Ink Spots

[jamespowers]

A few here know about my fascination with the Ink Spots. I found my father's records long after he was gone. It might have been interesting to discuss them if he were still here so my question for all the other Ink Spots fans is:
What is your favorite Ink Spots song?
I have a hard time picking just one so I just narrowed it down to three.
Your Feet's too Big
Mama Don't Allow it
Porkchops and gravy
Other artists performed these songs but no one had the timing and harmony like the Ink Spots. Fats Waller did Your Feet's Too Big but the tempo was too slow and the harmony is missing.
Rufe Davis did Mama Don't Allow It. The timing just seems off on his rendition though. Rufe was hilarious with his but version just didn't hold a candle to the Ink Spots. The recording I have actually has some of it being acted out with a mama voice telling them she didn't want them "swinging in here" while she was gone.
Here is an example, albeit not the best I could find but it gives you an idea of what they could do. Kind of like a music video of today.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-nb_AY4poI

Regards,

J

 

[CharlieH.]

If I didn't care more than words can say
If I didn't care would I feel this way?
If this isn't love then why do I thrill?
And what makes my head go 'round and 'round
While my heart stands still?

I love that song.

 

[jamespowers]

If I didn't care more than words can say
If I didn't care would I feel this way?
If this isn't love then why do I thrill?
And what makes my head go 'round and 'round
While my heart stands still?

I love that song.

Good one.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Another vote for "Pork Chops and Gravy." There is a surviving radio broadcast by the 'Spots from 1935 where they perform an excellent live version of this number, and as soon as I read the title in this post, it started running thru my head. Now it's gonna be there the rest of the night!

 

[happyfilmluvguy]

It looks like it was done in the late 40s

 

[Prairie Dog]

I like the Ink Spots’ 1940 version of the “Java Jive”.

They were in a league of their own when it came to timing and harmony.
The Mills Brothers were “almost” as good. Their 1943 version of “Paper Doll” is a standout.

 

[The Wolf]

I like coffee, I like tea but I love the Inks Spots

"I Don't Want to Set the World on Fire" is one of favorites. I like just about everything by them though.
Thanks for reminding me, jp.

Sincerely,
The Wolf

 

[Paisley]

I like the Ink Spots. However, their device of speaking a verse of the song gets old.

 

[jamespowers]

I like the Ink Spots. However, their device of speaking a verse of the song gets old.

Aw c'mon. That deep voice, the feeling---where do you think later artists like Barry White and Isaac Hayes got that from? The Gypsy link I provided gives a good example of it.
If I Didn't Care was their first million seller in 1936 with the original group of Deek Watson, Charles Fuqua, Orville "Hoppy" Jones and Bill Kenny (I know Kenny replaced Daniels but Kenny was responsible for the vocals on that record). There was plenty of speaking there as well and it ultimately sold 19 million copies. You don't mess with success.


Regards,

J

 

[jamespowers]

Another vote for "Pork Chops and Gravy." There is a surviving radio broadcast by the 'Spots from 1935 where they perform an excellent live version of this number, and as soon as I read the title in this post, it started running thru my head. Now it's gonna be there the rest of the night!

Geez, I would love to hear that one. I thought Pork Chops and Gravy was done later than that but it would be interesting to hear the complete original group at that time. There have been so many interations of the group over the last 60 years it is amazing. I miss Jim Nabbie though. All the originals are gone now but the music plays on and on with the new group members. :eusa_clap
I could still go for a concert on the Mississippi Queen like they have done int he past though---maybe sometime.


Regards,

J

 

[jamespowers]

Looking through a few history sites jarred my memory about something I mentioned before here but probably many have not seen it yet so:

Novemer 6, 1936
2:30 P.M. - NBC/RCA Television Demonstration. Ink Spots perform on the first live TV demonstration at NBC and, on the basis of this, are the first black performers to appear on television in the U.S. Variety states: "Later the Inkspots, a colored comedy - singing unit - put on a three-minute skit with all the stage makeup trappings. Couple of full-length showings were used here and the boys were in motion besides. It worked out okay." (Since they are the first performers mentioned in the article, the Ink Spots may have been the first performers of any color to perform on TV in the U.S.) [Variety, 11Nov/36 & New York Times, 7 Nov/36]

The 40 minute program was broadcast from the transmitter on top of the Empire State Building and was received on the 62nd floor of the RCA building in the first live demonstration conducted for the Press [November 6, 1936 Press Release from NBC Television]. In addition to the Ink Spots, Hildegrarde, "The Television Girl", colored comedy teams and announcer Betty Goodwin participated.

Now Lizzie if you have a tape or recording of this anywhere, you can name your price on the open market.
I think this might be one moment in time where I would use the time machine mentioned in another thread.

