Stomp Off 1001 - Dickbaker.org

subtitles in smaller fonts. But Lissauer puts itonly under title "I’d Climb the HighestMountain," turning above logic on its head, solet’s stay with what we’ve got. --4>And let’s take another look around for bettersource, such as sheet music.And we found it. ASM, 1926, Irving Berlin, isclear:I’D CLIMB THE HIGHEST MOUNTAINIF I KNEW I’D FIND YOU2nd line is 50% bigger on cover but 300%bigger on copyright page (as shown here).I’d Give a Dollar for a Dime (EubieBlake–Andy Razaf–Johnny Finke)Terry Waldo & Bo Grumpus 1339CD said Milton Reddie-Eubie Blake.Yoicks--my two other recordings credit Blake-Razaf (Spokane Falls Brass Band) and Blake-Razaf-Johnny Finke (Black Swan Classic JB) .But this is proving damned hard to find.Maryland Historical Society web site says ithas five copies of music, dated 1940, byEubie. But it wasn’t copyrighted 1939-41 andthere’s no copy of it in any of the big onlinecollections, so I suspect they have private, notpublished, copies. Got response confirmingw/ Razaf, m. Blake. But I had written to himasking about “I’d Give a...” before I discoveredthat it seemed to have been missing thosewords in Tan Manhattan. Guy at library didn’tsay anything about the title, so I don’t know ifthe sheet music was indeed “I’d Give a” or ifhe just didn’t notice the discrepancy.Perfesser Bill says 1941 with Razaf, which islikely. I’m finding many refs to it under Razaf’sname, no mention so far of Milton Reddie orJohnny Finke. No, wait: Bolcom & Morrisrecorded it on Columbia M34504 (LP), andthey also credited Eubie-A. Razaf/J. Finke.6/24/13 emailed Bolcom to ask him. Alsoemailed Terry Waldo.Wait a minute! It occurred to me to look inReminiscing with Sissle and Blake by Bolcomand Robert Kimball. It says this song was aBlake-Razafa collaboration for a 1940 showcalled Tan Manhattan (but the title listed in thebook is just “A Dollar for a Dime”).The book next mentions that Eubiecollaborated with Joshua Milton Reddie onover a hundred songs for several musicals, butthis is not among the several specificallymentioned. It also mentions five othercollaborators with whom Blake worked, butJohnny Finke was not among them. But oops,Tan Manhattan is not in the Internet BroadwayData Base. But it is in ovrtur.com, thedatabase that Bill Haesler uses. It confirmsBlake-Razaf, and title “A Dollar for a Dime.” Sowhere did “I’d Give” come from? Presumablythe lyrics. But DAMN: if this was written forBroadway show, why in the world wouldn’tEubie copyright it? In fact, I can’t findcopyrights for any of the songs in TanManhattan.6/25 Waldo responds with same info: writtenwith Razaf for Tan Manhattan, and notes that itnever was published. Sent him follow-up noteabout title discrepancy.Strangely, looks like the most famousrecording of it didn’t come until Joe Williams,1987.Online mentions have the “I’d Give” version alot more often, but by no means exclusively.Blake-Razaf predominates, but Finke jumps upfrom time to time. AHA: later, in searching fora Waller-Razaf song that didn’t get publisheduntil 1953, I stumbled across John Finke.Several compositions on his own and twocollaborations with Andy Razaf!But Eureka! I had included Bob Pinsker on anearly group note about “Mo’ Lasses,” and hewas moved to prowl through my notes onlineand was intrigued by this problematic entry.He wrote to me on 8/7/13:CATALOG OF COPYRIGHT ENTRIESUnpublished Music Jan.-Dec. 1953 3D SerVol 7 Pt 5B p. 627:I'D GIVE A DOLLAR FOR A DIME ; w AndyPaul Razaf m Eubie Blake & Johnny Finke cAndy Paul Razaf, Eubie Blake & JohnnyFinke 13Oct1953 EU 334271On Johnny Finke: from Black and Blue:The Life and Lyrics of Andy Razaf, by BarrySinger (1992). Singer quotes from a letterRazaf wrote to a "friend Lillian", on July 3,1952:"In the meantime, I have my writing,reading, and other wholesome pursuits tokeep me busy and make life interesting andworthwhile. To date, with the help of mypartner, Johnny Finke, who is a brilliantcomposer-pianist-arranger, I've turned out abatch of new manuscripts (songs of alltypes) just waiting for some artist, publisher,or recording firm to consider."So you see, I think Razaf must have hadJohnny Finke arrange a score for the tune in1953 when he redid the lyric. Remember, atthis point Razaf is living in Los Angeles andis quite ill, while Blake is back in Brooklyn,so it wasn't convenient to have Blakearrange the score for him. I think that all isclear now, except perhaps for the smallmystery of why Blake and Razaf didn'tcopyright the show's tunes right after theywrote them back in 1940.I don’t know what prompted Pinsker to look in1953, but I’m glad he did. And while Finke’scontribution came 13 years after the originalpublic introduction of the song, the fact is thatit was neither published nor recorded in 1940-41, so it was in effect new and first publishedwhen Razaf updated it in 1953. Which wouldhave been how the Bolcoms acquired it whichis why their credit included Finke.I’d Love It (Don Redman–Will Hudson)Vince Giordano’s Nighthawks 1260Chalumeau Serenaders 1394Rec. McK’s Cotton Pickers, 11/6/29, Vicitor V-38133; 40-0115, 62-0083; Bluebird B-11590;HMV B-4990.Confirmed by 6/5/30 copyright reg. (as justRedman & Hudson); also Victor Project withfirst names.I’d Rather Be the Girl in Your Arms(Harlan Thompson–Harry Archer)Back Bay Ramblers 1279Rec. Goldkette, 10/15/26, Victor 20273, HMVK-5095. Ross Gorman, 3/24/26, Columbia615-D. Confirmed 4/9/26 copyright reg., w.Thompson/m. Archer.I’d Rather Charleston (GeorgeGershwin–Desmond Carter)San Francisco Starlight Orchestra 1364Only rec. in Rust is British, part of Gershwinmedley. And here’s why:From the London show "Lady Be Good"1926) (George Gershwin / Desmond Carter)Confirmed by 3/29/26 copyright reg., w.Carter, m. Gershwin.I’d Rather Cry Over You (Than Smileat Somebody Else) (Jack Yellen–Dan Dougherty–Phil Ponce)Lande’s Rhythm Club Orchestra 1327Rec. Whiteman, 6/10/28, Columbia 1496-D,4980, 07005 & 2 others. Also two UKrecordings.Ciopyright isI'd rather cry over you; words by Phil Ponce,mus'c by Dan Dougherty; pf. and ukulele orbanjulele banjo acc. © May 9, 1928; 2 c.May 10; E 691635; Ager, Yellen & Bornstein,inc., New York.No subtitle Rust and copyright, but it doesn’tmake sense without one, so let’s find it.Wasn’t hard: Whiteman Columbia 1496-D:I’D RATHER CRY OVER YOU(Than Smile At Somebody Else)But wait: credits on label are same ascopyright: Dougherty & Ponce. So where didwe get Yellen?MTSU has music indexed as just Ponce-Dougherty, pub. Ager, Yellen & Bornstein1928. But oh, hell, Washington Univ. in St.Louis collection index says words Yellen &