"Meet Me Where They Play the Blues" by Andy Williams
Three singers for Tonight Starring Steve Allen was the limit, but Kay Thompson, former radio star and former head of the vocal department at MGM, called in a favor to get her protege Andy Williams a bonus slot in the lineup. Thompson also helped cement his first recording contract with Cadence Records on which he released his debut album Andy Williams Sings Steve Allen in 1956.
Whether it was because of their personal familiarity or a favor owed, Andy Williams chose twelve Steve Allen songs to make up his first album. Allen was a prolific songwriter, if not a very good one, writing songs with others and for his show as another source of income. Steve's wit pushed the output but the bunches of material get lost in formula and the overuse of rhyming dictionaries. They lack hooks and the human touch and, at least in this selection, are void of inspiration. (A good counterpoint to Steve Allen's songwriting would be Johnny Mercer.)
The best written song on the album is "Meet Me Where They Play the Blues" and is the song best suited to Andy's tone. It fits so nicely it apparently warrants a sound-alike on Side B ("An Old Piano Plays the Blues.") Andy Williams has a unique and quality singing voice but, much like Steve Lawrence at the time, he can't help but deliver his lines through the nose, throat or top of the palate. These vocal affectations limit the types of songs he sounds natural singing, and Steve Allen's catalogue doesn't give him much to work with (even with the casual jazz orchestrations by Alvy West.)
Here is the discography surrounding Andy Williams's debut album:
You Can't Buy Happiness (1953 single)
Here Comes That Dream Again (1954 single)
Christmas Is a Feeling in Your Heart (1955 single)
Andy Williams Sings Steve Allen
"The Wind, the Sand and the Star" by Andy Williams
Pat Kirby is next among the regular singers that would appear on Tonight Starring Steve Allen. With a distaste for showbiz, Kirby's career on TV and on wax was short. She released only a few singles and one album What Is This Thing Called Love? in 1957 on Decca Records.
With Tonight Starring Steve Allen having two female singers to promote the latest songs, their juxtaposition in the lineup leads to a highlight of their strengths. Where Gorme holds the listeners with her bombast, Pat Kirby does so with her precision. Her voice is clear and controlled and allows her to effortlessly navigate volume, mood and style. Like her coworker Steve Lawrence, the quieter she sings the more magical her voice, finding its height as it dips into a conversational, jazzy tone. The album starts with jazz as Kirby introduces the timeless question: What Is This Thing Called Love? The subsequent songs look for an answer but sonically turn to the traditional pop orchestral arrangements that just aren't as vital. But Pat Kirby's diamond-clear voice shines throughout and finds its exquisite home again in the concluding song "Love," a multi-faceted answer to that first question.
Here is Pat Kirby's discography:
Don't Tell Me Not to Love You (1955 single)
Wildwood (1955 single)
Don't Tell Me Not to Love You (1956 single)
I Keep a Little List (1956 single)
Somebody Somewhere (1956 single)
What Is This Thing Called Love?
Please Be Gentle with Me (1957 single)
Tammy (1957 single)
Sayonara (1957 single)
Lemon Soul (1969 single)
"Like Someone in Love" by Pat Kirby
"The Gentlemen Obviously Doesn't Believe" by Pat Kirby
"Love" by Pat Kirby
"I'm Glad There Is You" by Pat Kirby on Tonight Starring Steve Allen
"The Girl Next Door" by Pat Kirby on Tonight Starring Steve Allen
Eydie Gorme was another of the family of singers at Tonight starring Steve Allen. With a couple years of experience singing in Big Bands, she became an asset to Steve Allen for her versatility and repertoire. Eydie Gorme would release her debut album Eydie Gorme's Delight in 1957 on Coral Records.
