Hi, MMDers: For quite a while now I've had a 78 rpm record,
Columbia 40592, of "Pete Kelly's Blues" as played on "Pete Kelly's
Orchestrion", from the "Mark VII Limited Prod. of 'Pete Kelly's Blues,'
A Warner Bros. Release." (The flip side is "I Never Knew.")
Anyone who's ever seen the flick knows the Seeburg G featured in the
movie, and on this record sounds pretty good (well, better in the
movie). In fact, I believe the art direction of the film was by a
Disney alumnus who appreciated automatic piano music in general and
the Seeburg G in particular.
The arrangement of "I Never Knew" is right off of an Automatic G-Roll
but the arrangement played on the orchestrion of "Pete Kelly's Blues"
(the movies theme song, by "Cahn and Heindorf") is entirely new, and
the arrangement sounds nice for something out of 1957, when roll
arranging was a lost art. Anyone know who arranged it? J. Lawrence
Cook perhaps?
If you haven't seen the movie, by all means do. The swell-looking
Seeburg G is literally one of the stars of the picture, playing a
prominent role in every scene of the interior of Pete Kelly's Club,
including the fade-out before the credits roll. This movie is widely
available on eBay and stars Jack Webb as Pete Kelly. If you like
coin piano music and the 1920s, you'll really enjoy this flicker.
Mark Forer
P.S.: Anyone know whatever became of this "Talkie Star" Seeburg G?
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