Your favorite music from 1945

Can be a single track, a 78 with multiple tracks, early albums, 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).

 

Nat King Cole / Lester Young / Red Callender Trio - King Cole / Lester Young / Red Callender Trio (Philo P-1)

 

..................................The Andrews Sisters
Rum & Coca Cola, Accentuate the Positive (w/ Bing Crosby), One Meat Ball

 

1945 was just about the time when classical music started getting interesting for me.

But 1945 was a very good year!

Benjamin Brittan - Four Sea Interludes
Michael Tippett - Symphony No. 1
Eduard Tubin - Capriccio for Violin and Piano No. 2
Samuel Barber - Cello Concerto
Bela Bartok - Piano Concert0 No. 3, Viola Concerto
George Crumb - Four Pieces for violin and piano

 

My country, The Netherlands, was finally liberated from Nazi-German occupation in May 1945, mainly by Canadian troops. It was the end of a five-year long nightmare my parents had to live through. The last year was the worst (for people who had not already been deported and exterminated in the concentration camps, as happened to almost the entire Jewish population), when the country was literally stripped of all of its assets and famine broke out (probably the only time in our history) with people dying of hunger during the particularly harsh winter that year. So the people were absolutely elated with the arrival of the Canadians. It immediately spawned a series of songs about Dutch girls and Canadian soldiers that became big hits overnight. One of these was a song by Albert de Booy, called "Trees heeft een Canadees", which can be translated as "Trees (a common girl's name) and her Canadian". I will post the YT video and the translation of the text:



In my street a girl is living
And her given name is Trees
She's a typical Dutch girl, she's
Pretty, with a pleasant shape
Never looking for a romance
She thought cuddling meant bad health
But right from the liberation
Rumor spread by word of mouth

chorus:
Trees feels so overjoyed
With her soldier straight from Canada
Trees feels so overjoyed
In the jeep together, speeding up
Although she thinks her English is terrific
She would like to know what the word 'kiss' means
Trees feels so overjoyed
With her soldier straight from Canada

When a Dutch admirer mentioned
Getting married, things like that
Then she promptly gave as answer
"Oh, no way, I buy a bike"
Now our Trees is learning English
Lessons every afternoon
'Cause the only words she could say
Were so far: 'okay' and 'yes'

Chorus

When she sees an uniform, well
She is nervous right away
Ask her: "Do you know what 'love' is"
She says longing: "Very nice"
Ah, what will become of Treesje
When her boy from Canada
Will return, sooner or later,
To his home in Ottawa

Chorus

 

Louis Jordan and his Tympany Five


Louis Jordan And His Tympany Five – Caldonia / Somebody Done Changed The Lock On My Door (1945, Shellac)

 

Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup


Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup – Rock Me Mamma / Who's Been Foolin' You (1945, Shellac)

 

Billies Bounce / Now's The Time, Savoy Records
Dizzy Gillespie & Charlie Parker, Sydney Catlett, Al Haig, Curly Russell - Lover Man / Shaw 'Nuff ‎(Shellac, 1O") Guild Records 1OO2
Charlie Parker With Tiny Grimes Quintet - Red Cross / Tiny's Tempo Savoy Records
Dizzy Gillespie & Charlie Parker, Sydney Catlett, Al Haig, Curly Russell - Salt Peanuts / Hot House ‎(Shellac, 1O") Guild Records 1OO3

 

Duke Ellington With Tommy Dorsey & His Orchestra / Tommy Dorsey With Duke Ellington & His Famous Orchestra - The Minor Goes Muggin' / Tonight I Shall Sleep Victor

 

Britten - Peter Grimes
Korngold - Violin Concerto
Prokofiev - Ivan the Terrible

 

Billie Holiday & Her Orchestra / Billie Holiday & The Eddie Heywood Trio - I Cover The Waterfront / Lover Come Back To Me Commodore
Lover Man (Oh, Where Can You Be?) / That Ole Devil Called Love Decca

 

"Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!" by Vaughn Monroe and His Orchestra



Released in late 1945, it spent five weeks at #1 in early 1946. By 1949, it appears as if this was already forgotten; many of Monroe's big pre-1949 hits were issued by RCA Victor on its new 45 rpm format, but I can find no evidence that this ever came out on 45.

Monroe re-recorded it twice in the studio. One of the re-recordings -- from the 1958 RCA album There I Sing/Swing It Again -- was used over the credits in the 1989 film Die Hard, which helped revive his version of what had become a Christmas-season standard by then. He also re-recorded it for the Dot label in 1963 on His Greatest Hits.

 

'Drifting Blues' - Johnny Moore's Three Blazers (with Charles Brown vocal & piano)


Johnny Moore - guitar; Eddie Williams - bass (and Johnny Otis -drums)

released November 1945; r&b hit in early 1946
Johnny Moore's Three Blazers – Drifting Blues / Groovy (1945, Shellac)
Cover versions of Drifting Blues written by Johnny Moore, Charles Brown, Edward Williams | SecondHandSongs

 

Tons of great music from that year, but hard for me to think of 1945 without thinking of it as the year of bebop's emergence, and thinking of the prototypical bebop tune, Charlie Parker's contrafact on "Cheerokee," "Koko":

 

'Who threw the whiskey in the well?' - Lucky Millinder and his orchestra (vocal chorus by Wynonie "Mr. Blues" Harris and congregation)


Lucky Millinder And His Orchestra – Who Threw The Whiskey In The Well / Shipyard Social Function (1945, Shellac)

 

Frank forever.

 

Julia Lee


Julia Lee & Tommy Douglas' Orchestra – If It's Good / Show Me Missouri Blues (1945, Shellac)

 

Sippie Wallace with Albert Ammons and his Rhythm Kings


Sippie Wallace With Albert Ammons And His Rhythm Kings – Buzz Me / Bedroom Blues (1945, Shellac)

 

How about Smoke On The Water?

You thought that was 1973? LOL.

No ma'am. Talking Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys

Bill

 

Peggy Lee


guitar - Dave Barbour
Peggy Lee – Waitin' For The Train To Come In / I'm Glad I Waited For You (1945, Shellac)

 

Ella Mae Morse


https://www.discogs.com/Ella-Mae-Mo...estra-Captain-Kidd-Ya-Betcha-/release/8542320

 

The Frim Fram Sauce - The King Cole Trio (Nat on piano and vocal)

 

Tee Say Malee - The Slim Gaillard Quartette (no Slam this time )

 

Hop, Skip and Jump - Artie Shaw & His Gramercy Five