From the Back Room: the Early Sarah Vaughan, Vol. 3

This post completes the survey of Sarah Vaughan's earliest recordings, taking her career up to when she joined Columbia, her first major label. There were two previous volumes in this collection, which can be found here and here.

This set includes 17 recordings in all. Fifteen were made from November 1947 through the end of the year. That was when labels were in a frenzy to complete recording sessions before the Musicians Union strike began on New Year's Day 1948. We also have two more discs made during the strike. These were with a choir - permitted because vocalists were not union members.

A November 1947 Session with Ted Dale

Ted Dale

Vaughan had been working with arranger/bandleader Ted Dale (see Vol. 2) and that relationship was to continue during what must have been a marathon session on November 8 that produced nine masters. Dale  provided relatively lush settings that set off the vocalist's virtuosity, rather than treating her as a member of an ensemble, which had often been the case earlier in her recording career.

Leading off is "Love Me or Leave Me," a Walter Donaldson-Gus Kahn number that Ruth Etting had introduced in 1928's Whoopee. Clarinetist Sam Musiker is featured here.

Sarah's first recording had been "I'll Wait and Pray" back in 1945 with Billy Eckstine. Presumably she wanted a more polished version of the song, which had been written by George Treadwell (her husband) and Jerry Valentine. Dale provides the requisite polish, but the song hardly merited a reprise.

Two of the most standard of standards were next. First, there is an uptempo version of Cole Porter's "I Get a Kick Out of You," followed by an appropriately slow and plush reading of the Gershwins' "The Man I Love."

"I'm Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter" is not of that renown, but has been sporadically popular since Fats Waller recorded it in 1935. Fred Ahlert and Joe Young were the authors. This one has a small combo feel, albeit with a string selection along for the journey. Vaughan is particularly good here.

"The One I Love Belongs to Somebody Else" by Gus Kahn and Isham Jones is a high quality song that has maintained some popularity since its publication in 1924. The tempo is too fast here for Sarah's taste. I suspect that the marathon session had something to do with this.

Another song from the 1920s - this one by DeSylva, Brown and Henderson - is "Button Up Your Overcoat," which seems more to the vocalist's liking.

Bandleader-pianist Phil Moore came out with "I Feel So Smoochie" in 1947 - Vaughan's was among a number of cover versions. It's an annoying song (to me), but she seemed to like it. The arrangement is too cumbersome for the song, and the tempo is hectic.

Sarah was among the artists who recorded Dietz and Schwartz' "Blue Grass," one of the songs from Inside U.S.A., a 1948 Broadway revue. The melody is pleasing, but Dietz's lyrics are contrived, and the song wasn't a hit. Vaughan's reading was not issued at the time, even though her singing is one of the most impressive things in this set. 

(FYI - A post from several years ago discussed two Inside U.S.A. albums issued at the time of the production. One featured stars Jack Haley and Beatrice Lillie, the other Buddy Clark and Pearl Bailey, who were not in the production. "Haunted Heart" is the best number from the score.)

December 1947 Sessions

Dick Maltby

Musicraft decided it needed to pile up a few more masters before the strike began, so on December 27 it brought Vaughan into the studio with arranger Dick Maltby to cut two songs.

Those were the Cahn-Styne numbers "It's You or No One" and "It's Magic," written for Doris Day to sing in the film Romance on the High Seas. That musical didn't come out until summer 1948, so the song publishers were working well in advance to get their works recorded before the ban took effect. That way the recordings could be issued in the run-up to the film's opening.

Maltby does well on the arrangements, and Vaughan is in good form for these two notable songs.

Jimmy Jones

Two days after the Maltby session, Sarah was back at it, setting down four songs with a combo led by her accompanist, the talented pianist Jimmy Jones.

The song "What a Difference a Day Made" began life as Maria Grever's "Cuando vuelva a tu lado." Stanley Adams adapted it for the American market. The Vaughan-Jones version swings hard, welcome after the Dale and Maltby arrangements. 

Vaughan was the first to record Arnold Horwitt and Richard Lewine's "Gentleman Friend." A number of vocalists have take it up in succeeding years. Sarah is entirely engaged in the number, and Jones' pianism dovetails nicely with her singing.

Michael Edwards and Bud Green wrote "Once in a While" back in the 1930s. Tommy Dorsey made it a hit in 1937, and it's been popular ever since. This too goes well.

"How Am I to Know" by Jack King and Dorothy Parker comes from 1929. It isn't much of a melody and Vaughan's recording wasn't issued at the time. The double-time section doesn't help,

The 1948 Choral Session

Nat Cole had the foresight to record "Nature Boy" in late 1947, when he could employ Frank DeVol's orchestra as backing. When it became a hit for him during the musicians' strike in 1948, competing pop singers searched for choirs who could provide accompaniments for their cover versions. Vaughan came up with the Earle Rodgers Choir, who otherwise did not record, as far as I can tell, nor were they credited on the label. This turned out to be a polished version of Eden Ahbez's greatest hit.

