[78-L] Two singers who cause me pain

[Randy Skretvedt]

"Jan Pierce," eh?  Hmm, I seem to recall it was none other than our friend Mr. Lennick who did the transfers for a double-CD set of early Jan Peerce material, taken from transcriptions made in the mid-'30s.  Very nice stuff, too, and Mr. Peerce is not the type of singer I usually go for.  For someone whose heart was in more formal kinds of music, he did pretty well in the hot dance band arena.  (He made some records in the early '30s with Lou Gold and his Orchestra, under the pseudonym of "Pinky Pearl"!)  Anyway, this double-CD'er had an extended version of "Bluebird of Happiness" which I like better than the commercial 78.

I like Vaughn DeLeath.  I have to defend her.  It's DeLeath I can do.  She has a warm, motherly kind of voice which is charming.  I love her record of "The Toymaker's Dream."  And her comic instincts are given the spotlight on "Banana Oil."  In some ways she reminds me of Mildred Bailey--not a great voice in and of itself, but friendly, comforting, and very entertaining with the right kind of material.

--Randy Skretvedt