1926 selected standards and hits, part 1

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Bye Bye Blackbird (m. Ray Henderson, w. Mort Dixon)
Someone to Watch Over Me (m. George Gershwin, w. Ira Gershwin)
Tonight You Belong To Me (m. Lee David, w. Billy Rose)
Baby Face (m. Harry Akst, w. Benny Davis)
I Can’t Believe That You’re In Love With Me (m. Jimmy McHugh, w. Clarence Gaskill)
Tip Toe Through the Tulips With Me (m. Joe Burke, w. Al Dubin)

Separate feature pages:

Blue Skies (Irving Berlin)
Hello Bluebird (Cliff Friend)

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1926 selected standards and hits, part 2 — includes A Blues Serenade, I’ve Found a New Baby, Basin Street Blues, If I Could Be With You (One Hour Tonight), Are You Lonesome Tonight?, Coney Island Washboard Roundelay, plus links to two separate pages of Louis Armstrong recordings (1925-1928)

Note: The Irving Berlin song “Always” was evidently first recorded in January 1926, but I’ve categorized it under 1925 songs because it was published and registered for copyright in that year. See the following pages:

Always: early recordings, 1926-1927 (Irving Berlin)
1925 selected standards and hits

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Bye Bye Blackbird (m. Ray Henderson, w. Mort Dixon) – There were four hit recordings of the song released in 1926 including those by two popular crooners, Gene Austin and Nick Lucas.

From Wikipedia:

Gene Austin was a popular screen, radio & recording artist during the mid-1920’s into the 1930’s. He was known as “the voice of the south land” and a pioneer in the “crooning” style of singing. A jazz artist at heart, he was equally at home singing country ballads, blues and spirituals. His improvisational style apparent in his recordings, added a unique flavor to his interpretations.

In the late 1920’s, Nick Lucas became one of the most popular singers on the radio, but prior to his fame as a vocalist, he had established himself as a guitarist. In 1922, Nick cut two sides of a record with the originals, “Picking the Guitar” and “Teasing the Frets.” These were the first solo jazz guitar instrumentals recorded. – nicklucas.com

Gene Austin — B-side of the 1926 single Ya Gotta Know How to Love

Nick Lucas – 1926

Miles Davis – from the album ‘Round About Midnight – Recording sessions took place at Columbia Studio D on October 26, 1955, and at Columbia’s 30th Street Studio on June 5 and September 10, 1956. Released March 18, 1957. – wikipedia

Musicians

Miles Davis – trumpet
John Coltrane – tenor saxophone
Red Garland – piano
Paul Chambers – bass
Philly Joe Jones – drums

Julie London

From a 1964 Japanese television special, recorded on 28 May 1964, titled The Julie London Show. The show features London and the Bobby Troup Quintet performing, both together and separately, a selection of songs consisting mostly of standards. For Bye Bye Blackbird, London is accompanied by Don Bagley on bass.

From the Julie London TV variety special Julie: Something Special, air date 17 November 1965, WGN-TV, Chicago — Julie London: voice, Don Bagley: bass

Liza Minnelli — Liza With a Z : A Concert for Television — starring: Liza Minnelli, directed by Bob Fosse, 31 May 1972 at the Lyceum Theatre, NYC

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In 1926 George and Ira Gershwin wrote the music and lyrics (Howard Dietz is also credited on some songs for lyrics) for the Broadway musical Oh Kay! starring Gertrude Lawrence and Victor Moore. The show was well- received and ran 256 performances. It opened on the West End in 1927 for a similarly successful run.

The ballad Someone to Watch Over Me, sung by Lawrence to the rag doll she clutches (No, not that doll.) was the hit of the show. It became a Gershwin standard.

