Biography
The ensemble held an indispensable place at New York City's Hotel Taft, on par with the chain of command among bellhops or the daily inventory of linens, and it provided a performance space for multiple bandleaders across the 1930s to the 1960s. Vincent Lopez, tireless in his commitments, led the Hotel Taft Orchestra at the close of the 1940s; the same hotel ties placed him at the helm of Vincent Lopez & His Hotel Pennsylvania Orchestra. George Hall had directed the group prior to Lopez, and sessions issued as George Hall & the Hotel Taft Orchestra yielded the 1934 Bluebird side "Flirtation Walk." Enoch Light, whose explorations extended to novelties such as "phase four stereo" and whose identity alone guaranteed lasting recognition in space age pop, also cut material with the Hotel Taft Orchestra around 1939, among them the extended "It Took a Million Years." Lopez contributed to one of the outfit's most widely noted releases of that period. An odd current in popular music during the late 1940s and early 1950s produced songs penned by sitting officials—governors and mayors among them—on themes of state heritage or public duty. Lopez ranked among the swiftest to cover "My Memory Trail," a piece whose words and music came from Oklahoma governor Roy J. Turner and which vocal virtuoso Henry Jerome also recorded.