ESSENTIAL FRANKIE LAINE, Part I

Discussion:

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Michael Pendragon

2019-10-12 05:25:25 UTC

First the hits:

1946

1) THAT'S MY DESIRE

This was Frankie Laine's first hit (and first gold record), in December of 1946 -- almost 17 years after he left home to pursue a singing career. Laine had been singing at Billy Berg's nightclub in Hollywood, but was basically a "house" singer who entertained between the featured acts (partially to help clear the house for a new set of patrons). One night, on the spur of the moment, he called for the audience's attention and announced that he was going to sing a "new" song for them (he meant "new to his usual playlist," as the song had been around since 1931. The audience, however, mistook it for a new song... and listened.

The song peaked at #4 on the charts and turned Laine into an "overnight" sensation. Here's the original recording, back by Mannie Klein's All Stars:

I've got 13 versions of this song by Laine: 6 records, 1 unreleased alternate take, and 6 live performances.

My favorite version is from his 1957 "Rockin'" album with Paul Weston's orchestra.

1947

2) (WHAT DID I DO TO BE SO) BLACK & BLUE

Because Laine sang in "black" style, listeners who weren't familiar with his show at Billy Berg's assumed that he was black. Fats Waller's "Black & Blue" helped to further that impression. Back by Carl Fischer's Swingtet, it peaked at #27.

I've got four versions of this by Laine (3 recordings, 1 unreleased alternate take), and am partial to both the hit version and the "Rockin'" album cut:

3) MAM'SELLE

"Mam'selle" was the theme song from the 1947 movie hit, "The Razor's Edge," and had been co-written by the film's director, Edmund Goulding. Art Lund had a #1 hit with it, and there were competing hit versions by Frank Sinatra, Dick Haymes, Dennis Day, and The Pied Pipers. Frankie Laine's version didn't break the top ten, peaking at #14, but it was the first version I'd heard and the one I consider to be definitive. I have four versions of this by Laine (2 records and 2 unreleased alternate takes). Here's the hit version, backed by Harry Geller's ork:

I'm equally fond of the version he cut with Michel Legrand for their 1958 "Foreign Affair" album, which includes the introduction:

4) ON THE SUNNY SIDE OF THE STREET

Written in 1930, this song had long been a jazz standard when Laine recorded it (it had also been a smash hit for Tommy Dorsey & The Sentimentalists two years earlier). I can't find any chart info on Laine's recording (the charts often only listed the Top 10 at that time), but it became his second gold record and is often included on his greatest hits albums. I've got 11 versions of this one by Laine (4 records, 4 movie soundtracks, 3 live perfs). Here's the hit version with Carl Fischer's Swingtet:

And the equally great version from the classic "Rockin'" album?

5) TWO LOVES HAVE I

This is a (relatively) laid back romantic number that peaked at #21 and brought Laine his third gold record. I've got two recordings of it by Laine. This is the hit one, backed by Harry Geller's ork.

And this is the version I (slightly) prefer, backed by Carl Fischer's Swingtet:

Carl Fischer, btw, was Laine's pianist-musical director-song writing partner until his death in 1954. Their recording is from what was known as a "radio transcription" - radios generally didn't broadcast the actual records that were available to the public, but specially made electronic transcriptions. By the time Laine hit in the post WWII era, transcriptions were well on the way out. Laine's transcriptions had been thought lost, but 49 of them were discovered in a box in 1980 and reissued.

1948

6) SHINE

"Shine" dates back to 1910 and it purportedly celebrates a real-life personage known today only by his nickname, "Shine." Shine is said to have been a close friend of vaudevillian George Walker, and was with him during the New York City race riots of 1900. As in "Black & Blue," the lyrics imply that Laine is a black singer, although by this point, people knew what he looked like. Laine's version peaked at #9 and brought him his fourth gold record.

Oddly, the song has acquired a reputation in recent days for being politically incorrect. "Shine," it seems, was a derogatory term for persons of color at the time. However, assuming this to be the case, the song becomes a defiant stance against the racial prejudices of its day. The lyrics turn a racial slur inside out, by taking a negative term, "Shine," and recasting it in a positive light. The singer claims he is called "Shine," not for being a black man, but for having a bright, friendly, and extremely stylish personality. It throws the slur back in the faces of those who would use it as an insult, by turning it into something to be proud of.

I've got four recordings of this by Laine. This is his hit version, backed by Harry Geller's ork:

7) MONDAY AGAIN

This song peaked at #24 and is another relatively laid back, blues-tinted ballad. Here he is, backed by Carl Fischer's ork:

This is one of several records that were cut by both Laine and Nat "King" Cole. Cole was one of Laine's biggest musical influences, and the similarity of their styles in the late 1940s can be readily heard when comparing their versions. Here's Nat Cole & The King Cole Trio:

8) BABY, THAT AIN'T RIGHT (a.k.a. THAT AIN'T RIGHT)

This song had been Nat Cole's first success in 1942, topping the R&B charts. Laine's remake peaked on the Popular charts at #20. I've got five versions of this one by Laine (4 recordings and 1 live broadcast). Here's his hit version backed by Carl Fisher's ork:

9) YOU'RE ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS

Frankie Laine never cut a Christmas album, but he did cut a few Christmas songs over the years. This one hit at #11. I've got 2 versions of this by Laine, both equally good. This is the hit version, backed by Carl Fisher:

10) AH, BUT IT HAPPENS

I've got two versions of this by Laine -- one's supposedly an unreleased alternate take, although I can't tell them apart. This one made it to #21, and Laine is once again backed by Carl Fisher's ork.

***
These are Frankie Laine's early hits from his first three years under contract to Mercury Records. Mercury was the first major label Laine recorded for -- he'd previously cut several sides for two"race" labels, Bel-Tone and Atlas. Laine was considered more of a jazz singer than a pop vocalist in those days. His pop phase would begin when Mitch Miller took over as A&R man at Mercury in 1949.

In the next post, I'll list some of my favorite non-hit FL records from this period, then continue alternating between his hits and non-hits.

