I first became aware of Ms. Carlisle when I viewed her performances of I'm A Good Good Woman and I Like It 'Cause I Love It on the VHS collection of "Soundies" performances entitled Louis Jordan and Friends, 1941-1945. Her coy jiving style fascinated me and I began acquiring what I could of her work and seeking information about her from various sources.
Una Mae Carlisle was born on December 26, 1915, in Xenia, Ohio. She was "discovered" by Fats Waller late in 1932. He invited her to play on his radio show at station WLW in Cincinnati during Christmas week when Una Mae turned seventeen. She was still in High School at the time, and her mother had approved her Christmas vacation in Cincinnati because she was to stay with her elder sister. When her vacation was over, she refused to return home, becoming a professional musician working with Waller at WLW. Fats' contract with WLW expired in 1934 and he left Cincinnati for New York.
Una Mae left America in 1936 to tour Europe, reportedly with the revue Blackbirds of 1936 and spent the next three years there, mostly in London and Paris. In London, on May 20, 1938, she recorded three discs that were released on the Vocalion label, including Don't Try Your Jive On Me. Her backing band for that session included the expert West Indian musicians Dave Wilkins (trumpet) and Bertie King (clarinet and tenor sax).
She became highly successful in England, Germany and France, where she worked at the Boeuf sur le Toit ("The Ox on the Roof"), a cabaret in the Rue du Colis�e
in Paris [named for the 1920 one-act farce by Jean Cocteau, scored by Darius Milhaud with themes based on Brazilian dance rhythms - a pantomime involving a boxer, a dwarf, a bookie, a woman in a red evening gown, a policeman who gets beheaded and is later revived, and a noisy bar full of people]. While in Paris in 1939, she was one of two pianists in a combo headed by clarinetist Danny Polo (Danny Polo And His Swing Stars) which recorded four sides for Decca.
She then returned to New York where she undertook several successful engagements and record dates, the first of which was a session with Fats Waller in November 1939 for Bluebird in which she and Fats combined to sing I Can't Give You Anything But Love. She began recording on her own for Bluebird in the summer of 1940. She soon had several hits, including Walkin' By The River with Benny Carter; Blitzkrieg Baby with Lester Young; and I See a Million People with Charlie Shavers and John Kirby. As early as 1938 Una Mae began suffering with mastoid trouble and in 1941 she was hospitalized for several weeks to treat this condition.
Bluebird dropped her from its roster during the 1942-1944 American Federation of Musicians ban on recording (the "Petrillo Ban"), so she signed with Joe Davis for whom she recorded more than a dozen tracks, one of which was 'Tain't Yours with ace trumpeter Ray Nance, who had just left Duke Ellington's band. It was during her stay with Davis that she was featured in the "Soundies" which first brought her to my attention.
In between bouts of ill health she played clubs and hotels and appeared on radio shows, including a week-long salute to Fats Waller on WNEW in New York in February of 1945, approximately a year after his death.
Her career kept going into the 1950s when she became involved in films and her own radio and television shows. Her last studio session was for Columbia in New York on May 8, 1950. She retired due to her illness in 1954 and died in New York on November 7, 1956.
Carlisle sang in a husky, intimate manner, and her warm sensual voice and use of delayed phrasing proved to be as effective on swing numbers as it was on ballads.
Vocalion (UK) -
Decca (France) -
Ms. Carlisle plays piano, but does not sing, on at least 2 of the above 4 tracks, which were reissued in 2001 on a Universal / EmArcy / Gitanes Jazz Productions CD entitled Jazz in Paris - Louis Armstrong & Friends (# 4400139792), which has not yet been released in the United States. Information as to the original record matrix numbers courtesy of Peter Grendysa.
Bluebird -
August 2, 1940 (New York City)
November 13, 1940 (New York City)
March 10. 1941 (New York City)
May 1, 1941 (New York City)
July 22, 1941 (Camden, NJ ?)
October 3, 1941 (Camden, NJ ?)
February 13, 1942 (Camden, NJ ?)
Joe Davis (and / or Beacon) (New York City) -
Session info:
May 23, 1944 -
May 25, 1944 -
August 30, 1944 -
October 20, 1944 -
7170 - 'Tain't Yours (A) / Without You Baby (B)
* Info courtesy of Peter Grendysa.
Davis had the habit of releasing titles on both labels, usually with the same record numbers, thus records are listed as "Joe Davis (and / or Beacon)". It is known that all Joe Davis cuts were released except one take of The Rest Of My Life and That Glory Day. Additional info regarding record numbers and/or matrix numbers will be appreciated.
Savoy (New York City) -
July 3, 1946 -
National (New York City) -
Apparently unreleased masters:
November 20, 1947 -
November 21, 1947 -
December 22, 1947 -
(++ - These may no longer exist. National was acquired by Savoy. It is believed that they may have been among the masters that were damaged / destroyed due to poor storage conditions at Savoy's premises in Newark, New Jersey. The damaged masters were discarded when the Savoy catalog was sold to Arista after the death of founder Herman Lubinsky in 1974. - Conversation with Marvin Philips of Heavenly Daze CDs and Records, Yuba City CA)
9044 - Stop Going Through The Motions (NSC336) / Where The River Meets The Sea (NSC278)
Columbia (New York City) -
January 18, 1950 -
May 8, 1950 -
March 17, 1950 -
April 18, 1950 -
RCA [Custom Pressings?] (New York City) -
circa 1950, apparently post-Columbia -
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May 20, 1938 (London)
5-162 - Don't Try Your Jive On Me (DR3654-1) / Love Walked In (DR3657-1)
5-198 - Hangover Blues (DR3656-1) / Mean To Me (DR3658-1)
5-199 - I Would Do Anything For You (DR3655-1) / I'm Crazy 'Bout My Baby (DR3659-1)
January 30, 1939 (Paris)
6989 - Danny Polo & His Swing Stars - Montparnasse Jump (4862) / Doin' The Gorgonzola (4861) [piano: Garland Wilson?]
