Bert Ambrose and his Orchestra: Nineteen “I’m” songs, recorded 1928-1940

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page originally published on 6 December 2011; latest edit: 15 September 2022

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Nineteen Ambrose and his Orchestra recordings of “I’m” songs, 1928-1940 (n = no video or audio file of the recording presently available here):

• 1928
  • I’m More Than Satisfied (n)
  • I’m Riding To Glory
• 1929
  • I’m Bringing a Red, Red Rose
• 1930
  • I’m On a Diet of Love
  • I’m Following You
  • I’m In the Market For You
  • I’m Telling the World About You (n)
• 1931
  • I’m Doing That Thing
  • I’m Just Wearing Out My Heart for You
  • I’m Gonna Get You
  • I’m Thru’ With Love
  • I’m an Unemployed Sweetheart
• 1934
  • I’m Gonna Wash My Hands of You
  • I’m On a See-Saw
  • I’m All In
• 1936
  • I’m in a Dancing Mood (n)
• 1939
  • I’m Sending You the Siegfried Line (To Hang Your Washing On)
• 1940
  • I’m In Love For the Last Time
  • I’m Stepping Out With a Memory Tonight

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Bert Ambrose and his Orchestra

From 1927 to 1940, bands led by Ambrose were variously referred to, and credited on record labels, as

• Ambrose and his Mayfair Orchestra
• Ambrose and his Orchestra at the May Fair Hotel
• Ambrose and his Orchestra at the May Fair Hotel, London
• Ambrose and his Orchestra (at the May Fair, London)
• Ambrose and his Orchestra

The name of the hotel is the May Fair. It resides within a London district known as Mayfair. These two spellings are frequently confused in internet references to Ambrose bands, Ambrose recordings, and the hotel. The designation “at the May Fair Hotel” locates the band’s performing residence. It does not indicate the place at which the recordings were made.

Selected Ambrose biographies:

• Wikipedia
• Planet Barberella — alphabetical audio files (rapidshare) and good collection of photos

Excerpts from the Ambrose biography at Wikipedia:

• [After leaving the Embassy Club and accepting an offer at the May Fair in 1927,] Ambrose stayed at the Mayfair [sic] for six years, during which time the band made recordings for Brunswick Records, HMV and Decca Records…This period also saw the musical development of the band, partly as a result of Ambrose’s hiring of first-class musicians, including Sylvester Ahola, Ted Heath, Joe Crossman, Joe Jeannette, Bert Read, Joe Brannelly, Dick Escott and trumpeter Max Goldberg.
• In 1933, Ambrose was asked to accept a cut in pay at the Mayfair; refusing, he went back to the Embassy Club, and after three years there (and a national tour), he rejected American offers and returned to the Mayfair Hotel in 1936.
• He then went into partnership with Jack Harris (an American bandleader), and in 1937 they bought a club together (Ciro’s Club). [This partnership lasted only a short while before it was “ruptured.”]
• Ambrose then worked at the Café de Paris until the outbreak of World War II, when he again went on tour.
• After a short period back at the Mayfair Hotel, he retired from performing in 1940 (though he and his orchestra continued to make records for Decca until 1947).

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I’m More Than Satisfied 

Ambrose and his Orchestra at the May Fair Hotel, London; vocal: Les Reis — recorded in Hayes, Middlesex, 14 June 1928;  issued as  HMV B–5498, c/w Chirp-Chirp

Session personnel:

Bert Ambrose: leader
Leslie Berkin, Dennis Ratcliffe: trumpet
Sam Acres: tuba
Perley Breed: clarinet, alto sax, bariton sax
Jack Miranda: clarinet, alto sax
Joe Crossman: clarinet, tenor sax
Leo Kahn: piano
Joe Brannelly: banjo, guitar
Dick Escott: double bass
Max Bacon: drums
Lew Stone: arranger

Recording presently unavailable

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I’m Riding To Glory (m. Harry Woods, w. Mort Dixon)

Among the earliest recordings of the song are found variants of the title, including “I’m Riding To Glory (with a Glorious Girl)” and, according to redhotjazz.com, “I’m Riding to Glory (With a Glorious Blues),” the latter title having been applied to an instrumental recording by Leroy Smith & His Orchestra.

