Tagged with Nat King Cole

Johnny Hartman

Johnny Hartman: The Greatest Singer You Never Heard

10.8.13
Johnny HartmanOne of my favorite things about hosting The Heavy Petting Zoo is having the opportunity to introduce perfect strangers to fabulous artists they may not have gotten to know before. And I always take great pleasure in bringing the smooth baritone sounds of Johnny Hartman to you nearly every week. His voice is the perfect backdrop to a cozy Saturday night.

I often wonder– if not for my chance discovery of Hartman upon the recommendation of a friend, where else might I have heard him? I’m not convinced I would have!

It’s not uncommon for me to get the ol’ *blink blink* reaction when I mention his name in conversation. In fact, the only person I know who recognized it at first mention was the wife of WSUM’s General Manager. She’d seen The Bridges of Madison County, where Hartman is featured prominently in the soundtrack.

When a singer or songwriter goes under-appreciated, I tend to blame society and its questionable taste in music. With Hartman, this approach won’t do. He never had much of a chance to become well known in the first place. For this, we can mostly blame the record labels… and bad timing.

FROM THE TOP

Hartman’s first forays into singing were at his Chicago church choir — the same choir, in fact, as Ruth Lee Jones. Or, as we know her, Dinah Washington. He polished his voice through singing lessons and involvement in the school glee club.

He also honed his craft by studying the sounds of Billy Eckstine, Frank Sinatra, and Nat King Cole. His career got a jolt when he won the chance to sing with Earl Hines and His Orchestra as a teenager.

SUBSTANCE & STYLE

When you hear Johnny Hartman on The Zoo, chances are he’ll be singing a ballad. This was his specialty and his preference. According to biographers*, he loved love songs. The reason he’s a favorite on this show is because he knew how to deliver love songs with authenticity– saccharine-free– his rich voice hitting notes you never knew could resonate that way before.

The best musicians and vocalists are the ones who don’t simply sing or perform– they actively study the music. This is how Sinatra perfected his delivery (diction is key!), and Hartman knew it. He once observed, “I hear singers break up sentences in the wrong places. Phrasing is like talking. I think you should sing like you talk. If you do that, the song comes out right*.”

A composer friend of mine once taught me this lesson, and it ruined the musical RENT for me. Nevertheless, I keep it in mind as a measurement for quality and true musicianship.

JAZZ SINGER

I always thought of Hartman as a great “gateway jazz singer.” That is, if you’re not into jazz, listen to this guy just to get your toes wet. Not all of his songs are jazzy, but a good number of them leave you clasping for a glass of bourbon and imagining yourself tucked into a smoky** corner of the Blue Note.

But Johnny Hartman aspired to be an “all-around singer.” Not just a “crooner.” And certainly not a “jazz singer” (whoops). To be a “jazz singer” at the time would mean being painted into a corner, so to speak. You wouldn’t be hired for gigs at the major hotel ballrooms, supper clubs, and nightclubs. And those were exactly the things Hartman wanted.

Despite his aspirations, Hartman’s career saw another fate, and along the way, he ironically found himself recording alongside one of the biggest jazz greats of all time.

JOHN & JOHNNY

To my knowledge, Johnny Hartman is the only vocalist ever to have recorded with John Coltrane. Their collaboration turned into the album known simply as John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman. Amazingly, it was recorded in a single session on March 7, 1963.

You may have heard their rendition of “Lush Life” on The Zoo. Here’s how it was born, in Johnny Hartman’s own words*:

“As we were driving out, listening to the car radio, we heard Nat Cole sing ‘Lush Life.’ I said, ‘That is a fantastic song’ and I started singing it in the car, although I didn’t know all the words.”

It turned out Coltrane already knew the song itself, so putting it on tape was a matter of tracking down the lyrics. Once they did, they recorded the track in a single take. Just one take!

Click here to hear the single take of “Lush Life.”

