Consumer Guide Album

Joe Franklin Presents . . . The Roaring '20s Roar Again [Legacy, 1995]
The liveliest of a budget series barely scathed by Joe waxing nostalgic to sum up is especially recommended to provincials still unfamiliar with the young Louis Armstrong, who has two of the 12 selections. There are signature songs by Al Jolson, Eddie Cantor, and Sophie Tucker, all of whom now sound excessively historical over their own full albums, and tickets to sin like Adelaide Hall's sinuous "I Must Have That Man," Bing Crosby's speculative "Let's Fall in Love," Ruth Etting's underpaid "Ten Cents a Dance," and Blossom Seeley's epochally jaunty "Yes Sir, That's My Baby." This music was nowhere near as safe and quaint as you think. Give it to your grandma and ask her how it felt. A