Jo Stafford and Frankie Laine - Gambella

[KojiRecords]

Mitch Miller's A & R production left much to be desired during his tenure at Columbia Records; think what masterpieces could have come from the label if this king of schmaltz had not had such an extreme distaste for rock and roll. No, Miller's output was safe and sugary, geared toward what he considered the mainstream, upper-middle to upper class record buyer. This cheesy duet woujld have been no exception. At least some great things were able to slip out of Columbia via their Okeh Records label

[decktwo]

sounds like an advert against drinking too much

[TheVinylCollector]

Awesome spin tysm for posting 5*****

Peace

Dave

[Bopalji]

who is the girl...singing ???? Please tell...

[Jiggys78s]

Her name is Jo Stafford.

[Bopalji]

Many thanks !!!

[fromthesidelines]

On the other hand, Frankie's duet with Jimmy Boyd on "Tell Me a Story" (1953) was one of his most successful...

[fromthesidelines]

This duet, like most of their pairings, was Mitch Miller's idea. As A & R man at Columbia, Miller's ability to make hits from his "novelties" was uncanny. But here, this just didn't click...

[highnrising]

In Frankie's solo records he has an aggressive, take-charge, powerful persona. And in Jo's solo records, she's sultry and mournful. But in this production, they're made to sound like wimpy kids at some camp. Maybe Mitch should have listened to Bing and Rosie or Ella and Louie to figure out how a duet should sound.

[renamouskouri]

I think Jo is one of the GREATEST singers EVER and I'd LOOOOVE to meet her!!!

[ChristopherSyn1]

@renamouskouri One of? She was the greatest.

[highnrising]

Frankie and Jo were two great singers but most of their duets don't wear very well. Must be the production.