Ask Mr. Music by Jerry Osborne

FOR THE WEEK OF SEPTEMBER 30, 2013

DEAR JERRY: I am searching for a wonderful tenor saxophone version of "Under a Blanket of Blue."

I heard it on a jazz station and recognized the music, but they never named the artist or the CD. It is all instrumental, with no vocal.

With so little to go on, can you even suggest who it might have been playing?
—Rose Atwater, Terre Haute, Ind.

 

DEAR ROSE: I can't guarantee it's the track you heard, but any saxoholic would probably love Ben Webster's tenor sax rendition.

You'll find three different takes of "Under a Blanket of Blue" on his double-CD, 38-track, "Music for Loving," but on Amazon.com you can use their 30-second samples to help you choose. Then, for just 99-cents each, you can download any of the individual selections.




DEAR JERRY: Here is an unsolved mystery from my teen years, when we lived in Adelaide, South Australia.

Not long after Del Shannon's iconic hit, "Runaway," another song that I thought was by Shannon became very popular.

This recording sounded like Del, and it even had the same style falsetto ("why, why, why, why," etc.) heard on "Runaway." Only this time, instead of the "whys." it is "bye, bye, bye, bye," etc.

None of my American mates have a clue about this record. Might you?
—Wayne Kimbrook, Panama City, Fla.

DEAR WAYNE: It seems you have not only forgotten the song and the artist, but the amusing fact that his last name is the same as your first.

The Del Shannon-esque singer you describe is Paul Wayne, and there is no doubt you are thinking of his 1962 hit, "Bye Bye Baby, Bye Bye" (Leedon LK-240).

Paul was a big favorite of teens Down Under in the 1960s, and he appeared regularly on their American Bandstand-type shows.

That his success in Australia and New Zealand was never duplicated in our hemisphere was not for lack of talent or good material, rather that none of his records were issued in America.

Could there be a better way to kill sales?

This is not to say we don't have domestic records from the '60s by Paul Wayne. We do. It's just that they are by a different person, an American country singer who used that same name during the same period.

The U.S. Paul Wayne (née, Paul Borst) is best known for the 1966 single, "Everything But Love" (Starday 781).

In this case, Col is short for Colin, and not Col. the abbreviation for Colonel, as he is sometimes shown.

The Australian original (Festival FK-3075), that peaked at No. 3 in the homeland, is simply titled "Bye Bye Baby." In 1992, a Festival reissue (K-11245) came out with a title nearly identical to the U.S. Decca disc, "Bye, Bye Baby Goodbye." The more noticeable difference is that the '92 release credits only Col Joye, with no mention of the Joye Boys.

That makes for three recordings of the same song with each credited differently.

If you're wondering how the original Australian Festival sheet music reads, its title matches perfectly with the U.S. Decca single, and neither of Festival's issues, yet, unlike both 1959 records, its cover credits only Col Joye.


Another Aussie single, one with a similar title to Leedon's "Bye Bye Baby, Bye Bye," did come out in the States, but did not chart here. It is "Bye Bye Baby Goodbye," (Decca 9-30933), a 1959 release by Col Joye and the Joye Boys.


IZ ZAT SO? Earlier this year, we cited some examples of familiar 1950s and '60s hits that were banned by ultraconservative radio stations here and there in the U.S. In the big picture, those isolated tactics rarely affected anything of consequence.

However, almost immediately after it hit the streets, Paul Wayne's "Don't Do That" (Leedon LK-477) was denounced, not by just one or two radio stations, but by a higher power — Australia's Federation of Commercial Broadcasting Stations.

Also known as FARB (Federation of Australian Radio Broadcasters), this agency could be likened to our FCC (Federal Communications Commission).

　

Jerry Osborne answers as many questions as possible through this column. Write Jerry at: Box 255, Port Townsend, WA 98368 E-mail: jpo@olympus.net   Visit his Web site: www.jerryosborne.com

All values quoted in this column are for near-mint condition.

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