Record bits and pieces

First record?... Henry Parsons has contacted us (October, 2011) with details of what could well be Jimmy's first recording. Based on Jimmy's individual phrasing and diction Henry is sure that the vocal refrain on "My fate is in your hands", recorded by Bertini and his band in early 1930, is by Jimmy Mesene. Bertini and his band played to capacity crowds at the Tower Ballroom, Blackpool from the late '20s until the mid to late '30s and recorded for the Piccadilly, Broadcast, Sterno and Eclipse labels in the period 1929 to 1935. The Masked Singer (2)... Leon Martel has extracted more information on "The Masked Singer" from the Edison Bell Winner discography by Karlo Adrian and Arthur Badrock. This was published in 1989 and lists all Edison Bell Winner label records. All the titles below were listed as by "The Masked Singer" but identified by the authors as Jimmy Messini (their spelling). Jimmy was also recording for Winner with Joe Loss at the time... EBW 5598 Isn't This a Night for Love / Let's Call it a Day - with orch. accom. - recorded Oct, 1933 EBW 5605 Snowball / Thanks - with orch. accom. - recorded Nov, 1933 EBW 5622 This is romance / The Last Round-up - with orch. accom. - recorded Dec, 1933 EBW 5635 Everything I Have is Yours / My Song Goes Round the World - with orch. accom. - recorded Jan, 1934 EBW 5646 Who'll Buy an Old Gold Ring / Sing, Gypsy, Sing - with orch. accom. - recorded Feb, 1934 EBW 5656 Killing Time / You, or No One - with orch. accom. - recorded Mar, 1934 EBW 5660 After Sundown / I'm a Failure - with orch. accom. - recorded Apr, 1934 EBW 5674 Lonely Feet / When the Mighty Organ Plays - with orch. accom. - recorded May, 1934 These sixteen titles have been included in Jimmy's recording song list and the chronological list of his recordings on the basis of the information contained in the Edison Bell discography... The Masked Singer... We have had an e-mail from Leon Martel who draws our attention to a solo record made by Jimmy on the 10th May 1933. It was made for Decca (F-3556) and Jimmy was billed as "The Masked Singer, vocal with orch. accomp". The titles recorded were "My Love Song" and "Dear Stranger". They have been added to the discographies while we try to get more information. (The information comes from the standard Decca discography for the Decca F series by Michael Smith and published by the City of London Phonograph Society in September 2003)... More records...these have been added to the discographies... A 78 rpm record .... Black eyes/The donkey serenade.....Jimmy Messini (vocals) with Nat Gonella, record date 7 October 1938 (per Lord's Jazz discography) was sold for £5 by 'Chris Gavin's Gramophone Record Emporium'. No idea as to when this was. Label=Parlophone record no=F1253. 'This is romance' recorded with Joe Loss 1933 (source: lyrics playground.com) Further research has shown that Joe Loss did not record this title in 1933. It is unlikely that the information given previously is correct. A Liverpool enthusiast has produced a CD that contains three tracks where Jimmy is accompanied just by a guitar, (presumably himself), and an accordian. The songs are sang in a Neopolitan balladeer style and at times are quite unusual. The tracks are: The lonely troubadour Water lilies in the moonlight Bridge of Sighs They have the same accompaniment as 'Old pal of mine' and were probably recorded at the same time. This has been dated as 1937 Tom O'Sullivan, a long time admirer of Jimmy Mesene, has come up with further information based on records in his collection. "Down and Out Blues" and "Sweetest Sweetheart of All" entries are now complete in our record information pages. He has supplied the names of the bands for "Over my Shoulder" and "Ranchos Serenade". The "Ranchos Serenade" title with Mantovani's Orchestra is interesting. Somebody else has come up with the date of 1946 which makes this the last record that Jimmy made before he left the UK in 1946 for the last time.

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