General Zod

2019-10-12 05:26:43 UTC

Permalink

Post by Michael Pendragon
1946
1) THAT'S MY DESIRE
This was Frankie Laine's first hit (and first gold record), in December of 1946 -- almost 17 years after he left home to pursue a singing career. Laine had been singing at Billy Berg's nightclub in Hollywood, but was basically a "house" singer who entertained between the featured acts (partially to help clear the house for a new set of patrons). One night, on the spur of the moment, he called for the audience's attention and announced that he was going to sing a "new" song for them (he meant "new to his usual playlist," as the song had been around since 1931. The audience, however, mistook it for a new song... and listened.
http://youtu.be/dcEQSaX_YKo
I've got 13 versions of this song by Laine: 6 records, 1 unreleased alternate take, and 6 live performances.
My favorite version is from his 1957 "Rockin'" album with Paul Weston's orchestra.
http://youtu.be/Bbu1TvOlff4
1947
2) (WHAT DID I DO TO BE SO) BLACK & BLUE
Because Laine sang in "black" style, listeners who weren't familiar with his show at Billy Berg's assumed that he was black. Fats Waller's "Black & Blue" helped to further that impression. Back by Carl Fischer's Swingtet, it peaked at #27.
http://youtu.be/LHyRX3lcVMs
http://youtu.be/MszrZoOZUA8
3) MAM'SELLE
http://youtu.be/4cLztj0Gl8A
http://youtu.be/S1NLPtV0aSA
4) ON THE SUNNY SIDE OF THE STREET
http://youtu.be/XxytSZPoyks
And the equally great version from the classic "Rockin'" album?
http://youtu.be/UOLLTsOWyAg
5) TWO LOVES HAVE I
This is a (relatively) laid back romantic number that peaked at #21 and brought Laine his third gold record. I've got two recordings of it by Laine. This is the hit one, backed by Harry Geller's ork.
http://youtu.be/-JAX0oj6zoc
http://youtu.be/MywwoehIUkY
Carl Fischer, btw, was Laine's pianist-musical director-song writing partner until his death in 1954. Their recording is from what was known as a "radio transcription" - radios generally didn't broadcast the actual records that were available to the public, but specially made electronic transcriptions. By the time Laine hit in the post WWII era, transcriptions were well on the way out. Laine's transcriptions had been thought lost, but 49 of them were discovered in a box in 1980 and reissued.
1948
6) SHINE
"Shine" dates back to 1910 and it purportedly celebrates a real-life personage known today only by his nickname, "Shine." Shine is said to have been a close friend of vaudevillian George Walker, and was with him during the New York City race riots of 1900. As in "Black & Blue," the lyrics imply that Laine is a black singer, although by this point, people knew what he looked like. Laine's version peaked at #9 and brought him his fourth gold record.
Oddly, the song has acquired a reputation in recent days for being politically incorrect. "Shine," it seems, was a derogatory term for persons of color at the time. However, assuming this to be the case, the song becomes a defiant stance against the racial prejudices of its day. The lyrics turn a racial slur inside out, by taking a negative term, "Shine," and recasting it in a positive light. The singer claims he is called "Shine," not for being a black man, but for having a bright, friendly, and extremely stylish personality. It throws the slur back in the faces of those who would use it as an insult, by turning it into something to be proud of.
http://youtu.be/TMEqQiiwA0I
7) MONDAY AGAIN
http://youtu.be/SKjqiO7u3J8
http://youtu.be/fUV5LJJj5Kg
8) BABY, THAT AIN'T RIGHT (a.k.a. THAT AIN'T RIGHT)
http://youtu.be/qrSn4cm2TOA
9) YOU'RE ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS
http://youtu.be/Kaxr_3cnYTU
10) AH, BUT IT HAPPENS
I've got two versions of this by Laine -- one's supposedly an unreleased alternate take, although I can't tell them apart. This one made it to #21, and Laine is once again backed by Carl Fisher's ork.
http://youtu.be/1aOXuEuNk7Q
***
These are Frankie Laine's early hits from his first three years under contract to Mercury Records. Mercury was the first major label Laine recorded for -- he'd previously cut several sides for two"race" labels, Bel-Tone and Atlas. Laine was considered more of a jazz singer than a pop vocalist in those days. His pop phase would begin when Mitch Miller took over as A&R man at Mercury in 1949.
In the next post, I'll list some of my favorite non-hit FL records from this period, then continue alternating between his hits and non-hits.

Quite interesting...…….

Michael Pendragon

2019-10-12 05:32:46 UTC

Permalink

Post by General Zod

Quite interesting...…….

Shut up, Todd.

There's no way that you could have read and listened to the songs in the one minute that elapsed between my post and yours.

Michael Pendragon

2019-10-13 05:47:18 UTC

Permalink

1946

1) BLUE TURNING GREY OVER YOU

Frankie Laine cut three versions of this old Fats Waller song: one for Mercury in 1946, a transcription in 1947 and on his 1957 "Rockin'" album. I love all three, but the transcription is my favorite. He's backed by Carl Fischer's ork:

2) BY THE RIVER SAINTE MARIE

I discovered this song when I found a Frankie Laine album in a little five & dime store in Maryland back in the 1970s, and was totally blown away by it (and several other tracks on that same album as well). I've now got 6 versions of the song by Laine (2 records, 1 transcription, and 3 live versions). The records are the 1946 Mercury single, backed by Mannie Klein's All Stars and the 1957 album cut from (you guessed it) his "Rockin'" album featuring Paul Weston's ork. Here's the 1946 Mercury version, which is my favorite:

3) SEPTEMBER IN THE RAIN

Another favorite that appeared on the album I'd found in Maryland was "September in the Rain." The versions I've got are from 2 records, 1 transcription, and 1 live broadcast. The 1946 single backed by Mannie Klein's All Stars is my favorite; but all 4 versions are fantastic. The transcription, backed by Carl Fischer's ork is done in a similar vein (uptempo jazz), only slightly faster and shorter; the track from his 1958 "Reunion In Rhythm" album with Michel Legrand is sung as a ballad and includes the introduction; and the broadcast version (from "The Frankie Laine Show," a t.v. show filmed in England in 1954-55) is also done as a romantic ballad.

Here's the 1946 single:

4) WEST END BLUES

I've got 4 versions of this song by Laine, all of which are fantastic. The first 2 are with Carl Fischer's Swingtet and put out by Mercury in 1946 -- one version was made for the French market with slightly different lyrics. There's a transcription backed by Paul Dunlap's ork that was made the same year, and another track from his "Rockin'" album in 1957.

I'm torn between the U.S. version with the Swingtet and the transcription.

Here's the single:

And the transcription:

5) WRAP YOUR TROUBLES IN DREAMS (AND DREAM YOUR TROUBLES AWAY)

I've got 5 version of this 1931 tune by Frankie Laine: 1 record, 1 transcription, 1 live concert version, 1 live tv broadcast, and 1 motion picture soundtrack version. The concert version is from 1976, so this song remained a staple on Laine's repertoire throughout much of his career. My favorite is the Mercury single backed by Carl Fischer's Swingtet:

1947

6) ALL OF ME

Another great song from 1931, I've got 3 versions by Laine: the 1946 single backed by Harry Geller's ork, an unreleased alternate take of the same recording, and a 1948 transcription with Paul Dunlap's ork. All three are done in a similar style and are equally great; although I'm partial to the 1946 single which was also on the "That Lucky Old Sun" album I'd found in Maryland. Here it is:

Johnnie Ray, who was the next link in the evolutionary chain from Frankie Laine to Elvis Presley, cut an even more exuberant version in 1952 with the Buddy Cole Quartet. Johnnie is my second favorite singer (after Laine), and his version is worth a listen as well:

