Howdy Folks! Welcome to The UnEarthed In The Atomic Attic album blog! Here you will find a wide variety of unusual Space Age Vinyl finds that feature good quality cover scans, jacket notes and audio samples for you to enjoy. I'm here to have fun and hope you will share in my process of discovery!
I didn't have much hope for a 1982 record featuring Catholic religious songs aimed at children. But this record sounds like it was recorded earlier, maybe as early as the early 60s. Some vocals sound like The Andrew Sisters are involved in the project (kidding).
What I find most amusing are that the concepts dished up are pretty heavy.You'll hear tongue twisting words and complicated subject matter that the vocalists find hard to spit out dressed up in light and peppy sing song arrangements.
Let's Dance Dance Dance
David Carroll and his Orchestra
Cover Photo by Cynthia Maddox
Mercury MG 20649
1961
From the back cover: Let's Dance, Dance, Dance
One good musical turn deserves (or more properly, demands) another-and another. LET'S DANCE, DANCE, DANCE should, momentarily at least, still the hue and cry of the steadily growing dance-geared coterie of David Carroll fanciers who were dance-floored by his previous pair of foot-tapping up-tempoed albums, LET'S DANCE (SR-60001-MG-20281) and LET'S DANCE AGAIN (SR-60152-MG-20470).
The Carroll contingent's formula for success is simple-deceptively so: take a batch of spirited, sprightly and sparkling variations on the terpsichorean themes that made the decades of the Thirties and Forties the Golden Age of the Dance Band – mix well with au courant up-beat items-drop in a dash of dashing originals. Deck them out in bright Carroll-colored arrangements, and you have the not-so- secret ingredients that have been artfully crafted to produce maximum mileage en the dance floor.
We take it as a healthy and happy sign that more and more people (if spiraling sales of Carroll's previous dance albums are any barometer) are hopping wholeheartedly on the burgeoning Back-to-the-Dance-Floor bandwagon.
The beauty of a David Carroll collection such as this – and it is a beauty – is that dancing is by no means de rigeur: you can get your kicks in large economy-size quantities just perched at a proper listening distance from your hi-fi, soaking up the dazzling assortment of sounds that are the music hallmarks of a Carroll recording session.
But there's no denying that the tunes on this go-round are eminently danceable. Ever since maestro Carroll first played the drums as a precocious eight-year-old percussionist in the family quartet, the beat has been an important factor in his musical outlook.
And it was just this sort of attentiveness to the beat that made the dance bands of the Thirties and Forties so contagiously popular. They played rhythms that were danceable no matter what the listeners' age, and packed the country's ballrooms and dance palaces. It's this infectious "Let's Dance" enthusiasm that Carroll has so successfully captured in this series.
Carrying forward the great tradition of the Dorseys, the Millers, the Goodmans, the Clintons, the Kemps, the Luncefords, Carroll, in his ten years with Mercury, has produced what the publie is again starting to clamber for – music to bolster what once was the Great American pastime of dancing. In each of the tunes on tap in LET'S DANCE, DANCE, DANCE, Carroll has excitingly varied the tempo and the approach, achieving into a well-rounded, "sole"-satisfying dance (or listen) session.
GOOD MORNIN'. A familiar standard, tied up in bright new wrappings, it features an insistent beat, and beautifully-voiced reed choruses setting off a lilting muted trumpet.
SWINGIN' ON A MOONBEAM. After an organ intro, Carroll reintroduces the captivating sand-dancing sound that scored such a hit in LET'S DANCE AGAIN. You can almost see an old vaudeville trouper soft-shoeing his way across a stage.
GADABOUT. Penned by Carroll and Milton Putnam, this sprightly air is a showcase for the reeds, with piano, xylophone and guitar sharing the solo spotlight.
COME CLOSER TO ME (ACERCATE MAS). Richly rhumba-tempoed, this Latin standard features a liquid and lush tenor lead which turns over the solo spot to a muted trombone, organ, marimba, and violin before coming back for the closer.
UPTOWN BOUNCE. A violin, echoed by muted trumpets, initially handles the melody of this uptempo Carroll carol. Check the engaging Henry Busse-like horn work herein.
