FROM THE VAULTS

Red Nichols born 1908

2011-05-08T12:14:00.000-07:00

Ernest Loring "Red" Nichols (May 8, 1905 – June 28, 1965) was an American jazz cornettist, composer, and jazz bandleader. Over his long career, Nichols recorded in a wide variety of musical styles, and critic Steve Leggett describes him as "an expert cornet playerand a solid improviser".

Jazz Bandleader. Born in Ogden, Utah in 1905, at the age of four he was playing a cornet, but was also thoroughly schooled in violin and piano. By age 6 he was appearing at socials and in street parades. At age 12 he played dance music in his father’s dance band. In spite of his strict musical upbringing, he loved jazz, and left home at 17 for New York City. There a young Red Nichols was in demand for his keen ability to sight-read. He recorded for Thomas Edison, and formed a jazz band and signed with Brunswick as “Red Nichols and the Five Pennies”. In addition, he also recorded as “The Red Heads“, “The Charlston Chasers,” “The Louisiana Rhythm Kings“, and “The Arkansas Travelers“ for other labels.

In 1924 he played in the pit of a Broadway show, and 1925 saw him in one or more recording sessions daily. He was unquestionably the most-recorded musician of his time. In 1927 he recorded “Ida”, which became Brunswick’s first million-seller. In the late 1920's, his ensembles included musicians Joe Venuti, Adrian Rollini, Pee Wee Russell, Miff Mole, Jimmy Dorsey, Benny Goodman, Gene Krupa, Glenn Miller, and Artie Shaw. During 1928-1929, Red Nichols toured the West Coast, and in the early 1930's he led big bands, including the orchestra for Bob Hope’s radio shows.

Returning to small group jazz in the late 1930's, he traveled between the East and West coasts, but when his daughter became gravely-ill in the early forties, he and his wife Willa moved to San Leandro, California, where she lived with relatives while his band toured (his daughter eventually made a full recovery). He quit the music business and went to work in the shipyards during the war. Eventually he put the “Five Pennies” back togethera s a Dixieland sextet, regaining his popularity playing clubs, particularly after bass saxophonist Joe Rushton became a permanent member, it was one of the finer traditional jazz bands of the next 20 years.

Nichols recorded several memorable hot versions of "Battle Hymn of the Republic," the best being in 1959. That same year a highly enjoyable if rather fictional Hollywood movie called The Five Pennies (and featuring Nichols' cornet solos and Danny Kaye's acting) made Red into a national celebrity at the twilight of his long career. Nichols' earlier sessions have been reissued in piecemeal fashion during the digital era, with later albums remaining unavailable.

The film brought him new fame, and he toured Europe as an Ambassador of Goodwill for the United States State Department. The band recorded albums for Capitol Records, and played lucrative engagements.

In 1965 Nichols took his Five Pennies band to Las Vegas, to play at the then-new Mint Hotel. He was only a few days into the date when, on June 28, 1965, he was sleeping in his suite and was awakened by paralyzing chest pains. He managed to call the front desk and an ambulance was summoned, but it arrived too late. That night the band went on as scheduled, but at the center of the band a spotlight pointed down at an empty chair in Nichols’ customary spot. Red’s bright and shiny cornet sat alone on the chair. Around it swirled the “happy music” Nichols had loved all his life.

In spite of the controversy surrounding his work, Red Nichols was the most recorded and successful musician-bandleader in New York in the 1920s. He led enormously popular bands—featuring some of the most creative white jazz players of that time —under names, such as The Five Pennies, The Red Heads, and Miff Mole and His Little Molers. This voluminous output of recorded work—Red appeared on about 4,000 recordings in the 1920s—is recognized today as a major expansion and refinement of the harmonic and compositional possibilities in jazz.

