JazzWax

Mildred Bailey: Queen of Swing

In the 1930s, as the country struggled through the Depression, households buckled under the strain of poverty and the creeping fear of darkening world events. What kept most people from being swallowed by nagging pessimism and despair was the radio. The dramas and music that came over the airwaves provided much-needed relief from anxiety and worry. The first and finest female singing voice during these bleak years was Mildred Bailey. A warm and upbeat swing-era beacon, she not only forged breaks for singers like Bing Crosby but also influenced a generation of singers who followed, including Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett and Rosemary Clooney.

Bailey is credited with being the first female big-band vocalist. She was the earliest female vocalists to sing ahead of and behind the beat and did so with relaxed charm (Ivie Anderson began recording with Duke Ellington in 1932). Born in 1903, Bailey grew up on the Coeur d'Alene Reservation in Idaho up until she was 13. Her mother was part Native-American. Then the family moved to Spokane, Wash., where her younger brother, Al Rinker, met Bing Crosby.

Bailey had a musical childhood and, in the early 1920s, she headed down to Los Angeles for work opportunities. Her brother and Crosby came down mid-decade, and Bailey helped them get their start with Paul Whiteman in 1926 as two of the three Rhythm Boys (Harry Barris was the third).

Bailey joined the Whiteman Orchestra at 28 in 1929 thanks to her brother and Crosby, who engineered an audition at a Los Angeles party. Back then, a woman singing in a dance band was unheard of. 

Inspired by Bessie Smith, Bailey sounded both white and black, which allowed her popularity to grow on the radio, since her voice appealed to virtually everyone. Bailey left Whiteman in 1933 after marrying xylophonist Red Norvo. They moved to New York and recorded extensively in the 1930s, but the couple divorced in 1942, remaining friends. She worked solo at New York clubs, and in 1944 CBS gave Bailey her own network radio show.

Large in size, Bailey was a victim of destructive compulsive behavior—particularly when it came to food and shopping. She suffered from diabetes and was hospitalized multiple times. Bailey's excessive spending and an inability to manage her income and savings caused her strain. Crosby came to her financial rescue several times, especially in her last years. Bailey retired in 1949 and died of heart failure in 1951. She was 44.

Sadly, Bailey was forgotten in the 1940s as music styles shifted, her look was less and less photogenic, and her voice became a relic of the Depression. It should be noted that her hit singles were all in the late 1930s. Yet Bailey remained a favorite of singers who encountered her at Hollywood and New York clubs. Re-listening to her recordings now, her voice is remarkably contemporary for its time—a gentle, swinging marvel that relaxed listeners as if she had been singing lullabies. Every singer today should study her style and phrasing.

JazzWax tracks: Bailey's Columbia recordings were gathered on The Complete Columbia Recordings of Mildred Bailey on Mosaic in 2000. The box is out of print now. The extensive biographical and discographical liner notes Will Friedwald that accompanied the box are exceptional.

If you don't want to spend $500 on the 10-CD box, Bailey's complete Columbia recordings are available from Columbia/Legacy as digital downloads on a three-volume set here, here and here. 

Or there's Mildred Bailey: The Rockin' Chair Lady (on the British Retrospective label), a two-CD set featuring 52 of her songs recorded between 1929 and 1947 here.

JazzWax clips: Here's Mildred Bailey singing Never in a Million Years in 1937 with an Eddie Sauter arrangement...

Never in a Million Years

Here's Bailey singing I Thought About You with Red Norvo in 1938...

More Than Ever

And here's Bailey, with Benny Goodman, singing I Thought About You in 1939...

I Thought About You

Bonus: Here's Bing Crosby introducing Bailey on what would be one of her final performances, singing Georgia on the radio in 1950...

A special thanks to Dennis Galloway.

Prez Day: Lester Young

Today in the U.S. we are celebrating a national holiday honoring Presidents George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. Originally conceived in the 1880s as a day of tribute to George Washington on his birthday, February 22, the holiday was moved to the month's third Monday in 1968 when Congress shifted most holidays to Mondays and decided to use this one to honor two presidents instead of one. [Photo above of Lester Young in 1940 by Charles Peterson]

Here at JazzWax, President's Day has a different purpose. On this day, we celebrate Lester "Prez" Young, arguably the most significant transformative tenor saxophonist of the post-war era up until his death in 1959. At that point, John Coltrane influenced a new generation of players as he began to break new boundaries on the instrument.

Here are video and audio clips of Lester Young, whose relaxed, seamless improvisational style launched an entire school of players (Stan Getz, Bob Cooper, Dave Pell, Bill Perkins, Richie Kamuca, Phil Urso, Al Cohn, Zoot Sims, Brew Moore and many others) and greatly influenced the West Coast jazz sound of the 1950s:

Here's Gjon Mili's Jammin' the Blues in 1944...

