Nippon Swing Time Again ③
Booklet
When compiling an anthology, the part that takes the most time is the booklet.
To be precise, it is the time spent gathering materials and data to write the booklet, and verifying that information.
Thankfully, there is basically no word count limit (I am not sure about other reissues), so after summarizing the necessary information and writing the liner notes all at once, it ballooned to 34 pages. By the way, vol. 1 was 23 pages, so it has increased significantly. This commentary, along with the record details of the lineup (singer/performing group, lyricist/composer/arranger, catalog number, recording date, release date), an introduction, lyrics, and postscripts, completes the booklet.
The information necessary for writing liner notes varies depending on the writer, but I consider the following three points essential: (1) the background and whereabouts of the singer, (2) information about the band and players, and (3) information about the songs themselves. Sometimes I include anecdotes as long as they stay within the scope of the song, but I often omit them to suit the structure of the text. I do not include personal feelings, except in very rare cases where I use them for flavor.
Also, a technique I strictly adhere to every time is the control of noun-ending sentences (taigen-dome). I understand that it feels good to write that way, and it can look cool if done well, but using it too much disrupts the rhythm of the context and makes it difficult to read. I am always careful about readability.
About the singers.
In producing vol. 2, I conducted research and clarified the backgrounds and whereabouts of several singers. I would like to elaborate more here, but please check the CD booklet for details.
The information ranges from small details that only require a few characters to detailed whereabouts that are being revealed for the first time.
Since Victor singers in the 1930s also recorded many popular songs, I think the content will be interesting not only to jazz song fans but also to fans of popular music.
Band Personnel
This time, I was able to include instrumental tracks, but the majority of the lineup is still jazz songs.
And jazz songs always come with a backing band.
In vocal backing bands, solos appear frequently, and for instrumental tracks, one cannot help but touch upon the content of the solos and ensembles.
Since the Victor Orchestra of Japan and its Salon Orchestra have many members, I started by thoroughly pinning down the transitions of the exclusive orchestra.
I even wrote a separate text that is not used in the booklet at all just to solidify the personnel with correct information.
I like Victor's jazz because it has a different charm from other labels like Columbia or Teichiku.
That charm is mainly brought about by the ensemble of fixed personnel, and as I wrote before, there is a pleasure in enjoying the backing band by understanding the habits of individual jazzmen. While listening carefully to the takes, I have come to completely love the saxophone of Hikokichi Ohira and the simple, honest clarinet of Goro Susumu. I have noted the solos that appear in each take in the booklet, so please try to follow them with your ears while listening.
Digging for the original songs
It was common in reissues from the Showa era to have a good take but not know the original song. Even under the supervision of Mr. Masahisa Segawa, the phrase "unfortunately, the original song is unknown" often appears. Today, research methods have improved dramatically, and the amount of information is incomparably larger, so since I entered this business, I have been able to identify dozens of original songs.
Therefore, I have long been careful about filling in the gaps for original jazz songs, but it is true that there are takes for which the original song cannot be easily identified, and it is a problem that makes me rack my brain every time I supervise a reissue.
For vol. 1 of "Nippon Swing Time," "Ukulele Mama-chan" and "Namida no Michi" were very difficult.
"Namida no Michi" is a pattern where I took a detour because the company's data only listed the composer's name as Fain.
Speaking of Fain in the world of jazz songs, it refers to Sammy Fain.
He is known as the composer of "Hummin’ to Myself," which Betty Inada sang under the title "Kimi Naki Hi," and Taro Shoji and Fumiko Yamaji sang under the title "Mou Ichido Itte yo."
So I thought that was it, it would be a breeze, but when I started looking, it wasn't there. In the first place, Sammy Fain is a person whose trademark is a cheerful musical style, and he didn't write many minor-key songs like "Namida no Michi." "Hummin’ to Myself" is an exception among exceptions, and a rare minor-key number he wrote became a hit in Japan.
American numbers from the 1930s were generally turned into jazz songs in Japan with a time lag of one to two years, so I checked all the American vocal tracks from that period, but none were hits.
I thought maybe, and searched for Fain spelled as Fein, and it hit immediately. It was a person named Pearl Fein, but one of the only two songs that appeared in the search was "Namida no Michi (Lonely Street)," a rare song that was not a hit at all in America.
Looking only at the result, it seems simple, but the difference in the spelling of the name was a blind spot, and it took about two months to figure it out.
Vol. 2 has quite a few famous numbers, but among them, Helen Sumida's "Uwaki na Koi demo" was expected to be difficult from the time of song selection.
This is because the original song did not come up in rough preliminary research.
I didn't want to list it as "original song unknown" if possible, but Helen's vocals were good, so I decided to include it, thinking, "I can find the song later."
This song also had no original title at the company, and it was only reported that the composer was Johnson. There are so many Johnsons.
To state the result, I stuck with it until just after the manuscript deadline, researching and researching, and fortunately, it came up.
I didn't know which Johnson it was, so I used the process of elimination to exclude Robert Johnson, who I thought was unlikely, and conversely, when I checked around James P. Johnson, who was relatively well-known to Japanese people, the answer came out. He was a composer I had completely overlooked.
"Uwaki na Koi demo" was also not a hit number, and it is a mystery why Nippon Victor chose to adapt it into a jazz song.
Favorites
Finally, I selected songs for two CDs, and here are a few of my personal favorites.
One is Taeko Nose's "Chiisana Kibou," which I wrote about before, and I think it's amazing that it passed record censorship when conversational popular songs were being avoided.
I was impressed by the quality of the translation of "Soredake sa" by the Nippon Victor Rhythm Jokers. Analyzing the Rhythm Jokers' parts was also a fun memory.
What I am proud of as a "discovery" is the Japanese-style tango "Mata Mitai Yume" by Ren Tokuyama; it has a sweet reminiscence and faint sorrow that accompanies a stylish tango typical of Toroku Takagi. It is a record that it is strange has been buried until now.
I like both "Atashi Otona" and "Omoide no Yokogao" by Eiko Hirai that I included. These are takes that are full of the atmosphere of Swing Time.
Shidare Itoi's blues "Mata Au Hi made" is also a song I am glad I chose.
I like all the instrumental songs and would include more if I could, so I carefully selected and included my favorite arrangements.
The supervisor's attachment probably seeps into the liner notes as well.
Selling information and sense
I have written this in three parts, but "Nippon Swing Time vol. 2" is such an album.
These days, when you hear people say that CDs don't sell and that streaming is enough for albums, what we sell in a physical medium is not just the sound. It also includes the results of steady research and a design based on the album's theme.
It's not about being expensive or cheap, but please pick up this CD version, which is a great deal including modern binding (design: Takashi Okada) and information you can't get anywhere else.
https://www.jvcmusic.co.jp/-/Discography/A010090/VICL-65988.html