WHEEL OF MISFORTUNE

Of all the artists featured on The Zoo, Johnny Hartman is the only one I listen to and actively mourn the fact that more people haven’t had the chance to get to know him. I’ve long wondered why his wasn’t a household name alongside other vocalists of his time.

It wasn’t for lack of trying.

Hoping to ride the coattails of Nat King Cole and Billy Eckstine, two African Americans who’d already made it into the mainstream, Hartman signed with the RCA label in 1951. They committed to Hartman for one year and 16 songs*.

Among those songs: “Wheel Of Fortune,” recorded on August 6, 1951. Unfortunately, Kay Starr’s recording of that same song (by Capitol Records) wasn’t too far behind. When it was released in February 1952, it became a major hit and overshadowed that of Hartman’s. Some blame RCA for the failure, alleging it could have done more to promote Hartman before Starr had a chance to outshine him.

A number of missteps by RCA and others in charge of managing Hartman’s career have been blamed for the fact that he remained relatively unnoticed in the grand scheme of American music history. He was more popular in Australia than he was here.

A personal observation: It took a heckuva lot of research to find sufficient information on Hartman before I could bring you this article. Even the so-called ‘definitive’ reference books overlook him.

GRANDMA CYD’S “HART-” THROB

Johnny Hartman Collection

It’s never too late to get to know Johnny Hartman and explore his music. Among his other RCA tracks were “Out of the Night” and the catchy “Worry Bird.” Both are available on an excellent compilation called The Johnny Hartman Collection (1947-1972). It’s a great way to scratch the surface of Hartman’s career without diving deeply into any one album.

Some tracks to get you started:

– Worry Bird
– The End Of A Love Affair
– Lush Life
– My Ship
– The Very Thought Of You
– Unforgettable
– If I Had You
– I Cover the Waterfront
– On A Clear Day (You Can See Forever)

If it weren’t for word of mouth, I would never have known to bring Johnny Hartman to you. I hope you’ll spread the word about him and keep this ‘wheel of fortune’ spinning ’round and around!

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* Biographical credit: Will Friedwald, A Biographical Guide to the Great Jazz and Pop Singers (2010)
** You can’t smoke at the Blue Note in New York City anymore, for what it’s worth.

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Ultimate Christmas Cocktails collection cover image

Ultimate Christmas Cocktails – Various Artists

Half the fun of the holiday season is throwing (and/or attending) holiday parties! Here’s a great collection to serve as a soundtrack to your shindig.

In fact, its usefulness as background music might be its best selling point. If you try to pay close attention to the music as you listen, you might grow tired of it by the time the first disc is halfway finished. The music is quite repetitive in sound, partially due to the fact that the same artists are featured and repeated several times over.

Aiming to set the mood for gin-laden cocktails and vodka mixers, it’s no surprise the music is carefully selected to have a mid-60s “ultra mod” feel. Featured artists include the soulful Lou Rawls (someone who doesn’t get the airtime he deserves on HPZ), the sultry Julie London, and famed bandleaders such as Billy May, Guy Lombardo, and Les Baxter. June Christy, Wayne Newton, Peggy Lee, Johnny Mercer, and Al Martino also come together to add to the Christmas spirit. And it would be an utter tragedy if this collection didn’t include Nat King Cole and Bing Crosby.

This is a great collection from which to build a holiday mix tape of your own. When I created mine for friends and family, I yoinked the following tracks (all available on Disc 2):

  • “Warm December” by Julie London
  • “Frosty the Snowman” by The Ventures
  • “Santa Claus’s Party” by Les Baxter
  • “Happy Holiday” by Peggy Lee

And there’s much more to choose from as you build your own holiday playlists. 57 tracks on 3 discs? That’s good bang for your buck. Bring it out at your next holiday gathering to add an extra-cool vibe to your soirée. Surely your martinis will taste even better as these tunes help the gin work its magic.

Available for purchase here.