7) PUT YOURSELF IN MY PLACE, BABY

Frankie Laine cut a lot of great records in 1947, which I'm not including here as they aren't among my absolute biggest favorites. This is one of those records, but I'm including it as it was written by Laine (lyrics) and Hoagy Carmichael (music). Carmichael was one of the people who gave Laine a big break in the mid-forties which ultimately led to his having a successful career. You'll recall that Laine became a success when he sang "That's My Desire" at Billy Berg's nightclub in Hollywood. Laine had worked at a defense plant during the second world war and had transferred to Hollywood as the war was coming to an end. After the war ended, he'd gone back to "scuffling" -- singing at various nightclubs "for coffee and donuts, and happy if I got the coffee," and sleeping on park benches. DJ Al Jarvis took him in, and he was soon making the rounds of the nightclubs, hoping that the various bands would call him up to sing a number with them. Slim Gaillard, who was playing at Billy Berg's called him up to do a number, and he picked an old Hoagy Carmichael standard from 1929, called "Rockin' Chair." As fortune would have it, Carmichael was in the audience that night and he flipped over Laine's take on it -- so much so that he talked Billy Berg into hiring Laine as a house singer. A few weeks later, Laine sang "That's My Desire," and the rest is history.

"Rockin' Chair" is one of my top 10 Frankie Laine records, but he didn't make his first recording of that until 1949, so it's going to have to wait for a future installment.

Here's the song he co-wrote with Carmichael, "Put Yourself in My Place, Baby":

8) SINGIN' THE BLUES (UNTIL MY BABY COME HOME)

I've got 3 versions of this by Laine: the single where he's backed by Carl Fischer's ork, the transcription where he's backed by Paul Dunlap's ork, and a television broadcast from "The Frankie Laine Show," backed by Harry Zimmerman's ork. All three are done in a similar style, but the single is my favorite:

9) BABY, THAT AIN'T RIGHT

I've got 5 versions of this blues number by Laine; 2 records, 1 transcription and 2 broadcasts. The other record is his "Rockin'" album -- but the original was already rockin' on its own. Here it is, with Carl Fischer's ork backing:

http://youtu.be/qrSn4cm2TOA

10) WE'LL BE TOGETHER AGAIN

No Frankie Laine retrospective would be complete without this standard that Laine penned along with Carl Fischer. I've got 6 versions of it by Laine (5 records and 1 transcription), and my favorite is from the "Rockin'" album with Paul Weston's ork:

Here's the original:

And here's the "Rockin'" remake:

1948

11) ROSETTA

1948 was the year of the musician's strike, so few recordings were made. Laine made a total of 9. "Rosetta" is my favorite. I've got 2 versions of this by Laine (1 single, 1 transcription), both backed by Carl Fischer's ork.

Here's the single:

Listen for the cool passage toward the end where he tells the bass player to "walk it."

Michael Pendragon

2019-10-14 00:24:13 UTC

Permalink

Post by Michael Pendragon

1946
1) BLUE TURNING GREY OVER YOU
http://youtu.be/slJPwME5k2Y
2) BY THE RIVER SAINTE MARIE
http://youtu.be/cbLHTzA4h7k
3) SEPTEMBER IN THE RAIN
Another favorite that appeared on the album I'd found in Maryland was "September in the Rain." The versions I've got are from 2 records, 1 transcription, and 1 live broadcast. The 1946 single backed by Mannie Klein's All Stars is my favorite; but all 4 versions are fantastic. The transcription, backed by Carl Fischer's ork is done in a similar vein (uptempo jazz), only slightly faster and shorter; the track from his 1958 "Reunion In Rhythm" album with Michel Legrand is sung as a ballad and includes the introduction; and the broadcast version (from "The Frankie Laine Show," a t.v. show filmed in England in 1954-55) is also done as a romantic ballad.
http://youtu.be/egciM9tTLv0
4) WEST END BLUES
I've got 4 versions of this song by Laine, all of which are fantastic. The first 2 are with Carl Fischer's Swingtet and put out by Mercury in 1946 -- one version was made for the French market with slightly different lyrics. There's a transcription backed by Paul Dunlap's ork that was made the same year, and another track from his "Rockin'" album in 1957.
I'm torn between the U.S. version with the Swingtet and the transcription.
http://youtu.be/wMlOyPbPclM
http://youtu.be/g2K0JXaqKdU
5) WRAP YOUR TROUBLES IN DREAMS (AND DREAM YOUR TROUBLES AWAY)
http://youtu.be/cVZBz8YjdnI
1947
6) ALL OF ME
http://youtu.be/cizlqC4aLfY
http://youtu.be/DG9mY0XBRWs
7) PUT YOURSELF IN MY PLACE, BABY
Frankie Laine cut a lot of great records in 1947, which I'm not including here as they aren't among my absolute biggest favorites. This is one of those records, but I'm including it as it was written by Laine (lyrics) and Hoagy Carmichael (music). Carmichael was one of the people who gave Laine a big break in the mid-forties which ultimately led to his having a successful career. You'll recall that Laine became a success when he sang "That's My Desire" at Billy Berg's nightclub in Hollywood. Laine had worked at a defense plant during the second world war and had transferred to Hollywood as the war was coming to an end. After the war ended, he'd gone back to "scuffling" -- singing at various nightclubs "for coffee and donuts, and happy if I got the coffee," and sleeping on park benches. DJ Al Jarvis took him in, and he was soon making the rounds of the nightclubs, hoping that the various bands would call him up to sing a number with them. Slim Gaillard, who was playing at Billy Berg's called him up to do a number, and he picked an old Hoagy Carmichael standard from 1929, called "Rockin' Chair." As fortune would have it, Carmichael was in the audience that night and he flipped over Laine's take on it -- so much so that he talked Billy Berg into hiring Laine as a house singer. A few weeks later, Laine sang "That's My Desire," and the rest is history.
"Rockin' Chair" is one of my top 10 Frankie Laine records, but he didn't make his first recording of that until 1949, so it's going to have to wait for a future installment.
http://youtu.be/I_RPVUGPqgQ
8) SINGIN' THE BLUES (UNTIL MY BABY COME HOME)
http://youtu.be/4KOcsY891vY
9) BABY, THAT AIN'T RIGHT
http://youtu.be/qrSn4cm2TOA
10) WE'LL BE TOGETHER AGAIN
http://youtu.be/HzjecPAd1X8
http://youtu.be/oALZ8TDZcO0
1948
11) ROSETTA
1948 was the year of the musician's strike, so few recordings were made. Laine made a total of 9. "Rosetta" is my favorite. I've got 2 versions of this by Laine (1 single, 1 transcription), both backed by Carl Fischer's ork.
http://youtu.be/Axaj-I6VCDQ
Listen for the cool passage toward the end where he tells the bass player to "walk it."

2) THAT LUCKY OLD SUN (JUST ROLLS AROUND HEAVEN ALL DAY)

I've got 10 versions of this song by Laine (5 records, 4 broadcasts, 1 live concert perf.). My favorite version, as noted elsewhere, is the one from his 1957 "Rockin'" album with Paul Weston.

