I am looking for recordings by Beatrice Kay, a singer from the 1930's
and 40's who specialized in songs from the "Gay '90's".  Everything I
have come acrosss is on 78rpm.  Are any of her songs on CD?

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Request for Question Clarification by markj-ga on 10 Jan 2004 05:48 PST

chico1934 --

Besides the 78s that are available, one LP by Beatrice Kay was
released in 1950 and is available at a reasonable price from ceveral
online soueces.  She also is featured in two duet selections in a 2-CD
set devoted to old movie musicals. This CD-set is also available.  I
have not found a CD of Ms. Kay's songs (except that one source
apparently offers a CD copy of one song).  Please let me know if
information on the LP would be an acceptable answer to your question.


markj-ga

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Clarification of Question by chico1934-ga on 10 Jan 2004 15:05 PST

I gather there was a later B. Kay, who did movies, so I am not certain
if we have the right one yet.  Thanks for your work so far!

---

Request for Question Clarification by markj-ga on 12 Jan 2004 08:01 PST

chico1934 --

Thanks for your clarification.  I may be out on a limb here, but I
believe that we have in mind the same Beatrice Kay.  In order to clear
up the matter, I have to give you some basic information on "my"
Beatrice Kay, and I am posting this as a comment to invite other
researchers or commentors to show that my conclusion is wrong or
questionable (I've been wrong before!).

My Ms. Kay lived from 1907-1988. Early in her career, she gave up
aspirations as a "serious" singer because of the effects of laryngitis
and became only a modest success in musical productions and other
films over the years. Meanwhile, she developed a specialty in Gay 90s
songs, some of which were released on Columbia 78rpm records, and some
of which apparently were later compiled on a 1950 Columbia LP entitled
"The Naughty Nineties," which seems to be available from at least a
few online sources.  Here is a link to the All Music Guide's entry for
"The Naughty Nineties":
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&uid=UIDMISS70401052156582526&sql=Abcg9kemtsq7z

(If this link doesn't work, go to http://www.allmusic.com , click on
"album" under the search box and enter "the naughty nineties" in the
box.)

If there is another "Beatrice Kay" that performed the repertoire you
describe, I have not been able to find her.  And, as I said in my
first clarification request, the only CD I have found that includes
Ms. Kay is a 2-CD set of Betty Grable performances that includes one
duet with her.

If you ultimately agree that information on, and a source for, the
1950 LP (or the CD appearance) would be a sufficient answer to
question, I would be happy to post it as an answer, along with some
more information on Ms. Kay and my search strategy.


markj-ga

---

Request for Question Clarification by markj-ga on 12 Jan 2004 08:02 PST

Sorry -- My latest posting was meant to be a "comment", and I am
reposting it as such.

markj-ga

chico1934 --

This "official" answer will repeat some of the information I have
already given you, but I will supplement that with other details (many
of which I have subsequently uncovered) and describe how I found the
information.

As I reported in my first clarification request, Ms. Kay lived from
1907-1988. Early in her career, she gave up aspirations as a "serious"
singer because of the effects of laryngitis and became only a modest
success in musical productions and other films over the years.
Meanwhile, she developed a specialty in Gay 90s songs, some of which
were released on Columbia 78rpm records, and some of which were later
compiled on a 1950 Columbia LP entitled "The Naughty Nineties."  Here
is a link to the All Music Guide's entry for "The Naughty Nineties":
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&uid=UIDMISS70401052156582526&sql=Abcg9kemtsq7z

(If this link doesn't work, go to http://www.allmusic.com , click on
"album" under the search box and enter "the naughty nineties" in the
box.)

After getting your go-ahead to proceed with an answer, I have found
that several other LPs of Ms. Kay's music have also been produced.

For example, Ms. Kay also was featured on a 1959 LP on the
Tops/Mayfair labels that was called "Beatrice Kay Sings Gay 90s." 
Here is a link to a description of that recording:
Tops/Mayfair Album Discography (about halfway down the page)
http://www.bsnpubs.com/pri/tops1600.html

Another obscure LP featuring Ms. Kay was released on CP Records and
was entitled "Having A Party."  It features Ms. Kay singing and
talking with friends.


All of the above recordings are currently available at the eBay
auction Web site, with varying amounts of time remaining in the
auctions.  78rpm versions of the Naughty 90s are also available there.
Here is a link to the relevant eBay page, with information about each
of the recordings:
eBay.com: Search: Beatrice Kay
http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dll?cgiurl=http%3A%2F%2Fcgi.ebay.com%2Fws%2F&krd=1&from=R8&MfcISAPICommand=GetResult&ht=1&SortProperty=MetaEndSort&query=beatrice+kay

(If the above link does not work, just go to  http://www.ebay.com  and
type "beatrice kay" in the search box.)