LET'S DANCE, DANCE, DANCE. The title tune, authored by Carroll, is a spankingly-paced rhumba. It's sparked by a spate of outstanding uting that enhances matters musically as it soars majestically over the dynamically-building melodic line.
HUCKLEBERRY DUCK. One of Raymond Scott's most popular compositions, a tune noted for its unusual musical patterns, is offered attractively upbeat with Carroll's taut charting accented by the swinging single voices of piano, xylophone and guitar.
RED TOP. Penned by Lionel Hampton, this is the most completely jazz-oriented offering in the group as it subtly but surely promotes an undeniable beat. Piano, trumpet, wailing guitar, trombone, and an alto-tenor exchange divide the pleasant solo chores.
MUSKRAT RAMBLE. Among the most venerable of Dixieland evergreens, the Ramble is given the respect it deserves as Carroll maintains a close-to-traditional approach highlighted by a fine clarinet override of the exuberant closing choruses.
IT'S A WONDERFUL WORLD. Possibly that old Top-Hatter Jan Savitt's best- remembered tune, this ditty typifies the pre-World War II melodies that prompted people to get out on the dance floor. The high points here are an unusually intriguing alto-tenor, piano-xylophone interplay.
NIGHT TRAIN. The Carroll rhythm section does itself proud reproducing the pulsatingly hypnotic boogie-woogie bass figures that made this a big, big hit. The finely-wrought alto work throughout is superlative-and dig that trumpet "train" whistle" closer.
CASTLE ROCK. A medium-tempo, just-right-for-dancing, semi-jump tune, is smartly sparked by a booming bass solo, a series of two-bar alto figures and a dandy eight-bar tenor stint which segues into an intriguing fade-out.
The Minute Samba & So It Goes
Enric Madriguera and his Orchestra
Violin Solo By Madeiguera – Dana Choir
Vocals By Patricia Gilmore and Dana Choir
Vogue R-760
Produced by Andy Wiswell
Capitol RecordsSt 1279
1959
On The Cover - Poised over her boiling cauldron, with implements of witchcraft close at hand, is Dolores Greer. A ballet dancer, and Michigan's entrant in a recent Miss America beauty contest – (don't let the witch costume fool you!) – she is one of Hollywood's top professional models. Talented as she is, Miss Greer assures us that in real life she practices neither black magic nor the zither.
The Best Of Cugat Cover Photos by George Pickow - Three Lions Cover Photos posed by Abby Lane Mercury Records PPS 2015 (gatefold) & SR 60870 (single sleeve jacket variation) 1961
From the inside cover: THE MAESTRO – What Paul Whiteman was to symphonic jazz, Guy Lombardo to 'sweet corn' and Benny Goodman to swing, Xavier Cugat has been to the Latin beat in American dance music. For almost three decades, beginning with the appearance of the rumba craze in the very early thirties, Cugi, as he is affectionately known inside the business, has maintained his standing as the foremost interpreter of Latin rhythms. It is a position which has brought him popularity, not only throughout the Americas, but on the Continent as well.
Cugat's long and fabulous musical journey had its beginnings in a cafe in Barcelona, Spain. There, in the twenties, he was found playing the violin by the great Italian tenor, Enrico Caruso. So impressed was the world-famous opera star by what he heard that he retained the young fiddler and took him on a tour to America.
In the course of their joint travels, Caruso discovered that young Cugat's talents reached into areas other than music. The youngster handled a drawing pen as skillfully as the violin bow. Since Caruso was himself an amateur artist, the two amused themselves on their journeys by drawing caricatures. Cugat's caricatures have since appeared in many of the country's large circulation magazines, among them Life.
By the time that Caruso died at the peak of his fabulous career, Cugat decided that his own future as a violinist lacked the horizons of greatness he had hoped for. A job as a cartoonist on The Los Angeles Times seemed to open new, exciting vistas. But the magnetism of music was not so easily neutralized. Before long, Cugat was leading a small six-piece combo. It specialized in rumba rhythms and secured bookings in hotel rooms as a 'relief band' to the name bands of the day.
