1. Pee Wee Hunt – Twelfth Street Rag. Well that was surreal. This song is, as far as I can tell, totally, completely and utterly in early late 10s/early 20s New Orleans jazz style. There’s no saxophone, the rhythm is unswung, there are muted trumpets that go “doo-wacka-doo-wacka-doo,” the clarinet solo has glissandi in it that seem to be saying “look how ca-ray-zee we are!”, and the song makes extensive use of stop time — a technique where the band accompanies a solo by playing loud hits on certain downbeats and nothing else. I learned while writing a paper for my jazz class last semester that there was a New Orleans revival movement in the 30s, spearheaded by critics who thought swing was “too commercial,” but I had no idea that it continued into the late 40s, let alone that anything that came out of it was a number one hit. Weird!
2. Peggy Lee – Mañana. Peggy, you grew up in NORTH DAKOTA. Putting on a Mexican accent and stereotypical Hispanic inflections, while singing a song that is ENTIRELY ABOUT BEING LAZY AND INCOMPETENT AND ACCIDENTALLY BURNING YOUR HOUSE DOWN … OK, never mind. Um, this song has a piccolo in it. That’s kind of cool.
3. Bing Crosby – Now is the Hour. Bing is back with his fifth hit in this series, and he sounds exactly the same, complete with backing choir. This song doesn’t have any of the lush excess of “White Christmas” or any of “Too Ra Loo Ra Loo Ra“‘s rhythmic complexities, and aside from the fact that I picture it being sung by a group of reunited old friends in a dark, somewhat drippy tavern (possibly in an old Felix the Cat cartoon), I can’t say I find it too engaging. I do like the part at the end where the choir imitates churchbells, though, especially some of the incredibly low bass notes. And of course, Crosby has a beautiful voice.
4. Margaret Whiting – A Tree in the Meadow. Boring and generic and boring. Wasn’t it around this time that Adorno was dissing pop music like crazy? I thought so.
5. Jon & Sondra Steele – My Happiness. This song has a nice cowboy lope to it. The tune’s OK, and the vocal harmonies are nice, but the things that really make it are the really sensitive piano playing and the way that the piano blends with the electric guitar (appearance #2 in this project!). Actually, the guitar is used with incredible subtlelty, to the point that at times I couldn’t tell at first whether I was hearing it or the piano. (Low recording quality helps with that, too.) The guitar/piano solo is short, concice, to the point and even a little mysterious. Very nice.
