''Kay Kyser's Greatest Hits'' is a 1962

compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one or several Performing arts#Performers, performers. If by one artist, then generally the tr ...

featuring music made famous by American bandleader

Kay Kyser James Kern Kyser (June 18, 1905 – July 23, 1985), known as Kay Kyser, was an American bandleader and radio personality of the 1930s and 1940s. Early years James Kern Kyser was born in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, the son of pharmacists Emil ...

released by

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007) is an American record label distributed by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-based record label of note ...

. While Kyser himself was not present at the recording session, former members of his orchestra

Harry Babbitt Harry Babbitt (November 2, 1913 – April 9, 2004) was an American singer and star during the Big Band era. Early career Born in St. Louis, Missouri, Babbitt organized his own band after high school, directing the group in addition to singing and ...

Mike Douglas Michael Delaney Dowd Jr. (August 11, 1920 – August 11, 2006),Cook County Birth Certificates, file number 6053268, borAugust 11, 1920Social Security Death Index, Michael D. Dowd Jr., Birth: 11 Aug 1920, death: 11 Aug 2006 residing in North ...

Trudy Erwin Trudy Erwin (born August 12, 1918 – October 29, 2000) was an American singer and actress in films who was a vocalist with the Kay Kyser orchestra in the 1940s. She recorded several hit songs including the 1943 duets with Bing Crosby "People Wil ...

Ish Kabibble Ish Kabibble (January 19, 1908 – June 5, 1994) was an American comedian and cornet player. Early life Born Merwyn Bogue in North East, Pennsylvania, he moved to Erie, Pennsylvania, with his family a few months after his birth. Career Bogue st ...

, Jack Martin, Sully Mason,

Ginny Simms Virginia Ellen SimmsSleeve notes from ''Ginny Simms – I'd Like To Set You To Music'', Jasmine JASCD 118, 2001. (May 25, 1913 – April 4, 1994) was an American popular singer and film actress. Simms sang with big bands and with Dinah Shore, ...

, and

Gloria Wood Gloria Wood (September 8, 1923 – March 4, 1995) was an American singer and voice actress. Her rare voice was in the four- octave range. She was able to imitate other voices. Background and career Born in Medford, Massachusetts in 1923, her fa ...

reunited to make re-recordings of their original

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...

hits. In addition, satirist

Stan Freberg Stan Freberg (born Stanley Friberg; August 7, 1926 – April 7, 2015) was an American actor, author, comedian, musician, radio personality, puppeteer and advertising creative director. His best-known works include " St. George and the Dragonet ...

impersonated Kay Kyser's voice to recreate the song introductions. The 1962 re-recorded track for "

Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition "Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition" is an American patriotic song by Frank Loesser, published as sheet music in 1942 by Famous Music Corp. The song was a response to the attack on Pearl Harbor that marked United States involvement in World ...

" was featured in the 2018

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...

Fallout 76 ''Fallout 76'' is a 2018 online action role-playing video game developed by Bethesda Game Studios and published by Bethesda Softworks. It is an installment in the ''Fallout'' series and a prequel to previous entries. ''Fallout 76'' is Bethesda ...

''.

Recording

The album was recorded over a period of two weeks at the Capitol Records Studios in Hollywood, California from August to September 1961. For the Capitol Records sessions, of the credited personnel, Babbitt, Douglas, Erwin, Ish Kabibble, Martin, Mason, Simms, and Woods, all had previously recorded with the Kay Kyser orchestra. However some members substituted for others even if they were not present for the original Columbia Records session on a particular track. In an interview with author Steven Beasley, the son of Harry Babbitt, Chris Babbitt, recalled seeing additional bandmembers from the old sessions, but was too young at the time to remember names. He also recalled seeing "one of his idols" Stan Freburg who at the time was recording his album '' The United States of America Volume One'' down the hall and who would also provide the Kay Kyser impersonation on the tracks.

did not object to Capitol Records making an album nor the impersonation, but he had no desire to recreate his performances after his retirement from show business in 1950 to dedicate himself to

Christian Science Christian Science is a set of beliefs and practices associated with members of the Church of Christ, Scientist. Adherents are commonly known as Christian Scientists or students of Christian Science, and the church is sometimes informally know ...

. At the time, Capitol had already issued several similar long-playing albums, inviting bandleaders of 30s and 40s who "welcomed the chance to recreate their hits and make some extra money" in Hi-Fi and in Stereo. Bandleaders like

Stan Kenton Stanley Newcomb Kenton (December 15, 1911 – August 25, 1979) was an American popular music and jazz artist. As a pianist, composer, arranger and band leader, he led an innovative and influential jazz orchestra for almost four decades. Though K ...

(''

Kenton in Hi-Fi ''Kenton in Hi-Fi'' is an album by bandleader and pianist Stan Kenton featuring performances of Kenton's signature compositions from the 1940s recorded in 1956 and released on the Capitol label.Vosbein, PStan Kenton Discographyaccessed April 16, 2 ...

