Roy Carlson's Dance Orchestra, Scrappy Lambert vocal - I'm Kissing The Ground You Walk On (1929)

Adrian Schubert worked in the capacity of a musical director or bandleader during the '20s, and must have pulled many a double or even triple shift to get everything done that he is said to have done. If one considers a "bandleader" to be the captain at the helm of a somewhat regular group of individuals working together toward a common goal, than Schubert was no bandleader at all.

A quick perusal of his discography would result in the conclusion that every record he made came out under another band name; which isn't really true, since some of the names were used twice or more. Many of the same individual players were hired for some of these sessions as well, perhaps giving the music a sense of the camaraderie that is part of a real band's vibe. A real band, though, would have a bit more ambition concerning the recordings it makes than the goal of a typical Schubert production, which was basically no more than to fill the bins at a Woolworth's, where the discs would sell for a dime a pop.

These types of records were extremely common during this era. Most record companies would have several music directors such as Schubert on hire. On a typical day, Schubert would be summoned into an office where a record company fellow would instruct him as to what songs needed to be recorded, and what the budget would be. The next step would be getting the sidemen together, and the resulting band would then gather at the studio, cut the record, and get paid. The song might come out under the name of the leader, or some variation thereof, or it could be issued under a name made up on the spot. Labels such as the modestly titled Perfect, the expansive Banner, the centrally located Plaza, and best of all RCA regularly worked with directors such as Schubert, Nathan Glantz, Ben Selvin, Vincent Lopez, and Lou Gold. To dig deeper into this mine of information inevitably produces a confusing kind of discographical ore. Some bands would be assembled and play different sessions under different names, all in the same day. The Al Alberts Orchestra was a pseudonym for Schubert, for example, part of yet another distinction in these productions that is similar to classic blues and vintage rockabilly recordings; i.e., some of the artists don't really exist.

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Harold "Scrappy" Lambert (May12, 1901 - Nov.30,1987, New Brunswick, New Jersey) was an American jazz band vocalist. He appeared on hundreds of recordings from the 1920s to the 1940s.

He attended Rutgers University, where he was a cheerleader and played piano for a jazz group called the "Rutgers Jazz Bandits." He and fellow student Billy Hillpot formed a musical duo, which was discovered in 1926 by Ben Bernie, who signed them to perform with his orchestra. Lambert and Hillpot appeared on many recordings with the orchestra and remained under Bernie's employ until 1928.

Other bandleaders who employed Lambert include Red Nichols, Frank Britton Wenzel, Fred Rich, and Sam Lanin.

In the 1930s, Lambert and Hillpot took their comedy routine to the National Broadcasting Company, then a fledgling radio network.

In 1943, MCA offered him a job overseeing their radio department in Beverly Hills, California. This marked the end of his singing career, and he worked for MCA until 1948.

Scrappy was one of the Smith Brothers and also one of Red Nichols' Five Pennies. He passed away in Riverside, CA.


Roy Carlson's Dance Orchestra (Adrian Schubert Orchestra), Scrappy Lambert vocal - I'm Kissing The Ground You Walk On (1929)

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• Adrian Schubert
• Scrappy Lambert 1929 20s 30s