I wasn’t planning to do a second column on "Dream a little Dream of Me" but the response that I received from the first was so affirmative that I thought I would include, if not a proper “part two” at least a follow up, or, at the very least, some “bonus tracks.”
First, Sharon Brennan contributed a very interesting new piece of information. There was a band singer in Milwaukee - Adele Haehlen (later Lowe) who had a brief career - as most female singers did at the time - but who, if this information is correct, was the actual inspiration for “Dream a Little Dream of Me.” According to her obituary (here), she was singing with a Milwaukee-based dance band called Billy Baer and his Orchestra. I have been able to find one reference to that band in a local Milwaukee paper from 1933, although it doesn’t mention Haehlen or the song.
Per the obit, Wilbur Schwandt was also a member of that orchestra, and he wrote “Dream a Little Dream” specifically for the voice of Adele Ms. Haehlen. The obit doesn’t mention how Fabian Andree and then Gus Kahn got involved, nor that the song would be introduced by another Wisconsin dance band - of course Schwandt could have been working with one more than one band - but this is still a fascinating piece of new intel
In the first story, I ran out of room to include all the versions of “Dream a Little Dream” that I love, but I’ll give you two more great artists doing the song here (well, actually three):
I never realized that this was surely one of Ella Fitzgerald’s favorite songs, based on the evidence that she recorded it commercially three times (1950, 1963, 1989), although so far I’ve only been able to find one live performance.
1950: Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong (I included the rather adorable animated cartoon based on this in part one, but here’s the Decca single without the animated visuals.)
1963: with Count Basie, from Ella and Basie. This is one of Basie’s great moments on his second-favorite instrument, the organ, and there’s also a mournful trombone solo, probably by Benny Powell. I can hear why some experts, including the LoC’s Sam Brylawski, prefer this version:
1964: Ella live in Japan, with Roy Eldridge & Tommy Flanagan. Alas, I only have this rare concert video in mediocre condition, and the youTube version is not any better - but still worth watching:
1989: Finally, she returned to the song on what was essentially her last album, All That Jazz.
And as a follow up, Diana Krall sang “Dream a Little Dream” in tribute to Ella at the Montreal Jazz Festival in 1996, with bassist Paul Keller & the great Russell Malone on guitar:
And with the great lady’s longtime accompanist, the fantastic Hank Jones, again in homage to Ella as part of the 2007 We All Love Ella - Celebrating The First Lady of Song.
Alan Matheson reminded me about Bing Crosby’s classic version, from the greatest of his later recordings, the 1957 Bing With a Beat. I have written about this album and this track many, many times, but don’t miss Bing’s spontaneous encouragement to trumpeter / bandleader Bob Scobey (“You ain’t just dreamin’, Bob!”) and the amazing low note that he hits at the very end.
However, I also stumbled across this very different 1954 performance by Bing, apparently from his General Electric radio show, commercially released on the 2017 CD package: Among My Souvenirs - More Treasures From The Crosby Archive. Much slower and more ballad-y, and there’s nothing like the low note at the end:
Two of my favorite contemporary bandleaders responded to the musicalogical inquiry about why Cass Daley (The Mamas and the Papas) changed the modulation:
Loren Schoenberg:
Is it possible that Cass Elliot’s musicians couldn't play in Ab, so they went to A, being an easier and better guitar/rock key?
Gary Lawrence (who is responsible for, among other things, the greatest-ever version of “Stayin’ Alive” - Look for that on youTube!) :
Fascinating article! You're a latter day Sigmund Speath and I thoroughly enjoyed reading about this tune. One observation -- Mama Cass probably did the bridge in the wrong key, simply because it's easier for a mediocre guitarist to play in A, than it is to play in Ab. Again, just a theory.
Two more musical observations by excellent musicians named “Dan”:
Daniel Weinstein:
One other note about the harmonic structure of "Dream a Little Dream of Me": All the 1931 recordings use a dominant 7th "II" chord on the 5th bar of the A section. With the Nat "King" Cole version, and all those after, that II chord has been switched to a minor 7th chord.
Dan Levinson:
One thing I just noticed as I reviewed the sheet music - there's a typo in the original publication: the chord symbol above the first chord of the bridge is "E" instead of "Eb". The corresponding piano part has the correct notes, and the other chord symbols are correct. There's a slight possibility that Mama Cass and/or the others saw that and were misled. But it's hard to believe that they wouldn't have noticed it was a typo, since all the other chord symbols and the piano part reflect a modulation to E-flat.
Very Special thanks to the fabulous Ms. Elizabeth Zimmer, for expert proofreading of this page, and scanning for typos, mistakes, and other assorted boo-boos!
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June 29 - Americana - For the Fourth of July - Songs of Civil Rights & The African American Experience
July 6 - The Four Freshmen & Other Great Jazz Vocal Groups of the 1950s
July 13 - Bastille Day: Guest Co-Host ERIC COMSTOCK shares his favorite French songs! Formidable!
July 20 - The Margaret Whiting Centennial: “Happy Birthday Maggie!”
July 27 - “Calypso Blues” OR “It’s The New Calypso Bebop!”
August 3 - Tony Bennett At 98
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Oh yes, Mark Mayerson is right (also George Connolly) yes, my bad (NOT Loren's) this is Cass Elliot, of course, NOT Cass Daley. sorry about that!
Hi Will. Shouldn't it be Cass Elliot, not Cass Daley?