Variety (November 1955)

50 MUSIC U&RIETr Wednesday, November 2, 1955 Jocks, Jukes and Disks -By HERM SCHOENFELD— Don Cherry: “Band of Gold”- “Rumble Boogie” (Columbia). This is Don Cherry’s best entry in some time. “Band of Gold” (which to¬ gether with the recent “Cross of Gold,” adds up to a big free plug for the jewelers' industry), is an excellent ballad which Cherry pro¬ jects with sock commercial impact. Kit Caran, for Capitol Records, also has a solid reading, of this number. “Rumble Boogie” is an okay standard rhythm item in a boogie-woogie format. Eydie Gormc: “Sincerely Yours”- “Come Home” (ABC-Paramount). bluesy pipes. Reverse is a more conventionally styled ballad. Allen Swift: “Johnny Podres Has A Halo ’Round His Head”- “Tem¬ per Is A Terrible Thing” (Jubilee). Maybe some Brooklyn fans will buy this “Johnny Podres” tribute which, in actuality, is a bigger plug for the N. Y. Yankees, because, ac¬ cording to this tune, it took a real miracle to beat the Yanks. In any case, it’ll be a greater miracle if this side is a hit. Reverse is an¬ other piece of special material without much to recommend it. Leroy Holmes Orch & Chorus: “The Japanese Farewell Song”- Best Bets DON CHERRY _ ( Columbia ) . EYDIE GORME _ ( ABC-Paramount ) HAMISH MENZIES ( Kapp ) . DORIS DAY.i.. ( Columbia ) ...... TERESA BREWER . (Coral) .. .BAND OF GOLD .. ....Bumble Boogie .SINCERELY YOURS . Come Home ..SKYE BOAT SONG ,... Over The Sea to Skye .. . JIMMY UNKNOWN . Ooh Bang .SHOOT IT AGAIN .You're Telling Our Secret Album Reviews Eydie .Gorme, a fine songstress who has been around on a couple of other labels without being able to break through with that big hit, rates a change of luck with her debut disk for the new company, ABC-Paramount Records. “Sin¬ cerely Yours,” title song from the Warner Bros, pic, is an attractive ballad which Miss Gorme handles with effective simplicity. It could stay around a long time. “Come | Home” is a fair torch ballad. Hamish Menzies: “Skye Boat Song”-“Over The Sea To Skye” (Kapp). This is an unusual two- sided presentation of the same number featuring Hamish Menzies on a piano solo with chorus on one deck and his vocal on the other. Sides have a highly melodic lilt which stands up under repeated spins. Big potential. Doris Day: “Jimmy Unknown”- “Ooh Bang” (Columbia). “Jimmy Unknown” is a good ballad with an offbeat, idea. Doris Day delivers it in her most effective style and could ride this one among the frontrunners. Flip is a snappy nov¬ elty item also with a hefty com¬ mercial punch. Teresa Brewer: “Shoot It Again”- “You’re Telling Our Secret” (Coral). With a benefit of a na¬ tional video plug on the “Steel Hour” show, Teresa Brewer’s “Shoot It Again” is due to make some noise. A novelty rhythm tune with a happy beat and a fair lyric, number gets a strong push by Miss Brewer’s bright workover. Flip could be the sleeper. It's a ballad that may give Miss Brewer chance to duplicate her click on “Till I Waltz Again With You.” Stan Wilson: “They Call The Wind Maria”-“0 Ken-Karangae” (Clef). “They Call The Wind Maria,” a standout oatune, makes an excellent showcase for Stan Wilson, Coast singer-guitarist with an attractive folk quality in his pipes. Version merits plenty of spins while the flip is a change-of- pace African calypso tune which Wilson swings. Joe Reisman Orch & Chorus: “Robin Hood”-“His Name Was Judas” (RCA Victor). Joe Reisman, one of the. more talented disk ar¬ rangers now around, has come up with a stirring version of “Robin Hood,” a tune which is trying to duplicate the “Davy Crockett” saga on wax. The lyric is slanted for the kids who may find the message on the flip tune a bit too adult. In fact, this coupling of a juve tune with the two-timing yarn in “His Name Was Judas” would be equiv¬ alent of pairing “Davy Crockett” with “Frankie and Johnnie.” U Johnny Desmond: “Ballo/ Itali V ano”-“Sixtcen Tons” (Coral). “Bal¬ lo Italiano” is a lovely ballad which can take its place among the top of the flock of Italo numbers which have hit the market in recent years. Johnny Desmond gives it a superb workout. “Sixteen Tons’ is a catching number. Adrienne Kent: “I Like It" “Without You” (York). “I Like It” is a smart song smartly done by Adrienne Kent. It’s a solid piece of material, perhaps best suited for nitery performances. Miss Kent delivers it with the right kind of “Until” (MGM). Leroy Holmes has a pretty ballad in “Japanese Fare¬ well Song,” a tune in a quasi-Ori- ental idiom that lends to the ap¬ peal. It could be a big one... Flip is a swinging side with a fine orch and choral treatment. Charity Bailey to Decca Charity Bailey, who conducts a Sunday ayem show on WRCA-TV (N.Y.) for kids, has been signed by Decca Records for juve.platters. Her