7126 - Danny Polo & His Swing Stars - China Boy (4863) / Polo-naise (4864) [piano: Garland Wilson?]
November 3, 1939 (New York City)
10573 - Fats Waller & His Rhythm (No U.M.C.) - Darktown Strutter's Ball (043350) / Fats Waller & His Rhythm with Una Mae Carlisle- I Can't Give You Anything But Love (043351)
10853 - Now I Lay Me Down To Dream (054675) / Papa's In Bed With His Britches On (054676)
10898 - If I Had You (054677) / You Made Me Love You (054678)
11033 - Walkin' By The River (057641) / I Met You Then, I Know You Now (057642)
11096 - Beautiful Eyes (062748) / There'll Be Some Changes Made (062749)
11120 - Blitzkrieg Baby (062747) / It's Sad But True (062750)
11159 - Oh, I'm Evil (063838) / You Mean So Much To Me (063839)
11181 - I See A Million People (063837) / Booglie Wooglie Piggy (063840)
11257 - Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man (066879) / Anything (066881)
11271 - It Ain't Like That (066880) / City Called Heaven (066882)
11330 - My Wish (067963) / Moonlight Masquerade (067965)
11362 - I'm The One Who Loves You (067962) / Coffee And Cakes (067964)
11491 - Don't Tech It (071908) / I'm Tryin' (071910)
11507 - So Long, Shorty (071909) / Sweet Talk (071911)
'Taint Yours
Without You Baby
I'm A Good Good Woman
Ain't Nothin' Much
I Like It 'Cause I Love It
You Gotta Take Your Time
He's The Best Little Yankee To Me
I Speak So Much About You
Teasin' Me
You And Your Heart Of Stone
You're Gonna Change Your Mind
I've Got A Crying Need For You
The Rest Of My Life (2 takes)
That Glory Day
7171 - I Like It 'Cause I Love It (A) / You Gotta take Your Time (B)
7172 - I'm A Good, Good, Woman (A) / Ain't Nothin' Much (B)
7173 - He's The Best Little Yankee To Me (A) / I Speak So Much About You (B) *
7174 - Teasin' Me (A) / You And Your Heart Of Stone (B) *
7175 - You�re Gonna Change Your Mind (A) / The Rest Of My Life (B)
7176 - I've Got A Crying Need For You (A) / ??? (included in 78 rpm album set Joe Davis DA-4).
616 - Throw It Out Your Mind (S3316) / That's My Man (S3313)
617 - If It Ain't Mine (Whose Is It?) (S3314) / I'm Crazy About My Baby (S3315)
I Feel Good Today (NSC277) ++
Who's Kissin' Who (NSC279) ++
You've Got Me Baby (NSC280) ++
I'm Getting Old Before My Time (NSC285) ++
Have A Little Dream On Me (NSC286) ++
Best Of All (NSC287) ++
You And Me (NSC288) ++
East Branch (NSC333) ++
It's A Fine Morning (NSC334) ++
My Confectionary Baby (NSC335) ++
[1948 release from 11/20 and 12/22/47 sessions]
38736 - Una Mae Carlisle & Alan Holmes - Ohi Ohio Boogie (CO42663) / Alan Holmes - Citation - (CO42664)
38797 - Una Mae Carlisle - Tonight Be Tender To Me (CO42662) / Alan Holmes (No U.M.C.) - Supercalafajalistickespeealadojus (CO42665)
38864 - Tired Hands (CO43231) / Strange (CO43232)
38881 - Long (CO43233) / Gone (CO43234)
38973 - Frenzy (CO43003) / Mad About Love (CO43006)
38974 - I Bought Myself A Book (CO43004) / Best Idea You Had (CO43005)
38979 - We've All Got A Lesson To Learn (CO43153) / Three Little Bugs (CO43154)
Each side contains a 3-song medley as listed below. Una Mae apparently distributed these to disc jockeys on her own behalf (note the "DJ" as part of each record number).
Info courtesy of Marvin Philips, Heavenly Daze CDs & Records, Yuba City CA
RCA Special DJ 501 - Troubled Waters * War * Democracy Triumphant (EO-CB-5529) / The Great Mesmer * Hypnotized * Piano Magic (EO-CB-5530)
RCA Special DJ 502 - Forgive Me For Getting Forgetful * Good, Better, Best * Baby, Please Be Good To Me (EO-CB-5531) / There's Somethin' About The Boogie * A One Minute Journey To Boogieland * Una's Boogie (EO-CB-5527)
RCA Special DJ 503 - Do * Doodle Do * Perfectly (EO-CB-5532) / A Rhythm Mood * Escape To Nowhere * Jumpin' With The Stars (EO-CB-5528)
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