music and thought of this cd. For a collection of only 16 tracks, this is a really good sampling of songs of the Great Depression. This cd can still be purchased at www.newworldrecords.org and the really cool thing is that you can download (as a .pdf) the liner notes for their entire catalog! In this case, that means 36 pages. Enjoy. +

Tracks

1. Brother, Can You Spare A Dime? - Bing Crosby
2. The Boulevard Of Broken Dreams - Deane Janis
3. Life Is Just A Bowl Of Cherries - Rudy Vallee And His Connecticut Yankees
4. In The Still Of The Night - Glen Gray And The Casa Loma Orchestra
5. Love Walked In - Shirley Temple
6. On The Good Ship Lollypop - Shirley Temple
7. Unemployment Stomp - Big Bill Broonzy
8. The Gold Diggers' Song (We're In The Money) - Dick Powell
9. All In Down And Out Blues - Uncle Dave Macon
10. Fifteen Miles From Birmingham - The Delmore Brothers
11. The Coal Loading Machine - The Evening Breezes Sextet
12. NRA Blues - Bill Cox
13. I Ain't Got No Home In This World Anymore - Woody Guthrie
14. The Death Of Mother Jones - Gene Autry
15. All I Want - The Almanac Singers/Pete Seeger
16. The White Cliffs Of Dover - Glenn Miller And His Orchestra

St. James Infirmary (Chick Bullock Vol. 1)

This is my first batch of Chick Bullock tunes, direct from my own collection of 78s. I decided to do this chronologically per recording dates, and since I have too many sides from 1930 to fit on one cd I will post the rest as Volume 2 as soon as I can edit all the tags. These were recorded as uncompressed .wav files, edited, and then converted to .mp3 at 320br to avoid losing any further quality. I use Polderbits to digitize these and had to use filters for noise, crackle and click where necessary (most of them). Some of the sides are in better condition, so the filters were reduced accordingly. I did not adjust the eq.

Session musicians are listed in the tags (as known), and they include the Dorsey brothers, Joe Venuti and Roy Smeck on several. St. James Infirmary is one of my favorite Bullock records and features some of the best. The tune is also the oldest Bullock record I have (so far) and is from his fourth recording session February 14, 1930, the first being just two weeks prior on January 31, 1930 when his recording of the same tune was rejected. I've also included the recording dates in each tag. Most of the tunes here are less jazz and more crooning, and as far as I know none of them have appeared yet on a cd. Why, I have no idea. Someone more qualified should put out a complete Chick Bullock series, if you ask me.

This being my first batch of digitized 78s, I would like to know what others think of the quality. So please comment! And Enjoy. +

Tracks (in order of recording date)

1. St. James Infirmary
2. Alcoholic Ward Blues
3. Should I
4. Lazy Lou'siana Moon
5. The One I love just can't be bothered with me
6. A cottage for sale
7. Laughing My troubles away
8. I'm in the market for you
9. If I had a Girl Like you
10. You brought a new kind of love to me
11. Ten Cents a dance
12. Swingin' in a Hammock
13. What's the use
14. Just a little closer
15. I still get a thrill

On Your Toes

Willie Lewis found more success in Europe than he did in the US, which is a shame because he recorded some pretty good music. Among those who played under Lewis were Herman Chittison, Benny Carter, Bill Coleman, Garnet Clark, Bobby Martin, and June Cole. Lewis's Entertainers recorded for French label Disques Swing. Enjoy. +

Tracks

1. Sing, Sing, Sing Prima 2:38
2. Knock, Knock, Who's There? Davies, Lopez, Morris, Tyson 3:00
3. Sweet Sue
4. Organ Grinder's Swing
5. On Your Toes
6. There's a Small Hotel
7. Le Soleil S'en Fout
8. Love
9. Ol' Man River
10. Swing, Brother, Swing
11. Swing Time
12. Doin' the New Low Down
13. Swinging for a Swiss Miss
14. Basin Street Blues
15. The Maid's Night Off
16. Who's Sorry Now?
17. Swinging at the Chez Florence
18. Coquette
19. Memphis Blues
20. In a Shanty in Old Shanty Town
21. Goodbye to Summer
22. I'm Gonna Lock My Heart (And Throw Away the Key)
23. Poor Little Angeline
24. Lambeth Walk

More Than You Know

Another from Columbia's Art Deco series, this one featuring female vocalists. Ruth Etting does a nice job with Shine On Harvest Moon, among other good tunes. And where else will you find Dorothy Lamour, Lyda Roberti, Kate Smith and the Boswell Sisters in one place? I have no idea why I didn't scan the cover (years ago when I had a scanner), but scans of the booklet info can be found here. Interesting cd, it has a picture of Ruby Keeler on the front but she's nowhere to be found in the music. Enjoy. +

