Twelve Star Percussion - International "Pop" All Stars

La Mer

Twelve Star Percussion
International Pop All Stars
Phase 4 Stereo / Monophonic High Fidelity
London SP 44011 & P 54011
1961/62

I Got Rhythm
We'll Be Together Again Soon
Three Blind Mice
Nice Work If You Can Get It
Just A Gigolo
Lover
Button Up Your Overcoat
Green Eyes
Pennies From Heaven
La Mer
Why Don't You Do Right?
Adios Muchachos

The Impossible Dream - Living Voices

Smile

The Impossible Dream
Living Voices

Arranged and Conducted by Bob Armstrong

Produced by Ethel Gabriel

Recorded in RCA's Studio B, New York City

Recording Engineer: Bob Simpson
RCA Camden CAS-2322
1969

From the back cover: Today's music listener is a very aware person, and also a demanding one. No longer satisfied to hear pretty melodies with meaningless words, he wants songs which sound beautiful and yet have meaningful, exciting lyrics. Here is a collection of the more important and beautiful "message songs" of today.

The Impossible Dream (The Quest from the Musical " Man Of La Mancha)

I've Gotta Be Me (from the Broadway Musical "Golden Rainbow)
Smile (Theme from "Modern Times)
Kumbaya
Who Will Answer (Aleluya No. 1)
You Gave Me A Mountain
What A Wonderful World
A Better Tomorrow
Feelin'
The Men In My Little Girl's Life

Songs To Remember - Song Poems

 

Let Me Come Down by Dovie Akin - Vocalist Linda Lane

You're Always An Outsider by Carol McMickle - Vocalist Will Gentry

Songs To Remember
Royal Master Record RM 3030

Super Hits Volume 10

Reeling In The Years

Frankenstein

Super Hits
Played & Sung Like The Original Hits
Volume 10
Pickwick International SPC-3911

What luck I had finding a seal copy of this gem! Yes, in my attempt to bring you the scrapings from the bottom of the vinyl barrel comes another "sung like the original" cover album.

From the back cover: FAR OUT... FAR OUT... FAR OUT!!!!!!!!!! It's Superhits time again and it's far out..... All the top groups have been grooving with some super sounds, the sounds that turn you on and turn our own folks on. Yes, indeed!!... King's Road had done it again... taken the biggies that you ask for and done them up with the kind of special sound that makes'em just like the originals. Donnie Osmond (throb... throb) struts his stuff again with the lovely THE TWELFTH OF NEVER. I mean to tell ya for a youngin' he sure knows how to sing that song. Rockin' and rollin' REELING IN THE YEARS as performed by Steely Dan rounds out Superhits Volume 10 and what can I say... I mean really... after you check out these songs you're gowna sit back and say... WOW... ole Keith has socked it to me again... an I love it!!!!!

Super Hits Volume 2

 

Chicago

Super Hits
Played & Sung Like The Original Hits
Volume 2
Pickwick International SPC-3903

What luck I had finding a sealed copy of this gem! Yes, in my attempt to bring you the scrapings from the bottom of the vinyl barrel comes another "sung like the original" cover album.

Exoitc Guitars - All Time Guitar Hits

The Enchanted Sea

All Time Guitar Hits Played By The Exotic Guitars
Arrangements and Conducted by Bill Justis

Produced by Randy Wood

Cover Design: Studio Five, Inc.

Engineer: Don Blake

Recorded at United Recording Studio, Hollywood, California
Ranwood Records STEREO R8090
1971

Memphis

Maria Elena

Apache

Wildwood Flower

Rebel Rouser

The Enchanted Sea

Raunchy

Classical Gas

Exotic Guitar Boogie

Sleep Walk

Walk – Don't Run

The James Bond Theme

Music For Dancing - The Merlin Trio

Nightingale

Music For Dancing
The Merlin Trio
Grand Prix Series K-189

Obscure budget album on Pickwick's reissue label. The Grand Prix Series discography lists this catalog number as Moonlight Dance Time - Velvet Sounds.

The cover look askew because it is. The jacket black has STEREO printed on it at the top and then the artwork was fix to the front at an angle.

The music is a touch space age, light pop. No mention online as who The Merlin Trio are.