Album Review: Putumayo presents “Jazz”

Jazz CD cover

Putumayo has been a favorite record label of WSUM’s world music genre leaders (fancy name for DJ wranglers) for some years now, if for no other reason than because their releases serve as primers for any DJ slightly nervous about taking a head-first leap into the music of other cultures. Now Putumayo has a new collection that is sure to appeal to many and may even introduce other cultures to a great era in American music history: Jazz.

This CD is a compilation of artists spanning from the classics– like Nat King Cole– to those who fall short of the “household name” moniker– like Blossom Dearie.

Blossom, Dearie?

Who?

Luckily, this CD comes with a detailed booklet that’ll help you get acquainted with all the artists.

Although the album is technically true to its title, I did expect it to sound more… jazzy, with a greater variety of tempos and instrumentation.  Instead, the general feel is slow-paced and cool. Don’t hope for it to stray from the typical sax/bass/piano/drums ensemble, and there’s certainly no swing or big band here. Instead, give this album a spin if you’re looking to relax or need a torchy backdrop to your happy hour.

“Waltz For Debby,” by Cannonball Adderley with Billy Evans, is a track to pay particular attention to. Opening with Evans on solo piano for the first minute, and continuing onward as a pure jazz instrumental, it’s the only track that truly lived up to my pre-conceived idea of what this album would sound like.

That’s not to say the rest of the album is disappointing. In fact, everything flows together and I’m sure it has something for everybody. Nat King Cole fans: Rejoice– he’s right at the top of the playlist at Track 2. Want some aural velvet? Chet Baker brings it to you on Track 6. And Billie Holiday fans can expect the grand finale at Track 12.

If I had one critique about the album (and, well, I do), it’s this: The recordings selected to feature Maxine Sullivan, Anita O’Day, and Billie Holiday all catch them well past their prime. Sullivan is noticeably older in this recording of “‘Taint No Use” as compared to when she recorded the song that made her famous, “Ol’ Rockin’ Chair,” for example. Anita O’ Day and Billie Holiday both have voices so gravely it took quite a bit of might not to skip to the next track.

If you’re not familiar with how these girl singers sounded at the peaks of their respective careers, then perhaps these selections won’t have quite a visceral effect on you. But if I were able to ask the album’s producers one question, it’d be, “Why weren’t these legendary ladies afforded the same tribute as Cole, Baker, and Louis Armstrong?”

Meanwhile, take solace in the fact that Nina Simone is great as ever in the lead track. Blossom Dearie — whoever she may be — sounds a heckuva lot like Earth Kitt. And if I were “Debby,” I’d be pretty impressed that Billy Evans played that waltz for me.

To learn more about the album — and to preview the tracks — visit its official Putumayo website.

Grandma’s Picks:

Track 1. Nina Simone – “My Baby Just Cares For Me”
Track 2.  Nat King Cole – “’Deed I Do”
Track 4. Louis Armstrong – “I Was Doing All Right”
Track 5. Zoot Sims – “Somebody To Watch Over Me”
Track 6. Chet Baker – “There Will Never Be Another You”
Track 8. Hampton Hawes – “The Sermon”
Track 9. Blossom Dearie – “They Say It’s Spring”
Track 11. Cannonball Adderley with Billy Evans – “Waltz For Debby”

Where it all began: “Sleepless In Seattle” soundtrack

sleepless-in-seattle

Just about every time a new acquaintance learns of my involvement in this thing we call The Heavy Petting Zoo, I get the same question:  “How did you ever get into that kind of music?!”  Many factors contribute to this part of my personality, but for the purposes at hand, I like to point to the Sleepless In Seattle soundtrack as the original culprit.  It’s the first CD I ever listened to repeatedly that featured the likes of Jimmy Durante, Nat King Cole, and Louis Armstrong.

This soundtrack is quite popular.  Granted, those who fawn over it tend to be the ladyfolk — the same people who gush over the film.  But I swear, it’s undeniably enjoyable… even if you’re not a chick.

So, for those stuck in the 21st Century — those who fear that listening to old music means being Suzie Homemaker or dancing the jitterbug — let this be a primer.  It won’t kill ya to listen.  I promise.