“A Bungalow, a Piccolo, and You!” Words and Music by Al Lewis, Al Sherman, and Lee David (1932). Recorded in London at Studio 1, Abbey Road on July 22, 1932 by Ambrose and His Orchestra with vocalists Sam Browne and Elsie Carlisle. HMV B-6218.

Personnel: Bert Ambrose dir. Max Goldberg-Harry Owen-t / Ted Heath-tb / Joe Crossman-cl-as-bar / Billy Amstell-cl-as-ts / Harry Hines-as / Joe Jeanette-cl-ts-?pic / Ernie Lewis-Teddy Sinclair-Peter Rush-vn / Bert Read-p / Joe Brannelly-g / Don Stutely-sb / Max Bacon-d¹

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B4_qPhDy4PY

A Bungalow, a Piccolo, and You ! – Ambrose and his Orchestra

Transfer by Lilian Harvey – YouTube

In the very first Elsie Carlisle discography, Elsie Carlisle – With a Different Style (1974), Edward S. Walker indicates that Ambrose’s version of “A Bungalow, a Piccolo, and You!” has a Sam Browne/Elsie Carlisle duet, and yet Elsie’s vocal has been ignored by every subsequent discography, including even my own Croonette: An Elsie Carlisle Discography (published earlier this year). The record would appear to be comparatively rare, and I only discovered “Lilian Harvey’s” transfer on YouTube last week. (The omission will be remedied in the second edition of Croonette, which should be ready for online publication very soon.)

The songwriters include Al Sherman and Al Lewis, who would later collaborate on “No! No! A Thousand Times No!” and Lee David, who would team up with Darl MacBoyle to write “That Means You’re Falling in Love”; the latter song was recorded in 1933 by Sam Browne and Elsie Carlisle. The title “A Bungalow, a Piccolo, and You!” recalls the earlier “A Bungalow, a Radio, and You” (Dempsey-Leibert; 1928), but that is where the similarities end. Another song in which the singer says that all he needs is one thing, another thing, “and you” is “A Cup of Coffee, a Sandwich, and You” (Meyer-Dubin-Rose; 1925).²

Ambrose’s version of the song has a mostly instrumental introduction, except that very near the beginning a piccolo plays three series of notes which Elsie can be heard to mimic vocally. The piccolo continues to intervene playfully, even comically, throughout the song. Then Sam Browne begins to sing, describing himself as standing beneath someone’s window and telling her that all he needs is a bungalow, a piccolo, “and you.” Sam’s fun and comparatively brainless love song proceeds until the piccolo takes over for a moment. It is at that point that something incredibly cute occurs: Elsie again has an exchange with the piccolo in which she imitates it with her voice, but this time she scats. Even better, she boops (“Boop-a-doo!”), and then repeats Sam’s sentiments about needing a bungalow, a piccolo, “and you.” Overall, her contributions to the recording are brief but incredibly bright, joyful, and memorable.

While the songwriters were all American, I have not been able to locate any American recordings of “A Bungalow, a Piccolo, and You!” There are plenty of other British dance band recordings, however, including those by Henry Hall’s BBC Dance Orchestra (v. Val Rosing), Billy Cotton and His Band (v. Cyril Grantham), Terence McGovern (as Terry Mack and His Boys; v. Joe Leigh), Jack Hylton and His Orchestra (v. Pat O’Malley), Jack Payne and His Band (v. Jack Payne, Bob Manning, and Charlie Asplin), Nat Star (as Billy Seymour and the Boys; v. Fred Douglas), Jay Wilbur and His Band (as Jack Grose and His Metropole Players; v. Leslie Holmes), and Lew Stone and the Monseigneur Band (in a medley).