Variety (February 1951)

I P'&RIEff Wednesday February 14, 1951 .'■***. Miami Beach, Feb. 13. Eddy Duellings passing is currently a No. 1 topic of conversation, with disk jockeys saluting the “10 magic fingers of radio' with judicious reprises \of Duchiniana as an indication that his disks will be an everlasting memorial to his artistry. ' The press and performer contingent, particularly, were impressed by Duchip’s career, capped by his wartime service as a lieut. com- mander in the U. S. Navy. They knew how Duchin had requested active service; had become indignant when offered a “morale job, and even eschewed the piano from his private curriculum because he was intent on his job with the PT flotilla—one of the most haz- ardous arms of the service. He participated in the thick of the Normandy invasion on D-Day. and at Leyte previously. For an effete pianist, who was taken up by that segment ot '‘society" that gravitated around the now-defunct Central Park Casino, New York, during that era of wonderful nonsense—Jimniy .' Walker's reign during the Volsteadian experiment—Duchin was an exceedingly, well-balanced personality. He had long since made his personal fortune; yet he gave up his professional career for one in the Navy. The leukemia lve incurred over a year ago during his Wedgwood Room date, (Waldorf-Astoria, N. Y.), was a tragic climax. Its persistence, as he checked in and out of New York's Memorial hospital (cancer institution), was of great concern to his intimates, but he himself believed extraordinarily in an ACTH serum which he tq,ld his friends was “just the thing.” The same distinction which lifted him. out of the Leo Reisman band at the Central Park Casino, when customers asked boniface Sidney Solomon “who is that cute piano player?”, marked Duchin s career, until the end. Local disk jockeys went all-out with musical salutes to the maes-. ti’O-pianist via platter recordings tied into the wire sent to Walter Winchell by Col. Sol A. Rosenblatt, attorney for the Duchin estate, which Chiquita fMrs, Eddy) Duchin confirmed the next day, urg- ihg contributions to the Damon Runyon Cancer Fund in lieu of flowers and/or telegrams. . In this winter playground, where the No. 1 worry of late seems to have been “will the sun ever come out?”, the passing of a gen- tleman showman seems to have eclipsed almost everything else. As With Jolsoni thanks to the electronic wizardry of phonograph re- cording, the public is left with a replenishing record of Lt. Com- mander Eddv Dtichin’s artistry, permanently etched on wax. ' ■Abel.. cuit until his illness bedded him last year. Duchin published four books on piano technique 'and organized a school which 'taught' according to his system. He also appeared in several films I In .1935 Duchin married Marjorie Oelrichs, an heiress, who died in 1937, two days after giving birth to their son, Peter. In 1947 Duchin inarried Mrs. Maria Teresa Winn, daughter of the former British minister to Colombia. Besides his wife, Duchin is sur- LORRY RAINE “Spin The Bottle” and “Who'll Take My Place When I'm Gone” (London Records) Jocks, Jukes and Disks ,By HERM SCHOENFELD. Bing Crosby-Andrews Sisters: “Sparrow In the Tree Top”-“For- saking All Others” (Depca), Two big sides by a top vocal combo.* “Sparrow,” a standout tavern-style item, is given a commercially sock treatment with Crosby at his mel- lowest and the Andrews Sisters at their snappiest; Surefire for jocks ahd jukes. Lyn Murray's orch and choral treatment of this number for Coral also rates attention. On the Decca reverse, Crosby and the girls pour out sweet cider on a hillbilly ballad that could be as big as “Sparrow.” Vic Schoen dfthr'SltpfrliesV fihe framework; •-</ r Dinah Shore: “Lonesome, Gal”- “Too Late Now” (Victor). “Lone- some Gal” is piling up lots of wax with Miss Shore’s slice at the top of the stack. It’s a slow, feeling rendition that gets the maximunr stepping Ik brightest song star. Lorry bows graciously' and gratefully to the legion of Disk Jockeys who have potently proved her talents. On A1 Morgan’s WON Dumont TV show Monday, February 19, 8:30 p.m. EST. . Opening Chubby’s, Philadelphia on February 