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Lost In Loveliness: Stage Door Collects Dolores Gray's "Decca Singles 1953-1955"

July 21, 2020 By Joe Marchese 5 Comments

Dolores Gray Decca Singles

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Stage Door Records celebrates the legacy of one of Broadway's great leading ladies, the late Dolores Gray, with its next release. Due in stores on August 14, Heat Wave: The Decca Singles 1953-1955 has two dozen sides Gray recorded for the venerable Decca label during that period including the Irving Berlin-penned showstopper from the soundtrack of There's No Business Like Show Business which lends this collection its title. (Gray stepped in when the film's star Marilyn Monroe was contractually unavailable to appear on the Decca LP.) Heat Wave picks up where the 2003 Sepia Records compilation Spotlight on Dolores Gray concluded; that set included 25 sides recorded between 1949 and 1952.

Born to a vaudevillian family, Gray attracted the notice of megaphone-wielding crooner Rudy Vallee. Spots on his radio show led to a couple of minor, uncredited motion picture roles but Gray rose to prominence on the stage. She made her Broadway debut in Cole Porter's 1944 musical Seven Lively Arts and followed it up with Are You with It? and Sweet Bye and Bye, the latter of which closed out of town. In 1947, Gray was well-known and well-regarded enough to win the title role in the original London production of Irving Berlin's Annie Get Your Gun when Ethel Merman declined to reprise her role. She made Royal Variety Show appearances in 1947 and 1949, and while in London earned a diploma from RADA (Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts) in Acting. Gray returned to Broadway in 1951 opposite Bert Lahr in Jule Styne, Betty Comden, and Adolph Green's Two on the Aisle. Its cast album was recorded for Decca, and the label was quick to sign Gray for pop recordings.

At Decca, the sultry singer collaborated on a long string of singles with the illustrious likes of Tutti Camarata, The Ray Charles Singers, and Sy Oliver. She recorded pop tunes, novelties, and material from then-current musicals and films. Stage Door's volume features Dolores' renditions of songs from Hollywood's Shane and Three Sailors and a Girl as well as Broadway's By the Beautiful Sea, The Girl in Pink Tights, and Silk Stockings plus "Heat Wave" and "After You Get What You Want, You Don't Want It" from There's No Business Like Show Business. (Gray's "Lazy" was on the original Decca soundtrack album but not released as a single.)

While recording for Decca, Gray opened and closed the musical Carnival in Flanders on Broadway; despite a fine pedigree including writer-director Preston Sturges and co-star John Raitt, the show only played six performances. It did, however, win her a Tony Award as Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical (and a place in the history books as the recipient whose show ran the shortest length of time). MGM and director Vincente Minnelli took notice of Dolores and swept her to Hollywood where she appeared in four of the studio's films - two musicals (Kismet and It's Always Fair Weather) and two comedies (The Opposite Sex and Designing Woman).

In Hollywood, with her Decca contract ended, Gray signed to Capitol and recorded her only full-length studio album, Warm Brandy, with arranger-conductor Sid Feller. She scored a Broadway triumph opposite future television superstar Andy Griffith in 1959's Destry Rides Again but didn't appear on the New York stage again until the short-lived Sherry! in 1967. London remained hospitable to Gray, and she electrified audiences replacing Angela Lansbury there in the Broadway-bound revival of Gypsy. (She played the role of Madame Rose regionally in the U.S., as well.)  In the 1980s Dolores made her final appearances on Broadway and in the West End with 42nd Street and Follies, respectively. She died in 2002 at the age of 78.

Heat Wave: The Decca Singles 1953-1955 has new liner notes from George Dansker. It's made possible via current U.K. public domain laws, and is limited to 500 units only.  It's due on August 14 from Stage Door but pre-orders placed directly through the label are already shipping. You'll find the track listing below!

