“Horizontal” – Bunty Pendleton with Pat Flowers and his Rhythm (1946)

Artists chase fame and immortality hoping that one day something they create – even if only one work – will be remembered. Some achieve that and more – while untold thousands toil away with hundreds of hidden gems that the world may never see or hear.

Lucy “Bunty” Pendleton was a pianist and vocalist who played in NYC clubs, restaurants, and hotel bars in the 1940s and 50s. There are photos of her jamming with Baby Dodds and Albert Nicolas. She was married to music critic Bob Sylvester, who “covered the nightclub circuit of 52nd Street when its string of jazz clubs earned the label Swing Street.”

Despite all of that – The whole of Miss Pendleton’s recorded oeuvre is represented here in this three minute video. I discovered this record in a stash of mine that I was sifting through and seeing the RCA Victor label, I nearly chucked it in the “to sell or re-home” pile. The song title was intriguing and something about the names of Bunty Pendleton and Pat Flowers dredged up a Dickensian curiosity that caused me to put the record on.

Thank goodness I did – because this tune has become a real favorite. The slow-paced chill vibe is the perfect backdrop for Pendleton’s warm and silky voice as she opines on the joy of being horizontal.

Part of the beauty of this tune is certainly also due to the lyrics of Hal David – who later went on to collaborate with Burt Bacharach on tunes such as “The Look Of Love” and “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ On My Head”.

In any case, most everyone who hears it may wonder why she didn’t do more recording. I’ll say that this one record – in all its beauty – is enough in my mind to earn Miss Pendleton a fond and worthy remembrance in the immortal halls of artists who made their mark. In any case, here we are seventy-eight years later still talking about it.

Recorded in New York City on July 15, 1946.
Released as RCA Victor 20-1980.

Credits
Bunty Pendleton – vocals
Pat Flowers – piano, director
Herman Autrey – trumpet
Gene Sedric – clarinet, tenor sax
Jimmy Shirley – guitar
Cedric Wallace – double bass
Willmore “Slick” Jones – drums