From the Back Room: Anita Ellis in the 40s, Vol. 1

One of the surprises in my recent post of "Buster's Back Room" of unrealized projects was the interest in vocalist Anita Ellis. So today we start a three-part series covering her work in the 1940s, with almost all of the material derived from non-commercial releases.

This first volume comes from three sources: Lang-Worth Transcriptions, a V-Disc and several Personal Albums from the Armed Forces Radio Service. There are 21 songs in all.

For these "From the Back Room" items, the transfers, etc., are prepared with the usual care, but my seemingly endless commentary may be mercifully abbreviated.

About Anita Ellis

Ellis (1920-2015) was born in Montreal but moved to Hollywood at a relatively early age. Her parents both sang (her father was a cantor), instilling a love for vocalizing in both her and her brother, Larry Kert.

Anita was singing on local radio before age 16, went to study at the Cincinnati Conservatory, and before long began singing there on a local station. She discovered her crippling stage fright during a brief period as a dance band vocalist. Thereafter the radio studio was her haven. She did quite well there, a regular both on the Personal Album programs and on the Red Skelton show, while making the transcriptions also heard in this collection.

Eventually she would work as a vocal double for the movies. That aspect of her art will be sampled in the next volume.

There's more about Ellis on James Gavin's site.

Lang-Worth Transcriptions

Anita made at least two sets of Lang-Worth Transcriptions with Mitchell Ayres' orchestra in 1945. These were all well chosen songs from the period - "Stardust," "My Heart Sings," "Stormy Weather," "You Always Hurt the One You Love," "More and More" and "Strange Music."

This collection also includes two of my own favorites: "Invitation to the Blues," by Allan Roberts, Arthur Gershwin and Doris Fisher, and "Sleigh Ride in July," by Johnny Burke and Jimmy Van Heusen. Both are rueful songs of misbegotten romance, the type of material that Ellis with her simplicity and sincerity did so well.

Mitchell Ayres

Her Only V-Disc

Although Anita did several Personal Albums for the AFRS, she recorded only one V-Disc. The V-Disc Discography speculates that this material was taken from 1945 appearances on New York's WNEW with the Merle Pitt ensemble.

The two numbers were both popular at the time - "He's Home for a Little While" by Kermit Goell and the irredeemable "Good Good Good" by Allan Roberts and Doris Fisher. (I liked their work above but not this time.)

Songs from Personal Albums

We also have 11 songs derived from various iterations of the AFRS Personal Album programs that sometimes featured Ellis.

Dennis Morgan and Anita Ellis
recording for AFRS (Morgan is not heard here)

Based on the material, my sense is that these programs date from 1944-46. I don't have any details on the accompanists.

1945 ad

The lesser-known songs are "Tonight I Shall Sleep with a Smile on My Face" by Duke Ellington, Irving Gordon and Mercer Ellington, and Alec Wilder's "I'll Be Around" - and the latter is not all that unknown.

Otherwise we have "I'm in the Mood for Love," "Shoo Shoo Baby," "I Never Mention Your Name," "I'll Be Seeing You," "Blue Skies," "Can't Help Lovin' That Man of Mine," "More Than You Know" and "Summertime."

Anita is in excellent voice throughout these programs, and sings all numbers with a high degree of artistry. 

After some tinkering, the sound through this set is quite good, regardless of source. That said, the pitch from the transcriptions and Personal Albums was often questionable; I've adjusted it.

LINK

Buddy Clark on OKeh, Columbia and Varsity

Buddy Clark

My friend Morris asked me to transfer a batch of Buddy Clark records - ones that are not often encountered. Not that you find too much of the singer's output around these days, save for his late 40s Columbia hits such as "Linda" and "I'll Dance at Your Wedding." Too bad - I consider Clark one of the finest pop vocalists of the last century.

Clark's career began in the 30s as a band and radio vocalist. He made some recordings early on for Vocalion and other companies.

Today's selections begin with two songs Clark did for the Varsity label in 1939. "In an Old Dutch Garden" is a Mack Gordon/Will Grosz song from Earl Carroll's Vanities. "Leanin' on the Old Top Rail" is a Nick and Charles Kenny song recorded by both country and pop artists in 1939 and later years.

"In an Old Dutch Garden" was also included in a batch of Varsity singles I uploaded several years ago. That bundle also includes a bonus of a 1936 Melotone single of "Lost" and "The Touch of Your Lips."

Clark moved on to the OKeh label in 1941 with a revival of "Lamplight," an attractive song that its composer, James Shelton, introduced in the 1934 revue New Faces. The flip side, "G'bye Now" comes from the long-running Olsen-Johnson revue Hellzapoppin'. The writers were Sammy Fain and Charles Tobias.

Also on OKeh were the great Martin-Blane song "Ev'ry Time" from Best Foot Forward. It was backed by "It Happened in Hawaii," which had the remarkable bad luck to come out in early December 1941, just before the attack on Pearl Harbor.

After war service, Clark joined the main Columbia label. I believe that all the songs on that label in this group were recorded in 1947. The first effort is "I'm Waiting for Ships that Never Come In," a nice tune by Abe Olman and Jack Yellen that was seemingly inspired by "I'm Always Chasing Rainbows" from 1917 - which was definitely "inspired" by Chopin.

On the other side, Buddy covers Bing's version of "The Emperor Waltz" from the film of the same name. And yes, it is a vocal version of the waltz by Johann Strauss II, and no, the new lyrics aren't very good, e.g., "Deep in your heart, joy seems to dwell / Like poets say, it's perfectly swell."

For these and the other Columbia singles below, Mitchell Ayres leads the orchestra, unless otherwise noted.

Recording with Mitchell Ayres

Showing his versatility, Clark then turns to the catchy Latin tune "It's Easy When You Know How," where he is paired with Xavier Cugat. He even brings the bandleader in for a brief vocal interlude, but Cugie should have stuck to waving a baton and holding a Chihuahua.

"I'm a Slave to You" is a good if formulaic torch song that Mitchell Ayres had a hand in. The other side of the single is the soupy "Where the Apple Blossoms Fall," backed by organ.

Billboard ad from December 1948

I posted the final coupling on my singles blog several years ago, but here in a new transfer are "Gloria" and "The Money Song." Leon René's "Gloria" became a doo-wop favorite in the 1950s, but in 1948, it was a pop song recorded by a number of crooners. "The Money Song" came from the Harold Rome revue That's the Ticket, which closed in Philadelphia before making it to Broadway. You may have heard the Dean Martin-Jerry Lewis version of the song. If so, don't be put off by that monstrosity. Clark does much better by this mock calypso. On both songs, he is backed by the Modernaires and the Skylarks.

These discs are from my collection, and all are in vivid sound. See my other blog for a new post of the four Clark songs on V-Disc that aren't just dubs of his commercial recordings. These include two airchecks, one alternate take from a Columbia session, and a "Fluffs at a Record Session" recording where Clark makes up his own lyrics then launches into a Jolson imitation.

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Buddy Clark, Part 4

The latest post in our ongoing Buddy Clark series is this very early 10" LP, through the generosity of my friend Bill Reed of the People vs. Dr. Chilledair.

This set was designed to be an album, rather being a collection of singles. It contains standards (rather than new songs of the day), with all items conducted by the reliable Mitchell Ayres.

The anonymous liner notes tell us that Clark was the favorite singer of Al Jolson. (I would have guessed that Al Jolson was Jolie's favorite.) That shows the high regard in which Clark was held - although it's also true that you can hear Jolson in Clark's style. It's a shame his life ended so prematurely.