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Tommy Dorsey Live - 3 CD recommendations 1940 - 1943

Posted: Sun Feb 22, 2009 1:24 pm
by Eyeball
I had the 2 TD/FS CDs for a while and just began playing them yesterday.

Superb! Fabulous sound. Truly remarkable. Ultra Hi-Fi. I think these were NBC line checks just sitting in the vaults for 60 years.

And they've been cut-out, but copies are available very cheaply or your can d/l them.

Anyone who bought these on the strength of them being "Sinatra CDs" sang the SOL Blues for there is as much, if not more, non-Frankie material on these with instrumentals and some Jo Stafford. And for non-Frankie fans, he generally only gets the one 32 bar chorus on the song.

They're both a mixture of tempos, but, damn, this is choice stuff.

http://www.amazon.com/Its-Frank-Sinatra ... 252&sr=1-8 $1.74!

http://www.amazon.com/Learn-Croon-Frank ... pd_sim_m_1 $3.25!

This next one featured the recently deceased Connie Haines with Dorsey in 1940 - 1942. Again - great sound. Connie got all the pop and rhythm numbers that Sinatra and Jo Stafford didn't. She had a lot of personality and she sang in a clear, sweet voice. Mostly middle tempo, but she got the stuff like "Swingtime Up In Harlem" and always pulled it off. Her long career went into second gear when she left Dorsey

Uh oh! The CD is cut-out and getting top dollar on Amazon, but it is well worth looking around for.

http://www.amazon.com/Singin-Swingin-Co ... 905&sr=1-2

Posted: Thu Feb 26, 2009 7:21 am
by Haydn
Thanks for pointing these out. I think I've already got Singin' and Swingin', but not the other two.

It's All So New! seems to contain only sweet ballads, nothing really 'swinging'

Learn to Croon has some good swinging stuff

Singin' and Swingin' is fantastic

The sound quality on all three is great too 8)

Posted: Thu Feb 26, 2009 9:28 am
by Eyeball
Haydn wrote:Thanks for pointing these out. I think I've already got Singin' and Swingin', but not the other two.

It's All So New! seems to contain only sweet ballads, nothing really 'swinging'

Learn to Croon has some good swinging stuff

Singin' and Swingin' is fantastic

The sound quality on all three is great too 8)
Thx for the response.

The way the first 2 CDs are programmed is/are very unusual considering that they are 'supposed' to be Sinatra with Dorsey....FS doesn't even sing on many of the tracks. Buried treasures. IASNew, tho, has some not very good pop ballads (as written), but the performances are first rate - better than the tunes. Let me go listen to it again.

Ya - the Connie Haines one Singing and Swinging is terrific. She near totally managed to be 'forgotten' as a Dorsey singer b/c she was in the shadows of three TD vocal legends - Sinatra - Stafford - Pied Pipers, yet she's always right on top of her songs. She and Jo Stafford were near the same age, but Jo usually sounds very sophisticated, while Connie sounds like a teenager (which she was - born 1921 - which makes her 19 y/o in 1940) with a great upbeat attitude and style.

Connie Haines and Frank Sinatra had both been in Harry James band together in 1939.

Here's another one that was sitting in my collection unopened and unplayed for the last few years (ridiculous!)

http://www.amazon.com/Hollywood-Palladi ... B00005KIX7

Haven't played it yet, but it has 2 unheard of (by me) Sy Oliver charts, plus the hot "Quiet, Please!", more Connie Haines stuff, plus, of course, Frank, Jo and the Pipers. All from one broadcast in November 1940.

Holy smoke! Super cheap! $2.00 - $4.00!!! On the Collectables label - they did/do super production.

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Posted: Thu Feb 26, 2009 10:55 am
by Haydn
Eyeball wrote:Here's another one that was sitting in my collection unopened and unplayed for the last few years (ridiculous!)

http://www.amazon.com/Hollywood-Palladi ... B00005KIX7

Haven't played it yet, but it has 2 unheard of (by me) Sy Oliver charts, plus the hot "Quiet, Please!", more Connie Haines stuff, plus, of course, Frank, Jo and the Pipers. All from one broadcast in November 1940.

Holy smoke! Super cheap! $2.00 - $4.00!!! On the Collectables label - they did/do super production.

Image
Thanks 8) - some great swinging stuff on there, and I noticed there are a few other CDs in the At the Hollywood Palladium series on this label.

Posted: Thu Feb 26, 2009 11:22 am
by Eyeball
I had no idea it was part of a series.

The rest of the titles - except for the Buddy Rich - are *very* dance band-y and any Swing stuff there would be a surprise. All good bands, but....low heat level. Good for dancing to in a suit and not needing to get it cleaned the next day. :)

Posted: Fri Feb 27, 2009 11:15 pm
by Eyeball
Haydn wrote:
It's All So New! seems to contain only sweet ballads, nothing really 'swinging'.
Yep - 'tis true. I played it again today and I must have been running the contents of both the Buddah TD/FS CDs together in my mind.

It's All So New! - Mostly slower tempo ballads and a few middle tempo pops.

That rendition of FRENESI is good. I like that song, so now I know 4 good ones from the same period - Miller, Goodman, Shaw, Dorsey. All different.

This one is so cheap to purchase, you might consider getting it anyway just for the performances in such rich, clear sound.

Posted: Sun Mar 01, 2009 7:30 pm
by Eyeball
Eyeball wrote:Here's another one that was sitting in my collection unopened and unplayed for the last few years (ridiculous!)

http://www.amazon.com/Hollywood-Palladi ... B00005KIX7

Haven't played it yet, but it has 2 unheard of (by me) Sy Oliver charts, plus the hot "Quiet, Please!", more Connie Haines stuff, plus, of course, Frank, Jo and the Pipers. All from one broadcast in November 1940.

Holy smoke! Super cheap! $2.00 - $4.00!!! On the Collectables label - they did/do super production.

Image
http://www.amazon.com/Hollywood-Palladi ... 288&sr=1-5

I played this today and was a bit disappointed by just having 11 tunes on there.

Typical Dorsey dance set with something for everyone - hot jumpers, rhythmic pops, ballads, etc.

It's a relaxed evening at the Palladium with Connie Haines playing around with the bouncy ISNT THAT JUST LIKE LOVE and RHUMBOOGIE and Frank Sinatra losing control of his voice of a light high note during STAR DUST and winding up in a one note warble for an instant.

Excellent sound quality, but not quite as good as the two Buddah releases.

Buddy Rich and tenor man Don Lodice sound great on a crystal clear SO WHAT?

One of the Sy Oliver tunes announced as "Sy's Job" turns out to be SERENADE TO THE SPOT or ANOTHER ONE OF THEM THINGS (I forget which) Both were recorded for Victor.

At 3 dollars, it is certainly worth getting.

As the market for this music and the physical CD begins to lighten thru attrition and technology, it will be interesting to see what remains available and at what price.