Jimmy Dorsey wrote "I'm Glad There Is You" with Paul Madeira in 1941, recording it late that year, with a Dee Parker vocal. (Correction: musicman1979 points out the 1941 recording was with Bob Eberly. There was a 1946 remake wit Dee Parker.) 

Sarah sings the elaborate verse, which is not often heard, and then executes a remarkable segue into the chorus. It makes for a spectacular chose to her time with Musicraft.

Vaughan began recording with Columbia in January 1949.

Most of these transfers are from the original 78s, with a few from vintage LPs and bootlegs. Musicraft's sound was variable; I've done my best to clean up and clarify what you hear.

One note: you may notice that a few of the songs here are taken from M-G-M releases. These were Musicraft masters that M-G-M licensed for a time following the former label's 1949 bankruptcy. Later on, those masters were licensed for release on Allegro and Royale LPs.

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From the Back Room: the Early Sarah Vaughan, Vol. 2

Here is the second installment of a three-volume survey of the recordings Sarah Vaughan made before joining the Columbia label in 1949. Almost all of these transfers are taken from the original 78s. The three volumes encompass 56 recordings; this iteration has 21.

The items in this and the third volume were all made for the small Musicraft label. Today's selections cover April 1946 to October 1947.

This is one of my "From the Back Room" posts, featuring recordings that I've been working on  for some time, but haven't yet published for one reason or another.

For these posts, the transfers, etc., are prepared with the usual care, but my commentary may be less extended (i.e., gabby) than usual.

With Georgie Auld and Tadd Dameron

The earliest session in this volume yielded just one vocal - "A Hundred Years from Today," the Victor Young-Ned Washington song. It elicits a sophisticated performance from Vaughan and Georgie Auld's excellent band, heard in an arrangement by a 20-year-old Al Cohn.

A few weeks later, Sarah had a recording date with a Tadd Dameron ensemble, with more well chosen songs: "If You Could See Me Now" by Dameron and Carl Sigman; "I Can [Could] Make You Love Me" by Bob Russell and Peter DeRose; "You're Not the Kind" by Will Hudson; and "My Kinda Love" by Louis Alter and Jo Trent. Dameron produced all the arrangements, which included strings. "If You Could See Me Now" is especially well done.

Sarah had previously recorded "I Could Make You Love Me" with John Kirby for Crown, which is in Vol. 1 of this collection.

In June, Vaughan was back in the studio with Auld for "You're Blasé" (by Bruce Sievier and Ord Hamilton) in another Cohn arrangement.

Four with George Treadwell

George Treadwell and Sarah Vaughan

Trumpeter George Treadwell, whom Vaughan would marry in a few months, was in charge of a July 1946 date that yielded four songs: "I've Got a Crush on You," "I'm Through with Love" (Fud Livingston, Matty Malneck, Gus Kahn), "Everything I Have Is Yours" (Burton Lane, Harold Adamson) and "Body and Soul" (Johnny Green, Edward Heyman).

"Everything I Have Is Yours" is a particularly confident interpretation, showing the vocal flexibility, even acrobatics that were among Vaughan's hallmarks. 

With Teddy Wilson

Teddy Wilson

The four songs made with Teddy Wilson in August and November 1946 are special, showing Vaughan in fully mature form. The pianist is always a pleasure to hear, of course.

From August: "Don't Worry 'bout Me" (Rube Bloom, Ted Koehler), "Penthouse Serenade" (Will Jason, Val Burton). From November: "Time after Time" (Sammy Cahn, July Styne) and "September Song" (Kurt Weill, Maxwell Anderson). The latter two could have used more Wilson and less Charlie Ventura.

With a George Treadwell Big Band

Vaughan's next date was in July 1947 with a large band assembled by George Treadwell. The songs are: "I Cover the Waterfront" (Johnny Green, Edward Heyman), "I Don't Stand a Ghost of a Chance" (Victor Young, Ned Washington), "Tenderly" (Walter Gross, Jack Lawrence) and "Don't Blame Me" (Dorothy Fields, Jimmy McHugh).

It's notable that the more conventional the backing, the more adventurous Vaughan became vocally. These arrangements are nothing special, but the singing is superb. "Ghost of a Chance," for example, starts with vocalese backed by Jimmy Jones' celesta.

With Ted Dale

Ted Dale

For the rest of her stay with Musicraft, Vaughan made most of her recordings with Ted Dale, who would soon become a music director with NBC.

