I was recently listening (via YouTube) to Louis Armstrong’s beautiful recording of “A Kiss To Build A Dream on,” made with Sy Oliver’s orchestra.
The song (as noted in the accompanying YouTube information) was recorded on July 24, 1951 (sixty years ago this month).
This was during the time period with which my book is concerned (the late 1940s and early 1950s; the early years of television, but also, as well, the closing years of the big band period). And so, because of my own particular focus upon the era (or more precisely, perhaps, my fixation upon it, and my mother’s relationship to it), I make note of the following:
The musicians who played on the Louis Armstrong recording are listed, on the YouTube page. The bass player on the record, for example, was Sandy Block. In 1949, Block had been the bassist on the DuMont Network TV show Teen Time Tunes, a weeknight program which featured my mother and The Alan Logan Trio. In addition to Sandy Block, the Trio featured pianist (and Trio leader) Alan Logan, and guitarist Al Chernet.
The musicians who played on the Louis Armstrong recording are listed, on the YouTube page. The bass player on the record, for example, was Sandy Block. In 1949, Block had been the bassist on the DuMont Network TV show Teen Time Tunes, a weeknight program which featured my mother and The Alan Logan Trio. In addition to Sandy Block, the Trio featured pianist (and Trio leader) Alan Logan, and guitarist Al Chernet.
Also playing on “A Kiss To Build A Dream On”: clarinetist/alto saxophonist Milt Yaner. Nearly two weeks prior to this, on July 12, 1951 (according to the music publication DownBeat), Yaner played saxophone in a session with the George Siravo Orchestra. (Siravo is best remembered, today, as an arranger for Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Doris Day, and others.)
During the session with the George Siravo Orchestra—sixty years ago this week—three recordings were made. Two of them were released as a 78 on the Mercury label: an instrumental version of Cole Porter’s “I’ve Got You Under My Skin,” and, on the reverse side, “Farewell, Farewell to Love”; the latter song (co-written by George Siravo) featured my mother as vocalist. A week later, Frank Sinatra recorded another version of “Farewell, Farewell to Love”, arranged by Siravo, and performed with Harry James’ orchestra. It was released on Columbia Records. I never knew about the record my mother made with George Siravo, until several months after her death, in 2001; I found the record at my parents' apartment. It has become one of my favorite records that she made.
Here is the recording, which was released in August of 1951:
One more note, about music, and television, and my mother’s career, during this period:
On July 12th of 1951, the day my mother recorded “Farewell, Farewell To Love” with George Siravo’s orchestra, bandleader Freddy Martin’s new weekly TV show made its debut on NBC. The show starred Martin and his orchestra, and featured singer Merv Griffin, pianist Murray Arnold, and the vocal group The Martin Men. Each week, a guest female vocalist appeared on the show. On July 12th, for the debut program, the guest vocalist was Mary Mayo. The next week, on July 19th, my mother was the guest singer. Freddy Martin’s show was telecast through the summer, and then continued into the fall; my mother appeared as a regular guest on the show. The show went off the air at the end of November of that year. (Video images, above, made from a kinescope of Freddy Martin’s NBC-TV program. Both images are of a performance from a September of 1951 telecast: Freddy Martin, on a telephone, sings to Merv Griffin, Sue Bennett, and Murray Arnold; they sing, in response, via another telephone. Pictures used by permission of NBCUniversal, Inc.)
