Musical Notes

Background information about the recordings can be found below the audio selections.

Here is a nice record from the Edward Mitchell collection featuring two songs from the 1927 Broadway production, Yours Truly.

Jean Goldkette was a Detroit-based dance band impresario whose organization secured bookings throughout the Midwest for dozens of bands he owned or managed.  He also owned venues such as Detroit’s legendary Greystone Ballroom.

Goldkette’s band on this recording features an all-star lineup of the era’s top white jazz talent, including Bix Beiderbecke on cornet, Tommy Dorsey on trombone.
Frank Trumbauer, on C-melody saxophone, Eddie Lang on guitar, and
Joe Venuti on violin.  All of the men mentioned were subsequently hired away by Paul Whiteman later on in 1927.

While it was largely forgotten by the middle part of the century, during the 1920s, George Olsen’s band was a strong rival to Paul Whiteman’s and Fred Waring’s in terms of popularity and remained very prominent on network radio into the early 1930s.  I think this recording of “Somebody Else” is very pleasant and rather charming. 

Background information about the recordings can be found below the audio selections.

From the Edward Mitchell Collection, here are two instrumental recordings by the California Ramblers.

I find “Dreaming Of A Castle In The Air” extremely charming.   The song’s composer is Eddie Ward.   My understanding is that another recording of the song, by the Ray Miller Orchestra, should also be in Eddie’s collection.  Once I locate it, I will digitize it for inclusion in Radio Dismuke as well, and possibly include it in a future blog posting.

“Smile A Little Bit” was composed by Bob Morton and Peggy Shevlin.  I find the arrangement here to be rather haunting.

As was often the case with popular songs during the era, most record labels issued at least one version of these songs.  “Dreaming Of A Castle In The Air”  seems to have been especially well-received in Germany, where it was recorded by multiple artists under the title “Mein Schloß im Mond” – including a very nice vocal version by the Austrian tenor Richard Tauber.

Background information about the recordings can be found below the audio selections.

Here is a record from the Edward Mitchell Collection of two songs that were well-known and recorded by several bands in 1927 but quickly forgotten.

“I’d Walk A Million Miles (To Be A Little Bit Nearer To You)”, composed by Gerald Marks with lyrics by Al Lewis, is my favorite of the two.

“Highways Are Happy Ways,” composed by Larry Shay with lyrics by Harry Harris and Tommie Malie, was likely inspired by a “Highways Are Happy Ways” slogan used by the Standard Oil Company of Indiana on advertisements for its Red Crown gasoline and on the road maps distributed by its gas stations.

The vocals on both recordings are provide by Scrappy Lambert.

Frank Black and His Orchestra recorded a couple of dozen or so sides for Brunswick between 1926 and 1928. Black himself was also prominent behind the scenes without label credit on many other recordings and on radio.

Beginning in 1926, he replaced Ed Smalle as the pianist accompanying the popular vocal group the Revelers.

He also directed the Victor recording sessions for the Arden Ohman Orchestra while its stars, the piano duo of Victor Arden and Phil Ohman, were busy playing the prominently featured piano passages.

During the 1930s, Black was music director for the NBC radio network, where he conducted everything from classical music with ensembles such as the  NBC String Symphony to popular music with the house bands of several NBC radio programs.

(From 1927 advertisement. Click here to view larger image)