The Music and Artistes of Not So Long Ago
These pages were inspired by the alarming and rapid decline in the available sources of music which was popular during the first sixty years or so of the twentieth century, and also as a place to pay homage to those who continue to represent the genre today, whether musician, agent, dealer or just plain enthusiast.
It will be an eclectic mix from an eclectic collector, presenter and budding writer which I nevertheless hope will delight, inform and entertain all who choose to visit these pages.
The words contained herein are of my own creation and any opinions expressed should, likewise, be interpreted as mine, and mine alone. Rest assured they will be joyful, enthusiastic, informative (I hope), and inevitably, somewhat nostalgic throughout.
Where to begin? Defining the scope of my intended writings perhaps? Broadly speaking, anything that encompasses the so called eras of Ragtime, 'Standards,' The Jazz Age, The Big Band Era, The Singers of the Post Big Band Era, Rock n' Roll and The Sixties. Anything - any music, any writing, any movie, any current entertainer in these genres, I will try and reach out to and include sooner, later and everywhere in between. That should give me a fair scope and my own ready made charter of discovery to keep me occupied for as long as I am able to type the requisite words for you the reader to peruse.
To begin, here's an article I created about the 'Standards Era' of popular song. I hope you enjoy it.
Drew
THE STANDARDS ERA
Mention the word ‘Standards’ to anyone in a casual conversation about the music of the 1950’s and 1960’s, and the chances are, if anyone comes into mind, it will be Frank Sinatra. If the participants in that discussion are pressed to think more widely, it’s possible the additional names of Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Junior may come to mind; such is the fame, fortune and occasional notoriety that preceded 3/5 of the group of men who became known to an adoring public, and an even more adoring Royalty, as The Rat Pack.
Almost 40 years after the original members of The Rat Pack last performed together, and more than a generation since Francis Albert Sinatra first tickled our musical ears with his Songs for Swinging Lovers album, memories of the great pop icons of that era are fading – Frank and an increasingly small number of his contemporaries excepted. After all, any teen that might have swooned over the first airing of that still famous concept album, will most likely be drawing social security. Even great musical memories are not immune to the inevitable passage of time.
If the audience in that casual conversation are under the age of 40, any attempt to broaden the discussion further by interjecting additional names of singers of the period such as June Christy, Johnny Desmond, Dick Haymes , Johnny Hartman or Helen O’Connell, to name but five of hundreds, may well elicit the response, “Dick who??”
As one of those “exceptions that prove the rule,’ my interest in this and other music has prompted me to research, as well as to enjoy, the music of that wonderful era. Moreover, I can only admit that I had a blast by incorporating a few elements of the music into my other writings.
In an article of this length I can only scratch the surface of these musical treasures; nevertheless, I would like to try and convey a picture of some of the best and most memorable aspects of the music of the period. What follows is, most definitely, a personal view, interspersed with some factual information.
To understand what is meant by a song ‘Standard’ one must first reference that group of compositions known generally as The Great American Songbook. Between the early years of the 20th Century and the late 1950’s, a number of talented popular songwriters peddled their wares to a music- hungry public.
Many of these names have passed into legend with their ability to write, either individually or with a partner (the ‘words’ and the ‘music’) songs of amazing dexterity, sophistication and melodiousness. Moreover, these songs were written in such a way as to allow considerable flexibility of interpretation; many are 32 bar arrangements.
It is impossible not to namedrop. Irving Berlin, Cole Porter, Duke Ellington, George and Ira Gershwin, Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart, Jerome Kern, Johnny Mercer, Harold Arlen, Hoagy Carmichael. These and others have passed into legend. Originally many of the songs were written for the theatre; later to accompany, or be an integral part of, movie sound tracks – both original material and earlier witings transposed from the stage onto film.