Here's Prez in 1950 with Bill Harris (tb), Hank Jones (p), Ray Brown (b) and Buddy Rich (d)...

Here's Prez on TV's Art Ford's Jazz Party in 1958...

Here's Count Basie and One O'clock Jump featuring Lester Young at the Newport Jazz Festival in 1957...

Here's Side A of Pres and Teddy in 1959...

And here's Side B...

Huey, Judy and Jimmy

This week in The Wall Street Journal, my "Anatomy of a Song" column for the arts section was on Huey Lewis and the News's The Power of Love (go here). The 1985 hit nearly didn't happen when Huey balked at writing a song called Back to the Future and was a little uncertain about writing for a movie, something he had never done before. The movie's team told him not to worry, that all they wanted was a News song. So he co-wrote one. Huey came up with the lyrics for The Power of Love while on a run and while thinking about his new wife and two kids.

Here's Huey's new album, Weather...

Also in the WSJ, I interviewed actress-comedian Judy Greer (currently in Showtime's Kidding) for my "House Call" column in the Mansion section (go here). We talked about her miserable time in junior high and high school. From malicious bra-snapping to mean names, Judy endured it all. Does she dream of driving by her old school and yelling "Hey, look at me now?" And if the school asked her to come back to give a talk, would she? I don't want to spoil it for you. [Photo above of Judy Greer from YouTube]

The first thing you need to know about Judy is that she's hysterical. Here she is in action...

On Monday, I'll be on SiriusXM's Feedback from 9 to 10 a.m. with co-hosts Nik Carter and Lori Majewski to talk about my Huey Lewis and the News "Anatomy of a Song." Tune in to Chanel 106. I'll have another terrific Hot 10.

René Urtreger. Following my post on the French pianist, I received an email from Claude Neuman:

Hi Marc, nice article on René. In 2016, the French writer and translator, Agnès Desarthe, wrote a biography of Urtreger called Le Roi René. He somehow coaxed her into singing, which she had never done before, and they recorded a CD together (go here). Here they are together on French radio (go here). Not so bad an amateur chanteuse in English, for a French writer, I think.

Billie Eilish. Here's Eilish's (pronounced EYE-lish) new theme for the upcoming James Bond film, No Time to Die, due in April. I can't quite make out the lyrics, which is part of its charm. But the song itself is fabulous. And love that last chord!

After sharing it with arranger Roy Phillippe,  Roy hipped me to the last chord's construction: "It's an E-minor 9th with the major 7th—the last chord of the James Bond Theme going all the way back to Dr. No."

John Boorman. Last week I received the following email from director Raymond De Felitta:

Hey, Marc, don’t know if you dig John Boorman’s films or not—Point Blank, with Lee Marvin (1967) is in my pantheon. Also Excalibur, Hope and Glory, etc. I recently found this documentary that his daughter, Katrina, made for the BBC. It’s quite touching and an unusual portrait of a filmmaker
and father. Their whole vibe as a family was unique, and it's captured very well in he doc.

Here's Part 1...

Here's Part 2...

Here's Part 3...

And here's Part 4...

Beverly Kenney. On Sunday (February 16), WKCR-FM's Sid Gribetz will host Jazz Profiles from 2 to 5 p.m., which will showcase vocalist Beverly Kenney, a marvelously sensitive jazz singer who suffered secretly from mental illness and committed suicide in 1960 at age 28. The albums she recorded remain stunning. You can listen from anywhere in the world on your phone, iPad or computer by going here.

Euro-pop. After posting on Euro-pop and film of the 1960s, I received the following email from Rémi Carémel:

Hello Marc. Do you know the Polidonobre channel on Youtube (go here)? It's the best easy-listening channel, library music, Italian pop orchestras, etc. There is even a "bossa nova" playlist and a "yé-yé" playlist.

Curious about Chicago soul? Then you'll love this site, courtesy of Vincent Degiorgio (go here).

Jimmy Cobb is in need of funds for medical care. The drummer who appeared on dozens of great jazz albums, including Miles Davis's Kind of Blue, Sketches of Spain, Someday My Prince Will Come, Miles Davis at Carnegie Hall, In Person Friday and Saturday Nights at the Blackhawk, Porgy and Bess and Sorcerer. For information and to donate what you can, go here.

In New York next week? Go hear pianist Joe Alterman with his trio at Birdland, from Wednesday through Saturday, with sets at 7and 9:45 p.m. Joe has a glorious touch that pianists such as Ahmad Jamal, Les McCann and Ramsey Lewis admire. For more information and tickets, go here.

Here's Joe in action...

What the heck: Here's Donald Fagen with Steely Dan performing his I.G.Y. (What a Beautiful World), off of his Night Fly album...

Oddball album cover of the week.

Wow, Midtown's East Side in the 1950s, when the Empire State Building and the Chrysler Building were the standout towers. Naked city!What does this view look like today? See below, from 2019...