Here's the original, backed by Harry Geller's ork, and Judd Conlon's Rhythmaires:

And here's my favorite version:

"That Lucky Old Sun" has been one of my favorite records since I was two, and it ended up playing an important role in my life as a child. I believe I've told the first half of the story here before, so I'll just summarize it briefly:

When I was two and a half years old, my grandmother had called me "lazy," and my mother expanded on it by saying that was like "That Lucky Old Sun." I asked her what she meant, and she brushed my question aside, saying that it was just a song she knew. I told her that I not only knew it was a song, but that it was my favorite song -- I just didn't understand how it applied to my being lazy.

Now my mother didn't believe I knew the song (I as just a toddler, after all), so I told her that it was sung by Frankie Laine and that they not only played it on the oldies station I listened to, but that she was always singing it around the house. Mom countered that I might know a few snatches of the song, but that I certainly didn't know the whole thing from start to finish. I insisted that I did, so she had me sing it to her.

When I was finished, she admitted that I did know the song after all, and asked me what I thought it meant. I told her that the man in the song wasn't lazy. He'd spent his life getting up each morning, going to his job and working like the devil. And now he's gotten old and gray, and sweated till he was all wrinkled like a prune... and just wants it to be over; he just wants the pain and weariness to end so he can die, go to Heaven and rest in the arms of the Lord.

Here's the second chapter of that story:

From that point on, my mother would call me into the living room whenever Frankie Laine was going to be on tv ("The Ed Sullivan Show," "Laugh-In," "Playboy After Dark," "Mike Douglas," "Dinah!," etc.), and we'd watch him together.

Mom was also a Frankie Laine fan. I don't know if he was her favorite singer, but he was certainly one of her favorites. Each Autumn, when we'd see a flock of wild geese flying in their "V" pattern overhead, she'd look up and recite "My heart knows what the wild goose know, and I must go where the wild goose goes" as if it were a line of poetry by Walt Whitman (which, for many years I assumed it was).

Mom was diagnosed with breast cancer when I was ten. She had a mastectomy, chemotherapy and such, and the cancer went into remission... for a few months. The following year, it came back with a vengeance and was now located in her bones.

She took us to lunch at the local Hardee's ("local" meaning two towns over) to break the news. She said that the odds of surviving bone cancer were much worse than probably any other kind -- about 1 in 25,000. I fought back my tears as best I could and asked her if that meant she was going to die, while my sister and brother (who were 9 and 7) just broke into tears. Mom quickly downplayed it (a bit), saying that she could be the 1 in 25,000 who makes it, and that we'd just have to pray for the best and wait and see.

From that point on, we never spoke about her dying. We'd talk about her illness, but always as though it were commonly understood that she'd eventually recover. I don't know if my siblings were taken in, but at 11, I was intellectually aware enough to know that she was getting steadily worse, and that the likelihood of her being that 1 in 25,000 was almost non-existent.

My music teacher was offering private lessons that August, and Mom signed me up. The lessons were given at the school where both he and my mother taught. The day of my first lesson, the Principal's secretary noticed her waiting in the hallway and called her into the office, offered her a seat and basically treated her like she was ready to keel over dead. She meant well, of course, but it made my mother uncomfortable. From then on, she'd drop me off, and have me wait in between the double doors by the Principal's office for her to pick me up. She'd arrive 5 - 10 minutes late, and I'd run out to the car (thereby avoiding the unwanted attentions of the secretary).

One day, as I got into the car after my music lesson, she told me that she needed to make a run to "Sally's." Mrs. Somebodyorother had asked her if she knew where she could get a certain kind of hook and eye attachment for a dress, and Mom had offered to check at Sally's for her. Sally's was a fabric outlet in the town next to ours. It was located in an old two-story building on the town's main street, and I always liked to play out imaginary scenarios about being a secret agent shooting it out with the bad guy while hiding behind the giant rolls of linen.

She apologized and offered to drop me off at home if I preferred, but I was like "Are you kidding? I love going to Sally's!"

After playing secret agent for 15-20 minutes, I went downstairs to check in with her. She was in a hurry to get out. I pointed out a lacy hook and eye set near the cash register, but she claimed she'd already seen it and that it wasn't the right kind. Mom continued to rush me out of the beloved store saying that there was going to be a special show on the radio that she really wanted to hear. The show was going to be on at some point between 2 and 2:30 (or somesuch half hour block) and that since it was already a few minutes after 2, she might have missed it.

It sounded a little fishy to me, so I proceeded to question her about the show as we hurried to the car. She just smiled and told me that if we haven't already missed it, I'll find out for myself. When we got in the car, she immediately switched on the local oldies station... which was playing their usual music. I told her that it didn't seem like there was going to be any special interview, but she just said "we'll see." And, being a fan of the music they played, I had no problem listening to it while she realized her mistake.

About a mile from our house, I heard the familiar opening guitar chords to "That Lucky Old Sun" (the 1957 version) come over the radio. Now Mom loved this song and would often turn up the volume a notch and sing along, but this time she took things to the extreme. As soon as the music started, she pulled the car over to the side of the road and practically shouted at me to roll up the window. Seeing that it was an August afternoon and that the temperature was probably up in the 90s, I asked her if she was sure she meant "up." She said something like "Yes! Up! Quick! Quick! Quick!," so I complied.

She then turned the volume up all the way -- literally all the way up. Once the windows were up, she started singing along with the song. Now I must have heard her sing that song hundreds, if not thousands of times over the course of my young life, but I had never heard her sing it like *this* before. For starters, Frankie Laine isn't known for being the quietest of singers, and even with the volume maxed out, I could still hear her voice loud and clear. She was literally pouring her heart and soul into it; and soon the tears were flowing down her cheeks.

I began crying as well (bittersweet/happy tears), because I realized what was going on. She had remembered my telling her what the song meant to me when I was two, and was singing it so that I'd know that she was okay with dying. She had fought the cancer long enough, and was tired of all the suffering and pain and just wanted it to be over, and to be at peace in the arms of the Lord.

When she was finished she looked at me and smiled through her tears. She was out of breath, but looked as though a 10,000 lb weight had just been lifted off her chest because -- she saw that I knew what she was doing. It was one of those rare moments where our thoughts were at one (like "grokking" or a Vulcan mind meld) and we *knew* what the other one was feeling.

We never had to say another word about it. Just over two months later she died in her sleep in a hospital bed that had been set up in our living room.

"That Lucky Old Sun" was Frankie Laine's first #1 record and his 5th to go gold.

3) MULE TRAIN

I've got 7 versions of this by Laine (5 records, 2 live broadcasts). My favorite is the original version, where Laine is backed by The Muleskinners, Mitch Miller & His Orchestra (The Muleskinners were just an in-joke reference to Miller's ork and chorus). "Mule Train" was Laine's second #1 record, knocking "That Lucky Old Sun" out of the top slot, and his 6th to go gold. It's also a wonderful snatch of Americana wherein listeners are given a peek into life on the American frontier by hearing a mule train driver tell of the various packages and letters he's delivering.

