The Band

[1426]

I have been thinking about Phil's band. It seems that many members of Phil's band were part of Walter Sharpe's band on the Harris Faye show. At least this is so in the early seasons. I recall the real Frank Remley (not Elliott Lewis' Remley) being credited for his participation on a number. Was Sharpes music initially the same band as Phil's? I wonder.
After Phil's departure from Jack's show in 52, many of the Band's members stay with Jack. How could this be? Had the band become the property of the Jack Benny show? Anybody know? Just curious.

[LLeff]

I have been thinking about Phil's band. It seems that many members of Phil's band were part of Walter Sharpe's band on the Harris Faye show. At least this is so in the early seasons. I recall the real Frank Remley (not Elliott Lewis' Remley) being credited for his participation on a number. Was Sharpes music initially the same band as Phil's? I wonder.
After Phil's departure from Jack's show in 52, many of the Band's members stay with Jack. How could this be? Had the band become the property of the Jack Benny show? Anybody know? Just curious.

This brings up an interesting mental image of Phil running down the alleyway and through the parking lot to get from CBS to NBC..........

Followed by a bunch of band members similarly running and toting their instruments. Poor Sammy (the drummer)!

I don't know a lot about the Harris-Faye show (someday when I have...ha ha...more time), but I can't imagine anyone much other than Phil running between studios. Someone might have sat in for Frankie on one show, but I don't think it was done consistently. So I think that the Phil's band we know and love stayed pretty much intact on Jack's show.

[TheSportsmenQuartet]

At what point was transcribing taking place? That would enable Phil, The Sportsmen and the others NOT to have to run from one studio to another.

[Roman]

There were only three years when this was a problem for Phil Harris. When he began his own radio program in, I believe, 1946, he and Jack were both at NBC so he didn't need to run between buildings and studios. It was only in 1949 when Jack went to CBS, that Phil had to be the man on the go. And by 1952, he had quit the Benny Program. During the 1949-52 period, Jack accommodated Phil by having Phil appear during the first half of the program. Toward the end of that period, I did notice a few shows where Phil appeared later in the show. I would strongly suspect, although I don't know this for a fact, that, by this later time, Phil's part was recorded beforehand.

As far as the band is concerned, I'd be very surprised if the sponsors of Phil's show didn't simply hire his own musicians for his program. It would have been far easier than having the Benny Program musicians run to NBC with their instruments.

[Maxwell]

Based on practically nothing I'll offer an opinion. "Phil's" band by sometime in the early '40s really was under the direction of Mahlon Merrick. So it's pretty likely that two different orchestras were used. I don't remember, but wasn't an orchestra leader credited on the Harris/Faye show?

[Yhtapmys]

I don't remember, but wasn't an orchestra leader credited on the Harris/Faye show?

Walter Sharp.

I don't think he was creditted the first year. I'm listening to a 1950 season show for RCA ("Transcribed!") where he's mentioned.

Yhtapmys
"Drive Your Blues Away"

[bboswell]

Thanks for breaking the ice on "based on practically nothing," Maxwell!! Now I can put in my 2 cents worth!

Unlike Jack, who had "The Jack Benny Show" and Phil and Dennis who famously had 2 shows, musicians of the time were more contracted for the studio or network, weren't they?

In other words, although made famous by Jack and Phil, wouldn't Remley and Sammy et. al. have played several radio gigs a day? (This would also account for someone's (I forget who's) seemingly impossible 10,000th radio appearance, which I believe was questioned on this board in another thread.)

[Maxwell]

Well, the question gets kind of thorny when you consider the fact that Phil had his own band before joining the Benny show, and I think the band also went out on the road, or at least played gigs in California, for at least a time after Phil joined the Benny show. I think I've seen somewhere (probably here) that several of the band members were in Phil's band before he joined Jack.

My guess is that you're right, at some point the musicians were contracted by the network. However, you also have to consider the previous leaders of the bands on Jack show. In those cases, the leader signed a contract to appear on the show with their own orchestras. For example, there were mentions on Jack's Canada Dry shows of several members (such as Red Ingle, Parker Gibbs, and Elmo Tanner) of the Ted Weems band, and I know for a fact that these guys toured with Weems both before and after their appearances with Jack. (I've exchanged a few emails with Don Ingle, son of Red who has mentioned his dad's appearances with Jack as Kringelein.)

I would guess based on this that Phil did exactly the same thing but that at some point Mahlon Merrick really took over the actual leading of the orchestra and that would be the point at which Remley, Bagby, etc. became musicians employed by the network rather than by Phil Harris. This most likely would have occurred sometime after Phil's part on the show became important enough for him to be thought of as one of the "stars."

[TheSportsmenQuartet]

The person who conducted the orchestra on the Harris Faye Show was Walter Scharf.

[Yhtapmys]

The person who conducted the orchestra on the Harris Faye Show was Walter Scharf.

Tell Bill Foreman to enunciate better

That would explain why a web search on Walter Sharp with Phil Harris turned up only one hit.

He seems to have been a favourite of Martin & Lewis
http://movies.go.com/walter-scharf/f1055683

The list is missing Magoo's Christmas Carol.

Yhtapmys
"Drive Your Blues Away!"

[TheSportsmenQuartet]

Another listing for Walter Scharf:

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0770127/