Tracks

1. Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man - Helen Morgan, Victor Young
2. I Must Have That Man! - Duke Ellington & His Orchestra, Adelaide Hall
3. I Gotta Right to Sing the Blues - Lee Wiley
4. They Call Me Sister Honky Tonk - Mae West
5. Heat Wave - Ben Selvin, Ethel Waters
6. Alexander's Ragtime Band - The Boswell Sisters,
7. College Rhythm - Jimmy Grier & His Orchestra, Lyda Roberti
8. You're the Top - Johnny Green & His Orchestra, Ethel Merman
9. Shine on Harvest Moon - Ruth Etting
10. I'm in the Mood for Love - Frances Langford
11. You Let Me Down - Kay Thompson
12. More Than You Know - Mildred Bailey
13. Slumming on Park Avenue - Alice Faye
14. Swing High, Swing Low - Dorothy Lamour
15. Easy Living - Billie Holiday
16. Folks Who Live on the Hill - Maxine Sullivan, Claude Thornhill & His Orchestra
17. Most Gentlemen Don't Like Love - Eddy Duchin & His Orchestra, Mary Martin
18. You'll Have to Swing It (Mr. Paganini) - Martha Raye, David Rose & His Orchestra
19. When the Moon Comes over the Mountain - Kate Smith
20. Boy! What Love Has Done to Me! - Jane Froman

Davenport Blues

I finally got around to posting this, volume 2 can be found in a previous post. This cd includes recordings where Miff Mole backed Sophie Tucker and also some sides recorded with Red Nichols. A look at the cover shows some of the great jazz musicians who are represented on these recordings from the 1920s. Enjoy. +

Tracks

1. Alexander's Ragtime Band
2. Some Sweet Day
3. Hurricane
4. Delirium
5. Davenport Blues
6. Davenport Blues
7. Darktown Strutters' Ball
8. Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight
9. After You've Gone - Miff Mole, Sophie Tucker
10. I Ain't Got Nobody - Miff Mole, Sophie Tucker
11. One Sweet Letter from You - Miff Mole, Sophie Tucker
12. Fifty Million Frenchmen Can't Be Wrong - Miff Mole, Sophie Tucker
13. Imagination
14. Feelin' No Pain
15. Original Dixieland One-Step
16. My Gal Sal
17. Honolulu Blues
18. New Twister
19. Slippin' Around
20. Feelin' No Pain
21. Harlem Twist - Miff Mole, Red Nichols
22. Five Pennies - Miff Mole, Red Nichols,
23. One Step to Heaven (Windy City Stomp)
24. Shim-Me-Sha-Wabble
25. Navy Blues
26. Lucky Little Devil

Let The People Sing

Let the people sing - please! This was one I picked up because of the era, and because I have several other ASV titles that I like. Sometimes taking a chance on an unknown cd can result in wonderful surprises. I'm more careful now, as this was played maybe once. Perhaps there are people who like Laye's high-pitched operatic style, I'm not one of them. But the Queen loved her so what do I know? Enjoy. +

Tracks

1. Lover, Come Back to Me
2. One Kiss
3. Wanting You
4. Love Me Now
5. Do I Do Wrong
6. Near and Yet So Far
7. Brave Hearts
8. Love Is a Song
9. Princess's Awakening
10. Night Is Young
11. When I Grow Too Old to Dream
12. My Nicolo
13. Love Never Comes Too Late
14. Nobody Could Love You More
15. Love, Live Forever (And Rule My Heart)
16. I'll See You Again
17. Zigeuner
18. You've Done Something to My Heart
19. Let the People Sing
20. Only a Glass of Champagne
21. Je T'Aime (Forever)

Big City Blues

I think Take Two's collection gives a good sample of Annette Hanshaw's career here, showing that she could sing anything. Even I Love A Ukulele (which she reportedly despised) sounds good. Interesting tidbit from David Garrick's website: Annette was a Big Broadcast radio show listener. But in a conversation with Rich [Conaty], Annette requested that three songs not be played on his radio show. Rich: "I'm looking at two Sunbeam LPs. Annette wanted me to avoid Lover, Come Back to Me, You'll Always Be the Same Sweetheart, and Sweetheart Darlin'. I'm not sure why, but I've respected her wishes". Enjoy. +

Tracks

1. It All Depends on You
2. My Blackbirds Are Bluebirds Now
3. I Can't Give You Anything But Love
4. In a Great Big Way
5. Lover Come Back to Me
6. You Wouldn't Fool Me Would You
7. Button Up Your Overcoat
8. I Get the Blues When It Rains
9. That's You Baby
10. Big City Blues
11. My Sin
12. I Think You'll Like It
13. Daddy, Won't You Please Come Home
14. I Love a Ukulele
15. Am I Blue?
16. (I'm a Dreamer) Aren't We All
17. I Have to Have You
18. Happy Days Are Here Again
19. Ho Hum
20. Say It Isn't So