Here's the hit version:

Michael Pendragon

2019-10-15 12:53:07 UTC

Permalink

Post by Michael Pendragon

1949
First, the hits...
1) (WHERE ARE YOU?) NOW THAT I NEED YOU
Backed by Carl Fischer's ork, this balled hit the #20 spot on the charts. It's only listed because it was a hit, as it's a solid, but minor entry in Laine's catalog.
http://youtu.be/8olbCskmXDg
2) THAT LUCKY OLD SUN (JUST ROLLS AROUND HEAVEN ALL DAY)
I've got 10 versions of this song by Laine (5 records, 4 broadcasts, 1 live concert perf.). My favorite version, as noted elsewhere, is the one from his 1957 "Rockin'" album with Paul Weston.
http://youtu.be/_xgDbhn0hpo
http://youtu.be/uqNn7pI9Z9k
When I was two and a half years old, my grandmother had called me "lazy," and my mother expanded on it by saying that was like "That Lucky Old Sun." I asked her what she meant, and she brushed my question aside, saying that it was just a song she knew. I told her that I not only knew it was a song, but that it was my favorite song -- I just didn't understand how it applied to my being lazy.
Now my mother didn't believe I knew the song (I as just a toddler, after all), so I told her that it was sung by Frankie Laine and that they not only played it on the oldies station I listened to, but that she was always singing it around the house. Mom countered that I might know a few snatches of the song, but that I certainly didn't know the whole thing from start to finish. I insisted that I did, so she had me sing it to her.
When I was finished, she admitted that I did know the song after all, and asked me what I thought it meant. I told her that the man in the song wasn't lazy. He'd spent his life getting up each morning, going to his job and working like the devil. And now he's gotten old and gray, and sweated till he was all wrinkled like a prune... and just wants it to be over; he just wants the pain and weariness to end so he can die, go to Heaven and rest in the arms of the Lord.
From that point on, my mother would call me into the living room whenever Frankie Laine was going to be on tv ("The Ed Sullivan Show," "Laugh-In," "Playboy After Dark," "Mike Douglas," "Dinah!," etc.), and we'd watch him together.
Mom was also a Frankie Laine fan. I don't know if he was her favorite singer, but he was certainly one of her favorites. Each Autumn, when we'd see a flock of wild geese flying in their "V" pattern overhead, she'd look up and recite "My heart knows what the wild goose know, and I must go where the wild goose goes" as if it were a line of poetry by Walt Whitman (which, for many years I assumed it was).
Mom was diagnosed with breast cancer when I was ten. She had a mastectomy, chemotherapy and such, and the cancer went into remission... for a few months. The following year, it came back with a vengeance and was now located in her bones.
She took us to lunch at the local Hardee's ("local" meaning two towns over) to break the news. She said that the odds of surviving bone cancer were much worse than probably any other kind -- about 1 in 25,000. I fought back my tears as best I could and asked her if that meant she was going to die, while my sister and brother (who were 9 and 7) just broke into tears. Mom quickly downplayed it (a bit), saying that she could be the 1 in 25,000 who makes it, and that we'd just have to pray for the best and wait and see.
From that point on, we never spoke about her dying. We'd talk about her illness, but always as though it were commonly understood that she'd eventually recover. I don't know if my siblings were taken in, but at 11, I was intellectually aware enough to know that she was getting steadily worse, and that the likelihood of her being that 1 in 25,000 was almost non-existent.
My music teacher was offering private lessons that August, and Mom signed me up. The lessons were given at the school where both he and my mother taught. The day of my first lesson, the Principal's secretary noticed her waiting in the hallway and called her into the office, offered her a seat and basically treated her like she was ready to keel over dead. She meant well, of course, but it made my mother uncomfortable. From then on, she'd drop me off, and have me wait in between the double doors by the Principal's office for her to pick me up. She'd arrive 5 - 10 minutes late, and I'd run out to the car (thereby avoiding the unwanted attentions of the secretary).
One day, as I got into the car after my music lesson, she told me that she needed to make a run to "Sally's." Mrs. Somebodyorother had asked her if she knew where she could get a certain kind of hook and eye attachment for a dress, and Mom had offered to check at Sally's for her. Sally's was a fabric outlet in the town next to ours. It was located in an old two-story building on the town's main street, and I always liked to play out imaginary scenarios about being a secret agent shooting it out with the bad guy while hiding behind the giant rolls of linen.
She apologized and offered to drop me off at home if I preferred, but I was like "Are you kidding? I love going to Sally's!"
After playing secret agent for 15-20 minutes, I went downstairs to check in with her. She was in a hurry to get out. I pointed out a lacy hook and eye set near the cash register, but she claimed she'd already seen it and that it wasn't the right kind. Mom continued to rush me out of the beloved store saying that there was going to be a special show on the radio that she really wanted to hear. The show was going to be on at some point between 2 and 2:30 (or somesuch half hour block) and that since it was already a few minutes after 2, she might have missed it.
It sounded a little fishy to me, so I proceeded to question her about the show as we hurried to the car. She just smiled and told me that if we haven't already missed it, I'll find out for myself. When we got in the car, she immediately switched on the local oldies station... which was playing their usual music. I told her that it didn't seem like there was going to be any special interview, but she just said "we'll see." And, being a fan of the music they played, I had no problem listening to it while she realized her mistake.
About a mile from our house, I heard the familiar opening guitar chords to "That Lucky Old Sun" (the 1957 version) come over the radio. Now Mom loved this song and would often turn up the volume a notch and sing along, but this time she took things to the extreme. As soon as the music started, she pulled the car over to the side of the road and practically shouted at me to roll up the window. Seeing that it was an August afternoon and that the temperature was probably up in the 90s, I asked her if she was sure she meant "up." She said something like "Yes! Up! Quick! Quick! Quick!," so I complied.
She then turned the volume up all the way -- literally all the way up. Once the windows were up, she started singing along with the song. Now I must have heard her sing that song hundreds, if not thousands of times over the course of my young life, but I had never heard her sing it like *this* before. For starters, Frankie Laine isn't known for being the quietest of singers, and even with the volume maxed out, I could still hear her voice loud and clear. She was literally pouring her heart and soul into it; and soon the tears were flowing down her cheeks.
I began crying as well (bittersweet/happy tears), because I realized what was going on. She had remembered my telling her what the song meant to me when I was two, and was singing it so that I'd know that she was okay with dying. She had fought the cancer long enough, and was tired of all the suffering and pain and just wanted it to be over, and to be at peace in the arms of the Lord.
When she was finished she looked at me and smiled through her tears. She was out of breath, but looked as though a 10,000 lb weight had just been lifted off her chest because -- she saw that I knew what she was doing. It was one of those rare moments where our thoughts were at one (like "grokking" or a Vulcan mind meld) and we *knew* what the other one was feeling.
We never had to say another word about it. Just over two months later she died in her sleep in a hospital bed that had been set up in our living room.
"That Lucky Old Sun" was Frankie Laine's first #1 record and his 5th to go gold.
3) MULE TRAIN
I've got 7 versions of this by Laine (5 records, 2 live broadcasts). My favorite is the original version, where Laine is backed by The Muleskinners, Mitch Miller & His Orchestra (The Muleskinners were just an in-joke reference to Miller's ork and chorus). "Mule Train" was Laine's second #1 record, knocking "That Lucky Old Sun" out of the top slot, and his 6th to go gold. It's also a wonderful snatch of Americana wherein listeners are given a peek into life on the American frontier by hearing a mule train driver tell of the various packages and letters he's delivering.
http://youtu.be/BL6RIfj-lzU

