Variety (October 1954)

128 MUSIC New York Eydie Gorme repacted to Gen- eral Artists Corp. for another three years' . , Rrisemarie, nifery. comedienne, teaming with lyricst Leo Robbins' sister Ruth as song- writing duo . Danny Winchell began a week’s engagement at the Sans Souci, Miami, yesterday (Tries.) . . Chuck Darwin back in town after an extended Detroit stayY He’s now managing blues singer Carolyn Hayes and rhythm & blues combo The Four Jokers . . . Georgie Shaw currently, at . Chubby’s, Camden, N. J. ... Bill Farrell holds Over at, the Cabin Club, Cleveland, until Oct. 25. He opens at the Flame Show Bar, De- troit; Nov. .1 . .Karen Chandler, Coral Records thrush, slotted for a profile' in Cosmopolitan mag’s December issue Jack Plcis, Decca Records’. musical director, heading for the Coast, to join MiU Gabler, diskery’s a&r chief, on. some recording sessions . . . Mar- tha G’Taser, Erroll Gamer’s mana- ger, due back in town this Week from Detroit . . . Bob Anthony inked to a three-year personal management deal by Jolly Joyce. Crooner recently sold two masters to MGM Records . . Bob Stewart into the.Pelham Heath Inn Friday (22) for a three-day. stand . . Joni James pegged for the Town & Country Club, Brooklyn, Nbv. 5 and a return date the following week (12) . . Betty Madigan opens at the Boulevard, Queens, Nov. 5 . The Smith- Bros., Label X combo, and Giiiny Gibson, MGM Records’ thrush, put on a two-hour show for the Red Feather Cam- paign in Teaneck, N, J., last week (13) Verna Leeds back in town after a dee jay trek, through the midwest . . . A1 Morgan set for the Seven Seas, Omaha, N6v. 12-25 ... Mitch Miller, Columbia Records’ a&r chief, back at his desk this Week after a 10-day hiatus in Mexico. London Sarah Vaughan stars at a concert at the Royal Albert Hall, London, Oct. 24, with Coleman Hawkins, Il- linois Jacquet and orch , . . The dispute, between the Musicians Union and bandleaders Eric Win- stone and Billy Ternent has ended amicably . . Canadian Singer, 20- year-old Stephanie Wise, signed up to sing with the Oscar. Rabin Band at the Lyceum, Strand, within 24 hours of arriving in Britain... Songstress Eve Boswell, who col- lapsed while rehearsing for a re- cent BBC “Forces Show,” has been ordered to take a complete rest, and has cancelled variety dates at Edinburgh and Newcastle . , Harry Roy to lead a speciality quartet at the Cafe de Paris. Qhicagp Ted Lewis takes over Edge water Beach floor Nov. 5 for two weeks ... . Eddy Howard slated for month . at Aragon Ballroom begin- ning Nov. 12, and followed by Chuck Foster Dec. 25-Feb. 18 . . . Don Reid band reorganizing . in November when maestro’s vocalist- spouse, Gwen Parke, recovers from childbirth. String of one- niters. are set for late November and orch takes over Rice Hotel, Houston, Dec. 3 for four-week en- gagement . . . Ralph Marterie set for Melody Mill, Chi, over Thanks- giving week and again for t\ie four-week Christmas period . . . Ernie Rudy playing fortnight at Aragon beginning Oct. 26 . Salt Lake City Five taking over Crest Lounge, Detroit, Nov. 2 for two frames. Pittsburgh Johnny Pineapple's band and show open an engagemeht tonight (Wed,) at the Bali-Kea . . Reid Jaynes, pianist, into the Belmont Bar in Dormont for a run . . Bill LeRoy's band, landed Homecoming Ball at Slippery Rock State Teach- ers College . . George Kramer, Pitt student and member of the university’s. marching band, added to Baron ERiott trumpet section . . Deuces Wild held over ut Sun- rise Inn .Mambo-rumba show featuring the. Joe Loco Quintet booked for one-rtight at Syria Mosque, Oct. 29 > . Jack'Purcell orch played Governor’s Ball at Pennsylvania. State Kiwanis Club convention. Purcell’s a- Kiwaniah himself . . Jack Mahony combo in Cuddle Brendel’s Northside spot for a stay .. • . Herman Middleman’s orch staying on at Colonial Manor . Bill Owens on sax and Red French on drums back in -Howdy Baum’s pit band at the Casino, lo- cal burlesque house which has re- opened after an eight-month shut- down . . Marty Fallon foursome back into the' Bali-Kea following the Jack Teagarden booking. San Francisco Rudy Salvini debuting a hew big band at the Bermuda Palms Hotel in San Rafael . . the Four Fresh- men due at Fack’s Nov. 8. The Kings Four closed after a success- ful month the Modern Jazz Quartet returns to the Black Hawk Nov. 10 for a second stand. .. Marnbo U.S.A. concert package of- fered for the Bay Area Nov. 19-20 . . . George Shearing opens at the Black Hawk Nov. 26 for 10 days. Omaha Freddy .Martin orch to play Ak-Sar-Ben Ball Saturday (23)... Jerome Clines, Metropolitan Opera basso, Opened Sioux City, la., sym- phony orch’ concert series Sunday (17). .Rise'Stevens will end sea- son there March 27 . ; “Grand