The Lonesome Road
Encyclopedia
"The Lonesome Road" is a 1927 song with music by Nathaniel Shilkret
and lyrics by Gene Austin
, alternately titled "Lonesome Road", "Look Down that Lonesome Road" and "Lonesome Road Blues." It was written in the style of an African-American folk song.
The lyricist and composer were both extremely popular recording artists. Gene Austin estimated he sold 80 million records, and Nathaniel Shilkret's son estimated his father sold 50 million records. Joel Whitburn
lists recordings by Austin, Bing Crosby
, Ted Lewis
, and Shilkret (see list of recordings below) as being "charted" at Numbers 10, 12, 3 and 10, respectively.
There are no reliable sales figures that can be used to verify or dispute any of the estimates above.
in the finale of the part-talkie
1929 film version of Edna Ferber's novel Show Boat
. It was performed onscreen by Stepin Fetchit
as the deckhand Joe. Fetchit's singing voice was supplied by bass-baritone Jules Bledsoe
, who had played Joe in the original stage version of the musical
. The Shilkret autobiography contains a brief account of the motivation for using the song in the film.
The song was also used in the motion pictures Submarine Command (1951), Cha-Cha-Cha Boom! (1956), California Split (1974), Wild Man Blues (1997) and Crazy (2007). It was featured on two soundies
, one with the
Lucky Millinder
orchestra, with vocal by Sister Rosetta Tharpe
, and another with the Al Donahue Orchestra. Both soundies could be viewed on youtube at the time of this writing.
It was used in the television series Andy Griffith Show (Rafe Hollister Sings, Episode 83), Peter Gunn (The Dummy), Gomer Pyle U.S.M.C. (Gomer Says `Hey', Episode 97), Matlock (Class), and The Odd Couple (Rent Strike, Episode 107). The Hollister rendition was viewable on youtube at the time of this writing.
"Lonesome Road" was included in the television productions Vintage Sinatra (PBS, 2003), Now (with David Brancaccio
, 2005), and Smuckers Presents Kurt Browning
's Gotta Skate (2006), and in the Radio City Music Hall
production Frank Sinatra: His Voice, His World, His Way (2004).
, Earl Anderza, The Andrew Sisters (from a Paul Whiteman
radio broadcast), Louis Armstrong
, Paul Anastasio, Eddy Arnold
, Maki Asakawa (two recordings) (Japanese), Chet Atkins
, Gene Austin
(accompanied orchestra directed Nathaniel Shilkret
, 1927), Hoyt Axton
, Joan Baez
, Mildred Bailey
, Barrelhouse Jazzband (live performance 1964 in Germany), Gail Bliss (privately produced), Pat Boone
, The Boswell Sisters, Will Bradley
(Schwichtenberg) (with drum solo by Ray McKinley
), Ruby Braff
, Brazilian Jazz Quartet
, Jim Breedlove, Bob Brozman
, Dave Brubeck
(April 1959, Hollywood; July 1959 at Newport Jazz Festival
), Teddy Buckner
, Donna Byrne, Paul Cacia, Ace Cannon
, Anita Carter
(radio broadcast), Eddie Chamblee (uncredited), The Chantays
, Jeannie and Jimmy Cheatham
, Marlon Cherry, Sue Childs, Larry Clinton
(from radio broadcast), Arnett Cobb
, The Collins Kids
, Ken Colyer
, Sam Cooke
, Floyd Cramer
, Bing Crosby
, Jim Cullum Jazz Band
(recorded in jazz club for radio broadcast), Dick Curless
, Alan Dale
, Dick Dale
, Bobby Darin
(medley; recorded live in concert), Sammy Davis, Jr.
(on Decca ED2216/DL8118 and in 1966 medley in concert), Sammy Davis, Jr.
and Roy Clark
(duet on telvevision), Jimmy Dean
, Jean Dinning (sister of Mark Dinning
, The Dixie Stompers (John Chapman at the piano), Tommy Dorsey
(originally issued on two sides of a 78 rpm disc), Catherine Dupois, Dutch Swing College Band
(live in concert at the Amsterdam Concertgebouw), Bob Dylan
(unlicensed and uncredited, as "Sugar Baby
"), Snooks Eaglin
(two different takes used on one CD), Lars Edegran
(uncredited), Duane Eddy
, Vincent Edwards (founding member Murder by Death
), Dean Elliot, The Fashions, Frances Faye
, The Fendermen
, Maynard Ferguson
(with Chris Connor
), Flat Duo Jets
, Lee Floyd, III and Big Tiny Little, The Fontane Sisters
, Pete Fountain
, Bud Freeman and Shorty Baker, Judy Garland
and Bobby Darin
(duet on television), Georgia Gibbs
, Don Gibson
, Joe (Gilbert) and Eddie (Brown) (Joe and Eddie
), Lou Gold (vocal Irving Kaufman
), Benny Goodman
, Earl Grant
, Morris Grants (pseudonym with humorous intent in LP entitled JUNK), Dodo Green (with Ike Quebec
Quintet), Roy Hamilton
, Coleman Hawkins
(with Red Allen
), Ted Heath, Herman's Norwegian Jazz Group (Recorded on December 3, 1954 and re-released on the extended play
Odeon GEON 2), Earl "Fatha" Hines, Al Hirt
, David Houston
(as "Before You Travel On;" correctly licensed but incorrectly credited to Sherrill-Sutton), Tab Hunter
, Arnold Hyles (member Southern Gospel Museum and Hall of Fame
), Burl Ives
(from a radio broadcast), Ivory and Gold (privately produced), Jan Johansson (Swedish), Bunk Johnson
, Lonnie Johnson
, Hank Jones
and Tyree Glenn
, Udo Jurgens
(live in concert in Berlin), Fumiko Kawabata, Mary Kaye
Trio (Decca DL 8238, distinct from the motion picture recording), Stan Kenton
(vocal June Christy; includes trumpet Maynard Ferguson), Morgan King
, Tom King (and the Royal Chicagoans), Gene Krupa
, Jack La Forge, Frankie Laine
, Syd Lawrence
(from a BBC broadcast), Barbara Lea
and the Ed Polcer
All-stars, Peggy Lee
(accompanied orchestra directed Ralph Carmichael
), Peggy Lee
and Dave Barbour
, The LeFevres (two recordings), Ted Lewis
, Julie London
, Trini Lopez
, The Loving Sisters, Jimmy Lunceford, Anni-Frid Lyngstad
(Norwegian), Mark Mahar (privately produced), Jim Manley, Johnny Marvin (in medley; accompanied orchestra directed Nathaniel Shilkret), Jimmy McGriff, Toroff Molgaard, Van Morrison
, Ray Noble
(as New Mayfair Dance Band), ew Orleans All Stars (including trumpet Keith Smith; uncredited), Anita O'Day
(accompaniied by Nat King Cole
Trio), Esther and Abi Ofarim
, The Organizers, Harry Parry
(Welsh), Ottilie Patterson
(accompanied by Chris Barber
's Jazz Band), Les Paul
and Mary Ford
, Dave Pell
(as American Patrol Band), Delmar Pettys (privately produced by Jim West), Madeleine Peyroux
(best selling 21st-century recording of Lonesome Road), Sid Phillips
(and His Great Jazz Band), Pilgrim Travelers
, Pix All-Star Australian Jazz Band, The Preservation Jazz Band (including Percy Humphrey
and Allan Jaffe
), Paul Robeson
, Carson Robison
(from a radio broadcast), The Rhythm Masters, Jimmy Ricks, Eileen Rodgers
, Nick Rondi, Rick Schilling Quartet (privately produced), Nick Schneider, Doc Severinsen
(issued on reel-to-reel tape), Dave Shepherd
, Nathaniel Shilkret
(vocal Willard Robison
, 1929), Don Shirley
, Dinah Shore
, Frank Sinatra
(issued recording also used in PBS Sinatra special), Felix Slatkin
, Jimmy Smith
(two recordings: 1957 with Stanley Turrentine and 1960), Valaida Snow
, Sons of Song, Muggsy Spanier
, Frank Stallone
(with Sammy Nestico
Orchestra), Kay Starr
, Sonny Stitt
, Storyville Stompers, Gordie Sullivan, J. D. Sumner and the Stamps Quartet (uncredited), Billy Ternent, Keith Textor, Sister Rosetta Tharpe
, (1938, accompanied own guitar, and from 1941 soundie), Towne and Country Revue, Helen Traubel
(from a radio broadcast), Tony Travis, The Tune Weavers, Leslie Uggams
(from television broadcast), Jerry Vale
, Frankie Vallie and the Four Seasons (as The Wonder Who), Carol Ventura, Al Viola
, Fats Waller
, Billy Ward and His Dominoes (with Clyde McPhatter
and Jackie Wilson
), Josh White
, Wichary Jaz Group (Poland), Wild Bill Stompers (vocal Bertha Hill and trumpet Wild Bill Davison
), Stan Wilde (and The Wilde Cats) (UK), Lee Wiley
, Jackie Willis, Stevie Wonder
, Si Zentner
, Monica Zetterlund
(Swedish), and an unidentified orchestra ("in the style of Ray Conniff
;" on Deacon LP DEA1012).
