Phonograph Monthly Review, Vol. 3, No. 5 (1929-02)

178 The Phonograph Monthly Review February, 1929 by You sung by Grace Johnston to very hot accompani- ments. The leading instrumental is 4123, Dave Rubinoff’s violin versions of To Be Forgotten and ’Cause I Feel Low Down. Among the others are popular hits by Jane Pur- sell on 4126; Edith Evan’s lively version of That’s What Puts the Sweet in Home Sweet Home (4089) ; Frank Luther’s ballads of the Sinking of the Vestris and Heroes of the Vestris (277) sung to a strange accompaniment of guitar, accordion, and steamboat whistles; the Yacht Club Boys and Jay C. Flippen on 4113, somewhat below their usual peppy standard. NOVELTY Columbia 1652-D (DIO, 75c) Two Black Crows in Hades, by Moran and Mack. The Black Crows have dug up some refreshingly new material for this disk and while their style is the same (who would have it changed?), their jokes are new and authentically amusing. The devil’s apparatus for testing the verity of Mack’s self-related exploits works to per- fection, but a Black Crow is seldom caught asleep. One of the best of the recent releases of the series. Dance Records Brunswick takes precedence this month with a long list of first rate disks. Although there are no works startlingly outstanding, the general average is remarkably high. In the first group are: 4047, Tom Gerunovitch’s smooth yet interesting version of Sincerely I Do (note the beginning) and You Tell Me Your Dream; Earl Burtnett’s light and pleasing Happy! (4104); Ben Bernie’s fine versions of How About Me? and She’s Funny That Way (4132); Jesse Stafford’s Doin’ the Raccoon (the best version to date) and Glorianna; Kenn Sisson’s fine Round Evening and The Whole World Knows I Love You (4120) ; a star coupling of Duke Ellington’s The Mooche (not quite as good here as in the Okeh version) and the Hotsy Totsy Gang’s Since You Went Away; Cummins’ vigorous My Blackbirds Are Bluebirds Now and smooth Querida (4083) : the Hotsy Totsy Gang again in a fast I Could If I Wanted To (4112)^; Arnold Johnson’s Everybody Loves You and Me and the Man in the Moon (4125) ; and Danny Altieri’s My Gal Sal and I’m Sorry Sally, in rather lusciousi but intricate versions (Vocalion). Among the others are: 4119, the Broadway Broadcasters in I Must Have That Man and Fletcher Henderson in a wild Hop Off; 4118, To Know You is to Love You and You’re the Cream in My Coffee, by the Colonial Club; and 4124, Pompanola and Maybe This is Love, by the Broadway Broadcasters. The Victor group also contains a large number of first class dance disks: 21793, a very catchy Bag of Blues played by Jack Pettis and his Pets; 21803 and 21812, the Coon- Sanders Orchestra in fine versions of My Suppressed De- sire and What a Girl!, and Who Wouldn’t Be Jealous of You and Here Comes My Ball and Chain; 21813, a novel tango fox trot. Mia Bella Rosa, by Johnny Hamp; 21804, a melodious and yet complicated version of Withered Roses by Jean Goldkette; 21819, George Olsen’s very danceable Where the Shy Little Violets Grow; 21801, hits from “This Year of Grace” played by Roger Wolfe Kahn; 21810, I Can’t Make Her Happy and The Song I Love treated in- terestingly by Waring’s Pennsylvanians; 21805, Goldkette’s brisk Don’t Be Like That and My Blackbirds are Bluebirds Now; and 21827, Ben Pollack’s bland Then Came the Dawn and Sentimental Baby. Less interesting are: 21823,_ Bon Soir and In Romany waltzes by Jacques Renard; 21795^ “Treasure Girl” hits by Ohman and Arden; 21814, Fanny Brice hits in dance versions by Nat Shilkret; 21809, My Troubles are Over and Me and the Man in the Moon, by Ted Weems; 21816, “Whoopee” hits by George Olsen (praise goes to the excellent chorus of Makin’ Y/hoopee) ; and 21822, svrrupy Hawaiian dance music by the Hilo Hawaiian Orchestra. Columbia boasts the individual winner of the month: Ted Lewis’ mellow versions of She’s Funny