Soundie - In A Shanty In Old Shanty Town (1940)

★★★★ · wayward conductor · peterdc60 · 2006-12-30

You have to admit, his conducting style is a little indistinct. I LOVE this song.

★★★ · Shanty Orchestra Identified · DrRich · 2004-08-06

I'm surprised that this Soundie is listed as being performed by an unknown orchestra. This is Johnny Long and his orchestra performing one of their big hits. This band was very popular in the 1940s and developed a style where the band became a chorus on almost every performance. In the 40's the vocal was usually done by a featured vocalist who only sang the chorus after the band had played the verse and perhaps even the first chorus. So using the band members as a chorus gave Johnny Long a distrinctive sound for his group. I have this number on an old 78rmp record. It was great seeing this…