Victor 25094 – Ray Noble and his Orchestra – 1935

Posted on January 7, 2016 by R. Connor Montgomery

On January 7, 1898, Albert Allick Bowlly, better known as Al, was born in Mozambique. He spent his childhood in South Africa, where he found his first work as a singer with Edgar Adeler’s band, which was touring Africa. After a falling out with Adeler in Indonesia, he sang with a number of bands in the Orient, before making his way back to the West. In 1927, Bowlly made his recording debut, again with Adeler. He first came to London to sing with Fred Elizalde’s Music, with whom he recorded an excellent rendition of “If I Had You” in 1929. In the late 1920s and early 1930s, Bowlly sang with a number of British dance bands, inluding those of Roy Fox, Lew Stone, and Roy Noble, whose association with Bowlly is perhaps the best remembered today. In 1934, Bowlly came to the United States with Noble’s orchestra before returning to England in 1937. On April 17, 1941, Bowlly died tragically in the Blitz, not from a bomb, but from a door blown off its hinges from the explosion, which struck him in the head.

Victor 25094 was recorded June 8 and 10, 1935 in New York City, featuring Roy Noble’s Orchestra with a vocal refrain by Al Bowlly and the Freshman, singing two Irving Berlin hits from the 1935 Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers picture Top Hat. I had the great fortune of screening Top Hat at the historic Texas Theatre in Dallas, in a special presentation put on by the local Art Deco Society, followed by a concert by Matt Tolentino’s Singapore Slingers. Quite a fun time.

In the film, Astaire danced solo to “Top Hat” (White Tie and Tails), and Noble and Bowlly do great with the song here.

Top Hat, recorded June 8, 1935 by Ray Noble and his Orchestra (Vocal refrain by Al Bowlly and the Freshmen).

Top Hat, recorded June 8, 1935 by Ray Noble and his Orchestra (Vocal refrain by Al Bowlly & The Freshmen).

PIccolino” was probably the most publicized tune from the movie and touted as the “big hit” in 1935, though today the most remembered song is likely “Cheek to Cheek”.

Piccolino, recorded June 10, 1935 by Ray Noble and his Orchestra (Vocal refrain by Al Bowlly).

Victor 39,000 – A Night With Paul Whiteman at the Biltmore – 1932

Posted on December 31, 2015 by R. Connor Montgomery

Since I regrettably don’t own a copy of “Auld Lang Syne” by Guy Lombardo’s Royal Canadians with which to usher in the New Year the traditional way, we’ll have to ring in the new year here at Old Time Blues with a different sweet band. As we prepare to get 2016 started out right, for our last post of 2015, here’s Paul Whiteman’s orchestra on one of his gorgeous Art Deco styled early 1930s picture records, with a medley of some of his most popular songs, played and sung by some of his most popular talent. As a side note, I do believe I’ll be tuning into Radio Dismuke for their annual New Year’s Eve Show this evening, and if you like the music I post here, I’d wager that’d tickle your fancy, too.

Victor 39,000 was recorded December 2, 1932 in New York City by Paul Whiteman and his Orchestra (or his “Troupe” as is noted on the record), it was reportedly offered to guests of the Biltmore Hotel during his engagement there (I guess Bert Lown had packed up and left by then). Coincidentally, this record probably would have made it to the presses sometime around the New Year of 1933. Though these rather poorly laminated picture discs are noted for their low-quality surface by Victor’s standards, the high quality recording, made with Victor’s early 1930s “hi-fi” process, still comes across very well on this copy, with a little bit of background noise. The personnel of Whiteman’s orchestra is
Nat Natoli and Harry Goldfield on trumpets, Andy Secrest on cornet, Jack Fulton on trombone, Hal Matthews and Bill Rank on trombones, Chester Hazlett on clarinet and bass clarinet, Charles Strickfaden on alto and baritone sax, Frankie Trumbauer on C-melody, alto sax and bassoon, John Cordaro on clarinet and tenor sax, Kurt Dieterle, Mischa Russell, Matty Malneck, and John Bowman on violins, Roy Bargy and Ramona on pianos, Mike Pingatore on banjo and guitar, Art Miller on string bass, and Herb Quigley on drums.

