This is my blog where I write about music, and myself. Vaudeville, burlesque, blues, jazz, novelties, and whatever else I feel like posting. Mostly from my own LPs and 78s. Comments and feedback always appreciated. Please do not link directly to mp3s. It's rude.

Believe it or not, I've been waiting for years to get this song. This is one of the only songs Lillian Russell ever recorded. Although she was a huge star, she nearly missed the era of recorded sound.
A few years ago I got a book taken out from dusty vault of the Enoch Pratt central library (PN2287.R83O25) about Lillian Russell and her pal Diamond Jim Brady. It went on at length about the extreme twelve course meals they shared. I don't remember much about her life other than gluttony.
I once went in a building on Cathedral street by the City Cafe - at the time the building was being used as the Talking Head club. Upstairs before a doorway, the floor tiles declared "The Lillian Russell Room." I wish I could buy that building.
Diamond Jim Brady has his own tribute in Baltimore, in the form of the James Brady Urological Institute. Johns Hopkins came to his aid when his lifestyle caught up to him, and he lived up to his nickname in giving back.
I'll be posting more from this compilation because it's got some gems.

Come Down My Evenin' Star
Lillian Russell
from "They Stopped The Show" Audio Rarities compilation 1969

Lillian Russell, competitive eater, sex symbol

Labels: glamorous, vaudeville

Posted by: Kara Mae 4/16/2008  (0) comments

I aim to please.
I guess the writer of this intriguing classic movie blog found my site while searching for a recording of Barbra Stanwyck singing "Take It Off The E String (Play It On The G String)", as seen and heard in the movie "Lady of Burlesque"(1943).
For those of you who aren't familiar, the movie is an adaptation of the novel "The G String Murders" by the one and only Gypsy Rose Lee, eloquent stripper turned mystery writer.
Stanwyck sings this saucy number and flaunts her goods in the burlesque tradition, in the beginning of the movie before the shit goes down. (By that I mean the aforementioned murders of course)
The song is credited to Sammy Cahn and Harry Akst.
I can only guess that it would be this Sammy Cahn and Harry Akst, each relatively successful and acclaimed showtune writers on their own.
If I'm correct that would make it the same men who brought us such songs as "Dinah" (Akst) and "Until The Real Thing Comes Along"(Cahn). Hell.. Cahn partnered with various people on a whole slew of familiar songs from "Love and Marriage" to "Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow."
I copied this song from the "Ladies of Burlesque" compilation LP. I posted another song and mentioned this one 2 years ago. Which of course led to this request.
Anyway, I'm glad someone looked at my blog. I'm glad I could be of service delivering this legendary burlesque-related recording to someone who seeks it. Enjoy. Sorry my record player sucks. I'm working on that.

Take It Off The E String (Play It On The G String)
(Sammy Kahn, Harry Akst)
Barbara Stanwyck - from the 1943 film "Lady of Burlesque"

Barbara Stanwyck looking ridiculously hot

Labels: burlesque, cinema, comedy, glamorous

Posted by: Kara Mae 3/05/2008  (2) comments

Well, well, well... it looks like it's time for another burlesque novelty. I haven't posted one in awhile.
The Sherry Britton LP is one thing, but I can't believe this one hasn't been reissued. Rhino? Somebody? At one point I'd thought about trying to do it myself. I don't think I'm up to the task. But someone should do it. And it should benefit Exotic World. Oh and I should be writing the reflective liner notes...

You probably know who Gypsy Rose Lee is. She was a dancer. And then she wrote a mystery novel. Which became a movie. She also had a musical written about her life.
The "Gypsy Rose Lee Remembers Burlesque" LP is much like the Sherry Britton one mentioned above (as well as a number of other burlesque LPs), but this one is centered around Gypsy and her career. There are some quality bits - the one I'm posting is my favorite. This humorous song speaks for itself. You can find this record for cheap on ebay, or perhaps even at your local thrift store.




Gypsy Rose Lee
Adam & Eve
Gypsy Rose Lee Remembers Burlesque
Stereoddities, 1962

Labels: burlesque, comedy, glamorous

Posted by: Kara Mae 1/24/2007  (1) comments

Here's Rita Hayworth doing a duet with Merv Griffin in 1971.
In addition, from me to you - a scan from a 1953 one-off magazine, Cheesecake, An American Phenomenon

Rita Hayworth and Merv Griffin
I'm Old Fashioned
Merv Griffin Show 7/12/71

Hopefully coming soon: Ziegfeld series, also: songs about displacement.

Labels: glamorous

Posted by: Kara Mae 7/02/2006  (1) comments

"Rita Hayworth's own voice can be heard possibly in the slow version of "Put the Blame on Mame," during which she accompanies herself on guitar, and definitely in two rare 1971 TV appearances."
- Alan Eichler, on the liner notes to the "Silver Screen Star Series" Rita Hayworth LP

I think the general consensus is that this was sang by Anita Ellis.
Rita Hayworth is so sexy in Gilda, seriously. Considering the motivation of her character, it makes sense... Women are best at being sexy out of spite. Well I am, anyway. I do everything best out of spite. I wish there was some hateful reason to update this blog every week!
I really dig Anita's vocals on this version of the song. It's a nice sultry scene in the movie, too.
Rita never sang her own songs in her movies. Was she actually a decent singer? I guess you can be the judge. Next time I'll post one of the aforementioned TV songs.


Rita Hayworth and/or Anita Ellis
Put The Blame On Mame (slow version)
Gilda
Directed by Charles Vidor, 1946

Labels: cinema, glamorous

Posted by: Kara Mae 6/21/2006  (1) comments

MGM Records Presents "THE BEST OF BURLESQUE." Narrated by: Sherry Britton. Top Banana: Tom Poston.




