Fred Waring
Source: OTR Cat
Born on 9 June 1900 in Tyrone, Pennsylvania, Fred Waring's isn't a name that rings a lot of bells these days. But back in the Roaring Twenties he was commonly known and enormously popular. Waring formed the Waring-McClintock Snap Orchestra as a teenager with his brother, Tom (piano), and drummer, Poley McClintock. That trio to work together for years to come, the Snap Orchestra became Fred Waring's Banjo Orchestra which Fred led as a student at Penn State University. That band was such a success that Waring exchanged his aspiration to become an architect for music, forming Waring's Pennsylvanians in 1923. His recording career would last several decades as he shifted from the college crowd — popular music throughout the Roaring Twenties a heavy spray of college-themed music — toward easy listening. Though Waring's music could be a little jazzy, and he had his own methods percussive and otherwise to stimulate hop, the Pennsylvanians were in general a well-disciplined orchestra with every note accounted for, to oft incorporate vocal sections, purposed to popular dance. Later assisting their fame on radio would be major collaborator, arranger and pianist, Pembroke Davenport.
Waring first recorded with his Pennsylvanians on October 15, 1923: 'Sleep' (Victor 19172) with 'That's My Baby' (Victor 19209). October 16 witnessed 'Stack O' Lee Blues' (Victor 19189) with 'The West, a Nest and You' (Victor 19172). 'Sleep' topped the charts at #1 in December of 1923. 'Stack O' Lee Blues' reached #14 in February of 1924. Of the 32 releases that Waring and his Pennsylvanians placed in the Top Ten from 1923 to 1932, four more reached the #1 tier: 'Memory Lane' in August of 1924, 'Laugh, Clown, Laugh!' in 1928, 'Little White Lies' in 1930 and 'I Found a Million Dollar Baby (In a Five-and-Ten-Cent Store)' in 1931. Sessions of multiple takes were the usual for Waring. 'Sleep' below went through eight takes before the ninth was accepted. Most session data herein is from DAHR (ADP).
'Sleep' Fred Waring's Pennsylvanians
First recording to issue 15 Oct 1923 in Camden NJ Victor 19172 Charts: #1
Composition: Earl Lebieg
'Stack o'Lee' Fred Waring's Pennsylvanians
16 Oct 1923 in Camden NJ Victor 19189 Charts: #14
Composition: Wikipedia
'Memory Lane' Fred Waring's Pennsylvanians
Recorded 26 March 1924 in Camden NJ Victor 19303 Charts: #1 Aug 1924
Piano: Con Conrad Vocal: Tom Waring
Music: Con Conrad / Larry Spier Lyrics: Buddy DeSylva
'Maytime' Fred Waring's Pennsylvanians
Recorded 2 June 1924 in NYC Victor 19367 Charts: #7 Nov 1924
Celeste: Nathaniel Shilkret
Composition: Vincent Rose
'June Night' Fred Waring's Pennsylvanians
Recorded 6 June 1924 in Camden NJ Victor 19380 Charts: #7 Oct 1924
Composition: Abel Baer
'Nashville Nightingale' Fred Waring's Pennsylvanians
Recorded 19 Sep 1924 in Camden NYC Victor 19492
Composition: Abel Baer
'Annie Dear' Fred Waring's Pennsylvanians
Recorded 9 Dec 1924 in Camden NYC Victor 19554
Composition: Clare Beecher Kummer
'Collegiate' Fred Waring's Pennsylvanians
Recorded 4 April 1925 in Camden NYC Victor 19648 Charts: #3 July 1925
Composition: Nat Bonx / Moe Jaffe
'Freshie' (as in college freshman) Fred Waring's Pennsylvanians
Recorded 7 Sep 1925 in Los Angeles Victor 19784 Charts: #8 Jan 1926
Music: Jesse Greer Lyrics: Harold Berg
'After I Say I'm Sorry' Tom Waring vocal at piano
Recorded 30 March 1926 in Camden NJ Matrix BVE-34736 Victor 20004
Composition: Walter Donaldson / Abe Lyman
'In the Middle of the Night' Tom Waring vocal at piano
Recorded 30 March 1926 in Camden NJ Matrix BVE-34739 Victor 20004
Composition: Walter Donaldson / Billy Rose
'Cherie, I Love You' Fred Waring's Pennsylvanians
Recorded 1 June 1926 in Camden NJ Victor 20074 Charts: #14 Oct 1926
Vocal: Tom Waring
Composition: Lillian Rosedale Goodman
Waring's drummer, Poley McClintock, had a gravelly voice leading some to speculate if he ever voiced the 'Popeye' cartoon (1933-83) which seems unlikely [Wikipedia].
