Stan Kenton fans are not all that interested in his music from the 1940s. I was somewhat taken aback when Kenton expert Steven Harris shared this thought some years ago. I had turned up some alternate takes of Soundies soundtracks and thought it would rock the Kenton world. This would not be the fact, Steven suggested, since most Kenton fans focused on the music from the late 1950s and beyond.
Yet for me, Kenton’s music from the 1940s and early 1950s is what I listen to, and with all of the hype and derision aside, there are some really fine recordings during that period. Much of the arranging is imaginative, and Kenton sported some fine soloists. Even the purely pop music – songs like “And Her Tears Flowed Like Wine” and “Tampico” – have a charm and attraction all their own.
One of Kenton’s finest compositions and arrangements from the mid-1940s is “Eager Beaver,” not to be confused with Bob Wills’ “Big Beaver.” We are on familiar ground here, with the chromatic movement of the harmony line, the use of staccato writing for the band, and a brass section that includes nine musicians … this is pure Kenton from the 1940s. The tune is a very attractive one, is well-played and is justifiably one of Kenton’s best-remembered recordings.
One piece of interesting personnel data needs to be explained. When the film was made, the reed section was in a state of flux as Stan was making room to welcome a new tenor star, Vido Musso. Former sideman Dave Matthews returned to the band briefly and was in the section when the soundtrack was cut. He is the featured tenor sax soloist, but a few days later he was gone, and we see Bob Cooper “soloing” on screen. (Some have suggested the soundtrack solo is by Vido Musso, but this is not the case. There is a bit more structure to the solo than we would expect from Vido, and it lacks the chromatic melody lines that were part of his musical vocabulary.)
This is a very strong big band performance, but the director William Forest Crouch feared that something extra was needed to hold the viewers’ interest. A New York nightclub dancer, Jean (also Jeannie) Ivory was called in for the photography session. You will notice that at no time is Ivory seen on screen with the band. Her dance routine was probably filmed separately, and since there is so little sync between the music and her dance, we cannot know that she even heard this particular soundtrack when asked to “move rhythmically to the music,” on the stage above the bar.
Surely this Soundie might have been better without the dance, that is, unless you are researching New York showgirls from the 1940s. Having said that, however, I must admit that this is one of my favorite Stan Kenton Soundies, one that I return to often. Here’s the hope the members of the group will agree.