Early Phil Harris Record(s) on the Web

[Maxwell]

I "discovered" a web site devoted to the preservation of early 20th Century popular music called Dismuke.org (after the guy who runs the site). He runs an internet radio station devoted to jazz and popular recordings from mainly 1920-1940. He also has sample recordings from several decades on another portion of the site.

The third section of this site is called "Dismuke's Hit of the Week," named in honor of a short-lived record label in the 1930s. Dismuke has been operating this portion of the site for about five years, and I've been slowly but surely going through the archived recordings here.

About ten minutes ago I ran into a record by the Lofner Harris St. Francis Hotel Orchestra. This was a band that Phil Harris co-led with pianist Carol Lofner in San Francisco. Lofner later left the band and Phil took over as leader. The two sides by the band were "I Got the Ritz from the One I Love" (vocal by Phil) and "I'm Sorry, Dear" (vocal by Hal Schaer).

To hear these recordings go to http://www.dismuke.org/how/prev10-05.html, and scroll down to the October 25, 2005 selections (just past the ad for the Empire State Building). They are the first to recordings.

You will need RealAudio to play them.

Hey LL! If you're not familiar with the site, you might like it. Lots of great early jazz.

Fans in general of OTR might like the recordings from early 2005 with Artie Shaw on the Burns and Allen Show.

[Brad from Georgia]

Great link, Maxwell, thanks!

Oh, and I finally saved enough from my cut of the neighbor kid's paper route (I get ten per cent as his agent) and ordered Vol. II of "39 Forever." Reading the listings reminded me of Phil's wonderful first name, Wonga. I'm still wondering how his papa and mama came up with that!

[Maxwell]

Great link, Maxwell, thanks!

Oh, and I finally saved enough from my cut of the neighbor kid's paper route (I get ten per cent as his agent) and ordered Vol. II of "39 Forever." Reading the listings reminded me of Phil's wonderful first name, Wonga. I'm still wondering how his papa and mama came up with that!

Glad you enjoyed it.

I've thoroughly enjoyed both volumes of "39 Forever." Here's an unsolicited testimonial: If you enjoy Jack's radio programs, these volumes are a must. It's fun to read who appeared in each show, who guest starred, etc., but for me the most fun has been running through the synopses of the episodes and watching how the gang was put together and how their characters developed.

Now here's a question for LL. I know you've answered this somewhere but I can't remember where: Are there any plans for including Jack's guest shots on other radio and/or TV shows in a future volume?

[Yhtapmys]

About ten minutes ago I ran into a record by the Lofner Harris St. Francis Hotel Orchestra. This was a band that Phil Harris co-led with pianist Carol Lofner in San Francisco. Lofner later left the band and Phil took over as leader. The two sides by the band were "I Got the Ritz from the One I Love" (vocal by Phil) and "I'm Sorry, Dear" (vocal by Hal Schaer).

The sound quality is surprisingly good. The key sounds a bit lower than usual for Phil, doesn't it?

Yes, it's a great site.

Fans in general of OTR might like the recordings from early 2005 with Artie Shaw on the Burns and Allen Show.

And if cartoon fans scroll down, there are two cuts from Raymond Scott.

Yhtapmys
"Drive Your Blues Away!"

[Maxwell]

The sound quality is surprisingly good. The key sounds a bit lower than usual for Phil, doesn't it?

Yes, it's a great site.

The guy who runs the site bought some equipment several years ago that really does a terrific job of reducing noise without losing the qualityof the music. If you scroll back far enough (I think around 2001) you can read about it.

As far as the key, I agree that it does sound a bit low for Phil. I actually had to look back at my monitor to make sure that was the track with the vocal by Phil.

[LLeff]

Now here's a question for LL. I know you've answered this somewhere but I can't remember where: Are there any plans for including Jack's guest shots on other radio and/or TV shows in a future volume?

Tentatively Volume 4. But that's a number of years away because of other information that needs to be researched. Some day!

[Yhtapmys]

I "discovered" a web site devoted to the preservation of early 20th Century popular music called Dismuke.org (after the guy who runs the site).

Hey, Maxwell, did you see this on that site?

http://dismuke.net/howimages/maxwelllarge.jpg

It's a little later and larger than the Benny model.

Ytahpmys
"Drive Your Blues Away!"

[Maxwell]

Hey, Maxwell, did you see this on that site?

http://dismuke.net/howimages/maxwelllarge.jpg

It's a little later and larger than the Benny model.

Ytahpmys
"Drive Your Blues Away!"

I don't know why I didn't think to include that! As you can well imagine, I thought of Jack as soon as I read the ad.