On the first part of this twelve inch musical extravaganza, the Whiteman group plays “Whispering”, “The Japanese Sandman”, “Some of These Days” featuring Roy Bargy and Ramona Davies, “Ida (Sweet as Apple Cider)” sung by Red McKenzie, “Dinah” by Peggy Healy, and “When Day is Done” featuring the trumpet of Harry “Goldie” Goldfield.

A Night With Paul Whiteman at the Biltmore [Part 1], recorded December 2, 1932 by Paul Whiteman and his Troupe.

Part two of the medley includes “St. Louis Blues” sung by Irene Taylor, “Sweet Sue” by Jack Fulton, “Mississippi Mud” sung by the Rhythm Boys (Al Dary, Jimmy Noel, George MacDonald, and Ray Kulz; not Bing, Al, and Harry), “I Can’t Give You Anything but Love” by Jane Vance and Al Dary, a rousing “Wabash Blues” with Mike Pingatore (or is it Pingitore?) on banjo, and “Three O’Clock in the Morning”.

A Night With Paul Whiteman at the Biltmore, recorded December 2, 1932 by Paul Whiteman and his Troupe.

A Night With Paul Whiteman at the Biltmore [Part 2], recorded December 2, 1932 by Paul Whiteman and his Troupe.

Updated on June 1, 2017, and with improved audio on July 3, 2018.

Decca 264 – Harry Reser and his Orchestra – 1934

Posted on December 25, 2015 by R. Connor Montgomery

A very Merry Christmas from me and my great-grandmother (pictured).

On this Christmas of 2015 (’16, ’17), Old Time Blues, and myself, wish all of you readers a very Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year! May your days be merry and bright, and may all your Christmases be white. Now, I ask you, wouldn’t Christmas music be a lot better with banjo? I think so, and so does Harry Reser!

Decca 264 was recorded October 24, 1934 in New York City by Harry Reser and his Orchestra, with a vocal refrain by Tom Stacks and the Gang.

On this disc, Harry Reser’s band had the great distinction of introducing the now classic “Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town”.

Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town, recorded October 24, 1934 by Harry Reser and his Orchestra.

On the flip side, they play a fine rendition of “Jingle Bells”, with a little bit of “Bugle Call Rag” interpolated here and there, and a few sound effects reused from their radio theme “Clicquot”.

Jingle Bells, recorded October 24, 1934 by Harry Reser and his Orchestra.

Updated with improved audio on December 25, 2017.

Another Bluebird Dance Band Double Feature – B-5049 & B-5053 – 1933/1931

Posted on December 2, 2015 by R. Connor Montgomery

As I’m in the process of uploading this duo of early Bluebirds to my YouTube channel (which you should most definitely take a look at if you like this kind of music), it seems like a fine time to do another Bluebird Dance Band Double Feature. Last time, I featured some of the sweet style of music that dominated pop music in the early 1930s, but this time I’ve got a couple of hotter bands for you, led by Paul Tremaine and Gene Kardos.

Bluebird B-5049 was recorded April 14, 1933 in New York City by Paul Tremaine and his Orchestra. On the first side, they play sweeter on Harold Arlen and Ted Koehler’s “Stormy Weather”, which had recently been debuted in the Cotton Club Parade of 1933.

Stormy Weather, recorded April 14, 1933 by Paul Tremaine and his Orchestra.

On the reverse, they play “Hand Me Down My Walkin’ Cane”, a remake of the rendition they had recorded for Columbia in February of 1930 (I’ll post the original sometime, too).

