Variety (June 1954)

Jocks, Jukes and Disks .By HERM ECHOENFELJ Stan Freberg: “Point Of Order" “Person to Pearson" (Capitol). The current Army-McCarthy hear- ings may not result in any conclu- sions. but it's been a boon for comics and now is the takeoff point for a sock disk by Stan Freberg, the “Dragnet" parodist. If “Point of Order” doesn't hit, it'll only be because it strikes a more sensitive political nerve which the jockeys may want to steer clear of. In any case, Freberg has come up with a pointed, sometimes hilarious satire of the D. C. hearings and, in par- ticular, of the junior senator from Wisconsin. If the country can still laugh about it, the U. S. is in good shape and Freberg’s inquisition of a stray sheep in a ^shearing,” rather than a hearing, helps re- store the balance. The reverse, a takeoff on Ed Murrow’s CBS-TVer, “Person-To-Person,”, is disappoint- ingly off baste, especially in view Count Basie’s to stft Up some ex- citement. This is probably the best big band now around 1 and these sides are typical specimens of its work. “Blues" is a restrained swing piece, with Basie’s keyboard in the forefront. “Peace Pipe" is a driving number in which every sectftm hits with perfect precision. Georgia Shaw: “Somebody Else’s Love Song"-“Wonderful” (Decca). “Love Song" is another tale of doublecrossing friends with a cou- ple of variations. Its a good tune and Georgie Shaw gives it a com- mercial ride with some neat sup- port from a choral ensemble. Singer does another snappy job on the flip ballad, a. catching folk- styled tune, but marred somewhat by an awkward lyric construction, . Stewart Rose: “I Complained"- “I Want You" (Label X). Stewart Rose, an Army corporal, shows considerable promise on hi$ wax , JKm 2 , 1954 Best Bets STAN FREBERG .. POINT OF ORDER ( Capitol ) Person to Person HUGO WINTERHALTER ORCH.....THE LITTLE SHOEMAKER (RCA Victor) The Magic Tango NAT (KING) COLE MAKE HER MINE ( Capitol) I Envy of the clever and pointed success of the other side. Hugo Winterhalter Orch: “The Little Shoemaker” — “The Magic Tango” (RCA Victor). With an un- billed assist from Eddie - Fisher, who leads the choral ensemble, Hugo Winterhalter' has shaped a charming side in “Shoemaker,” a number with a lilting, folksy fla- vor. It's bright and it moves all the way. Flip is an arresting tango melody which could build into ai\ important sidte. Fisher's voice is also evident on this side. Nat (King) Cole: “Make Her Mine”—“I Envy” (Capitol). Nat Cole lends a distinctive touch even to mediocre material, but hu“Make Her Mine” he has a firstrate ballad due for heavy jock and juke spins. “I Envy” also has a very pretty idea which Cole handles with his usual light touch, Joni James: “In A Garden of Roses”—“Every Day" (MGM). Joni James has fallen off her click pace on her last few releases, but she still can project a ballad with the best. “Garden of Roses” is a folk-styled item with a familiaf tale, and that may be a handicap, since this yarn of the best friend marrying' someone else’s ■ sweet- heart has become rather worn ever since “Tennessee Waltz” again opened the floodgates for this theme. This MGM side, however, shows Miss James in her best form and could develop into a strong contender. Reverse is good mate- rial. melodically and lyrically, and might prove to be the top side of this coupling. Count Basle Orch: “The Blues Don’t Come Back”-“Peace Pipe” (Clef). In these shaky days for the band biz, what’s needed is more rock-ribbed rhythm crews like debut. “I Complained” is a dra- matic opus tailored for his big bari- tone pipes. It’s excellent material rating jock attention. .On the bot- tom deck, Rose tends to be slightly schmaltzy in his rendition of a La- tin-flavored item. Doris Day: “Someone Else’s Roses”-“Kay-Muleta” (Columbia). Doris Day rates stronger fare than “Roses,” a commonplace entry in the hillbilly genre. She gets the most out Of it, but it’s not enough to make a dent. “Muleta” is a rous- ing Latin novelty with some mild comedy lyrics. Miss Day belts it effectively and could stir some at- tention for this side. Ames Bros.: “Let’s Walk And Talk”-“Leave It To Your Heart” (Victor). “Lets Walk” is a vigorous spiritual-type entry which the Ames Bros, punch over with color and