Variety (January 1953)

ss OBCHDBSTHAS-MUSIC Bff Wednesday, January 14, J953 Jocks, Jukes and Disks - ■»- HERM SCHOENFEL D ■■ ■ " ■ Louis Armstrong-Gordon Jen- kins: “Listen To The Mocking Bird”-“Chlo-e” (Decca). Satchmo is still traveling in that ultra-com- mercial groove and turns up with another solid side in “Mocking Bird.” His swinging vocal of the p.d. tune, with a big assist from Gordon Jenkins’ arrangement, should mop up big pop sales. The workover of “Chlo-e” is more pre- tentious and -somewhat less effec- tive, but Armstrong’s delivery gives this side good chances. Eddie Fisher: “How Do You Speak To An Angel’'-“Downheart- ed” (Victor). • From the legit musi- cal, “Hazel Flagg,” the tune, “How Do You Speak To An Angel” shapes up as a likely big ballad which is due to stir up some noise. Eddie Fisher- gives it a strong kickoff with one of his belting vocals. Guy Lombardo also gives this number a neat interpretation for Decca while Bill Hayes’ cut for M-G-M is fair. On the Victor flip, Fisher im- presses with an okay rhythm num- ber handled with a light touch. The Bell Sisters: “I’m Teaching My Dolly To Pray”-“A Fool Such As I” (Victor). There’s an obvious able impact while avoiding any imitative overtone of A1 Jolson. “Oh Moon” is dramatic material which Thomas socks over strongly while the oldie “Hush-a-Bye” gets a softer workover in which the limits of Thomas’ pipes is clearly revealed. Both sides have a can- torial quality. Billy Eckstine: “Until Eternity”- “Everything Depends On You” (M-G-M). Billy Eckstine is looking for that new hit after a relatively long absence from the bestseller lists. “Until Eternity,” one of the late Russ Colombo’s numbers here- tofore unpublished, is potent ma- terial which could make it for Eckstine. It’s a big ballad in the contemporary groove and Eckstine polishes it off effectively. The oldie bn the flip also gets okay piping in a very slow tempo. The Modernaires: “New Juke Box Saturday Night”-“Runnin’ Wild” (Coral). The old Glenn .Miller, “Juke Box Saturday Night” click is updated by the Modern- aires in a series of clever carbons of the current top wax names. The vocal combo do fine takeoffs of Don Cornell, The Four Aces, Les Best Bets L. ARMSTRONG-G. JENKINS LISTEN TO MOCKING BIRD Decca Chlo-e EDDIE FISHER HOW DO YOU SPEAK TO AN ANGEL Victor * ,.. Downhearted religioso idea underlying this tune which may catch on. The Bell Sis- ters give this number one of their simpler renditions and manage to achieve some of the simple juve flavor which recently sent Jimmy Boyd’s “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus” over the top. On the reverse, the young sister duo do a good blues number but it doesn t make the best kind of coupling for “Dolly.” Tommy Edwards: “A Fool Sucn As I”-“I Can’t Love Another” (M-G-M). A reconverted hillbilly number, “A Fool Such As I” makes excellent material for Tommy Ed- wards. His restrained emotional piping highlights the simple melod- ic line and, fine lyric and could drive this one into the bestseller lists. The reverse number is a featherweight rhythm item. June Hutton-Axel Stordahl: “1 Had A Little Too Much To Dream Last Night”-“Song of the Sleigh Bells” (Capitol). “Dream” has a longish title but it’s worth it. It’s a charming ballad with a clever lyric and gets a firstrate slice via June Hutton’s vocalling with back- ing from Axel Stordahl’s orch and choral groups. Solid jock and juke fare. From a Tchaikovsky theme, the flip is another lovely side in a tescriptive winter vein* Danny Thomas: “Oh Moon”- *Hush-A-Bye” (Victor). Two songs from the Warner Bros, pic, “The Jazz Singer.” Danny Thomas, the aim s star, propects with consider- Paul & Mary Ford and Johnnie Ray. This could be another big juke item. The oldie, “Runnin’ Wild,” shapes up as less likely ma- terial for this crew. A1 Martino: “Rachel”-“One Lone- ly Night” ^Capitol). Since “Here In My Heart,” A1 Martino has been looking for that click sequel. “Rachel” is one of those synthetic numbers with a ‘dramatic gloss. Martino belts it strongly. with a racing orch and choral background. It’s dubious material, however, since this groove has been .over- worked in the last couple of years. “One