Someone to Watch Over Me (m. George Gershwin, w. Ira Gershwin)

Coleman Hawkins and his Orchestra — recorded in Los Angeles on 9 March 1945, according to the provider, with the following personnel

Coleman Hawkins: saxophone
Howard McGhee: trumpet
Sir Charles Thompson: piano
Allen Reuss: guitar
John Simmons: bass
Denzil Best: drums

Ella Fitzgerald — from Ella Sings Gershwin – 1950

Frank Sinatra — soundtrack of the film Young at Heart (1954) – recorded 23 Sep 1954 – arranged by Nelson Riddle

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Tonight You Belong To Me (m. Lee David, w. Billy Rose)

links:

Irving Kaufman’s November 1926 recording of the song may have been the first to be released. Other recordings of the song released in 1926 include those by The Ponce Sisters, and Bob Haring and his Orchestra. Gene Austin recording was reportedly popular in 1927. After Frankie Laine revived it in 1952, the previously unknown Patience and Prudence reached #4 on the Billboard charts with their 1956 version. The Lennon Sisters performed it live, employing an arrangement similar to that used by Patience and Prudence, on The Lawrence Welk Show circa 1956. It was performed by Steve Martin and Bernadette Peters in the 1979 movie The Jerk, where Martin sings the lead and plays the ukulele while Peters sings harmony and plays a cornet solo.

Irving Kaufman — recorded on 19 November 1926; issued on Harmony 301-H, c/w “In a Little Spanish Town”

Gene Austin — 1927

Frankie Laine — 1952

Patience and Prudence biography, by John Bush, Rovi:

The sister duo Patience and Prudence reached the Top Ten in 1956 with a fluke hit, the ghostly “Tonight You Belong to Me.” The daughters of a professional musician — Mark McIntyre, who accompanied Frank Sinatra on piano during the mid-’40s — Patience and Prudence McIntyre reportedly learned the song while at summer camp in 1955 (when they were nine and 12, respectively). Their father recognized it as a Billy Rose hit from several decades earlier, and was impressed enough to work up the arrangement as a demo intended for cabaret singer Lisa Kirk (wife of Robert Wells). McIntyre also recorded a version with Patience and Prudence’s vocals, strictly for personal reasons, but gave a dub to studio friend Ross Bagdasarian, who passed the record on to Si Waronker of Liberty Records.

Waronker loved the song, so Patience and Prudence signed to Liberty and recut the song with overdubs to strengthen their ethereal vocals, then watched as the record soared to number four nationally (with several cover versions eventually coming along).

Patience and Prudence

Single Liberty F55o22, issued in July 1956, c/w “A Smile and a Ribbon“ (double A-side)

(below) Patience and Prudence perform the song on the Perry Como Show, Season 9, Episode 1 — airdate: 15 September 1956

The Lennon Sisters — Live on the Lawrence Welk Show; date unknown, probably late 1956

Janet Klein provides chord diagrams below her performance in this video: Tonight. She also has a longer “how to play” video on the song available on Youtube.

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Baby Face (m. Harry Akst, w. Benny Davis)

Four 1926 recordings:

Jan Garber and his Orchestra, vocal: Benny Davis

The Savoy Orpheans

Whispering Jack Smith

Lou Gold and his Orchestra, vocal Arthur Fields – recorded 10 July 1926

Art Mooney & his Orchestra, 1948

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I Can’t Believe That You’re In Love With Me (m. Jimmy McHugh, w. Clarence Gaskill) – Cliff Edwards introduced the song in 1927, but his recording failed to make the charts while Roger Wolfe Kahn and his Orchestra had a hit that year (#11).

Billie Holiday – 1933

Anita O’Day– Stan Kenton & his Orchestra (I think) – 1945

Ames Brothers – 1953

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Tiptoe Through the Tulips (m. Joe Burke, w. Al Dubin)

Nick Lucas introduced the song in the 1929 musical revue film Gold Diggers of Broadway. On early sheet music, the song was published as Tip Toe Through the Tulips With Me, while the 1929 film gave the title as Tip-toe thru’ the Tulips.

From Wikipedia:

Gold Diggers of Broadway is a Warner Bros.musical comedy film which is historically important as the second talkie photographed entirely in Technicolor. It became a box office sensation, making Winnie Lightner a worldwide star and boosting guitarist crooner Nick Lucas to further fame as he sang two songs that became 20th century standards: Tiptoe Through the Tulips and Painting the Clouds with Sunshine.

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