Jewish Herald-Voice (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 103, No. 5, Ed. 1 Thursday, May 12, 2011 Page: 4 of 28
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Page 4
Jewish Herald-Voice
May 12, 2011
Up Close
Phil Kraus: In the recording studio
By AARON HOWARD
(Editor’s note: This is the final
part of a three-part oral history of
studio musician Phil Kraus.)
Phil Kraus was discharged from
the Army in 1945.
“I wanted to get back to New York
and get my job back at WNEW,” he
said. “Our original radio band had
changed. Ted Straiter had taken
over the band, and that band started
working with Perry Como. So, that’s
what I would have been doing if I
hadn’t been in the service.”
Straiter conducted his band on
various radio programs, including
the Jerry Wayne show and played at
a series of upscale New York hotel
clubs, such as the Persian Room in
the Plaza Hotel. As Kraus noted,
postwar big bands were no longer
just a filler but an important part of
the radio programming, along with
soap operas, quiz shows, mystery
shows, sports and arts programming,
such as radio plays. Post-World War II
was an era when live entertainment
shows provided most of the radio
programming.
Kraus returned to WNEW. In 1951,
an NBC contractor offered Kraus a
job at NBC television.
“In those days, you weren’t
allowed to work somewhere else on
your day off [Sunday],” Kraus said.
“NBC was going to do a show at
the Paramount Studio in Brooklyn.
Paramount was an old movie
studio that had been converted
into television. Although I wasn’t
supposed to take a second job, I did.
Somebody turned me in for working
on my day off. The management at
WNEW said I had to give it up or quit
WNEW. I figured I’d take a chance
and go with the NBC job. That was
the big time, and WNEW wasn’t going
anywhere. So I said, “This is it, I’d
rather take a chance.”
Kraus played with the studio band
on “Your Show of Shows” until 1954.
A live 90-minute variety show, “Your
Show of Shows” featured Sid Caesar
and Imogene Coca. Writers for the
show included Mel Brooks, Neil
Simon and Carl Reiner, who also was
a featured performer.
“The conductor of the studio
band was Charles “Charlie” Sanford.
We would rehearse about three or
four hours on Saturday and all day
Sunday. Back in those days, the
cameras rarely showed the musicians
on the program, so I didn’t appear
much on television.”
During the early 1950s, New York
City was the center of the radio
and television industry. The city
was also home to most of the major
recording labels. The structure of
the recording industry was similar to
the industrial assembly line model of
the old Hollywood studios: everyone
had a specialized job to do. Artist
& Repertoire executives at a record
company scouted talent and signed
acts to (usually highly restrictive)
recording contracts. Professional
songwriters (often a team of lyricist
and composer) created the songs.
Publishing agents sold the songs
to A&R men. Producers selected
and usually arranged songs for a
recording session. Sound engineers
made the actual recordings (in
glorious monaural and then in both
mono and stereo around the mid-
1950s).
“The producer was hired by the
record company, so he was the one
in charge of the recording session,”
said Kraus. “I liked to work best for
Columbia. All of their producers were
real professionals. They really knew
what they were doing.
“If you were doing an album, it
took usually three sessions: two on
the first day and one on the second
day - four tracks per three-hour
session. It had to be perfect right
away. The studio musicians were the
ones that the producers least worried
about because they knew their job.
What we needed to play was written
down. We didn’t make mistakes.
“Often, we made an album with a
singer. I best liked making an album
with Eddie Fisher, because he could
hardly carry a tune. So, the arranger
would have to go over each tune
again and again. You knew ahead of
time an Eddie Fisher session would
go overtime. Most of the musicians
liked going overtime because it would
make the day really worthwhile.”
A typical recording session was
three hours long. Standard sessions
were booked in studio recording
rooms from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., 2
to 5 p.m. and 7 to 10 p.m. That’s
why everyone but studio musicians
dreaded overtime.
As the hired percussionist,
Kraus carried his mallets, snare
drum, bongos and cymbals with
him. He rented any other needed
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“Of course, the music
business was very
different back then.
To be an active
studio musician, you
needed the ability
to sight-read
- Phil Kraus
percussion instruments from Carroll
Instruments.
“They supplied marimbas,
xylophones, timpani - stuff you
couldn’t push around with you.
“Of course, the music business
was very different back then. To be
an active studio musician, you needed
the ability to sight-read. I had both
concert and jazz ability, so they could
call me for most anything. At least
I had a shot at everything because
arrangers always had their favorites.
But, if their favorite musician were
busy on a certain day, you would get
the call.
“It was all business, no fooling
around. They didn’t hire you to while
away three hours. You had a job to do
and you did it.”
Kraus recorded with Barbra
Streisand many times for the
Columbia label. He tells a story about
a Streisand recording session in the
early 1960s:
“We were recording an album
and it was during the afternoon just
before the first night of Passover.
Streisand was a total perfectionist.
So, she wanted to go over the
arrangement again and again.
Meanwhile, I’m looking at my watch
and the session is going overtime.
I’m worried about getting home for
Passover. So, I leaned over and said
to her: ‘Barbra, it’s Passover. The
rabbi’s waiting.’ She said, ‘Oh’ and
backed off.”
During another recording session,
said Kraus, a familiar-looking woman
quietly slipped into the studio with
her little son with her.
“It was Jackie Kennedy.
Somebody had gotten her into the
recording session. She introduced
herself and asked if John-John could
touch one of the instruments. Of
course, I let him.”
Kraus said one of his favorite
recording acts was the vocal duet of
Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme.
Phil Kraus
“They were very talented. Their
career took off after they appeared
on “The Tonight Show.” At the time,
I recorded with them in the studio,
they were still young kids but very
professional.
“None of the studio musicians
were star struck except perhaps
around people like Frank Sinatra
and Tony Bennett. Working with
singers like that gave you cache as a
musician and that led to more jobs.
However, none of the musicians
would have ever asked someone like
Sinatra for an autograph because
if they did, they were immediately
marked cornball. You were supposed
to be on the same level as them,
which was professional. The singers
would never have a band like the
studio band in their nightclub acts.
That’s why they sounded better on
their recordings.
“There was more business if you
did studio recordings than if you
were touring with a band. I also
preferred studio working, because I
had a family and didn’t want to leave
them. It was usually the single guys
who wanted to tour.”
Kraus moved to Houston in 1978.
“The music business, at least the
part I was used to, was gone,” he said.
The rise of the Beatles and
songwriters like Bob Dylan changed
the face of the recording industry.
By the mid-1960s, rock bands were
self-contained units which didn’t
record with session musicians.
The recording industry had left
for California and opportunities
for session musicians in New York
dwindled.
“I got a job with the Houston
Symphony as personnel director and
had a teaching job at Rice University.
So, I was able to make a living here.
I played with Ned Bautista and the
Houston Pops for several years.
“I’ve outlived almost everyone I
used to play with.
“My biggest regret? I have none. I
didn’t work too hard, had a nice time,
nice friends, nice work.
“My hero was Teddy Wilson. He
was a great player. He had a beautiful
touch. He played everything
beautifully, and it was a pleasure
playing with him. Other than music, I
couldn’t think of doing anything else.
“I did a lot of music teaching.
At one time, I had 25 students that
I taught in the afternoon when I
worked at WNEW.
“I never looked for fame.”
Could Kraus imagine himself in
our time, in a rock band, playing in
front of 10,000 people? He smiled and
said, “Why not?” □
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Samuels, Jeanne F. Jewish Herald-Voice (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 103, No. 5, Ed. 1 Thursday, May 12, 2011, newspaper, May 12, 2011; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth544183/m1/4/: accessed May 25, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; .