Based on information from Library of Congress
(SONIC), Harry Fox Agency
(Poli), ASCAP (ACE) and discographic sources, the following artists may also have recorded Lonesome Road: Lorez Alexandria
, Gene Austin
(1931 recording for the Perfect label), Benko Dixieland Band, Boots and His Buddies, Jean-Claude Borelly
, Martin Brown, Jessi Colter
(as Mirriam [sic] Johnson), Alfonso D'Artega
, Maxwell Davis
, Sammy Duncan, Maurice Elwin, Rose Hardaway (accompanied by Sammy Lowe Orchestra), Muriel Haverstein, Chris Jasper
and the Isley Brothers, Kay Kyser
, Jerry Le Fors (on audio cassette), Carmen Leggio
Group, Johnny Martin, McKinney's Cotton Pickers
, Hugo Montenegro, Stephen Oberoff, Ginny O'Brien, Patti Page
, Revival Barber Shop Quartet, The Rockin' Valentinos, Larry Turner, Truckin' Around, Union Station Singers, Art Van Damm
Ensemble, Joe Volker, Nan Warnock, Washboard Serenaders, and The Western Wind Vocal Ensemble.
In some jazz recordings, such as the one by Morris Grants, which credits Austin—Shilkret, the jazz improvisation is so dominant that the relation to the Austin—Shilkret Lonesome Road, if any, is obscure. The Montenegro recording is licensed, but here also the relation to the Austin—Shilkret song is obscure.
Many of the recordings are usable for dancing. The Sid Phillips recordings is excellent for (International Style) foxtrot, and the Madeleine Peyroux recording is also suitable for foxtrot. The recording by The Fashions is a quickstep
. The Hoyt Axton recording is a good jive. Quite a few of the recordings are usable for east coast swing
, and the Floyd Cramer recording is suitable for west coast swing
. The twist
could be danced to the recordings by Lyndstadt and the Collins Kids. The Chantays' recording has a cha cha beat.
Nathaniel Shilkret
Nathaniel Shilkret was an American composer, conductor, clarinetist, pianist, business executive, and music director born in New York City, New York to an Austrian immigrant family.-Early career:...
and lyrics by Gene Austin
Gene Austin
Gene Austin was an American singer and songwriter, one of the first "crooners". His 1920s compositions "When My Sugar Walks Down the Street" and "The Lonesome Road" became pop and jazz standards.-Career:...
, alternately titled "Lonesome Road", "Look Down that Lonesome Road" and "Lonesome Road Blues." It was written in the style of an African-American folk song.
The lyricist and composer were both extremely popular recording artists. Gene Austin estimated he sold 80 million records, and Nathaniel Shilkret's son estimated his father sold 50 million records. Joel Whitburn
Joel Whitburn
Joel Carver Whitburn is an American author and music historian.Whitburn founded Record Research Inc. in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin, in 1970, and put together a team of researchers to examine in detail all of Billboards music and video charts...
lists recordings by Austin, Bing Crosby
Bing Crosby
Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby was an American singer and actor. Crosby's trademark bass-baritone voice made him one of the best-selling recording artists of the 20th century, with over half a billion records in circulation....
, Ted Lewis
Ted Lewis (musician)
Theodore Leopold Friedman, better known as Ted Lewis , was an American entertainer, bandleader, singer, and musician. He led a band presenting a combination of jazz, hokey comedy, and schmaltzy sentimentality that was a hit with the American public. He was known by the moniker "Mr...
, and Shilkret (see list of recordings below) as being "charted" at Numbers 10, 12, 3 and 10, respectively.
There are no reliable sales figures that can be used to verify or dispute any of the estimates above.
Use in film and live performances
The composition was notably used as a substitute for Ol' Man RiverOl' Man River
"Ol' Man River" is a song in the 1927 musical Show Boat that expresses the African American hardship and struggles of the time with the endless, uncaring flow of the Mississippi River; it is sung from the point-of-view of a dock worker on a showboat, and is the most famous song from the show...
in the finale of the part-talkie
Part-talkie
A part-talkie is a partly, and most often primarily, silent film which includes one or more synchronous sound sequences with audible dialog or singing. During the silent portions lines of dialog are presented as "titles" -- printed text briefly filling the screen -- and the soundtrack is used only...
1929 film version of Edna Ferber's novel Show Boat
Show Boat (1929 film)
Show Boat is a film based on the novel by Edna Ferber. This version was released by Universal in two editions, one a silent film for movie theatres still not equipped for sound, and one a part-talkie with a sound prologue...
. It was performed onscreen by Stepin Fetchit
Stepin Fetchit
Stepin Fetchit was the stage name of American comedian and film actor Lincoln Theodore Monroe Andrew Perry....
as the deckhand Joe. Fetchit's singing voice was supplied by bass-baritone Jules Bledsoe
Jules Bledsoe
Jules Bledsoe was a once renowned, but now semi-forgotten baritone, and the first African American artist to gain regular employment on Broadway, subsequent to Bert Williams, William Grant Still, Ford Dabney and others....
, who had played Joe in the original stage version of the musical
Show Boat
Show Boat is a musical in two acts with music by Jerome Kern and book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II. It was originally produced in New York in 1927 and in London in 1928, and was based on the 1926 novel of the same name by Edna Ferber. The plot chronicles the lives of those living and working...
. The Shilkret autobiography contains a brief account of the motivation for using the song in the film.
The song was also used in the motion pictures Submarine Command (1951), Cha-Cha-Cha Boom! (1956), California Split (1974), Wild Man Blues (1997) and Crazy (2007). It was featured on two soundies
Soundies
Soundies were an early version of the music video: three-minute musical films, produced in New York City, Chicago, and Hollywood between 1940 and 1946, often including short dance sequences. The completed Soundies were generally released within a few months of their filming; the last group was...
, one with the
Lucky Millinder
Lucky Millinder
Lucius Venable "Lucky" Millinder was an American rhythm and blues and swing bandleader. Although he could not read or write music, did not play an instrument and rarely sang, his showmanship and musical taste made his bands successful...
orchestra, with vocal by Sister Rosetta Tharpe
Sister Rosetta Tharpe
Sister Rosetta Tharpe was an Amercian pioneering gospel singer, songwriter and recording artist who attained great popularity in the 1930s and 1940s with a unique mixture of spiritual lyrics and early rock and roll accompaniment...