The Sound of 94 Speakers - Don Baker

Theme From Sanctuary

Don Baker At The Console Of The Rodgers Electronic Organ
The Sound Of 94 Speakers!
Great Motion Picture Themes
Capitol Records T-1626
1961

This is an organ recording made in The Portland, Oregon, Memorial Coliseum.

From the back cover: The Rodgers is unique. Completely electrified, it uses neither simple pneumatic nor electrical-pneumatic action. Each of its 600 tones is produced by a separate match-box sized transistorized etched circuit, housed within the console. To allow the Rodgers to sound throughout the 14,000-seat Coliseum, technicians arrived at the highly unusual solution. 32 speaker enclosures hold the 94 speakers, and together with 26 amplifiers, they were placed in a two-ton "basket" suspended from the arena ceiling. Pointing slightly downward and covering a full circle, the speakers beam sound to every seat in the arena.

What this all means to the non-technically minded record listener is the more dramatic pieces on this album sound cool because the sound is spacey and full of reverb.

Satan In High Heels

Satan In High Heels
Mundell Lowe
Charlie Parker Records
Apex Record Corporation
Produced and Directed by Aubrey L. Mayhew
1961

The movie, released in 1962, is a budget exploitation film (what else). I bought the record, sucked in by the title like the good/bad boy I am. I expected some wicked 60s shlock sound track, but, instead I put a cool space age jazz album on the turntable. The album is basically a "normal" record in that it doesn't play like a soundtrack. There has to be a story behind how a movie such as this gets hooked up with Charlie Parker Records.

The album is available on CD. Vinyl is pretty easy to find cheap. I post a clip from the movie below. The record is way better then this clip... Not to say I didn't enjoy the leather!

Jose Greco - Danzas Flamencas

Fandango

Jose Greco
Danzas Flamencas
Decca DL 9758

1954

This is a somewhat obscure LP.

Jose Greco was a well known flamenco dancer and choreographer. He is credited on the jacket for "choreographic and musical arrangements". This album isn't mentioned on his wiki page.

Flamenco is the only dance that I know of that translates to auditory rhythm and, therefore works on recordings as "percussion". This album is way better then most flamenco records I've found. The vocal treatments are outstanding.

Million Seller Hits - Les Baxter

Taste Of Soul

Million Seller Hits
101 Strings
Arranged and Conducted by Les Baxter

Recorded in London, January 1970
Alshire S-5188

La-La-La

Girl On The Boulevard

Tomorrow For Sure

She Lets Her Hair Down

A Taste Of Soul

A Study In Simplicity

Baby Take Me In Your Arms

Bahia Blanca

Lady Love

Jean

Pizzicato Riff

Amazonas

Yma Sumac - Fuego del Ande

Yma Sumac
Fulgo del Ande (Fire Of The Andes)
Capitol Records ST 1169
1959

This album was recorded twice, mono and stereo. This is the stereo release. Apparently the mono release is difficult to find. However the CD available online was mistakenly mastered from the monophonic release.

Well, there's tons of more insightful material to read online then here in the dusty Atomic Attic. I posted the cover here just because I love her work so much I just have to promote Sumac when I find a new album.

Much of the album sounds remarkably more like it was recorded in the early 60s. The sound seem a bit ahead of it's time. Dale Que Dale, a track on the A side features some pretty hip guitar work and is so very cool. But you can hardly go wrong with the more "traditional" folk tracks. Sumac does it all so very uniquely.

I would love it if someone like Sumac would walk into an American Idol try-out and blow today's music lovers out of their socks.

Below is a clipping I found tape to the record sleeve. Now I know Yma is pronounced E-ma!

Serenade For Love - Richard Hayman

Americano

Serenade For Love
Richard Hayman And His Orchestra
Mercury MG 20115

1956

From the back cover: The rich, resonant tone of Richard Hayman's virtuoso harmonica makes this album a fascinating blend of tender romance and lush sensuality; yet not too many years ago the 'mouth organ' was primarily regarded as an instrument for hillbilly bands and parlor buffoons. In fact, many people – including the American Federation of Musicians – didn't consider the harmonica an instrument at all, dismissing it completely as a "musical toy."

