Melodic Percussion - Frank Barber

Theme From "Mr. Broadway"

Melodic Percussion
Arranged and conducted by England's inventive Frank Barber
Capitol ST 2794
1967

The title might suggest an "easy listening" album. What you'll hear are fine light pop tunes that are throw back to Enoch Light's pop stuff of the early 60s. The vibe of the record is actually "brighter" and more "jangling" than most percussion records I've listened to. The percussion seems more "dense" somehow (probably due to the blending of vibraphone, marimba and xylophone). Some tracks are more dramatic and have more of a  "jazz" sound. Well... all that probably made no sense. The sound is unique compared to all the period percussion recordings that I've listened to. Good, inventive stuff.

Peter Gunn - Henry Mancini

LPM 1956 RE

LPM-1956 RE

LPM 1956 RE2

LSP 1956 RE2

Sorta Blue

Peter Gunn
From The NBC Television Series Peter Gunn
Composed and Conducted by Henry Mancini
Produced by Simon Rady
Recorded in Hollywood, August 26 and 31, and September 4 and 29, 1958.
RCA Victor LPM-1956 RE & LPM-1956 RE (featuring factory applied "The Original" sticker)
LPM 1956 RE2 & LPM 1956 RE2
1959

From the back cover: In an industry often referred to as "cannibalistic," swept as it is by constant change and unpredictable developments, we at Spartan Productions were faced with the compelling need for something genuinely new in dramatic television. When the idea for PETER GUNN was still incubating, the vital question was: How do we set the PETER GUNN show apart from other mystery-adventure series?

We already had many exciting components, but what was missing was some distinctive element to invest this series with something extra, something superlative. It hit me then-JAZZ. If we could use the music as an integral part of the dramatic action, fusing story-line and score, we should have something very worthwhile.

By sustaining the jazz background and source music throughout the show's 39-week run, I strongly feel we have given the program a positive identification, not to speak of attracting the viewers into an awareness of this vital musical form. As creator of the show, I naturally insisted on using live music throughout. In this case esthetic necessity was implemented by the fact that many of the nation's greatest jazz musicians are in the Hollywood area-an ideal opportunity to handpick the most creative jazzmen. To give us the musical background required, we also needed a composer with roots in the jazz idiom, one who could interpret dramatic action in the language of modern jazz. Henry Mancini is that composer.

"Hank" Mancini, only thirty-four, had already written for such films as "the Benny Goodman Story," Orson Wells' "Touch Of Evil" and "The Glenn Miller Story." For his contribution to the latter he was nominated, at twenty-eight, for an Academy Award.

Currently the music director of Spartan Productions, Mancini can now claim the distinction of being the first  musician to compose modern jazz for the sound track of a filmed television series.

The music in this album offers an excellent sampling of the sounds you've likely to hear any Monday eve when Peter Gunn swings into action on NBC-TV. The musicians are the same jazzmen who are heard to outstanding advantage in all the programs. Here are some of them:

Drummer Jack Sperling and bassist Rollt Bundock state the show's forceful opening motif, Fallout! The raw-sounding trumpet belongs to Pete Candoli, a veteran of the Woody Herman and Stan Kenton bands. Dreamsville, which might be subtitled "a love refrain for hipsters," features a moving alto sax solo by Ted Nash; his brother Dick can  be heard dusting with fellow trombonist Milt Bernhart on Session At Pete's Pad. Saxist Ronnie Lang, who, in common with most of the musician here, is a graduate of the Les Brown band, wields a bulging baritone on Sorta Blue, Other soloists at Mother's, the nitery where Peter Gunn hangs his Brooks Brothers jacket, are vibist Larry Bunker and pianist Johnny T. Williams. – Blake Edwards

Peter Gunn
Sorta Blue
The Brothers Go To Mother's
Dreamsville
Session At Pete's Pad
Soft Sounds
Fallout!
The Floater
Slow And Easy
A Profound Gabs
Brief And Breezy
Not From Dixie

Paradise Islands Song Of Hawaii - The Ray Charles Singers

The Cocoanut Wireless

Paradise Islands Song Of Hawaii
The Ray Charles Singers
Originated and produced by Enoch Light
Art Direction - Charles E. Murphy
Command RS 845 SD
1963

Light and easy pop album featuring another great Command minimalist cover design.

A Man And A Woman (Un Homme Et Une Femme)

A Man And A Woman
Un Homme Et Une Femme
Francis Lai
United Artists SW-91032
1966

Available on CD, so I will not be posting a sample. Sorry!

