Dec. 6, 2024

Make Believe Ballroom - 12/6/24 Edition

Show Notes
Transcript

On this week's Make Believe Ballroom broadcast on member supported Jazz 90.1 in Rochester, NY, and on other fine radio affiliates across the United States as well as in the United Kingdom – how a song gave a morale boost to WWII airmen, two musicians with great performing longevity, a long forgotten record label, listener emails and requests - this and many more great records to enjoy on the show!

WEBVTT

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It's make Believe ballroom time.

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Put all your cares away.

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All the bands are here to bring good cheer your way.

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It's make Believe ballroom time and free to everyone.

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It's no time to friend your Dalis.

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Said Bamba.

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Yours.

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Close your eyes and visual lie in your solitude.

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Your favorite bands are on list Dance and Mister Miller.

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But you're in the mood.

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It's make believe ballroom time.

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We are of sweet romance.

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As you make it.

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Come on, Joe, Last Dance.

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Last, Hi, folks, I'm Jeff Presler, turning on the lights

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of the Make Believe Ballroom and welcoming you into my

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crystal studio for another program of the great hits of

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the nineteen thirties and nineteen forties. I'm hosting the show

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to keep the music in traditions of past hosts Martin

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block Al, Jarvis William B. Williams, and the legendary Steve

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Allen alive. Whether you one of my longtime listeners or

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perhaps a new listener today on public broadcasting or community

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radio stations across the United States as well as in

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the United Kingdom, please grab your dance ticket. It's free

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and let's listen to some wonderful big band era music.

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Hello world, and from coast to coast on stations like

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Jazz ninety point one WGMC in Rochester, New York, another

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fine public university and community radio stations. Welcome, Welcome, Welcome

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to the Make Believe Ballroom, and thanks for joining me

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this hour as I share some wonderful swing, jazz and

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big band music and many of the stories behind the

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records and the personalities who recorded them. I hope you're

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having a great day, and I know this one will

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make your day achieve perhaps a new level of greatness.

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Lucky Millinder with his Mills Blue Rhythm Band jammin for

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the Jackpot on Variety Records at least in nineteen thirty seven.

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Let me play one more then I'm going to tell

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you a story of how a song during World War

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Two assisted American air power. And for that one more

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song before that story. Looking at the playlist here, why

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don't I stick with Lucky Millinder and the Blue Rhythm

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Band any.

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Friends? Man?

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I never heard.

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That happened. They're going Nowhere, Run Nowhere.

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The Mills Blue Rhythm Band with a two named red

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Rhythm band leader Lucky Millinder, recorded by Columbia Records in

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nineteen thirty six. Friends, I'm Jeff Wrestler, and you're listening

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to the one, the only the original Make Believe Ballroom

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broadcast Home was continuously a minus a gap here or

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there since February of nineteen thirty five. And I told

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you before Lucky that I was going to speak about

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American air power during World War Two. Well, in September

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of nineteen forty two, there was a pilot by the

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name of Lieutenant Philip Fisher, and he was in command

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of a brand new B seventeen bomber. And as was

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the case with many bomber crews, Fisher and his men

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had the opportunity to vote among themselves for what name

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they wanted for their bomber. I think many of you

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have seen pictures or seen movies of World War Two

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where various aircraft had names up in the front. We

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might have seen the movie Memphis Bell or certainly, like

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I said, seeing some World War two film or photographs. Now,

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during the war, the United States Army Air Force actually

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they encouraged that practice and they felt that it was

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good for morale. Well, the crew of Fishers B seventeen,

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they bandied about some names for a while what to

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name the aircraft, and they came up with a few,

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and then they cast their votes on those names, and

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the name that won out for the aircraft was Jersey Bounce. Now,

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also in nineteen forty two, Benny Goodman and his orchestra

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recorded this.

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Song Anybody, any l.

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Anybody d A A A.

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M and.

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Nation even.

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No.

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I just played Jersey Bounce by Benny Goodman and his orchestra.

