Hearing the on-air call
of the Radio Ramblers
of the Radio Ramblers
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© 2019 — Kenneth Lelen — Al Rights Reserved
© 2019 — Kenneth Lelen — Al Rights Reserved
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Photo: Leslie Sanders
Vocalist and vintage guitarist Ken Lelen performed at Pennybyrn with 1931 B & J Serenader guitar while he sang jazz and swing tunes that were hits on the radio during the 1930s and 1940s. |
Lelen's concert at Pennybyrn saluted popular musical programs, hit songs, band leaders, vocalists and on-air personalities from radio's heyday. In addition to singing pre-war pop songs, the musician played vintage acoustic guitars for a back-in-the-day sound. He also offered amusing anecdotes and wry comments about the programs, emcees, sponsors, musical formats, radio personalities and guest performers.
Radios were ubiquitous in American households
Once upon a time — before iPhones were invented — Americans turned to a console, tabletop or portable device called a radio receiver for news of the day. Ubiquitous at the time, radios offered live and recorded music, timely news, talk shows, shopping info, comedy and drama serials, game shows, sporting events, FDR's fireside chats (1933 - 1944), even gossip.
From the mid-1920s to late 1940s most music programs on the radio came in the following formats:
• Musicians, vocalists and bands performed in a studio with an announcer to handle intros and outros. A staple of 1920s radio programs, this format was refined in the 1940s when tunes were performed by vocalists and combos on Your Hit Parade and other hits-of-the-day radio programs.
• Disc jockeys played recorded music. As radios proliferated across the U.S., people began buying 78-rpm recordings in large quantities. Playing hit records by popular musicians, vocalists and bands helped satisfy the public's appetite for pop music.
• Live broadcasts of music programs and concerts at non-studio locations. Such remote hook-ups included hotel ballrooms, orchestra halls, dance halls, jazz clubs, juke joints and other public venues.
Recalling songs that were hits on the radio
Fortunately, Lady Alice Duckworth, Goodman's fiancée at the time, had her eye on Peggy Lee at the Buttery Room, a small club in the Ambassador Hotel East in Chicago. Fronting a combo called The Four of Us, she sang "These Foolish Things."
Though Benny just stared at her the whole time, Peggy recalled later, he called the next day to offer a job in his band. Peggy said yes and that night joined his band for what was a two-year stint. "Come to work," he told her, "and wear something pretty."
A recording session in December 1941 generated Goodman and Lee's first big hit, "Somebody Else Is Taking My Place." Composed in 1937 by Dick Howard, Bob Ellsworth and society band leader Russ Morgan, this very danceable tune was a staple of Big Band artists and radio airplay in the 1940s and 1950s.
A year later Goodman and Lee recorded "Why Don't You Do Right?" which sold a million copies. By then, she'd become famous in hotel ballrooms, juke boxes and radio stations across the country.
Dream A Little Dream Of Me — Recordings of this song appeared in 1931 with renditions by band leaders Ozzie Nelson and Wayne King and by vocalist Kate Smith. From the 1930s to 1950s Smith was a major star on the radio (later on TV as well), often backed by an orchestra. The "lovely ballad" she sang was composed by Fabian Andre and Wilbur Schwandt with lyrics by Gus Kahn. It grew in popularity with sales of her record, live appearances at theaters and with radio airplay.
The tune became a bee my bonnet in November 2001 at a concert in Red Bank NJ. A lithe, white-haired 95-year-old woman in my audience told me she saw Kate Smith sing the song in Boston in April 1931. Impressed that she recalled an event of 70 years earlier, I asked her what else she recalled of the day, who was she with, who else was singing, what musicians were playing, etc.
"I don't remember much. I'm an old lady," she said. "But I was there with my sister and I was wearing a blue dress."
For a year my introduction for this song included an appreciative tale about a 15-year-old in a blue dress who saw Kate Smith sing "Dream A Little Dream Of Me" in Boston in 1931.
Then, in August 2002, after a concert in Bethlehem PA a man came up to me and barked, " I built the theater." "What are you talking about?" I asked.
"I built the theater the woman with the blue dress and her sister talked about," he said. "It was the Metropolitan Theatre on Tremont Street in Boston."
Opened in 1925, The Met was an important landmark for decades. Its crystal chandeliers and marble doorways were an elegant setting for people to be entertained by motion picture stars, big bands, vaudeville acts, operas and recording artists such as Kate Smith.
Though the theater fell into disuse during the 1970s, it still stands. In 1983 it was renovated for $9.8 million and renamed the Wang Theatre in honor of An Wang, founder of Wang Laboratories. Today, the Wang Theatre is part of the Boch Center, which boasts a 3,500-seat theater for music, dance, theater and educational programming.
Pennies From Heaven — In the late 1920s Bing Crosby's vocal style on the jazz tunes he favored was called "crooning" as opposed to the "belting" style of vaudeville stars of the day. Crosby's conversational approach to singing made him one of the most popular radio, screen and recording stars of mid-Century America.
