Ridin' High - Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians (1936)

Guy Lombardo is a name any 78rpm record collector has come across in their digging and if often discarded as common fluff while searching for old blues and hot jazz recordings, but Lombardo's contribution was just that; to lighten jazz enough to make it palatable for a wider audience and give the masses something to dance to and unwind to. This is "Ridin' High", a song originally by Cole Porter for his musical "Red, Hot and Blue" where it was sung by Ethel Merman. Guy Lombardo and His Royal Canadians put their version to wax on October 14, 1936 with the help of a vocal trio for the chorus. Gaetano Alberto "Guy" Lombardo was born on June 19, 1902 in London, Ontario, Canada. His father was an amateur baritone singer who encouraged his sons, including Guy, to study musical instruments. While just in grammar school, Guy joined his brothers to form their first orchestra and in 1919, the Lombardo Quartet made their debut at an outdoor dance pavilion in Grand Bend, Ontario. They continued to perform and grow in popularity and size and by 1923 was made of eight performers. Although it was mostly brother Carmen that acted as music director and arranger early on, by 1924, the band would change names to Guy Lombardo and His Royal Canadians upon starting a two year residency at the Claremont Tent nightclub in Cleveland, OH. While in Cleveland, Guy had the idea to perform on an unsponsored program for WTAM radio which helped gain a following in the area. On top of that, it was around this same time when Lombardo took the band to Richmond, Indiana and cut their first recording at Gennett Studios. From Cleveland, the band went to Chicago in 1927, first playing on radio at WBBM which resulted in gig and recording contract offers. Between 1927 and 1931, Lombardo's band made 45 recordings for Columbia, followed by 40 recordings for Brunswick in 1932-1934. He went with Decca until 1935 before an opportunity with Victor emerged with which he stayed until 1938. Guy would switch back to Decca after that and stay there until 1957. By that time, the Royal Canadians has sold well over 100 million records in total with a lifetime total exceeding 300 million copies by the early 1970s. In 1929, Lombardo began appearing at the Roosevelt Grill at the Roosevelt Hotel and continued on for three decades. The group crossed racial boundaries, playing the Savoy Ballroom in Harlem in 1930 and wound up setting a new attendance record. The band even made it out west and performed around Los Angeles in the 1930's. Of course with big fame comes big critics with many jazz critics of the era not liking his trademark "sweet big-band style" calling it boring, watered down and mainstream. Louis Armstrong very much disagreed with that as Lombardo's band was one of his favorites. Lombardo's band always made heavy use of radio, using its wide reach to gain audiences and business alike. Starting in 1929 when they first appeared at the Roosevelt Grill, they would do a New Years Eve show annually which would broadcast nationwide and every year, they would close with their rendition of Auld Lang Syne. Millions would listen in and the broadcasts would continue until 1959 when they were transferred to the Grand Ballroom at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel. For these performances, he gained the nickname of "Mr. New Year's Eve" and received a citation of recognition from US Congress. In 1956, Lombardo aired the first New Years TV special which would get syndicated to other stations across the country. Both radio and TV shows continued until a younger audience preferred the competing Dick Clark's New Years Rockin' Even, though Lombardo's show remained popular among older viewers. In 1994, PBS aired a special tribute to Lombardo with clips of previous New Year's Even specials. Aside from music, Guy also raced boats, specifically step boat speedboats. In 1946, he piloted his speedboat Tempo VI to victory, winning the APBA Gold Cup and was the reigning US National Champion between 1946 and 1949. By the late 1950's, he had won every trophy in the field and retired from competition. Because of these achievements, he was inducted into the Canadian Motorsport Hall of Fame in 2002. He would retire near the sea on the south shore of Long Island where he docked his speedboats Tempo, Tempo VI and Tempo VII. The home has been designated a historic landmark. Guy Lombardo would pass away in 1977 after complications from a heart attack. He would be featured on a Canadian postage stamp in 1999, was inducted into The Long Island Music and Entertainment Hall of Fame in 2008, received three stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and has multiple streets named after him, both in London, Ontario and in Freeport, Long Island.