In 1934 an NBC program "Let's Dance," now regarded as a radio landmark, helped launch the brassy era of swing. It presented the first big, blasting band of Benny Goodman, who became the King of Swing. But the "Let's Dance" show also focussed the spotlight of a coast-to-coast program on the music of two other bands. One was Xavier Cugat, who soon was crowned The Rumba King. It was a well-earned title. The rumba as it was danced in Cuba, its native habitat, was actually too difficult for American dancers, particularly the middle generation that frequented expensive night clubs and hotel rooms. Watching dancers trip over themselves, Cugat worked out a simplified version of the Cuban rumba. He placed the bass conga-drum accent on the fourth beat, giving the Afro-Cuban polyrhythms the simplicity almost of a march step. Now, Americans really took to the rumba. It became the first of a series of Latin dances to sweep the country.
Late in the thirties, the conga became an overnight craze. Associated with Desi Arnaz, the conga was caricatured on the stage and screen in the well-known play My Sister Eileen. In the middle forties, the Brazilian Bombshell Carmen Miranda burst on the American entertainment scene, bringing with her a set of crazy, colorful hats-also the Brazilian dance known as the samba. By the middle fifties, American dancers were unable to resist the mambo, introduced by Machito and popularized by Perez Prado. The mambo (grunt) fad was soon overtaken by interest in the cha-cha-cha, whose vogue has continued through the rock 'n' roll era in the form of the rock-cha-cha. Neither the conga nor the samba-the same is true of the merengue imported from the Dominican Republic-ever commanded the following of the rumba, mambo and cha-cha, although all of them are still to be heart on dance floors.
Cugat's contribution to Latin-American music goes far beyond the popularization of Cuban dance steps. Always on the look-out for new musical talent, he has brought into this country many of Cuba's outstanding instrumentalists. Some of these, like Desi Arnaz, Luis del Campo and Miguelito Valdes, went on to make their own mark as interpreters of Afro-Cuban music.
Dazzling as these stars have been in the Latin-American firmament, they have burned themselves out quickly. Only Cugat has remained 'hot'-a pivotal and permanent sun around which Latin music revolves. His musical appeal has, in fact, been as persistent and universal as the appeal of Afro-Cuban rhythms themselves. Today, after three decades of unceasing activity on radio, TV, stage and screen, he still is in unabating demand wherever dancers congregate-whether it is a South American bistro, a Continental cafe, or the glittering Empire Room of New York's Waldorf-Astoria.
Not the least appealing phase of the Cugat magic in recent years has been the vocalizing and dancing of Abbe Lane, in private life, Mrs. Cugat. Widely known to motion picture audiences here and abroad, Abbe Lane has added a large dimension of visual appeal to the aural magnetism of Cugat's music. (For proof, you need only turn to the front cover of this album and view the six photographs of this remarkable woman.)
Mama Inez Tea For Two Tequila Taboo Sway Amor Amapola El Cumbanchero Ba-Tu-Ca-Da Misirlou It Happened In Monterey Always In My Heart
Enoch Light And His Orchestra
Far Away Places
Volume 2
Originated and Produced by Enoch Light
Arrangements by Lew Davies
Recording Chief: Robert Fine
Mastering: George Piros
Art Direction: Charles E. Murphy
Command RS 850 SD
Grand Award Record Co., Inc.
1963
From the inside (gatefold) jacket: When Enoch Light's original FAR AWAY PLACES album was first released, it spurred an instant wave of reaction from listeners. Here were musical performances evoking distant and exotic settings that actually had individuality and validity. These were not just superficial mood pieces but beautifully crafted orchestrations that drew on a myriad different musical origins and musical manners and brought them all together in a cohesive framework.
The response to this unusual album was expressed in two ways. Listeners demanded more. And record-makers, whose eyes are always sharply trained on the trend-setting activities of Enoch Light, immediately produced a steady flow of albums built around songs from foreign lands.
Most of the record-makers missed the point of Enoch Light's FAR AWAY PLACES. They failed to realize that there was more to it than just playing a group of exotically named tunes. But the listeners did not miss the point. They could hear the difference between the Enoch Light album and those that followed and they made Light's FAR AWAY PLACES a unique best seller. So, with this encouragement, Enoch Light has looked over the far-flung world of music once more to create this second volume of FAR AWAY PLACES.