It is a fascinating exercise in its own right to listen to some of these songs, first in their original context, and then as they evolved in the hands of one or more equally talented arrangers, to the ‘standard’ we may best recall today. For example, if you have both the time and inclination, search out the original 1911 version of Alexander’s Ragtime Band (Irving Berlin), and compare those syncopated ragtime rhythms with the swing era version arranged for the Glenn Miller Army Air Force Band by Jerry Gray (1943), and finally, the ‘standard’ song version so exquisitely orchestrated for Ella Fitzgerald by Paul Weston in 1958 for her Irving Berlin Songbook album. If you want to take that comparison a step further, there are two movies that contained the song. A dual performance by Alice Faye and Ethel Merman in the movie Alexander’s Ragtime Band (1938) and a multi-faceted production number version in There’s No Business Like Show Business (1955). There are of course other examples of the song, as well as many similar examples of this kind of musical recycling that often spanned across several decades.
Such is the durability, adaptability and sheer staying power of a song standard.
When one examines the singers who interpreted the songs, one discovers generations of performers influenced by a variety of factors including the evolution of the music itself, the setting in which it was performed and increasingly, the technology available to enable the performance.
In the final years of the 19th Century and first 20 years or so of the 20th, performers of songs were entirely reliant on the acoustics of the venue, good or bad, and their own lung power; there being no microphones at that time to enhance and project the voice by electronic means. This is the era in which the great stage performers flourished, such as Al Jolson and George Jessel.
Then, as the electric microphone became established in the 1920’s, it enabled a far more intimate style of interpretation and contact with the audience by the performing artist. The era of the Crooner was born. The man who mastered this technology more than anyone else, creating a career longevity and more charted records than any other performer before or since, was of course, Bing Crosby. For a time he too had his rivals; Russ Columbo, Rudy Vallee, Skinnay Ennis and Dick Powell are a few of the names that made it into the big league.
Eventually, as the century progressed, these early masters of microphone technique were themselves surpassed (except for Crosby) by the next generation of crooners. Partly through evolution of style and technology, and partly through world events ( a war), these ‘second generation crooners’ created the first stirrings of listener adulation as fans craved the attention of their idols – storming the stage, screaming non stop and refusing to leave at the end of the performance. It was behavior that would be reminiscent of ‘Beatlemania’ a generation later and a continuation of what began with The Big Bands.
Many, but not all of these 1940’s singers started their careers with those Swing Era bands, some with their own smaller jazz-oriented groups, and a few as solo performers. It is these individuals, along with the aforementioned arrangers, that took the standard to a new level of interpretation, jazz tinged, accompanied by lush orchestrations, and often presented in chic places. It was an intelligent, witty, sophisticated and enormously entertaining presentation for an equally sophisticated clientele. A music that catered to the relatively affluent post world war two population of men and women who craved quality entertainment. All backed by those wonderful arrangements by, amongst others, Nelson Riddle, Billy May, Paul Weston, and Duke Ellington.
What of the singers themselves? As already mentioned, there are hundreds of names that one could draw on. While it’s true to say that some of these made it to mega star status, it seems unfair to single out any one group of names, but I will try to convey some highlights. If I miss your particular favorite, send me an email and I will update the list!
I have already mentioned a few of the giants; Sinatra of course, Nat King Cole, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Junior, Bing Crosby, Perry Como, Doris Day, Mel Torme, Rosemary Clooney, Keely Smith and Jo Stafford are some good examples from those who enjoyed exceptionally long careers. Of these, only Smith is still an active performer; Day is living but retired from singing a number of years ago. The rest are gone and live on only in their recordings and the memories of fans.
In the league of those once great but whose career was less expansive, I could include Eddie Fisher, June Christy, Polly Bergen, Anita O’Day, Dick Haymes, Denny Dennis, Michael Holliday, Denis Lotis, Mindy Carson, Ethel Ennis, Billie Holliday, June Hutton, Margaret Whiting, Toni Arden and Jerry Vale. I know I’ve missed a lot from such a brief listing.
