Cardinal Rodd

Before I get to today's songs, a bit of a backstory. Nearly four years ago, in this post, I shared an EP of Sammy, er, Sonny Marshall singing four songs by Michael Rose. Within that post, I commented that I'd already shared one of those songs, "A Little Bird", in a post nearly three years before that. I also mentioned that, although Michael Rose was listed as the composer of "A Little Bird" on the Air release, on the earlier Cardinal post, the song was credited to a different person Margaret A. Rosenberger (although I didn't provide either of their names at the time). 

Now, I have another Cardinal release and it continues the weirdness and confusion. It also features four songs credited to Ms. Rosenberger, two of which were ALSO on that earlier Sonny Marshall EP from 2020, where they were also credited to Mr. Rose. 

Rodd Keith, in his guise as Rod Rogers and with Film City's Chamberlin, performs the songs on the first side. "If I Could Have One Wish Tonight" is 110 seconds of midtempo nothingness, made into something by the creative arrangement that Rodd worked out on his one-man-band machine. From the oboe introduction to the choral oohs to the "hey-let's-make-this-into-a-long-enough-record" instrumental section in the middle - which is simply masterful for about 33 seconds - this is true demonstration of what Rodd could do with that weird machine .

Download: Rod Rogers - If I Could Have One Wish Tonight

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The second song on this side is the stronger of the two, I think. "Oh, How I Miss You", starts with a well worn idea about looking at the moon and knowing she can see it, too, but it's phrased very effectively, and the words continue to be nicely put together for much of the rest of the song, too. The tune for this one is considerably more memorable, and again, Rodd's use of voicings is again very effective. 

Download: Rod Rogers - Oh, How I Miss You

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As mentioned, the two Sonny Marshall songs on this EP were already heard, in identical versions, with different writer credits, in this post, and I am not going to repost them here. They are available in that post. I will say that "My Second Home" is the strongest track on this EP, just as Sonny's "A Little Bird" was the best song on that previous Cardinal record I shared. That's twice that Sammy/Sonny and his Globe band outshone Rodd Keith, and that's a rarity indeed. 

Norm and Joe

In the early days of the Sterling label, when they were creating a sound I truly love, one of the first singers hired was someone named Joe Hall. I've featured him here once before, and he was really not a very impressive singer. I have a few other Joe Hall records, but they're just not very good. Shortly after his name starts appearing on Sterling labels, the name of Norm Burns shows up, and very quickly, Norm became the standard bearer, which he would remain until his death in 1974. And shortly after Norm showed up, Joe made his last record for the label, which is no surprise. Today's record may be the only one on the label which features Norm on one side and Joe on the other. 

As I would have predicted, the Norm side is the much better of the two. It's called "Ain't A-Kiddin' You", and it's just 110 seconds long. And what a cute little record it is, with a bouncy beat, a swinging band and a memorable melody. Norm provides a first rate vocal, too. 

I love Norm. 

Download: Norman Burns, Lew Tobin's Orchestra - Ain't A-Kiddin' You

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Joe Hall, of course, takes the lead on the flip side, "Honey, Honey Do". If a midtempo record can be described as "turgid", this might be that record. The band seems to be a room away from the microphones and are playing in a truly uninspired manner - hard to believe this is the same band. Joe Hall hits all the notes, but shows no style and doesn't do anything interesting. This record is only 17 seconds longer than it's flip, but seems twice as long. 

Download: Joe Hall, Lew Tobin's Orchestra - Honey, Honey Do

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How Charming!

 

Well, I've been super busy, and it's been almost two weeks since I posted. I really don't have much time even now, so I won't say too much about this week's Tin Pan Alley item, featuring Ellen Wayne singing about "The Charm of a Texan's Smile". It's got an appealing, loping beat, and the singer gives quite a winning performance. I find the few things the lyrics actually say about Texans to be somewhere between suspect and flatly untrue, in my experience, anyway - looking at you, Senator Ted Cruz (among many others) - but maybe these things were more true 64 years ago or so, when this was recorded. 

(Oh, one line rings true: I'm sure Texans still learn all about The Alamo, but somehow, I have my doubts that schoolchildren in Texas learn that the battle was about whether Texas would be allowed to have slavery, an that "we" weren't on the right side of that argument.)

Note the references to Hawaii and Alaska - since this record came out around 1960 or so, those are extremely topical, given that both states were new to the union the previous year. 

Download: Ellen Wayne - The Charm of a Texan's Smile

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The flip side is what Billboard would have probably called a "Rock-a-Ballad" at the time (or at least, a few years earlier). It's called "The Church on the Mountain", and everything is put together reasonably well, to very little effect. 

Download: Ellen Wayne - The Church On the Mountain

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