After my recent post to the 365 project, of
a bunch of Merigail Moreland material, there were several requests that I post the rest of what I own of this wonderful singer. I'm going to do this in two posts, each containing multiple tracks.
First up are three tracks that I skipped in submitting to the 365 days project, because I was unsure that they actually are Merigail. However, the more I listen to them, the more convinced I am, due to the little flip in her voice near the end of two of these three tracks. These are, however, the least of the tracks I am offering up today, in terms of quality, and I would guess that they predate the "Reputation" tapes from 1953 by at least some months, if not more, based on the (lack of) quality of her singing.
First, she sings a song called "Why", a song her father appears to have been trying to turn into a hit (based on the number of versions of it that turn up on these tapes), presumably with her father, and perhaps the woman who joins in later is her mother:
Play:
Next, she sings the previously heard (at 365 days) "Mommy Daddy Bye Bye" again with a man I'm assuming is her father, Don:
Then she sings "Why", again, this time with an unidentified woman, probably the same woman as in the earlier version:
Play:
Next up is a third version of "Head Cheese", which I left out of the 365 days post because it seemed sort of redundant. This is from the same recording session as the second of the two versions posted to 365:
Play:
The main focus for today, however, is the other 1953 versions of Reputation, which I left out of my post because there were just so many of them. Here we have the first recorded version with the guitarist, who appears to be still learning his part:
Play:
Next up, another take, one which came before the "you were sharp" version that I've already shared. Oddly, Don shouts "perfect" at the end of this take, although it quite clearly was not so perfect:
Here is a tiniest fragment of a take, included for completests:
And here is a version actually recorded after the "final 1953 version", but apparently rejected in favor of the better version done just before this one:
And I believe that with the tracks featured here, I have now shared, between here and at WFMU, everything that is heard on the 1953 (and pre-1953) Moreland tapes which features Merigail's voice.
After ten years, these recordings can still make me tear up more than just a bit. Her voice connects with me on some very basic level, the joy of a child combined, at times, with the abilities of a great singer in training. I love every minute of these tapes.
Tonight's project is to digitize the circa 1980 tapes of Merigail which I was sent recently, and I hope to have those posted tomorrow.
