Episode 391. Ben Bagley’s Three-Dollar Bills [Porter and Hart Edition]
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Two months ago I posted an episode on Gay Eccentrics, which included a profile of Ben Bagley, the theatrical and record producer who most certainly fit that designation. I believe that Bagley’s most lasting contribution was the 60 or so albums he produced of Great Broadway Composers Revisited, which presented unknown gems from the deep inside the trunks of these figures. For today’s episode, I am putting a particularly queer spin on that series by featuring a cross-section of the songs offered on Bagley’s ten albums devoted to songs of Cole Porter and Rodgers and Hart. There are so many remarkable treasures to be found on these recordings, which, in spite of (and perhaps even partially because of) the slapdash nature of the recording sessions and the shoestring budgets, remain some of the most important collections of forgotten songs by composers and lyricists of Broadway’s Golden Age. The other extraordinary thing about these collections was the variety of the singers that lent their voices to this music. Today’s selection, a mere cross-section, offers the vocal talents of Dorothy Loudon, Kay Ballard, Bobby Short, Lynn Redgrave, Tony Perkins, Mary Cleere Haran, Estelle Parsons, Blossom Dearie, Harold Lang, and Alice Playten, among many others. Choice excerpts from Bagley’s notorious liner notes are amply interspersed between the songs. I hope you enjoy the glitter, barbs, and even occasional Weltschmerz of this episode.
RECORDINGS HEARD IN THIS EPISODE
Cole Porter: Experiment (Nymph Errant). Bobby Short, William Roy [1965]
Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart: I Keep on Singing [cut from Mississippi]. Mary Cleere Haran, musical direction and arrangements by Lee Musiker [1992]
Cole Porter: I’m Throwing a Ball Tonight (Panama Hattie). Bobby Short, arrangements and musical direction by Norman Paris
Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart: Like Ordinary People (The Hot Heiress). Dorothy Loudon, Charlotte Rae, Danny Meehan, Cy Young, musical direction and arrangements by Norman Paris
Cole Porter: Thank You So Much, Mrs. Lowsborough-Goodby. Katharine Hepburn, musical direction and arrangements by Dennis Deal
Cole Porter: Find Me a Primitive Man (Fifty Million Frenchmen). Elaine Stritch and Les Boys, musical direction and arrangements by Dennis Deal [1976]
Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart: A Little Souvenir (The Garrick Gaieties). Elaine Stritch, Arthur Siegel, musical direction and arrangements by Dennis Deal [1977]
Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart: Blue Moon (Manhattan Melodrama). Blossom Dearie, Bobby Short, musical direction and arrangements by Norman Paris
Cole Porter: Most Gentlemen Don’t Like Love (Leave It to Me). Kaye Ballard, Carmen Alvarez, Elmarie Wendel, musical arrangements by Skip Redwine, vocal arranagements by Bud McCreery [1965]
Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart: I Need Some Cooling Off (One Dam Thing After Another; then used in She’s My Baby). Dorothy Loudon, musical direction and arrangements by Arthur Siegel
Cole Porter: A Lady Needs a Rest (Let’s Face It). Lynn Redgrave and the Girls, musical direction and arrangements by Dennis Deal [1976]
Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart: Someone Should Tell Them (A Connecticut Yankee). Lynn Redgrave, Anthony Perkins, musical direction and arrangements by Dennis Deal [1977]
Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart: Who Are You? (The Boys of Syracuse). Anthony Perkins, musical direction and arrangements by Dennis Deal [1977]
Cole Porter: Farming (Let’s Face It). Kaye Ballard, Harold Lang, Carmen Alvarez, William Hickey, Elmarie Wendel, musical arrangements by Skip Redwine, vocal arrangements by Bud McCreery [1965]
Cole Porter: Pets (cut from Let’s Face It). Alice Playten and Entire Company, Musical direction by Judd Woldin, Musical direction by Judd Woldin, vocal arrangements by Bud McCreary [1972]
Cole Porter: If Ever Married I’m (cut from Kiss Me, Kate). Blossom Dearie, Carmen Alvarez, Laura Kenyon, Alice Playten, Musical direction by Judd Woldin, Vocal arrangements by Bud McCreary [1972]
Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart: A Ship Without a Sail (Heads Up!). Gloria DeHaven, Bobby Short, musical direction and arrangements by Norman Paris
Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart: He Was Too Good to Me (Simple Simon). Estelle Parsons, musical direction and arrangements by Dennis Deal [1977]
Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart: It Never Entered My Mind (Higher and Higher). Sandy Stewart, Arthur Siegel, Faun Stacy, Matt “Chips” Patuto [1990]
Cole Porter: Make a Date with a Great Psychoanalyst (Let’s Face It; unused). Helen Gallagher, musical direction and arrangements by Dennis Deal [1976]
Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart: This Funny World (Betsy). Dorothy Loudon, musical direction and arrangements by Norman Paris