But, as is usual with Enoch Light, this second collection is not just a duplication of something that he has done before. This new set has its own individuality, its own special adventures, its own magnificent colors.
The most immediately distinctive features of this set are the use of a harpsichord (and occasionally a celeste) and the presence of a vocal group that is actually part of the orchestra.
The harpsichord and celeste are played by Dick Hyman in some instances and by Billy Rowland, who is Perry Como's pianist, in others. Both instruments bring an unusual quality of delicacy to these performances. The sound of the harpsichord, in particular, has a transparency that lights up all the selections in which it is heard. And at the same time it is a delightful rhythm instrument with a bright, crackling percussiveness that propels a tune with a sound that no other instrument can produce.
Another factor in the use of the harpsichord in this album is the remarkable finesse with which it has been woven into the overall coloration of the ensembles. You will hear it blending with Dom Cortese's accordion, with Tony Mottola's guitar and with Bob Haggart's bass in a way that is a magnificent trib- ute not only to the brilliance of these musicians but to the enormous talent of Lew Davies, who wrote these arrangements.
Blending is also a vital factor in the way in which the voices of the Jerry Packer vocal group and the soprano voice of Lois Winter have been threaded through the arrangements. At times they are treated as though they were an instrumental section. At other times they are part of the full ensemble, backing up other instruments both harmonically and rhythmically. Some of the relationships between the voices and the instruments are fascinating, especially when the voices are coming off a phrase which is then picked up by an instrument or vice versa.
There is, of course, more to this group than voices, harpsichord, accordion, guitar and bass. There is an amazingly versatile four- man woodwind section made up of Al Klink, Walt Levinsky, Phil Bodner and Stanley Webb. There is the glowing trumpet of Doc Severinsen. There is the rhythm guitar of Bucky Pizzarelli to supplement Tony Mottola's guitar. And there is a potent and extremely busy percussion section made up of Bob Rosengarden and Don Lamond.
There is also an incredible bagpipe performance by Jimmy Maxwell, one of the great contemporary trumpeters, an outstanding member of the band that Benny Goodman took to Russia, who has been harboring this hidden talent for years.
There is a fresh and exciting choice of tunes, all of them given a new and stimulating treatment and accented with such authentic touches as castanets, finger cymbals, temple blocks and an almost overpowering gong.
And to give all this the most vivid, realistic, full-bodied reproduction that recording engineers have yet achieved, these selections have been recorded on amazing 35 mm magnetic film so that even the most delicate nuances of the harpsichord are heard cleanly and clearly and the enormous expanding sound of a gigantic gong can billow and billow and billow to its full breadth of potency.
So step aboard and join this exciting, emotion-lifting musical view of far away places.
From Billboard - May 4, 1963: Light does it again with a topnotch instrumental album with bright use of voices. This is the second volume in the "let's take a trip" theme with fine tracks like "Istanbul," "Colonel Bogey," "Cielito Lindo" and "Under Paris Skies," just a few of the standouts. Use of stereo technique again is done with the utmost taste and showmanship. This is another Light winner.
Istanbul
Isle Of Capri
Cielito Lindo
The Moon Of Manakoora
Wee Bit Of Heather Medley
Flying Down To Rio
By The River Sainte Marie
Ching Ching Ching Chow
Tales From The Vienna Woods
Coloney Bogey
The White Cliffs Of Dover
Under The Paris Skies
Good Feelin's
The Happy Day Choir
Arranged by Wright & Carmichael, Inc.
Produced by Lee Young for Arthur James Productions
Dunhill - ABC Records
DS 50061
1969
Here's an album with a marketing problem. The cover features what looks like the backup singers for The Dean Martin Comedy Hour. If you look at the back cover you might think that this set might be some sort of "kids" record and or even a religious record. However, when you note song titles like: "California Dreamin'," "Hey Jude," "Let The Sun Shine In" and "Mrs. Robinson." and when you read the copy a little more closely you will understand that the creators made an effort to blend pop tunes with a black gospel sound. This approach seems like a disaster brewing but, God help me... it works. The pop songs feature strong vocal leads blended with killer gospel chorus.
