The Bob Bain Archives

Episode 21 December 13, 1948

Ray Sherman returns for good, with Ralph Collier covering drums and percussion, and Jud De Naut the steady man on the bass. After our "Sweet Georgia Brown" intro, the guys salsa their way through "Brazil", then song star Margo Powers gives us our first holiday tune, the classic "The Christmas Song" (note Ray's alternating between celeste and piano). Bob and the guys then serve up an inventive, apt combination of "All The Things You Are" and "Someone To Watch Over Me". Margo comes back for the beautiful "Say It Isn't So" before the guys carry us out with "Blue Room" (Ray previously played it in Episode 13; Tommy Todd in Episode 18). Happy holidays indeed!

Episode 22 December 20, 1948

The final broadcast for 1948, just a few days before Christmas, brings the quartet back in top form. Bob, Jud De Naut, Ralph Collier, and Ray Sherman breeze through the Sweet Georgia Brown intro, and then play one of Bob's favorites, "Crazy Rhythm". Song star Margo Powers comes in to schmooze with announcer Eddie King before crooning "My Darling, My Darling". This is yet another instance of Bob seizing on a recent popular tune (Frank Loesser wrote it that year and it was in the charts for both Jo Stafford and Doris Day by the date of the broadcast). The quartet comes back for the instrumental "Bojangles" (they did this back in October, in our Episode 14) before Margo proudly introduces the debut of a new Christmas tune written by Bob: "I Want You For Christmas". Merry Christmas indeed! The quartet wraps the year and puts a bow on it with another of Bob's originals, "Hop The Ditty", before sauntering out of 1948 with "Lady Be Good". 

See you in the new year, stay tuned! We have a lot of great music ahead!

Season 2 Bonus-Original Series Pilot??? Kaiser-Frazer "Easy Does It"

Presented here without much validation is a possible template/pilot episode: this is the Bob Bain quartet (with Roy Harte on the drums, Jud De Naut playing bass and Ray Sherman on piano) with our song star Margo Powers. But, there's no date on the label and though the format is familiar, the sponsorship makes this unusual to be sure. Kaiser-Frazer was a post WWII auto manufacturing venture which was announced in 1945 and went into production sometime in 1946. Our announcer (Tom Murray) gives us a clue when he says that "a few months back, 26 to be exact, Kaiser-Frazer wasn't even in production". Math tells us that would make the air date somewhere in 1948, which is when our regular transcriptions started their run. So, easy does it-this could be the start of something big!

Season 2 Bonus-Original Series Pilot??? "Easy Does It"

Here is another possible pilot episode of the Bob Bain Quartet radio show-this one without the K-F sponsorship, and a different drummer (Nick Fatool) from the other bonus. Intriguingly, there are overlaps in song selection-this too has "Brazil" as the quartet opener, and both close with "Hooray For Love" with Margo Powers the featured vocalist. Even some of the announcer dialogue is used from the K-F version. But here, instead of the Kaiser-Frazer jingle, we start and with Bob's take of "Lady Be Good", a familiar theme by now. The documentation for these two bonuses is woefully lacking, but Hooray for the chance to hear this formative version of the Bob Bain Show!

Season 2 Episode 3-January 3, 1949

Happy New Year! Truman hasn't even been inaugurated for his full term yet, but here to make the new year a success are Bob, Ralph Collier, Ray Sherman, and Jud De Naut. After our traditional "Sweet Georgia Brown" intro, the guys ring in the new with a very tight version of "Jack Jack Jack". We get to hear young Bob banter back and forth with announcer Eddie to introduce Margo Powers, who torches up "Happiness Is A Thing Called Joe". In Season 1 Episode 3, way back in 1948, we heard the quartet play "Dancing In The Dark/Small Hotel" but this time Bob switches it around, so we have "Small Hotel/Dancing In The Dark". From S1 E18, we hear "The Money Song" and Margo sounds more confident this time around. Just before Christmas (S1 E22) we first heard "Crazy Rhythm" and here Bob and the guys revisit it to great effect. Stick around, it's gonna be a great year!

