by Peter Cates

Listening to a pile of 78s

After listening to a pile of 78s that are both long forgotten and musically captivating, I wish I could write about each and every one of them, but, for reasons of time and space, can only pick a few; hopefully they can be heard via YouTube.

Ella Mae Morse

1. Capitol – #1922 – from the early ‘50s featured jazz/pop vocalist Ella Mae Morse performing Blacksmith Blues; and Love Me or Leave Me, the latter a 1920s hit for Ruth Etting and the title of a 1955 semi-fictionalized biopic with Doris Day portraying Miss Etting and co-stars James Cagney and Cameron Mitchell.

Morse was one of the several artists whom Johnny Mercer and Buddy De Sylva signed up in 1942 when they started Capitol Records and quickly earned a reputation for high quality music among collectors.

She sang with verve and had the pulsating arrangements of conductor Nelson Riddle who was kept busy at Capitol recording with Nat King Cole and Frank Sinatra.

2. Decca – #28736 – had the Mills Brothers utilizing their uniquely smooth harmonies on Don’t Let Me Dream; and Pretty Butterfly, with lyrics by Sunny Skylar set to the tune of Antonin Dvorak’s Humoresque (Skylar, who died at 95 in 2009, supplied the English lyrics for the 1940s Latin American pop classics Besame Mucho; and Amor.).

The disc was recorded in 1953 and had superb big band arrangements from Owen Bradley, who usually oversaw country singers in Nashville such as Red Foley, Ernest Tubb, Patsy Cline, Kitty Wells, Loretta Lynn, Conway Twitty and Brenda Lee.

Donald Novis

3. Decca – #1833 – recorded 1939, had British tenor Donald Novis (1906-1966) singing Charmaine; and Angela Mia in a style best described as an especially syrupy imitation of Irish tenor John McCormack without McCormack’s distinctive vocalism.

Novis was accompanied by organist Eddie Dunstedter (1897-1974). Despite misgivings about Novis’s singing, I did enjoy this blue label Decca 78, which retailed for 35 cents.

Charmaine later became more famous as an early ‘50s hit record for Mantovani and his Orchestra and the theme song for his syndicated early ‘60s TV show .

4. Victor – #27869 – recorded 1943, had the phenomenal Tommy Dorsey (1905-1956) and his Orchestra in two selections.

Tulullah Bankhead

Side One’s I’ll Take Tallulah was a topic of the day roll call of then-famous movie actresses, Tallulah Bankhead being the honoree, and was written by the songwriting team of Yip Harburg and Burton Lane for the MGM musical Ship Ahoy; in 1947, Harburg and Lane would write the Broadway musical masterpiece Finian’s Rainbow. Dorsey’s lead singers Frank Sinatra and the Pied Pipers did the vocals.

The second side, Not So Quiet Please, was, for me, the main attraction, and a very exciting instrumental showcase for Dorsey’s young drummer Buddy Rich by composer Sy Oliver.

Rich also had a bad temper and, for some strange reason, started badgering the already bad tempered Sinatra who responded by throwing a glass pitcher of ice water at the drummer, which missed him by less than an inch. Later the two kissed and made up, even sharing an apartment for a brief period.

Frank Munn

5. A late 1920s dime store label Supertone – #S2113 – had tenor Frank Munn (1894-1953) giving sublime renditions of two classic songs from the very old days of the 1890s to early 1900s – the especially exquisite Silver Threads Among the Gold; and When You and I Were Young, Maggie. Munn was listed as the pseudonymous Frank Whalen. His singing had the phrasing, delivery, conviction and eloquence, qualities that were lacking in the previously mentioned tenor Donald Novis.

6. Victrola Red Seal – #87571– acoustically recorded in April 1920, on a one-sided ten-inch shellac, had the great Irish tenor John McCormack (1884-1945) and violinist Fritz Kreisler (1875-1962) collaborating in a very powerful song, When Night Descends, by composer Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873-1943). A quite exceptional disc from more than 100 years ago.

by Peter Cates

Gershwin & Ravel

George Gershwin

Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue – Adolph Drescher, pianist; C.A. Bunte conducting the Pro Musica Symphony Orchestra.

Ravel: Bolero – Samo Hubad conducting the Radio Symphony Orchestra.

Sony Music Special Products BT 22444, cassette, 1991.

The late 1980s tearing down of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the Soviet Union and its Iron Curtain precipitated, among other benefits, a flood of available classical recordings from very talented artists such as, to name a few examples, pianist Dubrovka Tomsic and conductors Anton Nanut, Marko Munih, Heinz Rogner etcs. Often the companies of inexpensive releases used pseudonyms but Google has proved useful for spotting them.

