Hi-Fi - Antics - Meri Ellen And Her Cohorts

Hi-Fi Antics

Hi-Fi- Antics
Meri Ellen And Her Cohorts
Featuring Guest Star Don Elliott
Design Records DLP 63
1957

5 Time "Down Beat" Award Winner

From the back cover: This is a fun album. Meri Ellen and Her Cohorts ably supported by five time Downbeat Poll winner, Don Elliott, and Howie Mann on the drums, have created the spontaneous fun, rhythm and hilarity that they are renowned for in their night club appearances. Meri and the boys play the nation's top-flight night spots and constantly "break it up." They are as versatile as group as you will find anywhere in show business. They all sing, they all play instruments and they all have a reputation for mugging and clowning that is the envy of the myriad groups that try to imitate them. I think that one of the most sensational arrangements that I have ever heard at the end of the introduction is actually Meri, reaching for a music star. It's fantastic. The animal sound and effects are products of the boy's throats. It kinda scares you... how could any one group of people have so much talent? They swing, gallop and place through as merry a melange of tunes as you're likely to hear in a month of melody. The take-off on "Blueberry Hill" is a classic. Here is a lampoon of every rock and roll artist and group that you've ever heard. After this, you'll never be able to make them seriously again... and perhaps you're better off for it. Meri shows her voice off in the haunting "Cry Me A River" and "I Cried For You." The group romps through the dixieland classic, "Back Home In Indiana" in a manner that should make the original Hoosier, Herb Shriner, quiver in his boots. In listening to this group you must be sure of one thing... What you will hear is different. This can not in any way be compared with any other album in existence. Meri Ellen and Her Cohorts have a style, a delivery, and a presentation all of their own... and it's great.

Need we say more... well... yes... We have two recommendations for you. First... listen to this album... secondly... If you ever get within hearing distance of this amazing group... Get in and hear them and see them... It will be well worth the price of admission...

Don Elliott - For five years in a row, this talented young man has won the Downbeat Jazz poll as the outstanding musician in the miscellaneous category. He is perhaps the top melophone player in the nation. (For the uninitiated a mellophone is similar to a French horn.) He is also constantly listed in the upper ranks of jazz singers, bongo players and vibraphonists. To watch Don in action is a delight. He plays vibes with one hand and plays the mellophone with the other. He sings not only well, but has recorded himself in six part harmonies. Now working on an innovation in music to be recorded for DESIGN, Don is one of the musical greats of our era.

Howie Mann - Hailed as one of the finest rhythm drummers in the business, Howie provides the percussion backgrounds behind the group. For three years he has led his own orchestra at the swank Stage Coach Inn, one of the top suburban rooms in the New York area. His beat and technique are an artist's delight and have established him as one of the unusual finds in the music business, a top flight "show" drummer. – Roy Freeman

Hawaiian War Chant

Blueberry Hill

I Cried For You

Back Home In Indiana

You've Got Me

My Funny Valentine

Baby, It's Cold Outside

Cry Me A River

Red Silk Stockings

Choo Choo Ch-Boogie