Variety (October 1956)

MUSIC ABC-Par Wants ‘First Look’ So It May Open Pub. Co. Tendency of the music publishers to give the smaller record compa¬ nies a “lastlook” at their material may force the ABC-Paramount' label into its own publishing ven¬ ture. The diskery execs are cur¬ rently huddling on the pros and cons of- stepping into publishing on Its own. The huddles" stem from the label’s squawks that it’s not getting top material from the publishers. The label’s execs claim that the publishers make the rounds of the major companies before they hit the ABC-Paramount artists & rep¬ ertoire desk. With its own firm, says ABC-Par prexy Sam Clark, the writers will start* submitting their material to the diskery and its a&r men and artists will be able to get first crack at the new material. Lorry Raine's BMI Firm Thrush Lorry Raine is reactivat¬ ing her BMI music firm, formerly known as Metropolitan Music and now to be called Hi-Fi Songs. The firm will be run by Tim Gayle, Miss Raine’s manager-husband. re«5»anra ‘JATP’ Big $11,450, Mpls. Minneapolis, Oct. 2. Playing annual one-nighter at 5,000-seat auditorium bowl, “Jazz at the Philharmonic’’ grossed a big $11,450. House was scaled to $4.75. Low $8,000 in Hartford Hartford, Oct. 2. The Norman Gran^ “Jazz At The Philharmonic’’ grossed a so-so $8,000 in one-niter at Bushnell Memorial last week. It was the weakest draw for the aggregation in seven years. It was also the first time the unit failed to open its tour in Hart¬ ford. ._ From the Forthcoming Broadway Production jObnI ■o U&e with a GREAT SCORE by JOHNNY MERCER -j GENE de PAUL Including NAMELY YOU Recorded by DON CHERRY-Columbia JULIUS LaROSA-RCA Victor CARMEN McRAE-Decca GEORDIE HORMEL-Zephyr LOVE IN A HOME Recorded by DORIS DAY-Columbia MARIO LANZA-RCA Victor THE CREWCUTS-Mercury IF I HAD MY DRUTHERS Recorded by DON CHERRY- Columbia WALTER SCHUMAN-RCA Victor JONES BOYS-Kapp *Currerit!y SHUBERT THEATRE, Boston Oct. 23 ERLANGER THEATRE, Philadelphia, and Nov. 15—Opening at the ST. JAMES THEATRE, y.* COMMANDER PUBLICATIONS Marshall Robbins, Gen. Mgr. Bert Haber, N.Y. Prof. Mgr, Dick La Paint Jerry Johnson 1610 No. Argyle Ave. Suite 407 35 East Wacker Drive 6223 Selma Ave. Hollywood 28, Calif. 1650 Broadway, Chicago, III. Hollywood 28, Calif. New York, N. Y. • Wedneuday, October 3, 1956 Inside Stuff-Music It’s been a common intra-industry bane that whoever has best audi¬ ence identification frequently gets credit on songs beyond their true worth. It works both ways although Georgte Jessel, as a lyric writing member of ASCAP, has made it a sort of pro-wrirdsmith campaign to further the cause of the authoring half of a song collaboration. He has even written parodies on “Ol’ Man River’’ to show how Jeroma Kern’s classic would emerge as a doggerel were it not for the perfect mating of Oscar Hammersteln’s 2d’s words. But more recently two things have come to attention. One has to do with Billy Rose’s identification with the . revival of “Tonight You Belong To Me,” a 1925 copyright, for which Lee David set the tune but who somehow has continued more or less anonymous. Actually both are now partnered in the Double-A Music Corp., and Bregman- Vocco-Conn is the sales agent for the. revived tune. Rose also got credit for “Yes, We Have No Bananas” and on another occasion Lew Brown was given publicized billing for the doggerel which is actually the work of Frank Silver and Irving Cohn and .wfeieh catapulted the musicians into prominence in 1923 when it first enjoyed freak pub¬ licity. True, Silver and Cohn have been the subjects of publicity that they are one of a whole line of “one-hit” phenomena—the one-hit book writer, the one-Kit playwright, songsmith, et al. Anyway, after the double-barrelled pitch to Rose on one occasion and Brown on another, Silver wrote Variety, “I finally was foreed to dig up an old-title-page just to make sure maybe I’ve been dreaming for over 30 years that I’m the author.” “The Music Goes Round and Round,” the 1935' flash hit by Farley 8c Riley on Decca, is coming back for a new ride vfath a ,rock ’n’ roll