Maurice Ravel

The names on this cassette release however were real people. Pianist Adolph Drescher (1921-1967) collaborated with Maestro C.A. Bunte (1927-2016) in a very good Rhapsody in Blue, arguably the most frequently recorded piece of George Gershwin (1898-1937) while Samo Hubad (1917-2016) conducted Bolero, a piece that remains, for many the most popular; and for many others the most disliked piece that Maurice Ravel (1874-1937) ever composed. Hubad achieved a strikingly good performance.

I have read that Ravel himself was quite pleased with what he achieved with the piece as a tour de force.

The 1991 release date may be a reissue of 1960s tapings since pianist Drescher died in 1967.

Herbert Kegel

Mahler Symphony #3 – Herbert Kegel conducting the Dresden Philharmonic; Weitblick SSS0029, two CDs. Recorded March 25, 1984.

The late East German Maestro Herbert Kegel conducted a phenomenally exciting and eloquently shaped performance of Gustav Mahler’s longest, sprawling Symphony and one I also consider a masterpiece, having collected over 40 different recordings. Kegel was very gifted whether conducting Beethoven, Mahler, Carl Orff, Alban Berg or Dimitri Shostakovich.

He also struggled most of his life with depression and committed suicide during the early 1990s.

Leroy Vandyke

Leroy Vandyke – Auctioneer; and I Fell in Love with a Pony Tail; Dot 45-15503, seven inch vinyl 45, recorded 1956.

Still living at 95, country singer Leroy Vandyke recorded two very hokey and, despite hokey, quite enjoyable songs, Auctioneer being hugely popular.

All Star Trio

All Star Trio and their Orchestra – Hortense, Medley Fox Trot; and Never Mind, Fox Trot; Victor 18863, recorded 1922, ten inch acoustic shellac.

Three very gifted musician, including a xylophonist, and their backup orchestra played two very perky and enlivening dance tunes . An intriguing example of roaring ‘20s dance music from 103 years ago.

The 1920s and ’30s generated a rich recorded legacy of dance bands which, in turn, provided employment for numerous giants of the World War II big band era, such as Benny Goodman, the Dorsey Brothers, Glenn Miller, etc.

by Peter Cates

Former New York Gov. Thomas Dewey

Thomas Dewey

Former New York Governor Thomas Dewey (1902-1971) has been pretty much tossed in the dumpster of 20th century ancient American history, except for brief mentions as the Re­pub­lican opponent of FDR – Franklin Delano Roosevelt – in 1944 and of Harry S Truman, in 1948, (the photo of smiling Harry holding the New York Times cover story, Dewey Beats Truman, when that News that’s Fit to Print institution called the race a bit too early, has reappeared zillions of times in history books as a quite telling example of “losers” getting the last laugh).

To Dewey’s credit, his work as a prosecutor during the 1930s smashed the Murder Incorporated crime syndicate and sent its leader Lepke Buchalter to the electric chair in 1944.

Dutch Schultz attempted to murder Dewey in 1935, despite orders not to from the mob leadership, which resulted in his own death soon after by a hit man while using the restroom in a Newark, New Jersey, bar .

Lucky Luciano was successfully prosecuted by Dewey for his prostitution rackets, later commenting how much he detested Dewey for “making him a gangster in the public’s eye.”

As a presidential candidate, Dewey campaigned on a carefully blended mix of “pay as you go liberalism and compassionate liberalism. ” During the 1950s, Dewey exerted powerful influence in the Republican party and his backing of Eisenhower helped much in the 1953 White House victory.

A quite interesting 1975 book, The Best Years 1945-1950, has a chapter, “The GOP: Dewey, Again, ” in which author Joseph C. Goulden casts a not so favorable light on his insufferable arrogance. Dewey divided people into two groups – those “who could help him politically; and the press, servants and lesser public.”

