This only arrived this morning, but it is so horrendous I just had to share it with you, my loyal partners in crime, as soon as I could.
All Alone, performed here by Phil Celia, comes from one of my all-time favourite song-poem outfits, Tin Pan Alley. Busy since the early 50s, and gaining a bit of a reputation among doo-wop collectors for the quality of some of the company’s earliest output, Tin Pan Alley churned out hundreds of singles over the next three decades – so many that no-one has yet managed to pull together a complete discography: given the company’s confusing cataloguing system that’s hardly a surprise.
Tin Pan Alley was founded, initially as a sheet music operation, in 1941 by Jack Covais a songwriter who, unable to hook up with an established publisher, wound up self-publishing instead. By 1943 he was already dabbling in song-poem publishing, and by 1953 Tin Pan Alley had become a full-blown song-poem operation - their first release came out on both 10” 78 and 7” 45 a year earlier, with both sides penned by Covais himself. It didn't seem to both the Brooklyn-based Covais that there was already an outfit called Tin Pan Alley, run by Frank Capano in Philadelphia, which issued its first recordings in 1946. For a full history of the company, go to Phil Milstein’s essential song poem website where you’ll also find a decent stab at a discography (although I have or know of several TPA releases which are unlisted there, including this one).
Like many of the Tin Pan Alley releases this 45 must have been recorded in just one take and in one hell of a hurry. No attention has been paid to the finer details of the recording process: Phil is out of tune, the band come in late, the bassist is woefully inept (he must be the same useless bass player who plucks the terribly out-of-tune bass line on one of my other favourite TPA releases Who’s Going To Kiss You by “Lance”) and that accordion player clearly wishes he was somewhere else. And before you ask yes, it IS playing at the right speed. The b-side, included here for completeness’ sake, is almost as dreadful: Forward Into Peace is a dirge (and that’s putting it nicely) about an unnamed war, I’m guessing Vietnam considering the approximate release date of 1965, employing the same useless bass player but thankfully not the accordionist.
Incidentally there is another Phil Celia still actively recording today. At least I assume it’s a different Phil Celia, as our hero began recording for Tin Pan Alley around 1956 – 55 years ago – and the jazz singer of the same name only turned 50 a few years ago. I wonder if it’s his dad though?
Enjoy!
Stop me if I'm wrong, but is this the same Phil Celia who recorded a scary-assed patriotic tune called "Keep On Smiling, Pay Your Taxes", which had to have one of the weirdest goddamn' backing vocal track on any record, ever? It sounded like his trite, hackneyed patriotic lyrics were being backed by a trio of space aliens, I swear.
ReplyDeleteIt's the very same one: Keep On Smiling! Pay Your Taxes! was another Tin Pan Alley song-poem, catalogue number TPA-179, released around 1957. The bizarre backing vocals are credited to the Silver Tones. Silver Tones my arse!
ReplyDeleteTwo differant Phil Celia's; Father and Son.
ReplyDeleteBoth are very talented, but possibly not as main stream pop friendly as some would expect.
Phil Sr. has passed on. He made his living singing. His boys have been very successful in the music industry. Phil Sr's brother, Steve, was a phenomenal drummer who played in the Glenn Miller Orchestra during the war.
I knew Phil Sr. when he and my father played together. Phil also played bass. It was a piano, bass, drums trio. Great music, great musicians, great times! I have spoken with Phil Jr. and he remembers me as well as our Dad's group. I wish him well.
DeleteThese links appear to be dead? sigh
ReplyDeleteBoth links have now been repaired. DivShare chnaged their embedded player recently so there might be a few more dead links scattered throughout the site. Let me know and I'll fix 'em
ReplyDeletePhil Celia Sr. was a talented singer back in the late 50's and continued for quite some time. My father, John LoGuercio, was a hell of a jazz piano player and worked a lot with Phil in the 60's. They had a trio, sometimes call the John Lind Trio and sometimes the Phil Celia Trio. They had a great drummer, Pete Franco. Phil also played bass in this group. They would work a nightclub in Mineola called the San Su San. If anyone remembers this please email Steve LoGuercio. My address is LoGuercio@aol.com.
ReplyDeletePhil Celia, John LoGuercio and Pete Franco are gone, but the music will always be there. These were 3 amazing talents, who worked shows with major celebrities of the day. Jerry vale, Buddy Greco, Vic Damone to name a few. This was back in the early 60's through the mid 60's.
ReplyDeleteHi Steve. Thanks for that information, it really does help flesh out the Tin Pan Alley story for those of us who collect these records. Great to know that Phil also had a 'legitimate' career. Best of luck tracking down your dad's old friends!
DeleteI had to grit my teeth and use all of my willpower to get to the end of "All Alone"!
ReplyDeleteHi, thanks for the post. These DivShare links are not working at the moment.
ReplyDeleteHi Justin,
DeleteI've updated the links - unfortunately all of the old DivShare links are now dead. Let me know if there are any other tracks you're after