Phonograph Monthly Review, Vol. 4, No. 1 (1929-10)

32 The Phonograph Monthly Review October, 1929 exemplifies Miss Water’s excellent diction. On 1933-D the songs are Waiting at the End of the Road (from the film “Hallelujah) and Traveling All Alone, the former a little too pretentious, but the latter very sad and moving. Lee Morse’s release is 1922-D with Moanin’ Low and Sweet- ness sung in her best and most characteristic manner. Pete Woolery leads the popular songsters with sprightly versions of Beautiful and Smiling Irish Eyes, sung to deft accom- paniments (1926-D), and Bessie Smith tops the blues singers with Take It Right Back and Nobody Knows You When You’re Down and Out (14451-D). Both have smooth ac- companiments and the latter piece contains more than a modicum of philosophy. , Among the remaining Columbias are Maurice Gunsky’s Sing a Little Love Song and If You Believed in Me (1918-D), and M|y Song of the Nile and How Am I to Know (1950-D). My Song of the Nile is less exaggerated sentimentality than the rest. Art Gilham also has two releases, 1919-D and 1944-D, exercising his whispered pianism on True Blues and Two Little Rooms in the first, and On the Alamo and Tell Me There’s Hope for Me on the latter. The last-named piece shows a very marked Ted Lewis influence. Frankie Marvin sings easy-going versions of A Happy Go Lucky Boy and Land of the Sunny West (1941-D); Roy Evans offers his Lonesome Yodling Blues again (1934-D) ; Ford and Glenn warble Where the Sweet Forget-Me-Nots Remember and It Don’t Mean a Thing Without You; and the Dan Hornsby Novelty vocal quartet has a quite amusing nonsense song, Hinky Dinky Dee, paired with an old-timer, Take Me Out to the Ball Game, on 15444-D. Victor promotes Fats Waller from the race to the domes- tic lists and features his piano versions of Love Me or Leave Me and I’ve got a Feeling I’m Falling (22092). The ar- rangements are interesting, ^and forceful, and the recording very powerful. The Happiness Boys offer their familiar nonsense song, Who Cares Anyhow, coupled with She Has a Little Dimple on Her Chin (22087). The “novelty” ac- companiments are not misnamed and are quite interesting to boot. Paul Oliver displays his very pleasing voice in 22091; Mem’ries of One Sweet Kiss is smoothly effective, but even the voice cannot prevail against the banality of When You Come to the End of the Day. Helen Kane re-works her familiar material in He’s So Unusual and I’d Do Anything for You (22080) ; both will be liked by her devotees. Johnny Marvin has a neat Little by Little on 22076, and even although the coupling, Every Day Away from You, is very much of a sobsong, he makes it not only bearable, but quite pleasing. For the rest there are Miller and Farrell in Lovable and Sweet and Where the Sfweet Forget-Me-Nots Remember (22078), Gene Austin in Ain’t Misbehavin’ and Peace of Mind (22068), Jesse Crawford in movie organ versions of My Sin and Singing in the Rain, Jimmie Rodgers in characteristic yodel pieces on V-40072, and Seagle and Stokes singing sacred songs to parlor organ accompaniments on 22060. The Okeb list is largely devoted to southern and race releases, but special mention goes to Wilton Crawley, mak- ing a welcome reappearance in his own Wishing and My Perfect Thrill (8718) ; again the singing and clarinet play- ing are literally incomparable. Wishing is a very soulful and touching morceau. For novelty there is a remarkable disk by one Barnyard Steve (45366). The Arkansas Bill Green, a square dance played on the jew’s harp, is not out of the ordinary run of Southern records, but the barn- yard imitations on the other side are decidedly amusing. Most effective are the homeless puppy, the hungry hog, and the surprisingly beautiful mocking bird—the latter, with as soft a pianissimo as has ever been heard on records. The Four Deauvillers give neat versions of If I Were You and In the Hush of the Night, sung in the best modern vocal quartet style, on 41284, and Goebel Reeves has a two-part dialogue with yodels—The Drifter—on 45365. Edison features a salon violinist, Walter Mayo, accom- panied by his own ensemble, who is by far the best of his kind. The soloist’s tone is ultra-smooth without approach- ing the over-ripeness