Jazz Connection Magazine

Crooner Garry Stevens Joins Fabulous Swing Kings For A Show Of 1940s Nostalgia

Crooner Garry Stevens, 90, sings with The Fabulous Swing Kings during a special evening

of swing at the Historic Oroville State Theater Performing Arts Center in Oroville, CA, on

March 10, 2007. Stevens sang with the bands of Charlie Spivak and Tex Beneke in the 1940s.

- Photo by Stephen Fratallone/Jazz Connection Magazine

Time was briefly turned around in Oroville, CA, on March 10, 2007, to a period when the hey day of the big bands criss-crossed the nation's ballrooms and theaters and when swing music was king. It was in keeping with that sentiment that brought those of nostalgic minds and hearts to the Historic Oroville State Theater Performing Arts Center for what was billed as "An Evening of Swing."

Providing the reminiscing musical moods were The Fabulous Swing Kings, Northern California's premier 15-piece swing band from nearby Chico, CA, under the direction of Bernard Farmer. The band's performance was part of the State Theater's 2006-2007 season.

Giving the evening's proceedings an air of authenticity was crooner Garry Stevens. Stevens is about authentic as singers get. He was there in the trenches, right in the thick of things during that magical period of America's musical past, having made a name for himself as the boy singer with trumpeter Charlie Spivak's band from 1941 to 1943, and with tenor saxophonist Tex Beneke's outfit from 1946 to 1948. During stints with both bands, Stevens chalked up a number of chart-toppers including My Devotion, White Christmas, I Left My Heart At The Stage Door Canteen and This Is No Laughing Matter (all with Spivak), and As Long As I'm Dreaming, Anniversary Song, The Sweetheart Of Sigma Chi, But Beautiful and Beyond The Sea ( the latter five tunes with Beneke). In fact, Stevens was so popular in his day that he ranked fourth in a 1942 Down Beat Readers' Poll of favorite male singers behind, respectively, Frank Sinatra, Dick Haymes and Bob Eberle. Not bad company to keep, that's for sure.

Stevens, a Benicia, CA, resident who turned vintage 90 this past October, proudly refers to himself as the "oldest living boy singer." He keeps active performing a few times a month with area bands. The reason why these various groups jump at the chance to work with Stevens is because he's timeless. The pipes of this seasoned veteran belie his age. Stevens may admit at times he feels his age, but his voice sure doesn't sound like his age.

Stevens got his portion of the show off to a sentimental start with Day By Day, a romantic ballad from the war years. Later in the first half of the program, he launched into the lush and reverie-filled Beyond The Sea. Stevens was the first to record Beyond The Sea in late 1947, over a dozen years before hipster Bobby Darin dusted it off and made it into his swinging signature piece. To illustrate the musical contrast, Adam Johanson, a 22-year-old student at California State University, Chico, came out from the Swing Kings sax section into the spotlight and belted out the Darin version of the song. Johanson, a regular with the band for the past four years, presented a very authentic rendition of the Charles Trenet and Jack Lawrence composition.

Later, Stevens gave out with My Devotion, his 1942 tour de force piece and the Spivak band's biggest hit. Trumpeter Jesse Rosenquist nailed Spivak's signature sound down to a tee, providing a warm and robust introduction. Stevens concluded his set with the romantic ballad, But Beautiful, a Latin-tinged Billy May arrangement of South Of The Border, and the swinging standard, It Had To Be You.

This is the second time the celebrated crooner has worked with the Fabulous Swing Kings at the State Theater in the last three years.

Other highlights of the show included Rosie Mellow, the band's featured vocalist, who was once again in outstanding voice, rendering a convincing rendition of Sentimental Journey from the Les Brown library, and a swinging version of the Nat "King" Cole hit, Orange Colored Sky. Ms. Mellow was also joined by Johanson, pianist Bob Speegle, and lead alto saxophonist Ken Jensen, forming the vocal group, "Swing Machine," on the jaunty World War II ditty, Don't Sit Under The Apple Tree.

Ms. Mellow and Johanson later teamed up on the playful Danny Kaye novelty tune from 1949, Civilization. Adding to the ambiance was an animated stuffed chimpanzee and a very primitive and feral-looking "wild man" of the jungle whose features resembled something between Fred Flintstone and Cousin "It" from the Addams Family. He accompanied the singing duo on bongos.

Throughout the remainder of the evening, the Swing Kings served up generous portions of Glenn Miller, Benny Goodman, Tommy Dorsey (some beautiful trombone work by Bob Nichols on Dorsey's theme song, I'm Getting Sentimental Over You), Artie Shaw, Les Brown, Guy Lombardo, and Lawrence Welk, complete with a bubble machine which provided an ambiance that can best be described as truly "Wunnerful, Wunnerful!"

Farmer and crew even threw in a "newer" piece of material (if a 40-year-old song can be considered "new") into the mix with Herb Alpert's Tijuana Taxi. Farmer reveled in his role of "playing" his one-note solos on a flat-sounding car horn at appropriate moments during the piece, which added an air of jocularity to the festivities.

While Stevens was the featured artist, it was Johanson who stole the show. The young saxophonist/singer was featured on six songs throughout the evening, getting the audience "hip" on Cab Calloway's Minnie Moocher, Dr. Hook's Alice, and James Brown's I Feel Good.

Gracing the side aisles of the theater throughout the evening's show were swing dancers from the Chico State Ballroom Dance Club and Dancing Chico.

A fun and memorable evening of nostalgia by a fabulous band and by a timeless guest artist.