Leo Reisman & His Orchestra - Lonesome Hours
  • 10 years ago
My previous video, featuring the Dutch Ramblers Dance Orchestra, was intended as a commemoration of the victims and their beloved of the distressing plane crash in Ukraine but it was rejected. Hence I needed a quick fix and although this tune is not what I had in mind, its title could still be appropriate. Reisman, originally a classical violinist, was one of the greatest bandleaders, popular from the end of the 1910's till the early 1940's (photograph was taken around 1920). During his 1929-1933 Victor period, Reisman recorded many lesser-known period Broadway songs, some of which were recorded by no other band. He also had the habit of featuring composers and Broadway performers as band vocalists, including Harold Arlen, Fred Astaire, Clifton Webb, and Arthur Schwartz. He also featured Lee Wiley in 1931-32 for her first 3 recordings. More often than not, his vocalists were Frank Luther, Dick Robertson and later Sally Singer and George Beuler. A notable recording from this era was "Happy Days Are Here Again" in November 1929, with vocals by Lou Levin. Among his more popular hits were his #1 recordings of Cole Porter's "Night and Day” (1932) and Con Conrad's “The Continental" (1934). Eddy Duchin was a member of Leo Reisman's orchestra; it was Reisman who gave Duchin his big break. This tune was recorded in 1922.