[Arthur McGowan]

For about five years, starting in 1936, Weems's vocalist was Perry Como. This track is typical of Weems in the late 'twenties.

[Buckeye McFrog]

Digitally remastered, I presume? The sound quality is exceptionally good. Not a pop or a scratch on it.

Parker Gibbs wasn’t exactly Sinatra, was he?

[greene66]

Just double-checked. The 78rpm original I have of this tune was not the Weems version, but a completely instrumental version on Columbia by the so-dubbed “Mason-Dixon Orchestra,” which was actually a pseudonym for a Frankie Trumbauer group. On the opposite side of the record is another instrumental, entitled “Alabammy Snow.” The Trumbauer sides are indeed pretty hot and jazzy.

[Squawk 8888]

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[Fiji Hill]

Oddly enough, Ted Weems' biggest hit was Heartaches. When he recorded the tune in 1933, it was already an "oldie, having been a hit for Guy Lombardo and others in 1931. The record "slept" until 1947, when for some reason it took off. Although the tune was totally at odds with the musical styles popular at the time, it went to number one and was oe of the biggest hits of 1947.

[greene66]

On the topic of Weems, even though he had a top-notch band, I have a slight preference for the similar-vintage recordings of Jan Garber’s band, who was doing material in the same vein, but on the Columbia label, in the late-1920s. Garber’s band seemed to have a bit more intensity, a bit more of a jazz ‘bite,’ so to speak. A really good example is his version of “Since My Best Gal Turned Me Down.” It has a similar dated/hokey vocal akin to Gibbs, but instrumentally, it really pins you to the wall.