And the non-hits:

1) AT THE END OF THE ROAD

This is one of my top picks from his Mercury days. When Laine reaches the second chorus, he really cuts loose, tearing this Irving Berlin song apart and putting it back together in his own inimitable style. Backed by Harry Geller's ork with Carl Fischer on piano, here it is:

Both this and the following song can easily be seen as precursors to rock 'n' roll.

2) BABY, I NEED YOU

Again backed by Harry Geller, Laine goes wild on this track, alternately shouting out one line and quietly crooning the next. Unfortunately, it isn't available online at this time. I've got two versions of this - the single and an unreleased alternate take - and both are equally thrilling.

3) GEORGIA ON MY MIND

I've got several versions of this by Laine, although I haven't got access to my library at this time (I'll fill in the details when I do a final post of the entire list). Everyone knows this song by Ray Charles, but his version, which came out eleven years later, follows Laine's rendition fairly close. Prior to Laine's version, the song which dates from 1930 was done as an uptempo jazz number. When Laine sings it in the 1950 motion picture, "When You're Smiling" (in which he plays himself), it's introduced as being a hit single by him.

Here he is, backed by Carl Fischer's ork:

4) (GIVE ME) A KISS FOR TOMORROW

In a year with such stellar numbers as "That Lucky Old Sun," "Georgia On My Mind," and "Mule Train," this little song pretty much gets lost in the shuffle. Admittedly, it's just a minor tune, but it's one I'm especially fond of. Laine was apparently fond of it as well, since he revived it for his "Rockin'" album in 1957. Here's Laine back by Geller's ork with Carl Fischer (who co-wrote it) on piano:

And rockin' it with Paul Weston's ork:

5) ROCKIN' CHAIR

I just have to say that I really love "Rockin' Chair." I've got several versions by Laine and love 'em all, but his 1957 version (the "Rockin'" album again) is my favorite. "Rockin' Chair" is the song that got him the first of several breaks that directly resulted in his finally (after 17 years of scuffling) becoming a success.

Here's the original version backed by Harry Geller with Carl Fischer on piano:

And here's the "Rockin'" version:

6) SATAN WEARS A SATIN GOWN

When this song was first brought to Laine's attention, the song plugger demonstrating it was an as yet unknown Tony Bennett. Laine asked why they wanted him to record when they already had such a terrific singer. The answer, of course, was that Laine was by this time a huge name who could put it across, whereas "Joe Bari" (as Bennett was calling himself in those days) had no market value. "Satan Wears a Satin Gown" is the first of Devil-Woman songs Laine would record, and was quite unlike any other song from its period. It became a hit, #28, when released the following year.

Laine is backed by Geller, Fischer, the Judd Conlon singers with Loolie Jean Norman (who would later sing the "Star Trek" theme) providing the obligato:

7) SWAMP GIRL

Recorded in 1949, but released in 1950, "Swamp Girl" charted at #12 and became Laine's 7th Gold Record. If "Satan Wears a Satin Gown" was off the beaten musical path, "Swamp Girl" was from another musical dimension. It's the song about depression and suicide as symbolized by a lorelei known as the swamp girl. With lyrics like "Will you embrace the night and turn your back on the sun," this song by Michael Brown could pass as modern goth poetry. Laine is again backed by Geller, Fischer with Loolie Jean Norman voicing the title character. I've got a couple of versions by Laine of this song as well, but the original remains my favorite:

Michael Pendragon

2019-10-25 16:39:04 UTC

Permalink

Post by Michael Pendragon

1) AT THE END OF THE ROAD
http://youtu.be/YICv82Tm3X0
Both this and the following song can easily be seen as precursors to rock 'n' roll.
2) BABY, I NEED YOU
Again backed by Harry Geller, Laine goes wild on this track, alternately shouting out one line and quietly crooning the next. Unfortunately, it isn't available online at this time. I've got two versions of this - the single and an unreleased alternate take - and both are equally thrilling.
3) GEORGIA ON MY MIND
I've got several versions of this by Laine, although I haven't got access to my library at this time (I'll fill in the details when I do a final post of the entire list). Everyone knows this song by Ray Charles, but his version, which came out eleven years later, follows Laine's rendition fairly close. Prior to Laine's version, the song which dates from 1930 was done as an uptempo jazz number. When Laine sings it in the 1950 motion picture, "When You're Smiling" (in which he plays himself), it's introduced as being a hit single by him.
http://youtu.be/ip7FIVucBeM
4) (GIVE ME) A KISS FOR TOMORROW
http://youtu.be/WKMUwncT3cw
http://youtu.be/PA22JS-D5gU
5) ROCKIN' CHAIR
I just have to say that I really love "Rockin' Chair." I've got several versions by Laine and love 'em all, but his 1957 version (the "Rockin'" album again) is my favorite. "Rockin' Chair" is the song that got him the first of several breaks that directly resulted in his finally (after 17 years of scuffling) becoming a success.
http://youtu.be/HRb8lUUqBSs
http://youtu.be/x_lkQMJzJdo
6) SATAN WEARS A SATIN GOWN
When this song was first brought to Laine's attention, the song plugger demonstrating it was an as yet unknown Tony Bennett. Laine asked why they wanted him to record when they already had such a terrific singer. The answer, of course, was that Laine was by this time a huge name who could put it across, whereas "Joe Bari" (as Bennett was calling himself in those days) had no market value. "Satan Wears a Satin Gown" is the first of Devil-Woman songs Laine would record, and was quite unlike any other song from its period. It became a hit, #28, when released the following year.
http://youtu.be/1qDNZXcPoM8
7) SWAMP GIRL
http://youtu.be/ckjZ6wyg_28

1950

First the hits:

1) CRY OF THE WILD GOOSE

This was Laine's third and final #1 hit, and his 8th Gold Record. Written by folk singer Terry Gilkyson, Wild Goose is a rousing classic which orchestrally captures the driving spirit of a flock of wild geese in flight through its frantically paced rhythm and muted French horns that evoke both the cries of the geese and the sounds of an English foxhunt.

