Stubby Kaye

If the name "Stubby Kaye" does not sound familiar, you probably are not a fan of old musicals or an American of a certain age who grew up with the television on.

These days, Kaye is best known for his appearances in two classic musicals - as Nicely-Nicely Johnson in Guys and Dolls and as Marryin' Sam in L'il Abner. In both cases, Kaye originated the role on Broadway and carried over his remarkable performances to the films.

Kaye was a comic who started in vaudeville and USO shows, but his strong, pleasing voice and rhythmic sense made him ideal for certain musical comedy parts, and he made the most of "Fugue for Tinhorns" and especially "Sit Down, You're Rocking the Boat" in Guys and Dolls, his big break on Broadway, which came in 1950. "Jubilation T. Cornpone" from L'il Abner is hardly less memorable. All can be found on YouTube.

This present LP is from 1959, and gives Kaye the opportunity to be heard in a different repertoire. Truth be told, he sounds a little under rehearsed, and is much more at home in rhythm songs than in the slower numbers. His pitching is not always true, and Seeco did him no favors by apparently speeding up the whole LP a full step, accentuating any insecurity. (I have adjusted this, and the result is much more pleasing.)

You have to love any album cover and title that are a takes on a theme by Sinatra - in this case, Songs for Young Lovers and Songs for Swingin' Lovers. Quite a few recordings to this day have done this. A perusal of Google Images yielded the following:

Songs For Swinging Larvae (Renaldo and the Loaf)
Songs for Swinging Mothers (one of those parody album covers with no record)
Songs for Swinging Housemothers (a book)
Songs for Swinging Sellers (Peter)
Songs for Swinging Losers (Buddy Greco)
Songs for Swinging Losers (The Losers)
Songs for Swinging Voters
Songs for Swinging Survivors (Mick Softley)
For Swingin' Livers Only (Allan Sherman)
Songs for Swinging Landlords
Songs for Brunette Lovers
Songs for Distingue Lovers (Billie Holiday)
Songs for Rainy Day Lovers (Clare Fischer)
Songs for Latin Lovers (Ray Charles Singers)
Secret Songs for Young Lovers (Andre Previn - Like Young)
Songs for Pizza Lovers (Lou Monte)
Songs for Sinatra Lovers
Songs for Fart Lovers (I don't expect to be transferring this one)

The good arrangements on the Kaye LP are by Bob Mersey. Some of you may recognize him as a Columbia staff arranger (Aretha Franklin) and producer (Barbra Streisand). The sound is good. This record was issued in a stereo version, but I am afraid my copy is mono.