first sides will have the same title as her video show, “Sing A Song,” and Miss Bailey will be accomped by the group of juves who appear on the program series. BETTY BENNETT'S ATLANTIC SET Hollywood, Nov. 1. Betty Bennett cut a 12-inch LP for Atlantic Records, using ar¬ rangements by Andre Previn, her husband, and Shorty Rogers. Pack¬ age is divided between numbers with a woodwind background and tunes with a jazz backing. Previn wrote the former, utiliz¬ ing woodwinds, a harp and a rhythm section. Wemar Sues Meridian On 'Pledging My Love’ Wemar Music filed suit against Meridian Music for an alleged in¬ fringement of ‘ its tune “Pledging My Love” in N. Y. Federal Court last" week. Wemar claims that on Jan. 15 it made an agreement with Lion Musical Publishing Co. to receive a 50% interest in the tune for lining up a top'pop artist to wax it. Wemar also claims giving Lion a $500 advance on royalties. Plaintiff claims that Teresa Brewer was secured to wax the song for Coral as well as other pop artists. The complaint alleges that the copyright was secured on Jan. 31 and charges that Meridian infringed on the tune and that Lion, in violation of the agree¬ ment, assigned the publishing rights to Meridian. Goldsen Inks Hawaiian Hollywood, Nov. 1. Music publisher Mickey Goldsen returned from a Hawaiian trek with a new tunesmith in his stable. Goldsen signed Alvin Kaleolani Isaacs, cleffer of the Nat (King) Cole disk “Nalani,” to a contract with Criterion Music. While in the islands, Goldsen also, recorded several sides of Hawaiian music for his indie diskery, Cri¬ terion Records. RCA Victor’s packaging of the late Glenn Miller’s Army Air Force Band broadcast tapes of the 1943-44 wartime years into a de luxe five 12-inch LP set continues the phe¬ nomenal post-mortem boom in the late bandleader’s diskings. It’s the third such multi-platter set to hit the market in the last few years and this one should parallel the sales marks hit by its predecessors. Working with a large crew of top¬ flight sidemen (recruited and paid for by Uncle Sam), Miller obtained a big sound in a swinging frame¬ work that, in many respects, make this package superior to the previ¬ ous Miller sets. Among the vocal¬ ists working for this outfit were Johnny Desmond, Ray McKinley, Artie Malvin and Carmen Mastren, with Desmond handling most of the assignments. The repertoire covers the w.k. standards (“Don’t Be That Way,” “Star Dust,” “My Ideal,” “Suddenly It’s Spring,” etc.); the songs of that era (“Pistol Packin’ Mama”), and some war- inspired numbers “Over There,” ‘There Are Yanks,” “The G:I. Jive,” etc.). Good geographical notes by George T. Simon and photos of the Miller band are in¬ cluded in the leather-bound set, which has a “wild blue yonder” j art motif.. - Jeri Southern: “The Southern Style” (Decca). Coast thrush Jeri Southern, who plays a solid piano, is excellently showcased in this collection of tunes. Miss Southern’s delicate phrasing and stylistic simplicity give her renditions a distinctive quality which already has come to the attention of the jazz cognoscenti. Fortunately, the backgrounds ift this LP are simple, with Miss Southern accompanying herself with the help of a rhythm combo. Billie Holiday: “Mdsic For Torch¬ ing” (Clef). When Billie Holiday is in good form, she undoubtedly ranks among the three or four top jazz stylists since the birth of the blues. In this latest album, Miss Holiday has hit the mark-and the result is as overpowering in its dramatic- impact as anything she’s .done. Miss Holiday, backed by an able group of sidemen, delivers such oldies as “Come Rain or Come Shine,” “Ghost of a Chance,” “I Get A Kick out of You,” “Isn’t It A Lovely Day” and others. How¬ ever, the candid photos on the cover back are n.s.g. Jo Stafford: “Happy Holiday” (Columbia). With Christmas a short time off, release of holiday albums is being stepped up. Columbia has a highly pleasing one in this collection of Xmas pops, traditional and old folk songs de- Rvered in lucid style by Jo Stafford with able backing by Paul Weston’s orch and the Stajrlighters, a vocal ensemble. Set ranges from, “March $ the Toys” to “I Wonder As A Wander,” a beautiful folk religioso Jazz m every idiom continues to roll off the presses. Among the latest top releases are collections of recent vocals made by' Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald packaged by Decca under the titles of “Satchmo Sings” and “Sweet and Hot.” Also in the jazz vocal vein are sets by. A1 Hibbler in his familiar style for Marterry Rec¬ ords and by Jane Fielding, a Coast songstress, for Jazz: West, the lat¬ ter introducing a promising per¬ former. In the instrumental vein the J. J. Johnson-Kai Winding combo has a' superb modern jazz session for Columbia under the title of “Trombone For Two.” With a more pyrotechnical display of their instruments, trumpeters Roy Eldrige and Dizzy Gillespie team up on a “Roy and Diz” set for Clef, In the big band genre, there’s "Lionel Hampton’s Big Band” on Clef and a collection of oldies by the Woody Herman orch, “Wood- chopper’s Ball,” for Decca, an ex¬ cellent reissue. PSkiett 10 Best Sellers on Coin-Machines ^^ 1. AUTUMN LEAVES (5) . 