Goulden writes one paragraph that conveys just how despicable Dewey could be:

“Warren Moscow, a political writer for the New York Times who knew Dewey well, said of him, ‘Mr. Dewey is a strange character – or perhaps I might say, he’s a strange lack of character. ‘ According to Moscow, soon after Dewey became governor he received a report about an outbreak of amoebic dysentery at a state mental hospital. One patient had already died. A legislative leader asked Dewey privately what he intended to do. Dewey replied, ‘Oh, we’ll let it slide a bit, let it coast for a little while, and then we’ll make a bigger splurge when we clean it up.’ Seven deaths later Dewey acted, depicting the hospital situation as ‘typical of twenty years of dry rot and incompetence’ of preceding Democratic administrations. ‘In my opinion,’ Moscow said, ‘it boils down to seven people dying so that Mr. Dewey could get his name in bigger headlines.’ “

My first awareness of Thomas Dewey came via a 1960 Look magazine with a photo gallery on its front cover of six famous political leaders – FDR, Truman, Eisenhower, Nelson Rockefeller, then-Massachusetts Senator John Fitzgerald Kennedy and Dewey with his own beaming smile and little black mustache.

Marguerite Matzenauer
Pasquale Amato

M. Metzenauer

Donizetti: La Favorita – “Ah! L’alto armor (Oh, Love)”; Pasquale Amato, baritone, and Marguerite Matz­enauer, soprano; Victrola Red Seal 89062, one-sided 12-inch acoustic shellac disc, recorded 1912.

Soprano Matzenauer (1881-1963) was a native of Timisoara, Romania, and sung in a number of Italian and German operas at the Met during the World War I years. She also had a phenomenal memory and learned the very demanding role of Kundry for a production of Wagner’s opera Parsifal on short notice.

Italian baritone Amato (1878-1942) appeared at Milan’s La Scala in 1907 in several successful productions conducted by Arturo Toscanini and followed the Maestro to the Met when the latter became Music Director in 1908, Amato remaining there until 1921. During the mid-’30s, he landed a job teaching voice at Louisiana State University.

Both singers left a sizable number of recordings. Their 1912 collaboration in a love duet from Donizetti’s richly melodic opera La Favorita, despite the acoustic sound, is one very exquisite example of blended vocalism with each doing solo turns. This performance can be heard via YouTube and, for connoisseurs of fine operatic singing, is most highly recommended.

John Capodice

John Capodice

During season 8 of the series CSI, accessible without commercials on Hulu, character actor John Capodice (1941-2024) did a skilled performance in a recurring role as a Las Vegas mobster Gedda who has several police officers, prosecutors and judges on his payroll. Just the manner in which Gedda eyeballs different individuals with undesirable attention is something to watch.

.

by Peter Cates

Al Jolson

Al Jolson – Tell That To The Marines (recorded September 10, 1918); Arthur Fields – You Can’t Beat Us (If It Takes Ten Million More, recorded September 19, 1918). Columbia A2657, ten-inch acoustic shellac disc.

Al Jolson

Born in Lithuania to a Jewish family, Asa Yoelson (1886-1950), better known as Al Jolson, was a singer who had extraordinary stage presence, vocal power and delivery, and would become extremely successful through stage, film, radio, records and touring.

His mid-’40s Decca 78s were my first exposure to him back during the early ‘60s, in particular his feisty renditions of George and Ira Gershwin’s classic song Swanee River, and Back In Your Own Backyard.

I also have memories of Jolson’s appearance in a 1939 biopic of songwriter Stephen Foster, also titled Swanee River, with Don Ameche.

Jolson starred in the 1927 film, Jazz Singer, which was the first talkie. His frequent appearances in blackface ironically generated respect from African-Americans, a controversy that will not be addressed here.

Tell That To The Marines was also written by Jolson and it is a very enjoyable example of World War I patriotic music, similar to George M. Cohan’s classic Over There.

After a grueling series of concerts entertaining troops overseas fighting in the Korean War, Al Jolson died of a massive heart attack while playing cards with friends at his New York City hotel suite. He was 64.

Side 2’s You Can’t Beat Us is also a stirring WWI ditty. Born Abraham Finkelstein in Philadelphia, baritone Arthur Fields (1884-1953) started recording in 1914 and was the first white singer to perform with an African-American band when he was hired ragtime pianist Ford Dabney.

After a generally successful career, Fields suffered a stroke in early 1953 and was living in a Florida nursing home, in Largo, Florida, where a fire broke out and he and several others perished.

Both selections are available on YouTube.

Christmas Music

Christmas Organ and Chimes – Merlin; Grand Prix KX-4, 12-inch LP, recorded circa 1960.

Usually a little bit of Christmas music on the pop organ and chimes goes a long way. This particular LP from well over 60 years ago and from one of the 87-cent dimestore labels has musicianship, character and intelligence, O Holy Night, Joy To The World and Come All Ye Faithful being given a nicely arranged exquisite treatment.

Information on the very good organist Merlin seems to be non-existent.

