I came across this interview on YouTube:
In this 1950 interview with DJ Ben Heller of radio station WMID inAtlantic
City, Frank Sinatra discusses his new Columbia LP (Sing andDance with Frank
Sinatra**), his recent trip to the UK (July 1950) wherehe performed at the
London Palladium, his upcoming TV show on CBS(premiered on October 7, 1950) as
well as plans for the short-lived radioshow MEET FRANK SINATRA. Sinatra is in a
jovial mood as he jokes with Mr.Heller from backstage at The Steel Pier theater
on the Atlantic Cityboardwalk.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9BRV1Yp2YY
In this interview Sinatra mentions seeing Dorsey recently at the Astorand then
getting up on stage and singing a few songs with the band. Does anyone know the
date?
Scott, Dorsey opened at the Astor on 7-11-50 for a three week
engagement. Frank did not fly back tothe states -- he had played the Palladium,
in London, July 10 to 23 -- until the following week. Dorsey closed on 7/31 and
Xavier Cugat opened on 8/2. I would think he was at the hotel the last
weekendof the engagement.. Ben Heller was a very accomplished
guitar player before becoming a disc jockey. He was withBenny Goodman, Harry
James and Tommy Dorsey. Frank knew him and you can hear how comfortablehe is
during their conversation. The date for the interview was 9-4-50 -- backstage
at the Steel Pier. Frank wasa sensation the four days he was there ( 9/1 to 4
). When he opened there was a feature film and an Ellingtonshort between his
appearances. The line of people demanding to see him was so great the theatre
got rid of the film. The drummer, Johnny Blowers, claimed that Sinatra did at
least 25 shows over the four dayrun. If you listened to the interview, it is
very apparent that Frank intensely disliked "Goodnight, Irene."Well, the crowds
at the Steel Pier" kept shouting "Irene, Irene." Frank had to sing it many
times thatLabor Day weekend. I thought you might like to read how the song
became a hit:
Birth Of A Hit
Ever wonder how a song hit happens? Look at “Goodnight, Irene.” It was written
by a convict and a professor, sung by a preacher and a stenographer and
published by a young man who can’t read music
a deep-voiced hell-fire and brimstone parson from Arkansas, and two Brooklyn
youngsters, student Fred Hellerman and Miss Ronnie Gilbert, an erstwhile
secretary. They called themselves The Weavers and went professional in 1948 at
a Greenwich Village cellar club called the Village Vanguard. The Weavers were
mobbed with enthusiasts who never failed to yell for “Irene.” People loved to
join in the sweet refrain.
Carl Sandburg, the Lincoln biographer, and folk song collector Gordon Jenkins,
the composer and bandleader, and Howie Richmond, the demon Press agent, were
among the regulars at the Vanguard. Howie was toying with the notion of
publishing songs and plugging them through his disk jockey network. He thought
“Goodnight, Irene” was wonderful. So did Gordon Jenkins. It was a good night
for Irene. Richmond made a copyright search and found the 1936 literary
copyright by Lomax and 'Ledbetter.
Copyright litigation is everyday stuff in the music business and Howie wanted
the song absolutely clear. He found that the professor and his old friend had
both died recently, but The Weavers led him to Lead Belly’s widow and Alan
Lomax, son of the co-author. Howie signed up with the heirs, a standard
contract providing for performance royalties and the usual royalties of one
cent per phonograph record and three cents for sheet music. Jenkins gave the
song an orchestral setting and a female choir to chord behind The Weavers.
The disk jockey recording was made in June. On the reverse, or “flip” side The
Weavers and Jenkins recorded “Tzena, Tzena, Tzena,” an Israeli patriotic ditty
to which Richmond had also acquired the copyright when he heard The Weavers
sing it in Yiddish. Richmond airmailed the test record to the disk jockeys
early in July and sat back to wait for them to tell him whether his taste was
any good.
Some Violets For Ava
Three days afterward Richmond opened his copy of Billboard, the favorite form
sheet of Tin Pan Alley. He turned to the record “picks” and looked at
Billboard’s house “picks,” in which shrewd professional reporters predict the
best-selling records of a month or two hence. They have a very high batting
average. “Tzena, Tzena, Tzena” by Jenkins and The Weavers was the first pick.
The second pick was “Goodnight, Irene” by Jenkins and The Weavers. The third
pick was “Happy Feet,” published by RichI mond. The fourth pick was “Sam’s
Song,” by Bing Crosby and his son Gary. It was the first time in music history
that one publisher had hit three out of four and the first time both sides of
a record had been picked.
The next week’s Billboard listed “record possibilities” from all points of the
compass by disk jockeys, juke! box operators, and retail shops. These
bellwethers of the music business are a sure guide to potential popularity. Of
their picks for the 10 hits of tomorrow the disk jockeys selected first
“Tzena” and second “Irene.” The retailers put “Tzena” fourth and sixth “Happy
Feet,” a tune Richmond had developed from a radio commercial jingle for a shoe
chain. Record wholesalers reported their biggest shipping orders were for
“Tzena.”
Richmond groped around dizzily for a day, trying to figure out what had
transpired. Overnight he was the biggest man in the music business. Bing, Frank
and Arthur replaced Mr. Crosby, Mr. Sinatra and Mr. Godfrey among his
acquaintances. Presidents of record companies sent him personal memos. His
matchbox office took on the population of the Marx Brothers’ cabin in “A Night
at the Opera.”
Richmond galvanized into action under the slogan, Sinatra must sing “Irene.” At
that moment Sinatra was getting into a stratocruiser in Los Angeles, eastbound
for Europe. Richmond air-expressed professional sheets of “Irene” in time to
meet the onrushing crooner in Chicago. Sinatra studied the song during the
flight to New York.
Mitch Miller, recording chief of Columbia records, was waiting at the N. Y.
Airport. He rushed Sinatra to a studio where Miller’s own orchestra was
rehearsing a Sinatra setting for “Irene.” The singer cut one record and did not
have time to hear it back before he roared off for the London engagement
Richmond drove to Bridgeport, Conn., where the Columbia recordpressing plant in
three hours made 300 advance records for the disk jockeys. Richmond
air-expressed them that night. The next day jockeys from Vancouver to Atlanta
were spinning Frank Sinatra’s new smash hit to the millions, while Sinatra was
buying Ava Gardner a nosegay of violets in Piccadilly Circus.
Richmond thought about The Weavers. “They would probably hate the idea of their
lovely old song going commercial with Frank. I called them up and told them.
The kids said, ‘Wonderful! Think of it, Frank Sinatra singing Lead Belly’s
song!’ ”
The second week “Irene” moved up from the hit picks to an actual hit. Now there
were eight records of “Goodnight, Irene” spinning on the radio and Billboard’s
lists of best-selling single records were being inundated from the bottom by
two dozen versions of ‘ Irene,” “Tzena” and “Happy Feet.” After two days’ play
Sinatra’s version was third on the house picks. The jukebox operators listed
“Happy Feet” first in the coin boxes.
Richmond then ordered 100,000 copies of the sheet music of “Irene” for popular
sale.
James Dugan9-15-50