, and another with the Al Donahue Orchestra. Both soundies could be viewed on youtube at the time of this writing.
It was used in the television series Andy Griffith Show (Rafe Hollister Sings, Episode 83), Peter Gunn (The Dummy), Gomer Pyle U.S.M.C. (Gomer Says `Hey', Episode 97), Matlock (Class), and The Odd Couple (Rent Strike, Episode 107). The Hollister rendition was viewable on youtube at the time of this writing.
"Lonesome Road" was included in the television productions Vintage Sinatra (PBS, 2003), Now (with David Brancaccio
David Brancaccio
David A. Brancaccio is an American radio and television journalist. He has been the host of the public radio business program Marketplace and the PBS newsmagazine NOW.-Early years:...
, 2005), and Smuckers Presents Kurt Browning
Kurt Browning
Kurt Browning, CM is a Canadian figure skater, choreographer and commentator. He is a four-time World Champion and four-time Canadian national champion.-Life and career:...
's Gotta Skate (2006), and in the Radio City Music Hall
Radio City Music Hall
Radio City Music Hall is an entertainment venue located in New York City's Rockefeller Center. Its nickname is the Showplace of the Nation, and it was for a time the leading tourist destination in the city...
production Frank Sinatra: His Voice, His World, His Way (2004).
Recordings (Mechanicals)
It was initially recorded September 16, 1927, by Austin, accompanied by Shilkret directing the Victor Orchestra. There have been over two hundred recordings of "Lonesome Road," including these from CDs, discs and tapes in the Shilkret archives and in audio files available on the amazon and youtube websites: Danny AielloDanny Aiello
Daniel Louis "Danny" Aiello, Jr. is an American actor who has appeared in numerous motion pictures, including Once Upon a Time in America, Ruby, The Godfather: Part II, Hudson Hawk, The Purple Rose of Cairo, Moonstruck, Léon, Two Days in the Valley, and Dinner Rush...
, Earl Anderza, The Andrew Sisters (from a Paul Whiteman
Paul Whiteman
Paul Samuel Whiteman was an American bandleader and orchestral director.Leader of the most popular dance bands in the United States during the 1920s, Whiteman's recordings were immensely successful, and press notices often referred to him as the "King of Jazz"...
radio broadcast), Louis Armstrong
Louis Armstrong
Louis Armstrong , nicknamed Satchmo or Pops, was an American jazz trumpeter and singer from New Orleans, Louisiana....
, Paul Anastasio, Eddy Arnold
Eddy Arnold
Richard Edward Arnold , known professionally as Eddy Arnold, was an American country music singer who performed for six decades. He was a so-called Nashville sound innovator of the late 1950s, and scored 147 songs on the Billboard country music charts, second only to George Jones. He sold more...
, Maki Asakawa (two recordings) (Japanese), Chet Atkins
Chet Atkins
Chester Burton Atkins , known as Chet Atkins, was an American guitarist and record producer who, along with Owen Bradley, created the smoother country music style known as the Nashville sound, which expanded country's appeal to adult pop music fans as well.Atkins's picking style, inspired by Merle...
, Gene Austin
Gene Austin
Gene Austin was an American singer and songwriter, one of the first "crooners". His 1920s compositions "When My Sugar Walks Down the Street" and "The Lonesome Road" became pop and jazz standards.-Career:...
(accompanied orchestra directed Nathaniel Shilkret
Nathaniel Shilkret
Nathaniel Shilkret was an American composer, conductor, clarinetist, pianist, business executive, and music director born in New York City, New York to an Austrian immigrant family.-Early career:...
, 1927), Hoyt Axton
Hoyt Axton
Hoyt Wayne Axton was an American country music singer-songwriter, and a film and television actor. He became prominent in the early 1960s, establishing himself on the West Coast as a folk singer with an earthy style and powerful voice. As he matured, some of his songwriting efforts became well...
, Joan Baez
Joan Baez
Joan Chandos Baez is an American folk singer, songwriter, musician and a prominent activist in the fields of human rights, peace and environmental justice....
, Mildred Bailey
Mildred Bailey
Mildred Bailey was a popular and influential American jazz singer during the 1930s, known as "The Rockin' Chair Lady" and "Mrs. Swing"...
, Barrelhouse Jazzband (live performance 1964 in Germany), Gail Bliss (privately produced), Pat Boone
Pat Boone
Charles Eugene "Pat" Boone is an American singer, actor and writer who has been a successful pop singer in the United States during the 1950s and early 1960s. He covered black artists' songs and sold more copies than his black counterparts...
, The Boswell Sisters, Will Bradley
Will Bradley
Wilbur Schwictenberg was an American trombonist and bandleader who also performed under the name Will Bradley...
(Schwichtenberg) (with drum solo by Ray McKinley
Ray McKinley
Ray McKinley was an American jazz drummer, singer, and bandleader.McKinley got his start working with local bands in the Dallas–Fort Worth area, before joining Smith Ballew in 1929, when he met Glenn Miller. The two formed a friendship which lasted from 1929 until Miller's death in 1944....
), Ruby Braff
Ruby Braff
Reuben "Ruby" Braff was an American jazz trumpeter and cornetist. Jack Teagarden was once asked about him on the Gary Moore TV show and described Ruby as "The Ivy League Louis Armstrong."Braff was born in Boston...
, Brazilian Jazz Quartet
Brazilian Jazz Quartet
The Brazilian Jazz Quartet was an underground Brazilian jazz quartet from the late 1950s featuring Moacyr Peixoto , José Ferreira Godinho Filho "Casé" , Rubens Alberto Barsotti "Rubinho" e Luiz Chaves Oliveira da Paz "Luiz Chaves" .-History:The Brazilian Jazz Quartet was an underground Brazilian...
, Jim Breedlove, Bob Brozman
Bob Brozman
Bob Brozman is an American guitarist and ethnomusicologist.He has performed in a number of styles such as Gypsy jazz, calypso, Blues, ragtime, Hawaiian and Caribbean music. Brozman has also collaborated with musicians from diverse cultural backgrounds such as India, Africa, Japan, Papua New Guinea...
, Dave Brubeck
Dave Brubeck
David Warren "Dave" Brubeck is an American jazz pianist. He has written a number of jazz standards, including "In Your Own Sweet Way" and "The Duke". Brubeck's style ranges from refined to bombastic, reflecting his mother's attempts at classical training and his improvisational skills...
(April 1959, Hollywood; July 1959 at Newport Jazz Festival
Newport Jazz Festival
The Newport Jazz Festival is a music festival held every summer in Newport, Rhode Island, USA. It was established in 1954 by socialite Elaine Lorillard, who, together with husband Louis Lorillard, financed the festival for many years. The couple hired jazz impresario George Wein to organize the...
), Teddy Buckner
Teddy Buckner
Teddy Buckner was a jazz trumpeter associated with Dixieland music....
, Donna Byrne, Paul Cacia, Ace Cannon
Ace Cannon
John "Ace" Cannon is an American tenor and alto saxophonist. He played and toured with Hi Records stablemate Bill Black’s Combo, and started a solo career with his record "Tuff" in 1961, using the Black combo as his backing group. "Tuff" hit #17 on the U.S...
, Anita Carter
Anita Carter
Ina Anita Carter , the youngest daughter of Ezra and Mother Maybelle Carter, was a versatile American singer who experimented with several different types of music and played stand-up bass with her sisters Helen Carter and June Carter Cash as The Carter Sisters...
(radio broadcast), Eddie Chamblee (uncredited), The Chantays
The Chantays
The Chantays are an American surf rock band from the early 1960s, known for the hit instrumental, "Pipeline" . Their music combined electronic keyboards and surf guitar, creating a unique ghostly sound.-History:...