The University of Oregon (Eugene), houses his personal papers; his private collection is in the Archives of Recorded Sound, University of Kansas, (Lawrence). (Info edited from mainly Wikipedia, All Music and bio by Verne Langdon)

01 - Margie (1959)
02 - Japanese Sandman (1958)
03 - Battle Hymn Of The Republic (1959)
04 - Lullaby In Ragtime (1959)
05 - Avalon (1958)
06 - Summertime (1961)
07 - Mississippi Mud (1958)
08 - When The Saints Go Marchin' In (1959)
09 - The Five Pennies (1959)
10 - Indiana (1959)
11 - The Birth Of The Blues (1961)
12 - Eccentric (1959)
13 - Shim-Me-Sha-Wabble (1959)
14 - Bill Bailey (1959)

Link: http://rapidshare.com/files/340412463/Red_Nichols___The_Five_Pennies_-_Masters_Of_Dixieland_Lp.rar

Desperately seeking Merry Macs record.

2010-07-07T10:53:00.000-07:00

For nearly a year now I have been searching for a 78 of The Merry Macs from 1942.
A side "Under a Strawberry Moon"
B side "Pass the Biscuits Mirandy"
If anyone can send me a mp3 of either or both songs It would make my year.

Brook Benton born 19th September 1931

2009-09-19T09:33:00.000-07:00

Brook Benton (19 September 1931 — 9 April 1988) was an American singer and songwriter most remembered for his mournful R&B ballad, "Rainy Night in Georgia."

Born Benjamin Franklin Peay in Camden, South Carolina in 1931, he became a gospel singer at a young age. While still a child he worked delivering milk in the morning and joined the Camden Jubilee Singers.

He enjoyed writing songs and in 1948, at age 17, journeyed to New York City to try to sell some of them. With his gospel singing background, it was not long before he drifted in and out of gospel groups such as Bill Langford's Spiritual Singers, the Langfordaires, the Golden Gate Quartet, and the Jerusalem Stars. Brook returned to South Carolina and drove a truck for a while while continuing his music career. He joined an R&B singing group, the Sandmen, and once again went north in search of a big break.

Brook found steady work making hundreds of demo records for such established singers as Nat "King" Cole, Clyde McPhatter, and Roy Hamilton. He co-wrote a number of songs with Clyde Otis. He first recorded under his own name for the Okeh label in 1953. Brook signed as a solo act with Epic and had his first minor hit with A Million Miles From Nowhere on Vik. He went on to Mercury along with Clyde Otis and arranger Belford Hendricks, and it was at Mercury that he would meet with his greatest success.

In 1959 he broke through with two hits, It's Just A Matter Of Time, and Endlessly. The former reached number 3 on the pop charts and the latter number 12, and those were the first of 23 top forty hits that Brook Benton would record, either as a solo or a duet, from 1959 to 1964.
Brook had a certain warmth in his voice that attracted a wide variety of listeners. He sang ballads that led to comparisons between Brook and such established performers as Frank Sinatra, Nat Cole, and Tony Bennett. He had another top ten hit with So Many Ways, then was teamed with another emerging Mercury star, Dinah Washington. In 1960 this duo put two songs in the top ten, Baby [You've Got What It Takes] and A Rockin' Good Way [To Mess Around And Fall In Love].

In the early 60's the hits that he recorded kept coming. These included a string of top ten pop hits such as Kiddio, The Boll Weevil Song, and Hotel Happiness. He was prolific in issuing records that sold, one of which was Shadrack. The Boll Weevil Song was Brook's only successful novelty song, and his highest charting song ever as it held the number two slot for three weeks in the summer of 1961.

His string of successful hits began to slow down somewhat in about 1963, although he still managed to reach the top forty with records such as I Got What I Wanted and Two Tickets To Paradise, and Going Going Gone in 1964 for Mercury. The arrival of the Beatles marked a change in taste by the record buying public. Brook began to go from label to label, recording for RCA, Reprise and Cotillion. He managed to come back with one more top ten song in 1970 on the Cotillion label, Rainy Night In Georgia, which had been written by Tony Jo White [who had a top ten hit of his own the previous year with Polk Salad Annie]. Brook Benton remained popular as a performer, particularly in Great Britain, into the 80's. He died in New York City in 1988 of complications from spinal meningitis. (info from Tom Simon)

