With Ears Averted

"Suspenders, pocket watches, sledgehammers, firearms, and booze....that's what Men are made of".

Since this Burl Ives album is "Songs For and About Men", naturally I averted my ears while recording, I ALWAYS do as I'm told. So really it's pure speculation when I say that the two songs with a band led by Tony Mottola are not half bad, but the rest of the songs are regular FOLK MUSIC, and not bawdy, and therefore shite.

I can, however, make fun of the goofy name "Burl"--someone I know & love occasionally uses the pseudonym "Burl Movement", nuff said. Oh, and fair warning....if you're on last.fm and listen to these, the thumbnail photo of Burl that comes up is him in a bathtub, in water up to his lower belly. Smokin a huge cee-gar. I can still taste the bile that rose into my throat.

Songs For and About Men - Burl Ives
Decca DL 8125

Musical Nightcap Hangover

Who is Armando Trovajoli and why does he have so much music that's still in print? I've sure as hell never heard of him, tho I wouldn't mind hearing more.

This sonamabitch album has been a burr in my backside for the past week.....I have no idea what I did to make this sound so wonky, and nothing I do seems to fix it. The harpsichord especially sounds like it's in the next zip code. Can anyone tell me? You can choose between the mono and the stereo version below--

Musical Nightcap - Armando Trovajoli

mono version

Side 1

Ponto Final
On the Street Where You Live
Gigi
Lady is a Tramp
Canadian Sunset

Side 2

Lisboa Antigiua
Love is Just Around the Corner
Kiss Me, Miss Me
Rio de Janeiro
Magic Moments

Second Base with the Oakland Acorns

No, the title has nothing to do with me sharing what I did last weekend....

If I had something as interesting on my resume as "playing second base with the Oakland Acorns" I think I would have been satisfied. But after that chapter in his life, George Williams went on to play piano with Gene Krupa, Lionel Hampton, Harry James, and Roy Eldridge before starting his own band.

And what a band it is.....Ernie Royal, Hank Jones, Charlie Shavers, Al Cohn, and Urbie Green all appear on "We Could Make Such Beautiful Music. And not to mention the pseudonymous "Often LePow", who turns out to be Seldon Powell (who I'm not familiar with, so I'll stick with the fab name Often LePow).

I like the albums that have originals instead of retreads of familiar standards, so the four that Williams penned are my favorites.

We Could Make Such Beautiful Music - George Williams and his Orchestra
RCA Victor LPM-1205

Lost in a Crowded Place

Today's album is so subtle and laid back, it practically disappears before the last note sounds. Which is probably why I have had this ready for several days and not posted it, subtlety is completely lost on me these days.

From 1956, the Barbara Carroll Trio: We Just Couldn't Say Goodbye

Bruz Fletcher

While doing research about Indianapolis banks in the 1920s for a history class I'm taking, I came across a fascinating site about Hollywood cabaret singer Bruz Fletcher. Stoughton "Bruz" Fletcher III was born March 12, 1906 (happy 104th, Bruz!) into one of the richest banking families in the Midwest. After the family fortune was lost in World War 1, Bruz moved to Hollywood and became part of the "Pansy Craze". where his witty and brash lyrics made him the darling of both both gay and straight audiences. You can hear some of his music here, courtesy of Andrea at Twindowlicker and this YouTube post.

Pass the Bromo, Here Comes the Mummers Parade

Joe Ferko's String Band was formed in 1922 to perform in the Mummer's Parade, held each New Year's Day in Philadelphia. At the time this album was released in the late fifties or early sixties, the band had won first prize twelve times.

Can you imagine listening to this with a hangover?

Happy Days Are Here Again - The Ferko String Band
Alshire Records S-5325

Prancing with the Pokeberry Promenaders

I'll bet you did not know that there are additional verses to "San Antonio Rose" that reference do-si-does and allemande left-ing. I know this is a fact because I heard it on Square Dance with Calls, by Lawrence Loy with Wilbur Waite's Pokeberry Promenaders. And would Lawrence lie to me? (Bob Wills: "AAH-haaaaaah!")

Square Dance with Calls - Lawrence Loy with Wilbur Waite's Pokeberry Promenaders
Harmony HL 7035



This is how I look in most photographs of me, which is why I avoid having my picture taken:

Learn to Dance the Cha Cha with Tony & Lucille

Today, we will learn how to do the classic cha cha (side to side, not back & forth, whatever that might mean) from Tony & Lucille, who were the dance instructors at Grossinger's for many years. A Commentary Magazine article from 1954 had some great info about of Grossinger's and Tony and Lucille:

Roughly, Grossinger's is to resort hotels as Bergdorf Goodman is to department stores, Cadillac to cars, mink to furs, and Tiffany to jewelers, but only roughly. It has been called “Waldorf in the Catskills.” Yet neither the old nor the new Waldorf ever had a strictly kosher cuisine, a full-time hostess to introduce unattached guests to one another, an Olympic swimming pool, an airport, a ski slope, or champion prize-fighters training on the premises—to mention a few of the more unusual attractions.

Free elementary rumba lessons were given on the patio by the operators of the dance studio, Tony and Lucille (Tony is a dark, handsome Spaniard with a thin mustache; Lucille, his wife, a willowy blond Italian girl). These lessons were followed by a sales spiel; two well-preserved widowers told me they had spent over a thousand dollars for rumba instruction while at Grossinger's.

The entire article can be found can be found here



Learn to Dance the Cha Cha with Tony & Lucille
Fiesta FLP-1244

Guilt is a wonderful tool. KL from NYC posted a comment recently and made reference to giving some stuff to be posted on the very excellent A Basement of Curiosities. I was successfully able to bully him into feeling obligated to send ME something as well. So we can than KL for the rip, the links to the bio information, and the cleaned up album cover (which he says looked as though it had been chewed by rats....sort of the stuff I usually post for all of you). So a big THANK YOU to Mr. KL and his pug for his generous donation to this unworthy blog.

Red Hot Mama

Can we say “high maintenance”? The outfit..the Ethel Merman/Judy Garland delivery—people, she pingpongs back and forth from Am I Blue to Get Happy/Put on a Happy Face then back to Cry Me a River, one bipolar opposite to the next in a matter of minutes. I suppose that’s to be expected when you spend years working at the Red Garter Banjo Nightclub chain, as Ruth Crews' liner note bio tells us.

I figured that by the time her cover version of Bessie Smith’s Gimme a Pigfoot came around I would be trying to chew off my own leg to escape this analog bear trap, but in reality I sorta liked Ruth’s version of “Your Feets Too Big”. And “Lord I Give You My Children” was a good showcase for her reasonably talented Dixie band. Maybe I’m just hesitant to rip into this too much because this is the sort of album that six months from now, someone’s going to contact me…whether it be a grandkid thrilled to have found a copy of Nana’s missing album….or maybe a petulant “confirmed bachelor” friend who wants to take me to task for making fun of his Queen (which is why I took down most of my Rusty Warren sides). Whatever the case, Ruth Crews fan-- send me 10 clams and the album is YOURS. Make it 20 and I’ll make sure to pack it extra good.

If You Can’t Hide It, Decorate It!

Red Hot Mama Ruth Crews at Rosie O’Grady’s Good Time Emporium
Produced by Milton Troutt NR-12625