verve. Solid for jukes. “Leave” is a pleasing ballad smoothly har- monized with some excellent back- grounding by Hugo Winterhalter’s Orch. Teresa Brewer: “Skinnie Min- nie”-'! Had' Someone Before I Had You” (Coral). “Skinnie” is a fanci- ful novelty in a cute melodic frame well-suited for Teresa Brewer’s brassy piping attack. “Someone” is bluesily rocked with a firm jazz beat supplied by Jack Plteis* orch for solid returns. Four Lads: “Gilly Gilly Ossen- feffer Katzenellen Bogen By The Sea”-“I Hear It Everywhere*’ (Co- lumbia). “Gilly Gilly” is a. more manageable song than the title would indicate. It’s a light ballad with the title phrase used effective- ly in the repeat chorus. Four Lads handle it nicely with a community- sing angle thrown in. Reverse is another good idea executed with a Jight touch by the Four Lads. LAWRENCE WELK and hi* CHAMPAGNE MUSIC 144th,Consaoutiva Weak, Aragon Ballroom, Santa Monica, Calif* Exclusively on Coral Records , THE MAN WITH THE BANJO Vocals by Larry Hopper - and UNTIL SUNRISE Vocals by Alice Lon Industry Palms Bla On Her Long Show Biz Career at Basin Street The music biz will throw a testi- monial bash at the drop, of a hat, a 1,000,000 disk-seller or an anni. At Ella Fitzgerald’s Basin Street, New York. Jazz nitery, opening last week (25), the industry had solid reasons to salute the warbler. Miss Fitzgerald was celebrating her 19th year in the biz (18 • of them as Decca Records pactee) and her 22,000,000 disk-sale rackup.. An overflow crowd packed the room to o.o. and get in on the award-giving act, highlighted by a gold'plaque from Decca. It was an overlong testimonial, emceed by Steve Allen, but it warmed 2i:.ss Fitzgerald’s pipes. For after the telegrams were read, the * flowers sniffed and the speeches made, she came, on in a set that showed her off at her warbling best. Lyric peddling is her forte and she belts like each phrase had an importance all its own. She packs plenty of emotion into a sentiment- al ballad and a lots of zip into a frisky rhythm number. Occasional- ly she gets a wry . touch into her songbag, as with the Louis Arm- strong and Rose Murphy carbons on “I Can’t Give. You Anything But Love” and it wows the crowd. Also on the agenda were such nif- ties as “My Heart Belongs To Daddy,” “Make Love To Me,” “Lover Come Back To Me” and “I Got A Crush On You.” All were smash renditions. On the same card with Miss Fitzgerald are Louis Bellson’s fran- tic combo. and Sam Butfera’s rhythm & blues group. The Bell- son contingent features Roy El- dridge and Charlie Shavers and (Continued on page 47) Rubinstein Plays Brahms (RCA Victor; $5.95), pianist Artur Rubin- stein is in a soft, romantic rather than turbulent; pyrotechnical mood here, though he dazzles neverthe- 1 less with artistic and virtuoso per- formances of some 10 Brahms rhap- sodies and intermezzi. Very choice album,. this. - ' Rachmaninoff: Concerto No, 2 in C Minor (Angel; $4.95). A talented young Hungarian pianist, Geza Anda, in a smooth version of the familiar work, showing musical taste, Arm tone and skilled tech- nique. Philharmonic Orch assists. Anda’s romantic style also suits the two added Preludes. Franck: Symphony in D Minor (London; $5.95). Fine performance of the masterwork by the Vienna Philharmonic under Wilhelm Furt- wangler. Clean, not heavy-handed, the reading is rich tonally, bring- ing out the symph’s spiritual beau- ty and brooding quality beauti- fully. Brahms: Vidlin Concerto (West- minister; $4.95). Solid, meaty per- formance, with fiddler Julian Olev- sky showing a skilled bow and warm, full tone. Orch accomp of the National Symphony under Howard Mitchell is occasionally too heavy (as is in the final movement) but otherwise quite good. Wagner Selections (Columbia; $5.95). Choice, sonorous readings of w.k. excerpts from “Tannhaus- er,” “Lohengrin,” “Walkure” and “Meistersinger” by the accom- plished Philly Orch under Eugene Ormandy. Schumann: Symphony No. 2 (Decca; $5.85). Fast-tempoed, driv- ing version of this work ha' u excitement under Leonard tw stein’s conducting of the StadiS Coimerts Orch (summer sub fS N.Y. Philharmonic). Ior ‘ Prokofiev: Chout Suite & Fail.. Three-Cornered Hat Dances (Cat Itol; $5.70). The Prokofiev ballet suite is .a witty, but glib. £ The St.