Its lyrical depiction of wanderlust is juxtaposed against the ever-present call of the wild in modern man as experienced through his primitive identification with the cyclical workings of nature. The chorus' opening lines of "My heart knows what the wild goose knows ..." have all the potency of Bliss Carman's Vagabondia poems, and like the scarlet of Bliss' maples, "can shake (one) like the cry of bugles going by." And, much like a classic poem, a feeling of timelessness pervades each note, each beat, each measure of the song. It's a rare occasion indeed when one can spot a flock of geese racing across the sky without the opening lines of this song springing to the forefront of his thoughts.

Yet counterpoised to the call of wanderlust are the ties of marital love, familial responsibility and, by extension, civilization in general. These are called forth in the bittersweet symbol of the faithful woman who the singer intends to leave behind. The conflict of these opposing elements -- the lure of nature versus the ties of family and civilization -- is a battle that has been waged in every human breast since early man traded in the nomadic hunter-gatherer lifestyle for a settled existence as a tiller of the land. Gogi Grant's recording of The Wayward Wind, a later classic with a similar theme, is further evidence of the universality of the concept.

Even more than the previous year's Mule Train which overdubbed the whip cracks from a sound effects department, "Cry of the Wild Goose" was a transcontinental production; the music track was recorded in New York while Laine's voice was later overdubbed in Hollywood. Multi-tracking was still an experimental procedure at this time, and was frowned upon by musicians and vocalists from the old school. Mitch Miller recognized the vast array of possibilities that this new process opened up, especially in terms of creating the desired aural landscape. Both he and Laine were pioneers in this field, which has since become commonplace in the music industry.

I'd first heard the song (or, rather, portions of it) from my mother who was fond of quoting it. I'd have to wait until I was in my teens to hear Frankie Laine's recording, when I found his Mercury album in Maryland. Laine recorded this several times over the course of his career, but never topped the original.

Here he is backed by Harry Geller's ork with Carl Fischer on the piano:

2) STARS & STRIPES FOREVER

One of the few flag-waving songs to come out during The Korean War years was Laine's updated version of John Phillip Sousa's beloved marching tune from 1897, "The Stars and Stripes Forever." His accompanist/musical director, Carl Fischer, had suggested doing a swing-time recording of it with a new set of lyrics by Bob Russell. "Folks told me it was blasphemy," Laine later said.4 But blasphemy or not, the song proved to be another hit for him, peaking at #20 on Billboard charts. And just for the record, the new lyrics represent a marked improvement over the original ones, which come across today as an archaic relic from an era long since passed. Russell's lyric includes such rousing lines as "When I see the Stars and the Stripes/Then my heart is a drum, wildly beating/So proud to be part of the dream/That is always on the march …" And, of course, when it comes to having a naturally stirring voice, nobody touches Frankie Laine.

When I *sing* "The Stars and Stripes Forever," it's always with the lyrics from Laine's single. He's again backed by Harry Geller's ork with Carl Fischer on piano:

3) MUSIC, MAESTRO, PLEASE

Another 1950 hit for Laine was "Music, Maestro, Please." Composed in 1938 by Herb Magidson, with lyrics by Allie Wrubel, it had been a hit for Tommy Dorsey featuring the talented Edythe Wright on vocal. Laine cut his version on the spur of the moment when he'd finished a recording session an hour early, and still had the studio at his disposal. He suggested they record this song, as it was one of his favorite old standards, and together with the band, worked up a bit of staged business as an introduction and exit to the lyric. In it, the singer enters a cocktail lounge, where the pianist (Carl Fischer) is playing some jazzy blues riffs. The singer greets the maître d', requests "a chaser, for my blues," then calls to the pianist as a means of gliding seamlessly into the song. The song is delivered in a slow, almost spoken manner. Laine sings only one chorus before bidding goodbye to the maître d' and exiting. After he leaves the atmosphere inside the lounge immediately returns to its former pace with the pianist picking up the jazzy riffs he'd left off playing when the singer had first walked in.

"Music, Maestro, Please" was one of the first pop records (if not the first) to be framed in such a dramatic fashion. The song peaked at number 13 on the charts.

Once again, backed by Geller and Fischer:

4) DREAM A LITTLE DREAM OF ME

Another classic from the 1930's gave Laine a number 18 hit. This one had been composed in 1931 by Fabian Andre and Wilbur Schwandt with lyrics by Gus Kahn. Dream A Little Dream Of Me had originally given hits to The Wayne King Orchestra (with Ernie Birchill on vocal) and Ozzie Nelson's Orchestra (with Nelson taking the vocal). Laine gives an inspired reading of the song, wherein he starts out taking the first chorus as a jazz-tinged, slightly old fashioned uptempo bounce before tearing loose on the second chorus, shouting the first half of each line in a wild, ragged, and joyous manner that prefigures much of what Johnnie would later do on his proto-rock 'n' roll masterpiece, "Cry."

Like most people of my generation, I first heard this song by The Mamas and Papas, whose lovely ballad version (as wonderful as it is) is almost unrecognizable as the song high-energy jazz riff Laine recorded. I've since acquired many versions of this classic by various artists -- so many that when I put together a CD of them, I was unable to fit them all. Of his two released versions, I prefer his 1958 remake with Michel Legrand's ork over the original with Geller and Fischer who come just a little short of matching Laine's unrestrained perf.

Here's the original:

And here's the remake:

5) NEVERTHELESS (I'M IN LOVE WITH YOU)

Laine's jazz-tinted take on this 1931 standard by Bert Kalmar (lyrics) and Harry Ruby (m) made it to number 11 on the charts. Laine gives his usual masterful reading, infusing just the right touch of drama where needed, but compared to many of the other stellar records in Laine's catalog, this one tends to get lost in the shuffle. The orchestra backing him isn't listed on the label, so I'll have to wait until I get home to add it.

Here it is:

6) IF I WERE A BELL

I'm not a big fan of this song from Frank Loesser's "Guys and Dolls," but Frankie Laine swings it in grand style and certainly makes it worth a listen. It was a minor hit by Laine standards, only making it to number 30.

