A Crown Dance Band Double Feature – 3149 & 3281 – 1931/1932

This Dance Band Double Feature is dedicated to Smith Ballew, who was born on this day (January 21) in 1902.  Under his frequently used pseudonym, Buddy Blue and his Texans, Ballew and his band play four classic songs of the early 1930s recorded on the Crown label.

Smith Ballew was born Sykes Ballew in Palestine, Texas on January 20, 1902.  He had his education in Sherman, Texas before finishing college at the University of Texas in Austin.  While at UT, Ballew played banjo in James Maloney’s band, called Jimmie’s Joys at the time.  That band, with Ballew, made a few records in California for the Golden label in 1923.  By the late 1920s, he was working as a studio vocalist in New York, working for a plethora of different bands and labels.  After working steadily as a singer well into the 1930s, Smith turned to acting, appearing mostly in Westerns as a singing cowboy.  After retiring from music in 1967, Ballew worked in the aircraft industry, eventually settling in Fort Worth.  He died March 2, 1984 in Longview, Texas.

Crown 3149 was recorded in May of 1931.  On the first side, Smith Ballew sings Harry Warren’s 1931 hit, the timeless “I Found a Million Dollar Baby (In a Five and Ten Cent Store)”.

I Found a Million Dollar Baby (In a Five and Ten Cent Store), recorded May 1931 by Buddy Blue and his Texans.

On the reverse, we hear “On the Beach With You”, this side claims to be a waltz, but it sounds more like a fox trot to my ear.  The vocalist on this side is allegedly Charlie Lawman, but it sounds identical to Ballew’s vocal on the flip, and I believe it’s still him.  On these 1931 recordings, the band retains much of a late 1920s sound with banjo rhythm and an accordion.

On the Beach With You, recorded May 1931 by Buddy Blue and his Texans.

The second disc, Crown 3281, was recorded in January of 1932.  This record features two popular songs from Irving Berlin’s Face the Music.  Both sides feature a vocal by Ballew.  The band seems to have modernized significantly on these recordings, less than a year later, and may very well be an entirely different group.  First up, it’s one of my personal favorites: “Let’s Have Another Cup o’ Coffee”.

Let’s Have Another Cup o’ Coffee, recorded January 1932 by Buddy Blue and his Texans.

On the flip, Ballew sings the charming “Soft Lights and Sweet Music”.

Soft Lights and Sweet Music, recorded January 1932 by Buddy Blue and his Texans.

Updated on April 28, 2018.

Victor 22802 – Russ Columbo – 1931

Russ Columbo, as pictured on the Eveready Book of Radio Stars, c. 1932.

January 14 marks the anniversary of the birth of the great 1930s crooner Russ Columbo, born on that day in 1908, an icon in his day who had every girl swooning from coast-to-coast in the time after Rudy Vallée had past his apex of popularity, and before Bing Crosby reached his.

Russ was born Ruggiero Eugenio di Rodolpho Colombo in Camden, New Jersey (home of the Victor Talking Machine Company).  Thankfully, if only for the sake of fitting on record labels, he shortened his professional name to Russ Columbo.  He took up violin as a child and made his professional debut not long after.  In the late 1920s, Columbo played violin in Gus Arnheim’s Cocoanut Grove Orchestra, and can be seen in Arnheim’s 1928 Vitaphone short.  By the early 1930s, Russ had struck out on his own for a career as a crooner, introducing such hits as “You Call It Madness (But I Call It Love)” and “Prisoner of Love”.  In the 1930s, he was romantically involved with Carole Lombard. Tragically, Columbo’s promising career was cut short at the young age of 26.  On September 2, 1934, he was accidentally shot and killed when a musket belonging to his friend Lansing Brown’s gun collection misfired; the bullet ricocheted off a table, and hit him in the head.

Victor 22802 was recorded on two separate sessions at Victor’s Studio 1 in New York City on September 3 and 9, 1931.  Columbo’s vocal is backed by Nat Shilkret’s Victor Orchestra.

I consider Columbo’s theme song, “You Call It Madness (But I Call It Love)”, to be one of the defining songs of the early 1930s style of romantic ballad, and a fine one at that, as well as one of the most evocative songs of the Great Depression era.

You Call it Madness (But I Call It Love), recorded September 3, 1931 by Russ Columbo.

You Call It Madness (But I Call It Love), recorded September 3, 1931 by Russ Columbo.

“Sweet and Lovely” was another of Russ Columbo’s top songs, and a well remembered standard.

Sweet and Lovely, recorded September 9, 1931 by Russ Columbo.

Updated on May 29, 2017, with improved audio.

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

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

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.

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

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.

A Bluebird Dance Band Double Feature – B-5268 & B-5269 – 1933

To break the monotony of all the jazz and blues, here’s a bit of a departure from the style of music I’ve been featuring here for the past couple weeks, two early 1930s dance band records on Victor’s Bluebird label.

In the early days of the Victor budget label, Bluebird featured, in addition to some great jazz and country, many excellent dance bands, which played the popular tunes of the day.  These two records, the consecutively numbered Bluebird B-5268 and B-5269, feature some of the popular hits of 1933, by Sam Robbins and Reggie Childs’ orchestras.

The first of the two is Bluebird B-5268, recorded on November 22, 1933 by Sam Robbins and his Hotel McAlpin Orchestra, and featuring on the “A” side the “down home” Billy Hill hit “The Old Spinning Wheel”.

The Old Spinning Wheel, recorded November 22, 1933 by Sam Robbins and his Hotel McAlpin Orchestra

They back it up with Zez Confrey and Byron Gay’s “Sittin’ on a Log (Pettin’ My Dog)”, both sides performed in a sweet style with a smooth sax section that puts one in mind of Guy Lombardo’s Royal Canadians.

Sittin’ On a Log (Pettin’ My Dog), recorded November 22, 1933 by Sam Robbins and his Hotel McAlpin Orchestra

The second disc, Bluebird B-5269, features Reggie Childs and his Hotel Roosevelt Orchestra (I presume he took over for Ben Bernie), playing Mack Gordon and Harry Revel’s “Did You Ever See a Dream Walking?”, from Sitting Pretty, with vocals by Don Howard, a performance that has long been one of my favorites in that genre.

Did You Ever See a Dream Walking, recorded November 27, 1933 by Reggie Childs and his Hotel Roosevelt Orchestra

On the other side, a real tour de force on “Many Moons Ago”, another Gordon and Revel tune, with a vocal by Duke Durbin.  Both sides were recorded on November 27, 1933, five days after the previous record.

Many Moons Ago recorded November 27, 1933 by Reggie Childs and his Hotel Roosevelt Orchestra.

Updated on April 28, 2018.