Found this great album curtesy of Zenekucko blog. Link in comments

1. THERE GOES MY HEART - 3:29

2. CALL ME - 2:31
3. BABY (YOU'VE GOT WHAT IT TAKES) - 2:43
4. LOVE WALKED IN - 2:08
5. NOT ONE STEP BEHIND - 2:22
6. A ROCKIN' GOOD WAV (TO MESS AROUND AND FALL IN LOVE) - 2:25
7. SOMEONE TO BELIEVE IN - 2:36
8. THIS I PROMISE YOU - 2:36
9. I DO - 2:21
10. BECAUSE OF EVERYTHYNG - 2:25
11. AGAIN - 3:22
12. I BELIEVE - 3:21
I3. NOTHING IN THE WORLD - 3:14
14. WHILE WERE YOUNG - 2:23
I5. UNHUNG BACK - 2:25
16 WE HAVE LOVE - 2:24
17. EARLY EVERY MORNING - 2:IB
18. LOVE WALKED IN - 2:13
19. SOMEONE TO BELIEVE IN - 2:13

2008-05-05T07:33:00.000-07:00

Monica Lewis (born May 5, 1925) is an American singer and actress.

For nearly two decades throughout the 1940's and 50's Monica Lewis reigned as one of America's most popular songbirds, with a career that encompassed not only nightclubs and recordings, but also movies, theatres, radio and TV. An accomplished pop and jazz stylist, her blonde beauty graced magazine covers and her million dollar legs helped get U.S. troops through two of its greatest wars. She even enjoyed 14 years as the singing cartoon voice of the popular advertising character known as Chiquita Banana!

Having studied voice with her Mother since a toddler, Monica quit junior college at 17 to work as a radio vocalist and her rapid ascent to stardom began in the mid 1940's with her own show on New York radio station WMCA. Her nightclub debut at the legendary Stork Club led to appearances with Benny Goodman and a chance to alternate with Frank Sinatra on "The Chesterfield Show".

She signed with record labels such as Signature, Decca and Capitol. Her early recordings ranged from Gershwin, Kern and Coward favourites to such saucy items as "I'm Gonna Be a Bad Girl" which she co wrote and "Put The Blame on Mame". The musicians heard on these sessions included such greats as Billy Butterfield, Yank Lawson, Bob Haggart and Teddy Wilson. Her television appearances included Ed Sullivan’s very first broadcast in 1948 in its initial run as Toast of the Town. During the 50’s she accompanied Danny Kaye entertaining troops during a USO tour of South Korea.

Monica's success brought her a movie contract with MGM as their new "threat" to Lana Turner. She romanced Victor Mature in "Affair With a Stranger," and danced with Gower Champion in "Everything I Have Is Yours". She joined a roster of jazz stars including Louis Armstrong in "The Strip" from which we include her rare recording of "La Bota" and sang to the marines in Jack Webb's "The D.I." In 1957, at the height of her career, Monica temporarily gave it all up to become the wife of producer Jennings Lang but in the 1970's, she gradually began accepting occasional TV and movie offers, most notably in the blockbusters "Earthquake," "Airport '77" and "The Concorde Airport '79".

In 1987, she made a triumphant comeback as melodist at Hollywood’s Cinegrill.

01 - But Beautiful

02 - Isn't This A Lovely Day?

03 - You Don't Know What Love Is

04 - You Make Me Feel So Young

05 - You'd Better Go Now

06 - What'll I Do

07 - Do It Again

08 - But Not For Me

09 - Fools Rush In

10 - Am I Blue?

11 - I'd Do Anything For You

12 - People Will Say We're In Love

http://rapidshare.com/files/105988286/ML-ButBeautiful.rar

Above link from Singin' & Swingin' blogspot

Desperately seeking Dolores Ventura

2008-02-12T09:31:00.000-08:00

I have one old 78 of Dolores Ventura from the mid 50s. On researching this artist I came up with next to nothing and am none the wiser .Can anyone help?

Here's the info so far......

