[78-L] Brunswick 4411 vocalist question.

[Taylor Bowie]

> =============
> I'm 100.01% sure it's Dick Robertson. My wallet tells me so! I can't
> think of any other singer, male or female, who could sing that
> perfectly. I think the 2nd, "boop-a-doop" vocal might confuse though.
> Oddly enough I played Dick Robertson's vocal on Louis Katzman's "Beale
> Street Blues" to someone and he thought it was an English female singer...
>
>      Julian Vein


Oh,  Julian...I hope in this case you mean "perfect" as in the sense of a 
"perfect storm."  Or perhaps "fine" as in Oliver Hardy's famous line about a 
"fine mess."

I guess it is a skilled performance,  but some things are just better left 
undone.     To paraphrase the Weems record of Piccolo Pete:  "Did you ever 
hear Dick do some of his tricks?"  Well I did and I don't like them.

I am very fond of Dick Robertson's more plain vocals...but just can't take 
it when he goes into "character" be it as a sex-starved woman,  a coy child, 
or his "Way Down South on the Swanee" dialect.

I think my favorite vocal of his would be a tie between the Henderson Victor 
of  "Oh It Looks Like Rain" or the ARC record from '32 of  "Holding My 
Honey's Hand."    And his vocals on the Deccas are mighty good,  too.

Taylor