Ole Opry” unit featuring Little Jimmy Dickens, Johnny Johnson aind Marty Robbins played City Aud here last night (19),.with door price set at $1.50 . . . Pianist Alex- ander Brailowsky to open Omaha Symphony concerts Nov. 1-2 . . . Millard Musil orch playe.d Hangar Dance at Sidney, Neb., Airport be- fore capacity turnout . . Robert Shaw Chorale (29) and concert en semble (13) drew sellout crowd at Central High Aud here . . . John Beecher orch featuring vocalist Sue Morris , . . Marian Anderson booked for Oberfelder Celebrity Series at Denver’s City Aud Feb. 19 . . Music Box here, trying Latin Nite's, featuring Sal Costro combo. Yiolinist Jascha Heifetz will have a new accompanist for the coming season,, in Brooks Smith. Young pianist made his debut in 1950 at Town Hall, N. Y. Heifetz’s coast to-coast concert’ tour will start in January. ASSOCIATED BOOKING CORPORATION JOE G LASER, Pres. Nt‘.v York j Chicago j Hollywood ■’■o 7)f : I A» i- PI 9.1600 | ?03 No Wabash | 8619 Sunset Blvd. I^&RIC^rY .Wednesday, October 2 Q, ,1954 ' i " ■ 1 E i. ■ .ii A i !'■. i ' - ■■ - i . ■ - . p «■ - . • Best British Sheet Sellers (Week ending Oct. 9) London, Oct. 12. V Things Mean a LritRobbins Goins in Fountain . . Feist My FriendChappell Hold My Hand ........ Wood Cara Mia . .Robbins Smile ... . Bourne Story' of Tina- Macmelodies Must Be a Reason.. Connelly I Give My Heart ... Robbins Gilly Ossenfeffer, ...A .Spier Sway .. ....... .Latin American Little Shoemaker .Bourne Second 12 Sky Blue Shirt. Wright Happy Wanderer Bosworth My Son Kassner Never Land.... Keith Prowse Make Her Mine . Wood Sh-Boom ..Aberbach West of Zanzibar ..Bluebird This Ole House. .Duchess Wait For Me . . Lafleur Secret Love.. Harms-Cohnelly Young At Heart Victoria Heart of My Heart . F.D.&H. Now Set for Comm’l Sale Hollywood, Oct. 19. Programs of Hollywood’s Hymn & Hangover Society, the informal choral group consisting of some of the be^t known names in the music business, will be available commer- cially on records next year for the first time. Outfit has pressed one LP, which Decca turned out on a gratis basis about two years ago, and the platters are distributed to guests in homes where the, choris- ters make their annual appearances. In \the past, recipients have made donations to the Michael Burke Foundation, named for the late son of Decca’s Coast recording director Sonny Burke, which purchases cardiograph equipment for hospi- tals. Next recording, however, will be etched independently and then of- fered to the majors as a package for distribution. Proceeds would continue to go to the charitable causes which have benefited in the past from the work of the purely volunteer group, formed almost ac- cidentally after a festive Thanks- giving • songfest at Burke’s home eight; years ago. Members Of the group, work for several different record companies. No difficulty is anticipated, how- ever, in obtaining releases to per- mit them to function as members of the group, now known more sedately, as “Voic'es of Christmas.” Les Brown (Coral) is conductor and Vic Schoen (Decca) is arranger and baritone. Capitol is also rep- resented via Margaret Whitings who sings alto, and other members include Eileen Wilson, Axel Stor- dahl, June Hutton and Lucy Ann Polk. Group also includes saxist Stumpy Brown; Mr. and Mrs. Bob Breckner (he’s KTTV program di- rector), actor Ray Kellogg and composer Jeff Clarkson. More Cartoon Songs «. Vinton, Va. Editor, Variety: Although my story in Sept. I Vabiety on songs Suggested by comic strips wasn’t represented as all-inclusive there were a couple of omissions I regret and to which I’d like to call attention. One Is “Foolish Questions,” a 1909 comic number by James Lee t rid A. Baldwin Sloafte, suggested y Rube Goldberg’s “Foolish Ques- tions” cartoon panel. The other is. “I’m the Guy,” with words by Goldberg and music by Bert Grant, which repeated many of the catch phrases, such as “I’m the guy who put the salt in the ocean,” which Goldberg had made popular. in his drawings. Perhaps some of the young oldtimers among Variety’s readers can remember when small boys wore red or blue buttons in their lapels, asserting they were the guys who put the leaves on trees or did some other remark- able feat. Goldberg also sang, -or rather re- cited a Pathe record of a connc number' written by himself, “Fa- ther Was Right.” Jim Walsh. The Tattle Tales, new vocal combtS, have been pacted to Colum- bia Records. Group's etching of “Boolya Bottin Bottin Baby (Huh?)” already-is on release. inside Stuff-Music Continued from page lfcs * . i . diate rehearsals with the girls, prior to making her debut early in the New Yoar. She told Variety that one of the reasons that decided her to leave Britain for