Vintage music featuring the ukulele
Peter Durward Harris | Leicester England | 03/28/2008
(5 out of 5 stars)
"The ukulele, like the steel guitar, evolved in Hawaii from a musical instrument taken there from outside. In the case of the ukulele, its ancestor is a Madeiran instrument called the braghuinha. Although it has never been a major contributor to pop music since the dawn of rock'n'roll (name me a big hit since 1955 featuring the ukulele), there were some major stars in the twenties and thirties who played the ukulele, most notably Cliff Edwards in America and George Formby in Britain, both well-represented in this excellent boxed set. As with all the boxed sets on the Proper label, there is a booklet with extensive liner notes.
The first CD begins with a 1916 instrumental recording by Helen Louise and Frank Ferera's Hawaiians, with subsequent tracks by a variety of performers dated between 1927 and 1939, except the final track on the CD that dates from 1947. Among those featured are Madame Riviere's Hawaiians with Rose Kaohu as their lead singer, represented by three tracks. They made good music although Rose's vocals sound a little on the shrill side. Benjamin Nawahi plays ukulele on five tracks for three different groups (King Nawahi's Hawaiian's, Hawaiian Beach Combers, Georgia Jumpers). Sol Hoopii, who briefly worked with Benjamin Nawahi as a teenager, established his own reputation as a top musician. Sol began as a ukulele player but switched to steel guitar for his own recordings. Nevertheless, he always had a ukulele player among his musicians, so they qualify for inclusion and five of them are included. Other great musicians from the era make up the rest of the first CD.
America's most famous exponent of the ukulele (Cliff Edwards) gets most of the second CD, with the rest of that CD being devoted to Johnny Marvin, though not always under his own name. Cliff is largely forgotten now but he was a huge star in his heyday. He was the original singer (in 1929) of Singin' in the rain, which provided him with his second and biggest American number one hit. That song and 17 others here, including Cliff's first American number one (I can't give you anything but love), show that Cliff Edwards deserved all the success he achieved. Cliff later became the voice of Jimmy Cricket in Pinocchio. Johnny Marvin is represented by six tracks under his own name (including the American number one hit Breezin' along with the breeze), one under a pseudonym (Honey Duke and his uke) and one as a member of the Knickerbockers.
The third CD is devoted exclusively to the music of George Formby, so prolific that his complete recordings occupy two 5-CD boxed sets England's Famed Clown Prince of Song and The War and Postwar Years. I'd probably enjoy listening to all of his music but I'm quite content with the 26 tracks included here. These include Leaning on a lamp post (later revived by Herman's Hermits), When I'm cleaning windows and the title track of this box, With my little ukulele in my hand, the last two named being among several of George Formby's songs that the BBC banned. It quickly became clear, even in those depression-hit thirties, that a BBC ban helped sales so George was quite happy with the situation. One of the other features of George's songs (that I didn't know till I read the liner notes) was that he created a Chinese character (Mr Wu) and wrote several songs about him including Chinese laundry blues, The wedding of Mr Wu and Mr Wu's a window cleaner now.
The fourth and final CD opens with Ukulele lady, a ballad by an excellent but largely forgotten female singer, Vaughn De Leath. Despite the title of that song, I don't think she really was a ukulele lady. Rather, she sang a variety of different types of material. Among her other notable recordings, she was the original singer of Are you lonesome tonight? I subsequently bought and reviewed Ukulele Lady, which includes all her essential recordings, but the demise of ASV means that this compilation is now out of print.
Half of the fourth and final CD here is occupied by Jimmie Rodgers, the singing brakeman. He played ukulele himself on one track (Dear old sunny south by the sea) and later used Hawaiian musicians for some of his recordings, but anybody looking for his greatest hits should look elsewhere. As I already own a boxed set of Jimmie's music Recordings 1927-1933 containing 110 of the 111 songs that he recorded, I didn't expect to find anything of his to interest me here, but I was pleasantly surprised to discover (after I'd already bought the box) that the only song missing from the boxed set (My time ain't long) is included here. Well, I was never going to buy a CD just to get that song, but I'm glad it's here. Multi-instrumentalist Roy Smeck is represented by four tracks, these being 12th Street rag (from 1928), Tiger rag, Nifty pickin' (both 1932) and Ukelele bounce (from 1949). Two tracks each by Louis Armstrong,Bing Crosby, Jimmie Davis and Lyle Ritz complete the CD. I was certainly surprised to find that Louis Armstrong recorded any music utilising the ukulele, but he apparently recorded four such tracks.
I'd never given the ukulele much thought although I'd always intended to buy a George Formby compilation some day. Once I saw this box, I realized that it was a must-have, even with my limited resources. The George Formby music is brilliant but it in no way overshadows the rest of the music here."
Ukulele History
Mark W. Swarthout | SE Michigan | 04/26/2010
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Always wondered what the ukulele music of days gone by was? This is the set to buy! The wide variety of musical eras can give one a lot of ideas about the music our grandparents and even their parents listened to. The first CD includes many early Hawaiian songs. The Second is dominated by Ukulele Ike and the era of the 20's and 30's. The third is a full CD of George Formby with all his hits and is probably my favorite of the four. Humorous, the songs take on a rather routine pattern that can be duplicated by those learning the ukulele. The fourth CS is a bit repetitious, and I'm not a big fan of the 'cowboy' genre of ukulele songs. Some of the music is grating on the ears, and the tonal quality of some of the early stuff is questionable and certainly not a match for the type of music common today.
For those interested in learning to play and the history of this instrument, I'd say this is a must have."
GIVE TINY HIS DUE
Douglas McKinnon Jr. | Tijeras, NM | 05/17/2009
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Just to answer the previous reviewer's rhetorical question to name him a hit since 1955 featuring the ukelele, let us not forget "Tiptoe Through the Tulips" by the immortal Tiny Tim. It may not have been a hit in the U.K. and could fall short of "featuring" the ukelele, but anyone who is old enough to recall seeing Tiny on the Tonight Show knows he seldom appeared without it. Since the reviewer appears musically astute I commend to him "How About Uke?" by Lyle Ritz, an old Verve jazz LP which has been reissued on CD."
Track Listings (26) - Disc #1