Ambrose and his Orchestra at the May Fair Hotel, London; vocal: unnamed trio — recorded at Small Queen’s Hall, London, 23 October 1928

Session personnel — adapted from the Toast of New York Ambrose (1927-1932) discography:
Bert Ambrose: leader
Sylvester Ahola, Dennis Ratcliffe: trumpet
Ted Heath: tuba
Arthur Lally, Joe Crossman: clarinet, alto saxophone, baritone sax
Joe Jeannette*: clarinet, tenor sax, flute
Eric Siday, Reg Pursglove, Ernie Lewis: violin, when used
Bert Read: piano, arranger
Joe Brannelly: banjo, guitar
Dick Escott: double bass
Max Bacon: drums

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I’m Bringing A Red, Red Rose (m. Walter Donaldson, w. Gus Kahn) — from the 1928 Broadway musical Whoopee!

Ambrose and his Orchestra at the May Fair Hotel, London; vocal Lou Abelardo — recorded at Liverpool and Victoria Hall, London, 17 September 1929— Session personnel as above

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I’m On a Diet of Love (m. Abel Baer, w. L. Wolfe Gilbert) from the film Happy Days (1929)

Ambrose and his Orchestra at the May Fair Hotel, London; vocal by Sam Browne — recorded in Chelsea, London, on 18 February 1930 — Session personnel as above

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I’m Following You (m. Dave Dreyer, w. Ballard MacDonald) — from the 1929 MGM feature film It’s a Great Life, in which it was introduced by Vivian Duncan and Rosetta Duncan

Ambrose and his Orchestra at the May Fair Hotel, London; vocal: Sam Browne — recorded in Chelsea, London, on 18 February 1930 — Session personnel as above

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I’m In the Market for You (m. James F. Hanley, w. Joseph McCarthy) was featured in the film High Society Blues (1930) where it was sung by Janet Gaynor and Charles Farrell.

Ambrose and his Orchestra at the May Fair Hotel, London; vocal: Sam Browne — recorded at Small Queen’s Hall, London on 24 April 1930; issued in June 1930 on (UK) His Master’s Voice B 5824, as the B-side of “Just Like in a Story Book”

Session personnel as above

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I’m Telling the World About You (m. Jimmie Monaco, w. Cliff Friend) – copyright, 24 January 1930

Ambrose and his Orchestra at the May Fair Hotel, London; vocal: Sam Browne  — recorded at Chelsea, London, 22 May 1930 — issued on HMV B5847, c/w “‘Leven Thirty Saturday Night” — Session personnel as above

Recording presently unavailable

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I’m Doing That Thing (m. Jimmy McHugh, w. Dorothy Fields) — Original title: “I’m Doing That Thing (Falling in Love)”; from the 1930 MGM feature film Love In the Rough

Ambrose and his Orchestra at the May Fair Hotel, London; vocals: The Three Ginx — recorded at Small Queen’s Hall, London, 16 December 1930; issued on HMV B 5946 — Session personnel as above

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I’m Just Wearing Out My Heart for You (Clay Keyes, Turner Layton)

Ambrose and his Orchestra at the May Fair Hotel, London; vocal: Sam Browne — recorded at Small Queen’s Hall, London, 21 February 1931 — Session personnel as above

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I’m Gonna Get You (w.m. Gus Arnheim, Harry Tobias & Jules Lemare)

Ambrose and his Orchestra at the May Fair Hotel, London — recorded at Small Queen’s Hall, London, 26 May 1931; vocal: Sam Browne — Session personnel as above

audio file, VBR MP3, from the page 78rpm Collection (1920s 1930s Popular Music), at archive.org:

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Jij wordt wel anders — Dutch version of “I’m Gonna Get You,” by “Louis Davids met het orkest van Bert Ambrose” (Bert Ambrose Orchestra with vocalist Louis Davids)

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I’m Thru’ With Love (w.m. Matty Malneck, Gus Kahn, Fud Livingston) published 1931

Ambrose and his Orchestra at the May Fair Hotel, London; vocals: Sam Browne and Ella Logan — recorded at Small Queen’s Hall, London, 19 June 1931

Session personnel:
Bert Ambrose: leader
Sylvester Ahola, Dennis Ratcliffe: trumpet
Ted Heath: tuba
Joe Crossman:  clarinet, alto saxophone, baritone sax
Jack Shields: clarinet, alto sax
Joe Jeannette: clarinet, tenor sax, flute
Johnny Walker: baritone sax
Ernie Lewis, Teddy Sinclair, Peter Rush: violin
Bert Read: piano, arranger
Joe Brannelly: banjo, guitar
Dick Escott: double bass
Max Bacon: drums, vibraphone

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I’m an Unemployed Sweetheart (m. James V. Monaco, w. Ned Washington, Edgar Leslie)

Ambrose and his Orchestra at the May Fair Hotel, London; vocal: Ella Logan — recorded at Small Queen’s Hall, London, 19 June 1931 — Session personnel as above

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I’m Gonna Wash My Hands of You (m. Franz Vienna, w. Eddie Pola)

Ambrose and his Orchestra, vocals: Sam Browne and Elsie Carlisle, 1934. The lyric includes the touching spoken lines

Me, a double-crosser?
What about that blonde of yours?
Fanny something or other…that’s her name.
I always see you with your Fanny…don’t I?