Eydie Gorme's debut was released as she was exiting Coral Records. As such, the album is simply a collection of singles she cut for the label over the previous five years. Many of the song selections play into her "exoticism" (her parents were born in Turkey and of Sephardic Jewish heritage) and her Spanish fluency (she worked as a Spanish translator for the UN before starting her singing career.) Each song is performed with a veteran's enthusiasm that makes any track an infectious listen, and when her voice soars at its full breadth, it's a delight.
Here is the discography surrounding Eydie Gorme's debut album:
Love Me Not Just a Little (Love Me a Lot) (1952 single)
Tell Me More (1952 single)
Cocoanuts (1953 single)
Frenesi (1953 single)
Gimme Gimme John (1953 single)
I Danced with My Darling (1953 single)
Chain Reaction (1954 single)
Crocodile Tears (1954 single)
Tea for Two (1954 single)
Make Yourself Comfortable (1954 single with Steve Lawrence)
A Girl Can't Say (1955 single)
Soldier Boy (1955 single)
Knickerbocker Mambo (1955 single with Steve Lawrence)
Besame Mucho (1955 single with Steve Lawrence)
"Tea for Two" by Eydie Gorme
"Climb Up the Wall" by Eydie Gorme
"Close Your Eyes (Take a Deep Breath)" by Eydie Gorme and Steve Lawrence
"Cry Me a River" by Eydie Gorme (on The Steve Allen Show)
When first building The Steve Allen Show for its New York audience, Steve Allen saw the new evening format as modern vaudeville. The variety of vaudeville required more than just jokes, interviews and jazzy themes, so he auditioned a "family" of singers that would perform throughout the week. Steve Lawrence, "a rabbi's son from Brooklyn," was one of the first such singers on The Steve Allen Show. Starting at 18, he continued with the show as it became Tonight Starring Steve Allen and would remain until the end of its run in 1957. Steve Lawrence released his debut album About "That" Girl in 1956 on Coral Records.
Steve Lawrence's debut opens with "Where or When." We find out that the "When" is 7AM and the beginning of a surprising and ambitious concept album that collects a series of romantic standards chronicling the day of a mind absorbed in love from waking to "the wee small hours of the morning." Every other song starts with clock chimes and an original verse that connects the overall narrative, leading naturally into the next song. Although these touches might come off as a little cheesy, they transcend the thematic album and nearly match the overbearing influences of Frank Sinatra (who had been building themed concept albums since he first started recording albums) in the realm of the narrative concept album: something I never expected to hear from a TV crooner's first try in 1956.
Note: In a sad bit of coincidence, I started listening to Steve Lawrence for this blog the same day he died from complications due to Alzheimer's disease. RIP Steve Lawrence.
Here is the discography surrounding Steve Lawrence's debut album:
All My Love Belongs to You (1952 single)
How Many Stars Have to Shine (1952 single)
Poinciana (1952 single)
Sudden Fear (1952 single)
If Not for You (1953 single)
King for a Day (1953 single)
To the Birds (1953 single)
I Need (1954 single)
Too Little Time (1954 single)
To the Birds (1954 EP)
Tell Me What to Do (To Make You Mine) (1954 single)
Make Yourself Comfortable (1954 single)
Adelaide (1955 single)
The Chicken and the Hawk (Up Up and Away) (1955 single)
How Do I Break Away from You (Without Breaking My Heart) (1955 single)
Open Up the Gates of Mercy (1955 single)
Besame Mucho (1955 single with Eydie Gorme)
Knickerbocker Mambo (1955 single with Eydie Gorme)
Never Mind (1956 single)
About "That" Girl
"If I Had You" by Steve Lawrence
"Poinciana" by Steve Lawrence
"Picnic" by Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme (with Steve Allen and Skitch Henderson and His Orchestra)
As The Steve Allen Show's resident orchestra, Bobby Byrne and His Orchestra provided Dixieland Jazz accompaniment when the show was still a local New York program. NBC loved the format and adapted it, with Steve Allen, for a national audience. They created Tonight Starring Steve Allen, though Allen would tell you that NBC and the show's new producers didn't do much creating at all—as not much changed in the transition. One change, however, was the replacement of Bobby Byrne (whose Dixieland sound at the time was not suitable for the new audience) with Skitch Henderson and His Orchestra.
