[78-L] More on Victor 25461

[Cary Ginell]

After checking my copy of Russ Connor's wonderfully detailed book on Goodman, "Listen to His Legacy," I noticed that the "A" side of Victor 25461 features the song "Goodnight My Love." But the singer on each of my two copies of this disc is different. The one featuring "'Tain't No Use" on the "B" side has "Goodnight My Love" sung by Frances Hunt, but the other copy, with "Take Another Guess" on the flip, has Ella Fitzgerald singing "Goodnight My Love." Connor says there is a third combination, with Ella's "Goodnight My Love" backed with Benny's "Tain't No Use." Apparently, since Ella made the original vocals of the two tunes, but since she was under contract to Decca at the time (these were recorded 11/5/36), Decca raised a stink and Victor had to pull Ella's versions from their discs. During the repressing of 25461, someone goofed and mistakenly pulled Ella's version of "Goodnight" off the shelf instead of the Hunt version. Even LP reissues made this mistake. Although the liner notes on the Bluebird double-LP reissue AXM2-5532 say that Ella is the vocalist on "Goodnight," what appears on the disc is the Hunt version. Connor says the Hunt vocal version of "Goodnight" is the one that is harder to find these days on 78.

Cary (still looking for "Popcorn Man") Ginell
 		 	   		  
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