Like many of pop organist Lenny Dee's early LPs, Dee-lirious! (Decca, 1956), his second release, is laced with vintage boogie-woogie, swing and jazz tunes. (For more on Dee's 1950s albums, read this earlier post.)
Among the standards on Dee-lirious! are Chinatown, My Chinatown, Caravan, Twelfth Street Rag and Coquette, a 1928 classic with music by Johnny Green and Carmen Lombardo and lyrics by Gus Kahn. Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians, with Carmen on vocals, recorded it that year for Columbia. RCA Victor had a competing version by Paul Whiteman and his orchestra.
Coquette has found its way onto scores of records since, including versions by Django Reinhardt, Louis Armstrong and Billy Eckstine. Here's Lenny Dee's take.
Coquette
Information on the availability of digital versions of Dee's early LPs that was included in the earlier post is still valid. And don't forget that his LPs make frequent stopovers in thrift store bins. Look for the ones released from 1954 (DEE-Lightful! Hi-Fi Organ Solos With A Beat) to about 1965 (Sweethearts on Parade). Most of his recordings after that are mainly easy listening mush.
Here's another selection from Dee-lirious!, That's My Weakness Now. Composed in 1928 there were contemporary popular recordings by Helen Kane and Cliff Edwards, who often recorded under the name Ukulele Ike.
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