Some tracks work better then others, but I've never heard a pop song cover set done up this way. Even during the cover of Hey Jude, I thought the song was going "off-course" and then the arrangers somehow manage to make it work.
California Dreamin'
Brother Love's Traveling Salvation Show
Hey Jude
Little Green Apples
For What It's Worth
Son Of A Preacher Man
Green, Green Grass Of Home
Aquarius/Let The Sun Shine In
Mrs. Robinson
Words
O Happy Day
Organ Melodies
From Hobby-Lesson Course For Wurlitzer Organs
Total Tone Series
Rite Records Cincinnati, Ohio
Promotional item from The Wurlitzer Company, Dekalb, Illinois. A two record set sol in a book-fold jacket that featured no printing on the inside. There is reams of copy on the back cover marketing the Wurlitzer Organ, but no real hint of how this set is supposed to help you learn to play, as a "hobby lesson course". There is no instructional material hear on the record(s).
Perhaps this set was meant to entice people to sign up for a "course" or there was additional printed material to be found package with this set that is gone now.
Soul Groove!
Programmed by Dave Dexter, Jr.
Creative Products/Capitol SL-6678
Nancy Wilson Uptight - Everything's All Right
Cannonball Adderley - 74 Miles Away
Lou Rawls - I Love You, Yes I Do
King Curtis - Soul Serenade
Bettye Swann - Willie & Laura Mae Jones
Nancy Wilson - West Coast Blues
Cannonball Adderley - I Remember Bird
Lou Rawls - Wee Baby Blues
King Curtis - Watermelon Man
Bettye Swann - Don't Touch Me
Photo by Richard Nadel, Camera Associates, Inc.
Capitol Records W 455
1955
From the back cover: Two superb instrumental soloists are featured in this album, Bobby Hackett on trumpet and Toots Mondello on alto saxophone; the tasteful arrangements are by Sid Feller and Richard Jones. Their lyrical work is a tribute to Jackie Gleason's fine musical taste. So here is Jackie conducting his orchestra in a splendid offering for your romantic listening pleasure.
Photo by Malinowski/Prokop
Philips PHS 600-248
1968
From the back cover: Paul Mauriat is an original, a young master, filling his musical masterpieces with a kaleidoscope of amazing sound variety. It is one thing to take an evergreen and shape it into a slick modern arrangement. But it is an entirely different matter to take the "now" music of today, considered by critics to be the most imaginative and creative in the history of pop music, and orchestrate it in such a way that it emerges entirely new and vital and from that day forward the property of Mauriat. It's like seeing an especially favorite film suddenly and unexpectedly presented in radiant technicolor.
For this album the exciting Mauriat Orchestra presents a wonderful pop-pourri. There are songs from the Top Ten, familiar and at the same time distinctfully different. "A Kind Of A Hush," is a softly rocking symphony, featuring, of all unusual instruments, a harpsichord. "Somethin' Stupid," originally sung by the Sinatras, pere et fille, is transformed into a Latin melody, a wonderful combination of the lyrical and the dramatic.
The top beat music composers are well represented. The songwriting Beatles, Lennon and McCartney, by "Penny Lane," and Cher's Sonny by "Mama." The former emerges as a musical distillation of the composition. Again the harpsichord is pleasantly evident, but there is also an incredible horn solo complete with scat riffs. "Mama's" muted horn slices through an intricate counter melody, with the harpsichord keeping the beat. Hardly as Mr. Bono imagined, but nonetheless extremely successful.
There are other surprises: the first prize winner in the Eurovision, 1967 song contest, "Puppet On A String," as bright and happy as a street band sprinkled with the confetti of circus music; two from the films. The wistful and haunting "This Is My Song," from Charlie Chaplin's THE COUNTESS FROM HONG KONG. Chaplin's music is almost old-fashioned in concept, but Mauriat has endowed it with such subtlety and nuance that it forms a nostalgic, lasting impression. "Goodbye To The Night," is one of the themes from the suspenseful THE NIGHT OF THE GENERALS. Here suspense is not stressed. Instead, voices and piano join forces, violins soar, and the melody becomes truly majestic.
There are other songs. The powerful "Inch Allah," the incurably romantic "Seuls Au Monde," "L'Amour Est Bleu," where rock-beat is combined with chamber music styles.
