Ellis In Wonderland - Ray Ellis

You're My Girl

Ellis In Wonderland
Ray Ellis and His Orchestra
Columbia CL 933
1957

From the back cover: Clamber through the looking glass, scamper down the hole after the white rabbit, and there is Wonderland. The scenery auditory, in this instance – has been sketched out by Ray Ellis, and the sonic vistas are wonderful indeed. A good deal of the delight that this collection provides arises from the fact that one of America's top-flight arranger-conductors has been turned loose to experiment with sounds and textures in popular music, and through the listener's pleasure can be sensed the pleasure that Ray Ellis took in his assignment.

When an inventive arranger is given free rein, inventive music is bound to result. "Ellis in Wonderland" is full of interesting ideas both in sound and treatment, but there has been no effort to make an effect on shock value. All but four of the songs are familiar friends, and they are treated with affection. The other four, similarly treated, consist of a hitherto unrecorded theme song, a pair of Ellis originals, and a neglected show tune. It is a warm and colorful program, and the arrangements underline that feeling.

Consider the variety Ray Ellis has spread forth; the program opens with a slow, progressively emotional pre- sentation of You Are Never Far Away from Me, Perry Como's never-before- recorded theme song. In this, as in other melodies in the collection, the chorus is used for an instrumental effect and is less forward than in many similar efforts. A bright and cheerful setting of How About You follows, presented in terms of a dance orchestra's arrangement, with the strings relegated to an accompanying position. Then comes For All We Know, a smooth medium-tempo presentation, spotlighting the strings and a brief saxophone solo. When I Fall in Love uses the harmonic atmosphere associated with the works of Rachmaninoff in a splendid example of first-rate mood music and also employs the wordless chorus. The jaunty mambo theme of 36-26-36 carries through over the substantial background the orchestra provides, and the first side closes with the moody torch song Alone Together, wherein the male voices of the chorus assist in the accompaniment and the female voices sing in a counter- melody.

Subtle reminders of a biblical land in its Oriental guises are evoked in Milk and Honey, a broad, flowing melody that includes bells among the instruments in its fascinating background. A wistful arrangement of that old favorite P. S. I Love You follows, succeeded in turn by a bright, bouncy setting of Love Is a Simple Thing, which brings back the dance band idiom. The warm, expansive melody of You're My Girl from "High Button Shoes" is used to provide a romantic. interlude, followed by a light, airy treatment of Poor Butterfly that contains a hint, perhaps inherent in the song itself, of its 1916 origin. The program concludes with a smooth, sentimental version of Trust in Me, building to a vivid and lingering close.

These are some of the aspects of Ray Ellis' particular wonderland; there are others, of course, not contained in this collection. Along the way, through his outstanding career in popular music, he has arranged music for many other conductors, and has performed the same chore, as well as conducting, for such varying entertainers as The Four Lads, Mahalia Jackson, Guy Mitchell, Cathy Johnson, and the DeJohn Sisters, among others, on some of their best-selling records. Here he is on his own, for the first time, in a richly rewarding collection of his distinctive inventions.

From Billboard - September 9, 1957: Smooth treatments by top-flight orkster, Ellis, provide easy listening. A variety of tempos, Latin, slow, lush settings with chorus, and others with danceable beat, can appeal to teens and mature buyers.

You Are Never Far Away From Me
How About You
For All We Know
When I Fall In Love
36-26-26
Alone Together
Milk And Honey
P.S. I Love You
Love Is A Simple Thing
You're My Girl
Poor Butterfly
Trust Me