Exotica
Serenade In The Night
Philip Green And His Orchestra
MGM Records E3119
1954
From the back cover: Philip Green has emerged as one of the most talented and popular bandleaders in post-war England. It is possible that the American forces stationed in the United Kingdom contributed to the development of a public taste for popular music which carried on after the war. Certainly such leaders as the late Glenn Miller and their bands registered successfully with the British as well as the Yanks. Fortunately, there were local men like Philip Green who kept this trend alive and even enhanced it.
Thoroughly grounded in music from the age of 7 when he started studying piano, Philip Green won a scholarship to Trinity College where he majored in orchestration, theory, and composition. after college he played in numerous orchestra and at 19 became London's youngest full-fledged conductor at the Prince Of Wales in the West End. He then became well known for his programs on Radio Luxembourg which were beamed to England and featured him often, as many as 17 times in a week.
During the war period Green conducted many shows for BBC which were a morale builder for the troops.
Serenade In The Night
The Dream Of Olwen
Exotica
Cornish Rhapsody - Parts 1 and 2
Tango De La Rosa (Song Of The Rose)
The Broken Melody
Ecstasy Tango
Mandolins In The Moonlight
Salut D'Amour
Gaelic Fantasia - Parts 1 and 2
PRETTY! How can one resist a tune called Exotica? What kind of Turntable are you recording from?
ReplyDeleteAn Ion iTTUSB. Inexpensive USB player into the computer.
ReplyDeleteThe recording quality is excellent!
ReplyDeleteThanks. I'm on my second needle... I've compared one album to the CD version and the results, to my aging ears, seem very good.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was around 10, I received an EP version of this LP, with about 8 of its songs on two 45s. I had just gotten my first record player, and was only interested in rock 'n roll, but was nevertheless intrigued by this mini-album, a gift from a well-meaning aunt. I ended up playing it a lot. The music, especially CORNISH RHAPSODY transported me. It is extremely cinematic; I used to evoke an entire B%W movie in my head as I listened to it. I envisioned clouds of fog behind the imaginary credits, then chase scenes, murders, kissing, all within its 5 minutes of playing time. The EP also had a great cover, done in watercolors, which influenced my art for the rest of my life. Unfortunately the records didn't survive into my adulthood; I've scoured eBay for years in search of the EP, but it has proven impossible to find. I did manage to find a copy of the LP though, and it sounds still amazing to my very jaded ears. I have since learned that Cornish Rhapsody was used in a 1944 British film called LOVE STORY, which starred Stewart Granger and Margaret Lockwood. How's that for trivia?
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing! This would also be the only copy I've seen... found in a record shop here whose owner favors and sells obscure classical.
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