He's Sorry He Answered the Phone

Today's record does not broadcast itself as a song-poem the way that a record on Preview, Halmark or many other labels would. In fact, it's an acetate, with not even the songwriter's names listed on either side. But there are some key factors here which I think demonstrate that a song-poem is exactly what we have here.

First, there is the artist. In the late 1940's, someone named Jack Allyn made a handful of records for the Novart record label, a song-poem outfit helmed by song-poet George F. Franciosa, Sr. Jack Allyn is an unusual enough name that it made this acetate, credited to the same singer, worth a listen. And if you compare this vocalist to the one singing on Novart's greatest hit, "Goodness Gracious, It's Contagious", you will probably come to the same conclusion that I did - this is the same singer. The same singer, I grant you, sounding much older, but this record is dated 1972, nearly 25 years after "Goodness Gracious".

And that's another thing that points this to being a song-poem: the setting of this record seems to have been a perfect arrangement for 1951, a typical flaw of the song-poem world. Within its own genre, hopelessly out of date even 41 years ago, the song is not a bad one, although the lyrics are far from original. Still, it's a nice listen, if you're up for this sort of thing.

Download: Jack Allyn - I'm Sorry I Answered the Phone
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On the flip side, we have the even more outdated "Every Day of My Life", with a lyric that sounds straight out of the 1930's to me. I do get a kick of out the completely out of place glissando that the pianist decided to include just before the 90 second mark, but otherwise, this one has very little to offer.

Download: Jack Allyn - Every Day of My Life
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YEE-HAH!!!

Every once in a long while, during my song-poem collecting life, there comes the opportunity to buy a record I never thought I'd see a copy of, let alone own. This happened this week, when I stumbled across a copy of a record on the Novart label for sale. Not only that, but there's an oddity about the record's credits, as well. 

During my first few years of collecting, I did a lot of tape exchanges with song-poem guru Phil Milstein. At one point, he sent me a cassette with a selection of particularly odd examples of song-poems, and named the tape after one of the oddest of the tracks, "Goodness Gracious It's Contagious (Dwee Ree Dwee Ree Dwa)" by Jack Allyn, Vocalist with the Rhythmateers. 

According to the song-poem website, this song has been found on what I suspect was a 78 release (since it was dated 1948), and on an undated album. This version is on a 45, but it's the same version I'd previous heard (although in somewhat better quality). 

Anyway, this is an all time favorite of mine, and being able to own a copy of this one is the sort of thing that makes collecting as fun as it is. I love the insane amount of echo here, the 1920's sound permeating the disc, and the completely ridiculous lyrics. Although, again, these would have fit in, and perhaps with a little tweaking, have even been a hit, in the 1920's - 30 years earlier!

Here's the weirdest thing, though. Nearly every song listed on the Novart page at the song-poem website shows the songs to have been written by George Franciosa, Sr. Both songs on this 45, however, are credited to the utterly fantastically named "Friskee Novart"! 

Here's the A side: 

Download: Jack Allyn, Vocalist with the Rhythmateers - Goodness Gracious It's Contagious (Dwee Ree Dwee Ree Dwa)

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The B-side, by the same clunkily named ensemble, is not nearly as interesting to me, but still, worth a listen. It's called "How Can I Make You Care For Me?:

Download: Jack Allyn, Vocalist with the Rhythmateers - How Can I Make You Care For Me?

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