Regards,

J

 

[Dr Doran]

I love the Ink Spots. Always have. First time I was aware of them: in Blade Runner, the song "If I Didn't Care" which appears above. I did think it was funny that on my record of theirs, every single song begins with a very similar arpeggio. But that's OK. It's their singular signature sound. And I love them.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Looking through a few history sites jarred my memory about something I mentioned before here but probably many have not seen it yet so:

Novemer 6, 1936
2:30 P.M. - NBC/RCA Television Demonstration. Ink Spots perform on the first live TV demonstration at NBC and, on the basis of this, are the first black performers to appear on television in the U.S. Variety states: "Later the Inkspots, a colored comedy - singing unit - put on a three-minute skit with all the stage makeup trappings. Couple of full-length showings were used here and the boys were in motion besides. It worked out okay." (Since they are the first performers mentioned in the article, the Ink Spots may have been the first performers of any color to perform on TV in the U.S.) [Variety, 11Nov/36 & New York Times, 7 Nov/36]

The 40 minute program was broadcast from the transmitter on top of the Empire State Building and was received on the 62nd floor of the RCA building in the first live demonstration conducted for the Press [November 6, 1936 Press Release from NBC Television]. In addition to the Ink Spots, Hildegrarde, "The Television Girl", colored comedy teams and announcer Betty Goodwin participated.

Now Lizzie if you have a tape or recording of this anywhere, you can name your price on the open market.
I think this might be one moment in time where I would use the time machine mentioned in another thread.

Regards,

J

This is a very famous program, but alas, there are no recordings extant, either audio or video. The only viewers, aside from the press invited as guests for the occasion, were a few RCA technicians assigned to monitor the proceedings.

The "colored comedians" mentioned were the team of Eddie Green and Ernie Whitman, who were popular radio performers of the day -- and along with the Ink Spots, they were, indeed, the first African-American performers known to appear on television in the US, and possibly in the world.

 

[Fletch]

Yes, if a film or record of this ever turns up, I'll eat every hat I own plus any others you care to throw my way. This stuff was top, top secret at the time, so much so that no one working in the TV department at NBC was allowed to talk about it even within the company.

To give you an idea, the July, 1936, broadcast piped to the RCA licensees' dinner at the Waldorf-Astoria featured a company rep for every TV receiver on-site, to finesse any pointed questions about the workings of the thing, and a private bartender for every table, to ensure the guests wouldn't remember what they saw very clearly.

An RKO-Path?© newsreel team was in the studio, filming alongside the lone video cameraman, but the film was apparently shown only once, at the RKO offices in New York ‚Äì then burned.

 

[jamespowers]

This is a very famous program, but alas, there are no recordings extant, either audio or video. The only viewers, aside from the press invited as guests for the occasion, were a few RCA technicians assigned to monitor the proceedings.

The "colored comedians" mentioned were the team of Eddie Green and Ernie Whitman, who were popular radio performers of the day -- and along with the Ink Spots, they were, indeed, the first African-American performers known to appear on television in the US, and possibly in the world.

I think they were the first performers of any color to appear on TV in the US. Quite an accomplishment for them at this time. :eusa_clap

Regards,

J

 

[jamespowers]

An RKO-Path?© newsreel team was in the studio, filming alongside the lone video cameraman, but the film was apparently shown only once, at the RKO offices in New York ‚Äì then burned.

Oh damn!
Note to self, when going back in time set the time to the moment that film was about to be burned and then switch it with something from the 70s.
I could also be a bartender and see the film with the licensees.

Regards,

J

 

[Dr Doran]

Oh damn!
Note to self, when going back in time set the time to the moment that film was about to be burned and then switch it with something from the 70s.

Heh heh. Three's Company? Starsky and Hutch?
Is a revival of the anti-70s thread in the air? :rage: lol

 

[jamespowers]

Heh heh. Three's Company? Starsky and Hutch?
Is a revival of the anti-70s thread in the air? :rage: lol

Any of those would do. Thanks for the suggestions though.

 

[kools]

The Ink Spots REALLY transformed themselves sometime around 1940 from being a novelty jive combo with the "Pork Chops & Gravy" sound to their popular ballad sound like "The Gypsy." I prefer the former. Once they got into their ballad years, everything starts to sound redundant to my ears. Gimme the jive!

 

[jamespowers]

The Ink Spots REALLY transformed themselves sometime around 1940 from being a novelty jive combo with the "Pork Chops & Gravy" sound to their popular ballad sound like "The Gypsy." I prefer the former. Once they got into their ballad years, everything starts to sound redundant to my ears. Gimme the jive!

I think the original band/combo was in pieces by 1940 and that would explain the difference. The original members were great together. Pulling two or three out made all the difference.
To be fair, some also say that the early years background music all sounds the same. I tell them listen to Mama Don't Allow It and tell me that.

Regards,


J