Columbia 2701-D – Harry Richman – 1932

Posted on November 26, 2015 by R. Connor Montgomery

Please note: this article dates to Old Time Blues’ first year and does not meet the standard of quality to which more recent postings are held. Thank you for your understanding.

When we last heard from Harry, he was singing “Puttin’ on the Ritz“, and I promised to post his radio theme, I Love a Parade”. Thanksgiving Day being the occasion for one of the grandest parades of the year, it seems like a fitting choice.

Columbia 2701-D was recorded August 15, 1932 in New York City by Harry Richman and issued with their short-lived “Radio Record” label, which seemed to have often featured more than just straight song singing, in a more “radio-like” performance (some of Rudy Vallée’s have announcements at the beginning, and you’ll hear what this one’s like).

First, Richman delivers an (a bit more than) exuberant rendition of what was later the theme song of his radio show in the 1930s, Ted Koehler and Harold Arlen’s “I Love a Parade”.

I Love a Parade, recorded August 15, 1932 by Harry Richman.

Next, Richman sings the popular Arthur Freed and Harry Barris (whose birthday was just a few days before this posting) composition “It Was So Beautiful”.

It Was So Beautiful, recorded August 15, 1932 by Harry Richman.

Spotlight: Ruth Etting

Posted on November 23, 2015 by R. Connor Montgomery

Ruth Etting, circa 1930 (signed in 1932).

“America’s Sweetheart of Song” was the appellation given to Ruth Etting, one which she truly deserved. Etting rose to prominence in the middle of the Roaring Twenties, appearing in Ziegfeld Follies. Marrying a gangster, falling in love with another, and becoming one of the most popular singing stars of stage, screen, record, and radio until she left the limelight in the late 1930s, going on to enjoy a long retirement thereafter. Her sweetly feminine vocal styling charmed a generation of listeners, and continue to impress those who have the fortune of hearing her recordings to this day.

Ruth Etting was born November 23, 1897 in David City, Nebraska, daughter of Alfred and Winifred Etting. After her mother died, when the young Ruth was five, she was sent to live with her grandparents, George and Hannah. Growing up, Ruth dreamed of becoming an artist, and spent her hours drawing and sketching whenever and wherever she could. Hoping to become an illustrator, Etting left home to attend an art school in Chicago. Taking a variety of jobs while in Chicago, Etting was eventually asked to fill in for an ailing vocalist at a nightclub, and she obliged. Having never been schooled in voice, Etting lowered her naturally high soprano as she began singing professionally. She claimed her style to have been influenced by Marion Harris.

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Columbia 2745-D – Art Kassel and his Kassels in the Air – 1933

Posted on November 12, 2015 by R. Connor Montgomery

A view of the Century of Progress Exposition, pictured on a contemporary travel brochure.

November 12 marks the eighty-second anniversary of the date that the 1933 Chicago “Century of Progress” World’s Fair was intended to close, though it proved so popular that it was continued through October 31, 1934. It ran for more than seventeen months from its opening on May 27, 1933. This beautiful Royal Blue Columbia record (pressed in blue shellac) was presumably sold as one of the enormous multitude of souvenirs available at the fair (which I also collect, in addition to all these phonograph records).

Columbia 2745-D was recorded on January 10, 1933 in Chicago, Illinois, about four months before the World’s Fair opened to the public. Art Kassel was a popular Chicago-based bandleader recording somewhat extensively, beginning in the 1920s and continuing until at least the 1940s.

The official song of the Century of Progress Exposition is fully titled “(Where Will You Be) In 1933”, though the label only lists the latter part of that. This side is somewhat typical of the “cheer up” songs so prevalent in the first few years of the Great Depression, complete with Ted Lewis imitator.

In 1933, recorded January 10, 1933 by Art Kassel and his Kassels in the Air.

John Philip Sousa’s “A Century of Progress March” bears the additional historical distinction of being the great march composer’s last composition before his death in 1932.

A Century of Progress March, recorded January 10, 1933 by Art Kassel and his Kassels in the Air.

Updated on May 27, 2017, and with improved audio on June 6, 2018.

Columbia 2096-D – Ben Selvin and his Orchestra – 1930

Posted on October 31, 2015 by R. Connor Montgomery

Please note: this article dates to Old Time Blues’ first year and does not meet the standard of quality to which more recent postings are held. Thank you for your understanding.

At the strike of midnight on All Hallows Eve, I offer to the viewers of this site a selection chosen specially for this occasion. I tried to select something airing on the creepy side, and I think this one is the best I can scare up.

Columbia 2096-D was recorded January 7, 1930 in New York City by Ben Selvin and his Orchestra. I’m not sure of the identity of the vocalists on these sides. These labels may look rough, but I assure you folks that this one has it where it counts!

As our Halloween special, here is Ben Selvin’s Orchestra with one of their hottest numbers, the classic “Tain’t No Sin (To Dance Around in You Bones)”. The vocalist on this side may be Irving Kaufman.

‘Tain’t No Sin (To Dance Around in Your Bones), recorded January 7, 1930 by Ben Selvin and his Orchestra.

“Funny Dear, What Love Can Do” is a rather unremarkable dance band song, not bad by any means, but I find it has a hard time stacking up against the tour de force on “‘Tain’t No Sin”.

Funny Dear, What Love Can Do, recorded January 7, 1930 by Ben Selvin and his Orchestra.

Velvet Tone 1859-V – Annette Hanshaw Accomp. by New England Yankees – 1929

Posted on October 18, 2015 by R. Connor Montgomery

Please note: this article dates to Old Time Blues’ first year and does not meet the standard of quality to which more recent postings are held. Thank you for your understanding.

October 18 marks the birthday of “Personality Girl” Annette Hanshaw, who was born on this day in 1901. Hanshaw began recording for Pathé Records in 1926 and recorded for them for two years before moving to Columbia, where most of her records were issued on their Harmony, Velvet Tone, and Diva budget labels, with a small number on Okeh and Columbia. She remained with Columbia until 1932, when she began a contract with the American Record Company which she maintained until her retirement from music in 1934. Although her singing was beloved by fans, Hanshaw was not fond of her records, and in her own words “disliked all of them intensely.”

Velvet Tone 1859-V was recorded February 20, 1929 in New York City, and was also issued on Harmony 859-H and Diva 2859-G. Miss Hanshaw is accompanied by the “New England Yankees”, actually Ben Selvin’s Columbia studio orchestra, which includes Tommy Dorsey and Tommy Gott on trumpets, Charlie Butterfield on trombone, Jimmy Dorsey on clarinet and alto sax, and Hank Stern or Joe Tarto on tuba, among several others who remain unknown.

First, Miss Hanshaw delivers a delightful performance of the 1929 classic “A Precious Little Thing Called Love” from The Shopworn Angel.