Music 1940 in Pop Vocal Music

"50 Sublimes Chanteuses de Jazz: 1940-1953" (01/25/2005) Pop Vocal Various Artists, Body & Soul (Blues/Jazz-Import)Personnel: Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Trevor Bacon (vocals, guitar); Hot Lips Page, Louis Armstrong, Valaida Snow (vocals, trumpet); Jack Teagarden (vocals, trombone); Lionel Hampton (vocals, piano, vibraphone); Addie Williams, Nellie Lutcher, Rose Murphy, Roy Kral, Una Mae Carlisle (vocals, piano); Melrose Colbert, Della Reese, Rae Pearl, Dinah Washington, Dolores Parker, Dorothy Ellis, Ella Fitzgerald, Ella Johnson, Betti Mays, Etta Jones, Kay Penton, Helen Forrest, Helen Humes, Helen Ward, Bonnie Davis, Ida James, Ivie Anderson, Alice Roberts, Jackie Cain, Wini Brown, Joya Sherrill, June Christy, June Richmond, Kay Davis, Kay Starr, Lee Wiley, Lena Horne, Lillian "Lil" Green, Maxine Sullivan, Mildred Bailey, Pearl Bailey, Peggy Lee , Anita O'Day, Ann Moore, Annie Ross, Thelma Carpenter, Toni Harper, Betty Carter, Betty Roch?, Billie Holiday, Sarah Vaughan, Blue Lu Barker, Carmen McRae (vocals); Sonny Fredericks (guitar, tenor saxophone, drums); Danny Barker (guitar, drums); Benny Heller, Dave Barbour, Frank Worrell, Eddie Condon, Emmitt Slay, Everett Barksdale, Helge Jacobsen, Freddie Green, Eddie Gibbs, Bill Ellis, Dave Bartour, Ernie Ransom, Dan Perring, Jack Marshall, Oscar Moore, Tony Mottola, Wes Montgomery, Laurindo Almeida, Billy Mackel, John Collins, Al Casey, Fred Guy, Stanley Morgan, Robert Bain, Skeeter Best (guitar); Tom Morgen (electric guitar); Ray Nance (violin, trumpet); Dave Schackne, Alex Pevsner, Bill Dougherty, Herbert Offner, Sindel Kopp, Anthony S. Doria, Earl Cornwell, Alex Law, Carl Ottobrino, Leo Zorn, Jimmy Cathcart, Jim Holmes (violin); Leonard Selic, Sam Singer, Stanley Harris (viola); Elia Friede, Gregory Bemko (cello); Bud Shank (flute, alto saxophone); Johnny Hodges (clarinet, soprano saxophone, alto saxophone); Harry Carney (clarinet, alto saxophone, baritone saxophone); Jack Kelson, Jr., Art Pepper (clarinet, alto saxophone); Jimmy Hamilton, Percy France (clarinet, tenor saxophone); Eddie Barefield (clarinet, baritone saxophone); Kai Moeller, Dick Anderson, Pee Wee Russell, Barney Bigard, Benny Goodman, Buster Bailey (clarinet); Bob Gioga (bass clarinet, baritone saxophone); Bob Cooper (oboe, English horn, tenor saxophone); Bart Caldarell (bassoon, tenor saxophone); Russell Banzer, Charlie Grimes , Steve Madrick, Lem Johnson (alto saxophone, tenor saxophone); George James (alto saxophone, baritone saxophone, drums); George James, Otto Hardwick, Ben Kynard (alto saxophone, baritone saxophone); Preston Love, Willard Brown, Rodney Hampton, Boddy Plater, Tommy Crump, Harry Terrill, Jacky Fields, Curby Alexander, Dana Stovall, Howard E. Johnson , Andrew Gardner, Ted Barnett, Pete Clark, Claude Lakey, Reuben Phillips, George "Scoops" Carry, John Brown, Porter Kilbert, Johnny Board, Johnny Mince, Russell Procope, Sahib Shihab, Sam Marowitz, Willie Smith, Ben Smith , James Cook, Rudy Rutherford, George Dorsey, Bobby Plater, Charlie Kennedy (alto saxophone); Charlie Ventura (tenor saxophone, baritone saxophone); Buddy Wise, Jack Ordean, Dave Cavanaugh , J.D. King, Dexter Gordon, Freddie Williams, Ernie Wilkins, Dave Young Orchestra, Dave Matthews, Flip Phillips, Billy Williams & Choir, Mascagni Ruffo, Warren Luckey, Alva Beau McCain, John Harrington, Francis Polifroni, Geno Morris, James Moody, George Nicholas, Jimmy Forrest, Johnny Sparrow, Al Sears, Lester Young, Maxwell Street Jimmy Davis , Paul Gonsalves, Stafford Simon, Teddy McRae, Ben Webster, Morris Lane, Budd Johnson, Buddy Tate (tenor saxophone); Bob Poland, McKinley Easton, Ernie Caceres, Earnest Thompson, Ernest Purce, Wallace Brodis, Harry Webster, Ed Loving, Clint Davis, Jack Washington, Sol Moore, Benny Ventura, Joe Koch, Cecil Payne, Charlie Fowlkes (baritone saxophone); Chico Alvarez, Clark Terry, Tony Faso, Talib Dawud, Tony Russo, Palmer "Fats" Davis, Dave Burns, Dizzy Gillespie, Don Fagerquist, Dud Bascomb, Thomas "Sleepy" Grider, Howard Callender, Harry "Pee Wee" Jackson , Ed Lewis, Everett McDonald, Emmett Berry, Jesse Brown, Harold Becker, Fats Navarro, Lester Current, Winstrup Olesen, Ralph Osborn, Dominick Buono, Clarence B