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Jersey Bounce, in my humble opinion, was far and away

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Benny's most popular instrumental hit of the nineteen forties. It

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spent twenty weeks in the national top ten, six of

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those weeks peaking at number two. But curiously enough, Jersey

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Bounce never made it to number one for Benny. So

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the question at hand, though, is was the Tenant Fisher

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naming of his B seventeen bomber a result of the

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Goodman hit, or conversely, was Jersey Bounce written to honor

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the B seventeen bomber The Jersey Bounce. Well, I'll answer

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that question because airman in their free time, had the

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benefit of listening to records of the top big band

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hits of the day, and one of those popular hits

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played over and over again in recalls across the world

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during World War Two was Jersey Bounce. It was so

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well liked that Fisher and his crew did indeed name

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their bomber Jersey Bounce in honor of that song. An

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interesting tale of a World War two bombers naming inspiration. Now, folks,

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another band that did their part during World War I

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two through their music was a group led by the

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McFarland Twins. May not be familiar with them, so I'll

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tell you about them in just a little while. But

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first let's listen to their World War two call to action.

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Hey, Hazy, the countries calling in John, about the way

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the world is rollin, leave the farm tomorrow and all.

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We got to win this.

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Gosh, don for Hazy.

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The bugle's blowing.

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I go in.

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You're stacking him going guess the old America mine?

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We got to keep that by gone.

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Hide, hurry up, gather up, Hiram and Rube. Ain't got

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no time to lose. Whip them up, trip them up,

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don't be a booth.

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And by cracking the boys in TACKI I'm waking down

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an zacky.

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Hey, sick the countries call him, call them whom the

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country side, for them to fall in, leave the farm

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tomorrow and more.

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Until we when this gush time wars.

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Hey see your country's calling. Ain't you heard about the

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way the world is falling?

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Leave the farm too, more and ball.

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We got to win this gush dann wark.

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Hey, if you'll go blowing pack away you stackle here again.

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I calling and kiss the old gray mare goodbye.

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We got to get that fly on tine.

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Sir, We up together, up, harrim and rule.

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Ain't got no time to lose. Whip them up, trip

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them up.

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Don't be a.

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Ball and by cracking the boy said Khaki, wacking down

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the night.

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Hey see your country's calling calling through the countrysidelemen to falling.

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Leave the farm to more and ball until we went less.

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Gush darn war.

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Goodbye.

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On Bluebird Records, hayes Zeke Your Country's Calling by the

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McFarland Twins and their orchestra vocals by a young Don Cornell,

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Betty Norton and the Norton Sisters and Chorus, recorded in

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New York City, January the twenty third, nineteen forty two.

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So who exactly were the McFarland Twins. Well, the McFarland

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twins were Art and George, and they led an orchestra

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from the late thirties into the mid forties. The twins'

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music style, as you heard in hay Zeke, focused on

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a little humor, little novelty, and group vocals. It's said

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that they McFarland's took their cue from Fred Waering, for

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whom they worked as vocalists and saxophone players prior to

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forming their own band. You also get from that record

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a little Spike Jones type vibe in Hayzeke.

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Well.

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McFarland's had a brief period of popularity in the early

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forties before unfortunately losing their best singers in early nineteen

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forty two in a rapid succession. Soon after Hayzeke was released,

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Don Cornell would end up joining Sammy Kay for the

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start of an eight year stint as the featured Sammy K.

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Vocalist Betty Norton, who was also heard on the record,

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and her sisters, billed as the Norton Sisters, would later

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appear on many recordings with the extremely popular Vaughan Monroe.

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The McFarlands, though actually discovered the Norton sisters in Connecticut

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and made them famou miss So to show you the

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importance of a band's vocalist, or in this case, vocalists.

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Critics began complaining about the quality of the band's singers

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from late nineteen forty two onward. In the nineteen forties,

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you really started to see the era of the vocalist

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coming out with Frank Sinatra, where the vocalist, not the orchestra,

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was the key player. So people were much more in

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tune in the nineteen forties to vocalists that sang with

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various bands. So Cornell and Norton's departure and the lack

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of the McFarland's finding a quality vocalist forced the band

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to go into quick decline. The McFarlands made every attempt

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to revive the or especially after the war, but the

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band disappeared from the scene in nineteen forty six. I

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should have mentioned McFarland's last week when I did the

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segment on long Forgotten band Leaders but you heard them today.