Lonely Night,” is an okay material on which Martino exhibits his more effective lyric singing style. Sammy Kaye Orch: VHurry, Hurry, Hurry”—“The Dance of Hurry, Hurry”-“The Dance of pleasing ballad with a nice lilt which fits the Sammy Kaye style perfectly. The choral arrangement and sweet orch styling make this a highly listenable side. The flip is a trite item with little chances. Platter Pointers Extending its curtain call series, Decca has reissued A1 Jolson’s “My Mammy” and “Sonny Boy” plus such oldies as “Humoresque” by Guy - .Lombardo, “Wabash Blues” by Russ Morgan, “Green Eyes” by Jimmy Dorsey and “Sunrise Sere- nade” by Glen Gray'. . . Mantovani orch comes tip with another taste- LAWRENCE WELK and hit CHAMPAGNE MUSIC 73rd Consecutive Week, Aragon Ballroom, Santa Monica, Calif. ful slice of “Blue Danube” plus a flock of other sides issued by Lon- don . . . Jerry Gray orch, with Jo Ann Greer on vocal, clicks on “No Moon At All” for Decca . . . Erroll Garner’s pianistics get a dazzling showcase in “I Never Knew” (Columbia) . . . Cathy Carr’s “Heartbroken” has chances for Coral ... A fine Lester Young disk by Mercury includes “Jeepers Creepers” and. “Little Pee Blues” . . Dan Belloc orch has an in- teresting instrumental in “Pre- tend” (Dot) . . . Jimmy. Young im- presses with his vocal of “This Is Our Night” (London) . . . Chico O’Farrell has a colorful slice of “Tho Poannt Vendor” for Mercurv. Standout western, folk, polka, jazz, religioso, etc.: Steve Gibson Red Caps, “Big Game Hunter” (Vic- tor) . . . Marie Knight* “Get Away Jordan” (Decca) . . . Le Frevre Trio, “Nothing Can Compare” (Bibletone) '. . . Delmore Bros., “The Trail Of Time” (King) . . . Sonny Thompson, “Chloe” (King). RIAA to Name New Directors in Feb. The annual meeting of the Rec- ord Industry AsSn. of America for the election of directors for the coming year has been skedded for Feb. 11 in New York. Org, which classifies member diskeries accord- ing to their gross sales during the last fiscal year, elects directors as reps of their classification. RIAA membership now includes 46 record manufacturers. It kicked off its program last year with 31 member companies. Peer Gets Legitime Score Peer International has tied up the publication rights for the Os- valdo Farres score from the Latino legituner, “Tapestry of Cuba.” • Farres, a Cuban cleffer, arrived in New York last week for confabs with several Broadway producers regarding production of the musi- cal. f'Sn iety 10 Best Sellers on Coin-Machines Week oi Jan. 10 > 1. 2 . 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10 . DON’T LET THE STARS GET IN YOUR EYES (4) Perry Como Victor WHY DON’T YOU BELIEVE ME (10) . • • { J p° a Tti fagT ..* .Mei-airy GLOW-WORM (14) Mills Bros '..Decca TILL I WALTZ AGAIN WITH YOU (2) Teresa Brewer Coral TAKES TWO TO TANGO (13) :...., Pearl Bailey Coral I WENT TO YOUR WEDDING (16) ^ .. Patti Page ..Mercury TRYING (12) [Hilltoppers Dot * (Johnny Desmond Coral OH HAPPY DAY (1) fv.... .■ Lawrence Welle Coral KEEP IT A SECRET (1) ‘.”7.7,.'. i Jo Stafford Columbia YOU BELONG TO ME (17) Jo Stafford .Columbia 4- Second Group YOURS HAVE YOU HEARD TELL ME YOU’RE MINE, YOU’RE WALKING ON MY HEART IT’S IN THE BOOK I WISHING RING MA SAYS, PA SAYS MR. TAP TOE TOO LONG BETWEEN KISSES ... JAMBALAYA HEART AND SOUL LADY OF SPAIN 1 CONQUEST [Figures in parentheses indicate number of weeks song Vera . Lynn London Joni James M-G-M Gaylords Mercury Hank Thompson Capitol Johnny Standley Capitol Don Cornell Coral Joni James ............ M-G-M J. Ray-D. Day Columbia Doris Day Columbia Ginny Gibson M-G-M Jo Stafford , .