Hello Gorgeous

Time flies, only it hasn't been fun putting in 60-70 hours/week. Well, here at last is some more Chick Bullock with Volume 2 of 1932. I've got several of these on 78s, and the Waring tunes appear elsewhere, however for expediency I've opted to pull all of these from mp3s that I've acquired from other sources. I think my hard drive with my Bullock rips is stored away at the moment, and these are all I have access to at the moment, and it's been too long since I've posted more tunes from my favorite artist of the era. Some of these tunes are rather mundane with bland arrangements, but then there are some really nice gems. It would be hard to equal the versions by the Mills Brothers', but both Shine and I Heard are very nice. Dixie and Business in F are nice and jumpy, as they should be, backed by Gene Kardos and His Orchestra. A different Kardos version of the latter is available elsewhere in the blog. Oh, Monah features Dick Robertson backed by a chorus that includes Chick Bullock, which may be the only time he sang back-up (he did trade verses with Cab Calloway on one tune). Another tune, If You Were Only Mine, has a melody that I swear is used in another Bullock recording. I think it may be Crying Myself To Sleep, but I could be mistaken. So much of the music from this era blurred the lines between originality and plagiarism, if not wipe them out altogether. It's amazing that it wasn't known as the Litigious Age. Another enjoyable side is Is I In Love, I Is, backed again by the Kardos orchestra. Listeners may be more familiar with the Dick Robertson version, as he also recorded many of the same tunes presented here. Well, enough of my drivel. On to the music, and let's hope the next installment isn't so far off. *Note: I suggest deleting the image in the download in favor the one above. Enjoy! +

Tracks

21 April 1932 Chick Bullock and His Levee Loungers

01 - Hello Gorgeous
02 - Dixie

21 April 1932 Gene Kardos and His Orchestra

03 - Business In F
04 - Oh, Monah (with Dick Robertson)

13 May 1932 Lou Gold and His Orchestra

05 - Hummin' To Myself

13 May 1932 Gene Kardos and His Orchestra

06 - Is I In Love  I Is!
07 - Why Don't You Get Lost

13 May 1932 Carolina Club Orchestra

08 - Goofus
09 - I Beg You Pardon Mademoiselle

2 June 1932 Studio Orchestra

10 - When You Are Getting Along with Your Gal
11 - Who Besides Me Sits Beside You
12 - When We Ride On The Merry-Go-Round

22 June 1932 Ted Black and His Orchestra

13 - In A Shanty In Old Shanty Town

25 June 1932 Chick Bullock and His Levee Loungers
Mannie Klein-t/Jimmy Dorsey-cl/Matty Malneck-vn/Joe Meresco-p/Carl Kress-g/Artie Bernstein-sb/Stan King-d

14 - Shine
15 - I Heard
16 - The Night When Love Was Born
17 - If You Were Only Mine

27 June 1932 Waring's Pennsylvanians

18 - Holding My Honey's Hand
19 - Old Man Of The Mountain

1 July 1932 Chick Bullock and His Levee Loungers

20 - Rain, Rain, Go Away

Last Cent

I'm challenging myself to see how many I can share this month, and Red Nichols is always a good choice (courtesy of a fellow collector). "Overrated in Europe in the early '30s when his records (but not those of his black contemporaries) were widely available and then later underrated and often unfairly called a Bix imitator, Red Nichols was actually one of the finest cornetists to emerge from the '20s. An expert improviser whose emotional depth did not reach as deep as Bix or Louis Armstrong, Nichols was in many ways a hustler, participating in as many recording sessions (often under pseudonyms) as any other horn player of the era, cutting sessions as Red Nichols & His Five Pennies, the Arkansas Travelers, the Red Heads, the Louisiana Rhythm Kings, and the Charleston Chasers, among others, usually with similar personnel. Nichols studied cornet with his father, a college music teacher. After moving from Utah to New York in 1923, Nichols, an excellent sight-reader who could always be relied upon to add a bit of jazz to a dance band recording, quickly became in great demand. His own sessions at first featured trombonist Miff Mole and Jimmy Dorsey on alto and clarinet, playing advanced music that utilized unusual intervals, whole-tone scales, and often the timpani of Vic Berton along with hot ensembles. Later on in the decade his sidemen included such young greats as Benny Goodman, Glenn Miller, Jack Teagarden, Pee Wee Russell, Joe Venuti, Eddie Lang, Adrian Rollini, Gene Krupa, and the wonderful mellophone specialist Dudley Fosdick, among others; their version of "Ida" was a surprise hit.