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I mentioned that Betty Norton and her sisters Grace and

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Dorothy left the McFarland Twins to join Vain Monroe and

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in nineteen forty five, they recorded this popular number one.

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Hit Vanning in SI.

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No use.

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There, I said it U.

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I'm said it Wor Margan, I say, believe me, there's

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no other way I love you. I will do the

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There I've said it U.

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I tried to drama a phrase that would summer all

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that I red for. But what good of reasons? The

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all that amazes you?

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Love me and it's heving me. Forgive me.

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For wanting you soul.

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My one thing I want you to know.

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I've loved you since haven't know well. But I said

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it again. Give me wanting you so. But one thing.

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I want you to know, I love you since Heaven

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knows well.

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I said.

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There, I've said it again. By Vaughan Monroe and his Orchestra.

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Vocal by Vaughon Monroe and the Norton Sisters, recorded on

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Victor Records in nineteen forty five. I'm Jeff Bresler, and

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you're listening to the Make Believe Ballroom. If you i'd

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like to reach me, I'm Jeff at Makebelly Ballroom Radio

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dot com. That's Jeff at Makebelie Ballroomradio dot com. And

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in just a moment or two, I will read a

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few emails we have received, and you know something, As

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a matter of fact, why don't read one of those

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emails to you now? It says, dear Jeff, I enjoy

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your show and was a listener to both the William B.

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Williams and Steve Allen hosted Makebully Ballrooms on w NEW

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radio in New York. My grandfather's cousin was a gentleman

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by the name of Irving Berman. He owned many businesses

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around Newark, New Jersey, where I was brought up. He

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also owned nightclubs and a record company. He was quite

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a man. He owned two record companies in the nineteen forties,

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Records and then the more successful Manor Records. Can you

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play a song from either of Irving Berman's record companies?

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Keep up the good work and that's signed stan Stan.

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I wish you would have given us your last name

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so we could give you full credit for that email.

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But nevertheless, now for you here on the Make Believe

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Ballroom and Irving Berman production.

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I.

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For Sentimentalie.

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I hope you do believe.

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I give you my heart.

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By im along was men to be.

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Please give your love and heart to leave me and

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say will never fall.

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I think of you ally, morning.

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Dream of you all read.

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Darling.

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I'm never only.

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For whenever you are inside. I love you for sentimental reason.

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I hope you do believe I've given you my heart.

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I love you, Darling, for sentimental.

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And I swear my all stars above.

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I'll kill you my heart and old Darling.

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I need you.

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And you alone when we're meant to be.

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With me and Jimmy Turnity, and I do.

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Hope we'll never never find um.

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I think of you Avery, morning.

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Dream of you, Darling.

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I'm never.

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Whenever you're inside Center ma Reson.

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I hope you do.

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I've given you.

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On Irving Berman's Manor Records, Sentimental Reasons by Dike Watson

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and his Brown Dots, recorded in nineteen forty five, and Well,

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it was more than a year later that the song

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became a mainstream hit, that due in large part of

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the chart topping version by Nat King Cole and the

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King Cole Trio. You know, if you listen to music

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of the nineteen thirties and forties, I think you hear

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this similarity in that record to the Ink Spots.

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Well.

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Dike Watson indeed was a member of the Ink Spots

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and he left the group due to some legal issues

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he was having with Inkspot member Billy Kenny. And I'm

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not going to bore you with the details, but the

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legal problems involving Watson actually did not involve the name

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Brown Dots, which sounds so much like ink Spots, But

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the lawsuits and the legal issues rather involved Billy Kenny

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and some of the management folks of the Ink Spots.

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But nevertheless, I thank you Stan for your wonderful email

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involving the manor record label.

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Once in a while, will you try to give one

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little thought to me.

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Nor someone else may be nearer your hall? Once in

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a war, will you dream of the moment's eyes shared

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with you, moments.

