Subject:  Review: Comedy Comp 1927 - 1947
Date:   Mon, 02 Aug 1999 19:21:44 GMT
From:

New compilation on the Flapper label:

:1.  Laugh, Laugh, Laugh - Abbott and Costello
:2.  The Darktown Poker Club - Phil Harris & His Orchestra
:3.  Chidabee, Chidabee, Chidabee (Yah! Yah! Yah!) - Jimmy Durante (Radio performance)
:4.  Lobby Number (Manic Depressive Presents) - Danny Kaye
:5.  Gags and Supergags - Henny Youngman
:6.  Lydia, the Tattooed Lady - Groucho Marx and Bing Crosby (Radio performance)
:7.  Dizzy - George Burns and Gracie Allen
:8.  The Man on the Flying Trapeze - Eddie Cantor
:9.  Hal Roach/MGM Present Laurel and Hardy - Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy
:10. The Pig Got Up and Slowly Walked Away - Frank Crumit
:11. Mrs. Cohen at the Beach - Fanny Brice
:12. The Strip Polka - Johnny Mercer f/Phil Silvers
:13. Love in Bloom/Dialog/Margie - Jack Benny with Mary Livingstone and Bing Crosby (Radio performance)
:14. William Tell Overture - Spike Jones and His City Slickers
:15. Put it There, Pal - Bob Hope and Bing Crosby
:16. Open the Door, Richard - Dusty Fletcher
:17. The Sewing Machine - Betty Hutton

A generous compilation; 6 of the tracks contain both sides of the original 78 rpm records. The presentation of the recordings is another matter. Way too heavy on the bass end of the spectrum, and too aggressively filtered (the Hope/Crosby track sounds like it was hit by CEDAR). The Johnny Mercer recording has lost its trademark Capitol sparkling clear sound, and I'd bet the price of this disc that the Spike Jones number was lifted from the "Murdering the Classics" LP. In fact, I think a number of these were taken from other reissues of the past, even though the book lists original matrix numbers for all except the radio excerpts.

The content is (largely) common stuff, so it's hard to know what needs to be said about it. I know I've heard Phil Harris do a better version of his bit; the Frank Crumit is sub-par; Betty Hutton gets to be nice and loud but there's not much point to the material.

I got this because of a few cuts I didn't have, but -- maybe I'm overly disappointed by the bargain-basement mastering at premium price-- now I think I want my money back.

Kimba W. Lion
Amazed that even Frank Crumit couldn't save this disc.
From 1994 issues of The Off-Center Record newsletter