Variety (May 1956)

MUSIC USRiEfr Wednesday, May 23, 1956 Jocks , Jukes and Disks -By HERM SCHOENFELD- Doris Day: “Whatever Will Be, Will Be”-‘Tve Gotta Sing Away These Blues” (Columbia). A sim¬ ple, captivating song from the current Paramount pic, “The Man Who Knew Too Much,” adds up to a potent entry by Doris Day. Lyric has a neat philosophical peg while the melodic line is lilting throughout. Flip is a good blues number in a traditional groove. Patti Page: “Allegheny Moon”- “The Strangest Romance” (Mer¬ cury). “Allegheny Moon” is tailor- made for Patti Page, a slow-tem- poed ballad with immediate appeal via this lucid rendition using the multiple-dubbing voice technique. It could be Miss Page’s biggest side in some time. “The Strangest I ’n’ Roll Ruby” is a listenable take¬ off on the current music fad, played without the usual noisy at¬ tack. Buddy Merrill handles the vocal assignments, on both sides competently. Henri Rene Orch: “Maria”-“Ta- quito Militar” (RCA Victor). “Ma¬ ria,” theme from the film, “The Man With The Gray Flannel Suit,” is a fine instrumental tastefully or¬ chestrated under Henri Rene’s ba¬ ton. Merits attention from jocks looking to spot class material. Flip is a colorful showpiece in a Latin groove. Della Reese: “Headin’ Home”- “Daybreak Serenade” (Jubilee). Della Reese is a powerful stylist who can handle varied tunes with Album Reviews Best Bets DORIS DAY.WHATEVER WILL BE, WILL BE ( Columbia) . I've Gotta Sing Away These Blues PATTI PAGE ..... . ALLEGHENY MOON ( Mercury ) ... The Strangest Romance KAY STARR .SECOND FIDDLE (RCA Victor ) ... Love Ain’t Right LAWRENCE WELK and his CHAMPAGNE MUSIC (Exclusively on Coral) 248th Consecutive Week Aragon Ballroom—Ocean Park, Cal. ABC-TV—Sat. 9-10 P. M. EDT Sponsored by Dodge Dealers of America Romance” is a more pretentious .'ballad also with commercial chances. Kay Starr: “Second Fiddle”- “Love Ain’t Right” (RCA Victor). As a followup to her click “Rock V Roll Waltz, Kay Starr has changed pace with "Second Fid¬ dle,”' a good ballad idea with a “Tennessee Waltz” flavor which the songstress belts effectively. Joe Reisman’s background lends an important assist. Flip is a so-so up-tempo novelty. Gordon MacRae: “One Misty Morning”-*! Asked The Lord” (Capitol). Gordon MacRae’s fail¬ ure to come up with a big disk re¬ mains one of those show biz en¬ igmas. A solid stylist with legit pipes and with plenty of exposure via his film and tv roles, he hasn’t made a comparable dent in the pop field. But he could make it big with either! of these two sides. “One Misty Morning” is a class ballad which MacRae projects to the hilt, while the reverse is ,an- nother likely pop religioso. Lawrence Welk: “It May Be Silly”-“Rock ’n” Roll Ruby” (Cor¬ al). Two more typically pleasing iby the Lawrence Welk organiza¬ tion which doesn’t try to knock anyone over, but manages to come up with a consistent brand of mass entertainment. “It May Be Silly” is a, hillbilly-type novelty with some uncomplicated humor. “Rock equal authority. In “Headin’ Home,” she is a standout blues shouter on a suitable number for the genre. She switches moods on “Daybreak Serenade” to render this lovely ballad with appropriate¬ ly soft mood and phrasing. Marion Marlowe: “Ring, Phone, Ring”-“The Hands of Time” (Ca¬ dence). "Ring, Phone, Ring” is a compelling, offbeat dramatic opus with a strong lyric, in fact, too strong in. spots. It’s an unusual piece of material which could be a big hit for Marion Marlowe and Archie Bleyer, who’s billed for his snapping fingers. “The Hands of Time” is more standard fare for the songstress, a nice ballad with a wholesome lyric. Larry Wagner Orch: “Caribbean Cocktail”-“Two Left Feet” (For¬ est). This is a solid entry from an indie label. It’s straight music, with no gimmicks, but imaginative¬ ly presented by batoner Larry Wagner. “Caribbean Cocktail” has a catching flavor, abetted by a wordless chorus, while “Two Left Feet” is a humorously swinging piece. Both rate jock spins. Buddy Hackett: “I Used to Yate Ya”-“The Songs My Mother Used To Sing To Who” (Coral). Buddy Hackett should return post-haste to his Chinese dialogs. He’s way out of his element on this disk. “I Used To Yate Ya” is an okay dialect novelty, but not Hackett’s cup of tea. Flip is completely weird, an attempt at nonsense comedy that doesn’t come off at all. Johnny Carroll: “Wild Wild Women”-“Corrina, Corrina” (Dec- ca). This is Elvis Presley’s respon¬ sibility. Johnny Carroll is the lat-- est entry into the frenetic school of song selling. There’s no deny¬ ing the frenzy and if there’s enough room for a couple of Pres¬ leys, maybe Carroll can fill the berth. “Wild, Wild Women” is wild, while “Corrina” is hardly an improvement. Reelect Celia AFM Prez In Philly, With Rival Bd. Philadelphia, May 22. Romeo Celia was reeelected president of Local 77, American Federation of Musicians, by an overwhelming majority last week. Celia was named to his first two- year term in 1952, but tapped with him were an opposition executive board and slate of officers. In the recent election Celia was opposed by his vice president, Fred Calabrese, and won out by a tally of 1,368 to 555. A. A. Tomei, incum¬ bent secretary, was defeated by Celia’s running mate, James P. Perri, 1,259 to -651. Others named were Charles Musumeci, vice president; Charles McConnell, assistant secretary, and Louis Schvom, treasurer. “Ella Fitzgerald Sings The Cole Porter Song Book” (Verve). When Ella Fitzgerald was with Decca Records, one of the best things she did was her album of Gershwin tunes. Now with Verve, she has a standout set of Cole Porter tunes, a collection of great standards which she executes with her flaw¬ less timing and subtle jazz shad¬ ings. Not only does she do the w.k. choruses but she throws in the lesser known verses on numerous tunes. Buddy Bregman batons a neatly swinging orch for the back¬ grounds and always maintains a proper balance in favor of the vo¬ cals. The double 12-inch set con¬ tains 32 Porter songs and three lin¬ ers by Don Freeman, Fred Louns- berry and Norman Granz. Harry Belafonte: “Calyps o” (RCA Victor). Since Calypso tunes comprise an important part of Harry Belafonte’s concert routine, a collection of native Caribbean numbers was a natural for a wax package by this popular disk name. As usual, Bela¬ fonte pitches up stylized ver¬ sions which are a blend of the arty -and the folk for a slick, catching quality. Tony. Scott’s combo with Millard Thomas on guitar and the Norman Luboff chorus on one number give attractive accompani¬ ment to Belafonte, who has made good use of the multiple-dubbing technique here for the harmony ef¬ fects. Robert Maxwell: “Hi-Fi Harp” (MGM). One of the top practition¬ ers of the harp in the pop field, Robert Maxwell has whipped up a colorful assortment of sounds for an amusing platter layout. Max¬ well has included several stand¬ ards, such as “I Got Rhythm,” “Cymana,” and “Pavanne” with a flock of original numbers with zany titles like “Injury Music For Football Games,” “Accidental Slin On an Oriental Rug,” “Stompin' At the Stork Club,” etc. P Lester Lanin Orchestra (Colum¬ bia). In this area of rock ’n’ roll the musical .genre known as “so¬ ciety music” doesn’t get much pro¬ minence on disks even though it still has plenty of playing time at hotels, parties, weddings, etc. In this set, Lester Lanin’s orch, one of the top names in this field dishes up a sampling of a musical idiom which hasn’t changed much over- the past couples of decades and thus has a rather quaint, if not corny, sound. This, however, is highly danceable music with a dominance, almost a monotony, of the fast foxtrot tempo. Pat Boone: (Dot). Pat Boone is another of the young pop singers promoted to the album class. Set is mainly a rehash of his single clicks and will appeal mainly to those who