That Way and Wear a Hat With a Silver Lining (1656-D). The arrange- ments are ingenious, with neat use of the guitar, the tonal qualities are veritably lovely, and Ted is in top form in his choruses: a combination hard to beat. Not far behind are four more leaders: 1693-D, Ben Selvin’s versions of “This Year of Grace” hits, somewhat superior to Roger Wolfe Kahn’s Victor coupling; 1683-D, Paul Whiteman’s versions of hits from “Whoopee”—the best to date; 1653-D, Guy Lombardo’s High Up and Spell of the Blues, making noteworthy use of an organ; and 1683-D, the best Hawaiian record I have yet heard, a coupling of a smooth Paanau waltz by the Waikiki Stone Wall Boys and a fine Piu Onaona by the Whispering Hawaiians (vocal ensemble). Also good are: 1651-D, Verne Buck’s My Suppressed De- sire and What a Girl!; 1679-D, Guy Lombardo’s Where the Shy Little Violets and Me and the Man in the Moon; 1696-D, My Troubles Are Over and Don’t Be That Way, by Harry Reser’s Syncopators; and 1642-D, the California Ramblers’ Pay Off and Jan Garber’s prize-title Tin Ear. Among the others are: i635-D, Ben Selvin’s Carmen and My Inspiration is You ; 1648-D, the Benson All Stars’ May- be This is Love and To Know You is to Love You; 1694-D, the Ipana Troubadours’ I’ll Get By and Rose of Mandalay; 1682-D and 1634-D, Leo Reisman in somewhat colorless versions of A Love Tale of Alsace Lorraine, Along Came Sweetness, Chalita, and Querida. Okeh’s list specializes in hot and novelty disks. Clarence Williams, one of the uncrowned kings of hot jazz, plays In the Bottle Blues and a very slow, wonderously sad What Do You Want Me To Do? (8645); Boyd Senter and his Senterpedes couple a startling Original Chinese Blues with a less interesting Prickly Heat (41163); Sugar Hall and his Babies make merry with I’m Wild About Horns on Automobiles and Come On Baby (41152); Louis Armstrong offers another of his singular disks, coupling Tight Like That and Heah Me Talkin’ To Ya? and featuring some remarkable pianny solos (8649) ; and Bud Freeman couples a very sprightly craze-ology with a good version of Can’t Help Loving That Man (41168). More conventional are Benny Meroff’s Smiling Skies and Me and the Man in the Moon— the fiddling is noteworthy (41171) ; the Goofus Five’s That’s How I Fell About You and Sweetheart of All My Dreams (41169); the Dorsey Brothers’ Cross Roads and Sally of My Dreams (41151) ; Milt Shaw’s ingeniously treated She’s Funny That Way and Where tlje Shy Little Violets; and the New York Syncopators’ Sweet Dreams and Dreaming of the Day (41162). —Rufus Foreign Records International. Odeon’s Parisian and Jolly Coppersmiths marches are reviewed elsewhere under “Band”; Columbia’s Flower Song and Little Grandmother by the Columbia by the Columbia Concert Orchestra, and Memories of Chopin by Le Maire String Orchestra are reviewed under “Band”; and Odeon’s Hungarian Folksong Medley played by Mary Vellner is reviewed under “Popular Vocal and Instrumen- tal.” Odeon has also a good Spanish waltz coupling, Dolores and My Heart is Yours, played by the Odeon Argentinians (3509). The Columbia Concert Orchestra plays Schubert’s and Toselli’s serenades on Columbia 59049-F. Brunswick has a commendable release of Glinka’s Night in Madrid and Danger’s Granny played by the Brunswick Concert Orchestra conducted by E. Fuerst (77014), and Mischief and Gypsy Romance waltzes played by the Russian Salon Orchestra (57017). Boemian. Victor V-1002, by the Prague Teachers’ Choir is reviewed elsewhere under “Choral.” Bulgarian. Columbia issues a disk of Kaval solos by Georgi A. Kehaioff (29020-F). Croatian-Serbian. Most interesting are Columbia 1108-F, folksongs by the Jugo Slav Royal Tamburica Orchestra, and Victor V-3000, folksongs by the “Balkan” Taburica Or- chestra. French-Canadian. Louis Chartier sings Souvenirs de France and Cher Enfant (Sonny Boy) on Brunswick 52024