In recent years, the once lowly "French harp" has achieved considerable artistic stature in the music world. The AFM officially recognized it a while back, and it is currently enjoying great popularity as off-beat background music for serious TV drama and motion pictures. For example, the award-winning score for "The Little Fugitive" film was played entirely on the harmonica.

Much of the credit for the instruments's rise to legitimacy belongs to Richard Hartman, who's haunting waxing of "Ruby" – a top selling record in 1953 – made the public realize just how moving and exciting the harmonica can be when played by a master. His brilliant technique and expressive phrasing is well showcased here on 12 listenable tunes, among them the oldies  "It Had To Be You," "Oh! How I Miss You Tonight," "Winter "Wonderland," and Hayman's own composition "Skipping Along."

The New England-born Hayman, a self-taught musical genius, mastered bothy the harmonica and piano at an early age. He formed his own harmonica group whirl still in high school, and after graduation joined Borax Minnevitch's famous Harmonica Rascals. During the early forties, Hayman branched out with his own group in Hollywood. The versatile band leader is also an accomplished composer and arranger. He has an impressive list of movie music arrangement credits, and many of his original compositions have become standard repertoire for such famous long-hair aggregations as Arthur Fiedler's Boston Pops Orchestra and NBC Symphony. Listen now and Richard Hayman plays Something Money Can't By, Americano, Valse D'Amour, his own composition, Skipping Along, Oh How I Miss You Tonite, the ever popular It Had To  Be You and six other items designed for your very one "Serenade For Love."

From Billboard - April 14, 1956: Here's another package of lush, listenable mood music by Richard Hayman, highlighted by the orchestra leader's virtuosos harmonica work. Among the 12 selections – offering good jockey programming for romantic segs – are "Winter Wonderland," "It Had To Be You," "Dancer," and Hayman's own composition, "Skipping Along" (a favorite jockey theme disk). The title theme is carried out on the cover in  eye-catching – albeit non too subtle – fashion, with a guy and a gal struggling playfully on a white shag rug.

Something Money Can't Buy

Americano

Valse D'Amor

Skipping Along

Oh! How I Miss You Tonite

It Had To Be You

Dansero

Something To Remember You

Serenade To A Lost Love

Marianne

Tears On Satin

Winter Wonderland

Ghost Town 1952

Ghost Town 1952

This was a interesting purchase. An 8 side, 10 inch, 78 rpm private prep school Christmas project.

The name was so intriguing that I had to have it! All original songs written by the music teachers (I assume). The problem is the singing is recorded using more primitive equipment and you just can't understand the words.

Still, The Musical Magical Christmas Tree is quirky enough... with some odd screeching towards the end to be fun.

And the real treasure for me was that the cover art. It is terrific! The art is silk screened to paper which was fixed to the record book. VERY NICE piece of original art!

Soundproof - Ferrante And Teicher

The Sound Of Tomorrow Today!
Soundproof
Ferrante and Teicher

Cover Photo courtesy M.G.M. Pictures producers of "Forbidden Planet"
Westminster Records WP 6014
1956

From Billboard - September 8, 1956: All stops are pulled out to make this the most gimmicky hi-fi piano disk on the market. The highly accomplished team uses multi-tracking, altered tape speeds, gimmicked pianos, 17 microphones of various types, etc. There are many sounds here that have never been heard on a disk before, and most of the 12 selections are naturals for disk jockey variety. Try "Mississippi Boogie" for a sample. Among the selections are "What Is This Thing Called Love," Cumbanchero," etc.

What Is This Thing Called Love?

El Cumbanchero

Greensleeves

Mississippi Boogie

Mermaid Waltz

Man from Mars 

Baia

Breeze and I

Someone to Watch Over Me

African Echoes

Dark Eyes

Lover

Orchids In The Moonlight

The Sound Of Tomorrow Today!

