Paul Whiteman--1925-1928: Electrical "Whispering," more!

Buster, at Big 10-Inch Record, just put up ten Paul Whiteman tracks, providing me with an excuse to put up some of the 150 or so Whiteman 78 sides I ripped last year.  Here are twenty of them, nearly all arranged by the brilliant Ferde Grofe.  This I know because last year the arranger listings were still up at the Williams College Paul Whiteman Collection website--they're since been taken down, unfortunately.  The site notes that the PW collection is being "fully processed" next year, but I wish they'd kept up the info they had.  Oh, well....

Update: Ernie found the page in question on the Wayback Machine--"a digital archive of the World Wide Web and other information on the internet" (Wikipedia).  Link: Whiteman Collection.  The Wayback Machine reference is to the "Peabody's Improbable History" segment from the Rocky and Bullwinkle Show.  I grew up on the show, but I don't know how familiar with it young'uns are or aren't.  (Please take "young'uns" in context--I'm 61.  And I've probably watched too many Waltons episodes.)  So, thank you, Ernie.

This set includes the electrical-era remakes of the huge 1920 Whiteman hits Whispering and The Japanese Sandman, in new (1928) Ferde Grofe arrangements.  Both charts are exceptionally well done, imo.  And we have Ben Selvin masquerading as Paul Whiteman on the Columbia label (What D'Ya Say?)--I think I knew the story behind that at one time, but if I did, I've forgotten it.  Bing Crosby's voice can be heard on a number of these, but he sings lead only on the first--Irving Berlin's Sunshine.  Standing out like a sore thumb, stylistically, is 1925's The Kinky Kids Parade, which is every bit as racist as the title suggests.  It doesn't sound especially Whiteman--I've heard nearly everything recorded by Paul, and I don't know I'd have identified it as him in a blindfold test.  Meanwhile, I've seen the Dancing Shadows arrangement credited to both Grofe and Tom Satterfield, and I tend toward Grofe, though my ears are not positive.  (Come on, ears.  Get with it.)  And I was a major fan of that eccentric soap opera.  Yup, ran home every afternoon to catch it.  (No, wait--that was Dark Shadows.)

I may or may not be the first music blog (er, blogger) to feature That Saxophone Waltz.  I really like it.  The superb Whiteman band musicianship probably has a lot to do with that, plus Grofe's ultra-smooth arrangement, plus the lovely vocal chorus (trio?  quartet?  I'd have to listen closer to discern).  Or maybe I just have corny tastes.  Nah.  That can't be.  Anyone who has followed my blog for a while knows I despise corn.  (Sound of tin cans crashing.)

Anyway, these were all ripped by me from my Whiteman 78 collection, the response curves chosen on my VinylStudio software, and the declicking performed on both my VS and MAGIX programs.  Enjoy!


Click here to hear:  Paul Whiteman, 1925-1928

Paul Whiteman and His Orchestra

Sunshine--vocal: Bing Crosby, 1928 (A: Grofe)
Collette --with vocal refrain, 1927 (A: Grofe)
Broken Hearted--with vocal refrain, 1927 (A: Grofe)
Broadway --vocal: Austin Young, 1927 (A: Grofe)
Manhattan Mary--with vocal refrain, 1927 (A: Grofe)
Why Is Love?--1925 (A: Grofe)
Dancing Tambourine--1927 (A: Grofe)
Whispering--1928 (A: Grofe)
The Japanese Sandman--1928 (A: Grofe)
Everything's Made for Love--1927 (A: Grofe)
The Kinky Kids Parade--1925
I'm in Love Again--1927 (A: Grofe)
Like You (Dark Eyes I Dream of)--1927 (A: Grofe)
When I'm in Your Arms--1926 (A: Grofe)
I Always Knew--with vocal chorus, 1926 (A: Grofe)
It All Depends on You--1927 (A: Grofe)
That Saxophone Waltz--1927 (A: Grofe)
What D'Ya Say?--Ben Selvin, recording as PW's Orch.!
Lonely Eyes--1926 (A: Grofe)
Dancing Shadows--1928 (Arr: FG?  Tom Satterfield?)


Lee