Herb Jeffries and Frank Sinatra Share a V-Disc

This tribute to the recently deceased Herb Jeffries is a companion to the post of an early LP over at the Big 10-Inch Record. It consists of a circa 1946-47 V-Disc that Jeffries shared with Frank Sinatra.

In this case, the Jeffries side is far more interesting. The Voice's songs are bad dubs from two of his commercial recordings. The Bronze Buckaroo's tunes were made for V-Disc.

Some background: V-Discs were 12-inch 78s made specially for people in the US Armed Services from 1943-49. Some were commercial recordings; others were from radio or special V-Disc sessions.

The Jeffries side starts with a brief introduction of the "Hiya, fellas, here's some great tunes comin' at cha" variety, followed by an excellent version of "Ghost of a Chance." Then, in one of the singer's few forays into faster tempos, he launches into "Jump for Joy," the title song from Duke Ellington's 1941 musical, which Jeffries introduced. The good backing is by pianist Eddie Beal and a small group.

Sinatra's side contains two of his 1945 recordings with Axel Stordahl.

As with many of the later V-Discs, this was pressed on vinyl. This is a mixed blessing. The 10-ton tonearms used at the time could easily gouge the softer material. My copy, visually mint, is anything but that when played. However, the results on the Jeffries side at least are very pleasing.

Love in the Afternoon

I had a request to reup this EP, which was an early share on my other blog. I thought I might as well go ahead and retransfer it for posting here. The notes that follow, however, are a rerun from six years ago:

This certainly is not the best soundtrack album I own, but it's probably the shortest - 3 songs.

This is the only soundtrack ever issued for the Hepburn-Cooper-Chevalier opus Love in the Afternoon, a somewhat odious young girl - old man comedy. There sure were a lot of those in the 50s, with other examples also involving Chevalier (Gigi) and Hepburn (Funny Face).

I don't recall why, but the music features the cimbalom, which hardly seems the thing for its Parisian setting. There must have been a reason.

The listed musical adapter for the movie is Franz Waxman, but these songs were not written by him. The big hit here was Fascination. An old song, but its use in the movie inspired the recording of a vocal version by Jane Morgan, which became quite popular.

Cy Coleman and 'Playboy's Theme'

Cy Coleman was already a well-regarded composer in 1960, when he recorded his composition "Playboy's Theme" in honor of magazine mogul Hugh Hefner. Hef brought it out as the first single on his Playboy Records label.

"Playboy's Theme" is instantly memorable, and so became popular. It is not, however, terribly original, being influenced heavily by Bobby Timmons' "Moanin'," recorded in 1958 with Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers. (There's a great filmed version of the Messengers performing this live, with the original line-up of Blakey, Timmons, trumpeter Lee Morgan, tenor saxophonist Benny Golson, and bassist Jymie Merritt.)

In 1960, Coleman had already achieved moderate fame as a supper club pianist, with his trio, and had written a number of hits with lyricist Carolyn Leigh (notably "Witchcraft" and "The Best Is Yet to Come"). He and Leigh were just bringing their first musical to Broadway - Wildcat, with Lucille Ball. This was to be followed by the superb Little Me in 1962. Coleman then moved on to other successes with other collaborators.

Cy Coleman on Playboy After Dark

The flip side of this record shows Coleman's considerable skill as a vocalist, interpreting Leigh's lyrics for "You Fascinate Me So," a song from several years earlier. Coleman didn't have much of a voice, but he sure knew how to sing.

[Note (June 2023): This recording has now been remastered in vivid ambient stereo.]