This is one of a few threads I unfortunately let expire. I'll be more careful not to let these expire in the future. Here was the previous thread: Your favorite music from 1934? As always, you can list a single track, a 78 with multiple tracks, early albums (as in literal albums of 78s bound together), a classical piece, a later compilation focusing on the year . . . whatever. Doesn't have to be a list, though of course you can post a list if you want. You can also just post one title at a time as you think of it/run across it (which is what I do in these threads).
'Mal Hombre' - Lydia Mendoza (as Lidya Mendoza) https://www.discogs.com/Lidya-Mendoza-Mal-Hombre-Al-Pié-De-Tu-Reja/release/14666037
Papa Charlie Jackson https://www.discogs.com/Papa-Charli...t-Out-If-I-Got-What-You-Want/release/13984076 Illustrated Papa Charlie Jackson discography
Cliff Carlisle - Onion Eating Mama Nifty guitar playing and some Jimmie Rodgers-style yodelling (he often accompanied Rodgers) "When eating onions, honey, turn your face away, Gonna keep on eating them onions I'm gonna leave you some day." Who could blame him?
Serenade for a Wealthy Widow /Let’s Pretend There’s a Moon──Fats Waller & his Rhythm ❨Victor–24742❩ Runnin' Wild /Rockin' Chair──Duke Ellington & his Famous Orchestra ❨Brunswick–6732❩ On the Sunny Side of the Street /Blue Minor──Chick Webb & his Orchestra ❨Decca–172❩ Cocktails for Two /Live and Love Tonight──Duke Ellington & his Orchestra ❨His Master's Voice–B.6497❩ Stomping at the Savoy / Why Should I beg for Love──Chick Webb's Savoy Orchestra ❨Columbia–2926-D❩ Solitude /Moon Glow──Duke Ellington & his Orchestra ❨Brunswick–A 9656 Germany❩ Don't be That Way /It's Over Because We're Through──Chick Webb & his Orchestra ❨Decca–483❩ Dream Man /I'm Growing Fonder of You──Fats Waller & his Rhythm ❨Victor–24801❩
'Brown's Ferry Blues' - the Delmore Brothers 78 Record: Delmore Brothers - Brown's Ferry Blues (1934) Cover versions of Brown's Ferry Blues written by Alton Delmore, Rabon Delmore | SecondHandSongs
Sol Hoopii & his Novelty Quartettte 'There's nothing else to do in Ma-La-Ka-Mo-Ka-Lu' https://www.discogs.com/Sol-Hoopii-...lse-To-Do-In-Ma-La-Ka-Mo-Ka-Lu/master/2021056
'West Indian Weed Song' - Bill Rogers with Felix's Krazy Kats Orchestra https://www.discogs.com/Bill-Rogers...Indian-Weed-Woman-B-G-Bargee/release/14018021 http://amuseumnaturalis.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/West-Indian-Weed-Woman-120x80-1.pdf
By 1934, hardly anybody was selling records any more, though the numbers were creeping upward from 1932, when only 6 million records were sold the entire year. Part of the reason for the improving sales: The desperate recording industry started selling its 78s for less. Decca Records (US) was founded in 1934 as the first significant new label since before the Great Depression, and every record in its catalog sold for 39 cents (list price) rather than the 89 to 99 cents that was standard with the other surviving labels. Victor had already started its low-priced Bluebird subsidiary for some jazz, blues, and hillbilly music, and then there were the remnants of other pre-crash labels, most of which had become mere imprints of the American Record Corporation (e.g., Perfect, Banner, Romeo, Melotone, Conqueror, Brunswick, Vocalion, and the mostly moribund Columbia). One of the biggest selling recording artists of the late 1920s was Paul Whiteman and His Orchestra. He was the self-proclaimed "King of Jazz," even if his music was nothing like Louis Armstrong's Hot Fives and Hot Sevens. Unlike most of his contemporaries, Whiteman largely eschewed radio appearances, instead using records, personal appearances, and "talkies" (sound films) to become popular. Well, desperate times call for desperate measures. After he was dropped by Columbia, Whiteman started to make radio appearances. He also ended up on Bluebird rather than a full-priced label. And he started making some seminal swing music! He found two great vocalists in Jack Teagarden and Johnny Mercer. And the combination came up with a pretty decent 1934 single that was big enough to inspire a sequel, more on which in the next post. "Fare-Thee-Well to Harlem":
Also in 1934, the Paul Whiteman orchestra, again with Johnny Mercer and Jack Teagarden on vocals, recorded a sequel to "Fare-Thee-Well to Harlem." After seeing the holiday spirit there, the "so long" to Harlem ended up short-lived, as the band celebrated "Christmas Night in Harlem." The song was the first hit for composer Raymond Scott, whose music would influence everyone from Carl Stalling (Warner Bros. cartoons) to Spike Jones. And the non-patter lyrics were by Mitchell Parish, who specialized in adding lyrics to original instrumentals (e.g., "Star Dust," "Sleigh Ride"). One of the earliest Christmas songs to appear on "Christmas swing" collections, though it is often eclipsed on compilations by Louis Armstrong's cover from two decades later, here's "Christmas Night in Harlem":
'I'll String Along with You' - Ted Fio Rito and his orchestra (vocal - Muzzy Marcellino) Fair and Warmer / I'll String Along With You by Ted Fio Rito and His Orchestra - RYM/Sonemic Cover versions of I'll String Along with You by Ted Fio Rito and His Orchestra - Vocal Chorus by Muzzy Marcellino | SecondHandSongs
