Vic Damone for the Silvertone Record Club

Young Vic Damone

Vic Damone has recorded for a number of companies during his long career, but his early efforts were mainly but not exclusively for Chicago-based Mercury records. He joined that label in 1947, just a few years after it began, and quickly became one of its most important artists.

But at the same time the silky-voiced young baritone was recording for Mercury, he was also a featured artist for another Chicago institution - Sears, Roebuck and Co. Damone was one of the main attractions of the "Silvertone Record Club," a high-toned pop and light classical label that Sears operated from 1946-49.

I believe that Sears contracted with Mercury for its Damone output - and possibly other selections. He is backed by such arrangers as Glenn Osser and Tutti Camarata, who also helmed his Mercury output during the same period. Many of the songs first issued on Silvertone show up in his Mercury discography as well. It seems likely that the masters reverted to Mercury after the Sears imprint went under.

This post brings together the majority of Damone's Silvertone recordings. The first eight are from an LP issued on the Hollywood budget label in the 1950s (cover below). The sound on these sides is relatively good, with my usual reissue complaint that reverb has been added to "modernize" the sonics. Not much I can do about that, but I could and did fix the pitch, which was distinctly sharp.

The balance are from two Silvertone 78s in my collection. These 78 transfers are not as bright sounding than most of my efforts, to minimize some audible needle damage that is endemic to these early vinyl pressings. Vinyl 78s sounded great when new, but did not stand up well to the two-ton tonearms that were normal on contemporary record players.

So why transfer these if some can be found on Mercury issues? First, because the majority come from 12-inch masters, and I believe that Mercury shortened them for subsequent release. Second, not all of them were re-released. And most importantly, they are fine examples of Damone's balladry, and thus enjoyable in and of themselves.

ADDENDUM - I should have mentioned that the last song in the collection is a Ted Dale instrumental with no vocal. I included it only for the sake of completeness - it is the flip side to Damone's vocal on "I've Got You Under My Skin."