“Lilac Wine (Dance with Me)” by Eartha Kitt [1953]

To many listeners “Lilac Wine” is only a song on Jeff Buckley’s sublime 1994 album Grace (his version). The song, however, had been written 44 years earlier for an obscure musical revue. In 1953 Eartha Kitt became the first major pop artist to record and release the song. It was included that year on her first 12” LP, That Bad Eartha, the album that cemented her sex kitten persona. (“Santa Baby” had been recorded at the same sessions and became her biggest hit when it was released in December.)

“Blow, Freddy Jackson” by Chuck Willis & His Orchestra [1953]

Not much is known about the Fred Jackson showcased on tenor sax in this Chuck Willis song. What I have been able to piece together from various online sources is that he was born in Atlanta and played in the bands of some of the bigger names in 50s rhythm and blues, including Little Richard, Lloyd Price, and B.B. King. He did eventually end up playing playing a few jazz gigs, first with Lionel Hampton and also with a couple organists before disappearing in the mid ’60s.

Despite what Allmusic will tell you, it was a different woodwind-playing Freddy Jackson who recorded with Horace Silver, Ry Cooder and Jimmy Smith in the mid 1970s.

“P.S. I Love You” by The Hilltoppers [1953]

Anti-Rock: Pop Vocal Groups of the 1950s, Day 2

A few weeks ago I posted a week-long series under the title Punk Before Punk, which looked at some of the most wild, threatening, sexual trance-inducing songs to come from the original wave of rock’n’roll. As an antithesis to that playlist, I have created a playlist of jazz/pop vocal groups from the same era. Mrs. Cleaver and other Eisenhower-era parents would have found this music much more to their liking. In fact, many of the songs that will be featured topped the US pop chart.

The Hilltoppers were a sentimental quartet from Kentucky. In fact, they took their name from the mascot of Western Kentucky State College (now University), where they first met. After slowly rising from obscurity in 1952 on the back of the song “Tryin’” - including an appearance on Ed Sullivan’s Toast of the Town - the singers were rushed into recording a full set of songs to release while one of their members served in the military. “P.S. I Love You,” the first single released from that session, sold over a million copies and helped earn The Hilltoppers the Cash Box award for Best Vocal Group of 1953.

One thing you will notice in the picture is that one member looks quite a bit older. That was Billy Vaughn, already in his mid-30s when the trio asked him to join as the final member. Despite his age, the group chose a clean-cut college look complete with sweaters and beanies. Obviously this look had little allure once rock and roll staked its claim.

A final discussion point… Most of these vocal groups did not write their own music, in contrast to many (but certainly not all) of the doo-wop groups beginning to form around the country. The pop vocal groups often looked to composers from Broadway and the silver screen (the group we now recognize for writing the “Great American Songbook”). “P.S. I Love You,” for example, was written by notable lyricist Johnny Mercer and composed by Gordon Jenkins.

“Your Cheatin’ Heart” by Louis Armstrong with Sy Oliver’s Orchestra [1953]

Random Music History Song of the Day

The innovations Louis Armstrong pioneered in the 1920s changed American music - both instrumental and vocal - forever. In the All-Stars era (mid-1940s to mid-’50s), however, Armstrong was simply grooving with some of the best musicians on earth, playing commercial songs from almost any source. Even ol’ Hillbilly music.

Satchmo’s swingin’ recording of “Your Cheatin’ Heart” was recorded less than two months after the death of Hank Williams, while Williams’ own version was still riding the Country charts and while other popular versions peaked on the Pop charts: Joni James’ at #2 (recorded, strangely, the day Williams died and at Williams’ request) and Frankie Laine’s at #18 (recorded in tribute a week after Williams’ death).

A lot of credit has to go to Sy Oliver for the arrangement of this recording. Let’s be honest, the original is straight honky tonk - not exactly set up for a swing band. Much of the arrangement sounds like the a good ’30s swing band playing a mid-tempo ballad, but when Armstrong solos, he takes the song close to New Orleans funeral march territory. The hybridization of those two styles makes this one of my favorite Armstrong pop covers. (If you want even more detail, I again point you to The Wonderful World of Louis Armstrong for an in depth account of Armstrong’s band in the early ’50s and specifically his take on “Your Cheatin’ Heart.”)

Finally, can we just say that Armstrong’s recording is just as good as (if not better than) Ray Charles’ 1962 schmaltzy pop ballad recording that everyone drools over. No respect for Pops!

“Mystery Train” by Little Junior’s Blue Flames [1953]

Random Music History Song of the Day

The creation and naming of genres arguably has had more to do with in-group/out-group dynamics than with actual changes in music styles (though both are obviously in play). For much of the 20th century race was the most important group when setting genre boundaries. However, when you take a song like “Mystery Train” as an example, the original boundaries among Hillbilly music, Blues, Folk, Country, and Rock and Roll become almost meaningless.

In most cases, as with this example, it all boils down to the Blues. Although the song is credited to Junior Walker and Sam Phillips, it borrows almost word-for-word a verse from The Carter Family’s classic 1930 recording “Worried Man Blues.” That song is, as the title says, a traditional blues song which followed the standard blues lyrical formula of Line A, repeat Line A, Line B (the punch line) over a 12-bar blues musical structure. The Carter Family was at the time classified as “Hillbilly music,” a fitting, but derogatory and narrow category for the group. “Folk” singer Woody Guthrie recorded a similar version of “Worried Man Blues” in the early ’40s.

When Junior Parker recorded this version of “Mystery Train” at Sun Records in 1953, it fell under the “Blues” genre, mostly because Parker was black. That was probably the most accurate categorization (he did sing the blues), but honestly how different is it from the Carter Family song? In 1955 Elvis Presley recorded “Mystery Train.” While at the time Elvis and other Sun musicians might have simply called it a Blues shuffle, we now call it Rock and Roll. Or Country. Or Rockabilly. The point is, it doesn’t really matter what you call it. The simple fact that both Junior Parker and Elvis recorded the song with Sam Phillips at Sun Records says more about the similarity between two versions than whatever genres you try to pigeonhole each version into.