Dolores Gray, Heat Wave: The Decca Singles 1953-1955 (Stage Door STAGE 9075, 2020) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / Stage Door)

  1. Kaw-Liga (Decca 9-28582, 1953)
  2. My Heart Is a Kingdom (Decca 9-28582, 1953)
  3. Big Mamou (Decca 9-28676, 1953)
  4. Say You're Mine Again (Decca 9-28676, 1953)
  5. The Call of the Far-Away Hills (Decca 9-28755, 1953)
  6. Darling, The Moon Is So Bright Tonight (Decca 9-28755, 1953)
  7. L.O.V.E. (Decca 9-28783, 1953)
  8. That's Love, I Guess (Decca 9-28783, 1953)
  9. Poppa Piccolino (Decca 9-28968, 1953)
  10. Face to Face (Decca 9-28968, 1953)
  11. Sweet Cheat (Decca 9-29031, 1954)
  12. Flowers for the Lady (Decca 9-29031, 1954)
  13. Happy Habit (Decca 9-29064, 1954)
  14. Hang Up (Decca 9-29064, 1954)
  15. In Paris and In Love (Decca 9-29109, 1954)
  16. Lost in Loveliness (Decca 9-29109, 1954)
  17. Too Bad (Decca 9-29205, 1954)
  18. One (Decca 9-29205, 1954)
  19. Without Love (Decca 9-29353, 1954)
  20. The Finger of Suspicion Points at You (Decca 9-29353, 1954)
  21. After You Get What You Want, You Don't Want It (Decca 9-29380, 1955)
  22. Heat Wave (Decca 9-29380, 1955)
  23. Rock Love (Decca 9-29430, 1955)
  24. It May Sound Silly (Decca 9-29430, 1955)

Categories: News Formats: CD Genre: Popular Standards/Vocal Tags: Dolores Gray

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Joe Marchese

JOE MARCHESE (Editor) joined The Second Disc shortly after its launch in early 2010, and has since penned daily news and reviews about classic music of all genres. In 2015, Joe formed the Second Disc Records label. Celebrating the great songwriters, producers and artists who created the sound of American popular song, Second Disc Records, in conjunction with Real Gone Music, has released newly-curated collections produced by Joe from iconic artists such as Johnny Mathis, Bobby Darin, Laura Nyro, Melissa Manchester, Chet Atkins, and many others. He has contributed liner notes to reissues from a diverse array of artists, among them Nat "King" Cole, Paul Williams, Lesley Gore, Dusty Springfield, B.J. Thomas, The 5th Dimension, Burt Bacharach, The Mamas and the Papas, Carpenters, Perry Como, Rod McKuen, Doris Day, Jackie DeShannon, and Andy Williams, and has compiled releases for talents including Robert Goulet and Keith Allison of Paul Revere and the Raiders. Over the past two decades, Joe has also worked in a variety of capacities on and off Broadway as well as at some of the premier theatres in the U.S., including Lincoln Center Theater, George Street Playhouse, Paper Mill Playhouse, Long Wharf Theatre, and the York Theatre Company. He has felt privileged to work on productions alongside artists such as the late Jack Klugman, Eli Wallach, Arthur Laurents, Betty Comden and Adolph Green. In 2009, Joe began contributing theatre and music reviews to the print publication The Sondheim Review, and in 2012, he joined the staff of The Digital Bits as a regular contributor writing about film and television on DVD and Blu-ray. Joe currently resides in the suburbs of New York City.

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Comments

  1. Daniel Maher says

    July 21, 2020 at 12:09 pm

    Thanks for posting this, I just placed a pre-order. Dolores Gray is greatly under-appreciated. If she had been born ten years earlier, I imagine she would have appeared in many more Hollywood musicals. "Warm Brandy" showcases her versatility giving her the chance to purr and coo instead of belt; it's a shame it's her only studio album. There are quite a few videos online of her performances on TV variety shows from the 50's which are worth checking out.

    Reply
    • Avatar photoJoe Marchese says

      July 21, 2020 at 11:39 pm

      I couldn't agree more, Daniel. She was certainly a special talent! I'm looking forward to this release, as well.

      Reply
  2. Robert says

    July 22, 2020 at 9:14 pm

    Already ordered! Looking forward to this one.

    Reply
  3. sm says

    July 27, 2020 at 12:48 pm

    I can't see any Universal/Decca credit on the packaging, so the audio is taken from old vinyl records?

    Reply
    • Avatar photoJoe Marchese says

      July 27, 2020 at 1:04 pm

      As noted in the article, this title is a legal release made possible by U.K. public domain laws. Universal and Decca are not involved, so audio would have been derived not from master tapes (if they even still exist) but rather from collectors' best available sources including, yes, original but likely pristine vinyl. Happily, Stage Door's work in this regard has been exemplary.

      Reply

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