Tweet Re-Discovering Forgotten Songs by the Masters

After about a 30 year hiatus, I began playing the piano again back in January. My formal training (if I may use that expression) consisted of two evening adult education courses I took back in 1982. Through the years I continued to collect vintage sheet music even though my piano had become solely a piece of furniture rather than a musical instrument. I'm glad I continued with my collecting because by practicing every night for nearly a year now, I can actually play a number of these songs.

One song I recently tackled is Irving Berlin's "WHERE IS THE SONG OF SONGS FOR ME," that he wrote in 1928 for the film LADY OF THE PAVEMENTS, the last silent directed by D.W. Griffith. Youtube offers the film's star, Lupe Velez, singing it on a Victor 78. The song is pleasant enough but working it out on the piano, I became of its rich musicality. Berlin may have just tossed off this one but he apparently liked the melody well enough to recycle it with new lyrics for his 1962 show, MR. PRESIDENT.

Another charming theme song written for a late silent, TIDE OF EMPIRE, is "JOSEPHITA." This film is now available through the Warner Archive, which is how I discovered the song by Raymond Klages and Jesse Greer. Again, Youtube offers Leo Reisman's 78 although I feel the film's orchestrations are better. Unlike "Song of Songs," trying to find the sheet music for "Josephita" proved difficult. A copy was on ebay recently but I dropped out after the bidding reached $35. Good thing I did - about a week later I found a mint copy for $2.98.

My latest "discovery" is a lovely waltz written for Bebe Daniels in the film version of RIO RITA. The song, "YOU'RE ALWAYS IN MY ARMS (BUT ONLY IN MY DREAMS)," by Harry Tierney and Joseph McCarthy, is quite lilting and I first heard it on an old RCA Victor "Vintage Series" LP in the late 60s. As with the other songs, the beauty in the workmanship is really revealed when working it out on the piano.

The other night I got around to watching the notorious musical, GOLDEN DAWN. There have been plenty of posts elsewhere on Nitrateville discussing this bizarre work but I watch these dinosaurs for the songs and when the authors are Hammerstein and Harburg, who really cares about the story? Anyway, the film has one terrific song, "WE TWO," not to be confused with Romberg's "JUST WE TWO" from THE STUDENT PRINCE. I am currently searching for the sheet music that, at least, I've been able to determine was published in 1927 in conjunction with the stage version.

I'm sure I'm not the only pianist who has found some forgotten gems from the Golden Age of American Music. Can anybody recommend other songs they found?

I haven't played the piano in yars and yars, but I have discovered a number of wonderful songs that never quite became established beyond their year of release. I've included the composer and/or lyricist when I could find them:

Till the Clouds Roll By (1917)--Kern/Wodehouse, from Oh, Boy!
Head Over Heels (1918)--Jerome Kern
Typical Topical Tunes (1918)--Harry Carroll, from Oh, Look!
Tulip Time (1919)--Dave Stamper, from the '19 Follies
In Your Arms (1919)--Floyd/Glaser/Matzen
The Last Part of Every Party (1919)--Tierney/McCarthy, from Irene
All the Boys Love Mary (1920)--Van/Schenck
I Love You Sunday (1920)--Charley Straight
Somebody (1920)--Little/Dellon, I think
Why Don't You? (1920)--Harry Tierney, from Afgar
Linger Awhile (1923)--Owens/Rose
The One I Love Belongs to Somebody Else (1923)--Jones/Kahn
Back in Hackensack, New Jersey (1924)--Beiner/Russo
Me and the Boy Friend (1924)--Claire/Monaco
Love Boat (1929)--Freed/Brown, from The Broadway Melody
Lucky Me, Loveable You (1929)--Ager/Yellen, from Chasing Rainbows
My Canary Has Circles Under His Eyes (1931)--Kohler/Pola/Golden
Don't Say Good Night (1934)--Warren/Dubin, from Wonder Bar
Ridin' Around in the Rain (1934)--Austin/Lombardo
With Plenty of Money and You (1936)--Warren/Dubin, from Gold Diggers of '37
Wake Up and Sing (1936)--Friend/Lombardo/Tobias
He's a Gypsy from Poughkeepsie (1937)--Deutsch/Green

That should be enough to get you started.

