29/10/2013 8:13 pm  #1


JEAN SABLON, THE FRENCH BING CROSBY

Earlier today I published a new article in my blog on classic jazz and the crooners, The Vintage Bandstand. This time the article is somehow Bing-related, since it examines the career of Jean Sablon, known as "the French Bing Crosby." Like Crosby, he was influenced by jazz, and he made several hot recordings with Django Reinhardt and Stéphane Grappelli. He was also a superb balladeer, and even though he never quite made it as big as, say, Maurice Chevalier in the U.S., his recordings are a pleasure to listen to.

If you are interested in reading the article, here is the link:

http://vintagebandstand.blogspot.com/2013/10/je-suis-sex-appeal-jean-sablon-and-art.html

I would also like to know if anyone out there knows and likes Sablon. Do you have any of his records? How does Sablon compare with Bing, in your opinion?

 

30/10/2013 12:43 pm  #2


Re: JEAN SABLON, THE FRENCH BING CROSBY

I have to check to see if any of my Reinhart recordings have Sablon vocals, most of them are instrumentals, but the few with vocals are quite a mixed lot, and I don't recall the names of the singers.

Considering crooners and crooning, I recently listened to Bing's country album, which inevitably reminds me of Ray Charles's album or two crossing over into that genre.  Certainly, many of these country ballads can be "crooned."  And when I think of that, it is very difficult not to consider Eddy Arnold and Ray Price as significant crooners of our time.   Anton, have you given much thought to the legitimacy and role of such "country crooners"?

 

30/10/2013 4:42 pm  #3


Re: JEAN SABLON, THE FRENCH BING CROSBY

Steve,

This has always been a fascinating topic for me. The truth is that there was always a much stronger connection between country music and mainstream pop (and even jazz) than we sometimes tend to think, and that is where the country crooners come in. There were quite a few of them (Eddy Arnold, Ray Price, Jim Reeves, and George Morgan are just four examples) and, of course, as a crooning aficionado and collector, I like all of them, particularly these four that I have mentioned. They were country singers who liked and had an affinity for pop, and some of them scored some major crossover hits (George Morgan's "Candy Kisses," Eddy Arnold's "Make the World Go Away," Jim Reeves's "He'll Have to Go," Ray Price's "For the Good Times") that shaped what came to be known as the Nashville Sound in the late 50s and early 60s. Most books argue that this Nashville Sound was a reaction to the onslaught of rock'n'roll, but while there is undeniably some truth to that, I have always thought that the lines between country, pop, blues, and jazz are often not that definite, so this is something that would naturally have to happen. For instance, Jimmie Rodgers's "Blue Yodels" are bluesy, and Bob Wills's music is jazzy (Wills's vocalist, Tommy Duncan, was very much influenced by Bing, in fact), and the music of Reeves, Price, Morgan, and Arnold could be easily defined as pop. And then, we must not forget that Bing and others (Bennett, Dino, Patti Page, Jo Stafford) recorded many country songs with pop arrangements and also scored hits. Anyone who likes crooning should definitely check out these country crooners.

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30/10/2013 5:43 pm  #4


Re: JEAN SABLON, THE FRENCH BING CROSBY

A great article, Anton - thanls for posting it...

Sablon has always been one of my favourite crooners and I've got several CDs of his recordings. I've got the 100 Chansons release from French EMI, but there are a couple of other options for those wanting to explore further.

The French company Frémaux et Associés - www.fremaux.com - has two double-cd sets of Sablon tracks, the best of which is the set covering 1933 - 1946. (Bing gets a mention in the French translation of  the lyric of "These Foolish Things" - Ces Petites Choses.)

There is also a release available as a down-load from an English company called Pristine Classical - www.pristineclassical.com - who specialise in down-loads of historic classical recordings.

They have got a jazz section, however, and there is a Jean Sablon release called "Songs of a Boulevardier". It's a "three-albums-on-one" release, and included are the eight tracks of a 10-inch LP (Songs of a Boulevardier) which Sablon recorded in America in the early 50s.

There is a nice Crosby connection in that the musical director on that album is the Philco Radio Time stalwart, Skitch Henderson.


 

Last edited by jeremyrose (30/10/2013 5:45 pm)

 

30/10/2013 11:39 pm  #5


Re: JEAN SABLON, THE FRENCH BING CROSBY

Jeremyrose,

Thanks a lot for your nice words about the Sablon article, as well as for your CD suggestions. I knew the Fremeaux releases, although I don't have them—they have been on my wish-list for quite a while! Incidentally, Fremeaux is a wonderful, though a little expensive, reissue company, and they have some very good jazz releases on Django Reinhardt and Louis Armstrong, for instance, and I also like their sets on Maurice Chevalier. I definitely need to check out the Pristine Classical download, since I had no idea about it and don't have the Songs of a Boulevardier ten-inch LP...

I have added an update at the end of the article quoting your post verbatim. I hope you don't mind! If you do, let me know, and I can always delete it. I am sure your information will be helpful to anyone wishing to get to know Sablon's music. I am also delighted to find another Sablon aficionado like myself!

