Where The Black-Eyed Susans Grow - The Embassy Rhythm Eight (1935) скачать в хорошем качестве

Where The Black-Eyed Susans Grow - The Embassy Rhythm Eight (1935)

Today's song, "Where The Black-Eyed Susans Grow" is an upbeat dance number from The Embassy Eight, also known as the Embassy Rhythm Eight. They were a band within a band, an offshoot from Ambrose's Orchestra. It consists of Bert Barnes (piano), Joe Branelly (guitar), Max Bacon (drums), and Dick Ball (bass), with Max Goldberg (trumpet), Danny Pola (alto and clarinet), Billy Amstell (tenor) and Lew Davis (trombone). The group had a few recordings but seemed to be a short lived creation. Today's song was originally recorded for Champion on February 15, 1935 but found its way to a Decca release some years later. Benjamin Baruch Ambrose was born in 1896 in Warsaw which was part of the Russian Empire at the time. By 1911, he and his family had moved to England, and by this age was already listed as a "Violin Student Musician" on the census of that year. Setting out with his aunt, he had a successful music career in New York City and by the age of 20 was asked to assemble and lead a 15-piece band. The next bit of his life becomes a bouncing back and forth between clubs, always chasing the more lucrative deal, working at the Embassy Club (London), Clover Gardens (NY), back to the Embassy Club at the request of the Prince of Wales himself, The May Fair Hotel (London) which included a recording and broadcast contract, back to the Embassy Club (this stint is when this song was recorded), back to the May Fair in 1936 where he partnered up with American bandleader Jack Harris and formed "Ciro's Club", and on to the Café de Paris until the onset of World War II. After a short return to the May Fair, Ambrose gave up performing in 1940 (although still recording until 1947). Some key events in his life were the meeting of his wife Kathryn Lucille "Kitty" Brady while on one of his stints at the Embassy Club. They had 2 daughters, Patricia (1931) and Monica (1933). Also, his discovery of singer Vera Lynn who lent her voice to the band from 1937 up through the war and became known as "The Forces' Sweetheart". By the 1950's, as most bandleaders were falling out of fashion due to the onset of Rock and Roll, so too was Ambrose, having to take up gigs in small clubs to get by. This got him through the 50's and 60's until his last hoorah, the discovery and promotion of Kathy Kirby, and it was during the taping one of her television appearances in 1971 that Ambrose collapsed, passing away later in the night. Thankfully due to the persistence of a few notable radio personalities and niche fans through the ages, the musical contributions of Bert Ambrose have not and will not be forgotten. In 2005 a plaque commemorating his time at the May Fair Hotel was unveiled, and his likeness appeared in Season 4 of acclaimed TV show "Downton Abbey"