Although still using the main name of the Five Pennies, Nichols' bands were often quite a bit larger, and by 1929 he was alternating sessions featuring bigger commercial orchestras with small combos. At first Nichols weathered the Depression well with work in shows, but by 1932 his long string of recordings came to an end. He headed a so-so swing band up until 1942, left music for a couple of years, and for a few months in 1944 was with Glen Gray's Casa Loma Orchestra. Later that year he re-formed the Five Pennies as a Dixieland sextet and, particularly after bass saxophonist Joe Rushton became a permanent member, it was one of the finer traditional jazz bands of the next 20 years. Nichols recorded several memorable hot versions of "Battle Hymn of the Republic," the best being in 1959. That same year a highly enjoyable if rather fictional Hollywood movie called The Five Pennies (and featuring Nichols' cornet solos and Danny Kaye's acting) made Red into a national celebrity at the twilight of his long career. Nichols' earlier sessions have been reissued in piecemeal fashion during the digital era, with later albums remaining unavailable." (Allmusic.com). Enjoy! +

Tracks

01 - Indiana
02 - Dinah
03 - On The Alamo
04 - Sally, Won't You Come Back
05 - It Had To Be You
06 - I'll See You In My Dreams
07 - Some Of These Days
08 - That Da Da Strain
09 - Basin Street Blues
10 - Last Cent
11 - Rose Of Washington Square
12 - I May Be Wrong
13 - The New Yorkers
14 - They Didn't Believe Me
15 - Wait For The Happy Ending
16 - Can't We Be Friends
17 - Nobody Knows
18 - Smiles
19 - Marianne
20 - Get Happy
21 - Somebody To Love Me

Banking On The Weather

Banking on the weather, and today it's mid-30s and hot. Again. Today's entry comes from the Crown label, which lasted all of 1930-1933 until it was done in by the Depression. Fortunately several cds have been made available from TOM, and can be found at worldsrecords.com. Russ Carlson & the High Steppers is my second-favorite (after Charlie Palloy) of these, and no wonder, given that many of the sidemen used on the Carlson recordings were the same used in Chick Bullock sessions from the same period. Likewise, Bullock recorded no less than twelve of these same titles. These particular records were made in 1931-1932, and include vocals by Elmer Feldkamp, Dick Robertson, Harold Van Emburgh and others. As for Carlson himself, Randy Skretvedt writes in his lengthy liner notes, "Although little is known about Russ Carlson, he had a distinctive style as a pianist. Even though he doesn't solo often (usually being heard best as the backing to the vocalist) he has a full, somewhat florid way of playing; it's happy and bubbly." I'm sure you'll agree that this is a must-have for any collection. Enjoy. +

Tracks

01. Russ Carlson And His Orchestra - Banking On The Weather
02. High Steppers - The Cop On The Beat
03. Russ Carlson And His Orchestra - Everyone Says I Love You
04. High Steppers - Keepin' Out Of Mischief Now
05. High Steppers - Love Is Like That
06. The High Steppers (Teddy Lang's Orchestra) - When You're Over Sixty
07. High Steppers - Rain Rain Go Away
08. Russ Carlson And His Orchestra - Three On A Match
09. Russ Carlson And His Orchestra - Sleep Come On And Take Me
10. Russ Carlson And His Orchestra - Thou Shalt Not
11. Russ Carlson And His Orchestra - Lawd You Made The Night Too Long
12. Russ Carlson And His Orchestra - Holding My Honey's Hand
13. High Steppers - There's Oceans Of Love
14. High Steppers - Little Girl
15. Russ Carlson And His Orchestra - You're Blasé
16. Harold Van Embrugh and His Orchestra - Cabin In The Cotton
17. High Steppers - Is I In Love
18. Harold Van Embrugh and His Orchestra - Happy-Go-Lucky You
19. High Steppers - Crazy People
20. High Steppers - How's Your Uncle?
21. High Steppers - You Can't Stop Me From Loving You
22. High Steppers - Just A Blue-Eyed Blonde
23. Russ Carlson And His Orchestra - My Heart's At Ease
24. Harold Van Embrugh and His Orchestra - In A Shanty In Old Shanty Town
Happy 105th, WPT.

Drop A Nickel In The Slot

Dick Robertson was one of the busiest singers in the business from the late 1920s until the late 1940s. Like Chick Bullock and others, he used numerous pseudonyms to get around the various contracts and avoid glutting the market with records under his own name. He recorded with many of the best musicians and bands of the day, though he's been ridiculed by some critics. In my opinion, he's got a great vocal range yet like many singers probably had to sing what was put in front of him. Often that was premium grade crapola. I've got this collection here, and then at least six other cds of music from 78s that I picked up in a trade. As soon as I can find the text files to them I'll start posting them. In the meantime, enjoy these. +

Tracks

1. Too Marvellous For Words
2. Toodle-Oo
3. It Looks Like Rain In Cherry Blossom Lane
4. The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down
5. Gone With The Wind
6. You Can't Stop Me From Dreaming
7. Blossoms On Broadway
8. Roses In December
9. Getting Some Fun Out Of Life
10. That Old Gang Of Mine
11. My Gal Sal
12. The Rhythm Of The Snowflakes
13. Bob White (Watcha Gonna Swing Tonight?)
14. You're A Sweetheart
15. You Started Something
16. I Wonder What's Become Of Sally
17. Somebody's Thinking Of You Tonight
18. Goodnight Angel
19. Let's Sail To Dreamland
20. Drop A Nickel In The Slot
21. You Went To My Head
22. Cry Baby, Cry
23. Chinese Laundry Blues (Mr. Wu)
24. I Only Want A Buddy, Not A Sweetheart