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Description

Page Cavanaugh was born in January of 1922 in Cherokee, Kansas. By the time he was ten years old he had become interested in the piano and by his teenage years was an accomplished player on the keyboards. His first steady work was in the territory band, the Ernie Williamson Orchestra, in the late nineteen thirties . During the Second World War stationed in Sacramento, California, Cavanaugh was the replacement pianist for an Army trio called The Three Sergeants, and in that group made the acquaintance of Al Viola and Lloyd Pratt who would form a musical partnership after their military service was over. By the mid forties, now based in Los Angeles, the small unit called The Page Cavanaugh Trio began to get club work in the Southern California area. They patterned their musical style after the King Cole Trio and developed a unique vocal sound which consisted of soft voiced unison singing. Soon they were garnering great reviews and spreading popularity. They began recording for small West Coast labels and soon found a few musical spots in motion pictures. The first recordings by the three man unit were for the ARA label. These include Air Mail Special / Saipan on # 151, and Fish And Chips and After Youve Gone on #160. Following were sides recorded for the Encore label – Crazy Rhythm / Too Soon on # 504, Dont Blame Me / When The Gooses Come Back To Massachusetts on # 506, and Jump Easy / You Go To My Head on # 516. Mastertone Records followed with Autumn In New York and the first recording of The Three Bears on # 7519, and a remake of Saipan and Vine Street Hayride on # 7523. Chicago based independent Signature Records was the next source featuring Body And Soul and Blue Moon on # 15190, and Ill Remember April and The Man I Love on # 15195. After these independent records the Page Cavanaugh Trio hit the big time with a recording contract with RCA Victor records. It was with this major label that the trio had their greatest success on record. All Of Me and a remake of The Three Bears was released on RCA # 2085. Bears was a good seller for the group and gave them name recognition especially on the West Coast. Johnny Desmond sang with the trio on Ill Close My Eyes and Guilty on #2109, and Jane Harvey did the vocal honors on Foggy River and My Number One Dream Came True on # 2149. Heartbreakin and Walking My Baby Back Home followed on # 2246, as did Loves Got Me In A Lazy Mood on # 2331. In addition to the recordings, they had an admirer of their work in Frank Sinatra. They did a number of appearances on the radio show Songs By Sinatra on the CBS radio network during late 1946 and early 1947. They even backed up Sinatra on Thats How Much I Love You and I Got A gal I Love on Columbia # 37231. In addition the trio was a featured act on the Jack Paar Show for NBC radio in 1947. It was also at this time that the Page Cavanaugh Trio backed another top vocalist, Mel Torme. They recorded a number of songs for MacGregor Transcriptions with Torme which later showed up on CDs for Glendale. Some of these collaborations were released for the Musicraft Records label in the late forties. They included I Cant Give You Anything But Love / Three Little Words on Musicraft # 528, Love Is A Funny Thing / Ill Always Be In Love With You on # 529, The Day You Came Along on # 530, and the 15000 series for Musicraft – And Mimi on # 15114, What Are You Doing New Years Eve on # 15116, an