Something different tonight and going along with the Holiday spirit, but still doing sessions. Tonight it's a live performance from 1946 featuring one of the most popular black vocal groups from the 1930's to the 1950's. The Delta Rhythm Boys, like The Ink Spots, The Charioteers and many others, were prototypes for what became the Doo-Wop genre of the late 1940's through the 1950's and beyond. Elegantly structured vocal harmonies and cool arrangements of Standards were the signature of many of these groups. And the Delta Rhythm Boys were one of the best examples of that style.
Very popular in the U.S., they were phenomenons in Europe. So in the early 1950's they relocated and eventually took up residence in Paris where they stayed until the late 1980's by which time all the original founding members had passed away and the group was no more.
They did leave behind a rich legacy of studio recordings and numerous live recordings, of which tonight's Roundtable features two of them - Dry Bones and On The Sunny Side Of The Street, performed live on the Carnation Contented Hour from July 29, 1946.
Change of pace. Something maybe unfamiliar. Give it a shot and see if it appeals.
If it does, there's more to go with your Thanksgiving weekend.
