Paula Castle: 'Lost Love,' 1955

The singer made only this one superb 10-inch LP and slipped off into the night

Paula Castle’s Lost Love was originally recorded for Bethlehem in 1955 for a 10-inch LP. Castle’s voice was leather-glove warm and elegantly sensuous—with hip phrasing reminiscent of Sarah Vaughan. The album was and is a superb recording. Songs dwell, thematically, on fleeting love.

But there’s a story behind the music. This was Castle’s first LP—and her last, according to Lord’s Jazz Discography. Little is known about why Castle abandoned the studio or what became of her after this record was released—though we may have a clue.

The band here is equally mysterious. Beyond flutist Sam Most, the rest of the quartet’s members aren’t household jazz names. Bassist Chet Amsterdam would have a lengthy career as a sideman, but Lost Love was the last known recording for pianist Ronnie Selbey and drummer Herbie Wasserman, who became journeymen players.

Returning to Castle, she began her recording career in February 1949 with bassist Chubby Jackson. The New Yorker called her rendition of All Wrong (recorded that month with Jackson) “a slow ballad with a foolish lyric” but “interestingly worked out by the musicians and well-sung by Paula Castle.” [Photo above of Paula Castle in the 1970s courtesy of YouTube]

In early August 1949, Billboard reported that Castle had signed a personal management contract with Larry Newton. The magazine also mentioned that she had signed a four-year record deal with Newton’s Derby label. But in 1953, Newton ran out of cash and formed Central Records with Lee Magid. The new venture didn’t work out again either for Newton, who had to file for bankruptcy in 1954.

His Derby masters were sold to RCA, where Newton became an executive. But whatever Newton lacked on the entrepreneurial side he more than made up for in the corporate setting. In 1956 he joined ABC-Paramount as a sales manager and three years later he was vice president of sales. In 1965, he became the label’s president.

But back to Castle. By mid-August 1949, Newton arranged for Castle to travel down South for a 10-day tour to plug her first Derby release. That single had been recorded in July. She had gone into the studio to record four sides but only two—Henri VIII and Free of Charge—were issued. The songs were recorded with the Joe Roland Quintet, featuring Ray Turner (ts), Joe Roland (vib), Red Mitchell (p), Joe Puma (g), Paul Sziglay (b) and Harold Granowsky, only on Henri VIII. [Photo above of Paula Castle c. 1960s or ‘70s]

In January 1950, Roland wound up at Savoy Records, and Castle recorded one track with him—Love Is Just a Plaything. By then Roland was billed as “Joltin’ Joe” Roland and his Symphonette/Bopping Strings. The band featured Joe Roland (vib), Joe Puma (g), Gus Oberstein, Jules Modlin and Sidney Kasmit (strings), Ismael Ugarte (b) and Harold Granowsky (d), with Paula Castle (vcl).

Under contract to Derby, Castle wouldn’t appear in a recording studio again until 1955, when she recorded Lost Love. By then, she was managed by Mort Hillman, who also handled Herbie Mann, another Bethlehem artist. Creed Taylor was the label’s producer then, so I gave him a call. “The name is familiar but I can’t recall the session,” he said. “She was one of several vocalists I had at Bethlehem—including Chris Connor and Carmen McRae.”

Except for a cryptic remark by an Amazon reviewer in 2011 who claimed that Castle was alive and well in Queens, N.Y., the trail goes cold in 1955. Which somehow makes this album all the more intriguing.

You’ll find Paula Castle’s Lost Love (Bethlehem) newly remastered on Spotify.

Let’s listen to clips:

You can hear Castle sing Tenderly at 9:09 on the time bar with the Chubby Jackson Orchestra and Darling, You Wear Love So Well at 36:45—or listen to the full live recording and hear one of the greatest bop bands of the late 1940s…

Here’s Paula Castle singing Love Is Just a Plaything with Joe Roland in 1950...

The following clip features Paula Castle singing Why Can’t I? from Lost Love. The Bethlehem album was recorded in early 1955 and released that June. The song was written by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart for Spring Is Here, a 1929 Broadway musical…

The album was recorded in early 1955 and released in June. One wonders if Castle’s recording was passed along to EmArcy producer Bob Shad or to Vaughan herself as a song to consider for In the Land of Hi-Fi. Here’s her masterful rendition on In Land of Hi-Fi, which was recorded in October 1955...

In 2010, the following clip was uploaded to YouTube by a friend of Paula Castle. The YouTube comments indicate she died in 2013. A shame they didn’t ask her about her sole album...

My guess is her voice was too close to Vaughan’s and, as a result, was passed over by producers mid-decade. Or she suffered from stage fright and didn’t want to do TV to promote albums. Or she might have decided that being in a relationship was more important, so she simply performed locally on New York’s Long Island. Whatever the reasons, she made one superb album, and thanks to Creed Taylor, her 1950s voice was captured for posterity.