Phonograph Monthly Review, Vol. 1, No. 8 (1927-05)

364 The Phonograph Monthly Review novelty offering of the month. Going on to the race records, we have Bessie Smith not quite up to her usual standard in Muddy Water and After You’ve Gone (14197-D); and Martha Copeland only fair in 14186 (Black Snake Moan); but Riley Puckett together with Gid Tanner and his Skillet Lickers keep up their Mountaineer series in fair fashion on 15134-D (Uncle Bud and I Got Mine). “Peg Leg” Howell sings Tishamingo and Coalman Blues on 14194; A1 Craver offers The Wreck of the C. & O. No. 5 and Billy the Kid on 15135-D; and the Wisdom Sisters sing The Old Time Power on 15129. For instrumentals there is another organ record by Harold L. Rieder (937-D) on which our previous none-too-favorable comments still hold good (What Does It Matter and Put Your Arms Where They Belong). For another novelty, there is Sol Hoopii’s Trio which plays Most of All I Want Your Love and Breeze Blow My Baby Back to Me, on 931-D. On 901-D, Edith Clifford sings Yes Flo! The Gal Who Never Says No and No Wonder She’s a Blushing Bride and even the supplement annotator is forced is forced to admit There must be some logical sequence in the coupling. 896-D is an- other novelty, two mandolin solos by Samuel Siegel (Come Ye Disconsolate and Lullaby). Kate Smith accompanied by the famous Charleston Chasers have One Sweet Letter from You and I’m Gonna Meet My Sweetie Now on 911-D; Vaughn de Leath asks I Wonder How I Look When I’m Asleep on 915-D (coupled with That’s My Hap-Hap-Happiness); and Burnett and Rutherford have truly tantalizing selections on 15133-D (A Short Life of Trouble and Little Stream of Whiskey. The St. Mark’s Chanters couple So High and ’Buked and Scorned on 4198-D; Charles Kaley offers Alabama Stomp and Who Do You Love (910-D); Ethel Watters sings Satisfying Papa (14199), and, to conclude the long list, Venutti and Lang are heard in Stringing the Blues and Black and Blue Bottom (914-D), the title of the last-named certainly winning honors for the month. Going on to the Okehs for the month, we have a Geneva Gray with the Lonesome Mountain and Fortune Teller Blues cn 8449; the Perfect Harmony Quartet not quite living up to their name in There’s A Meeting Here Tonight and My Good Lord’s Done Been Here (8448); Bertha Hill again with Lovesick and Lonesome Weary Blues (8453); the Happiness Boys on 40785 (The Coat and the Pants Do All the Work and I Love The College Girls); and a tenor, Russell Douglas, ac- companied by piano and clarinet sings Nesting Time and South Wind on 40786. The Happiness Boys are also repre- sented on 40775 (I’ve Never Seen a Straight Banana and That’s My Hap-Hap-Happiness). For those who crave real novelty effects, we can safely recommend 40777, on which Boyd Senter, clarinetist, accompanied by piano and guitar, plays Clarinet Tickle and Blu’in’ the Blues. Perhaps the re- cord due for the biggest attention and sale, however, is 40776, ’Deed I Do and You Know that I Know, sung by Sjssle and Blake, the popular stars of “Runing Wild” and other musical shows. On the Victor list, always one of variety and interest, the Tietge Sisters appear again this month, this time singing The Name of Jesus and Master the Tempest is Raging (20515). The Victor Light Opera Company is heard again in 35816 (12 inch, $1.25) in their current series of gems from various light operas, here from Rio Rita and My Maryland. Ernest Rogers in Willie The Chimney Sweeper and Vernon Dalhart in Casey Jones are coupled on 20502; The Hilo Hawaiian Orchestra record Aloha Oe and The Rosary for the 10 millionth time ((20516); and for vaudeville sketches Billy Murray offers Oh How We Love Our Alma Mater and We’re the Sunday Drivers, assisted in the former by Monroe Silver and in the latter by his own trio (20517). Fqr a real novelty record, 20377 leads the way. Accompanied by a little instruction chart and music, it gives full information on How to Play the Harmonic, arranged and illustrated by William J. Haussler and D. Wakefield Coutlee. The Revelers are heard this month on 20564 in a rather listless performance of Yankee Rose and So Blue. Gene Austin, Franklyn Baur, and Jane Green are heard on 20561, 20504, and 20509 (Forgive Me and Someday Sweetheart; At Sundown and I’ll Take Care of Your Cares; and I’m Gonna Meet My Sweetie Now). The Happiness Boys sing Cock-a-Doodle and That’s My Hap-Hap- etc. on 20500; Miller and Farrell couple Since I Found You and Moonbeam Kiss Her for Me (20496); Frank Crummit couples My Lady and Sunny Disposish on 20486; and Jesse