-Harold

Thanks, Harold. Your list will be enough to keep me busy for the next ten years! I already have sheet music of a number of songs from WONDER BAR and other WB 30s musicals - I can highly recommend two gems from 1935's BROADWAY GONDOLIER - "A ROSE IN HER HAIR" and "OUTSIDE OF YOU." Another gem is "PAGE MISS GLORY" from the Marion Davies film.

At least songs from films can often be viewed in their full glory but earlier works that were limited to stage productions usually survive only on crumbling paper as dots on a staff. Part of the fun is bringing these "dead" songs back to life. I've promised myself to run through "WEARY RIVER" from Richard Barthelmess's first talkie and I'm getting the theme songs from GIRL SHY, DOROTHY VERNON OF HADDON HALL, and WINGS. I have no idea how these songs go so this should be really interesting.

There were bunches of commercial recordings of "Weary River": Gene Austin and Rudy Vallee on Victor, Jan Garber's orchestra and the Goodrich Silvertown Quartet on Columbia, Bob Haring's orchestra and Randolph's Royal Hawaiians on Brunswick, the Golden Gate Orchestra (i.e., the California Ramblers) and Rudy Vallee (again) on Harmony/Velvet Tone, Joe Venuti's New Yorker's on OKeh, Lou Gold's orchestra on Regal, Banner and related labels, and still others.

Yet the other song from the film, "It's Up to You", didn't get nearly as much attention in spite of having a lovely melody that comes and goes throughout the film: after Richard Barthelmess (dubbed) sings it to Betty Compson, she says "What you do to me when you sing like that--ain't nobody's business". I've never found any evidence that it was commercially recorded at the time. Incidentally, one of the songs I listed earlier, "Somebody", is also heard briefly on the soundtrack.

Another great song from 1929 that didn't get many recordings comes from Gold Diggers of Broadway: it was completely overshadowed by "Tiptoe Through the Tulips" and "Painting the Clouds With Sunshine", but I think the melody is catchier. "Song of the Gold Diggers", music by Joseph Burke and lyrics by Al Dubin, is performed by Nancy Welford in the finale. Not all of the words are readily decipherable, so I'd love to find sheet music for it. The only 78s I've come across with the song were both recorded in Britain as part of medleys from the film: one on the Broadcast label by Harry Bidgood's band and the other, I think, on Edison Bell, though I can't recall the latter orchestra. For interested parties, one side of the Bidgood medley can be heard here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BeulrRurev0

"Song of the Gold Diggers" is played from 1:43 to 2:25.

-Harold

Collecting sheet music from the silent and early sound era is one of my big passions - I estimate I'd have between 50 and 100 pieces (I'm afraid to count!) from both film and stage, from the early 20s to the very early 30s.

One thing to note - sheet music is one of the few collectables that tends to be far cheaper in `real life' than on Ebay. It's not uncommon to come across an unloved stack of them in a neighbourhood antique store or secondhand bookshop for a couple of dollars each. If you have the patience to leaf through, you can find some gems.

There's a deceptive simplicity in these songs that make them really appealing. You can see why they revived the Freed/Brown collaborations for `Singin' In The Rain'. `Lucky Star', `You Were Meant For Me' - they make for great listening and fun playing.

Some particular favourites (I know a couple have been mentioned already):

- If I Had A Talking Picture Of You (from the O'Farrell/Gaynor film `Sunnyside Up')
- Under a Texas Moon (from the Frank Fay pic `Under A Texas Moon')
- Diane (from `Seventh Heaven')
- Painting The Clouds With Sunshine (from `Gold Diggers of 1929' - stay away from the lyrics ... time has made them unintentionally hilarious!)

Anything from `On With The Show' or `Rio Rita' is a good bet.

Ian Whitcomb and Janet Klein sing many great and fun classic songs from the teens through the 1930s on their CDs like:
Hello Bluebird, Concentratin' on You, Take a Number From One to Ten, Walking My Baby Back Home, If I Could Be With You one Hour TonightWho--OO You--OO That's Who, Rosy Cheeks, Constantinople, etc.