In 1931 he recorded 10 of the year's top 50 recordings. That same year he began singing and hosting radio programs with national hook-ups, including a ten-year stint (1936 - 1946) on Kraft Music Hall, a weekly radio show on NBC. From his earliest days in radio, his theme song was "Where The Blue of The Night (Meets The Gold of the Day)," a signature tune he composed with Fred Ahlert and Roy Turk.
By 1932 Crosby starred in his first full-length film, The Big Broadcast, which saw a cameo appearances by guitarist Eddie Lang and radio star Kate Smith. The latter sang her signature piece, "When The Moon Comes Over The Mountain."
Bing would appear in 79 movies during his lifetime, including a 1936 hit called Pennies From Heaven. Though it was notable for little other than Bing's intro of the title song, the film also featured trumpeter Louis Armstrong as himself in a supporting role.
Variety Magazine panned the film as "a weak picture despite a good tuneful score." Still, Pennies From Heaven received an Academy Award nomination in 1937 for Best Original Song, with music by Arthur Johnson and lyrics by Johnny Burke. A Depression-era favorite, it has been covered by countless pop singers over the years, from Louis Armstrong to Louis Prima and Billie Holiday to Polly Bergen.
You Are My Sunshine — No matter where I sing this song, people in my audiences like to sing along. Everyone knows the words and melody. And everybody smiles when they sing it.
"You are My Sunshine" is credited to Jimmie Davis and Charles Mitchell (lyrics), who recorded it in February 1940. Davis, twice governor of Louisiana (1944 - 1948 and 1960 - 1964), never claimed he wrote it, however. Instead, he purchased the song and rights from someone who claimed authorship, a common practice of the pre-war music business.
The seller was a musician named Paul Rice, a member of the Rice Brothers Gang, a Shreveport country combo. They recorded the song in September 1939, five months before Davis cut his record.
Davis always loved the song, singing it at campaign rallies for governor as he rode in on a horse named "Sunshine." The Davis recording spawned many cover versions, including hits for Gene Autry, Bing Crosby and "Waltz King" Wayne King in 1941.
A comprehensive list of subsequent cover versions of "You Are My Sunshine" is just too long to post. The Internet is not big enough to handle the file.
Still, the song that was popular in the 1940s remains popular today. And the folks at the Pennybyrn concert in High Point NC are no exception.
Back-in-the-day sound of vintage guitars
From the mid-1920s to late 1940s most music programs on the radio came in the following formats:
• Musicians, vocalists and bands performed in a studio with an announcer to handle intros and outros. A staple of 1920s radio programs, this format was refined in the 1940s when tunes were performed by vocalists and combos on Your Hit Parade and other hits-of-the-day radio programs.
• Disc jockeys played recorded music. As radios proliferated across the U.S., people began buying 78-rpm recordings in large quantities. Playing hit records by popular musicians, vocalists and bands helped satisfy the public's appetite for pop music.
• Live broadcasts of music programs and concerts at non-studio locations. Such remote hook-ups included hotel ballrooms, orchestra halls, dance halls, jazz clubs, juke joints and other public venues.
Recalling songs that were hits on the radio
Here are recaps of a few songs from the Radio Ramblers concert at Pennybyrn.
Somebody Else Is Taking My Place — In the summer of 1941 jazz clarinetist and band leader Benny Goodman had a falling out with Helen Forrest, a female vocalist with a smooth, flawless tone. It's been said Goodman called girl singers "canaries," since he believed a pretty girl in front of his orchestra would attract ticket buyers to a show.
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| Period publicity photos: Wikipedia Benny Goodman and Peggy Lee performing "Why Don't You Do Right?" in 1943's Stage Door Canteen |
Though Benny just stared at her the whole time, Peggy recalled later, he called the next day to offer a job in his band. Peggy said yes and that night joined his band for what was a two-year stint. "Come to work," he told her, "and wear something pretty."
A recording session in December 1941 generated Goodman and Lee's first big hit, "Somebody Else Is Taking My Place." Composed in 1937 by Dick Howard, Bob Ellsworth and society band leader Russ Morgan, this very danceable tune was a staple of Big Band artists and radio airplay in the 1940s and 1950s.
A year later Goodman and Lee recorded "Why Don't You Do Right?" which sold a million copies. By then, she'd become famous in hotel ballrooms, juke boxes and radio stations across the country.
Dream A Little Dream Of Me — Recordings of this song appeared in 1931 with renditions by band leaders Ozzie Nelson and Wayne King and by vocalist Kate Smith. From the 1930s to 1950s Smith was a major star on the radio (later on TV as well), often backed by an orchestra. The "lovely ballad" she sang was composed by Fabian Andre and Wilbur Schwandt with lyrics by Gus Kahn. It grew in popularity with sales of her record, live appearances at theaters and with radio airplay.
 |
| Kate Smith on the radio in the 1930s |
"I don't remember much. I'm an old lady," she said. "But I was there with my sister and I was wearing a blue dress."
For a year my introduction for this song included an appreciative tale about a 15-year-old in a blue dress who saw Kate Smith sing "Dream A Little Dream Of Me" in Boston in 1931.
