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I'm seeing in the Goldmine Price Guide that a 45 was issued on Decca 29341 for "Old Man/Gee, I Wish I Was Back in the Army" b/w "Mandy." Does anyone on the board here own this disc?
Because I'm wondering how "Mandy" was edited here. Is it really just "Mandy" on that side of the disc? I ran across a notation on JazzDiscography.com that says, "On the 78 rpm issue 'Blue Skies' was edited out, necessitating a new master - W86945, made on 19 October. Oddly the title 'Minstrel Show' did not appear on any record labels."
So on this 45 issue, is it actually "I'd Rather See a Minstrel Show/Mandy" but it only lists "Mandy"? Or is it really just "Mandy" on there? There is an audible edit between the end of "Blue Skies" and "Minstrel Show" on the CD soundtrack and I'm wondering if the 45 just starts at that point, omitting "Blue Skies."
Thanks for any info you can give me on this.
Last edited by Brian W. (06/6/2014 9:40 pm)
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Brian, I do not possess that precise disc but I suspect it duplicates the 78 issue in which the master W86945 was used. This was of "Mandy" only i.e. the short form used for single issue.
My reference in the discography to "I'd rather See A Minstrel Show" not appearing on labels is meant to apply to the titling of the longer medley, usually identified as Blue Skies/Mandy on the issues using master number W86772,
(Later addition) I realise that in trying to explain I have merely confused myself. What was edited out of the shortened version was "Blue Skies". This was done for single release.
I am fairly positive that this is the issue you ask about which therefore includes the brief "I'd Rather See A Minstrel Show" without including it on the label.
Last edited by Richard Baker (07/6/2014 4:36 am)
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The notes to the Sepia CD, Through the Years - vol. 8 state:
JOSEPH J. LILLEY AND HIS ORCHESTRA, CHORUS
TRACK 13 – Blue Skies / I’d Rather See a Minstrel Show / Mandy (Berlin) (with Danny Kaye)
The date of September 9 quoted in the Decca logs for this track must be a mastering date as Bing was still in Idaho. It may well be that the track was recorded on April 10, 1954 when other songs from White Christmas were laid down. To confuse the position further, the master number is a New York integer and the earlier songs were recorded in Los Angeles. However, when comparing the similarity of the recordings done for the actual film with this track, it seems possible that this was a composite medley edited together from the soundtrack recordings in order to complete the Selections from Irving Berlin's “White Christmas” album. After all this confusion though, the outcome is that Bing and Danny Kaye give competent versions of three of the songs from the film. The album was issued in the U.S. as a 12-inch LP, a boxed set of three EPs as well as an album of five 78rpm discs. For this last mentioned set, the three songs were too long for a 78, so “Blue Skies” was edited out leaving “Minstrel Show/Mandy” with a new master number – W86945 – and a mastering date of October 19, 1954. For reasons unclear, the “Minstrel show” title never appeared on any record labels or track listings.