*. Columbia Four Aces Decca , Eddie Fisher Victor Patti Page Mercury has been in the Top 10] ♦ ♦ M ♦ ♦ iff + + » + + » + Longhair Disk Reviews Brahms: Symphony No. 1 (Vic- tor, $5.45). Arturo Toscanini and NBC Symphony in a new recording of a top standard. Reading is warm-blooded and- authoritative; technically, disking is sharp and well-defined, Beethoven: Symphony No. 4 and Schumann: Symphony No. 4 (Vic- tor, $5.45). Good coupling here, by the San Francisco Symphony un- der Pierre Monteux. The Schu- mann is a vigorous performance of a passionate, romantic work; the Beethoven an ingratiating rendi- tion of a gay, joyous symphony. Offenbach: “La Vie Parisienne” and Bizet: “Carmen” Arias (Co- lumbia, $5.45). Medley of songs' from various Offenbach operettas are sung with style and sparkle by Jennie Tourel in a sweet, clear mezzo-soprano. Reverse has four “Carmen” arias in effective per- formance, with the Card Song tru- est in spirit* and best sung. Jean Morel and Columbia Symphony lend good support. Dvorak: Serenade in D Minor (Decca, $3.85). Pleasant sunny piece, of old-world, peasant qual- ity, played sturdily by the London Baroque Ensemble, a polished woodwind group, under Karl Haas. Dvorak: “New World” Sym- phony (Vox,) $5.95). Jascha Horen- stein and Vienna State Philhar- monia in a lush, expressive read- ing. Solo instruments at times are a .little too dominant. Bron. Winifred Atwell, Top Brit. Diskseller, Moves From Decca to Philips London, Jan. c. Winifred Atwell, biggest British solo recording artist, has left Brit- ish Decca for the new Philips label. In 12 montfis, her piano disks have sold over 1,000,000 (topseller “Black and White Rag”—325,000 in Britain), but she has reportedly not been happy about the U. S. exploi- tation by Decca of her disks on their London label. New deal means her output goes on American Columbia. Philips contract is stated to be over double what Decca was paying in royalties. Sidelight on the switchover is that DecCa launched a rival boogie- woogie pianoperator styled “The Duchess,” to cash in on the Atwell popularity. Playing Atwell-type specialties in Atwell manner, disks caused some confusion, the general opinion being that original and im- itator were same person. Fact is that “The Duchess” is Peggy Coch- rane, wife of agent-exbandleader Jack Payne. Allied Records, new Coast LP outfit, issuing an album of eight songs by baritone Igor Gorin, “Your Requests,” as its first re- lease. 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 , Inc., Dr. John Gray Peatman, Director , Alphabetically listed. Survey Week of January 2-8, 1953 A Shoulder to Weep On Be Fair Because You’re Mine—-(“Because You're Mine”.. Bye Bye Blues • Don’t. Let the Stars Get in Your Eyes' Everything I Have Is Yours Give Me Your Lips Glow-Worm Heart and Soul I’m Never Satisfied Jambalaya * Keep It a Secret - Lady of Spain Lies My Favorite Song Open Up Your Heart Outside of Heaven Second Star to the Right—(“Peter Pan”........ Sleepytime Gal Sleigh Ride Stay Where You Are Takes Two to Tango * Till I Waltz Again With You Trying * Walkin' to Missouri Winter Winter Wonderland Why Don’t You Believe Me You Belong to Me Your Mother and Mine—t“Peter Pan” .. Laurel .. Weiss-B .. Feist .. Bourne . .. Four-Star .. Robbins .. Harms ., Marks . [ Famous .. Simon H .. Acuff-R .. Shapiro-B .. Fox .. Shapiro-B .. Gold .. Longridge .. BVC . *. Disney .. Miller .. Mills .. Broadcast ,. Harman .. Village .. Randy Smith .. Hawthorne .. Remick ..BVC .. Brandom .. Ridgeway .. Disney Second Group A Millon Tears Jubilee Blues in Advance Hollis - ^ Even Now Pickwick Half as Much Acuff-R e Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me Mills How Do You Speak to an Angel—*“Hazel Flagg”... Chappell I Went to Your Wedding St. Louis Meet Mister Callaghan Leeds Mister Tap Toe . Montclaire My Baby’s Coming Home Roxbury Never Smile at a Crocodile Disney Nina Never Knew • Jefferson Oh Happy Day BVC Somewhere Along the Way .’ ...United That’s What Makes Paris Paree—t“April in Paris”.. Harms Thumbalina—t“Hans Christian Andersen” Frank To See You ... ^ Burvan Two Other People Chappell Walkin’ My Baby Back Home DeSylva-B-H Whisp’ring Serenade , Chappell Wonderfdl Copenhagen-1“Hans Christian Andersen” Frank Yours ..Marks Top 10 Songs On TV o Because You’re Mine—t“Because You’re Mine”.... Feist Blue Tango Mills Don’t Let the Stars iff Your Eyes Four-Star Glow-Worm Marks Make It Soon ; Santly-J My Lady Loves to Dance United Takes Two to Tango '. ,. Harman Why Don’t You Believe Me Brandom You’ll Never Get Away .... Bourne Yours ; Marks FIVE TOP STANDARDS Carolina in the Morning T Green Eyes * Oh You Beautiful Doll Tea for Two * There’s a Small Hotel w c t Filmusical. * Legit musical . Witmark Southern Remick Harms Chappell