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Thursday, May 26, 2011

Ted Heath's First American Tour!

Ted Heath's First American Tour!
London Records LL 1564
1957

This album is available as a combo CD with Ted Heath At Carnegie Hall. But you don't get this fun original cover art with the CD. I thought someone might like to see it.

This album was recorded in remembrance of Heath's band's American Tour in 1956.

From wikipedia: In April 1956 Heath arranged his first American tour. This was a ground breaking reciprocal agreement between Heath and Stan Kenton, who would tour Britain at the same time as Heath toured the U.S. The tour was a major negotiated agreement with the British Musicians' Union and the American Federation of Musicians, which broke a 20 year union deadlock. Heath contracted to play a tour that included Nat King Cole, June Christy and the Four Freshmen that consisted of 43 concerts in 30 cities (primarily the southern states) in 31 days (7,000 miles) climaxing in a Carnegie Hall concert on May 1, 1956.[13] At this performance, the band's instrument truck was delayed by bad weather. The instruments finally arrived just minutes before the curtain rose. The band had no time to warm up or rehearse. There were so many encore calls at the Carnegie Hall performance that Nat King Cole (who was backstage, but not on the bill) had to come out on stage and ask people to leave.

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