I think this record is probably my favorite out of all of my burlesque records. I wanted to save it for later, but "Burlesque With The Nuts Inside" was skipping, so lucky you, I decided to go ahead and start with this one. The embittered essay from the sleeve, posted below, refers to the 1942 ban on burlesque in New York City, advocated by the Society for the Suppression of Vice and Mayor Fiorello La Guardia.
Sherry Britton was a very beautiful and famous stripper, and her intelligence and sense of humor shine through her narration on this record. I have about three or four more installments I will be posting. Be patient - keep reading my blog, suckers!


From the record sleeve:

"The album you are now holding represents all that remains of an art form that was invented in America for Americans. On that bleak day in 1942 when a rumpled New York City politician with a penchant for chasing fire-trucks signed a ukase banning Burlesque, an era of unique entertainment ended. With the banishment of Burlesque from Broadway, this medium was stigmatized in the minds of the masses and, when transplanted across the Hudson River, the dry rot of vulgarity and synthetic sex completed the conspiracy. The new overlords of the runway forgot that the word "Burlesque" means parody or travesty, that originally the burlesque show had satirized and lampooned the topics of the times and contemporary musical theatre, and that Freudian and Kinseyesque overtones had no place in its initial concept. Thus it was that real Burlesque, along with the whooping crane and the passenger pigeon, passed into extinction.
What you are about to hear is a reconstruction of a burly show of the late 'Thirties. You have passed into the purlieus of roccoco architectural indescretion known as "Renaissance RKO" or "Early DeMille." Seated in the orchestra, you are overpowered by a miasma of cigar smoke thick as a prarie fire. Through it, dimly, you see the runway, a bridge of thighs cherished by devotees of dimpled derrieres, for it permitted propinquity to the "ponies" and the seats adjacent to it were tabbed the "bald-headed row." A cross-section of the male species, with a sprinkling of females, surround you. Stevedores, store-clerks, bookkeepers and home-wreckers, all they have in common is a limited entertainment budget and a thirst for adventure. An expectancy falls over the audience as the orchestra, toupees askew, files into the pit. The newspapers, racing-forms, tout-sheets and tattered copies of "Captain Billy's Whiz-Bang" are put down, fresh Bayuk Phillies are ignited, and all settle back in anticipation of an hour's escape from the reality of dull days and empty nights; maybe Burly was banal and tawdry, maybe it was sleazy and tarnished, but to many millions it was the only theatre they could truly call theirs. Sic transit gloria Minsky!" - Jack Vaughan





(1) PROLOGUE: Emmett Rose

(2) NARRATOR: Sherry Britton

(3) OVERTURE: The Band

OPENING:
(4) "Hello, Everybody"
and
(5) "Autumn Salutation"
Nelle's Belles

Labels: burlesque, comedy, glamorous

Posted by: Kara Mae 2/07/2006  (4) comments

Mae West:
A Guy What Takes His Time (1933)
A Guy What Takes His Time (1955)

Here we have two versions of one of my favorite Mae West songs, "A Guy What Takes His Time."
The first version was recorded in 1933, and is available on several of the common Mae West CDs. She sings the song in the movie "She Done Him Wrong," although it is highly cropped due to film censorship. Watching Mae sing these songs in her films is strange... she rolls her eyes and smiles as she purrs "ooooh," and it sounds really weird.
The second version I don't like so much. I found this 1950s Mae West record "The Fabulous Mae West," which features a few of her hits re-recorded, as well as some new-ish songs. The production just doesn't suit her. Her songs are better when presented more simply... one would imagine them being performed in a sleazy saloon or nightclub. Singing with a big full band doesn't have the same effect. In the 1930s version of "A Guy What Takes His Time," the character singing is Lady Lou (aka Diamond Lil.) In the 1950s version, the character singing is Mae West. By the time she recorded it she was already pushing 60 years of age.



Pick up Mae West "I'm No Angel," from the amazing Venerable Music site, to hear this and some other great Mae songs.

Also, check out the Mae West blog, which is basically my favorite blog ever.

Labels: cinema, comedy, glamorous, jazz era, mae west

Posted by: Kara Mae 2/04/2006  (1) comments

Whose Big Baby Are You?
Alice Faye - from the 1935 film "King of Burlesque"





I've never seen "King of Burlesque." This "Ladies of Burlesque" record is pretty common - record collectors will come across it often, especially when seeking other burlesque-related gems. It has some good songs on it. I don't know what year the compilation was put out, but the first song is "Ladies of the Chorus" featuring Marilyn Monroe, yet Marilyn's name is not printed on the front of the record alongside the other stars listed.
This comp also features the famed Barbara Stanwyck "Take It Off the E String (Play It on the G String)" from the Gypsy Rose Lee-penned film "Lady of Burlesque." Maybe I'll put that song on here at some point.
I really wish I could find "King of Burlesque," so that I could find out who the King in question is, and also so I could see what the crowd is laughing at in this Alice Faye track.

Labels: burlesque, cinema, glamorous

Posted by: Kara Mae 1/30/2006  (0) comments

That Makes It
Too Hot To Handle



One thing that really amuses me about the Jayne Mansfield movie "The Girl Can't Help It" is the general poor understanding of "Rock and Roll." (Movie title song excepted!) At that period in time, Hollywood's representations of rock n roll were usually pretty corny.
This song here is another good example of a sweet but misguided attempt. Regardless, it's a good audio glimpse of Mansfield - from her first sultry words to the squeals towards the end of the song.
It's a campy good time. So horrible, and yet I listen to this song often, as a routine part of my curiosity about the glamorous, confused and kitschy life of Jayne Mansfield.

Labels: cinema, comedy, glamorous

Posted by: Kara Mae 1/22/2006  (0) comments