Were Those Songs Really That Old? Vol II Quiz

Answer: There! I've Said It Again

Vaughn Monroe had the monster hit in 1945 outdueling competing versions by Jimmy Dorsey at Number Eight and The Modernaires at Number 11. Monroe was a trumpet player and band leader but achieved most of his fame for singing in a hefty baritone voice unique for the period. This was his third biggest hit following "Riders in the Sky" in 1949 - 12 weeks at Number One and "Ballerina" in 1947 - ten weeks at the top. Arguably, however, his most memorable recording was "Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!", a five week chart topper later in 1945. He was musically active from 1940 until the early 1960s and passed away at the age of 61 in 1973 following stomach surgery.

The 1964 version was recorded by Bobby Vinton and was virtually identical to Monroe's, maybe just a little slower in tempo and missing the musical interlude in the middle. Vinton shared similarities with Monroe beyond this Number One hit. Both were big band leaders, both played a musical instrument (Vinton the clarinet) and both capitalized on their voice to achieve stardom although Vinton's style was much more relaxed. As this is being written, he is now 76 years of age (oh my) and his touring days have diminished considerably. The good news is that he hasn't retired completely.

Vinton's cover topped the charts for the entire month of January but in February, a new band seized the top of the charts and wouldn't surrender that spot until the week of May 9th, 14 weeks in all. The Beatles had arrived and the face of the musical world changed forever.

Answer: My Blue Heaven

Normally, back in the 1920s and 1930s, when Paul Whiteman's band reached Number One with a song, it would take a while for it to be dislodged. The unthinkable occurred with "My Blue Heaven". After just one week, Red Nichols knocked Whiteman's song from the top pedestal with "Ida, Sweet as Apple Cider". Then, three weeks later, "My Blue Heaven" returned to the top but this time it was a version by Gene Austin that was succeeding. It maintained that position for 13 more weeks and, as such, became the biggest hit of the entire decade! It was composed by Walter Donaldson who also scored such mega-hits as "Carolina in the Morning", "Makin' Whoopee" and "Yes Sir! That's My Baby". The lyricist was George Whiting.

Gene Austin had quite a career. Born in Texas in 1900, he lied about his age and joined the army in 1916 and was among the soldiers pursuing the Mexican renegade Pancho Villa later that year. He also participated in WWI before studying both dentistry and law at university. He eschewed further studies to embark on a musical career in vaudeville as a pianist and vocalist. He first recorded in the early 1920s and would have two of the biggest hits of all time with "My Blue Heaven" and "Ramona". Among his other popular recordings that might be recognized today were versions of "Bye, Bye Blackbird", "Yes Sir! That's My Baby" and "Tonight You Belong To Me". The latter, also a three week Number One in 1927, was covered by the 14 and 11 year old sisters Patience and Prudence in 1956. It peaked at Number Four on the Hot 100. His last charting hit came in 1934 but he continued to perform and tour right up to his death of lung cancer in 1972. In the 1950s, he established his home base in Las Vegas, one of the first entertainers to do so, and even launched an unsuccessful campaign for the governorship of Nevada in 1962.

The 1956 cover of "My Blue Heaven" was recorded by Fats Domino. Early in his career, Domino would frequently utilize old standards as material for his recordings. Five of his first 14 chart entries on the Hot 100 were "oldies", the biggest hit of which was "Blueberry Hill". It peaked at Number Two for both him in 1957 and Glenn Miller in 1940 and would have been a subject for this quiz had the lyrics suited the structure of this style of quiz. Now 83 years old at the time of this writing, Domino is no longer an active performer. In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, it was briefly believed that he had fallen victim to that disaster. Happily, the reports of his demise proved to be false and on the few occasions that he now makes a public appearance, generally it will be in support of causes to redevelop his beloved New Orleans.

Answer: I've Got You Under My Skin

Recording an old standard was something The Four Seasons rarely did. Normally, if they did a cover it was under the group pseudonym "The Wonder Who" and usually it was recorded as a novelty number. That was not the case for this version of Porter's classic composition although it was decidedly more up-tempo than the original. In any event, it remains a unique entry in The Four Seasons' book of hits.

Ray Noble was born in Great Britain and stood out as the leader of the premier British "big band" of the early 1930s. In 1934, Noble, with his much admired vocalist, Al Bowlly, made the move across the pond to America. Noble continued to lead his orchestra well into the late 1940s although he also often appeared in movies and hosted a radio show before retiring from show business altogether in the mid-1950s. He passed away in 1979 at the age of 75.

Bowlly's fate was much different. Famous for his emotive crooning style, he was probably second only to Bing Crosby in terms of popularity during the 1930s. However, things began to unravel for him in 1937. First, he temporarily lost his voice due to a wart on his vocal chords. Although it was surgically removed and he was able to resume his career, he became homesick and returned to England where he had difficulty in returning to the prominence he had with Noble. He toiled on the cabaret circuit and sang with various bands until his untimely death at the age of 43 during a German bombing sortie in 1941.