Joanna Cassidy

Joanna Cassidy

Still living at 79, actress Joanna Cassidy did good work in a recurring role as Mena Pride, mother of the lead investigator Dewayne Pride between 2019 and 2021, who is suffering from dementia. The range of detail Cassidy brought to her role, including ladylike poise, elegance, dignity, distress, anger and despair was one powerful example of how to craft a performance on film.

Maine Speaks

The anthology Maine Speaks has a poem, Aye! No Monuments, by Rita Joe (1932-2007) who was designated Poet Laureate of the native American Micmacs, who have over 1,500 members residing in Aroostook County (Miss Joe lived most of her life in Nova Scotia.).

It celebrates the wondrous majesty of the Maine and Eastern Canada landscape where so many of her ancestors lived and worked:

“Aye! no Monuments,
No literature,
No scrolls or canvas-drawn pictures
Relate the wonders of our yesterday.

How frustrated the searching
of the educators.

Let them find
Land names,
Titles of seas,
Rivers;
Wipe them not from memory.
These are our monuments.

Breathtaking views-
Waterfalls on a mountain,
Fast flowing rivers.
These are our sketches
Committed to our memory.
Scholars, you will find our art
In names and scenery,
Betrothed to the Indian
since time began.”

by Peter Cates

Fred Gaisberg

Fred Gaisberg

For collectors of the early shellac 78s, the 1999 biography, Sound Revolutions by Jerrold Northrop Moore is a fascinating biography of recording pioneer Fred Gaisberg (1873-1951) who, from 1894 when he landed employment at the Berliner Gramophone Company (later to become EMI) to his retirement in 1939, would develop a massive catalog of recordings of many of the world’s finest musicians and singers- Caruso, Chaliapin, Heifetz, Rubinstein, Paderewski, Kreisler etcs.

Prior to the 1930s, the artists were mainly recording short selections – operatic arias, piano and violin pieces and single movements from Symphonies and String Quartets.

Then Gaisberg started seeing the potential for complete Symphonies, Concertos, Sonatas if the right artists were matched to the repertoire and the financing provided through advance subscription from interested collectors.

Two notable projects were the Beethoven Society complete Sonatas and Concertos recorded by pianist Artur Schnabel and the Sibelius Society sets of all seven Symphonies of the Finnish composer.

In 1930, Bruno Walter (1876-1962) recommended that Sir Malcolm Sargent (1894-1967) engage Schnabel for a series of concerts in London. Prior to that, Schnabel was known mainly as a highly respected teacher at a Berlin Music School.

The pianist achieved success immediately and acquired a huge following as an interpreter of Beethoven’s 32 Sonatas and five Concertos.

A large number of Schnabel 78s and LP reissues here at the house reveal a pianist who played those Beethoven works like no other pianist, no matter how gifted otherwise. The sense of spirited freedom, rollicking rhythm, rapid playful tempos and an uncanny ability to gauge the emotions behind the notes could be heard in the Emperor Concerto’s first movement where Schnabel’s fingers were dancing on the keyboard.

Gaisberg wrote about his initial encounters with the pianist:

“It was given out that Schnabel would never stoop to recording as he considered it impossible for a mere machine to reproduce the dynamics of his playing faithfully. Therefore, when I interviewed him he was coy, but all the same prepared to put his theory to the test, though he would need a lot of convincing. At long last I was able to overcome all his prejudice. Tempted by a nice fat guarantee, he eventually agreed that it was possible to his ideals with machinery.”

Bruno Walter

The biography is loaded with other anecdotes. The inventor of the flat disc and owner of the Berliner Gramophone Company, Emile Berliner (1851-1929) was recorded around 1894 reciting the Lord’s Prayer and Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star in, as described by Gaisberg, “in his typically broken guttural English!”

Just before the Nazi takeovers of Czechoslovakia and Austria, Gaisberg produced two legendary recordings:

In April 1937, he was in Prague to record the Dvorak Cello Concerto with Pablo Casals (1876-1973) and George Szell (1897-1970) directing the Czech Philharmonic.

January 1938, had Gaisberg in Vienna to record a live concert featuring Bruno Walter conducting the Vienna Philharmonic in Mahler’s 9th Symphony.

A retirement banquet for Gaisberg at London’s Savoy Hotel on April 21, 1939, had an honor roll of almost 70 guests from the musical world including most of the ones listed above. He lived long enough to see the first releases of the LP in 1948 and of the 45 rpm in 1949.

Fred Gaisberg died in his sleep on September 2, 1951.