"GLORIA" - A SHORT HISTORY

By Marv Goldberg


© 2010 by Marv Goldberg

NOTE: The versions that I mention can be played using the links in the discography at the end of the article.


"Gloria" is one of the most beloved songs in the R&B repertoire. It's been sung over the years by countless groups, many of highly-questionable talent.

The song itself has a long history. It was written by Leon René (author of "When The Swallows Come Back To Capistrano", "Someone's Rocking My Dreamboat", "If Money Grew On Trees", and "I Sold My Heart To The Junk Man".) In the mid-40s, he owned the Exclusive label in Los Angeles (his brother, Otis René, who shared songwriter credit on some of the above tunes, owned Excelsior Records).

The very first release of "Gloria" was on Exclusive, around May 1946. It was purely a Pop tune, by bandleader Norman "Buddy" Baker ("Exclusive's Musical Director"), with vocal by Bob Hayward. The arrangement was violin-heavy, which was unusual for 1946, and although it saw no chart action, Cash Box loved it; their June 24 issue said:

After listening to both sides of this disk, nobody who is familiar with the work of Leon René can help but label him among the top figures as a composer of "pop" music. Both "Gloria" and "Memories Of Home" are ballads that ring the bell and knock on the door of national acclaim, and they should be let in as welcome visitors for as long as they stay. Bob Hayward handles the vocal on both sides and he has the voice to do it. If there's a complaint that he sounds too much like Sinatra, so what? That's good! The Buddy Baker orchestra drifts 'round the voice and they do it with great effect. I'd place this disk anywhere, and it'll wear itself out.

The June 1946 trades mentioned that Exclusive Records, in association with Bill Anderson (DJ on KFWB, Los Angeles), was sponsoring a contest to search for a girl who typified the "Gloria" of the song. This is another of the heavy-handed public relations gimmicks that I love so well. Like almost all the others, it came to nothing and was never reported on again.

The June 24 Cash Box had a nice photo of Leon René, Buddy Baker, and Bob Hayward (the man at the left was unidentified). It shows Hayward autographing the first copy of the disc off the press for René, who expected it to "set a new sales record". It would have been nice, however, had they actually named the record!

"Gloria" was next recorded by Johnny Moore's Three Blazers, also on Exclusive. Released in April 1947 as part of a three-record album, it featured the velvet-smooth vocals of Charles Brown. This, to me, is the definitive version of the tune.

Then, in 1948, the song really took off. This is curious, since the second "Petrillo Ban" had gone into effect on January 1, prohibiting union musicians from recording.

• In July, there was a version by Ray Anthony (vocal by Ronnie Deauville, on Signature - this used a celesta, possibly another instrument the union didn't consider "serious," but there's also a guitar and Anthony's trumpet, as well as other instruments from his orchestra).
  
  
• Exclusive re-released the Bob Hayward record (but not the Three Blazers) in August of 1948. Reviewed on September 4, it got a 70 as an "able effort". The original review from 1946 didn't give it a numbered rating, but they liked it a lot ("a fine sense of lullabying" and "rings the romantic bell" were phrases used). Exclusive reorganized its New York office with the goal of pushing "Gloria". Since the record was over two years old at the time, this tells me that Exclusive knew of a lot of interest in the song from other artists. While this would come to pass, it doesn't really explain why there was all this sudden interest.
  
  
• The Mills Brothers released a version on Decca in September. Leon René himself gave it its first airplay on September 30, when he appeared on Jack Lacey's Plugger Parade show (WINS - New York). Because of the ongoing musician's strike, the Mills Brothers substituted a ukulele for their usual guitar. (The ukulele wasn't considered a "serious" instrument by the union. However, their guitarist managed to get a real guitar sound out of the uke.)
  
  
• Ronnie Deauville (without Ray Anthony, on Mercury, with a cover of "It's Too Soon To Know" on the flip). It had full instrumentation and was from October.
  
  
• The Varsity Orchestra (on Varsity, with vocal and orchestration). Another October entry.
  