Sinatra appears to have first recorded this song for his 1956 album "Songs For Swingin' Lovers". Any album collection of Sinatra's most popular songs from that year on would almost certainly include his version of this song as arranged by his favorite musical collaborator, Nelson Riddle. Why it was never released as a single is anybody's guess.

Answer: Ain't She Sweet

Yowsah, yowsah, yowsah! If Ben Bernie is remembered today at all, it would likely be for popularizing this phrase during the 1920s and for being the co-composer of "Sweet Georgia Brown", his biggest hit and ultimately the theme song for the Harlem Globetrotters. Born in 1891, he trained as a violinist and joined the vaudeville circuit in his mid-teens. He formed his first jazz band in the early 1920s and when live radio performances were in their infancy, he seized the opportunity to work that to his advantage. Hosting his own show, he became one of the very first radio "personalities", a position of status he maintained throughout the rest of life. His three Number One charting hits were this one, "Sweet Georgia Brown" and another old standard, "Sleepy Time Gal" in 1926. He died at the age of 52 in 1943.

The Beatles version of "Ain't She Sweet" was first recorded in June 1961 in Hamburg under the direction of Bert Kaempfert. This song and "My Bonnie", the latter recorded with Tony Sheridan as the lead vocalist, were the only charting Beatle hits which included Pete Best as their drummer. He was ousted from the group in favor of Ringo Starr in August of 1962 on the recommendation of George Martin who felt that for the group to move to the next level, an improvement in the drummer's chair was imperative. It proved to be sage advice.

One might wonder why an old 1927 standard would be a vehicle for a Beatles' recording. I'm just guessing here but it probably stems from the individual member's roots in skiffle music in the late 1950s which often used these sorts of songs as material. I'd also surmise that their gigs in the clubs of Hamburg led to them using simple, energetic songs to keep the clientele interested and drinking. I doubt if the Lennon/McCartney book of compositions had many entries then so songs like this would have been naturals for their act at the time. Once they achieved fame and fortune and the song writing talents among the group members came to the fore, they left these songs behind them for good.

Answer: Blue Moon

As recorded in the pre-rock & roll old days, this was a pretty standard crooner's song, soft and romantic. When the doo-wop group The Marcels released their take on it in 1961, it was what most people born in 1920 or earlier feared most about the advent of rock music... that their old, lovely favorites would be defiled! Richard Rodgers, the song's composer, probably reflected the attitude of the old folks best when he bought advertizing space in the music trade journals urging people NOT to buy this record.

He potentially eschewed significant income to voice his disgust! Whether this sacrifice had any lasting effect would be difficult to assess but let's review subsequent Marcels' recordings all performed in rollicking doo-wop fashion: "Summertime", from the 1935 Gershwin folk opera "Porgy and Bess" - Number 78; "Heartaches", first recorded by Guy Lombardo in 1931 and a Number One hit for Ted Weems in 1947 - Number Seven (not bad); "My Melancholy Baby", an old chestnut that first charted in 1915 and achieved top 20 charting success in every decade through the 1940s - Number 58. And that was that... the group never had another charting hit despite remaining an entity for 35 more years. Did the well run dry? Did they stray from the formula? Or did people just get tired of the group taking old classics and modernizing them with dubious taste? Personally, I can see both perspectives... I liked both versions.

But I wonder... what if some hip-hopping rap group took "Bridge Over Troubled Water" and did their thing with that song? Would I be as open minded? Probably not!

Answer: Fanny Brice

All the ladies listed were famed vaudevillians or Broadway performers who made their mark in the 1910s and 1920s but it was Fanny Brice who popularized "Second Hand Rose" and who was memorialized in the movie "Funny Girl". Although much of the plot of the movie was fictionalized for dramatic effect, she was, in fact, detoured off the vaudeville circuit and onto the Broadway stage by Flo Ziegfeld as part of his Follies in 1910 and remained an integral part of many of his shows until 1923. She also starred in shows produced by Irving Berlin and Billy Rose whom she eventually married. With the advent of talking pictures, she gave that a whirl without success then found the vehicle which would ultimately lead to her greatest success and fame - the radio persona of Baby Snooks, ultimately getting her own show in the mid-1940s. She was still active in that role when she was felled by a stroke and died a few days later at the age of 59 in 1951 leaving behind a legacy as the greatest Jewish comedienne of the era.

