I adore this recording, so representative of the great Goodman orch, my favourite, when it and the Swing Era were just taking off! Throughout his long and highly successful career, Benny featured many great female vocalists, but it could easily be argued that the finest of them all -- or at least the one who was the best fit for this hot aggregation -- was the great Helen Ward. Remember, this was 1935 -- not every swing band vocalist was swinging. Helen, however, seems to have shared her boss' musical sensibility and swung like mad! Though highly effective on ballads, Helen was, IMO, at her best in arrangements with a bounce. For starters here, we have a superb arrangement by the great Fletcher Henderson; listen for the trumpets quoting "I Got Rhythm" after the vocal chorus, as a tie-in with this title. The band, in existence for less than a year, is tight but swinging under virtuoso Goodman's leadership. The great Bunny Berigan was there at this time, when the fledgling crew was still struggling, trying to hep the nation to swing -- listen to him lead the trumpets and briefly solo on this sizzler. Krupa's support is impeccable, the reeds are beautiful and Benny plays with passion. Finally, Helen, delivering one of the popular mock sermons of the day, matches the band's fire and subtly accents the humour in the lyric.

Seger Ellis and Jimmy Dorsey's musical association went back to '28 (at least), when the young crooner was recording a series of sides at Okeh, usually in company with small ad hoc jazz groups, often including Jimmy and brother Tommy. These Okeh sessions produced some of my favourite music of the period! Mysteriously, the talented Seger -- also a pianist and composer, though best known in his early days as a vocalist -- temporarily faded from the recording scene in the early Great Depression, and did not emerge until later in the decade. The Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra, which came into being when Tommy Dorsey left the Dorsey Brothers to form his own crew, was under contract to Decca. Perhaps this session came about as a result of the reedman's earlier association with Seger. Interestingly, by '36, Seger's tone had deepened notably from the time of his Okeh sessions. Too, he appears to have adapted his singing style for the new era! Jimmy's alto playing is of course unmistakable, but it appears to me that he intentionally kept his band's personality toned down here in order to showcase Seger, who was making something of a comeback. It wouldn't be too long before the TX-born artist would unveil his own outfit, Seger Ellis and His Choirs of Brass. Later, he would be best known for his compositions, including "Little Jack Frost, Get Lost"; "My Beloved is Rugged"; "11:60 PM"; "No Baby, Nobody But You"; "You're All I Want for Christmas," among others.

Swing it bob!

That is very Ellis of you.

AWESOME

Solid gold!

The Casa Loma sliphorns, one of the best trombone sections in the biz, are glorious in the opening melody statement! Kenny follows in like fashion with a sincere chorus on this pretty number, from Twentieth Century-Fox' '38 remake of _Sally, Irene and Mary_ . I'll even forgive Mack Gordon his use of other song titles -- "Auld Lang Syne," "Sweet Adeline," "Kiss Me Again" -- in the lyric, simply because Kenny delivers the lines with such great charm. Ballad ace Billy Rausch ends the side with a beautiful Solo-tone muted solo.

I'm looking for a version of this song that was covered by a male singer. I downloaded a chunk of an Abbott and Costello radio broadcast from Limewire/winmx a couple decades ago, and the song was an interlude in the middle of their bit. Then the external storage device I was keeping my music on died and I lost it. I'm very happy I finally found SOME trace of this song on the internet, but I'm certain Dorris Day and Jane Harvey aren't the singers I'm looking for. Does anyone have any idea who else has sung this song?

The fledgling Krupa orch, in only its fourth studio session, delivers an appropriately bouncy treatment of this cute one, from Paramount's _Give Me a Sailor_ . Irene, never a favourite vocalist of mine, even manages a nice job on her chorus. She may actually have been better in these early days of her Krupa stint than later. Vido Musso -- like Krupa, late of the Goodman orch -- contributes a characteristically vibrant bridge.

Thank you again for all your wonderful Buddy Clark posts, keeping the memory if this great performer.... for me he was the very greatest of all the 30s/40s crooners...

I love it!!

Gabby sent me

I absolutely adore this beautiful side, one of my favourites from the Monroe orch! The tune itself is dreamlike (as the title suggests), and Vaughn's vocal is flawless.

The virtuosic Tommy and Jimmy had been making records under the Dorsey Brothers' name since 1928, in addition to the hundreds they participated in as sidemen. Their early '30s sides, especially, were wonderful examples of jazz that often exude a defiance against the soothing sounds of early Great Depression pop. However, when the Irish-American lads actually formed a touring outfit in '34, they seem to have been intent on playing it safe and, apart from a few truly glorious instrumentals -- "Honeysuckle Rose," "By Heck," "Stop, Look and Listen," "Weary Blues," "Tailspin" come immediately to mind -- I find their rather pedestrian output very unsatisfying. The two brothers thought the world of Bing, with whom they had recorded since the three were members of the colossal Whiteman orch, and made the decision to give young Bob, ten years Bing's junior, a try. Relations between Tommy and the relatively inexperienced Crosby were strained from the beginning, with the disappointed -- and plain-spoken -- trombonist complaining about having "the wrong Crosby" in his band. ... Pretty mean, for sure -- but equally apparent is that Bob was many, many rungs below his elder brother in talent terms. We can acknowledge at the same time that most of the arrangements for the band's vocal sides are very light-weight -- a world apart from, say, the contemporaneous Goodman band charts fashioned for Helen Ward.

