This song
comes from the hit movie,
Sunnyside
Up, with Janet Gaynor. This song and
the other
hit song from the movie, "If I Had a Talking Picture of You",
provides
a clear insight into Annette's clear use of the mimic. We are all
accustomed
to the cute mimic of Helen Kane but here for the first
and only
time we see an almost perfect rendition of Janet Gaynor's song
from the
movie. Incredible as it may seem, I think Annette does a much
better job
on this song that Janet does in the movie. For one thing if you watch
the movie,
Janet has a hard time singing with enough volume for the old
microphones
to pick up her voice. Perhaps therein lies the popularity of Jolsen
who could
really "belt" out a song. In fact, I remember one reviewer mentioning
how the popular
vocalists of the day before the advent of electrical recordings were
all "belters"
who had to really sing loudly for the old acoustical microphones to
pick up their
voices. Janet and Annette were similar in that they were certainly
no "belters"
and yet unlike Janet, Annette could sense the right tone and volume
to accompany
the musicians. She sounds remarkably like Janet Gaynor in this fine
recording.
She could have played this part better than Janet could if she only had
the
desire.
One other note, these cuts were released on the Harmony label which
normally
would have Annette under one of her pseudonym's. But on these
takes she
is listed by her real name. I suppose the sound of this record is
different
from her
normal Patsy Young interpretations that Columbia didn't want to
confuse it's
audience. However, I am a little surprised that they didn't make
up
another pseudnym
for her on this one as they obviously did for the accompanying
musicians.
The musicians
accompanying Annette on this one are labeled as "The Blue Streaks"
There is
still some debate as to actually who these musicians were. It has
been speculated
that Manny
Klein on trumpet (although Jeff doesn't think so) as well as possibly
Clarence
Williams and/or James P. Johnson on piano. It was recorded on
December
4, 1929.