, Jeannie and Jimmy Cheatham
Jimmy Cheatham
Jimmy Cheatham was an American jazz trombonist and teacher who played with Duke Ellington, Lionel Hampton and Ornette Coleman. In 1978, Cheatham was invited to head the jazz program at University of California, San Diego and, in 1979, he was appointed head of the African American and jazz...
, Marlon Cherry, Sue Childs, Larry Clinton
Larry Clinton
Larry Clinton was a trumpeter who became a prominent American bandleader.-Biography:Clinton was born in Brooklyn, New York. He became a versatile musician, capable of playing trumpet, trombone, and clarinet...
(from radio broadcast), Arnett Cobb
Arnett Cobb
Arnett Cobb was an American jazz tenor saxophonist.Cobb was born Arnette Cleophus Cobbs in Houston, Texas. His musical career began with the local bands of Chester Boone, from 1934 to 1936, and Milt Larkin, from 1936 to 1942...
, The Collins Kids
The Collins Kids
The Collins Kids are an American rockabilly duo featuring siblings Lawrencine "Lorrie" Collins and her younger brother Lawrence "Larry" Collins . Their hits in the 1950s as youngsters, such as "Hop, Skip and Jump", "Beetle Bug Bop" and "Hoy Hoy", were geared towards children, but their infectious...
, Ken Colyer
Ken Colyer
Kenneth Colyer was a British jazz trumpeter and cornetist, devoted totally to New Orleans jazz. His band was also known for skiffle interludes.-Biography:...
, Sam Cooke
Sam Cooke
Samuel Cook, , better known under the stage name Sam Cooke, was an American gospel, R&B, soul, and pop singer, songwriter, and entrepreneur. He is considered to be one of the pioneers and founders of soul music. He is commonly known as the King of Soul for his distinctive vocal abilities and...
, Floyd Cramer
Floyd Cramer
Floyd Cramer was an American Hall of Fame pianist who was one of the architects of the "Nashville sound." He popularized the "slip note" piano style where an out-of-tune note slides effortlessly into the correct note...
, Bing Crosby
Bing Crosby
Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby was an American singer and actor. Crosby's trademark bass-baritone voice made him one of the best-selling recording artists of the 20th century, with over half a billion records in circulation....
, Jim Cullum Jazz Band
Jim Cullum Jazz Band
The Jim Cullum Jazz Band is an acoustic seven-piece traditional jazz ensemble led by cornetist Jim Cullum, Jr.. Since 1989, the band has been featured nationally on their own weekly public radio series Riverwalk Jazz...
(recorded in jazz club for radio broadcast), Dick Curless
Dick Curless
Richard William Curless was an American country-music singer, a pioneer of the trucking music genre, commonly known as the "Baron of Country Music." He was easily distinguished because of the patch he usually wore over his right eye.-Biography:Curless was born in Fort Fairfield, Maine, and moved...
, Alan Dale
Alan Dale
Alan Hugh Dale is a New Zealand actor. As a child, Dale developed a love of theatre and also became a rugby player. After retiring from the sport he took on a number of professions to support his family, before deciding to become a professional actor at the age of 27. With work limited in New...
, Dick Dale
Dick Dale
Dick Dale is an American surf rock guitarist, known as The King of the Surf Guitar. He experimented with reverberation and made use of custom made Fender amplifiers, including the first-ever 100-watt guitar amplifier.-Early life:Dale was born in South Boston, Massachusetts and lived in nearby...
, Bobby Darin
Bobby Darin
Bobby Darin , born Walden Robert Cassotto, was an American singer, actor and musician.Darin performed in a range of music genres, including pop, rock, jazz, folk and country...
(medley; recorded live in concert), Sammy Davis, Jr.
Sammy Davis, Jr.
Samuel George "Sammy" Davis Jr. was an American entertainer and was also known for his impersonations of actors and other celebrities....
(on Decca ED2216/DL8118 and in 1966 medley in concert), Sammy Davis, Jr.
Sammy Davis, Jr.
Samuel George "Sammy" Davis Jr. was an American entertainer and was also known for his impersonations of actors and other celebrities....
and Roy Clark
Roy Clark
Roy Linwood Clark is an American country music musician and performer. He is best known for hosting Hee Haw, a nationally televised country variety show, from 1969–1992. Clark has been an important and influential figure in country music, both as a performer and helping to popularize the genre...
(duet on telvevision), Jimmy Dean
Jimmy Dean
Jimmy Ray Dean was an American country music singer, television host, actor and businessman. Although he may be best known today as the creator of the Jimmy Dean sausage brand, he became a national television personality starting in 1957, rising to fame for his 1961 country crossover hit "Big Bad...
, Jean Dinning (sister of Mark Dinning
Mark Dinning
Max Edward Dinning was an American pop music singer. In February 1960, the song "Teen Angel", written by his sister Jean and her husband Red Surrey, reached No. 1 on the Billboard Charts...
, The Dixie Stompers (John Chapman at the piano), Tommy Dorsey
Tommy Dorsey
Thomas Francis "Tommy" Dorsey, Jr. was an American jazz trombonist, trumpeter, composer, and bandleader of the Big Band era. He was known as "The Sentimental Gentleman of Swing", due to his smooth-toned trombone playing. He was the younger brother of bandleader Jimmy Dorsey...
(originally issued on two sides of a 78 rpm disc), Catherine Dupois, Dutch Swing College Band
Dutch Swing College Band
The Dutch Swing College Band "DSCB" is a traditional dixieland band founded on May 5, 1945 by bandleader and clarinetist/saxophonist Peter Schilperoort....
(live in concert at the Amsterdam Concertgebouw), Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
(unlicensed and uncredited, as "Sugar Baby
Sugar Baby (song)
"Sugar Baby" is the final song on Bob Dylan's 2001 album "Love and Theft". The song shares its title with the Dock Boggs song, a recording Dylan is said to have treasured as a young folksinger in New York....
"), Snooks Eaglin
Snooks Eaglin
Snooks Eaglin, born Fird Eaglin, Jr. , was a New Orleans-based guitarist and singer. He was also referred to as Blind Snooks Eaglin in his early years....
(two different takes used on one CD), Lars Edegran
Lars Edegran
Lars Ivar Edegran is a Dixieland jazz musician and bandleader. He most often plays piano, guitar, or banjo, but has also played mandolin, clarinet, and saxophone....
(uncredited), Duane Eddy
Duane Eddy
Duane Eddy is a Grammy Award-winning American guitarist. In the late 1950s and early 1960s he had a string of hit records, produced by Lee Hazlewood, which were noted for their characteristically "twangy" sound, including "Rebel Rouser", "Peter Gunn", and "Because They're Young"...
, Vincent Edwards (founding member Murder by Death
Murder by Death
Murder by Death is a 1976 comedy film with a cast featuring Eileen Brennan, Truman Capote, James Coco, Peter Falk, Alec Guinness, Elsa Lanchester, David Niven, Peter Sellers, Maggie Smith, Nancy Walker, and Estelle Winwood, written by Neil Simon and directed by Robert Moore.The plot is a spoof of...
), Dean Elliot, The Fashions, Frances Faye
Frances Faye
Frances Faye was an American cabaret and show tune singer and pianist. She was born to a working-class Jewish family in Brooklyn, New York City. She was a second cousin of actor Danny Kaye.-Career:...
, The Fendermen
The Fendermen
The Fendermen were a pop/rockabilly duo in the early 1960s.At the time The Fendermen formed, the group was primarily composed of Jim Sundquist , and Phil Humphrey...
, Maynard Ferguson
Maynard Ferguson
Maynard Ferguson was a Canadian jazz musician and bandleader. He came to prominence playing in Stan Kenton's orchestra, before forming his own band in 1957...