a permanent job in the States was.the apathy of the BBC. She said that she was lucky to get a broadcast once every, few months there, whereas, in the States, she already has a string of firm radio and tv dates lined up. / • ..... • “Teach Me Tonight,” tune which Janet Brace etched for Decca some nirie months ago, suddenly came out of obscurity in recent weeks as four other labels, jumped to covet it. De Castro Sisters cut the tune for Abbott Records,. Modernaires for Coral, Helen Grayco for . Label X, and most recently Jo Stafford for Columbia. As result, Decca is reissuing the Brace biscuit, which had slipped behind in favor of her “Popcorn For You,” in order to get back into the sweepstakes. New organization for jazz fans has been set up by Howard LuCraft, former British bandleader, and sponsored by Stan Kenton. Outfit, to *be known as Jazz International, will have a monthly bulletin in which aficionados can. exchange ideas and make their voices heard in selection of music on records, in concert or on radio and. television. Lucraft has beeh 'living on the Coast for the last four years, working as an arranger and serving as rep for various jazz publications. In its recording of the original cast album of the current Broadway legiter, “Boy Friend,” done recently, RCA Victor departed from the usual practice of using a 40-piece orchestra for backgrounding. ■Instead, Victor cut with the' legiter’s 13-piece theatre crew in order to get the period flavor of* the 1920s in the. iriusical sound. Victor also cut the shoW in its 24th Street studios in N.Y., rather than its usual locale for show albums, the Manhattan Center on 34th St. The “Recorded in. Spain” label is clearly, imprinted on four more big Decca packages due for release this month. Two are by the Jose Greco dance troupe, one fagged “Jose Greco Ballet” and the other “Fiamerican Dances.” Flamenco music and singifig and castanet spe- cialties highlight the two 12-inch LP packages. Other pair, tagged “Fiesta In Madrid” and “Ole; Ole,” was cut by the Orquesta Zarzuela.^ -.i One of the early jazz musicians, portrayed on the recent CBS-TV. “You Were There’’ program on jazz, has turtied up in Washington where he has been living in retirement. He is 69-year-old Louis Mjtchell,'T'fegro drummer who introduced Jazz to Paris, arid who was portrayed on the CBS show by Cozy Cole. Mitchell, untiL fairly recently, had operated niteries in Washington, The late Walter' JDonaldson’s last unfinished melody is hitting the disk market this week via Russ Morgan on the Decca label. Tune, tagged “Whisper,” was completed by Morgan who also. collabbed with Mack David on the lyric. Morgan got the okay ,to finish the melody from Donaldson’s widow. .The tunesmith died about 10 years ago. Song is being published by Famous Music. ' Columbia Records has launched a new department to coordinate the production schedule between the Bridgeport (Conn.) plant and the homeoffice in New York. The department, which will be tagged Artist & Repertoire; Data arid Scheduling, will be managed by John Lothrop. Lothrop had been with the diskery’s recording operations division for the past five years. Report in last week’s Variety that the Norman Petty Trio has been inked by Mercury Records is denied by execs of Label X, -the RCA Victor subsid diskery. 'Combo is still on the latter company’s roster. Thrash Vema . Leeds Is promoting her new Jubilee Records tune, “Come Back,” by, distributing boomerangs to the nation’s disk jockeys. Boomerangs are miniature, but workable plastic models of the 'real thing. Mitchell Extends Brit. Trek Until December Guy Mitcheil is extending, his trek through the British Isles un- til December. Crooner began a scheduled eight-week tour of Great Britain early in May, but requests for bookings from promoters in the provinces forced the. extension. . After his return Jo the U, S. late in December, Mitchell is ex- pected to head out on a tour . of Australia and Japan. He’s slated to return to the Coast by February for the. Paramount pic, “Covered Wagon,” in which lie'll costar with Alan Ladd, Gene Krupa Trio begins a two- day stand at the State Theatre, Hartford, Saturday (23), Combo then returns to New York for a two-week engagement at .Basin Street/ which starts next Tues- day (26). THE PERFECT AFTER-VACATION SONG Sfyne and Cahn’« “THE THINGS WE DID LAST SUMMER” Styne and Cahn Music Co., Inc. WILLOSBORNE AND HIS ORCH. Now 31 it Week Now Golden Hotel, Reno Mqt. MILTON DEUTSCH A«.ther BMI *Pb Up* H» WHITHER THOU GOEST . t Recorded by les Paul a mary padb * MARION MARLOWE * • • Caplfo mita robbins ,. * • coiumbu MASS/NGILL A ORCH ' 4 • •. Vlctoi LAURIE LOMAN ./ MO,©, MORGAN * ANITA robllNml hf (RENNER MUSIC, INC C<,ll "" bl ° mm (