Then, in August 2002, after a concert in Bethlehem PA a man came up to me and barked, " I built the theater." "What are you talking about?" I asked.
"I built the theater the woman with the blue dress and her sister talked about," he said. "It was the Metropolitan Theatre on Tremont Street in Boston."
Opened in 1925, The Met was an important landmark for decades. Its crystal chandeliers and marble doorways were an elegant setting for people to be entertained by motion picture stars, big bands, vaudeville acts, operas and recording artists such as Kate Smith.
Though the theater fell into disuse during the 1970s, it still stands. In 1983 it was renovated for $9.8 million and renamed the Wang Theatre in honor of An Wang, founder of Wang Laboratories. Today, the Wang Theatre is part of the Boch Center, which boasts a 3,500-seat theater for music, dance, theater and educational programming.
Pennies From Heaven — In the late 1920s Bing Crosby's vocal style on the jazz tunes he favored was called "crooning" as opposed to the "belting" style of vaudeville stars of the day. Crosby's conversational approach to singing made him one of the most popular radio, screen and recording stars of mid-Century America.
In 1931 he recorded 10 of the year's top 50 recordings. That same year he began singing and hosting radio programs with national hook-ups, including a ten-year stint (1936 - 1946) on Kraft Music Hall, a weekly radio show on NBC. From his earliest days in radio, his theme song was "Where The Blue of The Night (Meets The Gold of the Day)," a signature tune he composed with Fred Ahlert and Roy Turk.
 |
| Bing Crosby in Sept 1932 Modern Screen Magazine |
Bing would appear in 79 movies during his lifetime, including a 1936 hit called Pennies From Heaven. Though it was notable for little other than Bing's intro of the title song, the film also featured trumpeter Louis Armstrong as himself in a supporting role.
Variety Magazine panned the film as "a weak picture despite a good tuneful score." Still, Pennies From Heaven received an Academy Award nomination in 1937 for Best Original Song, with music by Arthur Johnson and lyrics by Johnny Burke. A Depression-era favorite, it has been covered by countless pop singers over the years, from Louis Armstrong to Louis Prima and Billie Holiday to Polly Bergen.
You Are My Sunshine — No matter where I sing this song, people in my audiences like to sing along. Everyone knows the words and melody. And everybody smiles when they sing it.
 |
| Gene Autry in the 1940s |
The seller was a musician named Paul Rice, a member of the Rice Brothers Gang, a Shreveport country combo. They recorded the song in September 1939, five months before Davis cut his record.
Davis always loved the song, singing it at campaign rallies for governor as he rode in on a horse named "Sunshine." The Davis recording spawned many cover versions, including hits for Gene Autry, Bing Crosby and "Waltz King" Wayne King in 1941.
A comprehensive list of subsequent cover versions of "You Are My Sunshine" is just too long to post. The Internet is not big enough to handle the file.
Still, the song that was popular in the 1940s remains popular today. And the folks at the Pennybyrn concert in High Point NC are no exception.
Back-in-the-day sound of vintage guitars
In addition to singing songs popular on the radio in the 1930s and 1940s, the performer played vintage acoustic guitars from the same era. The guitars make music with a special character, tone and sustain
without use of pick-ups. In the Pennybyrn program Lelen played
the following guitars:
1939 B & D Groton 1 — Ladder-braced, mahogany-bodied auditorium guitar made by Regal Instrument Co. of Chicago for exclusive retail sale by Bacon Banjo Co. of Groton CT; original price: $15.
1933 MarvelTone — X-braced, mahogany-bodied grand concert
guitar with one-of-a-kind pearl inlays in headstock and fingerboard made by
Regal Instrument Co. of Chicago for wholesale distribution by Targ & Dinner of
Chicago to select retailers across North America; original price: $28.
1931 B & J Serenader — Ladder-braced, mahogany-bodied grand
concert guitar with the handsome sunburst finish made by Regal Instrument Co. of Chicago for wholesale distribution by Buegeleisen & Jacobson of New York to select retailers across North America; original price:
$18.
1940 Harmony Gene Autry Round-Up — Recently restored and X-braced, this maple-bodied auditorium guitar with Gene Autry stenciled across the fingerboard and Round-up stenciled in the headstock to honor the Singing Cowboy of radio, recordings and movies was made by Harmony Co. of Chicago for exclusive mail-order sale in the Sears, Roebuck and Co. catalog; original price: $9.95.
1940 Harmony Gene Autry Round-Up — Recently restored and X-braced, this maple-bodied auditorium guitar with Gene Autry stenciled across the fingerboard and Round-up stenciled in the headstock to honor the Singing Cowboy of radio, recordings and movies was made by Harmony Co. of Chicago for exclusive mail-order sale in the Sears, Roebuck and Co. catalog; original price: $9.95.
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| Photo: Leslie Sanders Vintage guitarist Ken Lelen and 1940 Round-Up guitar with "Gene Autry" stenciled in fingerboard |
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© 2019 — Kenneth Lelen — Al Rights Reserved
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