(with Chris Connor
Chris Connor
Chris Connor was an American jazz singer.-Biography:She was born as Mary Loutsenhizer in Kansas City, Missouri to Clyde and Mabel Loutsenhizer. She studied and became proficient on the clarinet, having studied for 8 years throughout junior high and high school...
), Flat Duo Jets
Flat Duo Jets
Flat Duo Jets was a rockabilly band from Chapel Hill, North Carolina and Athens, Georgia. They were a major influence on several bands of the 1990s and 2000s, including The White Stripes. In interviews, Jack White has often acknowledged Dexter Romweber's influence...
, Lee Floyd, III and Big Tiny Little, The Fontane Sisters
The Fontane Sisters
The Fontane Sisters were a trio from New Milford, New Jersey.-Early years:Their mother, Louise Rosse, was both a soloist and the leader of the St. Joseph's Church choir in New Milford. Bea and Marge started out singing for local functions, doing so well, they were urged to audition in New York City...
, Pete Fountain
Pete Fountain
Pete Fountain , is an American clarinetist based in New Orleans. He has played jazz, Dixieland and Creole music.-Early life and education:...
, Bud Freeman and Shorty Baker, Judy Garland
Judy Garland
Judy Garland was an American actress and singer. Through a career that spanned 45 of her 47 years and for her renowned contralto voice, she attained international stardom as an actress in musical and dramatic roles, as a recording artist and on the concert stage...
and Bobby Darin
Bobby Darin
Bobby Darin , born Walden Robert Cassotto, was an American singer, actor and musician.Darin performed in a range of music genres, including pop, rock, jazz, folk and country...
(duet on television), Georgia Gibbs
Georgia Gibbs
Georgia Gibbs was an American popular singer and vocal entertainer rooted in jazz. Already singing publicly in her early teens, Gibbs first achieved acclaim in the mid-1950s interpreting songs originating with the black rhythm and blues community and later as a featured vocalist on a long list of...
, Don Gibson
Don Gibson
Donald Eugene "Don" Gibson was an American songwriter and country musician. A Country Music Hall of Fame inductee, Gibson penned such country standards as "Sweet Dreams" and "I Can't Stop Loving You", and enjoyed a string of country hits from 1957 into the early 1970s.-Biography:Don Gibson was...
, Joe (Gilbert) and Eddie (Brown) (Joe and Eddie
Joe and Eddie
Joe and Eddie was an American gospel folk group, whose vocal career peaked in 1964. Composed of two African Americans, Joe Gilbert and Eddie Brown, in their career, they toured the United States and Canada, appeared on over 20 major television shows and recorded eight albums.-Style:The two's focus...
), Lou Gold (vocal Irving Kaufman
Irving Kaufman
Irving Robert Kaufman was a federal judge in the United States. He is best remembered for imposing the controversial death sentences on Julius and Ethel Rosenberg.-Biography:...
), Benny Goodman
Benny Goodman
Benjamin David “Benny” Goodman was an American jazz and swing musician, clarinetist and bandleader; widely known as the "King of Swing".In the mid-1930s, Benny Goodman led one of the most popular musical groups in America...
, Earl Grant
Earl Grant
Earl Grant was an American easy listening pianist, Hammond organist, and vocalist popular in the 1950s and 1960s.-Career:...
, Morris Grants (pseudonym with humorous intent in LP entitled JUNK), Dodo Green (with Ike Quebec
Ike Quebec
Ike Quebec was an American jazz tenor saxophonist. His surname is pronounced KYOO-bek.Critic Alex Henderson wrote, "Though he was never an innovator, Quebec had a big, breathy sound that was distinctive and easily recognizable, and he was quite consistent when it came to down-home blues, sexy...
Quintet), Roy Hamilton
Roy Hamilton
Roy Hamilton was an American singer, who achieved major success in the US R&B and pop charts in the 1950s...
, Coleman Hawkins
Coleman Hawkins
Coleman Randolph Hawkins was an American jazz tenor saxophonist. Hawkins was one of the first prominent jazz musicians on his instrument. As Joachim E. Berendt explained, "there were some tenor players before him, but the instrument was not an acknowledged jazz horn"...
(with Red Allen
Red Allen
Henry James "Red" Allen was a jazz trumpeter and vocalist whose style has been claimed to be the first to fully incorporate the innovations of Louis Armstrong.-Life and career:...
), Ted Heath, Herman's Norwegian Jazz Group (Recorded on December 3, 1954 and re-released on the extended play
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
Odeon GEON 2), Earl "Fatha" Hines, Al Hirt
Al Hirt
Al Hirt was an American trumpeter and bandleader. He is best remembered for his million selling recordings of "Java", and the accompanying album, Honey in the Horn . His nicknames included 'Jumbo' and 'The Round Mound of Sound'...
, David Houston
David Houston (singer)
Charles David Houston was an American country music singer. His peak in popularity came between the mid-1960s through the early 1970s.-Biography:...
(as "Before You Travel On;" correctly licensed but incorrectly credited to Sherrill-Sutton), Tab Hunter
Tab Hunter
Tab Hunter is an American actor, singer, former teen idol and author who has starred in over forty major films.-Background:...
, Arnold Hyles (member Southern Gospel Museum and Hall of Fame
Southern Gospel Museum and Hall of Fame
150px|right|thumb|Entrance.The Southern Gospel Museum and Hall of Fame is a site operated at Dollywood, in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, by the Southern Gospel Music Association. It was established in 1997...
), Burl Ives
Burl Ives
Burl Icle Ivanhoe Ives was an American actor, writer and folk music singer. As an actor, Ives's work included comedies, dramas, and voice work in theater, television, and motion pictures. Music critic John Rockwell said, "Ives's voice .....
(from a radio broadcast), Ivory and Gold (privately produced), Jan Johansson (Swedish), Bunk Johnson
Bunk Johnson
Willie Gary "Bunk" Johnson was a prominent early New Orleans jazz trumpet player in the early years of the 20th century who enjoyed a revived career in the 1940s....
, Lonnie Johnson
Lonnie Johnson
Alonzo "Lonnie" Johnson was an American blues and jazz singer/guitarist and songwriter who pioneered the role of jazz guitar and is recognized as the first to play single-string guitar solos...
, Hank Jones
Hank Jones
Henry "Hank" Jones was an American jazz pianist, bandleader, arranger, and composer. Critics and musicians described Jones as eloquent, lyrical, and impeccable. In 1989, The National Endowment for the Arts honored him with the NEA Jazz Masters Award...
and Tyree Glenn
Tyree Glenn
Evan Tyree Glenn was an American trombone player.-Biography:...
, Udo Jurgens
Udo Jürgens
Udo Jürgens is an Austrian composer and singer of popular music whose career spans over fifty years...
(live in concert in Berlin), Fumiko Kawabata, Mary Kaye
Mary Kaye
Mary Kaye , sometimes called the "First Lady of Rock and Roll", was a guitarist and performer who was active in the 1950s and 1960s. Mary Kaye descended from Hawaiian royalty in the line of Queen Liliuokalani, Hawaii's last reigning monarch, and was born into a show business family...
Trio (Decca DL 8238, distinct from the motion picture recording), Stan Kenton
Stan Kenton
Stanley Newcomb "Stan" Kenton was a pianist, composer, and arranger who led a highly innovative, influential, and often controversial American jazz orchestra. In later years he was widely active as an educator....
(vocal June Christy; includes trumpet Maynard Ferguson), Morgan King
Morgan King
- Musical career:Born in Spitalfields, London, Morgan's musical career began in 1979 as drummer for Manchester band Illustration, who were subsequently signed by the indie label, "Some Bizarre". After several years immersed in the UK indie scene, Morgan's musical direction changed considerably with...
