Evening star., 1952-08-17
TurntobIe Talk:

AIOlQ aII lCS uBll0eSS, WOrlQ
War II had its lighter moments.
Touring entertainers provided
many of them, and not the least
of these was Marlene Dietrich.
The glamorouS actress spent
most Of three years on the bat
tlefronts.
American soldiers, however,
weren't the only ones who heard
the throaty Dietrich voice. In
the midst of her morale building
activity the Office of Strategic
Services asked her to do an
other job: Recording some songs
for propaganda warfare. She
did; the songs went on the air,
beamed eastward: then they
went into OSS files.
What part they had In the
outcome is one of the imponder-
ables, but the songs still are
interesting in themselves. Now
Columbia has re-recorded eight
Of them, on a 10-inch disc. They
make an eloquent document.
The German Version
Only one of the eight was Ger
man originally-'Lilli Marlene."
The others are American pop
ular ballads translated especially
for the wartime project. There
is no gaiety-most of the lyrics
are sad, and Miss Dietrich works
up every overtone. "Fraulein
Annie wohn schon lang NIGHT
hier" ("Annie doesn't live here
any more"), she intones with
deep melancholy. "Ich hab die
game Nacht geweinet" Il cried
the whole night long). she
mourns-"I burn with love
and know love will not
last" (The original. of course.
was II Couldn't Sleep a
Wink Last Night. 1.-THE Surrey
with the Fringe on Top" be-
comes the tale Of a lovers
sleigh ride with a final meeting
at its end-presumably. the Ger
mans don't have surreyS?
Taking a Chance on Love" con-
tainS the sad lines-"I must go
on marching, marching. I don't
know what will happen: all I
know is that our song is ended"
The others are Time on My
Hands, Mean to Me" and Miss
Otis Regrets" and they follow
the same pattern. If anything.
Miss Dietrich is more appeal
ing in German than in English.
An orchestra under Jimmy Car
roll lends properly nostalgia ac-
compartments.
4 X X X
Nostalgia of q different sort
is conjured up on a new Victor
10-inch disc. Anybody who's
heard Helen Traubel laugh
knows she's rarely capable Of
melancholy. Here the American
born Wagnerian diva tries her
hand at some of the most IA
nous tunes of the Gay COS. The
titles include 'Take Me Out to
the Ball Came" "A Bird in a
Gilded Cage" Waiting for the
Robert E.. Lee," "The Curse of
an Aching Hear" y After the
Ball." Mother Was a Lady" and
bill Bailey, Won't You Please
Come Home?" And wait till you
hear Traubel's whinny in "My
Pony Boy! Arthur Fielder leads
sprightly accompaniments.
A young Traubel protege
named Margaret Truman had
her second Victor record issued
recently. The 10-inch disc in
cludes eight songs she has fea-
tured in her concert appear
ances, among them Comm
Thro' the Rye" and Mozart's
"Batti, BATH" Arthur Fielder
is the maestro here, too. One
place locally you can be sure
this disc is prominently at hand
1000 Pennsylvania avenue!
X X + X
One of the reasons for Benny
Goodman's fame is his associa-
ton back in the 30s with two
other noted jazz musicians,
Gene Krupa and Teddy Wilson.
in the Benny Goodman trio.
The trio made some classic jazz
records, and was popular until
Krupa and Wilson. left to form
their own bands in 1898. Last
year the three reassembled to
play over New York's WNEW in
tribute to ailing Fletcher Hen
derson, the Goodman bands
former chief arranger. who is
partly paralized. Now Columbia
has issued a 12-inch recording
of this concert.
Cheers for the Trio
Body and Soul" and "China
Boy" recordings of the original
trio, are two Of the numbers.
Others are "Runnin' Wild" ION
the Sunny Side Of the Street."
"After You've Cone" Basin
Street Blues" Rose Room" "
"Sing, Sing. Sing" Honey
suckle Rose" and a climactic
zone O'Clock Jump" Lou Nc
Clarity, Buck Clayton, Eddie
Safranski and John Smith fill
in with the trombone. trumpet,
bass and guitar. respectively,
and you know the studio audi
ence is getting a big kick out Of