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Before we two drifted a fall.

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In love.

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Smoldering emberor once smark may remain, if pove still can remember,

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the spark may burn again. I know that I'll be

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contented with yesterday's memory.

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Knowing you think of me you Once.

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In a War.

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On Bluebird Records, we just heard Once in a While

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by Us Nelson and his orchestra vocal by Harriet Hilliard,

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recorded in Hollywood, California, November second, nineteen thirty seven. And

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of course Ozzie Nelson was married to Harriet Hilliard and

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they had two sons, Ricky and David, and became one

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00:34:20.079 --> 00:34:25.159
of the most popular TV sitcom families in history with

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their nineteen fifties and into the early nineteen sixties show

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The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet Folks. If you listened

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to last week's broadcast, I spent almost the entire show

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playing music from long forgotten band leaders, and I briefly

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mentioned that when I talked about the McFarlane twins. The

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show was about band leaders who were hot for brief

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periods during the big band ere and then fell into

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00:34:56.400 --> 00:35:00.039
obscurity over the years. But I want to play a

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record now from a bandleader who was actually little remembered,

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but he certainly didn't fade at all into obscurity. As

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a matter of fact, his career lasted over forty five years.

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I'm talking about the Portuguese parented, Brooklyn raised pianist and

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bandleader Vincent Lopez.

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The Game.

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From nineteen thirty nine, Swinging.

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With the Goon.

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What a name for a record, Swinging with the Goon,

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Vincent Lopez and his orchestra. And I think that recording

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I didn't have a note in the playlist about it.

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But if I recall that wasn't from a record, but

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was from an early soundy film. But Vincent began leading

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his own dance band in New York City in nineteen sixteen.

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He really made history, though using a new medium. A

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few years later, on November the twenty seventh, nineteen twenty one,

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Vincent Lopez's band began broadcasting on the radio. The band's

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weekly ninety minute show on the Newark, New Jersey station

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wjay Z boosted the popularity of both himself and equally

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as important that of radio. He became one of North

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America's most popular band leaders and would retain that status

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through the nineteen four He began his radio programs by

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announcing Hello everybody, Lopez speaking, and Lopez's flamboyant style of

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piano playing was said by both Eddie Dutchin and Liberachi

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to greatly influence those two greats. Lopez continued to make records,

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but he really found his sweet spot in a contract

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that he signed back in nineteen forty one, Vincent Lopez's

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orchestra began a residency was supposed to be a few

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week long residency at the hotel in Manhattan, and little

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did Lopez or the hotel realize at the time that

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that residency would last for twenty five years. Vincent Lopez's

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theme song was a tune named Nola, let me play

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that one for you now.

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Contact Contact the Real, Compact concln scan, a cop Contact, Mico,

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Contact Reconditors.

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A cop in the complet Mico, Micom Contactor, dit A Coal, Compact.

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Conversion, the contract contact persons contact the contact Contact.

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Take contact a contract.

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We can.

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Contractor contact contractor Compact connect contritt Contactor.

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That was a swing era update of the famous Lopez theme,

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which he had initially recorded in nineteen twenty two for

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both Okay and the Edison Record companies. This one was

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on Bluebird Records. Nola Vincent Lopez and his Suave Swing

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Orchestra Vincent Lopez on the Piano, recorded in Hollywood, January eighth,

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nineteen forty Vincent Lopez here for you on the Make

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Believe Ballroom, and I hope you're enjoying today's show, and

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I invite you to enjoy past radio programs. In the

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series one hour stations are finished playing the first run

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00:43:34.480 --> 00:43:38.800
of its programs, we then transfer them into podcast form.

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And you could find those shows about four years worth

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00:43:42.360 --> 00:43:47.000
at make Believe Ballroom podcast dot com. That's MakeBelieve Ballroom

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00:43:47.079 --> 00:43:51.559
podcast dot com. Or you can visit your favorite podcast provider,

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whether that be Apple, Spotify, iHeartRadio. We're in all of them.