A TV and Disc Jamboree
Johnny StewartMaxine DanielsDon FoxDolores VenturaBobby LimbRon Scott
Maxine Daniels & Dolores Ventura

Johnny Stewart recorded for HMV in 1958. Maxine Daniels was a jazz and cabaret singer who recorded for Oriole. Don Foz made several singles for Decca including a version of Be My Girl. Dolores Ventura was recording for Parlophone in 1956. Bobby Limb is probably an Australian who later had his own tv show in Australia.

2007-12-16T08:29:00.000-08:00

Karl Denver (born Angus Murdo McKenzie, 16 December 1931, Springburn, Glasgow — died 21 December 1998,) was a Scottish singer, who during the early 1960s had a series of UK hit singles .He was a familiar figure on both radio and the concert stage, performing in what one reviewer called his 'eardrum piercing, multi-octave range'. Karl recorded 155 tracks commercially during a career spanning five decades, the majority of which were in his favoured music genre — ‘country

Denver was born Angus McKenzie in Glasgow. He left school at 15 to join the Norwegian merchant navy. In 1951 he enlisted in the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders and fought in the Korean war. Wounded, he practised guitar during his convalescence and developed a taste for country and folk music. After being discharged from the army he again went to sea. By this time he had set his sights on a career as a singer, and he jumped ship in the United States and made for Nashville, the centre of country and western music. Taking the stage name Karl Denver, he appeared on radio and television, and the prestigious Grand Ole Opry show, before the immigration department caught up with him and he was deported in 1959.

Back in Britain he settled in Manchester, where he teamed up with Gerry Cottrell and Kevin Neill to form the Karl Denver Trio. They toured the Northern clubs and appeared on Granada Television's Band Stand. In1961 the trio was 'discovered' by impresario Jack Good, who presented them on his television series Wham! and got them on to a national tour headed by Jess Conrad and Billy Fury.

Good also negotiated a record deal with Decca and acted as producer on the series of hit singles enjoyed by the group over the next three years. This was an interregnum in British pop; after rock 'n' roll and before the Beatles. During it Karl Denver found a niche. He appealed to the curious British penchant for yodelling cowboys exemplified in the1950s by Slim Whitman, whose signature tune Indian Love Call was part of the Denver stage act. Denver himself was hailed in the New Musical Express as 'an artist with a totally different and distinctive approach'.

Above photo taken in 1962 shows Peter Jay, Marty Wilde, Karl Denver and Billy Fury.

Denver's hits included a pre-1914 Victor Schertzinger song Marcheta, an equally antique French song, A Little Love A Little Kiss, the hillbilly tune Mexicali Rose and Wimoweh. Denver claimed to have discovered the song in South Africa during his days as a seaman but it had already been a hit in the hands of American folk group The Weavers, and The Tokens had re-recorded it with new lyrics as The Lion Sleeps Tonight. The Karl Denver Trio version displayed Denver's vocal gymnastics to full effect and its success propelled the group into the upper reaches of British show business. Denver's song "Never Goodbye" was an entry in A Song for Europe in 1962.
There were small hits for the Trio in 1964, but their music sounded decidedly old-fashioned compared with that of the Fab Four and the numerous beat groups who now dominated the pop scene. Although The Karl Denver Trio faded from the media limelight, they continued to perform in cabaret at home and overseas. There was a brief, unexpected return to the charts in 1989 when the eccentric Happy Mondays had them guesting on their track Lazyitis and on an updated recording of Wimoweh on the fashionable Factory label. This made no impact on the psyche of the acid house generation, however, and Denver returned to the cabaret circuit.

Karl Denver died of a brain tumor a few days after his 67th birthday at the end of 1998 although Karl had claimed that he was born during 1934- probably because he liked to appear younger than he really was.
(info mainly from Dave Laing, The Guardian, 1998)

first attempt

2007-10-17T02:37:00.000-07:00

My first blog entry for my Google blog.
I have an established one on Multiply, which is nearly up to it's second anniversary.
I post a daily celeb birthday bio, playlist and video. Mainly stars from the 30's 40's and 50's.