, Tom King (and the Royal Chicagoans), Gene Krupa
Gene Krupa
Gene Krupa was an American jazz and big band drummer and composer, known for his highly energetic and flamboyant style.-Biography:...
, Jack La Forge, Frankie Laine
Frankie Laine
Frankie Laine, born Francesco Paolo LoVecchio , was a successful American singer, songwriter, and actor whose career spanned 75 years, from his first concerts in 1930 with a marathon dance company to his final performance of "That's My Desire" in 2005...
, Syd Lawrence
Syd Lawrence
Syd Lawrence , was a British bandleader from Chester, England, who became famous in the UK for his orchestra's Big Band sound, which drew on the 1940s style of music of Glenn Miller and Count Basie amongst others....
(from a BBC broadcast), Barbara Lea
Barbara Lea
Barbara Lea is an American actress and singer.-Background:Lea was born into a musical family; her musical heritage is traceable to a great uncle, Alexandre Charles LeCoq — an important nineteenth-century composer of French light opera.She grew up in a Detroit suburb and attended the...
and the Ed Polcer
Ed Polcer
Ed Polcer is an American jazz cornetist, active principally on the Dixieland jazz scene.Polcer attended Princeton University, where he graduated in 1958. Following this he played in New York City on a part-time basis...
All-stars, Peggy Lee
Peggy Lee
Peggy Lee was an American jazz and popular music singer, songwriter, composer, and actress in a career spanning six decades. From her beginning as a vocalist on local radio to singing with Benny Goodman's big band, she forged a sophisticated persona, evolving into a multi-faceted artist and...
(accompanied orchestra directed Ralph Carmichael
Ralph Carmichael
Ralph Carmichael is a composer and arranger of both secular pop music and contemporary Christian music, being regarded as one of the pioneers of the latter genre...
), Peggy Lee
Peggy Lee
Peggy Lee was an American jazz and popular music singer, songwriter, composer, and actress in a career spanning six decades. From her beginning as a vocalist on local radio to singing with Benny Goodman's big band, she forged a sophisticated persona, evolving into a multi-faceted artist and...
and Dave Barbour
Dave Barbour
Dave Barbour was an American musician. He was a jazz banjoist and guitarist, a pop songwriter, an actor, and the husband of Peggy Lee for nine years....
, The LeFevres (two recordings), Ted Lewis
Ted Lewis (musician)
Theodore Leopold Friedman, better known as Ted Lewis , was an American entertainer, bandleader, singer, and musician. He led a band presenting a combination of jazz, hokey comedy, and schmaltzy sentimentality that was a hit with the American public. He was known by the moniker "Mr...
, Julie London
Julie London
Julie London was an American singer and actress. She was best known for her smoky, sensual voice. London was at her singing career's peak in the 1950s. Her acting career lasted more than 35 years...
, Trini Lopez
Trini Lopez
Trini Lopez is an American singer, guitarist and actor.-Career:Lopez was born in Dallas, Texas, on Ashland Street in the Little Mexico neighborhood. He began his entertainment career in Dallas playing at the Vegas Club, a nightclub owned by Jack Ruby...
, The Loving Sisters, Jimmy Lunceford, Anni-Frid Lyngstad
Anni-Frid Lyngstad
Anni-Frid Prinzessin Reuss von Plauen , is a Norwegian-born Swedish pop singer...
(Norwegian), Mark Mahar (privately produced), Jim Manley, Johnny Marvin (in medley; accompanied orchestra directed Nathaniel Shilkret), Jimmy McGriff, Toroff Molgaard, Van Morrison
Van Morrison
Van Morrison, OBE is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and musician. His live performances at their best are regarded as transcendental and inspired; while some of his recordings, such as the studio albums Astral Weeks and Moondance, and the live album It's Too Late to Stop Now, are widely...
, Ray Noble
Ray Noble (musician)
Ray Noble was an English bandleader, composer, arranger and actor. Noble studied music at the Royal Academy of Music and became leader of the HMV Records studio band in 1929. The band, known as the New Mayfair Dance Orchestra, featured members of many of the top hotel orchestras of the day...
(as New Mayfair Dance Band), ew Orleans All Stars (including trumpet Keith Smith; uncredited), Anita O'Day
Anita O'Day
Anita O'Day was an American jazz singer.Born Anita Belle Colton, O'Day was admired for her sense of rhythm and dynamics, and her early big band appearances shattered the traditional image of the "girl singer"...
(accompaniied by Nat King Cole
Nat King Cole
Nathaniel Adams Coles , known professionally as Nat King Cole, was an American musician who first came to prominence as a leading jazz pianist. Although an accomplished pianist, he owes most of his popular musical fame to his soft baritone voice, which he used to perform in big band and jazz genres...
Trio), Esther and Abi Ofarim
Abi Ofarim
Abi Ofarim is an Israeli musician and dancer.At the age of 12, he attended ballet school, and made his debut on stage in Haifa at 15...
, The Organizers, Harry Parry
Harry Parry
Harry Owen Parry was a Welsh jazz clarinetist and bandleader.Parry was born in Bangor, Wales. He played cornet, tenor horn, flugelhorn, drums, and violin as a child, and began on clarinet and saxophone in 1927. After moving to London in 1932, he played with several dance bands, including Percival...
(Welsh), Ottilie Patterson
Ottilie Patterson
Ottilie Patterson was a Northern Irish blues singer best known for her performances and recordings with the Chris Barber Jazz Band in the late 1950s and early 1960s.-Biography:...
(accompanied by Chris Barber
Chris Barber
Donald Christopher 'Chris' Barber is best known as a jazz trombonist. As well as scoring a UK top twenty trad jazz hit he helped the careers of many musicians, notably the blues singer Ottilie Patterson, who was at one time his wife, and vocalist/banjoist Lonnie Donegan, whose appearances with...
's Jazz Band), Les Paul
Les Paul
Lester William Polsfuss —known as Les Paul—was an American jazz and country guitarist, songwriter and inventor. He was a pioneer in the development of the solid-body electric guitar which made the sound of rock and roll possible. He is credited with many recording innovations...
and Mary Ford
Mary Ford
Mary Ford , born Iris Colleen Summers, was an American vocalist and guitarist, comprising half of the husband-and-wife musical team Les Paul and Mary Ford. Between 1950 and 1954, the couple had 16 top-ten hits...
, Dave Pell
Dave Pell
Dave Pell is an American jazz saxophonist and bandleader born in New York City.Pell first played in his teens with the big bands of Tony Pastor, Bob Astor, and Bobby Sherwood, and then moved to California in the middle of the 1940s. There he played on Bob Crosby's radio show in 1946, and was a...
(as American Patrol Band), Delmar Pettys (privately produced by Jim West), Madeleine Peyroux
Madeleine Peyroux
Madeleine Peyroux is an American jazz singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Peyroux is noted for her vocal style, which has been compared to that of Billie Holiday....
(best selling 21st-century recording of Lonesome Road), Sid Phillips
Sid Phillips (musician)
Isador Simon "Sid" Phillips was an English jazz clarinetist, bandleader, and arranger.Phillips learned violin and piano as a child, and played reeds in his teens as a member of his brother's European band. He got into the music business as a publisher and director for the Edison-Bell Gramophone...
(and His Great Jazz Band), Pilgrim Travelers
Pilgrim Travelers
The Pilgrim Travelers were a gospel group popular in the late 1940s and early 1950s.-Musical career:Formed in the early 1930s in Houston, Texas, they were strongly influenced by another Texas-based quartet, the Soul Stirrers...
, Pix All-Star Australian Jazz Band, The Preservation Jazz Band (including Percy Humphrey
Percy Humphrey
Percy Gaston Humphrey was a jazz trumpet player and bandleader in New Orleans, Louisiana.In addition to his own jazz band, Percy Humphrey and His Crescent City Joymakers, for more than thirty years he was leader of the Eureka Brass Band. He also played in the band of the pianist Sweet Emma Barrett...
and Allan Jaffe
Allan Jaffe
Allan Phillip Jaffe was an American jazz tubist and the entrepreneur who developed Preservation Hall into a New Orleans jazz tradition....