George J. Dance

2019-10-25 16:46:00 UTC

Permalink

Post by Michael Pendragon

1950
1) CRY OF THE WILD GOOSE
This was Laine's third and final #1 hit, and his 8th Gold Record. Written by folk singer Terry Gilkyson, Wild Goose is a rousing classic which orchestrally captures the driving spirit of a flock of wild geese in flight through its frantically paced rhythm and muted French horns that evoke both the cries of the geese and the sounds of an English foxhunt.
Its lyrical depiction of wanderlust is juxtaposed against the ever-present call of the wild in modern man as experienced through his primitive identification with the cyclical workings of nature. The chorus' opening lines of "My heart knows what the wild goose knows ..." have all the potency of Bliss Carman's Vagabondia poems, and like the scarlet of Bliss' maples, "can shake (one) like the cry of bugles going by." And, much like a classic poem, a feeling of timelessness pervades each note, each beat, each measure of the song. It's a rare occasion indeed when one can spot a flock of geese racing across the sky without the opening lines of this song springing to the forefront of his thoughts.
Yet counterpoised to the call of wanderlust are the ties of marital love, familial responsibility and, by extension, civilization in general. These are called forth in the bittersweet symbol of the faithful woman who the singer intends to leave behind. The conflict of these opposing elements -- the lure of nature versus the ties of family and civilization -- is a battle that has been waged in every human breast since early man traded in the nomadic hunter-gatherer lifestyle for a settled existence as a tiller of the land. Gogi Grant's recording of The Wayward Wind, a later classic with a similar theme, is further evidence of the universality of the concept.
Even more than the previous year's Mule Train which overdubbed the whip cracks from a sound effects department, "Cry of the Wild Goose" was a transcontinental production; the music track was recorded in New York while Laine's voice was later overdubbed in Hollywood. Multi-tracking was still an experimental procedure at this time, and was frowned upon by musicians and vocalists from the old school. Mitch Miller recognized the vast array of possibilities that this new process opened up, especially in terms of creating the desired aural landscape. Both he and Laine were pioneers in this field, which has since become commonplace in the music industry.
I'd first heard the song (or, rather, portions of it) from my mother who was fond of quoting it. I'd have to wait until I was in my teens to hear Frankie Laine's recording, when I found his Mercury album in Maryland. Laine recorded this several times over the course of his career, but never topped the original.
http://youtu.be/L48vcvo2mik
2) STARS & STRIPES FOREVER
One of the few flag-waving songs to come out during The Korean War years was Laine's updated version of John Phillip Sousa's beloved marching tune from 1897, "The Stars and Stripes Forever." His accompanist/musical director, Carl Fischer, had suggested doing a swing-time recording of it with a new set of lyrics by Bob Russell. "Folks told me it was blasphemy," Laine later said.4 But blasphemy or not, the song proved to be another hit for him, peaking at #20 on Billboard charts. And just for the record, the new lyrics represent a marked improvement over the original ones, which come across today as an archaic relic from an era long since passed. Russell's lyric includes such rousing lines as "When I see the Stars and the Stripes/Then my heart is a drum, wildly beating/So proud to be part of the dream/That is always on the march …" And, of course, when it comes to having a naturally stirring voice, nobody touches Frankie Laine.
http://youtu.be/ems33hYDt-w
3) MUSIC, MAESTRO, PLEASE
Another 1950 hit for Laine was "Music, Maestro, Please." Composed in 1938 by Herb Magidson, with lyrics by Allie Wrubel, it had been a hit for Tommy Dorsey featuring the talented Edythe Wright on vocal. Laine cut his version on the spur of the moment when he'd finished a recording session an hour early, and still had the studio at his disposal. He suggested they record this song, as it was one of his favorite old standards, and together with the band, worked up a bit of staged business as an introduction and exit to the lyric. In it, the singer enters a cocktail lounge, where the pianist (Carl Fischer) is playing some jazzy blues riffs. The singer greets the maître d', requests "a chaser, for my blues," then calls to the pianist as a means of gliding seamlessly into the song. The song is delivered in a slow, almost spoken manner. Laine sings only one chorus before bidding goodbye to the maître d' and exiting. After he leaves the atmosphere inside the lounge immediately returns to its former pace with the pianist picking up the jazzy riffs he'd left off playing when the singer had first walked in.
"Music, Maestro, Please" was one of the first pop records (if not the first) to be framed in such a dramatic fashion. The song peaked at number 13 on the charts.
http://youtu.be/wlfnIDSLma8
4) DREAM A LITTLE DREAM OF ME
Another classic from the 1930's gave Laine a number 18 hit. This one had been composed in 1931 by Fabian Andre and Wilbur Schwandt with lyrics by Gus Kahn. Dream A Little Dream Of Me had originally given hits to The Wayne King Orchestra (with Ernie Birchill on vocal) and Ozzie Nelson's Orchestra (with Nelson taking the vocal). Laine gives an inspired reading of the song, wherein he starts out taking the first chorus as a jazz-tinged, slightly old fashioned uptempo bounce before tearing loose on the second chorus, shouting the first half of each line in a wild, ragged, and joyous manner that prefigures much of what Johnnie would later do on his proto-rock 'n' roll masterpiece, "Cry."
Like most people of my generation, I first heard this song by The Mamas and Papas, whose lovely ballad version (as wonderful as it is) is almost unrecognizable as the song high-energy jazz riff Laine recorded. I've since acquired many versions of this classic by various artists -- so many that when I put together a CD of them, I was unable to fit them all. Of his two released versions, I prefer his 1958 remake with Michel Legrand's ork over the original with Geller and Fischer who come just a little short of matching Laine's unrestrained perf.
http://youtu.be/YQLDXaU_cFI
http://youtu.be/M-vJcfItpJY
5) NEVERTHELESS (I'M IN LOVE WITH YOU)
Laine's jazz-tinted take on this 1931 standard by Bert Kalmar (lyrics) and Harry Ruby (m) made it to number 11 on the charts. Laine gives his usual masterful reading, infusing just the right touch of drama where needed, but compared to many of the other stellar records in Laine's catalog, this one tends to get lost in the shuffle. The orchestra backing him isn't listed on the label, so I'll have to wait until I get home to add it.
http://youtu.be/7i0EZjk1LZk
6) IF I WERE A BELL
I'm not a big fan of this song from Frank Loesser's "Guys and Dolls," but Frankie Laine swings it in grand style and certainly makes it worth a listen. It was a minor hit by Laine standards, only making it to number 30.
http://youtu.be/1xSPvzvkUH4

Great series. I've been too busy lately to reply, or even to listen to all of the songs - still working my way through the 1949 hits - but at least everything is archived where I can come back to it later. When I do have time, I plan to make a series of replies to each post, as (over on narkive) the first video link in the new text is embedded, which makes it more tempting for someone new to check it out.

Michael Pendragon

2019-10-25 16:59:44 UTC

Permalink

Post by George J. Dance

Post by Michael Pendragon

No worries or hurries. This is going to be a somewhat lengthy project; I'm only halfway through 1950, which means I've still got over 50 years of Frankie Laine records to cover.

General Zod

2019-10-25 21:41:44 UTC

Permalink

Troll on, Pendragon..........

Z***@none.i2p

2019-10-25 17:34:23 UTC

Permalink

George J. Dance wrote on Fri, 25 October 2019 16:46

Post by George J. Dance
Great series. I've been too busy lately to reply, or even to listen to all of the songs - still working my way through the 1949 hits - but at least everything is archived where I can come back to it later. When I do have time, I plan to make a series of replies to each post, as (over on narkive) the first video link in the new text is embedded, which makes it more tempting for someone new to check it out.

Agreed, I have found some good reading here as well.....

Michael Pendragon

2019-10-25 18:09:56 UTC

Permalink

Post by Z***@none.i2p
George J. Dance wrote on Fri, 25 October 2019 16:46

Agreed, I have found some good reading here as well.....

Shut up, Todd.