Their first recordings together were a departure from the bop anthems and standards that had previously been Sarah's fare in the studio. First was the Albert Hay Malotte setting of "The Lord's Prayer," backed by the spiritual "Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child" in Harry Burleigh's arrangement. 

The next song they recorded was not initially released; it later came out on LP: "I Can't Get Started" (Vernon Duke and Ira Gershwin). The final piece recorded in this October 1947 session was Alec Wilder's "Trouble Is a Man," which Peggy Lee had recorded a year before, although it went unreleased at the time. Vaughan's version was one of the first to actually reach the market.

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From the Back Room: Early Sarah Vaughan, Vol. 1

The Divine One - Sarah Vaughan, that is - was a god from the time she first stepped into a recording studio, in 1944, and just kept growing in age and vocal grace.

This is the first of three volumes that will present her recorded legacy from that first date with Billy Eckstine's band through to her joining her first major label - Columbia - in 1949. Almost all of these recordings are taken from the original 78s. The three volumes encompass 56 recordings.

This is one of my "From the Back Room" posts, featuring recordings that I've been working on for some time, but haven't yet published for one reason or another.

For these items, the transfers, etc., are prepared with the usual care, but my commentary may be less garrulous than usual.

The First Recording

Vaughan (1924-90) was "discovered" in 1943 by bandleader-pianist Earl Hines - or was it Eckstine, Hines' vocalist? Both claimed her; she was quite the vocal prize.

When Billy went out on his own, Sarah joined him. Their only recording session together was in September 1944, where she sang "I'll Wait and Pray," written by Eckstine arranger-trombonist Gerald Valentine. Not a great song, but Sarah must have liked it - she later recorded it for Musicraft.

The Eckstine band - filled with boppers such as Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker - is raucous on this De Luxe release. Sarah herself is immediately recognizable.

Young Billy Eckstine

With Dizzy Gillespie

Vaughan went out on her own in late 1944, remaining close friends with Eckstine. Her earliest recording date as a solo was with a Gillespie group for the small Continental label. The first number from that session is the contrived "Signing Off," by pianist-promoter Leonard Feather and Jessyca Russell.

The same group is heard in "Interlude," which is the vocal version of Gillespie's bop anthem "A Night in Tunisia."

Next is the amusing blues "No Smokes," which concerns itself with the cigarette shortage during World War II. There are two versions - one from the 78, and an alternate take from a early LP reissue on Remington.

The final song from this session is the Brooks Bowman standard "East of the Sun."

Sarah gets an earful from trumpet immortals 
Roy Eldridge and Dizzy Gillespie

In the first half of 1945, Vaughan continued to record with Gillespie ensembles, which now included Charlie Parker. The Guild issue of "Lover Man (Oh, Where Can You Be?)" identified the song as being by Kurt Weill-Maxwell Anderson, but this is actually the familiar piece written by Jimmy Davis, Jimmy Sherman and Roger Ramirez and associated with Billie Holiday.

For Continental, Sarah and Dizzy covered Peggy Lee's "What More Can a Woman Do," another forgettable Feather-Russell song called "I'd Rather Have a Memory than a Dream," and the standard "Mean to Me."

Stuff Smith, Tony Scott, Dickie Wells, John Kirby

Stuff Smith

Violinist Stuff Smith engaged Vaughan to sing his new composition "Time and Again" with his Trio for the Musicraft label (where she would later record herself). Not a great song, but Sarah handles it confidently.

Tony Scott

Clarinetist Tony Scott brought her in for a date on the Gotham label, where she sang the Duke Ellington standard "All Too Soon," with lyrics by Carl Sigman. Gillespie was on this session as well, identified on the record label as "B. Bopstein."

John Kirby, Buster Bailey

Bassist-bandleader John Kirby featured Vaughan on a three songs included in a 78 album recorded for the Crown label in 1946. Her songs are the standards "You Go to My Head" and "It Might as Well be Spring" along with "I'm Scared," which leads off the album. In "It Might as Well Be Spring," Sarah's coda and vocalese were indicators of things to come.

Also with Kirby, Vaughan recorded the Peter DeRose-Bob Russell song "I Can Make You Love Me," which elicits one of her best performances. She must have liked the song; she recorded it again a few months later for Musicraft.

One with Dickie Wells

Dicky Wells

Trombonist Dicky Wells made his name with Count Basie, with whom he played for most of 1938-50. He was on a break from the band when his Big Seven backed Vaughan on "We're Through," by the important pianist-songwriter Tadd Dameron. The lyrics are by Anne Greer. 

Sarah would soon make several recordings with Dameron for Musicraft; she also would record with the trumpeter on the Dicky Wells session, George Treadwell, whom she would marry later in 1946.

The Musicraft recordings mentioned will be in Vol. 2 of this series. Vaughan would record for that label until she joined Columbia.

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