), Paul Robeson
Paul Robeson
Paul Leroy Robeson was an American concert singer , recording artist, actor, athlete, scholar who was an advocate for the Civil Rights Movement in the first half of the twentieth century...
, Carson Robison
Carson Robison
Carson Jay Robison was an American country music singer and songwriter. Although his impact is generally forgotten today, he played a major role in promoting country music in its early years through numerous recordings and radio appearances. He was also known as Charles Robison and sometimes...
(from a radio broadcast), The Rhythm Masters, Jimmy Ricks, Eileen Rodgers
Eileen Rodgers
Eileen Rodgers was an American singer and Broadway performer.-Career:Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1930, she began her career as a nightclub performer, later singing as lead vocalist with Charlie Spivak's orchestra...
, Nick Rondi, Rick Schilling Quartet (privately produced), Nick Schneider, Doc Severinsen
Doc Severinsen
Carl Hilding "Doc" Severinsen is an American pop and jazz trumpeter. He is best known for leading the NBC Orchestra on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.-Early life:...
(issued on reel-to-reel tape), Dave Shepherd
Dave Shepherd
David Joseph "Dave" Shepherd is an English jazz clarinetist born in London.Shepherd began on piano before switching to clarinet at age 16. He studied under a clarinetist from the Hamburg State Opera Orchestra while stationed in Hamburg after World War II...
, Nathaniel Shilkret
Nathaniel Shilkret
Nathaniel Shilkret was an American composer, conductor, clarinetist, pianist, business executive, and music director born in New York City, New York to an Austrian immigrant family.-Early career:...
(vocal Willard Robison
Willard Robison
Willard Robison was an American composer of popular song. Born in Shelbina, Missouri, his songs reflect a rural, melancholy theme steeped in Americana. Their warm style has drawn comparison to Hoagy Carmichael...
, 1929), Don Shirley
Don Shirley
Don Shirley is an American-Jamaican jazz pianist and composer.Shirley's prodigious piano skills were recognized early and Shirley began his career as a composer and virtuoso performer at a young age....
, Dinah Shore
Dinah Shore
Dinah Shore was an American singer, actress, and television personality...
, Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
(issued recording also used in PBS Sinatra special), Felix Slatkin
Felix Slatkin
Felix Slatkin was an American violinist and conductor.-Biography:Slatkin was born in St. Louis, Missouri to a Jewish family originally named Zlotkin from areas of the Russian Empire now in Ukraine. He began studying the violin at the age of nine with Isadore Grossman...
, Jimmy Smith
Jimmy Smith (musician)
Jimmy Smith was a jazz musician whose performances on the Hammond B-3 electric organ helped to popularize this instrument...
(two recordings: 1957 with Stanley Turrentine and 1960), Valaida Snow
Valaida Snow
Valaida Snow was an African American jazz musician and entertainer.She was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Raised on the road in a show-business family, she learned to play cello, bass, banjo, violin, mandolin, harp, accordion, clarinet, trumpet, and saxophone at professional levels by the time...
, Sons of Song, Muggsy Spanier
Muggsy Spanier
Francis Joseph Julian "Muggsy" Spanier was a prominent cornet player based in Chicago. He was renowned as the best trumpet/cornet in Chicago until Bix Beiderbecke entered the scene....
, Frank Stallone
Frank Stallone
Frank P. Stallone, Jr. is an American actor, singer/guitarist and Golden Globe and Grammy Award-nominated songwriter. He has appeared in many Hollywood films and television. He is the younger brother of Sylvester Stallone.-Early life:...
(with Sammy Nestico
Sammy Nestico
Samuel "Sammy" Louis Nestico is a prolific and well known composer and arranger of big band music...
Orchestra), Kay Starr
Kay Starr
Kay Starr is an American pop and jazz singer who enjoyed considerable success in the 1940s and 50s. She is best remembered for introducing two songs that became #1 hits in the 1950s, "Wheel of Fortune" and "The Rock And Roll Waltz"....
, Sonny Stitt
Sonny Stitt
Edward "Sonny" Stitt was an American jazz saxophonist of the bebop/hard bop idiom. He was also one of the best-documented saxophonists of his generation, recording over 100 albums in his lifetime...
, Storyville Stompers, Gordie Sullivan, J. D. Sumner and the Stamps Quartet (uncredited), Billy Ternent, Keith Textor, Sister Rosetta Tharpe
Sister Rosetta Tharpe
Sister Rosetta Tharpe was an Amercian pioneering gospel singer, songwriter and recording artist who attained great popularity in the 1930s and 1940s with a unique mixture of spiritual lyrics and early rock and roll accompaniment...
, (1938, accompanied own guitar, and from 1941 soundie), Towne and Country Revue, Helen Traubel
Helen Traubel
Helen Francesca Traubel was an American opera and concert singer. A dramatic soprano, she was best known for her Wagnerian roles, especially those of Brünnhilde and Isolde. Born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri, she began her career as a concert singer and went on to sing at the Metropolitan...
(from a radio broadcast), Tony Travis, The Tune Weavers, Leslie Uggams
Leslie Uggams
Leslie Uggams is an American actress and singer, perhaps best known for her work in Hallelujah, Baby! She is a member of Delta Sigma Theta sorority.-Singing:...
(from television broadcast), Jerry Vale
Jerry Vale
Jerry Vale is an American singer.-Career:In high school, in order to make some money, he took a job shining shoes in a barbershop in New York City. He sang while he shined shoes, and his boss liked the sound so well that he paid for music lessons for the boy...
, Frankie Vallie and the Four Seasons (as The Wonder Who), Carol Ventura, Al Viola
Al Viola
Alfred Viola was an American jazz guitarist who worked with Frank Sinatra for 25 years and also played the mandolin on the soundtrack of the film The Godfather.-Biography:...
, Fats Waller
Fats Waller
Fats Waller , born Thomas Wright Waller, was a jazz pianist, organist, composer, singer, and comedic entertainer...
, Billy Ward and His Dominoes (with Clyde McPhatter
Clyde McPhatter
Clyde McPhatter was an American R&B singer, perhaps the most widely imitated R&B singer of the 1950s and 1960s, making him a key figure in the shaping of doo-wop and R&B. He is best known for his solo hit "A Lover's Question"...
and Jackie Wilson
Jackie Wilson
Jack Leroy "Jackie" Wilson, Jr. was an American singer and performer. Known as "Mr. Excitement", Wilson was important in the transition of rhythm and blues into soul. He was known as a master showman, and as one of the most dynamic singers and performers in R&B and rock history...
), Josh White
Josh White
Joshua Daniel White , better known as Josh White, was an American singer, guitarist, songwriter, actor, and civil rights activist. He also recorded under the names "Pinewood Tom" and "Tippy Barton" in the 1930s....
, Wichary Jaz Group (Poland), Wild Bill Stompers (vocal Bertha Hill and trumpet Wild Bill Davison
Wild Bill Davison
Wild' Bill Davison was a fiery jazz cornet player who emerged in the 1920s, but did not achieve recognition until the 1940s...
), Stan Wilde (and The Wilde Cats) (UK), Lee Wiley
Lee Wiley
Lee Wiley was an American jazz singer popular in the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s.Wiley was born in Fort Gibson, Oklahoma. While still in her early teens, she left home to pursue a singing career with the Leo Reisman band. Her career was temporarily interrupted by a fall while horseback riding...
, Jackie Willis, Stevie Wonder
Stevie Wonder
Stevland Hardaway Morris , better known by his stage name Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and activist...