A recent quote states: "The Paul Mauriat Orchestra is the one to watch for innovations in modern sound." But watch, is not the word. Mauriat's artistry is on an entirely different sensory wave length. Listen! And you'll hear the new sound for the now generation.
Hawaiian Paradise
Leo Addeo His Orchestra and Chorus
Produced by Ethel Gabriel
RCA Camden CAS-853
1965
From the back cover: The distinctive flavor and flair of Leo Addeo's musical touch are evident in everything he arranges and records, whether it's enchanting pop ballads, light and scintillating novelty tunes, or the music of Hawaiian Addeo specialty. Perhaps it's his deep background of arranging experience with such luminaries as Larry Clinton, Frankie Carle, Gene Krupa and Hugo Winterhalter that enables him to find a delightful freshness in songs old and new. Here again, in a musical return to Hawaii, Leo Addeo adds something different to his traditional treatment of Island melodies. For the first time, he combines instrumental and Hawaiian-style choral arrangements, and the combination is outstanding. Instruments and chorus create a new Addeo atmosphere in which you can almost hear the soft wind rustling the palm trees and the warm Pacific gliding up and down the glistening beaches.
There's authenticity in Hawaiian music by Leo Addeo. He uses all of the Hawaiian percussion instruments from steel guitars and tom-toms to native feathered gourds. (Although the feathers probably don't actually contribute to the "sound," if you use your imagination you can picture the movements of the colorful instruments and there's a certain authentic flavor that adds to your listening enjoyment.)
The eleven melodies Leo Addeo has selected for this album reflect the true musical moods of Hawaii. Most are familiar, and all contribute to an over-all musical portrait of this languid, enchanting isle of romance.
Love and romance are, of course, synonymous with Hawaii, and the Addeo orchestra and chorus are tender as the evening breeze with such musical love potions as Love Song of Kalua, Love Song of Hawaii and Love Letters in the Sand.
Love and sadness ofttimes go hand in hand, and Leo captures the full heart tug of such unforgettable Hawaiian melodies as Aloha Oe and To You Sweetheart, Aloha. The latter is another gem from the pen of Harry Owens, famous for his Hawaiian music.
The incredible beauty and magic spell of the fabled Hawaiian Islands are reflected in Sing Me a Song of the Islands, Sleepy Lagoon, On Treasure Island. Then, too, there's Leo's interpretation of Pearly Shells, a very recent popular hit.
Here is the music of a HAWAIIAN PARADISE by a musical talent who responds to the magic, moods and melodies of these enchanting islands. Hawaii's 630,000 citizens can't be wrong. They rate among Leo Addeo's most enthusiastic fans.
Claudine
The Look Of Love
Arranged by Nick De Caro
Album Design: Perter Whorf Graphics
Engineer: Bruce Botnik
Producer: Tommy LiPuma
A&M SP 4129
1967
The Look Of Love
Man In A Raincoat
Think Of Rain
How Insensitive (Insensatez)
Manha De Carnaval
Love How You Love Me
Creators Of Rain
When I'm Sixty-Four
Good Day Sunshine
The End Of The World
Tahiti Dances
Authentic Tahitian Chants, Drum Rhythms and Songs
Featuring Eddie Lund and His Native Tahitians
Actually Recorded in Papeete, Tahiti
Back photos: Matson Line
HI-FI Tahiti Records TR-201
1961
From the back cover: Eddie Lund, in this album, has given the world its first discs of authentic Tahitian music as recorded in the islands themselves. He has studied the music ever since his arrival in Papeete in 1936 and is one of the leading authorities in this field. To insure absolute authenticity in these recordings, Lund traveled to some of the most remote of the Society Islands to assemble talent. Many performers never before had seen a microphone.
Eddie Lund is an interesting character. He formed a band, which is featured on this LP called Eddie Lund and his Native Tahitians. It would seem that he played with the local musicians, although it is not at all apparent what the role of his "band" had in the project. This is his fourth record of Tahitian music. He stayed in Tahiti permanently and became know as the Irving Berlin of Island music and the father of modern Tahitian folk Music. He died in 1973.