''),

Benny Goodman Benjamin David Goodman (May 30, 1909 – June 13, 1986) was an American clarinetist and bandleader known as the "King of Swing". From 1936 until the mid-1940s, Goodman led one of the most popular swing big bands in the United States. His co ...

(''B.G. in Hi-Fi''),

Harry James Harry Haag James (March 15, 1916 – July 5, 1983) was an American musician who is best known as a trumpet-playing band leader who led a big band from 1939 to 1946. He broke up his band for a short period in 1947 but shortly after he reorganized ...

(''Harry James in Hi-Fi'') and so on added themselves to the Capitol Records catalog. Hair and Friedwald note that

Billy May Edward William May Jr. (November 10, 1916 – January 22, 2004) was an American composer, arranger and trumpeter. He composed film and television music for ''The Green Hornet'' (1966), ''The Mod Squad'' (1968), ''Batman'' (with '' Batgirl'' them ...

served an uncredited role as the orchestra conductor for the Capitol sessions. May had previously recorded a similar "ghost session" recreating the

Jimmie Lunceford James Melvin Lunceford (June 6, 1902 – July 12, 1947) was an American jazz alto saxophonist and bandleader in the swing era. Early life Lunceford was born on a farm in the Evergreen community, west of the Tombigbee River, near Fulton, Mis ...

sound, who had died in 1947, for the 1957 Capitol album ''Jimmie Lunceford in Hi-Fi''. A contemporary 1962 review from ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' noted the Kyser album had "Strong Sales Potential" and it was for "the fans of the erstwhile professor of the college of musical knowledge, this re-creation of the Kay Kyser sound is made to order...a suitable memorial to one of the top names of the big band era."''Billboard'' Review of New Albums
from the April 14, 1962 issue of ''

'' magazine Greg Adams of

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

noted "The recording quality is much better than that of the originals, which were cut in the '30s and '40s, but the performances aren't as spirited or as sharp." The Hair biography noted "Freberg's imitation of the Ol' Professor was outstanding. Many people who heard the record thought they were hearing Kay's voice, and the sound of the Kyser band was captured perfectly." The Beasley biography noted "The music was recorded in the then new 'Full Dimensional Stereo' sound, and the arrangements, though similar to the originals, had a slick, lush quality that I suppose was considered contemporary...The singing was still very good, though it's clear, particularly on Ish's segments of 'Fishies', that the voices had aged somewhat."

Track listing

The recording dates were provided through the Hair biography.

1989 reissue

The album was reissued in 1989 on

compact disc The compact disc (CD) is a Digital media, digital optical disc data storage format that was co-developed by Philips and Sony to store and play digital audio recordings. In August 1982, the first compact disc was manufactured. It was then rele ...

and

cassette tape The Compact Cassette or Musicassette (MC), also commonly called the tape cassette, cassette tape, audio cassette, or simply tape or cassette, is an analog magnetic tape recording format for audio recording and playback. Invented by Lou Ottens ...

and was digitally remastered by Larry Walsh at the Capitol Recording Studios. The reissue notably removed most of Stan Freberg's narration imitating Kay Kyser which was previously overdubbed on 4 of the tracks. For the introductions below, the portions in brackets have been removed in the 1989 reissue, but are present on the original 1962 release. * ''Ma! He's Making Eyes at Me'' - "Oh ma, she's making eyes at me!... ell looky here, mama's boy sassy Sully Mason! * ''Three Little Fishies'' - "Three little fishies in the itty bitty pool... ully, Ginny, Ish Kabibble, and oopy doopy doo, Babbitt! * ''Playmates'' - "Oh playmates! Come out and play with me!... ell here's Sully Mason and later little Audrey and her playmates. * ''(I’ve Grown So Lonesome) Thinking of You'' - "... ere's our theme song "Thinking of You". A beautiful thought, beautifully expressed by Harry Babbitt. The Beasley biography also identifies Kay Kyser's voice as the one shouting "Ahh, take it off Queenie!" in the introduction of the original 1942 issue of " Strip Polka", but the Hair biography does not note if Stan Freberg recreated this portion on the 1962 track.

Personnel

(uncredited) - conductor *

George Duning George Duning (February 25, 1908 – February 27, 2000) was an American musician and film composer. He was born in Richmond, Indiana, and educated in Cincinnati, Ohio, at the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music, where his mentor was Mario Castelnuo ...

(uncredited) - arranger *

- narrator * Lee Gillette - producer *

- trumpet and vocals * Jack Martin - soprano sax and vocals *

- vocals *

- vocals * Sully Mason - vocals * Trudy Erwin - vocals *

- vocals * Jim Jonson - cover art

References

Bibliography

* * {{Kay Kyser 1962 compilation albums Capitol Records compilation albums Capitol Records albums