Crawford brings up the rear wth two more organ recordings (Song of the Wanderer and What Does It Matter) on 20560. This month let us reverse the usual alphabetical order and take the Victor dance releases first, particularly as the most striking issue of the month is Victor 20505, on which Paul Whiteman and his orchestra couple Silver Moon Waltz with a surprisingly brilliant recording of Your Land and My Land done in most vigorous style with the brass, of course, pre- dominating. As a sheer piece of orchestral virtuosity, this record will be hard to beat. Paul Whiteman “comes back” with a number of releases this month, making up for his comparatively infrequent appearances on the disks of late. On 20514 he plays Everything’s Made for Love to Shilkret’s coupling, Forgive Me; on 20508 he has Muddy Water with Shilkret’s Ain’t She Sweet; and on 20513 he has both sides, using them for The Saxophone Waltz and It All Depends on Y r ou. For an odd novelty orchestra, the Five Harmaniacs take all prizes; their combination is said to consist of hand saw, washboard, mouth organ, jug, and “other shrammel ex- pedients,” whatever they are. On hearing their release for this month (20507—What Makes My Baby Cry and It Takes a Good Woman to Keep a Good Man at Home), we are astonished to learn that all these effects are produced with the above-mentioned instruments (or perhaps one should say “implements”) and entirely “without the aid of a springboard or other mechanical contrivances!” For blues, and blues on the organ for a change, Frank Waller offers the St. Louis and Lenox Avenue Blues on 20357 with many surprising effects, recorded with the skill that so far only the Brunswick Com- pany has at all approached. Nat Shilkret’s usual waltzes are the Desert Song and Huguette this month (20512); he is also heard on the reverse of two Whiteman records mentioned above. Roger Wolfe Kahn and his orchestra play a Little Birdie Told Me So, coupled with Sunny Disposish by Jean Goldkette and his band on 20493. The last named orchestra is also coupled with the B. F. Goodrich Silvertown Cord Band on 20491, the former in A Lane in Spain and the latter playing If All the Stars Were Pretty Babies. Waring’s Pennsylvanians who have dropped rather below their former standard in several of their recent releases, stage a come-back in 20562. on which they play I’ve Never Seen a Straight Banana and I wonder How I Look When I’m Asleep. Last, but not least by any means, is Jacques Renard, whose orchestra couples Lonely and You Went Away Too Far and Stayed Away Too Long (20487), and the Marek Weber release (20479—Tell Me While We’re Dancing), reviewed under the German records elsewhere in this issue. Mr. Hibbard keeps up his great releases of Okeh dance records again this month, led by a real “knock-out,” Okeh 40784, The Darktown Strutters’ Ball and There’ll Be a Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight, played by Miff Mole and his Molers. This shouldn’t be missed! Another excellent coupling is 40783 (Collette and My Sunday Girl) finely played by Irwin Abrams and his band. The Okeh Melodions have Sad’n Blue and I Want to be Miles Away from Everyone, on 40782; Luis Russell’s Heebie Jeebie Stompers couple Dolly Mine and Sweet Mumtaz on 8454; Harry Raderman’s orchestra are heard in 40773 in Hoosier Sweetheart and Forgive Me; and Louis Armstrong .and his Hot Five play the Irish Black Bottom and You Made Me Love You on 8447. 40772 (Sing- ing the Blues and Clarinet Marmalade) . played by Frankie Trumbauer’s orchestra is rather disappointing, but Frank Daly and the Meadowbrook band provide a strong finish in 40774 (You Went Away Too Far and Everything’s Made for Love). Among the Edisons this month are 51963 (Never Without You and I Still Believe in You) by Dan Voorhees and his Earl Carroll’s Vanities Orchestra; and—by the same organiza- tion—51962 (The Cat and Pardon the Glove). We had sus- pected that this orchestra of Earl Carroll’s famous show might be playing the Rock Breakers’ Blues and Behind the Bars this month! Cass Hogan offers The Kinkajou and Phil Napoleon It All Depends on You, coupled on 51959; the Golden Gate orchestra plays Lonely Eyes and It Made You Happy When You Made Me Cry on 51960; and B. A. Rolfe and his orchestra bring up the rear with What Does It Matter and It’s O. K. Katy With Me (51954) and an interest- ing suite entitled My Lady’s Boudoir on 51956. Ted Lewis’ Columbia release this month is 922-D (When My Baby Smiles and Keep a Little Sunshine in Your Heart); the Cliquot Club Eskimos offer At Sundown and My Sunday