26. . - Bookings MCA Artists Ltd Personal Management TIM GAYLE 451 Wrightwood, Chicago, III, In Spiralling Into Top Ranks of Keyboard Artists Eddy Duchin, pianist-bandlead- er, who died Friday night (9' at Memorial hospital, N. Y., of leuke- mia, at the age of 41, was one of the standout keyboard artists to emerge out of the 1930’s, the dec- ade in which name bands gained peak prominence. Duchin, however, did not adopt the swing style of that era and quickly rose into the bigtime via his more restrained pianistics, which, made him a fave with the society set. Duchin broke into the band busi- ness in 1928 after studying phar- macy and working in small combos on vyeekends. by joining the Leo Reisman orcli, which was then working at the Waldorf-Astoria and the Central Park Casino. Du- chin accepted the job on the con- dition that he be allowed to finish his studies as a pharmacist. In 1929 he received his Ph.G. degree from the Massachusetts College of Phar- macy and rejoined the Reisman or- ganization. Duchin never returned to phar-! macy after resuming lvis band career. After two more years with • Reisman, who gave him featured billing, Duchin moved out on his own with his own orchestra, which ! opened at the Park Casino in 1931, . and then became one of the top • hotel and theatre bands in the ' business. It was during this pe- 1 riod that he became known for his “magic fiingers,” which at one time were reportedly insured for $150,000. : Duchin forte was his keyboard , versions of the standard pops and : blues numbers. After recording for Brunswick in the early 1930’s, he moved to RCA Victor for several : years and, more recently, was un- ! der contract to Columbia Records. ! His bestsellers included such num- bers as “All the Things You Are,” I “More Than You Know,” “Between ■ the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea,” i “What Is This Thing Called Love,” i “I Kiss Your Hand, Madame,” “Be- gin the Beguine,” and others. In 1942 Duchin enlisted in the V* S. Navy, and after demanding combat duty, spent two years on destroyer duty in the Atlantic and Pacific. He participated in the in- vasion Of Normandy, Iwo Jima and Okinawa. During a conjunction of Russian and American forces in the Far East, Duchin was present at a dinner party and played the “Volga Boatman” some 30 times for the Russian officers. He was discharged in 1945 with the rank of lieutenant commander.: Duchin disbanded his orchestra ’ during the \Var an.d upon his dis- charge from the Navy he became a soloist on the NBC “Kraft Music Hall,” as Bing Crosby’s replace- ment. Following, Duchin reorgan- ized his band anc. again became active in the hotel and theatre cir- Broadcast Music, Inc., is near- ing the windup of negotiations with SACEM, French performing rights society, for control in the U. S. o v e r specific part s of SACEM’s catalog. Projected deal : would give BMI rights to SACEM vived by his son, his parents and compositions that have been picked Lorry’s- latest .London: releases are i m p ac t ou { 0 f this number. Mar tenmns lwr out in front as »1 a I Karet whiting’s cut for Capitol is also good but the weird theremin background effects distract from them vocal’s interest. On the Victor reverse, Miss Shore handies an okay ballad front Metro’s pic,. “The Royal Wedding/’ Henri Kene’s brch,backs up neatly. Danny Kaye - Carol Richards: “How Could You Believe Me When I Said I Love You”- “I Left My Hat In Haiti” (DeccaV, “Believe Me,” from the pic “Royal Wed- ding,” gets a cute ride in this duet and should garner plenty of novel- ty spins. On the reverse, Kaye, in excellent form, dishes up a chile itern from the same film, Four Hits and A Miss lending choral support with Vic Schoen batoning. Tony Bennett: “Once There Lived A Fool’VT Can’t Give You Anything But Love” (Columbia), Bennett makes his best impression on “Fool,” a fine torch number which he sings with style and more restraint than he usually displays. On the reverse, he gives out with a jump version of the standard. Marty Manning orcli backing up. Henry Jerome Orch: “Oh What A Face”-“How’s The Little Wom- an” (London). London worked fast to get “Face” on the market