Record #0870: Star Dust / Lucinda – BILLY WARD AND HIS DOMINOES

Liberty F-55071 (original), USA, May 1957
Words & Music by:  Side A – Hoagy Carmichael, Mitchell Parish; Side B – Billy Ward
Musicians:  Eugene “Gene” Mumford (lead tenor), Billy Ward (pianoand backing vocals), Cliff Givens (bass vocals), Milton Grayson (baritonevocals), Milton Merle (second tenor), others unknown
Recording sessions:  Produced by Billy Ward (and engineered by Harold “Lanky” Linstrot) at Radio Recorders, Los Angeles, CA, on 7. March 1957
Highest chart positions:  Side A – US #12, US R&B #1, UK #13; Side B - none

The session took place during a time of uncertainty for the group. Their legendary lead vocalist, Jackie Wilson, had just left the band to pursue a solo career. Billy Ward quickly replaced him with Gene Mumford (formerly of The Larks). Despite the pressure of replacing a future Hall of Famer, Mumford’s silken tenor delivery on this precise session clicked perfectly with the public, making this lush pop arrangement the group's most successful pop-charting hit and their only single to sell over a million copies.

This is one of the First Stereo R&B/Pop Recordings. Back in March 1957, stereo was still an experimental commercial medium, mostly reserved for classical music or high-fidelity jazz. Capturing an R&B/vocal group on a multi-track machine allowed Liberty Records to release one of the earliest true stereo pop singles, bridging the gap between gritty rhythm and blues and high-end hi-fi audio. By utilizing an early Ampex multi-track tape recorder, engineer Lanky Linstrot could separate the vocal performances from Vic Schoen's large studio orchestra. In standard 1950s mono recordings, everyone played at once into one or two microphones, meaning a loud horn or drum could easily drown out a delicate vocal.

List price: Very Good+ $15, Near Mint $30. Picture sleeves VG+ $62,50, NM $125. I found two sold copies without the sleeve in eBay for $20-$25 and four copies with the sleeve for $25-$55.

 

Record #0869: Ikkunaprinssi (Glendora) / Poika varjoiselta kujalta (Guaglione) – OLAVI VIRTA

Triola T 4329 (original), Finland, 1957
Words & Music by:  Side A – Ray Stanley, Sauvo “Saukki” Puhtila; Side B – Giuseppe Fanciulli, Sauvo “Saukki” Puhtila
Musicians:  Olavi Virta (lead vocals) and his orchestra
Recording sessions:  Produced by Olavi Virta (possibly engineered by Aarre Elo) at Akkuteollisuus’ Studio in Helsinki, Finland, in 1957
Highest chart positions:  Finland did not yet have an official national chart. However, the local magazine “Rytmi” published a ranking titled “What Finland Plays,” on which Side B held the No. 1 position from 15 October to 1 December 1957.

Olavi Virta was arguably Finland’s most popular crooner of the 1950s.
One of Finland’s biggest hits of 1957, the record received extensive radio play on both sides. Both songs later became enduring classics of Finnish popular music.

The record labels credit "Kaarto Vasa" as the arranger for both tracks. In reality, this was a pseudonym used by Olavi Virta. Since he was running the production department at Levytukku (a record importer and the company behind the Triola label) at the time, he arranged the songs himself but chose to hide behind a pen name to separate his roles as a singer and a music businessman.

This single captures the turning point of Finnish popular music in the late 1950s. The A-side kind of represents the birth process of Finnish rock'n'roll with its American teen-pop roots, while the B-side represents the immense Italian lifestyle wave and mambo-swing craze that swept through Finland at the exact same time. Many Italian groups and artists were very popular in Finland in the late 50’s and early 60’s.

This also marked as a turning point for Virta himself. This record essentially caught him at his absolute professional peak, right before his alcoholism and the changing music industry caused everything to crumble.

List price: I didn’t find any list prices nor sold copies. A Finnish antiques store is selling a copy for 25 euros.

 

Record #0868: Mañana (Is Soon Enough for Me) / All Dressed Up with a Broken Heart – PEGGY LEE

Capitol 15022 (original), USA, January 1948
Words & Music by:  Side A – Dave Barbour, Peggy Lee; Side B – Fred Patrick, Claude Reese, Jack Val
Musicians:  Peggy Lee (lead vocals, percussion on side A), Dave Barbour (guitar, orchestra lead), Laurindo Almeida (acoustic guitar on side A), the Brazilians (the additional musicians on side A), Dave Barbour’s Orchestra (the additional musicians on side B)
Recording sessions:  Produced by Lee Gillette at Capitol Studios (Melrose Ave.), Los Angeles, CA; Side A – 25. November 1947; Side B – 26. November 1947
Highest chart positions:  Side A – US #1, Australia #2, Brazil #11; Side B – none

“Mañana” was a huge international hit, but the success can not be measured with the charts, as most countries didn’t have those in place in the 1940’s, yet.

When Peggy Lee and Dave Barbour were writing the song, they wanted a very specific, driving Latin rhythm. During the frantic November 1947 recording session, the studio didn't have all the traditional Latin percussion instruments on hand. To solve this, Peggy Lee herself stepped in as a percussionist. She famously tracked down a pair of standard studio chairs and used them as instruments. By slapping the leather seats of the chairs in perfect sync with the band, she created the distinct, sharp, clapping-like backbeat that drives the entire record.

While the record was a massive financial triumph for Capitol Records, it also led to one of the most high-profile plagiarism battles of the era.

A songwriter named Louis J. "Chico" Alvarez sued Peggy Lee and Dave Barbour for $2.25 million (an astronomical sum in 1948). Alvarez claimed that "Mañana" stole its melody and structure from his own copyrighted song, "The Samba-Caramba." Because "Mañana" was dominating the charts and making millions, the legal battle became front-page entertainment news. Ultimately, the court ruled in favour of Lee and Barbour, stating that the similarities were common to the traditional Samba genre and did not constitute copyright infringement.

List price: The median price on Discogs is $3,13. 45cat.com price guide has this at €20. I didn’t find any copies sold in eBay.