Skitch Henderson formed his orchestra after several years working in radio as a musical director and accompanist. He released his debut album Keyboard Sketches by Skitch Henderson (without his orchestra) in 1949 on Capitol Records.
Skitch's postwar recordings are piano-driven with an orchestra ready to respond when Skitch goes quiet, playing a pop jazz more appropriate for background music and slow dancing. Without his orchestra, Skitch's recordings are even softer and heavier with flourish. A little night music with a touch of Gershwin—almost lullabies.
Here is the discography surrounding Skitch Henderson's debut album:
Cynthia's in Love (1946 single with His Orchestra)
Dreamland Rendezvous (1946 single with His Orchestra)
Five Minutes More (1946 single with His Orchestra)
A Garden in the Rain (1946 single with His Orchestra)
If I'm Lucky (1946 single with His Orchestra)
Army Air Corps (1947 single with His Orchestra)
Dancing with a Deb (1947 single with His Orchestra)
Emperor Waltz (1947 single with His Orchestra)
Far Away Island (1947 single with His Orchestra)
Papa, Won't You Dance with Me? (1947 single with His Orchestra)
Would You Believe Me (1947 single with His Orchestra)
But None Like You (1948 single with His Orchestra)
A Fella with an Umbrella (1948 single with His Orchestra)
Maybe (1948 single with His Orchestra)
Skitch's Boogie (1948 single with His Orchestra)
Somebody Else's Picture (1948 single with His Orchestra)
The Music Goes 'Round and Around (1949 single with His Orchestra)
Pattern in Lace (1949 single with His Orchestra)
Autumn in New York (1949 single)
Moonglow (1949 single)
Keyboard Sketches by Skitch Henderson
Daddy's Little Girl (1950 single with His Orchestra)
Sunday Monday (1950 single with His Orchestra)
Swan Lake (1950 single with His Orchestra)
Two Cigarettes in the Dark (1951 single)
"Swan Lake" by Skitch Henderson and His Orchestra
"Maybe" by Skitch Henderson and His Orchestra
Skitch Henderson on "Tonight Starring Steve Allen"
From radio to television, Steve Allen hosted a version of The Steve Allen Show. His first namesake show on television was an 11 a.m. CBS program that premiered in 1950 and only lasted a couple of years. After cancellation, Steve Allen took the rest of 1952 and 1953 to further build his national reputation, jumping between networks, with other television hosting gigs and guest appearances. NBC finally gave him another shot at his The Steve Allen Show: this time as a comedy-driven talk show, Monday through Friday at 11:15 p.m. and only New York local. Bobby Byrne and His Orchestra performed as The Steve Allen Show's resident band.
Bobby Byrne formed his first orchestra at the young age of 21 under the mentorship of clarinetist and Big Band leader Jimmy Dorsey. As a teenager, Byrne's impressive trombone play got him his first professional work with the feuding Dorsey Brothers, filling in for Tommy Dorsey when he refused to perform with Jimmy. Bobby continued to play with Jimmy Dorsey after the two brothers finally split and formed their own competing Swing orchestras. Byrne would soon do the same and form his own orchestra with the Dorsey Brothers formula: danceable and brass-heavy arrangements, pleasant singers and with either the trombone or clarinet taking up solos.
Although the respective Dorseys and Glenn Miller would have greater success with popular Big Band (thanks to better arrangements, hotter jazz or more popular singers depending on who you listen to,) Bobby Byrne and His Orchestra is worth listening to simply for Bobby Byrne. His solos, often opening any particular recording, are catching in their precision and smooth timbre.