Fidgety Feet

Another one I grabbed for the Chick Bullock vocals (1-3). On the first four tracks with the Vic Berton Orchestra, Russell doubles on tenor sax. The six sides from Nick's were on a small label sold exlusively at Nick's club. From Allmusic.com: A professional by the time he was 15, Pee Wee Russell played in Texas with Peck Kelley's group (meeting Jack Teagarden) and then in 1925 he was in St. Louis jamming with Bix Beiderbecke. Russell moved to New York in 1927 and gained some attention for his playing with Red Nichols' Five Pennies. Russell freelanced during the era, making some notable records with Billy Banks in 1932 that matched him with Red Allen. He played clarinet and tenor with Louis Prima during 1935-1937, appearing on many records and enjoying the association. After leaving Prima, he started working with Eddie Condon's freewheeling groups and would remain in Condon's orbit on and off for the next 30 years. Enjoy. +

Tracks

Vic Berton and His Orchestra

1. Taboo

2. Mary Lou

3. In Blinky Winky Chinky Chinatown

4. Blue

5. Lonesome and Sorry

Buddy Clark

6. Nothing But You

7. From Another World

8. I Walk With Music

9. This Is the Beginning of the End

Nick Presents his Dixieland Jazz Band Under the Direction of Pee Wee Russell

10. (Back Home Again In) Indiana

11. I Ain't Gonna Give Nobody None of My Jelly Roll

12. Clarinet Marmalade

13. Mama's in the Groove

14. Fidgety Feet

15. My Honey's Lovin' Arms

Pee Wee Russell Jazz Ensemble

16. Since My Best Gal Turned Me Down

17. Muskogee Blues

18. Rosie

19. Take Me Back to the Land of Jazz

20. I'd Climb the Highest Mountain

21. Red Hot Mama

Busby Berkeley Musicals on Radio

Busby Berkeley's work was much more visual than anything, but if Edgar Bergen could perform ventriloquism over the radio then certainly we could hear the great music and imagine the elaborate choreography from the Berkeley films. I don't have the air dates for these unfortunately, but they are from the 1930s. Enjoy. +

Tracks

1. Gold Diggers of 1935
with Dick Powell, Gloria Stuart, Alice Brady, Winifred Shaw

2. Stage Struck
with
Dick Powell, Joan Blondell, Jeanne Madden, The Yacht Club Boys, Warren William

3. Dames
with Dick Powell, Ruby Keeler, Joan Blondell, Zasu Pitts, Guy Kibbee, Hugh Herbert

4. In Caliente
with Dolores Del Rio, Winifred Shaw, Pat O'Brien, Phil Regan, Edward Everett Horton

5. 20 Million Sweethearts
with Dick Powell, Ginger Rogers, Ted Fio Rito and his Orchestra (vocal - Muzzy Marcellino and the Debutantes)

A Shine On Your Shoes

You learn something new every day. Looking at bio info on Billy Banks, I find out that he was also a female impersonator - and good enough to fool a lot of people. Apparently his vocal Mean Old Bed Bug Blues with Fats Waller was long considered to be Una Mae Carlisle. Well, I picked this cd up for the two unmistakable Chick Bullock vocals (tracks 20, 21). Check out who plays on this cd: Henry 'Red' Allen, Pee Wee Russell, Joe Sullivan, Eddie Condon, Gene Krupa, Zutty Singleton, Fats Waller, Pops Foster, Jack Bland and Tommy Dorsey. Although Banks was called eccentric, he could sing and this is a very nice collection of tunes. Banks is on all but the last four, and Jack Bland (guitar) is on all (but possibly not 16, 17 and 18). Enjoy. +

Tracks

Billy Banks and His Orchestra

1. Bugle Call Rag
2. Oh Peter! (You're So Nice)
3. Margie
4. The Scat Song
5. Mighty Sweet
6. Minnie The Moocher's Wedding Day
7. Oh Peter! (You're So Nice)
8. Spider Crawl
9. Who's Sorry Now?
10. Take It Slow And Easy
11. Bald Headed Mama

The Rhythmakers

12. (I Would Do) Anything For You
13. Mean Old Bed Bug Blues
14. Yellow Dog Blues
15. Yes, Suh!

Billy Banks and His Orchestra

16. Oh! You Sweet Thing
17. It Don't Mean A Thing (If You Ain’t Got That Swing)
18. You Wonderful Thing

Jack Bland and His Rhythmakers

19. Who Stole The Lock (On The Hen House Door)?
20. A Shine On Your Shoes
21. It's Gonna Be You
22. Someone Stole Gabriel's Horn