Zefren Presents a Vintage Japanese Swing 78 RPM

Whats the story with this record? How did it come to rest in my collection in Albuquerque? Was it in the procession of Japanese Americans want to listen to sounds from their traditional homeland? Was it taken as a gift, forgotten long after the owner died? (Lovers possibly) But now its here and the soul that is embodied in the singers timbre almost makes me cry. I love it, half in Japanese and half in English it offers a tiny glimpse into life in Japan in the 1950s If anyone had more info on this records please share and if you can understand Japanese maybe translate? The record is light, I almost thought it was a vinyl records but discovered it was shellac. Its core it pure paper not a composite as with other laminated records. I would say its cereal box paper thin and the shellac is less than 1/16 of inch thick and flakes easily.

The Victor Company of Japan (Victor Co. Japan) or the first incarnation of JVC the electronics Company

Oh! My! Papa
and
Blue Canary
Category: Music

(addendum)

Well the plot thickens in the story of this record. The Record is from the 1950s so the War stories have been eliminated. But still its still managed to make its to me.

Info contributed by transformingArt The singer is Izumi Yukimura (1937 - Present) with (Japan) Victor All Stars. And the Wiki article says that Yukimura once sang with Dinah Shore and Shirley MacLaine on NBC's "The Dinah Shore Chevy Show" in 1959. According to Japanese Wikipedia, This record is recorded on April 4th, 1953.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Vintage
• Japanese
• Swing
• 78
• RPM
• JVC
• Victor
• Company
• of
• Japan
• Co

[Zefrenm]

Thank you, I'm making correction's as i type - Zefren

[radiojoe]

The Introduction is identical to the Eddy Fisher American version right down to the same key in which Eddy sang it (Bb major). In fact, when I first heard the intro I thought it was a dub of the Fisher version until a rather abrupt modulation (key change) takes the orchestra into Ebmajor for Izumi. The rest of the arrangement is similar to the Fisher version but in Eb. Probably, the conductor or A and R man in Japan got copies of Eddy's original chart and then adapted it to Izumi's voice.

[Shoknifeman]

Well, it could be a war thing at that, as this was recorded near the end of the Korean War; a time when several Japanese artists recorded American songs, both in Japanese and in English, hoping for extra sales to the US military, stationed in Japan at the time, I would bet.

[mikeb1444]

Wow, ABQ. The first person in this state to mention a record, thank you!

[jazzbanjobanjoman]

Sorry, this ain't no SWING. Swing has a 2-4 beat...

[LocoMole]

A fellah I befriended on this site was from Brazil, but his grand parents were Japanese, and he told me Brazil had a fairly big Japanese community and there were plenty of Japanese records avilable there, so there could be any number of ways a Japanese record like this could end up in Albequerque!!

Thanks for sharing this any way

[HaitinHitoshi]

**translate of Japanese lyrics**

Oh my Papa, put on a hat sideways and clowned

My tender that daddy

Oh my Papa, do not return

I was held in his big arms, was dreaming on that old day.

Oh my Papa, wore torn clothes, street clowns.

I hug his hat of the keepsake, cry again today.

**end of translate**

[transformingArt]

The singer is Izumi Yukimura (1937 - Present) with (Japan) Victor All Stars. And the Wiki article says that Yukimura once sang with Dinah Shore and Shirley MacLaine on NBC's "The Dinah Shore Chevy Show" in 1959. According to Japanese Wikipedia, This record is recorded on April 4th, 1953.