Hand Me Down My Walkin’ Cane, recorded April 14, 1933 by Paul Tremaine and his Orchestra.

The two sides of Bluebird B-5053 were recorded on two different occasions. The first side is another by Paul Tremaine, a wild “She’ll Be Comin’ Around the Mountain”, recorded at the same April 14, 1933 session. That one is also a (considerably more frenetic) redo of one of their 1930 Columbia recordings. Be sure to listen for the little bit of “hinkle dinkle rooty too” between two of the choruses.

She’ll Be Comin’ Around the Mountain, recorded April 14, 1933 by Paul Tremaine and his Orchestra.

On the flip-side, Gene Kardos and his Orchestra play a hot rendition of Carson Robison’s “Left My Gal in the Mountains”, recorded June 10, 1931 and originally issued on Victor’s short-lived Timely Tunes budget label. This was Kardos’ first session. The band consists of Sammy Castin and Willie Mayer on trumpets, Milt Shaw on trombone, Gene Kardos on alto sax, Joe Sagora on clarinet and alto sax, Morris Cohen or Nat Brown on clarinet, alto sax, and tenor sax, Joel Shaw on piano, Albert Julian on guitar, Danny Bono or Ben Goldberg on tuba, and Saul Howard on drums. The vocalist is Albert Julian.

Left My Gal In The Mountains, recorded June 10, 1931 by Gene Kardos and his Orchestra.

Updated on June 24, 2016 and April 29, 2018.

Brunswick 4677 – Harry Richman with Earl Burtnett and his Los Angeles Biltmore Hotel Orchestra – 1930

Posted on August 10, 2015 by R. Connor Montgomery

Today, August 10th, marks the 120th birthday of one of my favorite vaudevillians, Harry Richman, so for your listening pleasure today, I present one of my favorite records of all time, one of the best of the many excellent songs by Irving Berlin, the great “Puttin’ on the Ritz” in its original iteration, performed by Richman, the song’s originator. This is about as close as you can get to an “original recording” from an age when songwriters wrote their songs and all the record companies made their own records at about the same time.

Harry Richman, born Harold Reichman on August 10, 1895 in Cincinnati, Ohio, spent the bulk of the 1920s working the vaudeville circuit. In 1926, he became a hit, starring in George White’s Scandals, and by 1930 scored himself the starring role in the motion picture “Puttin’ on the Ritz”. The movie was not a huge success, due in part to Richman’s “overpowering” personality, but the movie’s titular theme song was a hit record for Richman. Richman continued to perform as usual after that, debuting in 1932 what would become his radio theme, “I Love a Parade”.

Irving Berlin first penned “Puttin’ on the Ritz”, which would later become one of his most famous compositions, in May 1927, but did not publish it until December 1929. Its lyrics tell of the at the time common occurrence of White people visiting Harlem for the jazzy atmosphere cultivated by its black residents, a Jazz Age account of a time when, as Langston Hughes put it, “the Negro was in vogue”. About fifteen years later, Berlin revised the song’s lyrics with more timely lyrics about the opulent lifestyle of Park Avenue dwellers, which are more commonly remembered today.

On Brunswick 4677, Harry Richman sings “Puttin’ on the Ritz” and “There’s Danger in Your Eyes, Cherie” from the motion picture Puttin’ on the Ritz, accompanied on both by Earl Burtnett’s Los Angeles Biltmore Hotel Orchestra. Both sides were recorded January 30, 1930 in Los Angeles, California. The Biltmore Hotel Orchestra consists of Fuzz Menge on trumpet, Fran Baker on cornet, Lank Menge on trombone, Hank and Gene Miller on clarinet and alto sax, Fred Stoddard on clarinet and tenor sax, Earl Burtnett on piano, Bill Grantham on banjo, Harry Robison on string bass, and Jess Kirkpatrick on drums.

On “A”, Richman sings, well, if you can’t figure that out yourself by now then you sure haven’t been paying much attention!