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You can watch Nick Lucas mature... Here he is in 1944 (same song)Singer/guitarist Nick Lucas. It's interesting to see him in 1929 and then four decades later on The Tonight Show:
It's just fun, happy music. A nice change of pace sometimes.
The fact is that the electronic microphone allowed for artists with softer voices to record. What the old gramophone acoustic recording needed was loud and clear enunciation. And this originally limited who could do acceptable recordings. This is why Billy Murray was so popular a singer. He recorded all through the acoustic period on all the major labels of the time: Edison, VICTOR Talking Machine, Columbia ---- to name a few.And the original crooner:
Here is a long overdue entry. This recording is from January of 1929 on an EDISON DIAMOND DISC Record. This was likely one of the last. EDISON Records would go bottom up that year. Here is a rare and wonderful record titled I WANT TO BE BAD. Now I don't wish to be bad; however, I really like this tune and must have been very danceable, sung by "HAPPY" Jack Parker ---- and no he doesn't say "hell" but HEALTH (see if you hear that):
And in the 38 position for 1929 is DEEP NIGHT with Rudy Vallée again on VICTOR ORTHOPHONIC Record:
Yeah, I hear you... I can even imagine going back in time with my sweetie and doing a gentle foxtrot. Her in a beaded tea length gown head on my shoulder, and me in a midnight blue tux --- dancing cheek to cheek... GOOD GRIEF! When did I stick so much bear grease in my hair --- I have enough grease to lubricate 10 Duesenbergs --- Well, 2 anyway!It's artistically appropriate for a dreamy song called "Deep Night" to have you get so lost in the music that it's almost a surprise when the voice appears. Two minutes in before the headliner's voice appears. And then he sings for just over a minute.
But I know it wasn't just for that song. Almost an accident that it works so well with this particular song and this particular mood.
Such a different time musically! The bands were really allowed to shine.
Love that banjo player.Seriously, though, you can hear where the 30's and 40's Big Band sound came from in that.
Why did big band sound go away?
I'll never understand. That music was great and did not rely on 3 instruments as does rock which dominated for 50 years.
Several things are likely the cause. Amplified sound wasn't that good, nor was it easily available everywhere. Bodies were cheap (the pay was low). After World War II men wanted families and a steady job. There were still some "Big Bands" into the 1950's Please see:Why did big band sound go away?
I'll never understand. That music was great and did not rely on 3 instruments as does rock which dominated for 50 years.
My dad loved this music also ----- as did I! There were a lot of young guys who appreciated the Big Band Sound into the 1970's. And even Ragtime made a comeback when the movie THE STING came out in1973:My dad's music. Glen Miller, Tommy Dorsey, good stuff.
I have some recordings done recently by modern big bands using the same sheet music as they did in the '40s. Man, it sounds great! Sing Sing Sing, an old Benny Goodman song, just rocks.My dad loved this music also ----- as did I! There were a lot of young guys who appreciated the Big Band Sound into the 1970's. And even Ragtime made a comeback when the movie THE STING came out in1973:The 1930's big band sound with PAPER MOON in 1973: And the 1920's band sound with THE GREAT GATSBY in 1974:
The total reality is that in say the 1960's, the 1920's were only a mere 40 years or so in the past. The 30's were thirty years and the 1940's were 20 or so years in the past. THE PROBLEM WAS/IS THAT THE RECORDING TECHNOLOGY RADICALLY CHANGED IN THE LATE 1940'S. RCA developed NEW ORTHOPHONIC HIGH FIDELITY SOUND and PHIL SPECTOR WITH HIS WALL OF SOUND. STEREO would even be better. All the "OLD" recordings simply didn't sound up to date. It isn't like today when a kid can play a BEATLE record from the early 1960's and still hear them as good and clear (if the record is in good shape or one has a newer CD) as it did when the band was young. All the old stuff before the transition became regarded as archaic. And many of the band leaders were now maturing (pleasant term for getting OLD). ANd so the old recordings went into collections and were not played on the radio except for some diehards.
The music was and is still wonderful, and I feel that eventually people will tire of all the crap and eventually some movie or play or new rerecording will spark a renewed interest.
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