Kraft Music Hall: Selected Performances 1935-1936 (JSP Records, 2015)

The fine British reissue label JSP Records just released a single-CD collection of rare Kraft Music Hall broadcasts from the mid 1930s, the scarcity of which is well known to serious Bing Crosby fans. I recently published the following review of it in my classic jazz website, The Vintage Bandstand, and I now reprint it here because it also belongs in this blog.

The new JSP Records release, Kraft Music Hall: Selected Performances 1935-1936, is an unexpected but wonderful surprise for all Bing Crosby fans and collectors, which I have just received from the International Club Crosby. Although the medium of radio was of paramount importance in Crosby's meteoric rise as a multimedia star in the 1930s, unfortunately not too many broadcasts from this early period of his career have survived. As the subtitle of this disc ("Lost radio recordings rediscovered and released here for the first time") suggests, this compilation attempts to fill that void by presenting material from early Kraft Music Hall programs that have not been heard since they first aired in 1935 and 1936. At that particular point in time, December of 1935, Crosby's old boss, Paul Whiteman, was still the host of KMH, and the singer was simply a guest on the program. While the show was broadcast from New York, Bing's segments were relayed from Hollywood, as we can hear on the first track of this album, which has Whiteman introducing Crosby, who was not backed by Whiteman's outfit but by the excellent, swinging Jimmy Dorsey orchestra. It appears that it was common practice for Crosby during his guest spots to sing a medley of songs associated with him or taken from one of his then-current movies, as well as a few tunes that he had introduced or helped make popular, such as "On Treasure Island," "Red Sails in the Sunset," "Dinah" (unfortunately sans the Mills Brothers here), and "After You've Gone." As John Newton observes in the liner notes, Bing sings the romantic ballad "I'm Yours," which "fits neither category, but is nevertheless a welcome addition" and would later be beautifully recorded by Dean Martin.

Jimmy Dorsey leads the band on these shows

These performances are not interesting merely because of their rarity, but rather because they prove that Crosby was a master interpreter of popular song who was even more exciting, jazzy, and improvisatory when he was singing to a radio audience in front of a microphone and supported by a bandleader of the caliber of Jimmy Dorsey. On the December 26, 1935, broadcast, which includes a rather sleepy version of "I Get a Kick Out of You" by Kay Weber that sounds as though she were not getting any kicks out of singing the song, it becomes clear that Crosby is acquiring more protagonism, since he sings more numbers than on previous programs. In fact, come January 1936, Crosby began to host the KMH himself, quickly turning it into one of the most popular radio shows in the country, with a weekly listenership estimated at dozens of millions. From the first two shows hosted by Crosby we get some fantastic performances of songs like "Eeny-Meeny-Miney-Mo," "I'll See You in My Dreams," "A Little Bit Independent," and "Some of These Days," still backed by Dorsey, who would remain on the show until July 1937. This new release complements JSP's very recommendable 2007 four-CD set, The Vintage Years, which included broadcasts made between 1932 and 1950, featuring some interesting duets with Judy Garland and Jimmy Durante, and will delight Crosby fans for the scarcity of this type of material and also for the fact that it is up to the usual audio restoration standards of the fine British reissue label.

AFRS Basic Music Library Plus Philco Radio Time (Sounds of Yesteryear, 2013)

In the 1940s, the Armed Forces Radio Service (AFRS) began what was known as the Basic Music Library, a series of transcription discs containing different types of music (jazz, pop, classical, country and western, religious, &c.) to be used by the network. Some artists made special recordings for this library collection, but many of the tracks preserved on these transcription discs came from radio shows. By this time, Bing had long been established as a top radio entertainer, and so his work is well represented in the AFRS Basic Music Library, most of his contributions originally broadcast on the Kraft Music Hall show. This is precisely what this recent release from the British label Sounds of Yesteryear includes: 17 tracks from AFRS transcription discs with the October 15, 1947, edition of Bing's Philco Radio Time show thrown in for good measure.