, Si Zentner
Si Zentner
Simon H. "Si" Zentner was an American jazz bandleader.Zentner played piano from age four and picked up trombone a few years later. He attended college for music and had intended to pursue a career in classical music, but became more interested in pop music after recording with Andre Kostelanetz...
, Monica Zetterlund
Monica Zetterlund
Eva Monica Zetterlund was a Swedish singer and actress.-Biography:Zetterlund was a singer particularly noted for her jazz work. She began by learning the classic jazz songs from radio and records, initially not knowing the language and what they sang about in English...
(Swedish), and an unidentified orchestra ("in the style of Ray Conniff
Ray Conniff
Joseph Raymond Conniff was an American bandleader and arranger best known for his Ray Conniff Singers during the 1960s.-Biography:...
;" on Deacon LP DEA1012).
Based on information from Library of Congress
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress, de facto national library of the United States, and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and...
(SONIC), Harry Fox Agency
Harry Fox Agency
The Harry Fox Agency is the United States of America's largest agency collecting and distributing mechanical license fees on behalf of music publishers.-External links:*...
(Poli), ASCAP (ACE) and discographic sources, the following artists may also have recorded Lonesome Road: Lorez Alexandria
Lorez Alexandria
Lorez Alexandria was an American jazz and gospel singer....
, Gene Austin
Gene Austin
Gene Austin was an American singer and songwriter, one of the first "crooners". His 1920s compositions "When My Sugar Walks Down the Street" and "The Lonesome Road" became pop and jazz standards.-Career:...
(1931 recording for the Perfect label), Benko Dixieland Band, Boots and His Buddies, Jean-Claude Borelly
Jean-Claude Borelly
-Background:At the age of seven he developed a passion for the trumpet after discovering Louis Armstrong on television.He met a prominent trumpeter of the Paris Opera who touched by his fascination for the trumpet, introduced him to the instrument and accompanies all during his studies at the...
, Martin Brown, Jessi Colter
Jessi Colter
Jessi Colter is an American country music artist who is best known for her collaboration with her husband, country singer and songwriter Waylon Jennings and for her 1975 country-pop crossover hit "I'm Not Lisa"....
(as Mirriam [sic] Johnson), Alfonso D'Artega
Alfonso D'Artega
Alfonso D'Artega , often known simply as D'Artega, was a songwriter, conductor, arranger and actor. His song "In the Blue of the Evening", co-written with Tom Adair, was a number one hit for the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra in 1943.D'Artega was born in Silao, Guanajuato, Mexico. His family emigrating to...
, Maxwell Davis
Maxwell Davis
Maxwell Davis was an American R&B saxophonist, arranger and record producer.-Biography:Davis was born in Independence, Kansas. In 1937 he moved to Los Angeles, California, playing saxophone in the Fletcher Henderson orchestra...
, Sammy Duncan, Maurice Elwin, Rose Hardaway (accompanied by Sammy Lowe Orchestra), Muriel Haverstein, Chris Jasper
Chris Jasper
Chris Jasper is a former member of both the Isley Brothers and Isley-Jasper-Isley. He is also a successful solo artist and record producer, recording a number of his own solo albums, and producing artists, for his New York based record label, Gold City Records...
and the Isley Brothers, Kay Kyser
Kay Kyser
James Kern Kyser was a popular bandleader and radio personality of the 1930s and 1940s.-Early years:He was born in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, the son of pharmacists Paul Bynum Kyser and Emily Royster Kyser. Editor Vermont C. Royster was his cousin...
, Jerry Le Fors (on audio cassette), Carmen Leggio
Carmen Leggio
Carmen Leggio was an American jazz musician. He played tenor saxophone.Leggio was born in Tarrytown, New York and died there on April 17, 2009. In his final years, he performed in various clubs and restaurants throughout Westchester, like the Red Hat Bistro in Irvington...
Group, Johnny Martin, McKinney's Cotton Pickers
McKinney's Cotton Pickers
McKinney's Cotton Pickers were an African American jazz band founded in Detroit in 1926 by William McKinney, who expanded his Synco Septet to ten pieces. Cuba Austin took over for McKinney early on drums....
, Hugo Montenegro, Stephen Oberoff, Ginny O'Brien, Patti Page
Patti Page
Clara Ann Fowler , known by her professional name Patti Page, is an American singer, one of the best-known female artists in traditional pop music. She was the best-selling female artist of the 1950s, and has sold over 100 million records...
, Revival Barber Shop Quartet, The Rockin' Valentinos, Larry Turner, Truckin' Around, Union Station Singers, Art Van Damm
Ensemble, Joe Volker, Nan Warnock, Washboard Serenaders, and The Western Wind Vocal Ensemble.
Genres
"Lonesome Road" has been recorded in the jazz, gospel, blues, big band and dance music genres. There is a hint of humor in the Louis Armstrong and Hoyt Axton recordings, and the Dean Elliot recording is notable for its unusual sound effects, provided by Phil Kaye. The Keith Textor album was made by RCA to demonstrate sound effects using stereo; the "Lonesome Road" track demonstrates someone snapping their fingers and whistling, going from left to right and then back. The Wilbur Bradley recording contains a short passage identifiable as "Lonesome Road" at the beginning, with the remainder of the recording being a drum solo by Bradley's co-leader Ray McKinley. The Ivory and Gold recording features a flute solo.In some jazz recordings, such as the one by Morris Grants, which credits Austin—Shilkret, the jazz improvisation is so dominant that the relation to the Austin—Shilkret Lonesome Road, if any, is obscure. The Montenegro recording is licensed, but here also the relation to the Austin—Shilkret song is obscure.
Many of the recordings are usable for dancing. The Sid Phillips recordings is excellent for (International Style) foxtrot, and the Madeleine Peyroux recording is also suitable for foxtrot. The recording by The Fashions is a quickstep
Quickstep
The quickstep is a light-hearted member of the standard ballroom dances. The movement of the dance is fast and powerfully flowing and sprinkled with syncopations. The upbeat melodies that quickstep is danced to make it suitable for both formal and informal events...
. The Hoyt Axton recording is a good jive. Quite a few of the recordings are usable for east coast swing
East Coast Swing
East Coast Swing is a form of social partner dance. It belongs to the group of swing dances. It is danced under fast swing music, including rock and roll and boogie-woogie....
, and the Floyd Cramer recording is suitable for west coast swing
West Coast Swing
West Coast Swing is a partner dance with roots in Lindy Hop. It is characterized by a distinctive elastic look that results from its basic extension-compression technique of partner connection, and is danced primarily in a slotted area on the dance floor...
. The twist
Twist (dance)
The Twist was a dance inspired by rock and roll music. It became the first worldwide dance craze in the early 1960s, enjoying immense popularity among young people and drawing fire from critics who felt it was too provocative. It inspired dances such as the Jerk, the Pony, the Watusi, the Mashed...
could be danced to the recordings by Lyndstadt and the Collins Kids. The Chantays' recording has a cha cha beat.
Sources
- Bradley, Edwin M., The First Hollywood Musicals: A Critical Filmography, McFarland, 2004, p. 166. ISBN 0-7864-2029-4
- Parish, James Robert and Pitts, Michael R., Hollywood Songsters: Singers who Act and Actors who Sing: a Biographical Dictionary, 2nd Edition, Routledge, 2003, p. 56. ISBN 0-415-94332-9
- Shilkret, Nathaniel, ed. Niel Shell and Barbara Shilkret, Nathaniel Shilkret: Sixty Years in the Music Business, Scarecrow Press, Lanham, Md., 2005. ISBN 0-8108-5128-8
- Whitburn, Joel, Pop Memories 1890—1954, Record Research, Menomonee Falls, WI, 1986. ISBN 0-89820-083-0