Eddy Duchin—”Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea” (1938)
Eddie Duchin was a very popular “sweet-society” pianist and bandleader from 1933 until his death in 1951. Brian Rust jazz discography says this about Duchin: “As might be expected, his many records are not likely to interest the jazz enthusiast, but the following is exceptional” -- composer Harold Arlen and lyricist Ted Koehler’s 1931 composition “Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea.”
Eddie Duchin-piano, directing A. Carroll and Charlie Trotta-trumpets; Buddy Morrow-trombone; John Geller, Aaron Voloshin and Stanley Worth-clarinets and alto saxophones; Fred Morrow-clarinet and tenor saxophone; Milt Shaw-violin; Horace Diaz-second piano; Gene Baumgarden-guitar; Al Kunze-double bass; Harvey Campbell-drums, and the vocalist is Patricia Norman. Recorded for Brunswick in Los Angeles on March 21, 1938. Trotta’s trumpet opens the record and it is followed by Buddy Morrow's brief ’trombone solo. The arrangement was made by Milt Shaw.
Massachusetts native Edward Frank Duchin (1909-1951) was the son of Bessarabian Jewish immigrants. He was originally a pharmacist before turning to full-time music and became one of the best known radio artists of the 1930s and 1940s. Five years after Duchin died, at the age of 41, Columbia Pictures produced a successful feature film based on the bandleader’s life called “The Eddie Duchin Story” with Tyrone Power in the title role starring oppiste Kim Novak.
The reverse side of “Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea” was Louis Armstrong and Z.T. Randolph’s composition “Ol’ Man Mose,” also sung by Patricia Norman, and it caused a minor scandal at the time with the lyric “bucket” being heard as “fuck it.” The “scandalous” lyrics caused the record to zoom to the number two spot on the Billboard charts, resulting in sales of 170,000 copies at a time when sales of 20,000 were considered a blockbuster.
When Parlophone issued “Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea.” on its label in Great Britain on November 1, 1938, it was promptly withdrawn due to the alleged use of the obscene word in the lyric on the reverse side. To any normal listener however, the lyrics are as unexceptional on this record as on any of the other versions of this song.