"Cabin in the Sky/Porgy & Bess/Caribbean Song" (07/14/1995) Pop Vocal Original Soundtrack, AEIPersonnel: Harriet Jackson (vocals); Cy Walter (piano). Liner Note Author: William Archibald. Unknown Contributor Roles: Gloria Mitchell; Mary Hunter; David Cunard; La Rosa Estrada; Lauwanne Ingram; Charles Welch; Mercedes Gilbert; Roxie Foster; Vanoye Aikens; Mary Lewis; John Diggs; Mable Sanford Lewis; Tommy Gomez; William Franklin; Lenwood Morris; Julio Mendez; Katherine Dunham; Ora Leak; Jesse Hawkins; Richardena Jackson; Lucille Ellis; James Alexander; Avon Long; Enid Williams. This CD, issued by AEI (American Entertainment Industries, Inc.) under the auspices of the non-profit Council for Musical Theatre, presents, for historical purposes, recordings originally issued on 78 rpm discs in the 1940s, all associated with all-black Broadway musicals. Tracks 1-5 made up a 1940 album by Ethel Waters, star of Cabin in the Sky, issued by the Liberty Music Shop label. After an overture performed by the pit orchestra from the musical and presided over by that orchestra's conductor, Max Meth, Waters steps in and sings four songs. "Takin' a Chance on Love," "Cabin in the Sky," and "Love Turned the Light Out" are all numbers she sang in the show, while "Honey in the Honeycomb" was performed on-stage by her character's rival, played by Katherine Dunham. Tracks 6-11 present music from Porgy and Bess drawn from two sources. Pianist Cy Walter's "Medley" (actually separate recordings of "I Got Plenty o' Nuttin'," "Bess, You Is My Woman," and "There's a Boat Dat's Leavin' Soon for New York" tracked together) and nightclub singer Mabel Mercer's renditions of "Summertime," "My Man's Gone Now," and "I Loves You Porgy" made up another Liberty Music Shop album issued in 1942. In 1947, Todd Duncan, who had played Porgy in the original 1935 Broadway production, recorded "I Got Plenty o' Nuttin'" and "Bess, O Where Is My Bess?" for Musicraft Records. Those two tracks are also included here. ("Bess, O Where Is My Bess?" has been renamed "Porgy's Lament.") All of these 11 tracks were previously released by AEI in 1979 on an LP called Porgy and Bess/Cabin in the Sky. For the 1994 CD reissue, the label has added another set of rare recordings. Tracks 12-17 represent songwriters Baldwin Bergersen and William Archibald's demonstration recordings of six of the songs for their short-lived 1945 musical Carib Song, which were issued on 78s by International Records. There are some good songs here, and they are enthusiastically performed in arrangements more elaborate than the piano accompaniments that make up the rest of the disc. Sound quality is iffy, as the tracks have been mastered directly from scratchy 78s. But the album will have value to collectors and musical theater buffs. ~ William Ruhlmann

"Let's Misbehave! A Cole Porter Collection, 1927-1940" (03/19/2002) Pop Vocal Porter, Cole, Naxos NostalgiaFull title: Let's Misbehave: A Cole Porter Collection 1927-1940. LET'S MISBEHAVE features Cole Porter performing his own material, original cast recordings and other rarities. Personnel: Cole Porter (vocals, piano); Three Waring Girls, Jack Hylton, Billy Hillpot, Leo Reisman, Pat O'Malley, Phil Saxe, Scrappy Lambert, Ben Bernie, Chappie Damato (vocals). Liner Note Author: Peter Dempsey. Recording information: Berlin, Germany (1927-1940); Los Angeles, CA (1927-1940); New York, NY (1927-1940). This album of vintage recordings of Cole Porter songs mixes eight of Porter's own performances of his compositions with renditions that were hits when the songs were new. The basic selection criterion is revealed in the album's title; there is an emphasis placed here on Porter's more risqu? and provocative numbers. Songs like "Let's Misbehave" (in a version by Irving Aaronson & His Commanders that was the equivalent of a Top Ten hit in 1928) and "Let's Do It (Let's Fall in Love)" (even in this prim rendering by Rudy Vall?e) leave nothing to the imagination, of course. "Love for Sale" (by Fred Waring & His Pennsylvanians) is clearly about prostitution, "Miss Otis Regrets" (by Ethel Waters) is a tale of jealousy and murder, and "Find Me a Primitive Man" (by Lee Wiley) is about the attraction of animal lust. In comparison, the witty double entendres of "The Physician" (sung by Porter) and "You've Got That Thing" (a hit for Leo Reisman & His Orchestra) may seem tame, but they were suggestive, too. Generally, Porter's performances are of relatively obscure tunes, but he also gives listeners his versions of the standards "Anything Goes" and "You're the Top." The album cover claims the collection features original cast recordings, which is not true, although Ethel Merman is heard singing "Down in the Depths (On the 90th Floor)," a song she sang in Red, Hot and Blue! This is a well-organized selection of Porter material, especially notable for containing so many recordings by the songwriter himself, even if it is not a comprehensive survey of his career. ~ William Ruhlmann

"The Melody Kid" (04/08/2003) Country Wakely, Jimmy, ASVPersonnel includes: Jimmy Wakely (vocals, guitar); Margaret Whiting (vocals). Contains 28 tracks. Recorded between 1940 and 1951. The Melody Kid features the singing cowboy Jimmy Wakely on 28 songs recorded for Decca between 1940 and 1951, including "One Has My Name the Other Has My Heart," "I Love You So Much It Hurts," "Wedding Bells," "Slippin' Around," and "When You and I Were Young, Maggie Blues." ~ Al Campbell