As one would expect, the song selection includes hits of the day ("Going My Way," "Too-Ra-Loo-Ra-Loo-Ral," "San Fernando Valley," "People Will Say We're in Love") along with older tunes that Bing enjoyed to sing on the KMH show ("Always," "Put Your Arms Around Me, Honey," "Please") and duets with Eugenie Baird, Trudy Erwin, and the Andrews Sisters. It's always a treat to hear Bing's versions of other artists' hits, as in the case of "Dearly Beloved" (from a Fred Astaire movie), "It Could Happen to You" (from a then-current film starring Dorothy Lamour), and "Wait for Me, Mary" (a chart hit for Dick Haymes). The AFRS transcription discs have also preserved several medleys that give Crosby the opportunity to revive some of his earlier successes, such as the songs from his 1936 movie, Pennies from Heaven, and "An Apple for the Teacher," the latter sans Connee Boswell on this occasion. As usual, there are a couple of tunes that, in my opinion, are below Bing's talent: "Good, Good, Good," a duet with the Andrews Sisters, is an example of this. Dinah Shore guests on the Philco show, which appears here as a single 23-minute track, and she gets to sing the beautiful "I Wish I Didn't Love You So" (a song associated with both Shore and Vaughn Monroe) and even duets with Bing on "Your Flop Parade."

Eugenie Baird

Overall, this is an enjoyable CD, with good sound and some very interesting material, as is usually the case with compilations culled from Crosby's radio appearances. Unfortunately, the liner notes by Michael Highton aren't very extensive, but then not all labels can be compared with Sepia, whose CDs are impeccable when it comes to packaging and notes. In any case, it looks like Sounds of Yesteryear is planning to release more collections like this one (in fact, a second volume is already available as of this writing) which will be welcome additions to the shelves of any serious Bing Crosby fan.

TRACKS: Going My Way / September Song / Dearly Beloved / It Could Happen to You / Always / Too-Ra-Loo-Ra-Loo-Ral (That's an Irish Lullaby) / Medley: One Two Button Your Shoe - So Do I - Skeleton in the Closet - Pennies from Heaven / Medley: The Funny Old Hills - You're a Sweet Little Headache - I Have Eyes to See with / Medley: An Apple for the Teacher - Still the Bluebird Sings - A Man and His Dreams / Put Your Arms Around Me Honey / Along the Navajo Trail / San Fernando Valley / Good, Good, Good (That's You, That's You) / People Will Say We're in Love / Nevada / Please / Wait for Me, Mary / Philco Radio Time Oct. 25, 1947: Where the Blue of the Night - Kokomo, Indiana - Almost Like Being in Love - I Wish I Didn't Love You So (voc. Dinah Shore) - Your Flop Parade (with Dinah Shore).

Bing Crosby in the Hall (Sepia, 2013)

Today I am republishing here a review of the excellent Sepia CD Bing Crosby in the Hall that I wrote for the Amazon.com website and originally published here upon the CD's release. At the end of the piece I called for more releases like this one, and it looks like some record companies must have been listening (or so I like to think...) because three more compilations of tracks from Crosby's radio shows are slated to be issued in November. Hopefully they will be as interesting as this one from Sepia!

TRACKS: Josephine / Call Me Up Some Rainy Afternoon / One Song / The Umbrella Man / Penny Serenade / I Get Along without You Very Well / Honolulu / You're the Only Star in My Blue Heaven / I Wonder Who's Kissing Her Now / Scatter-Brain / Looking at the World through Rose-Colored Glasses / (Back Home Again in) Indiana / I Thought about You / Ma! (She's Making Eyes at Me) / Angel in Disguise / Let's Be Buddies / Because of You / Everything Happens to Me / I'll Be with You in Apple Blossom Time / You'd Be So Nice to Come Home to / Hit the Road to Dreamland / I've Got Sixpence / How Sweet You Are / The Surrey with the Fringe on Top / Saturday Night (Is the Loneliest Night of the Week) / Magic Is the Moonlight / My Dreams Are Getting Better All the Time / It Might as Well Be Spring / Doctor, Lawyer, Indian Chief / G'Bye Now.