This is an absolutely beautiful song and one I was unfamiliar with before today!

Not a good copy, but a good song 😊

Not the best version.

From Twentieth Century-Fox' film of the same title, this lively number is typical of what we find in the screwball comedies of the era, which served as, if not an antidote to, at least a distraction from the Great Depression. The Kemp crew, though far from a favourite of mine, do render an appropriately frenetic treatment, with Maxine turning in an adroit vocal, highlighted by good phrasing and a chipper tone.

I've always adored this enchanting number, from WB's _Cowboy From Brooklyn_ ! The Dorsey orch was extremely active in the recording studios throughout '37 and '38; though, maintaining the leader's high standards, the band produced many of its classic sides in this period, it also put out some duds -- which may have been the reason behind the conspicuous overhaul of '39, which resulted in the very different Dorsey crew of 1940. Among the gems of busy '38, however, is this very beautiful side. For starters, there's the leader's gorgeous Solo-tone muted melody statement. Then there's what I consider to be one of Jack's finest vocals. His delivery of Mercer's romantic and picturesque is perfect -- in interpretation, tone and phrasing. The pretty arrangement sounds as if it might have been the work of Axel Stordahl.

From Paramount's _Sing You Sinners_ (which, incidentally, has a terrific score), this Crosby-introduced number is yet another absolutely celestial "moon lyric" from the great Johnny Burke, also responsible for "Polka Dots and Moonbeams"; "Moonlight Becomes You"; "The Moon Got in My Eyes"; "Oh, You Crazy Moon"; "The Moon and the Willow Tree," among others. Though his tone is fantastically different from Bing's, Russ manages to achieve a reminiscent breeziness. How wonderful it must have been to be around when all this music came rolling out.

From WB's _Ready, Willing and Able_ , this number includes what I consider to be one of the great Johnny Mercer's finest early lyrics. I love "But it's a kind of sugar-coated misery/And foolish as it seems, I sort of like to be/Sentimental and melancholy/Whenever I think about you." Though I find this chart at once light and clunky, I do love Kenny's earnest vocal.

From Paramount's _Ebb Tide_ , this romantic number is yet another lovely one from one of my favourite teams, Ralph Rainger and Leo Robin. ... Something must be wrong with me ... the older I get, the more tolerant I become of the Berigan thrushes I so mercilessly criticised for years! Despite her wonderful surname, Gail Reese was certainly not in a class with the great ballad vocalists of the day; her phrasing here is a little plodding and her intonation is a little shaky in spots, but she doesn't bother me as she once did. Make no mistake, though: Bunny is the real singer on this side. Listen to his opening muted statement and then his still more dramatic open-horned bridge after Gail's chorus. He tells the story. Also, pianist Joe Lippman's arrangement is first-rate.

Bob, with his fast vibrato (for which he mysteriously blamed Tommy Dorsey, from when the younger Crosby sang with the Dorsey Brothers orch in '34-'35), has never been a favourite vocalist of mine, but I do consider this to be one of his best sides. For starters, I love this tune, from WB's _Hollywood Hotel_ -- but, more than that, I think Bob does a pretty fair job on the sweet lyric. The hot Crosby band, so marvelous on the trad jazz instrumentals they favoured, often sounds a little clunky on ballads -- but endearingly so. Eddie Miller and Yank Lawson contribute ace solos!

My brother and I starting our Pepperidge Farm bread route early in the morning. Pulling into the Keyport diner for some breakfast. Always heard this song as we started our day.

I swear there’s a pile of unreleased Bob Crosby singles with his vocals they’re so rare 😂 great find!

Jo's interpretation is outstanding here! Just lovely.

Maxine is known to have grown very weary of "Loch Lomond," the number that made her famous (imagine how often she was called upon to perform it!). Pianist Claude Thornhill, responsible for that chart, then proceeded to come up with arrangements of several more traditional songs. This side is one of my favourites in this series. As we can hear, Maxine's pure tone and beautiful diction are very well-suited to the material. The lightly swinging background, featuring Buddy Banks' tenor and Lloyd Reese's trumpet, remind us of the actual time period, but Maxine's voice is timeless -- at once very old and very new.

From Twentieth Century-Fox' _Wake Up and Live_ , this pretty, poignant number benefits from a rather good vocal from Ozzie, not among my favourite crooners. Charlie Bubeck's baritone sax bridge toward the end gives the side some punch.