want an LP memento of the Boone styling. In the pack¬ age, of course, are such items as “Ain’t That A Shame,” “Ge« Whittakers,” “Tutti Frutti,” etc. A flock of fine jazz albums have hit the market recently, including collection of old sides by Thelonius Monk, one of the earliest avant- garde jazz names, on the Blue Note label ... A less esoteric jazz al¬ bum headed by another fine mod¬ ern jazzman, trumpeter Joe New¬ man, has been released under the rather too clever title, “I Feel Like A Newman,” by the Storyville la¬ bel . . . In the swing band groove, George -Siravo batons a neat session for Kapp Records, while on the Fantasy label, Pete Terrace quintet dresses up some interesting jazz (Continued on page 73) '^‘RfETY 1# Best Sellers on Coin-Macliines HEARTBREAK HOTEL (9) 3. IVORY TOWER (5) 4. BLUE SUEDE SHOES (10) STANDING ON THE CORNER (2) 'POOR PEOPLE OF PARIS (14) . .. 9. WAYWARD WIND (1) . . 10. HAPPY WHISTLER (2) 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. * Legit music&l. t Film, ti TV, Survey Week of May 11-17, 1956 Birds And The Bees—1“Birds And The Bees”.Gomalco Born to Be with You ...Mayfair Brazil .Southern Can You Find It In Your Heart.Witmark Dance If You Want to Dance .Herbert Flamenco Love...BVC Heart of Paris.Wood Hot Diggity.Roncom I Could Have Danced All Night—*“My Fair Lady”. Chappell It Only Hurts for a Little Whlie . .Advanced I’ve Grown Accustomed—+“My Fair Lady” ... r... Chappell Ivory Tower.Morris Magic Touch .Panther Moonglow—1“Picnic” .Mills Moonglow-Picnic—i“Picnic” .Mills-Col. Mr. Wonderful—*“Mr. Wonderful” .Laurel Never Let Me Go—v“Scarlet Hour” .Famous On the Street Where You Live—*“My Fair Lady”. .Chappell Poor People of Paris .Connelly Port-au-Prince .'..Marks Portuguese Washerwoman .Remick Searchers—t“Searchers” ...:.Witmark Serenade—t“Serenade” .Harms Somebody, Somewhere—*“Most Happy Fella” _Frank Standing On the Corner—*“Most Happy Fella” .. Frank To Love Again—i“Eddy Duchin Story” . .Columbia Pic Too Close for Comfort—*“Mr. Wonderful” .Laurel Too Young to Go Steady—*“Strip for Action” ....Robbins Wayward Wind. Warman What a Heavenly Night for Love.Tee Kaye • Without You .Broadcast Top 30 Songs on TV Gogi Grant . ERA ■ Don Robertson . Capitol Second Croup CHURCH BELLS MAY RING.. Diamonds HOT DIGGITY Kamonds . Mercury Perry Como . Victor wnv no roATn «... ( Teen-Agers ....Gee WHY DO FOOLS FALL IN LOVE ..<| Gale Storm . Dot l Diamonds . Mercury LISBON ANTIGUA.... \ Nelson Riddle . Capitol \ Milch Miller . Columbia JUKE BOX BABY. Perry c omo . VJctor CAN YOU two IT IN YOUR HEART ..... Tony Bennett ........Columbia ■ WALK HAND IN HAND . Tony Mar(in . ROCK ISLAND LINE . Lo.mie Do negan . London A TEAR FELL ... Teresa Brewer .Coral ROCK AND ROLL WALTZ.•.. Kay Starr . Vjctor j [Figures in parentheses indicate number of weeks song has been in the Top 101 (More In Case of Ties) A Handful of Rice .. .Springfield Birds and the Bees—i“Birds find the Bees”.Gomalco Blue Suede Shoes .. Hi-Lo-H&R Bo Weevil.*..ReeVe Brazil .Southern Can You Find It in Your Heart.Witmark Charleston Parisien...Duchess Dance On .Southern Great Pretender.Panther Heartbreak Hotel .Tree Hot Diggity .’..Roncom I Could Have Danced All Night—*“My Fair Lady” Chappell In a Little Spanish Town .Feist In a Grown Accustomed—*“My Fair Lady” .Chappell Ivory Tower...;.. Morris Juke Box Baby . Winneton Lazy River .Peer Moonglow—t“Picnic” ..’..’Mills Moonglow-Picnic—“*Picnic” ...Mills-Col. Pic Moritat—*“Three Penny Opera” .Harms Mr, Wonderful.—*“Mi\ Wonderful” ....... .Laurel On the Street Where You Live—*“My Fair Lady”.. Chappell Picnic—t“Picnic” .Columbia Pic Play for Keeps .Korwiri Poor People of Paris.*.Donnelly Rock Island Line .Hollis Standirfg on the Corner—*“Most Happy Fella” ....Frank Sweet Heartaches .Pincus To Love Again—t“Eddy Duchin Story” .Columbia Pic Too Close for Comfort—*“Mr, Wonderful” .Laurel What a Heavenly Night for Love .......Tee Kaye