The Orchestra wouldn't make it through World War II as band members kept getting drafted and Bobby himself would join the Army Air Corps in 1943. He would reform the band in 1945 and record a handful more singles with Cosmo Records, but the lagging call for Big Bands (as smaller units became more popular and financially practical) saw Byrne have to rethink his model. He zagged by forming a bigger New Orchestra!—the difference being the addition of a string section. Bobby Byrne and His New Orchestra recorded a couple of singles and Byrne's debut album Movie Parade, a collection of movie themes, released in 1947 on Rainbow Records.
The arrangements are string forward and not too different from their original arrangements but for the odd presence of a trombone, either soloing the melody or overlaying the composition as an apparent afterthought.
Bobby Byrne would go back to the Big Band format in 1949 but this time in a lineup favoring woodwinds and the French Horn. He was finally out of the shadows of the Dorseys. It was Bobby Byrne and His Orchestra at their best and most unique! That is...according to the critics of the time; the best version of Bobby's Orchestra didn't record.
Here is the discography surrounding Bobby Byrne and His Orchestra:
How Many Times (1939 single)
One Cigarette for Two (1939 single)
Speaking of Heaven (1939 single)
Two Little Doodle Bugs (1939 single)
Barnyard Cakewalk (1940 single)
Busy as a Bee (I'm Buzz, Buzz, Buzzin') (1940 single)
'Deed I Do (1940 single)
Easy Does It (1940 single)
Maria Elena (1940 single)
Maybe (1940 single)
Orchids for Remembrance (1940 single)
The Right Time (1940 single)
Slow Freight (1940 single)
That's for Me (1940 single)
Trade Winds (1940 single)
When the Swallows Come Back to Capistrano (1940 single)
Brazilian Nuts (1941 single)
Do I Worry? (1941 single)
Down, Down, Down (What a Song) (1941 single)
I Found a Million Dollar Baby (In a Five and Ten Cent Store) (1941 single)
I Guess I'll Have to Dream the Rest (1941 single)
If It's True (1941 single)
It's You Again (1941 single)
Music Makers (1941 single)
Two Hearts That Pass in the Night (1941 single)
You Walk By (1941 single)
The Angelus Rings Again (1942 single)
Now and Forever (1942 single)
Hymn to the Sun (1946 single)
Ridin' on a Summer Afternoon (1946 single)
Take Me Back to Little Rock, Arkansas (1946 single)
This Is Always (1946 single)
Take It Slow, Taste the Vanilla (1946 single)
Buttered Roll (1947 single with His New Orchestra)
Movie Parade
Upper Fifth Avenue (1947 single with His New Orchestra)
Movie Parade by Bobby Byrne and His New Orchestra
"Hey Bobby!" by Bobby Byrne and His Orchestra
"I Guess I'll Have to Dream the Rest" by Bobby Byrne and His Orchestra
Steve Allen on the piano accompanied Jack Kerouac's first recorded poetry. They first performed the material together at the Village Vanguard two years earlier, and they only seemed to impress Kerouac who liked how his poetry sounded overtop Allen's improvisations.
Steve Allen made a career of improvisations overtop the structure of his own hard work. Although well-settled in radio by the late forties, he took any job he could in the new medium of television. In the early fifties, his popular reputation grew in large part to the familiar manner and quick wit he'd use as a wrestling announcer, as a guest host on Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts and as a regular panelist on What's My Line? Besides being a television personality, he was a songwriter and musician. He released his debut album Steve Allen at the Piano in 1951 on Columbia Records.
The album, made up of highly embellished popular tunes, shows off his skill and only occasionally his wit.
Here is the discography surrounding Steve Allen's debut album:
Steve Allen at the Piano
Cinderella (Bebop's Fable) (1953 single)
Jack and the Beanstalk (Bebop's Fable) (1953 single)
Bebop's Fables (1953 EP)
But Officer (1953 single)
Piano Tonight! (1956 EP)
Tonight! Starring Steve Allen - The First Episode
"Cinderella" and "Goldilocks and the Three Bears" by Steve Allen