  
• Buddy Clark on Columbia (a cappella, backed by the Modernaires and the Skylarks). The final October 1948 entry.
  
  
• The Four Gabriels on World (with a celesta and guitar). This one was from November.
  
  
• Tommy Dorsey and his orchestra, vocal by the Sentimentalists. This one was recorded for the AFRS (Armed Forces Radio Service) "One Night Stand" series on November 23, 1948. These discs were broadcast to our Armed Forces, not released commercially. The Sentimentalists were, at the time, George Deane, Ronald Martin, Alice Masker, Barbara Babineau, and Joe Duffy.
  
  

Although Ray Anthony's version got a lot of airplay, only the Mills Brothers had a hit with the song (taking it to #17 in an 11-week run on the Pop charts).

The Mills Brothers

Mills Brothers record

Mills Brothers ad

Ray Anthony ad

Ray Anthony

Ray & Ronnie

Ronnie Deauville

Ronnie Deauville- Mercury

Varsity Orchestra record

Buddy Clark

Buddy Clark record

Four Gabriels record

Tommy Dorsey record

By 1954, the Cadillacs picked up on the song. I'm not sure where they got it from; possibly someone's parent had one of the older records lying around the house. It's also possible that it was given to them by their manager, Esther Navarro, who, in any event, dumbed down the lyrics and made sure her name was listed as writer [although no one was credited on the first pressing]. It became the Cadillacs' first release, on Jubilee's Josie subsidiary, in July 1954, and their street-corner sound has become the de facto standard for the song. (Most of those who sing it have probably never heard any of the classier versions, with the correct lyrics, from the 40s.)

In 1959, Jubilee/Josie issued The Crazy Cadillacs LP, which contained "Gloria". The album sold well and this became the first time that most listeners had ever heard the Cadillacs' version. Since this took place at the onset of the first "Golden Age Of Oldies", many, many street corner groups began practicing the song, using the Cadillacs' lyrics. Suddenly, they were being recorded ad nauseam by one group after another. It seemed as if these lyrics would remain the only ones ever sung again, but, interestingly, a white group called the Love Notes recorded "Gloria" for Wilshire in May of 1963, using lyrics that were closer to the original than to those of the Cadillacs.

It turns out that Leon René never sued Esther Navarro, simply because he was unaware of the Cadillacs' recording. (As the song has reached mythical status, over the years everyone has assumed that the Cadillacs had a huge chart hit, in truth, their sales were completely dismal outside the New York area [and only slightly less than completely dismal within it].) In fact, to this day, the only time the song ever hit the charts was with the Mills Brothers back in 1948.


Special thanks to Billy Vera, Ferdie Gonzalez, Rick Price, Neil Hirsch, Charlie LaRocco, Bruce Woolf, Charles E. Thompson, and Victor Pearlin.

"GLORIA" DISCOGRAPHY AND RECORDINGS

Click on the boom box to listen to a version

EXCLUSIVE
218 Buddy Baker & His Orchestra (vocal by Bob Hayward) - 2/46       


EXCLUSIVE
703 Johnny Moore's Three Blazers (vocal by Charles Brown) - 4/47       


SIGNATURE
15213 Ray Anthony (vocal by Ronnie Deauville) - 7/48       


EXCLUSIVE
218 Buddy Baker & His Orchestra (vocal by Bob Hayward) - 8/48 (reissue)


DECCA
24509 The Mills Brothers - 9/48       


MERCURY
8193 Ronnie Deauville - 10/48       


VARSITY
111 The Varsity Orchestra - 10/48       


COLUMBIA
38352 Buddy Clark (with the Modernaires and the Skylarks) - 10/48       


WORLD
2505 The Four Gabriels - 11/48       


AFRS ONE NIGHT STAND
1838 Tommy Dorsey & Sentimentalists - 11/48       


JOZ
765 The Cadillacs - 7/54       


WILSHIRE (using many of the original lyrics)
203 The Love Notes - 5/63