Thanks again!!!

Last edited by Anton G.-F. (30/10/2013 11:41 pm)

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11/11/2013 3:30 am  #6


Re: JEAN SABLON, THE FRENCH BING CROSBY

I'm a Django Reinhardt fan, and I have the JSP boxed sets which cover Django's career with Ted Kendall's great remastering. The box "Musette to Maestro 1928-1937" features Django's early work, including backing various vocalists, one of which is Jean Sablon. I was not familiar with him, and didn't know he was known as the French Bing Crosby, but I did find his vocals among the more pleasant on the collection. I'm revisiting them now that I have a little more familiarity with Sablon.

Thanks, Anton, for the article, always nice to learn a little bit more about an artist I had heard but didn't know much about. I discovered Annette Hanshaw in a similar way, via a few vocals she did on a JSP box that featured Joe Venuti and Eddie Lang.

 

11/11/2013 6:46 pm  #7


Re: JEAN SABLON, THE FRENCH BING CROSBY

Jim,

It's funny because the first time I heard Annette Hanshaw, it was also on that JSP set on Venuti and Lang (which is great) although I had already read about her before in Will Friedwald's excellent book Jazz Singing. I love Hanshaw's work and have quite a few of her CDs now. Incidentally, a couple of years ago, I also published in my blog an article on Hanshaw, which you can read here:

http://vintagebandstand.blogspot.com/2010/07/hot-lovable-and-sweet-annette-hanshaw.html

I appreciate your words about the Sablon article, and I am glad to know you enjoyed it. Sablon is one of my favorite French vocalists, not just because he was influenced by Crosby, but also because he was the jazziest of them all. Like you, I am a Reinhardt fan and love the sets of his music that JSP has released, which are all very recommendable..

Last edited by Anton G.-F. (11/11/2013 6:47 pm)

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13/11/2013 6:48 am  #8


Re: JEAN SABLON, THE FRENCH BING CROSBY

I had not heard of Annette Hanshaw when I first listened to the JSP Venuti and Lang set. I remember that because she sounded so modern I double checked the recording date, which was 1927, which meant she was unlikely to have been influenced by Bing. There were not many white vocalists recording at that time with such a relaxed jazzy sense of rhythm. Cliff Edwards, notably, comes to mind.

I think a little later I heard some of her songs on YouTube and discovered the animated movie "Sita Sings the Blues", which uses her songs, and read about her in Friedwald's Jazz Singing, and by that point I was hooked.

That's a nice article on Annette as well. Those private recordings she made are so enticing, her voice had matured nicely. If she knew John Hammond, it's a shame he didn't produce a comeback album or two with her. Also, it's a shame none of the other indie jazz labels picked up the reissue of her complete recordings when the Sensation series ended after three volumes with the passing of  Jeff Healy and John R. T. Davies (who was doing the remastering). It would be great if JSP would put out a couple boxes covering her recordings with Ted Kendall doing the remastering.

By the way, there is a ca1936 radio transcription of her singing a medley of three songs with a small modern-sounding swing group (Blue Evening/You're a Heavenly Thing/What's the Reason (I'm not Pleasin' You)) which you can find if you search the Internet. It's great to hear her in that context, the only drawback is she seems to be sort of imitating Connee Boswell (and like with Helen Kain showing she is a good imitator), but I'd much prefered her to just be herself!

Also, Jazz Oracle has a 3 CD set of Red Nichols Redheads recordings, which includes all the Cliff Edwards and his Hot Combination sides they played on.
 

 

14/11/2013 12:53 pm  #9


Re: JEAN SABLON, THE FRENCH BING CROSBY

Jim,

What attracted me to Annette Hanshaw (besides Friedwald's excellent discussion of her music, which I had read well before I ever actually heard her voice) is that she definitely sounds modern for the times. That is also true of Bing, even though, as you say, she couldn't have been influenced by Crosby. Cliff Edwards, whom Friedwald also praises, is another case in point of a modern-sounding 1920s vocalist, and one who made many more recordings and radio work than Hanshaw.

I agree with you that it would be nice if JSP ever undertook the release of a couple of boxsets on Hanshaw (and also on Ukelele Ike, while we're at it!) because she made enough recordings to fill two fo their boxsets, and many of them (except those where she is imitating Helen Kane, which I still find amusing) are wonderfully jazzy. There is also, by the way, a Cliff Edwards 2-CD set on Retrieval that features many, if perhaps not all, of his great Hot Combination recordings.

Thanks for the tip about the Hanshaw radio transcription; I will definitely look for it because I've never heard it. I had no idea about her private recordings either, but a reader of the blog volunteered that information, and they really are enticing. I have never understood why nobody ever coaxed her back into the recording studio in her later years. Many other singers made recordings late in their careers, but it seems that she was happy with the life she was leading and wasn't interested in reviving her singing career, which really is a shame!

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