Oh, how I wish this show were complete! I think this is my favorite music program yet. Stan Kenton and his orchestra, live at the Palladium in Hollywood for their last show there after what was apparently a long run. Stan mentions that they’re making way for Gene Krupa’s band. In my searching, I couldn’t find a date for either Kenton’s last show or Krupa’s first show at the Palladium, but Christmas is mentioned in the program. He also mentions that it’s Sunday. This is on the reverse of my Christmas 1945 disc. So that narrows it down, but I still don’t know which Sunday of December 1945 this was recorded.
The recording starts mid-song. When it ends, June Christy is introduced and sings “A-sittin’ and a-rockin’.” Next up is “Never Too Late to Pray,” sung by Gene Howard. The final number is a version of Kenton’s theme song, “Artistry in Rhythm.” He describes it, “the melody of our theme song, beat up into a real fast, rather exciting arrangement… we hope it gets that way this evening.” It features Eddie Safranski on bass, Vido Musso on tenor sax, Buddy Childers on trumpet, and Rob Collier on drums.
If you saw my post from Christmas 1945, you might remember that the record is broken, cracked all the way through from edge to center. I’m really happy that I was able to get this side recorded as well as the Christmas side. It took quite a bit of work, including my husband using his specialty tools at his studio to clean up the pops from the crack, but it came out pretty well. The end of the program drops out as Kenton is talking.
Here’s another episode of “Music from the House of Squibb,” this one from February 25, 1944. The first half of the program is pretty good, but the second half has a lot of clicks and pops due to condition issues. I recorded it using a new stylus, hoping that it would track better through the rough spots. I think it did well until the point where the record is pretty much falling apart. I pieced it back together digitally as best I could.
The show is all movie music. Vera Brodsky is the guest singer. There’s also a male soloist, but I didn’t ever hear his name mentioned. I don’t know if maybe the very beginning of the show was missing, but what you hear is all that’s on my record. Mike Harron informs me that the NY Times listed Harrison Knox as the scheduled guest for this date, so it may be him (thanks, Mike).
The songs are “Suddenly it’s Spring” from Lady in the Dark, “I’ll Get By” from A Guy Named Joe, “Long Ago” from Cover Girl, and “The Piccolino” from Top Hat.
This is another episode of “Sing Along with the Landt Trio” of Karl, Jack and Dan. This program has a little extra interest to it: it’s Army Day! I knew about Armed Forces Day, but I’d never heard of Army Day. Google to the rescue!
“Army Day was established as a nationwide observance to draw public attention to national defense and to acquaint the public with Army activities.” Army Day had a rough beginning, but its official observance on April 6 began in 1929 to mark the day the U.S. entered World War I. 1949 was the last year that Army Day was recognized or celebrated. For more information, you can visit the Department of Defense page about it.
This program of Sing Along begins with popular songs of the day: “Don’t Sweetheart Me,” “I’ll Always be in Love with You,” and “I Couldn’t Sleep a Wink Last Night.” It concludes with two songs in honor of Army Day: “One Little WAC” and “What do they do in the Infantry?”
I have a new computer and a new phono preamp. My 33rpm motor is just about dead, so I’m primarily using the 78 motor and digitally correcting the speed. It’s not ideal, but it’s all I can do.
Here’s a quickie I could get off today. This is a program called “Buffalo Presents Portraits in Music,” from WKBW. It features David Cheskin and his orchestra, along with The Four Cheers and Jan Martell. Songs include, “Don’t Worry, Mom,” “Little Did I Know,” and “I Want to be Happy,” along with others.
Here we have another of what must have been one of my grandpa’s favorite programs, “To Your Good Health from the House of Squibb.” This originally aired on May 31, 1944. As always, we have Lyn Murray directing the Squibb Orchestra and Chorus of Stars. The guest soloist is Hubie Hendrie.
The playlist includes “Blow, Gabriel, Blow,” “Lamp of Memory,” “Shadrach,” and “Amour.”
This CBS program, hosted by Franklyn McCormick, takes letters from listeners requesting songs and sends a bouquet to those whose letters are used on the air. One selected letter-writer who is also having an anniversary receives a “golden gift” of “beautifully matched rings in 14 karat gold.” Caesar Patrillo, Louise King and Billy Leach sing. The orchestra isn’t credited.
The songs performed are “Lady Be Good,” “Stormy Weather,” “That’s an Irish Lullaby,” “Home on the Range,” and “Little Gray Home in the West.”
Here’s another case where I have a record labeled 2 of 2, and I don’t have number 1.
From what I could find, it seems that Invitation to Music was a popular CBS program that played relatively new works by current composers. I wish I had more episodes of this program but it looks like this is all I have.
This show features Mona Paulee and the Columbia Concert Orchestra. The main piece is “Ne Me Refuse Pas” from Massanet’s Herodiade.
This is Frankie Carle and his Orchestra, with special guest Betty Bonney. The program was broadcast from The Cafe Rouge at the Hotel Pennsylvania in New York. Unfortunately it’s incomplete; the record is marked 2 of 2, and I don’t have the first one.
This record was exceptionally noisy. I did the best I could to reduce the noise but the audio is still not great. But with a well-played, 66-year-old record, what can you do?
The songs included are “People will say we’re in love,” “Oh what a beautiful morning,” “Falling Leaves,” “I’ve had this feeling before,” and “Show me the way to go home.”
I’m back! Hopefully my computer will continue to work for a while now.
This program is, I think, the day that Squibb changed the name of its show from “To Your Good Health from the House of Squibb” to “Music from the House of Squibb.” What’s interesting, though, is that the record label still says “To Your Good Health,” like maybe the affiliates didn’t know about the name change. It’s also the day after D-Day! The programming was obviously changed to reflect what was going on in the world, as this is a whole show of patriotic tunes.
As always, the Squibb Orchestra and Chorus of Stars is directed by Lyn Murray. Hubie Hendrie is the guest soloist. The songs performed are “When Johnny Comes Marching Home,” “The Cassions Go Rolling Along,” “The Army Air Corps Song,” “The Pledge of Allegience,” and “The House I Live In.”
A couple of times in the recording you’ll hear a series of beeps. Those are on the original record, not a digital problem. I’m guessing maybe they’re some kind of alert signal for news updates, or something along those lines. I’m sure somebody will be able to tell me exactly what they are!
This side of the record doesn’t have a date on it, but the reverse is 5/19/47. I assume this is from somewhere around the same date. I’ll post a picture of the label later.
Jean Sablon was a French singer who was compared to Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra and other big names of the time. I think he had a weekly show on CBS. Apparently my grandpa really liked him, as I have several of his programs and they’re all in pretty bad shape.
This program, which is sponsored by DuBarry, includes “It’s Almost Like Being in Love” (“from the new Broadway musical Brigadoon”), “Rio De Janerio,” “Accordion” (in French), and “Don’t Take Your Love from Me.” There are also a couple of commercials for DuBarry face powders and creams.
As always, here is the link to the relevant page on my bandcamp site.