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And keep on saying that I'm going to post a

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radio show from beyond that four year period, and I

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will when I can find some copious free time to

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clean up the sound on those and repost them. A

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lot of those were live programs, and well I have

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00:44:18.039 --> 00:44:21.639
like third generations, but nevertheless, I have to clean them

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up and hopefully within the next several months we can

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00:44:25.199 --> 00:44:29.400
post more programs from the past. And you know, in

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my copious free time here between records, I was thinking

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of Vincent Lopez and his longevity and the music business,

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and that brought to mind another popular piano player and

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band leader, that being one Frankie Carl. Frankie Carl's career

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spanned almost seventy years. His first professional job, just as

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Vincent Lopez's, came back in nineteen sixteen. He worked in

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00:45:01.400 --> 00:45:05.000
his uncle's band, and his uncle paid him a dollar

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a week. Perhaps a dollar a week was generous back

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in nineteen sixteen. I'm not one hundred percent sure, but

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00:45:13.719 --> 00:45:19.519
in nineteen thirty six Carl joined New England's Mal Hallett

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and his band. When Hallett's orchestra broke up in nineteen

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00:45:24.679 --> 00:45:29.760
thirty seven, Frankie Carl led his own regional outfit around

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00:45:30.199 --> 00:45:33.800
New England, but his big break came in nineteen thirty

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00:45:33.920 --> 00:45:39.039
nine when he joined Horace Height, gaining exposure on Heights

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00:45:39.199 --> 00:45:44.679
national radio program. Frankie Carl quickly became popular for his

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piano style and he found himself in big demand. So

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00:45:50.239 --> 00:45:54.360
how much demand? Well, in nineteen forty one recently drafted

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00:45:54.519 --> 00:45:58.079
Eddie Dutchen, who had such great respect for Frankie Carl

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00:45:58.800 --> 00:46:02.719
asked Frankie to take over his orchestra for a twenty

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00:46:02.840 --> 00:46:06.320
five percent of the gross while he was away. And

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let's remember Eddie Dutchin was very popular in the nineteen

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00:46:10.480 --> 00:46:14.599
forty so that would amounted to a nice chunk of change.

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00:46:15.559 --> 00:46:20.639
When Carl mentioned it to Horace Height, he offered Frankie

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00:46:20.920 --> 00:46:25.480
a huge at that time thousand dollars a week plus

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00:46:25.920 --> 00:46:31.559
five percent of the gross. So obviously Carl decided to

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stay on with Horace Height and a while with Heidi

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00:46:36.280 --> 00:46:41.920
also made solo piano recordings to a pad his earnings.

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In October of nineteen forty three, Frankie finally left Horace

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00:46:47.199 --> 00:46:49.599
Heid and he went out on his own to a

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00:46:49.719 --> 00:46:54.719
successful career that lasted for several more decades. Here's one

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00:46:54.880 --> 00:47:58.920
from Frankie Carl and his orchestra, The Jack.

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00:47:58.840 --> 00:48:04.519
FROs Cadlock Scared Loss, Little Jack Bros cat loss. You

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00:48:05.079 --> 00:48:07.920
don't do a thing but put the bite on my toes,

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00:48:08.519 --> 00:48:11.519
freeze up the ground and take the bloom from the rose.

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So little Jack Frost go away, go away, and don't

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you come back on holiday. There's lots of gold feed.

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00:48:20.519 --> 00:48:22.000
All the lobers complaints.

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00:48:22.519 --> 00:48:26.480
You turned off the heat Dona lovers Lane. The bench

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in the park is all alone in the dark. So

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00:48:29.760 --> 00:48:34.480
little Jack Frost at lost, head lost, Little Jack cross

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00:48:34.599 --> 00:49:14.559
head laws all Little Jack Bross go away, go away,

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and don't you come back on holiday. There's lots of

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00:49:19.440 --> 00:49:23.280
gold beat all the lovers complain you turned off the

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heat on the lover's lane. The bench in the park

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is all alone in the dark. So little Jack Bross

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get lost, get lost, Little Jack Brost get lost.

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Make Believe Ballroom - 12/6/24 Edition

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