beat. *Cab Calloway, for ABC-Paramount, and Paul Gaytan, for the Argon label, have had their versions released and other covers are already in the works. The tune, which hit the market' originally dur¬ ing the Christmas season of 1935, zoomed to the top and was probably the fastest selling sheet music seller of all time. The publishers, Santly-Joy (now known as Joy Music), sold 100,000 copies a day while the song was hot. The tune lasted about one month and the total sheet sales came to around 3,000,000 copies. The Mika Riley-Edward Farley disk for Decca also was that season's smash. Riley and Farley wrote the music while Red Hodgson is credited with the lyrics. The Carnegie Corp., in cooperation with the N.Y. -Public Library, has selected a book written by a Frenchman to represent American jazz in a collection of titles intended to show a well-balanced picture of American life. The book selected is “Jazz: It’s ■ evolution and es¬ sence.” by Andre Hodeir, published by Grove Press, English transla¬ tion by David Noakes. The book will be one of some 400 to be brought together in an “American Shelf,” which will be donated to 250 public libraries and universities in the British Colonies throughout the world. Though Hodeir is French, he is regarded as one of the most expert critics of American jaz^, , A practising musician himself, he has edited the internationally- renowned magazine J&zz-Hot Sammy Davis Jr. saa Continued from pace 84 increasing number of records like ‘Teen-Ager’s Mother” by Bill Haley —a typical example of the unin¬ telligent lyrics of rock 'n’ roll. There are many fine “young' en¬ tertainers today who are admired and . appreciated by many. They are, however, being pushed farther and farther in the background rec¬ ord-wise by far less admirable rec- • ord makers, .Much of the blame must go to the radio and tv stations who feel they need the kind of teenage following of the Presley enthusiasts. As an admirer of Ed Sullivan’s show I was thoroughly disgusted with his use of Presley. Sullivan has helped many young entertain¬ ers to fame and fortune, but my respect for him took a serious drop when he foisted the Presley vulgar mannerisms on the good taste of his regular viewers. In my opinion his regular use of this current “hit” will eventually alienate the fine fol¬ lowing he developed over the years with his previous knowledge of showmanship; within the limits of decency and respect for viewers. My compliments to Mr. Davis and his ideas. I’m sure he will get cooperation from Variety and the people he already mentioned. And I’m sure other fine entertainers such as Julius LaRosa and Dinah Shore would add considerable value to' this plan. Mrs. James Siegfried Albert Yon Tilzer " Continued from page 85 ■ the ownership of the Harry Von Tilzer music firm. After Harry had made his mark In New York as a cleffer, Albert followed him there and started writing. His first published song was “The Absent-Minded Beggar Waltz” in 1900. Three years later he went to Chicago to head up Harry’s publishing firm but stayed only a couple of years. After a short stint with Harms, back In New York, Albert formed York Music with brother Jack. “Teasin, ” was the firm’s first smash. He pioneered in the formation of ASCAP with Victor Herbert and was a charter member of the So¬ ciety. After establishing himself as a composer, Von Tilzer toured the old Orpheura Vaude circuit for isej^ eral seasons. He then’ turned to musicomedy penning such clicks as “Gingham Girl,” . “IJoney Girl,” “Adrienne,” “Bye Bye Bonnie" and “Somewhere.” Among his other song clicks were ‘Put Your Arms Around M# Honey,” “I’ll Be With Y6u In Ap¬ ple Blossom Time,” “O By Jingo," “Roll Along Prairie Moon,” “Heart of My Heart” and “Oh How Sh« Could Yacki Hack! Wackt Woo.” •In addition to Nomorth, Von Tilzer teamed with such lyricists as Arthur J. Lamb, J, Keirn Brennan, Neville Fleeson, Junie McCree, Lew Brown arid Cecil Mack. HELMUT ZACHARIAS — Decc: FLORIAN ZABACH-Moc. LEROY HOLMES - MG'.' LAWRENCE WEIK - C'-: BILLY VAUGHN - G: • Styne and Cahn s "THE THINGS - WE DID LAST SUMMER’