Gay Caballero  Frank Crumit
ProArte CDD3407
     (mfd. by Intersound; see address on pg. 2.) (Eric's note: Huh??)
When I first played this CD, I went straight to track 18, The Three Trees, probably one of the dumbest things ever committed to record that's why I love it.  And there it was, pretty little rabbit and all; but the sound was so muffled that it was hard to understand what Frank was saying (and if you know any Frank Crumit recordings you know that diction was not a problem for him).  Well, as luck would have it, that was by far the worst cut on the disc perhaps the original was not recorded that well, or maybe they just got stuck with a worn copy and filtered it too much.  This disc features 21 other Frank Crumit sides, all very well presented.  The recording dates range from 1925 to 1935, and the latest of these sound positively modern.

These 22 tracks represent less than a tenth of Frank's total recordings, so if you have a particular favorite, it may not be here (I miss High Up In The Hills and Crazy Words, Crazy Tune).  Let's hope they sell enough to warrant bringing out 10 or 11 more volumes.

But there are plenty of great recordings here: Gay Caballero (and The Return of...), Abdul Abulbul Amir (and The Return of...), The Song of the Prune, and Gum Tree Canoe, of which ProArte claims they used the only known copy in the world.

David Lennick's notes for the CD tell more about Frank's career than I could find during an entire afternoon in the library.  Apparently as popular on the radio as in the recording studio, Frank Crumit was a major name on the American scene for at least 25 years.  What makes Frank Crumit so special?  To me, it is his sincerity listen to The Three Trees: he really believes in this material.  No hokiness or cutesiness, but a great deal of charm derived from his straightforward manner.  And believe me with material that ranges from dumb limericks ("She was a dancer and singer / At me she kept pointing her finger / And saying to me, / S¡, Se¤or, s¡, s¡ / But I couldn't see a durn thinga") to wrinkles ("we may get them on our face, prunes get them every place") to life insurance salesmen (There's No One with Endurance Like the Man Who Sells Insurance... "I even spent the night in jail just to try and hide"), you need a lot of charm to make it all work.  And work it does.  ProArte:  More! I want more!

      Kimba W. Lion
from 1994 issues of The Off-Center Record newsletter
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