Soundproof

Ferrante and Teicher

Cover Photo courtesy M.G.M. Pictures producers of "Forbidden Planet"

Westminster Records WST 15011

1958

From the back cover: What other duo-pianists can boast that they have played together wince the age of six? Arthur Ferrante and Louis Teicher were fellow prodigies at New York's famous Juilliard School of Music, and even while students they appeared as a team. After graduation they gave a few joint recitals, then decided to take time out to prepare a really distinctive repertoire. Together they returned to Juilliard, this time as fellow members of the faculty, and spent all their spare hours for the next year or so working over the standard pieces and cleansing them of every last hackneyed cliché. Their professional debut as a team took place quite a distance from eh concert hall, for they bowed in as a popular piano dup at New York's sophisticated penthouse might club, S[ivy's Roof. They were such a hit with the starlight crowd that they went on to more cosmopolitan boîtes like the Blue Angel, the Little Club and the Ritz-Carlton Terrace. Since 1947 they have been criss-crossing the country annually, winning laurels everywhere for what The New York Times called their "prodigious technical feats." Radio and television audiences know them for their guest stints on Piano Playhouse, and the Firestone, Telephone and Carnation courts. They have also appeared with leading symphony orchestra throughout the country. Their gift for blending the classic with the modern and the "heavy" with the "light," their extraordinary sensitivity, their technical perfection– these are just a few of the reason why one stern Manhattan critic, echoing the national consensus, called Ferrante and Teicher "the most exciting piano team of our time."

Peg-Leg Merengue

Brazil

Poinciana

Mama To Quero

Orchids In The Moonlight

Cumana

Tico-Tico

Frenesi

Mexican Hat Dance

Siboney

Loose Ends Merengue

La Cucaracha

Kiss Of Fire - The Exotica Sounds of de los Rios

Kiss Of Fire
The Exotic Sound of (Waldo) de los Rios
Columbia CL 965
1957

Available from online vendors, so I will not be posting a sample. Presented here to share the original cover and liner note excerpts.

Rios moved to Spain in 1962 and committed suicide in 1977, a victim of acute depression.

This is a terrific Latin flavored mood/exotica set that features some "experimental" percussion and screeching strings.

Just when you think Rios' arranging style will fall back on typical period mood, he throws in some interesting sound or a surprise instrument to perk your interest.

From the back cover: In Argentina – and in the United States too – the name de los Rios is a hope for the future. At an age when most artists are only beginning to make their talents known, Waldo de los Rios has already attained international recognition as an artist, as a composer, as a conductor and as an arranger.

He was born in Buenos Aires on September 7, 1934. His choice of music as a career was influenced by his mother, the well-known folk singer, Martha de los Rios. He began his studies at seven and in due time was graduated from the National Conservatory of Music and Scenic Art with a degree of Professor in Music. His professional career began at thirteen, when he played the piano as accompanist to his mother, along with a band composed of guitars and instruments typical of Argentine folk music. He also toured with his mother, and developed a genuine and lasting interest in the music of the countries he visited.

The turning point in his career occurred when his mother asked him to make special orchestrations for some music she was planning to record. The resulting arrangements were so brilliant that he was signed by the directors of Columbia Argentina who, in turn, brought him to the attention of Columbia Records. His initial records in Argentina were enormously successful and helped to rekindle a national interest in the musical heritage. For this program, de los Rios has chosen a fascinating group of South American melodies, and arranged them for a dazzling array of instruments largely unknown to North America, in addition to using the resources of a regular orchestra. The songs are from the Argentine, Paraguay, Chile and Peru, and lose none of their natural flavor in de los Rios' imaginative settings.

A media luz
Camino a Belen
Pasionaria
Ay, Ay, Ay
Medley: India; Pajaro, Campana
Medley: Camba cual; Camba yeroky
El Choclo
Vamos, Pastoricillos
Nube Gris
La Tristeza y el Mar
Sol Alegre
El Humahuaqueno

The Touchables

The Touchables
20th Century-Fox Record Corporation S 4206
1968

This album was a great find at my local Goodwill. The bins seemed well picked over, but I found this LP sporting an interesting cover that promised to delivered some light 60s pop fun.

Side one did deliver the light 60s pop fun that I had hoped for. The surprise tune on the A side,The Chase, is a terrific piece of ping-pong fueled percussion. Side two really grabbed me. Sadies Theme and Christian & Melanie are track one and two. Those songs are experimental, by comparison to side one tracks. Christian & Melanie ends with a beautifully crafted orchestrated segment that has a hint of King Crimson Court Of The Crimson King. No one else may get that... but it struck me.