'Any Ice To-Day, Lady?' Fred Waring's Pennsylvanians
Recorded 2 June 1926 in Camden NJ Victor 20083
Vocal: Poley McClintock
Composition: Pat Ballard
'To-Night's My Night with Baby' Fred Waring's Pennsylvanians
Recorded 3 June 1926 in Camden NJ Victor 20078
Vocal: Tom Waring
Composition: Bobby Buttenuth / Joseph Meyer / Irving Caesar
'It Made You Happy When You Made Me Cry' Fred Waring's Pennsylvanians
Recorded 28 Oct 1926 in Camden NJ Victor 20315 Charts: #2 1927
Vocal: Tom Waring
Composition: Walter Donaldson
'Just Another Day Wasted Away' Fred Waring's Pennsylvanians
Recorded 2 June 1927 in Camden NJ Matrix BVE-38269 Victor 20724 Charts: #3 1927
Vocal: Tom Waring
Composition: Roy Turk / Charles Tobias
'The Sweetheart of Sigma Chi' Fred Waring's Pennsylvanians
Recorded 2 June 1927 in Camden NJ Matrix BVE-38271 Victor 20724 Charts: #3 1927
Vocal: Tom Waring
Composition: Roy Turk / Charles Tobias
'I Scream You Scream We All Scream for Ice Cream' Fred Waring's Pennsylvanians
Recorded 30 Nov 1927 in Camden NJ Matrix BVE-38271 Victor 21099 Charts: #3 1928
Vocals: Tom Waring / Poley McClintock
Composition: Howard Johnson / Billy Moll / Robert King
'Who's Blue Now?' Fred Waring's Pennsylvanians
Recorded 14 Feb 1928 in NYC Victor 21258
Music: Joseph Meyer Lyrics: Irving Caesar
'Laugh! Clown, Laugh!' Fred Waring's Pennsylvanians
Recorded 8 March 1928 in NYC Victor 21308 Charts: #1 1928
Vocal: Fred Waring
Music: Ted Fio Rito Lyrics: Sam Lewis / Joe Young
'Lila' Fred Waring's Pennsylvanians
Recorded 23 March 1928 in NYC Victor 21333
Vocal: Tom Waring
Composition: Maceo Pinkard / Archie Gottler / Charles Tobias
'Ah! Sweet Mystery of Life' Fred Waring's Pennsylvanians
Recorded 28 March 1928 in NYC Victor 35921 Charts: #2 1928
Vocal: Tom Waring
Composition: Victor Herbert
'Glorianna' Fred Waring's Pennsylvanians
Recorded 14 Dec 1928 in NYC Victor 21836
Vocal: Clare Hanlon
Music: Lew Pollack Lyrics: Sidney Clare
'Jericho' Fred Waring's Pennsylvanians
From the film 'Syncopation' starring Dorothy Lee released 24 March 1929
Vocal: Morton Downey
Music: Dick Myers Lyrics: Leo Robin
'Love for Sale' Fred Waring's Pennsylvanians
Recorded 24 Dec 1930 Victor 22598 / 25080 Charts: #14 1931
Violin: Murray Kellner Vocals: Three Waring Girls
Composition: Cole Porter
'I Found a Brand New Baby' Fred Waring's Pennsylvanians
Recorded 4 May 1931 Victor 22707 Charts: #1 1931
Vocals: Clare Hanlon / Stuart Churchill / Nelson Keller / Three Waring Girls
Music: Harry Warren Lyrics: Billy Rose / Mort Dixon
Up to 1938 when Waring wished to perform a cappella glee-style songs he recruited singers from his orchestra. This changed when he met young Robert Shaw while filming 'Varsity Show' at Pomona College in Claremont, California, in 1937. Impressed with Shaw's abilities, Waring created a special Glee Club section apart from his Pennsylvanians and hired Shaw to lead its performances on 'The Fred Waring Show', a radio program hosted by Waring since 1933. This was a major move for Waring, as members of this vocal vessel were reportedly paid $25 a week, a major expense atop running an orchestra however many records one sold. Shaw would depart in a few years to form his own chorale, but the 'Fred Waring Show' continued to 1957.