2. MOMENTS TO REMEMBER (7) .. 3 LOVE IS A MANY-SPLENDORED THING (8) 4. HE (3) 5. SUDDENLY THERE’S A VALLEY (4) 6. YELLOW ROSE OF TEXAS (13) . 7. SHIFTING, WHISPERING SANDS (2) 8. ONLY YOU (3) . 9. I HEAR YOU KNOCKIN’ (1) 10. LONGEST WALK (9) .... Second Group . Roger Williams .Kapp t . Four Lads . Columbia J ( Four Aces . Decca ; ( Don Cornell .. Coral (Al Hibbler . Decca ‘\ McGuire Sisters . Coral f Julius LaRosa . Cadence + . -( Gogi Grant . Era 2 [Jo Stafford . Columbia + ( Mitch Miller . Columbia ’ \ Johnny Desmond . Coral $ Rusty Draper . Mercury ' \ Billy Vaughn . Dot -f f Platters . Mercury . -{ Lola Dee ... .Wing [Hilltoppers . Dot . Gale Storm..... . Dot . Jaye P. Morgan .. Victor 4- BLACK DENIM TROUSERS SEVENTEEN .. WAKE THE TOWN AND TELL THE PEOPLE TINA IWARIE . . ... BIBLE TELLS ME SO. f Cheers . Capitol «■ ' \ Vaughn Monroe . Victor ( Fontane Sisters .Dot < ’ . -J Boyd Bennett ... King - - \ Rusty Draper . Mercury ( Les Baxter . Capitol * ’ 1 ( Mindy Carson . Columbia - » . Perry Como . Victor <« . Wing . Coral AIN’T THAT A SHAME MY BOY FLATTOP .... CROCE DI ORO ...... YOU ARE MY LOVE ., AT MY FRONT DOOR fFigures in parentheses Indicate number of weeks song ( Nick Noble .. * \ Dick Cornell . j Pat Boone . Dot . Fats Domino . Imperial \ Ronnie Gaylord . .Wing . Boyd Bennett . King f Patti Page . Mercury l Joan Regan... . . London Joni James . MGM £ (Pat Boone... .Dot ( El Dorados . Vee-Jay has been in the Top 10] 'Jerome Kern Song Book’ Readymade for Xmas One of the handsomest Xmas gift potentials is “The Jerome Kern Song Book,” jointly pub¬ lished by Simon & Schuster with the T. B. Harms Co. at $7.50, edit¬ ed and with an introduction and text by Oscar Hammerstein 2d, and includes the words and music of 50 best beloved Kern songs. Most prolific of Kern’s lyric collabora¬ tors, even exceeding P. G. Wode- house and Guy Bolton of the early Princess Theatre (N. Y.) days, has been Hammerstein himself, whose lyrical -flights have made as warm an impact on the world as Kern’s music. Parring Hammerstein’s prolific output is the equally liter¬ ate Otto Harbach, and in fact both have collaborated on many a Kern tune. To “review” such an attractive package calls for little gilding of the lily. In truth, Kern's melodies already have been most indelibly written on the minds ’ and warm memories of millions who have been exposed to his operettas. But it is fitting that this little anecdote, from Hammerstein’s text, cap off this record. It has to do with the sad news that a man had been stricken on Park Ave. near 57th St. in the late fall of 1945 and had been taken to the N„ Y. City Hospital at. Welfare Is¬ land. Only an ASCAP card helped the police identify him. Says Ham¬ merstein : “He lay unconscious, in the same institution in which Stephen Fos¬ ter had died. The critical nature of Jerry’s condition did not per¬ mit his removal to a private hos¬ pital. He was in a ward with some 50 or 60 other patients— mental cases, drunks and derelicts for the most part. The doctors had gathered this heterogenous group together and explained to them slowly and clearly who the new patient was, and asked them to be very quiet and not create the usual disturbances that character¬ ized this room. Not one man dis¬ obeyed. The nurse in charge did not go home that night. She ex¬ tended her duty for that day to 24 hours. When Mrs. Kern expressed her gratitude, the nurse answered simply that he had given so much pleasure to her and to the world that she thought she would like to" give up something for him. It was clear to us all that special considei’ation and loving care were being granted this man in a public hospital not because he was wealthy or powerful but because he had devoted almost all his lifetime to giving the world something it needs and knows it needs—beauty.” Hammerstein has broken up the Kern cavalcade into three seg¬ ments. Part I is the Princess The¬ atre and up to “Sally” and “Ka- Lu-A.” Part II covers “the new team” (Harbach, Hammerstein, et al.) and Part III, “The Movies,” when he took up residence on the Coast and collaborated with sun¬ dry lyricists while writing for the new filmusical vogue. It’s a handsome, nostalgic, per¬ sonalized Hit Parade, between hard covers, with full piano ar¬ rangements, for anybody’s library or Steinway. Abel.