New songs in the repertoire:

Six Days on the Road (Dave Dudley)

Why Did I Tell Ya I was Going to Shanghai? (Peggy Lee)

Ridin’ on the Gravy Train (Jo Stafford)

I can guarantee you no one has been playing these great numbers for a loooooong time….

This is the forgotten hit, “Why Did I Tell You I Was Goin’ to Shanghai.” Doris Day had a lot of success with it, but, much as I love Ms. Day, I prefer the lesser known Peggy Lee rendition, here sung live in 1951 on CBS radio and fortunately preserved. Bob Hilliard, who wrote the lyrics to “In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning,” wrote these as well.

It’s real cute, so I’ve added it to my repetoire. I first heard it when I was singing in Japan ages ago, on a cassette tape of American jazz I bought in a tiny cassette tape shop in East Osaka (really). Try finding some Japanese enka recordings in Houston…