[78-L] Total Recall

[Geoffrey Wheeler]

Regarding the scarcity of the three Ella Fitzgerald recordings with 
Goodman on Victor, one question that hasn’t been addressed is where 
Russ Connor might have gotten his information about the recordings 
being withdrawn. If Decca had known about them before they were issued 
in January or early February 1937, it could have put the same kind of 
pressure on Victor to have Victor pull the records. Since Victor issued 
the recordings, obviously Decca didn’t. John Hammond might have been 
the source because he personally knew Decca management, and Hammond, of 
course, was affiliated with Goodman. Billie Holiday’s recording of “Any 
Old Time” made with Artie Shaw (BB B-7759) in July 1938 was re-recorded 
by Helen Forest March 1939 but not issued until the early 1940s in the 
20 dash series (Vi 20-1575), backed by a reissue of “My Heart Stood 
Still” from BB B-10125, recorded January 1939. The Forest version is 
also said to be hard to find, but I have two copies of both, so you 
can’t prove it by me. The Holiday version, rather than the Forest 
version, was reissued on V-Disc 399. Shaw’s recording is oddly paired 
with a medley of waltzes.
Geoffrey Wheeler