As implied, Waring's career was a cascade of popularity earning him financially tidy sums. In 1938 he invested $25,000 in a patent filed by inventor, Frederick Osius, and the Waring Blendor, originally named the Miracle Mixer, was launched. Selling for $29.75, only hospitals and such could afford one in those days. Production was halted during World War II, but upon resumption in 1946, by the fifties, already wealthy from music, Waring's ownership of Waring Blendor made him a millionaire a few times over. Waring also owned the Shawnee Press music publishing company formed in 1939.
In 1943 Waring bought a resort in Shawnee, Delaware, that he renamed the Shawnee Inn, from which he aired performances throughout the fifties. In 1947 he began to teach choral singing, an occupation that he pursued until his death. It was November 1947 when Bing Crosby and Waring's Glee Club placed 'The Whiffenpoof Song' at #7 on Billboard's pop chart.
'The Whiffenpoof Song' Fred Waring's Glee Club w Bing Crosby
Recorded 5 June 1947 in NYC Decca 23990 Charts: #7 Nov 1947
Music: Harry Warren Lyrics: Billy Rose / Mort Dixon
'Nutcracker Suite' Fred Waring's Pennsylvanians
Recorded 18 Dec 1947 in NYC Decca 23990 Charts: #7 Nov 1947
Music: Tchaikovsky Lyrics: Daisy Bernier / Frank Cunkle / Fred Waring / Jay Johnson
Arrangement: Harry Simeone
From 1949 to 1954 Waring hosted the television program, 'The Fred Waring Show', one episode of which borrowed from the 1951 Broadway musical, 'Flahooley'. 'Flahooley' was a production with a political theme in which a fictional doll called a Flahooley is manufactured by a fictional toy company. Conflict arises when a genie produces so many Flahooleys for so many children that they lose their market value, thus must be destroyed by a mob antagonist. Come Santa Claus to this perspective on a "free" market versus capitalism.
'Flahooley' Fred Waring's Pennsylvanians Television 1951
Broadcast 20 May 1951
From the 1951 Broadway Musical 'Flahooley'
Including members of the Broadway cast: Bill & Cora Baird / Yma Sumac / et al
Music: Sammy Fain Lyrics: E.Y. Harburg
Remaining popular into the seventies, Waring toured heavily into his later years. He died of stroke on 29 July 1984 after videotaping a performance during a choral workshop at the same place where he'd begun his lively career, Penn State [obit]. Beyond music and business Waring's big love had been cartoon strips, his collection of several hundred originals in the Fred Waring Collection at Penn State University.
Sources & References for Fred Waring:
VF History (notes)
Ron Wynn (All Music)
Musical Associates:
Poley McClintock (drummer):
Robert Shaw (leader of the Fred Waring Glee Club 1938-1941):
Pamona College Robert Shaw Yale University
Tom Waring (brother / pianist / tenor):
Popularity Charts: Music VF TsorT
Collections: Penn State University
Waring in Film / Television: IMDb
The Fred Waring Show (1949-54)
Syncopation (1929)
Waring on Radio: Penn State University
The Fred Waring Show (1933-57)
Recordings by Waring & His Pennsylvanians: Catalogs:
Discogs (Fred Waring)
Discogs (Fred Waring Glee Club)
Discogs (Fred Waring Pennsylvanians)
Music Brainz (Fred Waring)
Music Brainz (Fred Waring Pennsylvanians)
Recordings by Waring & His Pennsylvanians: Sessions:
Scott Alexander (1923-32/37)
DAHR (Fred Waring 1923-1968)
DAHR (Fred Waring Pennsylvanians 1923-1968)
DAHR (The Waring Girls 1930/31/32)
Tom Lord: 15 sessions 1923-1935
Repertoire:
Flahooley (Broadway musical w book by E. Y. Harburg / Fred Saidy / 1951):
Nutcracker Suite (ballet / Tchaikovsky / 1892):
IMSLP Tchaikovsky Research Wikipedia
Authority Search:
VIAF
World Cat
Other Profiles:
The Pennsylvanians:
Guitar Junky
Penn State University
Fred Waring:
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