Teddi King - the RCA Victor Singles

These blogs have already chronicled some of her earlier career:

• Her 1952 dates with George Shearing, along with a few of her earliest recordings with Nat Pierce's band

• Her 1954 Brunswick EP, which recently appeared on my other blog

Now I've gathered together all her singles issued by RCA from 1956-58 - 16 selections in all. Teddi was fortunate that her first record was a hit. Victor continued to give her relatively good material to record over the next few years.

Hugo Winterhalter

Here's a rundown of the RCA sides, which are conducted by Hugo Winterhalter unless otherwise indicated.

In 1956, one of the big openings on Broadway was a showcase for Sammy Davis, Jr. called Mr. Wonderful. Unusually, the title tune was about him, not by him. Olga James had the honor of introducing "Mr. Wonderful" the song, written by Jerry Bock with his early collaborator Larry Holofcener and George David Weiss. King's single release of the song did so well that RCA took out a full-page trade ad proclaiming her "one of the world's great women." Not sure about that, but she did show signs of being one of the world's great pop singers.

"Mr. Wonderful" was backed by the country-tinged waltz "Are You Slipping Thru My Fingers" Not bad, but not "The Tennessee Waltz."

My transfers of the two songs above and the two that follow come from the RCA promotional EP (at left), issued by General Electric to promote its flash bulbs. For any of you young pups out there, indoor photography at the time was illuminated by disposable bulbs, rather than a flash built into your camera or phone. These bulbs had a tendency to explode, which added an air of danger to the process.

The EP's second side was taken up with another successful single coupling. The better known was Steve Allen's "Impossible," a memorable song even if the lyrics are a little contrived. I can't imagine that Steve was unhappy with King's effort.

The final song on the EP was Irving Gordon's "I Can Honestly Say It's a Lie," one of those "sure, we went dancing, but there was no romancing" songs, and a good example of the species.

The always-reliable Ralph Burns provided the orchestral backing for those two songs.

Ralph Burns

The next single was yet another success. Teddi is completely convincing in Gordon Jenkins'"Married I Can Always Get." This paean to female independence came from the composer's newly augmented Manhattan Tower, which was the subject of a television show and a Capitol LP, the latter of which you can find here, freshly remastered.

The single's flip side was another fine item - "Traveling Down a Lonely Road," Nino Rota's theme from the film La Strada, with English lyrics by Don Raye.

Next, we have a surprising recording of an obscure Rodgers and Hart song - "There's So Much More," introduced in 1931's America's Sweetheart, which was only a moderate success. Teddi will have you thinking it's lost gem. Two better known songs from America's Sweetheart - "I've Got Five Dollars" and "We'll Be the Same" - can be found here in recordings made at the time of the production.

Jack Kane

Teddi is at her best in the next song, a standard for once: "Say It Isn't So." This number and the next two are in the hands of Canadian arranger Jack Kane, who had been brought to the US by Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme. His arrangement is very much like the work of Nelson Riddle.

Kane leaves the Riddle sound behind for "A Ride on a Rainbow," a good new song written by Jule Styne and Leo Robin for the 1957 televised musical of Ruggles of Red Gap, where it was sung by Jane Powell. (Her recording is here.)

King and Kane pull a surprise with the next item - an R&B/R&R song called "Should I Ever Love Again." Kane's backing is the usual simplistic rock 'n' roll formula heard on many records of the time. Teddi, however, has seemingly assimilated many of the R&B vocal techniques of the day, and is almost entirely convincing in her effort.

We're back in pop territory with "Every Woman (Wants to Make Her Man Over)," a cocktail jazz piece by composer Don Gohman and lyricist Mort Goode. It's very much of its time, but even so a good song that is done superbly by King.

"Then It Starts Again" leads off with a quasi-Rachmaninoff piano intro. The key is a bit too high for Teddi; she sounds uncharacteristically ill at ease in this grandiose piece.

The next song is by Gloria Shayne and Noel Paris (possible Shayne's husband Noel Regnery). It's a rollicking piece called "I Was a Child Until Tonight," with a bravura performance by King. Shayne later had hits with "Goodbye Cruel World" and "The Men in My Little Girl's Life."

Teddi is at her best with Johnny Parker's "A Lot in Common," an enjoyable catalog song that finds King sounding exhilarated with her new love. She also gets to show off her imitations of labelmates Perry Como and Harry Belafonte.

Speaking of Perry, King's next song was written by the authors of "Catch a Falling Star," one of the Groaner's greatest hits - Lee Pockriss and Paul Vance. King's "Baisez-Moi" was not among their other hits, but for an assembly-line tune, it's not bad and Teddi is fine, even some with Patti Page-style vocal doubling.

"Say a Prayer (and Light a Candle)" is very much of its time, a quasi-religious item with King backed by a heavenly choir. The singing is good, but Hugo Winterhalter doesn't seem to know what to do with the simplistic melody.

These transfers are from my collection of King singles; the sound is generally excellent.

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