Like Yesterday - Beverly Kenney

 

A Sunday Kind Of Love

Like Yesterday 

Beverly Kenney

Decca Records DL 8948

Personnel on: Any Old Time, And The Angels Sing, More Than You Know, The Dipsy Doodle

Jerome Richardson - Woodwings

Ed Shaughnessy - Drums 

Bill Pemberton - Bass

Chuck Wayne - Guitar

Stan Free - Piano and Trumpet (Free appears on trumpet during And The Angels Sing only)

Personnel on: What A Difference A Day Made, Happiness Is A Thing Called Joe, Tampico, Sentimental Journey

Johnny Rae - Vibes and Percussion ("a flautist")

Ed Shaughnessy - Drums

Bill Pemberton - Bass

Chuck Wayne - Guitar

Stan Free - Piano

Personnel on: Undecided, A Sunday Kind Of Love, Somebody Else Is Taking My Place, I Had The Craziest Dream

Eddie Bert - Trombone

Al Klink - Tenor Sax (a trumpeter")

Ed Shaughnessy - Drums

Bill Pemberton - Bass

Chuck Wayne - Guitar

Stan Free - Piano

From the back cover: Yesterday – The yesterday of swing, the big bands and instrumental soloists and vocalists so much a part of that interval, remain an unusually vivid memory for many of us. Perhaps time has done its work, and all seems a little more glamorous than it actually was. But even for those who were in on only a portion of it, the years between the crash-through of the Benny Goodman band in 1935 and the last gasp of the big bands in the latter years of the Forties had their unforgettable moments. The jitterbugs that danced in the aisles of the Paramount Theatre to the surging pulse of the Goodman gang; the fans who traveled up to the Savoy Ballroom in Harlem to "dig" the swingin' Chick Webb band and its vocal star Ella Fitzgerald; and those struck by the orchestra led by "That Sentimental Gentleman of Swing," Tommy Dorsey; they remember.

The devoted "Sighing Slaves of Sinatra," who stood in line, regardless of weather or parental objection, for a look at their idol; the fellows and gals who "cut" school to hear Harry James' horn speak of Sleepy Lagoon and Flatbush Flanagan, or Helen Forrest sing her love songs as the band undulated behind her; and those who followed the temperamental Artie Shaw, his progressive orchestras and policies; they remember.

Aficionados who spent evenings and early mornings listening to the "Rockin' Chair Lady," Mildred Bailey, usually in the company of husband Red Norvo and other great jazz stars, in 52nd Street Clubs; others who stomped and hollered to the Barnet band in its many editions; the faithful who applauded the crisp, rolling, often explosive sounds of the Kenton, Herman and Brown crews and their appealing thrushes; and later, the couples who swayed to the danceable, expressive Thornhill band that featured vocalist Fran Warren; they, too, remember.

For the young, it was all part of growing up; for others, a little older, a time that was free if not easy; for all, a period looked back upon with warmth. The music and those that made it ... the key to a flood of memories.

Beverly Kenney was three years old when Benny Goodman became the "King of Swing." She was six-in 1938 – when Billie Holiday, her biggest vocal influence, recorded Any Old Time with Artie Shaw; and only a teen-ager as the era came to a close in the late Forties. Though not really part of this time, she is a result of what happened during those years.

Roots...for Beverly

When Lester Young stepped out of the Count Basie reed section to solo on those many memorable nights two decades ago, it is unlikely that he had any idea his manner of expressing himself would become the foundation for a whole generation of instrumentalists and a number of singers to build upon. Pres merely raised his horn and "told his story," with little thought to its effect.

Billie Holiday admired the man she named "The President," and used him on many of her greatest record dates "because he played music I like." Lester and his "Lady Day" were close. As she further shaped her vocal style, it became obvious that Pres' presence on the scene had been noted.

Indebted to Billie Holiday, Beverly Kenney has said: "Billie was the ultimate; she put it out on the line every time she sang. I can never forget her."

But all her roads lead to Pres.

Stan Getz, one of the enigmatic tenorman's most devoted disciples in the Forties, who went on to develop an extension of the master's style, has been, by Miss Kenney's admission, the most significant force in shaping her vocal expression. "When I first began singing," she told me, "Stan's sound and phrasing charmed me. I felt his way on the tenor should be mine as a singer." Beverly's vibrato-free sound and concept of time and phrase only further underscore where she comes from, stylistically.

Yesterday... Today

Like the gal singers recalled by the songs in this program, Beverly Kenney has been a band singer. Unlike these singers, she found recognition after leaving band singing-with the Dorsey Bros. A girl who enjoys relaxed musical circumstances, small band accompaniment has proven generally more appropriate to her needs. "I believe working with a small band allows a singer to be more flexible; there's more freedom to move around, to improvise on material," she quietly explained.

Beverly had her wish on these sessions. The accompanying units were small and composed of sympathetic players; the writing for them, by ex-Chris Connor accompanist/arranger Stan Free, flowing and relatively uncomplicated.

"This being a memory-type album that reaches back to the days of swing for material," said Free, "I wrote for the flavor of the time, adding a touch or two or three of my own. We felt that by merely suggesting the era when the songs were popular would be more honest and realistic than trying to recreate the time and 'the' performance itself.

"I tried to give Bev a cushion of sound to lean on while making the charts as 'conversational' as possible," he continued. "I designed the arrangements to compliment my artist, and to keep things relaxed. The instrumental soloists spoke in short bursts, reflecting 'the now' of what they felt within each tune. However, there was some reminiscing done in the blowing-on my 'fills' and background noodling-but we generally avoided playing 'old' for effect."

Beverly fills out the picture: "The songs in this program mean a lot to me; they're mementos of the days when my ears first opened to music, mementos of the nights, a tiny radio tucked under my pillow, I listened to singers and bands on late evening 'remotes.' Realizing I was following up great performances on each of these songs, I took the only course open to me. I sang each song as I felt it at the time. That's all any singer can 'honestly' do." – BURT KORALL, Co-Editor, THE JAZZ WORD (Ballantine)

Side One 

UNDECIDED
Made famous by ELLA FITZGERALD with Chick Webb. and his orch.

SENTIMENTAL JOURNEY
Made famous by DORIS DAY with Les Brown and his orch. 

I HAD THE CRAZIEST DREAM
Made famous by HELEN FORREST with Harry James and his orch.

AND THE ANGELS SING
Made famous by MARTHA TILTON with Benny Goodman and his orch.

MORE THAN YOU KNOW
Made famous by MILDRED BAILEY with such Jazzmen as Artie Shaw, Ziggy Elman, Teddy Wilson and Cozy Cole. 

THE DIPSY DOODLE
Made famous by EDYTHE WRIGHT with Tommy Dorsey and his orch.
Later became the theme for the band headed by Larry Clinton who wrote and arranged it for Dorsey.


Side Two

WHAT A DIFFERENCE A DAY MADE
Made famous by KAY STARR with Charlie Barnet and his orch.

SOMEBODY ELSE IS TAKING MY PLACE
Made famous by PEGGY LEE with Benny Goodman and his orch.

A SUNDAY KIND OF LOVE
Made famous by FRAN WARREN with Claude Thornhill and his orch.

ANY OLD TIME
Made famous by BILLIE HOLIDAY with Artie Shaw and his orch.

HAPPINESS IS A THING CALLED JOE
Made famous by FRANCES WAYNE with Woody Herman and his orch.

TAMPICO
Made famous by JUNE CHRISTY with Stan Kenton and his orch.