There is never a dull moment, even a cover of Jalousie on side two, done up in a 30s big band fashion, doesn't seem out of place because it is so odd in context of the rest of the music.

The Touchables Theme is the last track on the B side reminds me of early Pink Floyd (A Nice Pair). A lovely tune. What a great record!

Pipe Organ And Percussion

Song Of India

Pipe Organ And Percussion
Promenade Records 2228

Obscure budget percussion album from Promenade. No artist/orchestra listed. No date, although I'd have to guess early 60s because of the "ping-pong" effects.

For budget, this is pretty good stuff. Whoever recorded the album made some effort to blend all the instruments into a sound with personality. And the pipe organ/percussion approach is odd enough to hold your attention.

Also released as:

Fabulous Sounds Of The Pipe Organ And Percussion
Pirouette Records
RFM 64

Martin Goes Latin - Ray Martin

Portuguese Washerwomen

Martin Goes Latin
Ray Martin And His Orchestra
Imperial LP 9087
1960

Here's a somewhat obscure and great space age pop Latin album.

Ray Martin moved from Europe to the U.S. in 1957 and produced more than 2000 works until he returned to the UK in 1972.

This album fits nicely into what was happening in light pop in the early 60s.

The Latin Touch - Carlos Molina

Tico-Tico

El Compas Del Mambo

Latin Touch
Carlos Molina And His Orchestra
Coronet CX-270
Premier Albums Inc.

Somewhat obscure Latin album featuring Carlos Molina who, from the back cover, was engaged at New York's famous Biltmore Hotel. The jacket notes also go on to say that Molina, through radio, had the "distinction to have introduced the Tango, Rhumba and Conga in the United States for the first time, and he has been the headlining orchestra in every fine hotel in the country."

It is difficult to find any information on Molina. If he introduced all these forms to the American audience he did it long before this album was released. Coronet repackage this material from other Molina recordings including enough material to fill side "A" leaving side "B" filled with off-the-shelf traditional South American tracks. Also see Mambo Jumbo.

The vocals on Tico-Tico are credited to Charlita.

Tico Tico
Come To The Mardi Gras
Mambo #5
Mambo #8
El Compas Del Mambo
Ay Mi Chatita
Virjencita De Mi Vida
Las Casadas
Mujer Celosa
Por Mi Lloraras

Let's All Sing With The Chipmunks

Let's All Sing With The Chipmunks
David Seville And The Chipmunks
Liberty LPR 3132
1959

This is the original Liberty release on red vinyl. Several years later the reissue would feature The Chipmunks in their more recognizable form (from the 1961-62 TV cartoon, The Alvin Show).

This jacket cover is red foil with over printing.

Around The World With The Chipmunks and David Seville
Liberty LRP 3170
1960

OK... I'm 55 years old and I still LOVE this record! Once again, we have a Liberty Chipmunks released just before the animated representations of the characters set their look in stone.

The music is fun because of all the "folk styles" required to create the songs the "boys" sing as they travel around the world. And of course... who can forget the catchy tune Japanese Banana? I know I can't.

Echoes Of Latin American - The Continental Trio

Peanut Vendor

Echoes Of Latin America
The Continental Trio
Plymouth P-12-138

Obscure album released on the one of the most budget labels I've ever come across, Plymouth. However Plymouth did feature graphically appealing album jackets. This LP was probably a mid-50s pressing. Surprisingly, Plymouth listed the group's name, but Lord knows who made up The Continental Trio.

There are no tracks on this album. I've seen this before on budget records, maybe it was Plymouth. The songs butt right up against one another as if the group played through a recording session without a break.

As you can tell from the sample, the music is very much like you were sitting in a lounge listening to some guys playing away as if they were waiting for their next break. Very uninspiring.

But the fun doesn't end there. Why on the cover does Plymouth bill a Latin album as being "Recorded In Europe"? Who knows. Plymouth didn't even have enough "Latin" music to fill an entire LP. They padded out the album with canned classical music on side two. I can't even imagine what a record buyer must have thought when they put this gem on their turn table.