-Louls Symph u Z Vladimir Golschmann plays it snir itedly, a; it does the 5 g dances on the reverse. * Prokofiev: Gambler Suite A Rab. alevsky: Colas Breugnon Suii. (M-G-M; $4.85). “The Gamble? portraits are moody, brooding pie. ture music, slow but somewhat an. pealing. '.‘Colas’’ suite has some unfamiliar movements, with tha whole affair quite choice. Philhar- monia of London gives a good ren. dition. <>pera Preludes & Intermezzi (Cetra; $5.70), Orchestral excerpts from Italian operas, representative and varied, and well-played here by Radio' Italians Symph. Bron, Herbert Library at Penn U Philadelphia, June 1. A complete collection of the published scores of all Victor Her- bert operas and operettas has been announced by the University of Pennsylvania library, with the gift of the long-sought “Prince Anan- ias” score, by the composer's daughter, Mrs. Ella Herbert Bart- lett. Mrs. Bartlett established the collection' at Penn in 1951, as a memorial to her father. Songs With Largest Radio Audience , The top 30 songs of week (more in case of ties), based on copyrighted Audience Coverage Index & Audience Trend Index, Published by Office of Research, lnc„ Dr, John Gray Peatman, Director, alphabetically listed. Survey Week of May 21-27, 1954 Alone Too Long—*“By The Beautiful Sea” Answer Me, My Love Back In The Old Routine * Cross Over The Bridge Don’t Worry 'Bout Me ; Dream, Dream, Dream Green Years Happy Wanderer !.... Here M Best Sellers on Coin-Machines Hernando’s Hideaway—*“Pajama Game” I Get So Lonely ' .; I Really Don’t Want To Know I Speak To The Stars—f“Lucky Me" If You Love Me (Really Love Me) , Isle Of Capri jilted !!.!*.!!!! Knock On Wood—1 “Knock On Wood” !.!.*.’!!.*!!. Little Things Mean A Lot ..;. ’ Lost In Loveliness—*“Girl In Pink Tights”. ! Make Love To Me Man With. The Banjo H i l l. I I V. I No One But You—t“Fiesh And The Flame" '....,! Poor Butterfly ; Secret Love—1 “Calamity jine” Steam Heat—+“Pa jama Game" Sway Three Coins In Fountain-t“Three Coins In Fountain". Tomorrow I’ll Dream And Remember . Wanted * Young At Heart i Morris Bourne Famous Laurel Mills Feist ’ Harms Fox H & R Frank Melrose HA R Witmark Duchess Harms Sheldon Famous Feist Chappell Melrose Mellin Feist Harms Remick Frank Peer Robbins Bourne Witmark Sunbeam LITTLE THINGS MEAN A LOT (5) WANTED (13) THREE COINS IN THE FOUNTAIN (2) .... MAN UPSTAIRS (5) HAPPY WANDERER (3) OH, BABY MINE (16) YOUNG AT HEART (14) IF YOU LOVE ME (REALLY LOVE ME) (4) MAN WITH THE BANJO (2) HERE (9) Second Croup STEAM HEAT CROSS OVER THE BRIDGE ... I’D CRY LIKE A BABY JILTED ISLE OF CAPRI HERNANDO'S HIDEAWAY ANSWER ME, MY LOVE MAKE LOVE TO ME I UNDERSTAND JUST HOW YOU FEEL THREE COINS IN THE FOUNTAIN .... I REALLY DON’T WANT TO KNOW ... CUDDLE ME WEDDING BELLS SECRET LOVE AM I IN LOVE r Figures in parentheses indicate number of weeks song Kitty Kallen Decca Perry Como Victor Four Aces .Decca Kay Starr Capitol Frank Weir London Four Knights Capitol Frank Sinatra Capitol Kay Starr Capitol Ames Bros. :... Victor Tony Martin Victor Patti Page Mercury Patti Page Mercury Dean Martin Capitol Teresa Brewer Coral Gaylords Mercury Archie Bleyer Cadence Nat (King) Cole Capitol Jo Stafford .... Columbia Four Tunes Jubilee Frank Sinatra Qapitol Les Paul-Mary Fdrd Capitol Ronnie Gaylord Mercury Four Aces Decca Doris Day ,Columbia Joni James M-G-Af has been in the Top 10) Top 30 Songs on TV ( More In Case of Ties) And This Is My Beloved Frank Answer Me, My Love Bourne Ca^g®;; Fairway Cross Over The Bridge ’! LaurS° Un Darktown Strutters’ Ball Feist Dream, Dream, Dream * * * Feist cm v St n ne c /s e The Gra P e *: rWs’ Gilly Gilly Ossenfeffer Katzenellen Bogen Beaver Green Years ♦ Happy Wanderer ! Fo£ Hit And Run Affair’ ,‘ .\\\\\‘ \‘ Hold ’Em Joe .. Duchess I Get So Lonely * Folkways {Speak To The Stars . ‘!!!!!! Witmark Sued 8 Anybody Here Xen.de Johnny Guitar Sheldon uttie Thing. Mean' a Lot ; X* Man With The Banjo'! 1!!!!!!!!! | i! [! i S' My Friend *”{? el I n Secret Love Paxton^ Steam Heat Remick v^cTrow* Too^ :::::::::::::::::: SSm** Wanted T S °° n 01d Un To ° Late Smart April Young At Heart ■ •? lt !£T™ You ' le so Much a Pali of' t FVmusical. • Legit musical, * « • . 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