Connee Boswell sang with Bing on the KMH

It was with a great deal of excitement that I recently received this new Sepia release from the International Club Crosby, to which I have belonged for a while now. To any Crosby fan, this is a very attractive release, since it includes 30 rare recordings from Bing's legendary Kraft Music Hall radio show. Crosby hosted the program between 1936 and 1946, and during his ten-year tenure, his voice and personality turned it into the most popular show in the nation. The show itself was based on a then revolutionary concept: music interspersed with comic banter and skits, with different celebrity guests every week. It was the perfect setting for Bing's laid-back persona and easy, almost nonchalant approach to the vocal art. The Kraft Music Hall turned Bing Crosby into one of the most successful radio stars of the 1930s and 1940s.

Besides his own recordings, Bing usually performed the popular songs of the day and old evergreens on the Kraft show, and the producers of this excellent CD have had the good sense to offer tunes that Crosby, despite his mammoth recorded legacy, never cut commercially. Gently and ably backed by a studio orchestra conducted by his longtime associate John Scott Trotter, Bing delivers each number in his own personal way, each track showing how perfect his warm baritone was for the medium of radio. On the Kraft Music Hall, Bing was often given vocal support by groups such as the Music Maids and the Charioteers, and over the years, he had outstanding duet partners by the likes of Connee Boswell, Eugenie Baird, Mary Martin, and Marilyn Maxwell, to name but a few. In my opinion, Boswell, a fine solo singer as well as a successful recording artist with the Boswell Sisters, was one of Bing's best duet partners, and she is featured on several tracks on this CD, notably on a delightful version of Matt Dennis's "Everything Happens to Me," which in this case includes some very funny specialty lyrics.

Inevitably, some of the material that Bing sang on the Kraft show was not up to the high standards of his own talent, but he never fails to put across even weak songs such as Kay Kyser's "The Umbrella Man." It is hard for me to name favorites on this CD, since every track is interesting for different reasons, and Bing's interpretations are always appealing, whether he be singing a ballad or an uptempo number. However, highlights of this compilation definitely include "I Get Along Without You Very Well" (written by Hoagy Carmichael), "I Thought About You" (a classic from the pen of Johnny Mercer), the old favorite "Looking at the World Through Rose-Colored Glasses," "Indiana," "You'd Be So Nice to Come Home to" (written by Cole Porter), and a wistful version of "It Might as Well Be Spring." Incidentally, this radio version of Mercer's "I Thought about You" certainly rivals Frank Sinatra's classic rendition on his Songs for Swingin' Lovers album. Crosby also tackles Sinatra's early hit "Saturday Night (Is the Loneliest Night of the Week)" with conviction and turns in lovely readings of "Because of You" (which would become a big hit for Tony Bennett in 1951), Cole Porter's "Let's Be Buddies" (in a duet with Connee Boswell), Gene Autry's gentle country ballad "You're the Only Star in My Blue Heaven," and Irving Berlin's rather obscure early composition "Call Me Up Some Rainly Afternoon."

An ad for the Kraft Music Hall radio show

The excellent British label Sepia has collaborated closely with the International Club Crosby for this release, and the illustrated booklet that accompanies the CD includes well-written, informative liner notes by Malcolm Macfarlane, editor of Bing Magazine, complete with a brief discussion of each of the tracks. Considering the age of these recordings, preserved on 10- and 12-inch acetates stored in John Scott Trotter's cellar and later transferred to tape, the sound quality of the CD is magnificent and has been efficiently restored. This is yet another oustanding Crosby release from Sepia that will definitely make Bing fans like me very happy. Hopefully it will sell well enough that the label will decide to turn 'Bing in the Hall' into a full-blown series like their Through The Years batch of releases. There certainly is enough material to grant such a series, and we would all benefit from it.