I just recently returned from a short trip to Guam. At one point I made a remark to my wife about the increasing number of people with tattoos. She commented that they can sometimes look nice.I agreed before stating that they still never manage to improve the body part they happen to be on. I can't imagine looking at someone's shoulder and thinking "you know what this could use? A ladybug or a flower or the Chinese symbol for reincarnation". Then again, maybe I'm just jealous for never having gone through being tattooed myself.
Still, I stand by the notion that parts of the body are never improved with some ink. Just like big band records accompanied by a chorus. A solo singer can sometimes work — even if more often than not they're unnecessary as well — but a group of vocalists singing in unison does nothing but distract from the musicians who put the real work in. Before I get to Jimmy Dorsey's recording of "So Rare", I'd like to compare it with a few other versions of the standard and how they fared without the use of a glorified church choir.
One of the earliest recordings of "So Rare" was by Guy Lombardo and His Royal Canadians from 1937. The first minute or so is taken up by some sweet little solos and you almost feel like they decided not to bother with a vocal part before Carmen Lombardo (Guy's younger brother) finally joins in for its second half. Again, I don't necessarily need to hear him sing — for one thing, his voice isn't the greatest, especially given the fact that he was in his early thirties at the time and not, as I had assumed by the sound of his voice, in at least his mid-fifties — but I'm okay with it being on there.
In competition with Lombardo's rendition was a version by Gus Arnheim and His Coconut Grove Orchestra. I like this one a little bit more than Lombardo's, at least in some part because it is a good deal less gimmicky. Jimmy Farrell's part commences slightly earlier but he has a much stronger voice than Carmen Lombardo. I'd even say in this instance that a vocal is vital to the recording. The solos are less distinctive but the playing has a stronger overall cohesion to it.
Moving ahead about ten years, we get to the version I am most familiar with: George Shearing's. Like everything the British legend recorded, the key here is lightness. Shearing tickles the keys, his fingers seemingly brushing over them. The mood is relaxed but this betrays a certain intensity that typically lurked in the background of Shearing's work. You scarcely notice the rhythm section which is at least as much to do with Shearing's incredible talent as it is the rough recording and piss poor mastering.
Finally, let's jump forward again and examine Mose Allison's take on "So Rare" from 1961. There's a trio version in which the so-called 'jazz sage' doesn't even bother singing. But, hey, when you're as gifted a pianist as he was, why bother opening your trap even if it produces a nice sound? There's also a five-piece rendition with horns that really don't serve much of a purpose. Once again, it's Allison's skills on the keys that keeps the listener invested as he doesn't bother singing on this one either. Good stuff and a helpful reminder of just what a terrific and sadly overlooked figure Mose Allison has become. (Come to think of it, the same can be said for Guy Lombardo. And Gus Arnheim. And George Shearing. Hell, let's throw Jimmy Dorsey in with this lot while we're at it!)
So, that's four separate renditions of "So Rare", two with vocals and two without. The first two are more restrained, being relics of the big band era, while the other two are much more modernist with Shearing and Allison both playing superbly. Jimmy Dorsey seemed to bridge the two in his hit single from 1957 and he succeeded for the most part. The Wikipedia article states that Dorsey's style was indebted to that of sax player Earl Bostic which allowed for a more R&B and even rock 'n' roll feel but I hear some of Ben Webster's aggressive, breathy tones as well.
As I suggest above, the thing that lets Dorsey's version down is the highly unwelcome chorus. While the singing on the Lombardo and Arnheim recordings doesn't kick off until after the one minute mark, the Artie Malvin Singers make their presence felt straight away and I seem to notice them a lot more than either Dorsey or any of the members of his orchestra. Given their prominence in a great deal of pop from this era, I imagine the chorus was considered one of the highlights of "So Rare" rather than it being its greatest weakness.
"So Rare" got to number one on Canada's CHUM chart on June 17, 1957, just five days after Jimmy Dorsey's death from either lung or throat cancer — or both. Though just fifty-three years old, he must have seemed ancient compared to people like Elvis Presley. Nevertheless, he admirably attempted to stay current which no doubt helped score him a big band smash at a time when jazz orchestras had started to become the rusted out hulks of a bygone age. Not unlike the way a hokey old chorus sounds to twenty-first century ears.
Score: 7
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Hey! Where's...
The Everly Brothers: "Bye Bye Love"
My planned Can Con segment is going to have to go on hold for a while. Basically, there just aren't enough Canadians populating the pop charts around this time. (Apparently, Guy Lombardo wasn't quite the force he'd been twenty years earlier) So, let's go with another concept that I can dig out every now and then Hey! Where's... which, you may have guessed, deals with big songs that somehow missed topping the Canadian charts. I already brought this one up but it bears repeating: "Bye Bye Love" is a fantastic record while "Love Letters in the Sand" isn't terribly good and "So Rare" is just all right with that bloody chorus there to ruin it. While it's tempting to focus on just how influential Don and Phil Everly were on The Beatles and Simon & Garfunkel and, well, quite a few others I'm sure, why not just bask in what a glorious two minutes and twenty seconds of countrified pop "Bye Bye Love" is. Don's lead vocal is strong but it's when the brothers harmonize that magic happens. Also, dig the crack band backing them: Chet Atkins plays lead guitar like the giant that he always was while everyone else sounds suitably ragged. Amazing how such a simple song and be so mind blowing: that's good pop for you.
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