New Pop Records

General MacArthur's "Old soldiers never die" lifted the tape on the wildest scramble the U.S. recording business has seen in years. Winner in the first lap was Columbia, which enlisted Gene Autry to put the old song on wax.

Fattened out with an Autry-devised tribute to Mac ("The world will ne'er forget him, to him we say well done"), the record was cut the day after MacArthur's speech before Congress. Within 24 hours it was in the hands of California disc jockeys and shortly thereafter in record shops, selling an estimated 25,000 copies a day. Hot on Columbia's heels, seven other record companies got top performers in both barn and ballroom categories to record it; most called on professional lyricists to hoke up the song's meager words. Among those on sale by this week: Red Foley (Decca), Herb Jeffries (Coral), Vaughan Monroe (Victor), Bing Crosby (Decca).

Other new pop records:

The Louis Armstrong Story (Columbia 8 sides LP). Collectors who have been scrounging in secondhand stores for years in search of battered copies of Armstrong classics can relax and enjoy more than three hours of Satchmo's trumpeting--from the free-for-all New Orleans style (Gut Bucket Blues, Heebie Jeebies) to his comparatively slicked-up versions of Stardust and Body and Soul.

In the Mood (Jerry Gray; Decca; 2 sides LP). The wowing brasses and wailing reeds that made Glenn Miller a U.S. favorite ten years ago are faithfully reproduced by this new West Coast band leader, who used to be Miller's arranger.

Charley Christian, Jazz Immortal (Esoteric; 2 sides LP). A little of the disorganized noise from Minton's Playhouse in Harlem, where bop came into its own, plus some agile string-picking by the late great Goodman guitarist.

The King and I. The score of the newest Rodgers & Hammerstein hit. For listening purposes, Victor's album with Opera Stars Robert Merrill and Patrice Munsel joining voices with Pop Singers Dinah Shore and Tony Martin has the edge on Dacca's original-cast album starring Gertrude Lawrence.

On Top of Old Smoky (The Weavers; Decca). These strong-lunged folk singers take to the hills once more with plenty of pay dirt already in sight.

'Twas Brillig (Mindy Carson; Victor). Lewis Carroll's genuine jabberwocky tricked up to sound like such moderns as Mairzy Doats and the Hut Sut Song.

Kentucky Waltz (Rosemary Clooney; Columbia). With only a handful of states accounted for, it looks as though Tin Pan Alley plans to force U.S. music lovers to waltz their way through the rest of the 48. Je T'Adore (Bette Chapel; Mercury). Miss Chapel's cozy, loose-upper-plate style gives distinction to a run-of-the-mill intime ballad.

Yesterdays (Ezio Pinza; Victor). In fine voice, Opera Star Pinza does a rousing job on a fine old Kern standard.

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