Nora Bayes made her Broadway debut in 1901 and remained a popular entity both on Broadway and conventional vaudeville stages until her early death of cancer in 1928 at the age of 48. She is best remembered now for two significant contributions to the world of music; as the co-writer of that musical gem "Shine On Harvest Moon", a song that I'm sure she recorded but ironically never appeared on the contemporary charts and, for her rendition of "Over There", that famous WW I song written by George M. Cohen. He insisted that she be given the opportunity to record it first and hers was one of four versions that would top the charts in 1917-8.

Sophie Tucker described herself as the last of the red-hot mamas and she was one of vaudeville's biggest stars. Her biggest hit was "Some of These Days", a Number One smash in 1927 but she wasn't a prolific recording artist over the years preferring live stage, radio and the movies as her performing platforms. She died at the age of 81 in 1966.

Vaudeville was dying a slow death by the time Ruth Etting made her presence felt in entertainment circles. She started as a chorine in a Chicago nightclub owned by a shady character named Moe "the Gimp" Snyder. They became romantically involved and he also took over the management of her career. She would ultimately record over 60 top 20 hits in an 11 year recording career and is most remembered for the songs "Ten Cents a Dance" and "Love Me Or Leave Me". Although she also dabbled in the movies and the stage, her fame as Broadway's greatest torch singer was never in doubt. The marriage between Etting and Snyder came to an end in 1937 and she was romantically linked to her pianist Myrl Alderson. In a pique of rage, Snyder seriously wounded Alderson with a gun and the ensuing trial all but ended Etting's career. She wound up marrying Alderson and died at the age of 80 in 1978, 12 years after his death. It's hard to say how much of it is fictionalized (most of the bio-pics of that era were over dramatized) but the 1955 movie "Love Me Or Leave Me" starring Doris Day tells Etting's story.

Answer: Georgia On My Mind

Indeed, "Georgia On My Mind" was written by the duo of Hoagy Carmichael (music) and Stuart Gorrell (lyrics) in 1930. Although it became the official song of the State of Georgia in 1979, it seems that it really had nothing to do with geography at all. Gorrell wrote the lyrics in tribute to Carmichael's sister Georgia and then Carmichael composed the score later. Just regarding the lyric sample I provided and it's fairly obvious that the reference to "arms" and "eyes" suggests a person as the object of the lyric. Regardless of intent, it's a great song and the State did well to honor it.

The original recordings of the song didn't fare as well on the charts as the more modern versions did. Frankie Trumbauer, the famous jazz trombonist and friend of Carmichael, recorded it first and took it to Number Ten in 1931. Mildred Bailey, fronting Paul Whiteman's Orchestra, peaked at Number 19 with her version while Gene Krupa's cover in 1941 managed a Number 17 placement. Ray Charles' cover of 1960 was the biggest hit, Number One for a week in 1960. In 2003, Rolling Stone Magazine, by whatever methodology they contrive to rate these things, listed it as the 44th greatest song of all time. Many other covers have been recorded since 1960 but only a version by Michael Bolton in 1990 cracked the Top 40 at Number 36. In 1978, Willie Nelson recorded a slightly countrified version that topped the Country charts for a week.

Answer: I've Told Every Little Star

Well, I hope at least a few of you knowledgeable quiz takers recognized the lyric or were able to connect Linda Scott to the song's title and score a point. Certainly both Jack Denny and Scott would have been the least known of the recording artists featured in this quiz.

I'd only heard of Jack Denny for one song recorded in 1933 entitled "Moon Song", a Number Five hit that year and knew very little about him. Research revealed that he fronted a band for several years during the 1920s and 1930s that was the house orchestra for the Mount Royal Hotel in Montreal, Quebec. He left the entertainment business in the mid-1940s to sell Baldwin pianos before passing away in 1950.

Denny's career somewhat parallels Linda Scott's in terms of genuine obscurity. She abandoned the entertainment business after a twelve year career that yielded three top 40 hits out of 11 charting Hot 100 songs. She studied theology in college, joined the military as a medical lab technician then taught music at a New York City bible college for a while. If the "images projection" on my Google search in 2012 is to be believed, it appears that she became the Facility Director of the Northern Regional Juvenile Center in West Virginia, a position she's held since 1993.

Answer: I Only Have Eyes For You

This song has had many, many different recorded versions over the years since The Flamingos break-out hit in 1959 and the version deemed to be the crème-de-la-crème. I've heard all the major charting versions mentioned in the question except for Selvin's Number Two hit which I was hoping might have somehow surfaced on YouTube. No luck there. However, in listening to Duchin's rendition, I think it wouldn't have been too very much different... essentially a rhythmic, two step dance song popular during that era. The Flamingos version is dreamy and heavenly... positively a classic. Art Garfunkel issued the 1975 version and I consider it utterly ethereal. His voice was never in finer fettle and his interpretation of the lyrics sublime. My favorite rendition by a nose!