and a sister. to Charlie Grean, RCA Victor’s ar- tists and repertory chief, left for Chicago yesterday fTues.) for wax- ing sessions with Fran Allison and the Wayne King orch, Grean plans i BMI toppers ( n Hff« na. A 1 i: - _ _ _ 11 Tl* • _ I *< t% A J /vn %«1 «t « VI j up for publication in the U. S. by ; BMI publishers. Any deal between i BMI and SACEM will not affect j the latter’s reciprocal pact with ' the American Society of Compos- 1 ers. Authors and Publishers. j Reps of SACEM are currently , in New York for discussion with A snag that; devel- delivers & strong vocal on a good tune. Lorry Raine: “I Didn’t Mean To Be Mean To You”- “Someone” (London). Miss Raine continues to make a good impression on wax/ Her distinctive style hits nicely on “Mean To You,” a number with fair chances. On the flipover, she also registers solidly on a. good tune. Cliff Parman ol’ch backs up neatly. Ruth Wallis: “Friendship”. “Pleasant, P r e s e n t Pastime” (Wallis). Ruth Wallis,; who has made a rep with her risque party records; 1 steps-into tfre^regular pop - n\arket with this coupling. “Friend- ship” is handled in a community- sing manner that’s slated for lots of juke spins. On the flip, she changes pace with an Ozark- flavored item, her pipes not being quite equal to the tune's range. Ray Charles chorus and Mac Ceppos orch back up. Singers Single Record Series (Victor). Victor has followed up last year’s “Here Qotne The Dance Band” promotion with an even more commercial vocalist series. In this package idea, nine top Victor artists have cut six sides apiece, each handling pop stand- ards by leading cleffers. All of the sides on the 27 disks are slated for repeated spins, the whole set • comprising a fine library of stand- out oldies for jocks. Performances by the nine vocalists are firstrate the set having Perry Como on Billy Rose tunes, Tony Martin on Arthur Freed sortg£, Dinah Shore on Gus Gahn numbers, Mindy Car- son oh De Sylva, Brown and Hen- derson tunes, Dennis Day on Sig- mund Romberg numbers, Fran Warren on Harold Arlen numbers, Don Cornell on Sammy Fain tunes, Lisa Kirk on Dorothy Fields- Jinimy McHugh songs, and Eddie Fisher on Walter Donaldson tunes. Platter Pointers Cy Walter and Buddy Weed con- tribute two more firstrate keyboard demonstrations in Columbia’s long- play “Piano Moods” series . . . Same label has also reissued some this cut by Henry Jerome’s orclv,. great sides by Billie Holiday on To team Miss Allison and King on several sides besides cutting with them separately. While in Chicago, he’ll discuss waxing plans with Spike Jones who originated his Sunday (11) video show from that city. Grean returns to New York next weekend. oped early in the talks over rights to SACEM’s longhair catalog has been settled. It’s expected that the talks will conclude next week. Be- fore the pact is fully operative, however, it must be passed by the governing boards of both societies. Santly-Joy is bringing in Jack Josh White, currently in land on a concert tour, has Eng- been Perry from its Chicago office andsigned for the Astor-Colony clubs, installing him today (Wed.) as . London; starting March 5. Other professional manager in its N. Y. j dates will be lined up prior to his offi ce « . return to the U. S. PRriety ¥ 4-» > +♦♦•»♦+•♦♦♦♦♦ 4 TENNESSEE WALTZ (11) (Acuff-R) . ... MY HEART CRIES FOR YOU (7) (Massey) IF (3) (Shapiro-B) . . . . BE MY LOVE (4) (Miller) SO LONG (3) (Folk-W) : . . YOU'RE JUST IN LOVE (2) (Berlin), THE ROVING KIND (6) (Hollis) . HARBOR LIGHTS (16) (Chappell). NEVERTHELESS (14) (Chappell) , might launch this novelty item into, the bigtime. It’s a cute idea executed with some okay comedy by Jerome’s crew. Sticks McGhee, also on the London label, strums, it on a boogie beat with a good guitar and vocal solo. Reverse of the Jerome disk is a fair ballad. Tommy Dorsey * Victor Young Orch: “You’re The One” - “The Searching Wind” (Decca). Two beautiful sides featuring Dorsey’s trombone against Victor Young’s string orch. Dorsey’s horn is up front on “One,” with Bob London delivering the Vocal in okay fash- ion. Reverse is a straight instru- mental that stands up under re- peated spins. Vaughn Monroe Orch: “Faitli- ful”-“They’re Playing Our Song” (Victor). Monroe’s baritone gets a characteristic workout on “Faith- ful,” an oldie which this cut could revive. On the reverse, Monroe Week of Feb. 10 »4 MM 1. 