August 17, 2020

20,000 vinyl LPs 237: Mae West ~ The Fabulous Mae West: Queen of the Double Entendres

~       
vinyl LP front cover detail
cover photo: Alembert Studio
detail photo of album cover by Styrous®


Today, August 17, is the birthday of actress, singer, playwrite, screenwriter and "Innuendo Queen", Mae West, who was born in 1893, in Brooklyn (either Greenpoint or Bushwick, before New York City was consolidated in 1898).             


vinyl LP front cover
cover photo: Alembert Studio
photo of album cover by Styrous®


She was known for her lighthearted, bawdy double entendres and breezy sexual independence, and often used a husky contralto voice. She was active in vaudeville and on stage in New York City before moving to Los Angeles to pursue a career in the film industry.      

West was one of the most controversial movie stars of her day; she encountered many problems, especially censorship. She once quipped, "I believe in censorship. I made a fortune out of it." She bucked the system by making comedy out of conventional mores, and the Depression-era audience admired her for it. When her film career ended, she wrote books and plays, and continued to perform in Las Vegas and the United Kingdom, on radio and television, and recorded rock 'n roll albums. In 1999, the American Film Institute posthumously voted West the 15th greatest female screen legend of classic American cinema.        

vinyl LP front cover detail
cover photo: Alembert Studio
detail photo of album cover by Styrous®


She sings most of the songs "straight" but displays her aptitude for naughty insinuation to great extent in most of them which have male chorus backup.              


vinyl LP back cover
back cover photo: Alembert Studio
photo of album cover by Styrous®


My favorite cuts on the album are Pecado (Sin) and Havana For A Night (Vereda Tropical) which are Latin flavored tunes with Tito Coral singing solo and West chiming in with not so soto voce asides that would be totally innocuous if it wasn't for the WAY she says them (links below). More on Coral in a future article.                 





vinyl LP back cover detail
back cover photo: Alembert Studio
detail photo of album cover by Styrous®


There is the classic torch song and jazz standard, All of Me, written by Gerald Marks and Seymour Simons in 1931. Believe it or not she does NOT let loose on it but sings it with an upbeat feeling as opposed to the classic original first introduced by Belle Baker when it was broadcast over the radio in 1931. Paul Whiteman and His Orchestra recorded the song on December 1 that year, with vocalist Mildred Bailey; this went to the top of the US pop charts.            

vinyl LP back cover detail
back cover photo: Alembert Studio
detail photo of album cover by Styrous®


Last, but certainly not least, is Criswell Predicts! It is a blusey song with crazy lyrics based on the character; Jeron Criswell King (born Jeron Criswell Konig, August 7, 1907 – October 4, 1982), known by his stage-name The Amazing Criswell /ˈkrɪzwɛl/. He was an American psychic known for wildly inaccurate predictions. In person, he went by Charles Criswell King, and was sometimes credited as Jeron King Criswell.  He appeared in two films by Ed Wood, Plan 9 from Outer Space and Night of the Ghouls.      




Criswell was flamboyant, with spit curled hair, a stentorian style of speaking, and a sequined tuxedo. He owned a coffin in which he claimed to sleep. He grew up in a troubled family in Indiana with relatives who owned a funeral home, and said that he became comfortable with sleeping in caskets in the storeroom. There's a video of the Criswell Predicts! song with images that match his crazyness (link below).         
           
          
   
Tracklist:

Side 1:

A1     Love Is The Greatest Thing    
A2     I'm In The Mood For Love    
A3     Pecado (Sin)    
A4     My Daddy Rocks Me (With One Steady Roll)    
A5     All Of Me    
A6     They Call Me Sister Honky Tonk

Side 2:

B1     Frankie And Johnny    
B2     I Want You - I Need You    
B3     Havana For A Night (Vereda Tropical)    
B4     A Guy What Takes His Time    
B5     If I Could Be With You (One Hour Tonight)    
B6     Criswell Predicts

Credits:

    Directed By [Quartet And Orchestra] – Sy Oliver
    Producer – Milt Gabler
 
 
   
         
Viewfinder links:        
   
Tito Coral         
Mae West        
Ed Wood        
        
Net links:        
             
ABC News ~ PBS invites you to come up sometime       
American Heritage ~ The Immortality Of Mae West          
Big Bands & Big Names ~ West, Hargitay & Tito Coral    
Biography ~ Mae West Facts        
PBS ~ Mae West Biographical Timeline                  
Vanity Fair ~ Mae West: “When I’m Bad, I’m Better”                 
Vogue ~ Mae West Ruled Fashion in 1933              
        
YouTube links:        
         
         
      
  
"If I asked for a cup of coffee, 
someone would search for the double meaning."
                   ~ Mae West
        
        
        
Styrous® ~ Monday, August 17, 2020       
       

















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