Biography
During the 1940s this performer cut numerous sides for the British HMV label, routinely supplying a localized treatment of material first captured in other tongues. From the 1950s onward Cavall channeled both his singing and acting gifts into television and radio work while based in Canada, contributing to experimental CBC variety programs including Haunted Studio—an appellation chosen not for any spectral inhabitants but for the producers’ conscious decision to forgo sets and props. The principal reminder of the theme remained the permanent presence of theremin player Jerry Hicks. Notwithstanding the prestige of those broadcasts or the appeal of period recordings such as the flowing “La Seine,” Cavall is chiefly recalled for his portrayal of Papa La Touke on the Howdy Doody Show.
His command of both French and English heightened his commercial viability inside bilingual Canada. While under contract to HMV he routinely scanned foreign charts for hits susceptible to translation, a practice exemplified by his handling of “Quizas, Quizas, Quizas,” the late-1940s Spanish-language success written by Osvaldo Farres Vasquez. Cavall released an English rendering titled “Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps,” though parallel editions existed, among them “Wer Weiss, Wer Weiss, Wer Weiss” issued by the German firm West Ton Verlag and “Qui Sait, Qui Sait, Qui Sait” published by the French Societe D’Editions Musicales Internationales. French-language titles he committed to disc include the aforementioned flowing “La Seine,” the quaint “In the Heart of Montmatre,” and the charming “Mamselle.” The selection “Rever”—issued in English as “Dream on Little Dreamer”—may ultimately prove his most durable entry, sustained in the digital era through repeated appearances on greatest-hits anthologies.
His command of both French and English heightened his commercial viability inside bilingual Canada. While under contract to HMV he routinely scanned foreign charts for hits susceptible to translation, a practice exemplified by his handling of “Quizas, Quizas, Quizas,” the late-1940s Spanish-language success written by Osvaldo Farres Vasquez. Cavall released an English rendering titled “Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps,” though parallel editions existed, among them “Wer Weiss, Wer Weiss, Wer Weiss” issued by the German firm West Ton Verlag and “Qui Sait, Qui Sait, Qui Sait” published by the French Societe D’Editions Musicales Internationales. French-language titles he committed to disc include the aforementioned flowing “La Seine,” the quaint “In the Heart of Montmatre,” and the charming “Mamselle.” The selection “Rever”—issued in English as “Dream on Little Dreamer”—may ultimately prove his most durable entry, sustained in the digital era through repeated appearances on greatest-hits anthologies.