2 . 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. Patti Page . . Mercury Guy Mitchell-M.' Miller Columbia • « • • • « I C i ( I « « l « • ( Perry Como l Dean Martin Mario Lanza Wcavers-Gord. Jenkins .. Perry ComoFoutane Sis. . « ) • • «■ • .Victor Capitol .Victor . Decca .Victor 9. Guy Mitcheli-M. Miller Columbia Sammy Kaye . Columbia \ Ralph Flanagan ......,., Victor Mills Bros. Decca 10. A BUSHEL AND A PECK (6) (Morris). Second Group \ Betty Hutton-Perry Como Victor (Mag 'Whiting-Jim Wakely Capitol I THINKING OF YOU (9) (Remick). \ Eddie Fisher *■4 4 4 * i « •iitfeiiMeie* >.... .v.. • • ’ 1 Don Cherry ALL MY LOVE (18) (Mills) ........ ... .,,,,,,,.. i.,, Patti I’LL ALWAYS LOVE YOU (9) (Famous). IF YOU'VE GOT THE MONEY (Peer) ABA DABA HONEYMOON (Feist). . THE THING (8) (Hollis) . . . .. TO THINK YOU’VE CHOSEN ME (Laurel) GET OUT THOSE OLD RECORDS (BVC) I STILL FEEL THE SAME ABOUT YOU (Odette).... ..>•,...... Oil BABE (Alamo) ..... . . MARSHMALLOW WORLD (Shapiro-B) r THIRSTY FOR YOUR KISSES (Mutual) WOULD I LOVE YOU (Disney). LITTLE ROCK GETAWAY (Feist) . (Figures in parentheses indicate number 6} weeks song has been in the Top 10.] ♦ ♦+♦ t t ♦ f t ♦♦♦♦♦» t ♦ Victor . Decca t # • 4. • a. v • .Mercury Dean Marti” .... ..... Capitol , Jo Stafford . v >,,.,... Columbia D, Reynolds C: Carpenter MGM Phil Harris. Eddy Howard, Guy. Lombardo Georgia Gibbs Kay Starr ... Vaughn Monroe \ Ames Bros. I Mills Bros. Patti Page Les Paul . .. Victor .Mercury . Decca .Coral • *. Capitol . Victor Coral Decca . .Mercury .Capitol * < • i be another long-play disk, featuring excellent jazz backgrounds . . . Iiik Spots come up with a commercial version of “Tell Me You Love Me” (Decca) . . . Dottie O’Brien and Joe “Fingers” Carr have a cute of “Chicken Song” (Capitol) , . . Fred Waring lias two rich, tasteful sides in “No Man Is An Island” and “Worship” (Decca) . . . Some hot mambo sides by Rickey Gardel orch for the Rithmo label . . . Cliff Steward and his San Fran- cisco Boys have a good side in “Aba Daba Honeymoon” (Coral). . , . Lenny Carson’s Whiz Kids have a lively novelty in “Oh Wha Tail Goo Siam” (Discovery) . . . Tony Mango’s cut of “The Bridal Waltz” and “Stella” rate attention (Abbey). Capitol Records has packaged an interesting set featuring the fid- dling of Paul Nero on a series of standards, including such stand- ards as “Hot Canary” . . . Sammy Kaye orch has cut a commercial side in “Ronda Wanda Hoy” (Co- lumbia) . . . Some more fine sides by Artie Shaw in “It’s A Loiig Long Way To Tipperary” and “Show Me The Way To Go Home” (Decca) . . . On the same label, Tommy Dorsey and Mills Bros, join advantageously on a couple of standards, “Please Don’t Talk About Me When I’m done” and “You Know You Belong To Some- body Else” . . . Eileen Barton has a fair novelty in “I Met Him At One O’clock” (National) . . .Danny Kaye’s version of “I Taut I Taw A Puddy Tat” is one of , the cuter versions of this number (Decca)... Bob Crosby and Connie Haines team solidly on “Destination Moon” (Coral) . . . Charlie Barnet’s orcli sounds okay on “Theme For Cyn- thia” (Capitol) . . . Kitty Kallen clicks on a couple of folk tunes. “If You Want Some Lovin’ ” and “Last Night My Heart Crossed The Ocean” (Mercury) .. . Bill Parnell’s cut of “Lovesick Blues” rates at- tention (Coral) , . ■* Anita O’Day sustains her recent pace”on a cou- ple of oldies, “I Apologize” and “You Took Advantage of Me’ (London) . . . Patti Page and Rej Allen duet on a couple of good sides, “Tag Along” and “Softly and Tenderly” (Mercury) . . . On same label Billy Daniels hits strongly on a couple of standards, “I Get A Kick Out of You” and “Too Mar- velous For Words'* (Mercury). Standout jazz, folk, western, polka religious, etc.: Arnett Cobb. “That’s All Brother” (Columbia) . . . Andy Lockhart Sextet, “Every- body Loves That Hadacol” (Mer- cury) . . . The Ravens, “Lilacs in the Rain,” (National) r v Vft- •b r- : - ■ K i ;J I'i 11 i' f; II