Finally, Beatrice Kay released an LP entitled "Saucy Songs" that was
recorded on the Harmony label.  This LP is available at the fixed
price of $6 (plus shipping) from Real Records, which is an authorized
"eBay store."  Here is a link to the relevant Web page:
eBay.com: Real Records (near the bottom of the page)
http://stores.ebay.com/realrecords


Unfortunately, I have not been able to locate any CD compilations of
Ms. Kaye's songs.  However, you can purchase a CD copy of one song --
"She's More To Be Pitied Than Censured" -- from American Music
Classics for $2.00 (plus $3.95 shipping)
American Music Classics: Catalog: "S" (scroll down to entry 6255BK)
http://www.americanmusicclassics.com/lett_s.htm  

Here is a link to the American Music Classics home page, which
describes the ordering procedure:
American Music Classics
http://www.americanmusicclassics.com/index.html

Finally, as I mentioned in my original clarification request, a duet
with Ms. Kaye and Betty Grable can be found on a 2-CD set called
"Betty Grable: The Pin-Up Girl" on tracks 14 and 16 of Disc 2.   Here
is link to the Amazon.com ordering page, in case you are interested:
Anazon.com: The Pin-Up Girl
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0000017CT/qid=1074178480/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/104-0734425-2807104?v=glance&s=music#product-details



Search Strategy:

I used a variety of Google searches to get information on Ms. Kay, and
then to get information on the availability of recordings by her in CD
format and in LP format (when the CD search was largely unsuccessful).

I began with the All Music Guide, which is a very valuable resource
for basic information on recording artists and recordings (especially
CDs). After that, I employed the following Google searches, among many
others:

"beatrice kay" CD
://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&q=%22beatrice+kay%22+cd

"beatrice kay" "naughty nineties OR 90s" cd OR cds
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=%22beatrice+kay%22+%22naughty+nineties+OR+90s%22+cd+OR+CDs&btnG=Google+Search

"beatrice kay" 78 OR 78s
://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&q=%22beatrice+kay%22+OR+%22kay+beatrice%22+78+OR+78s

"beatrice kay" lp OR lps
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=%22beatrice+kay%22+lp+OR+lps&btnG=Google+Search


This has been an interesting but frustrating project.  As a music fan
with eclectic tastes, I have heard of Ms. Kay, and undoubtedly had
heard her on the radio sometime during the 1950s, so I was surprised
that so little of her output has been preserved.   Certainly many
other artists of her era of comparable talent and popularity are
better represented in the CD bins.   I hope that the above information
is useful to you, even if it requires getting access to a 33rpm
turntable to transfer LP recordings to cassettes.

If any of the above information is unclear, or if any links don't
work, please ask for clarification before rating the answer.

markj-ga

Thanks so much! I will just have to get these old songs on 78, and
find a way to have them transferred to CD. It is such a pity to see
the old songs and artists being lost. My children even the leave the
room when I play my Judy Garland collection!

chico1934 --

Thanks for your clarification.  I may be out on a limb here, but I
believe that we have in mind the same Beatrice Kay.  In order to clear
up the matter, I have to give you some basic information on "my"
Beatrice Kay, and I am posting this as a comment to invite other
researchers or commentors to show that my conclusion is wrong or
questionable (I've been wrong before!).

My Ms. Kay lived from 1907-1988. Early in her career, she gave up
aspirations as a "serious" singer because of the effects of laryngitis
and became only a modest success in musical productions and other
films over the years. Meanwhile, she developed a specialty in Gay 90s
songs, some of which were released on Columbia 78rpm records, and some
of which apparently were later compiled on a 1950 Columbia LP entitled
"The Naughty Nineties," which seems to be available from at least a
few online sources.  Here is a link to the All Music Guide's entry for
"The Naughty Nineties":
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&uid=UIDMISS70401052156582526&sql=Abcg9kemtsq7z

(If this link doesn't work, go to http://www.allmusic.com , click on
"album" under the search box and enter "the naughty nineties" in the
box.)

If there is another "Beatrice Kay" that performed the repertoire you
describe, I have not been able to find her.  And, as I said in my
first clarification request, the only CD I have found that includes
Ms. Kay is a 2-CD set of Betty Grable performances that includes one
duet with her.

If you ultimately agree that information on, and a source for, the
1950 LP (or the CD appearance) would be a sufficient answer to
question, I would be happy to post it as an answer, along with some
more information on Ms. Kay and my search strategy.


markj-ga

Mark, thanks.  That's the lady. Now I guess I must get something to
play 78's.  I will have to ask my son, who thinks the "gay 90's" were
a couple of years ago.

>If you ultimately agree that information on, and a source for, the
1950 LP (or the CD appearance) would be a sufficient answer to
question, I would be happy to post it as an answer, along with some
more information on Ms. Kay and my search strategy.

Go for it!  I am new here.  How do I pay?

chico1934 --

Thanks for your comment.  I will post the information I have found in
the "answer box."  That will "close" the question, although you will
still have a chance to "rate" the answer and add an optional tip if
you choose.

Your payment will be processed using the credit card information you
have already provided to Google Answers.  If you have other questions
about the service, just go to  http://answers.google.com  and click on
the "Answers FAQ" tab.

I will work on the answer this evening and post it tomorrow.

Thanks again.

markj-ga

chico1934--

Thanks much for the rating, the kind words and the generous tip.  I
too lament the evolution of tastes in popular music.  I grew up
playing improvised versions of 20s,30s and 40s pop standards on the
piano.  I play them weekly now, as a volunteer at an assisted living
facility, to the last generation to have heard them when they were
new. (No, I'm not old enough to have heard them when they first
published, but I was encourage by my father to play them as a sideline
to my classical studies.)

Oh, and while the 78s of Ms. Kay would be fine for transferring to
CDs, it may be easier to find someone with a turntable that
accommodates only 33rpm vinyl records, so keep in mind the "Naughty
Nineties" LP and the other, more rare, lomg-play recordings that I
mentioned in my answer.

markj-ga