Season 2 Episode 4-January 10, 1949

"Just a little bit different." A different announcer, with a different introduction to the show... but our regular four plus one are on hand: Bob, Ray Sherman on piano, Jud De Naut on bass and Ralph Collier on drums. Our "Sweet Georgia Brown" intro leads into a really hot version of "'S Wonderful", then Margo Powers tenderly croons "I'll Be Seeing You". Another difference as we again hear Bob explain the next track "Miserlou" (Bob refers to the Jan August piano solo version, which had been a hit record just a year or so before). Margo comes back for an old standard "If I Could Be With You". The show wraps up with some great soloing on "C Jam Blues", before and after which our announcer gets a little... different. Every show an adventure!

Season 2 Episode 5-January 17, 1949

The new year is already a few weeks old, and the guys are into a good groove: Bob, Ralph Collier on drums, Jud De Naut playing bass and Ray Sherman on piano. After our "Sweet Georgia Brown" intro, we hear all four guy's voices at one point or another, Bob's scripted reminiscence about Margo singing in his living room leads into "My Darling", then the quartet romps through "Brazil". Cole Porter's "Just One Of Those Things" is right up Margo's alley, and the quartet sounds great in the instrumental break, even playing in 3/4 at one point (Bob keeps those arrangements interesting). They close things out with the Ellington standard "Cotton Tail", Bob even quotes the famous Ben Webster lick for us. "Lady Be Good" takes us out for this episode, but stay tuned, we'll be right back in a week!

Season 2 Episode 6-January 24, 1949

Harry Truman's second term inauguration took place on January 20, and was the first televised presidential inauguration. Bob and the guys (Ralph Collier, Ray Sherman, and Jud De Naut) missed out on the gala this time around, but here they are with Margo Powers once again in tow. After the "Sweet Georgia Brown" intro, Frank Barton makes with the goofy copy and intros "Quanto Le Gusta". Bob gets in on the dialogue fun as well, then Margo croons her way through "At Long Last Love". The quartet (with Ralph Collier playing vibes) play the classic "Tenderly", then Margo returns for "Once In Love With Amy", yet another example of Bob picking up on a recent hit (Where's Charley was a big Broadway hit that debuted in October of 1948). The quartet wraps the post-inaugural gala with Juan Tizol's Ellington hit "Perdido". 

Season 2 Episode 7-January 31, 1949

It's already the end of January, 1949. Frank Barton is back with some more shtick, and our steady foursome too: Bob, Ralph Collier on drums, Jud De Naut on bass, and Ray Sherman at the piano. The guys feel particularly in sync on tonight's show, right from the start of "Sweet Georgia Brown". Back on January 10, Los Angeles got a half inch of snow (the valley almost a foot!) in what remains an epic weather event in city history. Perhaps that provided inspiration for Bob to broadcast "I've Got My Love To Keep Me Warm", the Irving Berlin standard. Margo Powers steps in and si hable "Frenesi" very nicely. Bob cues in the guys for "Tenderly", in the original 3/4 time and Ralph doubling on vibes, before Margo returns once again for "This Can't Be Love". The quartet wraps the month with a very picante pass at "Dark Eyes", before walking out once again to "Lady Be Good". 

Season 2 Episode 8-February 7, 1949

February of 1949 gets underway with our regular cast of characters: Bob on guitar, Ray Sherman at the piano, Jud De Naut on bass, and Ralph Collier on drums and percussion. "Sweet Georgia Brown" gets the Frank Barton voice over, and leads us into "Cumana". Bob summons a genie from a lamp (at what a cost!), and Margo Powers appears to sing "But Not For Me". The quartet then performs the Ellington classic "Just Squeeze Me", right in Bob's pocket. Margo comes back, but this time for a duet with Bob: a fun novelty number called "You Was". This is yet another example of Bob cherry-picking a contemporaneous hit to do on his show: in this case, the number had just been performed for Capitol Records by Dean Martin and Peggy Lee. So great to hear Bob smoothly croon like the best of 'em! The quartet closes out the show with the Cole Porter classic "What Is This Thing Called Love" before strolling out on "Lady Be Good". Who was so lucky to hear this? We was!