that is so unpleasant in most fiddlers of this type. The accompaniments are deft and the per- formances as a whole smooth without being antagonizingly sentimental. Pagan Long Song and Don’t Hang Your Dreams on a Rainbow (14040), My Heart is Bluer than Your Eyes and The Song I Love (14013), Love Divine and My Dream Memory (14052), are the pieces, the last two with humming and singing by the Frohne Sisters. Eva Taylor, whose title of Queen of the Moaners is not un- justified by her fine voice, sings West End Blues and Have You Ever Felt That Way? on 14046; the singing is splendid but for once Clarence Williams’ accompaniments are not exceptionally brilliant. Frank Luther brings back that roistering old salt, Barnacle Bill, in a second instalment of his adventures with the “fair young maid-in” (20008) ; Peg-leg Jack on the other side is much less amusing. Among the rest, Jack Dalton indulges in mild wisecrackery in My Wife is on a Diet and Bessie Couldn’t Help It (14047), the Rollickers sing Lonely Little Cinderella and Song of the Sands without much animation (14026), the Edisongsters do well with Red Hair and Freckles and the Red Hot Trumpet (with amusing rural reminiscences) on 14043, and Sorrows and Tain’t Nobody’s Fault but My Own on 14019, Ermine Calloway gives mild imitations of Helen Kane in Do Some- thing and What Didja Wanna Make Me Love You For? (14024), Billy Murray sings of Old Tia Juana and Cy Pitkin and the town band offer “hick stuff” on 14014, de Leath sings Honey and Reaching for Slomeone (14025), Phil Dewey sings my Song of the Nile to Frank Munn’s coupling of Dream Mother (14027), the Hawaiian Troubadours offer characteristic fare on 14018, Walter Scanlon and Ernest Hare are heard in Smiling Irish Eyes and Believe Me That’s Love respectively (14042), and J. Donald Parker warbles sweet versions of Miss You and At Twilight (14057.) Brunswick features A1 Jolson in Gershwin’s Liza which he sang at the opening of Show Girl to his wife’s tap-dancing; the coupling is One Sweet Kiss from “Say It With Slongs,” and both pieces are done in Jolson’s more animated manner. Best of the popular songsters are Eddy Thomas in Maybe and After Thinking It Over (4449), Tom Waring in smooth cleverly accompanied performances of Here We Are and In the Hush of the Night (4441), Nick Lucas in My Song of the Nile and Ich Liebe Dich (4464), the Inspiration Boys in extremely sentimental versions of Sleepy Valley and Needin’ You Like I Do (4477), and Chester Gaylord in Sing a Little Love Song and Out Where the Mbonbeams are Born (4448). The best of the Southern series are 338, reviewed under novelty, and 4455, Frank and James Me- Cravy in sweetly sad revivals of The Vacant Chair and The Bird with the Broken Pinion. Best of the race re- leases are 336, Dick Justice in Little Lulie and Brown Skin Blues; 4459, the Dixie Stars in Henry Jones and Sweet Mandy; and 7094, Lovin’ Sam in I Ain’t No Ice Man and Hot Dog Man,—not intended for family circle performance. Novelty Brunswick 338 (D10, 75c) Comedy Sketch—A Mountain Boy Makes his First Record, by Buell Kazee. Kazee is one of the back-country banjoists featured in Brunswick’s Southern releases. In this unusual two-part sketch he plays the part of a very green hill-billy “musician” up to the city to make his first record for “Mr. Brunswick.” The talking and brief bits of playing will undoubtedly please the vast public for hill-billy disks, but the record has interest for the general record buying public in the side- lights it throws on the details of making records. Some- thing quite out of the ordinary, and worth hearing. Columbia 1929-D (D10, 75c) Foolishments and Esau Buck, comedy sketches by Moran and Mack, “The Two Black Crows.” Another little disk to keep Black Crow enthusiasts happy until the long-awaited talkie, “Why Bring That Up?”, finally arrives. Foolishments is characteristic fare, not as funny now as once, but still well above most comic sketches. Esau Buck presents Mack solo in a virtuoso piece of tongue-twisting that makes one dizzy just to listen to. Dance Records Merit as well as courtesy ensures first place on the ex- tensive Victor list to British importation, Jack Hylton’s Band in I Lift Up My Finger and I Say “Tweet! Tweet”