Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea
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Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea (Harold Arlen, Ted Koehler) was written for the Cotton Club revue Rhyth-Mania which opened in March 1931. The song was introduced by vocalist Aida Ward. Cab Calloway and his Orchestra were featured in the Cotton Club production.
Roy Fox (The Whispering Cornetist) and his Band, vocal by Al Bowlly — recorded on 9 February 1931; issued on the 78 rpm single (UK) Decca F.2240, b/w “Maybe It’s Love”
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Cab Calloway and his Orchestra — recorded on 21 October 1931; issued on the 78 rpm single Brunswick 6209, b/w “Kickin the Gong Around” (Arlen, Koehler)
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audio file, VBR MP3 (4.9 MB), from archive.org:
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Louis Armstrong and his Orchestra — recorded on 25 January 1932 in Chicago Illinois; issued in 1923 on the following 78 rpm singles:
- Columbia 2600-D, b/w “Kickin’ the Gong Around”
- OKeh 41550, b/w “Kickin’ the Gong Around”
- Vocalion 3136, c/w “Sweet Savannah Sue”
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The Boswell Sisters with the Dorsey Brothers Orchestra , recorded on 21 March 1932 — Dorsey Brothers Orchestra: Mannie Klein (tpt), Tommy Dorsey (tbn), Jimmy Dorsey (cl, as), Babe Russin (ten), Martha Boswell (p), Eddie Lang (g), Artie Bernstein (sb), Stan King (d), New York City
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Frank Trumbauer and his Orchestra — recorded on 17 August 1932; issued on the 78 rpm single Columbia 2729-D, c/w “The Newest St. Louis Blues”
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Eddie Duchin and His Orchestra, vocal: Patricia Norman — Brunswick 8155, recorded on 21 March 1938
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Blossom Dearie – from the 1957 album Give Him the Ooh-la-la
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Frank Sinatra — evidently from the TV special The Frank Sinatra Timex Show: Here’s To The Ladies, originally telecast on 15 February 1960; arrangement by Nelson Riddle
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George Harrison – A recording of the song evidently first appeared on Brainwashed, Harrison’s final studio album, released in 2002 shortly after his death. I haven’t been able to date the video, but it appears to be from a number of years prior to the release. Wikipedia indicates that one track on the album, Any Road, was recorded in 1988, and that Harrison subsequently recorded the remainder of the tracks sporadically over more than a decade.
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