Search - Richard Hayes :: The Old Master Painter

One Of Those Vocalists Shunted Aside By R&R

05/08/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Richard Hayes, born on January 5, 1930 in Passaic, New Jersey, had his Mercury singing career get under way in 1949 with two failed singles, (A Breathless Promise b/w Lingering Down The Lane and Mabuhay b/w an adaptation of O Solo Mio called Will You Remember? (the last two not included here), before hitting it big late that year with his version of The Old Master Painter. Rising to # 2 early in 1950 b/w Open Door, Open Arms, he finished ahead of renditions by some established giants (Dick Haymes - # 4; Peggy Lee & Mel Torme - # 9; Phil Harris - # 10; Snooky Lanson - # 12; and Frank Sinatra - # 13).



For the follow-up My Foolish Heart, however, the tables were reversed as his version only managed a # 21 in June 1950 b/w The Flying Dutchman (not here), losing out to renditions by Gordon Jenkins & His Orchestra (# 3), Mindy Carson (# 6), Billy Eckstine (# 6) and Margaret Whiting (# 17), but finishing ahead of that by the Hugo Winterhalter orchestra (# 29). Then, following a string of failed singles - It Isn't Fair b/w Thunder In My Heart (not here), Truly (not here) also b/w Thunder In My Heart, Jug Band Boogie (an uptempo tune with great backing by the Jimmy Carroll orchestra, in which Richard evokes comparisons to Pat Boone) b/w The Guy With The VooDoo, Say When b/w Our Very Own, and Why Fight The Feeling? b/w Iron Horse.



Paired with Kitty Kallen (former band singer with Jack Teagarden, Jimmy Dorsey, Artie Shaw and Harry James) their collaboration on Our Lady Of Fatima went to # 10 b/w Honestly I Love You (not here), beating out Red Foley (# 16) and Phil Spitalny (# 23). After that, a string of more failed singles: I Can't Seem To Laugh Anymore b/w Jing-A-Ling, Halls Of Love b/w Dream Awhile, Silver Bells b/w A Bushel And A Peck (the last four sides again with Kitty, none of which are here), a re-issue of Silver Bells paired with Jing-A-Ling to try and grab the Christmas season market, as was a re-issue of Our Lady Of Fatima, this time b/w Ave Maria by Vic Damone, Tambourine b/w This And No More (not here), and It Is No Secret b/w Get Out Those Old Records, the last two with Kitty and neither side included.



They did, however, click with The Aba Daba Honeymoon from the film Two Weeks With Love, taking it to # 9 in March 1951 b/w I Don't Want To Love You, and losing out only to the rendition by the films stars, Debbie Reynolds & Carleton Carpenter (# 3), but ahead of those by Freddy Martin's orchestra (# 12), Cliff Stewart (# 19), and the duo of Hoagy Carmichael & Cass Daley (# 23). But Hayes was no match for Nat "King" Cole (# 1) when he covered Too Young later that summer, finishing at # 24 b/w Shenandoah Waltz, also finishing behind Toni Arden (# 15), Patty Andrews (# 19), and even Fran Allison (# 20) of Kukla, Fran & Ollie fame. That was followed by the same pattern of several failed singles: My Prayer b/w Fast Freight (not here); When You And I Were Young Maggie Blues b/w I Whistle A Happy Tune with Roberta Quinlan; Alice In Wonderland b/w In The World Of My Dream and I'm Late b/w The Unbirthday Song - both with Quinlan again and none of the sides here; and Everyone Is Welcome In The House Of The Lord b/w Good Luck, Good Health, God Bless You with Kitty Kallen (only the B-side is here).



His cover of the Rosemary Clooney # 1 hit, Come On-A My House, then charted at # 14 in August finishing back of the Kay Starr version (# 8) but ahead of the Mickey Katz spoof (# 22), and for the first time he had a double-sided hit as Go! Go! Go! Go! reached # 23. In November, Out In The Cold Again peaked at # 9 b/w Once, and then two more uncharted releases - The Lady Drinks Champagne b/w River, Stay Away From My Door and Babalu b/w More Than Love - before seeing two releases chart at virtually the same time in May: Junco Partner ( # 15) b/w Summertime. and I'll Walk Alone (# 24) b/w Tattletale, the latter a distant third back of those by Don Cornell (# 5) and Jane Froman (# 14), but ahead of Margaret Whiting (# 29).



His next release, The Mask Is Off, got as high as # 23 in July 1952 b/w Never Leave Me (not here), while Yo Ho And Off You Go b/w If God Can Forgive Me, Why Can't You? was another non-charter before Forgetting You hit # 15 in November b/w Forgive And Forget. Another stretch of failures then preceded his final hit, Midnight In Paris, which reached # 24 in July 1953 b/w a crack at Calypso, covering Harry Belafone's Matilda, Matilda. He would even try pure Country by doing Hank Williams' Move It On Over. But nothing else would work, and although he would go on recording sporadically right into 1964 with ABC, Decca, Columbia and, in 1964, Contempo, he became one of several victims of the arrival of R&R.



This wonderful 2-disc offering from Jasmine Records of the U.K. which doesn't advertise itself as his "greatest" or "best of", nevertheless gives you all 13 hits and most of their B-sides, along with numerous other failed singles accompanied by 11 pages of interesting liner notes written in 2005 by Rex Strother following an interview with Hayes. There are also a couple of more nice photos of Richard and the sound quality is excellent."