Sadly, many of these are gone too, although a few continue to delight audiences with increasingly rare appearances. I hope I have given you enough of a reference point to be inspired to go and seek out their albums, or catch one of those rare performances. (Believe me, it’s worth it!)
On the evening of January 18th 1956, a shock wave rippled across a slice of middle class America; the slice with television sets.
On that evening, Tommy Dorsey, one time doyen of a very different musical period come to be known as The Swing Era, was master of ceremonies on a TV variety program devised by the entertainer Jackie Gleason called Stage Show . Dorsey introduced for the first time on National Television, in the second guest spot, a raw, young ‘hillbilly’ singer named Elvis Aaron Presley. (This preceded the young entertainer’s appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show by some weeks.)
While ‘TD’s’ band played the most spirited accompaniment it could muster. Elvis sang Shake, Rattle and Roll and Flip, Flop and Fly, two Joe Turner numbers. The cameras caught his every move as he gyrated his hips, shook his whole body, and danced around the confined spaces of the TV stage.
The result was a sensation as Elvis stopped the show, and the theatre switchboards were jammed with callers reflecting the enormous span of emotion that had been precipitated.
There were vociferous complaints from Middle America about the outrageous behavior of the singer, and the apparent loss of judgment by Dorsey in allowing a performance of this nature on his relatively conservative program.
There was equal adulation from teens already beginning to swoon and scream over a talent that, quite simply, struck exactly the right chord, at the right moment, with the new Youth. Even today, watching videotapes of that show and the subsequent five ‘Stage Shows’ on which Presley appeared, it is impossible to escape the culture clash, the sheer polarity of the musical styles of those present. At the same time, the sheer excitement of something completely new is also evident. It served to give a mighty shove off to stage left, the relatively respectable and clean-cut stars of the standards era. Popular music was about to head off in a whole new direction, quickly accompanied by its own entourage of contemporaries; Bill Haley, Little Richard, The Platters, Elvis. A new cast of hundreds to help usher in the Rock n’ Roll and R&B eras of song and music, riding on the back of the tag of respectability that an appearance by Elvis on the Tommy Dorsey show afforded them.
A few weeks later Elvis’ introduction to the Nation became official when he appeared on the Ed Sullivan show for the first time.
What is not too surprising for anyone in the know musically, is that Elvis should first have been thrust into the limelight on a show of such innate respectability as one hosted by Tommy Dorsey. Not only was Dorsey an exceptional musician whose tone and phrasing on the trombone has rarely, if ever, been equaled, he was also a talent spotter extraordinaire. There again, as the man who plucked Frank Sinatra from the relative obscurity of the 1939 Harry James Orchestra, nurtured him, taught him how to breathe when singing, and so provided the base from which Sinatra was able to catapult himself to his first round of musical fame – well, it really shouldn’t be too surprising. However, as has oft been said, that of course, is another story.
DREW SAVAGE, 2007
Drew Savage is a vintage music enthusiast of almost forty years standing. He counts himself very fortunate to have been a guest presenter for the BBC and has also presented 'live' music and movie recitals on the big bands, dance bands and show music to enthusiastic audiences. He presently resides in Carlsbad, California.
See Drew's other articles at:
Bring out those old records,those old phonograph records
Dont Knock The Rock - Its British!
References
1. Tommy Dorsey: Livin’ In A Great Big Way. Peter Levinson, Da Capo Press (2005)
2. Al Jolson. Michael Freedland, Abacus Books (1975)
3. The Hollywood Musical. Clive Hirschorn, Octopus Books (1981)
4. The American Songbook. Ken Bloom, Black Dog and Leventhal (2005)
5. Showtunes. Steven Suskin, Oxford University Press (2000)
6. Numerous record album sleeve notes.
Let me know what you think about this article. Email me at drew5555@gmail.com You can also ask me questions about the singers of the Standards era and I’ll do my best to answer you or point you to a source that might know the answer in the event that I don’t.