A dozen silly sides (from Harmony and Diva)

I'm finally getting around to writing again...

I've been quite busy with side projects and have had some weird problems with my scanner. It took the following picture

and promptly gave up the ghost. I've deleted, downloaded and reinstalled new software and drivers for the scanner (several times), but nothing seems to work.

So...I'll use the one picture I have for the time being. Someday, more scans will appear.

This odd old Diva 78 was part of a recent project. I was digitizing some old Columbia dime-store material...sides published under the Harmony and Diva labels (and Velvet Tone, too...but the sides included here aren't on that label). While I was recording these sides, I was struck by how many of them were of silly little novelty songs that few people remember. I thought I'd share some of the sillier ones with you...

Let's start off with the battered Diva above, shall we?

150615-3 Kitty From Kansas City Milt Coleman Diva 3185-G
http://www.4shared.com/audio/pPa8aR9L/Milt_Coleman_-_Kitty_From_Kans.html
150616-3 Around The Corner Milt Coleman Diva 3185-G
http://www.4shared.com/audio/xOZKW33X/Milt_Coleman_-_Around_The_Corn.html
NYC, 30 June 1930: Milt Coleman, vocal; unknown band.

There's an amusing film clip of Rudy Vallee singing Kitty From Kansas City here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6GHKElE2NH8.

The above pair of sides are the only electrically-recorded songs in this post. The next ten were recorded using the old acoustic method.

Here are four really odd songs by Marion Try Slaughter, better known as Vernon Dalhart. Dalhart recorded under several pseudonyms, "Al Craver" seems to have been used exclusively for Columbia's 15000-D Old Time Tunes (country) series, and the Harmony labels used Mack Allen, especially on the novelty numbers...like these:

147055-5 The Frog Song Mack Allen (Vernon Dalhart) Harmony 783-H
http://www.4shared.com/audio/nmQCzXfm/Mack_Allen_-_The_Frog_Song.html
147056-4 Sing Hallelujah Mack Allen (Vernon Dalhart) Harmony 783-H
http://www.4shared.com/audio/2WhEYiwc/Mack_Allen_-_Sing_Hallelujah.html
NYC, 4 October 1928: Vernon Dalhart, vocal & harmonica; Adelyne Hood, vocal; possibly William Carlino, banjo; unknown, guitar.

148443-1 Ain't Gonna Grieve My Mind Any More Mack Allen (Vernon Dalhart) Harmony 903-H
http://www.4shared.com/audio/5UyRaD5f/Mack_Allen_-_Aint_Gonna_Grieve.html
148444-1 King Of Borneo Mack Allen (Vernon Dalhart) Harmony 903-H
http://www.4shared.com/audio/1yKw8t00/Mack_Allen_-_King_of_Borneo.html
NYC 16 April 1929: Vernon Dalhart. vocal; Adelyne Hood, vocal & piano; unknown, fiddle; unknown, banjo; unknown (Dalhart?), whistling.

I can imagine some of my audience wondering why Harmony was still recording acoustically as late as 1929 (most of the other labels switched over to microphones by 1926 or so). It all goes back to Harmony's parent company, Columbia. In 1923, they started releasing records using their "New Process" of recording and pressing. In 1925, the New Process was already obsolete, replaced by the new system installed by Western Electric. So, rather than completely scrapping the expensive equipment that was less than two years old, the Powers That Be (er, Were) decided that the older equipment could be used to produce cheaper records for the five-and-ten-cent stores. That's why almost all of the Harmony/Diva/VelvetTone records were acoustic (although those by Annette Hanshaw and a few other artists were all electric). Finally, they switched over to electrical recording exclusively in late 1929.

144037-3 Fifty Million Frenchmen Can't Be Wrong Joe Candullo Orch Diva 2409-G
http://www.4shared.com/audio/PmA0yT7l/Joe_Candullo_-_Fifty_Million_F.html
144035-2 Go Wash An Elephant (If You Wanna Do Something Big) Joe Candullo Orch Diva 2409-G
http://www.4shared.com/audio/eUrwqp0P/Joe_Candullo_-_Go_Wash_An_Elep.html
NYC, 18 April 1927: Joe Candullo, violin & conductor; Izzy Friedman, clarinet & saxes; others (2 trumpets; trombone, 2 saxes; rhythm section) unknown; Irving Kaufman, vocal.

The vocal on Frenchmen was credited to "Pierre LaFond," but it was our old friend Irving Kaufman. I rather like the opening quote of Gounod's Funeral March For a Marionette (the theme from Alfred Hitchcock Presents) at the beginning of Elephant.

One of the most popular downloads from This Humble Blog is The Whoopee Hat Brigade by The Six Jumping Jacks, a (contractual) pseudonym for Harry Reser's band. They specialized in performing "nut jazz," silly songs with hot solos and strange instrumental effects...and most of their sides have vocals by drummer Tom Stacks.

This pair has Red Nichols sitting in:

142240-1 I'm Just Wild About Animal Crackers Seven Wild Men (Harry Reser) Harmony 193-H
http://www.4shared.com/audio/Fj8YKv7o/Seven_Wild_Men_-_Im_Just_Wild_.html
142241-2 The Lunatic's Lullaby Seven Wild Men (Harry Reser) Harmony 193-H
http://www.4shared.com/audio/yaLigWq3/Seven_Wild_Men_-_The_Lunatics_.html
NYC 24 May 1926: Harry Reser, banjo & conductor; Red Nichols, cornet; Sam Lewis, trombone; Larry Abbott. clarinet & alto sax; Norman Yorke, tenor sax; Jimmy Johnston, bass sax; Bill Wirgis, piano; Tom Stacks, drums & vocal.

Ken Gillum sings and plays another version of The Lunatic's Lullaby (complete with the verse and a second chorus!) in a 1931 The Two Daffodils radio show here....

http://randsesotericotr.podbean.com/2008/04/15/the-two-daffodils-pgm-2080/

...listen to the whole show! It's a hoot!

The Rust discographies give a generic personnel listing for the following...it's probably similar to the last record, but Nichols isn't present. Larry Abbott's comb-and-paper is quite audible, though...

143265-2 (Cock-a-Doodle I'm Off My Noodle) My Baby's Back The Night Club Orch (Harry Reser) Harmony 345-H
http://www.4shared.com/audio/mAKU9tk1/The_Night_Club_Orch_-__Cock-a-.html
143267-3 Oh How She Could Play A Ukulele The Night Club Orch (Harry Reser) Harmony 345-H
http://www.4shared.com/audio/NRVMXsiI/The_Night_Club_Orch_-_Oh_How_S.html
NYC, 6 January 1927: Harry Reser, banjo & conductor; featuring Larry Abbott, comb & reeds; Tom Stacks, drums & vocal.

Well, that's it for now...hope these sides tickled your funny bone.

Oh, I made a CD of these (and a few other amusing American records) and gave it to the British Ambassador of Mirth and Merriment, Neil Innes. I hope he and his lovely wife enjoyed some of it between gigs.

He was on an extensive tour of the States and Canada. His records (especially with the Bonzos and Rutles) have been favorites of mine for the last 35 years or so...the disc was a token of thanks for the many smiles and belly laughs this gentleman has bestowed.

That's the Ego-Warrior salute, by the way...