BORN MARIETTA WILLIAMS IN 1911, SHE DIED AT AGE 75 FROM A SEIZURE IN 1987. I WONDER WHY SHE CHANGED HER NAME? MY MOTHER'S MAIDEN NAME IS MARIETTA AMELIA GRAHAM. WHAT WAS WRONG WITH THE NAME MARIETTA?) PEGGY LEE CITED MAXINE AS ONE OF HER EARLY INSPIRATIONS. NICE SONG. WHEN I SAW THE TITLE OF THE SONG I RECOGNIZED THE FAMOUS POETIC LINE, BUT MISGUESSED IT WAS WRITTEN BY ROBERT BROWNING, THEN SAW BEN JOHSON CITED AS THE LYRICIST SINCE THE TITLE OF THE SONG IS THE FIRST LINE FROM HIS IMMORTAL POEM, "TO CECELIA." JOHNNY CASH AND SCORES OF OTHERS HAVE RECORDED THIS GEM. (I couldn't understand many of the words due to the way Maxine was pronouncing them.)

I've always liked this tune. Ozzie does great as you'd expect and love the saxes on this too.

My absolute favorite version of this standard. Shame it's not on Spotify

❤

First! Absolutely gorgeous song with an equally gorgeous singer. 🎤 ❤

Much as I love this band, I consider this treatment of a rather cute number to be just fair -- and it pales in comparison with the knockout Shaw band version, with a Helen Forrest vocal. I've never seen an arrangement attribution, so my best guess would be that Paul Weston was responsible, simply because at this time, roughly a year before his departure from the writing staff, he was still supplying a good many charts. If it was Paul, I don't consider this to be anywhere near up to his usual standards although the Solo-tone muted trombone choir on the bridge in the opening chorus and the saxes in the final chorus are quite nice. Somewhere around this time, Edythe began employing a very irritating manner of phrasing, at once stiff and babyish, on certain material -- such as this number. I've actually wondered if this vocal device was her way of expressing disdain for some of her assignments. In any case, it's not at all attractive to me -- and I'm a big fan of her singing! Only on the bridge does she phrase more smoothly and naturally. Still, the final, instrumental chorus includes good solos from tenorist Babe Russin and the boss.

This is a great song by Tommy Dorsey and His Orchestra. You can always tell. It's his Orchestra. It's a great song too thank you.😊

This is a great song by Tommy Dorsey and His Orchestra. You can always tell. It's his Orchestra. It's a great song too thank you.

❤😊

If this doesn't make you smile. You've broken your smile. Seek help 😂❤🎉

Despite its self-pitying words, I've always liked this pretty, dramatic number. Though then newly-published, the song, both melodically and lyrically, actually sounds more like some of the maudlin fare of the early Great Depression crooner days. The Masters band is a little obvious with the tick-tock, but Marion's vocal is very good; she doesn't descend to hammy over-acting.

Fantastic! Thanks!

Kinda sad mister Crooner, still a lovely tune. Thanks.

I imagine what it would be like to stumble across this record in 1950

Lit

This is on lepreezy's autumn music video. Lovely.

Another in the stalker series, this number, whose title proves to be deceptive as the lyric unfolds, was also recorded by Artie Shaw (with a Lena Horne vocal!) and Will Bradley (Lynn Gardner at the mike). Marilyn, hampered perhaps more than a little little by dopey words, does what she can, with Vaughn's crew providing snappy support.

Walter Winchell -- slinger of gossip in print and, as the insistent little intro and coda figure alludes, airwaves -- played himself in Twentieth Century-Fox' _Love and Hisses_ whence our song was introduced. Here, Jones band stalwart Eddie Stone begs for Winchell to spread the word about the vocalist's budding romance! Isham's orch, my favourite white band of the pre-Swing Era, was soon to fold, but the outfit was going out in style.

Incredible talent, such class . Thank you so much for sharing this timeless performance ❤

Written by the team that provided the score for Paramount's Crosby pic, _Doctor Rhythm_ , this swinger, with the abbreviated _doctor_ , mysteriously doesn't appear in the film. Could we ask for a better treatment than this one, though? The recently formed Clinton orch, an unpretentious aggregation captained nevertheless by an extremely talented arranger with no illusions about his multi-instrumental abilities (filling in when his charts call for another section voice) deliver a rhythm remedy that's just what the doctor ordered. Bea, one of the Swing Era's most skilled vocalists, is breezy and lighthearted but assures the listener than Dr Rhythm is no quack. Drummer Ray Michaels and tenor saxist Tony Zimmers are good for what ails us, too!

Another first-time-heard pleasure today, 7-10-24, for which I thank you; I’d like to hear a rendition sung at a ballad tempo.

Angels come to paint the desert nightly When the moon is beaming brightly Along the Santa Fe Trail Stardust scattered all along the highway On a rainbow-colored skyway Along the Santa Fe Trail Beside you, I'm riding every hill and dale Wide shadows hide you Just like a pretty purple veil Thereby hangs a tale ... I found you And the mountains that surround you Are the walls I built around you Along the Santa Fe trail ...