Here's some background on a couple of the major players regarding this hit. Ben Selvin, born in 1898, may have been the most prolific recording artist of all time. It's hard to believe but some estimates place his output from 1919 to 1934 at 13,000 records! Doing the math, it works out to releasing about 2.5 records everyday of the year for 15 years which seems impossible. Other more realistic estimates place his number of releases at 2,000+, still an awful lot, far more than anyone else had ever recorded and a number that likely will never be surpassed. He recorded the first hit to sell more than five million copies, "Dardenella" in 1920 which remained at Number One for 13 weeks. Among his other big hits were "Yes! We Have No Bananas" in 1923, "Blue Skies" in 1927 and the inaptly named "Happy Days Are Here Again" in 1930, released less than six months after the 1929 market crash which led to the world wide depression during the dirty '30s. All these were Number One hits. Retiring from performing in 1934, he spent the next three decades in various consultative and management positions in the music industry. He died of a heart attack in 1980.

The Flamingos were formed in Baltimore in the early 1950s and were just another fledgling doo-wop group among hundreds of similar ilk. They recorded throughout the decade and had some success on the R&B charts but none on the Hot 100 until this release. Strangely enough, although considered a classic today, it only achieved moderate success on the charts at the time... Number Three on the R&B chart, Number 11 on the Hot 100. They would continue to record well into the 1970s with only limited success on the R&B side of the ledger and virtually none on the pop side. They were inducted into the R&R Hall of Fame in 2001 despite having exactly zero top ten charting hits and only two Top 40 successes. Clearly the honor was designed to acknowledge their contributions to the early foundations of doo-wop rock music. As of 2012, a Flamingos group with direct links to the original still performs on the casino circuit.

Answer: Just a Gigolo

With three song titles and six recording acts to discuss, I could go on in this section for a while but I will try to be reasonably brief!

The correct answer to the question was "Just a Gigolo" and the performer of this 1931 chart topper was Ted Lewis. The title of the 1985 Number 12 hit was "Just a Gigolo/I Ain't Got Nobody" by David Lee Roth.

The second half of the title, "I Ain't Got Nobody", charted on four different occasions during the acoustic era. Marion Harris, an extremely popular Broadway performer at the time, took it to Number Five in 1917 then released a new version of the song that peaked at Number Three in 1921. Bessie Smith reworked the song into a bluesy style and managed a Number Eight chart placement while Sophie Tucker's cover version peaked at Number 12 in 1927. All these versions, at least on record, were straight laments on the sad situation of being lonely. "Just a Gigolo" was an extraordinarily popular song in 1931 with no less than four versions competing for chart position. Ted Lewis won the lottery with his Number One hit while Ben Bernie (Number Three), Bing Crosby (Number 12) and Leo Reisman (Number 15) followed. Again, all these versions were serious in tone although you never knew for sure with Lewis. His overly emotive delivery could be construed as tongue in cheek if the listener chose to interpret it that way.

Lewis was an interesting study. He was born in 1890 or 1892, the son of a reasonably wealthy clothing merchant. While still a youth, he was drawn to show business after attending a circus and although his parents wanted him to follow in the family business, he chose to leave school and join the vaudeville circuit in 1908. He was, at best, a mediocre clarinetist. He really couldn't sing... what he did was rhythmically and emotively recite lyrics with an orchestra backing him up. But, what he could do well was to roll up these average skills and synergize them into an exceptional performance and entertainment experience. His famous catchphrase was "Is everybody happy?" and invariably the customer was very happy.

He didn't achieve any real success until the early 1920s when he formed his first band. He recognized his own musical limitations so he made sure he recruited top flight musicians for the orchestra and, like Paul Whiteman, paid them handsomely. Among the fabulous talents that he uncovered were Benny Goodman, Jimmy Dorsey and Jack Teagarden. By the middle of the decade, he, Al Jolson and Whiteman were the cream of the musical crop and he was making a fortune that even the depression couldn't dent. Over the span of almost twenty years, he would place 102 record releases on the charts, six of which reached Number One. Performing to an audience was the thing for him, hence he preferred the stage to radio and it served to his advantage. Long after live radio was passé, he was active on the Nevada casino circuit until 1967, passing away in 1971.

The two songs were first merged into a medley not by Roth but by another equally frenetic performer named Louis Prima. Prima first recorded the medley in 1946 without much of a ripple but a second recording in 1956, a jump jive rendition arranged by Sal Butera, was the one that Roth emulated almost 30 years later.

Roth was another piece of work. Movie star looks, an acrobatic performer and a larger-than-life persona made him a star as the front man for the group Van Halen. When he went out on his own in 1984, "Just a Gigolo/I Ain't Got Nobody" was his second solo release and he played it totally for laughs, a far cry from the intended serious and sober reflections of people who were unloved and lonely. How can anyone feel sorry for a guy who says he has nobody when the music video shows him surrounded by a bevy of buxom beauties?