Well, I started the Decaying Hollywood Mansions Facebook page four years ago today & even though it was supposed to be just a musty old movie museum for my friends & acquaintances, it has become so much more & threatens to become my career this year. I want to thank all of you for making this so much fun & such a lively, thriving community. This is the second mixtape Tess & I have made for DHM followers & this one is a little heavy on Harlem musicians of the 20s & 30s (a current fascination of mine). Though much of the music didn't originate in Hollywood, I think you'll agree the mood is still sublime enough that you can easily see yourself in a mercilessly fatalistic black & white melodrama while you listen. Feel free to choose your own roles -- cad with the pencil-thin mustache, down-at-heel former doyenne, frail but insidious gamin, louche well-dressed gambling addict with a quip for every occasion, matronly procuress with shabby ties to Eastern European aristocracy, turbaned "hindoo" spiritualist who may be running guns to the jerrys...
If nothing else, after listening to the mix seven or eight times through, I can assure you it goes very well with a bottle of JTS Brown bourbon & dim colored lights.
Quality-wise, many of the tracks are reasonably pristine for MP3s, but many more are ripped from crackling old vinyl, which has always been my preference, even though it's a pretty shopworn affectation among mothballers like myself. I hope you'll either forgive or worship at the temple bonfire of those crackles & pops. If you have any questions about the tracks, feel free to send me a PM via the Facebook page & I'll get back to you as soon as possible.
As with the Facebook page, I've deliberately eschewed the hoary old motto "Less is More". I felt this occasion was auspicious enough to do it up right, so you're getting three hours of music here. If you're making that film in your head, you may want to include a short subject & possibly a cartoon.
Thanks again for making the page & the blogs & the enterprises to come so incredibly entertaining for us.
Love,
Charles Lieurance & Tess Emily Rodriguez
Proprietors
Here's your download link: DHM Fourth Anniversary Mixtape
Here's the tracklist:
Setting Up The Seance For Table Tilting - Amazing Kreskin
Honey in the Honeycomb - Lena Horne
Rocks In My Bed - Ivie Anderson
When Lights Are Low- Elisabeth Welch
Blue Moon - Greta Keller
Here's That Rainy Day- Sammy Davis Jr. And Laurindo Almeida
The Man That Got Away - Modern Jazz Quartet
Goodnight Vienna - Jack Buchanan
In The Dark - Kim Weston
Autumn Leaves - Milt Jackson
Hootin' Owl Blues - Dolly Ross
Booze Is The Answer - Ruth Wallis
It Was a Sad Night in Harlem - Duke Ellington & His Orchestra/Ivie Anderson
All God's Chillun Got Rhythm - Ivie Anderson & Her Boys from Dixie
My Blackbirds Are Bluebirds Now 1928 - Billy Murray & Walter van Brunt
Big Gorilla Man - Gladys Bentley
Sun Dance - Modern Jazz Quartet
Speak Low - Sammy Davis Jr. And Laurindo Almeida
Come Rain Or Come Shine - Kim Weston
Shirley Bassey - If You Go Away (ne me quitte pas)
Willow weep for Me - Greta Keller
Rose Of Pyramid Land 1912 - Walter van Brunt & Helen Clark
Arthur Tracy - East Of The Sun
Last Night's Gardenias - Mitchell Ayres & Tess Gardella
Garden of Weed - Reginald Foresythe And His New Music
St. James Infirmary - Eastman - Hall Johnson Negro Choir
If You Go Away - Kim Weston
You're Blase - Elisabeth Welch
Serenade For A Wealthy Widow 1934 - Reginald Foresythe & His Orchestra
The Ghost of the Violin - Walter J. Van Brunt - Maurice Burkhardt
The Folks Who Live On The Hill - Sammy Davis Jr. And Laurindo Almeida
Love Is Like A Cigarette - Ivie Anderson (voc) Duke Ellington (orch)
My Ship - Greta Keller
Back in your own Back Yard - Andy Razaf
Kunjine Baby - Black Hillbillies
Irving Mills & Hotsy Totsy Gang - Diga Diga Doo
Indian Love Call (vocal - Sam Costa & Judy Shirley) 13-3-1936
Deep in a Dream - Greta Keller
Play to Me, Gypsy - Arthur Tracy
Love Moon -10-1914 - Walter van Brunt & Elizabeth Spencer
Every Time We Say Goodbye - Sammy Davis Jr. And Laurindo Almeida
Killing Myself - Duke Ellington & His Orchestra/Ivie Anderson
Gigolette - Elliot Lawrence featuring Lucie Bigelow Rosen on Theremin
Freakish Man Blues - Meade Lux Lewis
Tango Notturno,1938 - Adam Aston
Take Me Back To The Garden Of Love 1912 - Walter van Brunt
St. Louis Blues - Hall Johnson Choir(11-8-39 Hollywood)
Lonely Is The Name - Sammy Davis, Jr.
penny blues - Kim Weston
Goodbye to Summer - Greta Keller
I'll Sit Right On The Moon 1912 - Walter van Brunt & Ada Jones
My Capri Serenade (vocal - Al Bowlly) 26-3-1940
Ubangi - Ruth Wallis
Be My Little Baby Bumble Bee 1912 - Walter van Brunt & Elizabeth Spencer
Night Time 14-4-1931 - Jack Buchanan
The Boy In The Boat - Meade Lux Lewis
We'll Be Together Again - Sammy Davis Jr. And Laurindo Almeida
My Summurun Girl 3-5-1912 - Walter van Brunt
This'll Make You Whistle (+ Elsie Randolph) 30-11-1936 - Jack Buchanan
No Regrets (Live) - Shirley Bassey