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(above, left) The Radio Three, (right) The Boswell Sisters

The Radio Three — In a performance style obviously influenced by the Boswell Sisters, this close harmony vocal group perform “I’m Gonna Wash My Hands of You” in the following British Pathé short, released on 18 April 1935. The lyric, different than that in the Ambrose recording, includes the lovely couplet

I’m gonna cross you off my list
I’d like to give your neck a twist

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I’m On a See-Saw (m. Vivian Ellis, w. Desmond Carter) from the 1934 West End musical Jill Darling!

Ambrose and his Orchestra, vocal by Sam Browne — recorded on 3 January 1935; issued in 1935 on the 78 rpm single (US) Decca 467, as the B-side of “You and the Night and the Music” (m. Arthur Schwartz, w. Howard Dietz)

There are conspicuous similarities in the melody to that of the 1930 song “(Up On Top of a Rainbow) Sweepin’ the Clouds Away,” a Maurice Chevalier theme song.

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(above, left) Al Hirschfield caricatures of some of the stars of Casino Varieties, a vaudeville-like variety show which opened on Broadway in 1934 at the Casino Theatre. Included in the illustration are the Ritz Brothers, emcee Georgie Jessel, and Gertrude Niesen. Among other songs in the show was (above, right) “If Love Makes You Give Up Steak and Potatoes, Then I Don’t Want Love” (w.m. Louis Alter and Lew Brown).**

I’m All In (m. Louis Alter, w. Arthur Swanstrom) was introduced in the 1934 Broadway show Casino Varieties.

Ambrose and his Orchestra performed I’m All In in the 1936 film Soft Lights and Sweet Music, with vocal by Evelyn Dall. It’s not clear whether this is from the film soundtrack or a separate recording.

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I’m in a Dancing Mood (m. Al Hoffman, w. Maurice Sigler, Al Goodhart) — from the 1936 British musical comedy film This’ll Make You Whistle

Ambrose and his Orchestra, vocal by Jack Cooper — recorded on 12 August 1936; issued as Decca Dec971 A, b/w “Crazy With Love” (Hoffman, Sigler, Goodhart)

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Carroll Gibbons and the Savoy Hotel Orpheans, vocal: Anne Lenner — recorded in London on 11 December 1936, according to the video provider; issued in 1936 on the 10-inch 78 rpm single (UK) Columbia FB 1592, as the B-side of “Did You Mean It?” (Jesse Greer, Mort Dixon)

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I’m Sending You the Siegfried Line (To Hang Your Washing On) (Ross Parker, Hughie Charles, St. John Cooper)

Ambrose and his Orchestra — issued in 1939 on the single (UK) Decca F.7245, as the B-side of “The Washing on the Siegfried Line (We’re gonna hang out)” (m. Michael Carr, w. Jimmy Kennedy); A-side song aka “We’re Going to Hang out the Washing on the Siegfried Line”

B-side: “I’m Sending You the Siegfried Line (To Hang Your Washing On)”

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A-side: “We’re Going to Hang out the Washing on the Siegfried Line”

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I’m In Love for the Last Time (Hughie Charles, Ross Parker)

Ambrose and his Orchestra, vocal: Vera Lynn — recorded on 6 February 1940

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I’m Stepping Out With a Memory Tonight (m. Allie Wrubel, w. Herb Magidson) — recorded by Ambrose and his Orchestra (at the May Fair, London), vocal: Anne Shelton, on (according to the video provider) 9 September 1940; issued as the B-side of Decca F. 7602

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* Joe Jeannette (sometimes spelled “Joe Jeanette”):  M.G. Thomas’ Dance Band Encyclopaedia indicates that Jeannette “was with Ambrose from 1928 until he finally disbanded in the late 1940s.”

** “If Love Makes You Give Up Steak and Potatoes, Then I Don’t Want Love” — Decades later, Dan Hicks used this title in the lyric of a song that he wrote called “I Don’t Want Love.”  A recording of the song appears on his 2000 album Beatin’ the Heat, and Hicks and his band performed the song on the 28 November 2000 episode of Late Night with Conan O’Brien.

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