I put this one on the turn table without the intent of blogging the album. But the vocal tracks on the album really grabbed me. so I thought I'd plug the record.  The vibe is unique and intimate.  The second track, on the B side titled, In Our Shadow, is especially wonderful and mysterious. Good 60s stuff.

Stimulus Progression - Muzak

Baretta's Theme

Stimulus Progression
Muzak
Specialists In The Physiological And Psychological Applications Of Music
1976

Just in time for last moment holiday shopping. Do you feel the progressive urge to consume? Off to ebay with you!

From the back cover: The result (of the Stimulus Progression) is a sense of forward movement and change, designed to mitigate tension, boredom, melancholy and fatigue.

The Modern Jazz Quartet & Orchestra

The Modern Jazz Quartet & Orchestra
Atlantic SD-1359
1961

Available for purchase/download so I will not be posting a sample. Sorry!

Billboard Magazine: Here is a fascinating blend of the classical and jazz schools, a much talked about concept where very little has been accomplished at the recording level. The MJQ, working as a sort of concerto soloist all by itself in front of the distinctively classical ork passages to pick up a similar theme in readily identifiable jazz connotations.

Well... that explanation and the rather subdued cover art would not have perked my interest back in the day (as I'm not a jazz or classical music buff). And I don't normally post jazz stuff here (I mean reasonably straight forward jazz stuff), but this album will be of interest to others who collect the same type of music that you see on my blog.

To me, the sound is better explained (so that I get it) as a bridge between dramatic movie soundtrack passages and small combo jazz. Going out on a limb... the vibe is sort of as if Arthur Lyman did something "heavy", without the bird calls. You may also hear a bit of some early 60s private-eye or detective TV show thing happening.

From the back cover: John Lewis (director MJQ) and this writer (Gunther Schuller) do not claim that these works represent the final and ultimate stage in this particular musical development. On the contrary, we feel they mark only a beginning and it is our hope that the music contained herein will stimulate further interest in works of this nature.

Find yourself a copy! You will enjoy the experience!

Dance Discotheque

Hot Pastrami With Mashed Potatoes - Discotheque Orchestra

Dance Discotheque
Recorded under the supervision of Slim Hyatt
Decca DL 74556
1964

From the May 30, 1964 Billboard: The discotheque is spreading from the society saloons and fashionable private clubs to the home phonograph. The do-it-yourself discotheque is being initialed by Decca Records which is hitting the market with a "Dance Discotheque" album this week.

According to Harry Meyerson Decca artists and repertoire producer who conceived the idea of bringing the current Jet Set vogue to the masses, the LP duplicates the recording program played in the discotheques around the country, especially at Shepheards in Drake Hotel here. In fact, Meyerson had Slim Hyatt, the "disquaire" (disk jockey) at Shepeards assist him in programming the album. At the club, Hyatt spins a variety of records that run the gamut from Louis Armstrong's Hello Dolly to Trini Lopez's "If I Had A Hammer."

Crazy Rhythm - Don Lee

Caravan

Crazy Rhythm
Don Lee
Jubilee 1067

A Product of Jay-Gee Record Co., Inc.
1958

From the back cover: The Debut Of An Intriguing Accordion Sound And Musical Versatility

It may sound a bit crazy but I just don't recall ever hearing an accor- dion play anything but 'happy' music.

Oh I know that there are times when the instrument takes on a sort of tear-in-the-beer-garden sentimentality . . . but even then, some- how, it's a bouyant and bouncy and brisk, though it's always had the feeling of old-world built in. The accordion always seems to be around when it's waltz-time or polka-playing or hop-along happiness.

Or it has been... up to DON LEE and "Crazy Rhythm." Don has gotten a new 'happy' sound out of or into the squeeze-box that is as modern as the electronics he uses to create a satisfying excitement. He has combined a montage of his musical talents (Don is playing each and every insrument you hear on these sides) with a solid knowledge of the magic of electronics (Don engineered the multiple recordings and jelled the 'tracks'). The sound is fresh and imaginative and creative.

Don't get the idea that this is a one-man band testing a lot of not-quite finished musical abilities. Don is practiced and perfect. His arrangements are clean and crisp and qualitative. He is stimulated and stimu-courses in harmony and theory at Michigan State University. Some of that side of his abilities shows up in three tunes included in "Crazy Rhythm": "Echo, Echo, Echo," "Cordy Boogie" and "Barc-A-Roll."

When Don was 18 he had a large-sized history to recount. He'd had a lot of radio and TV appearances and had been featured at hotels like The Hilton in Chicago when it was the Stevens, The Sherman, The Palmer House in Chicago, The New Yorker in New York.

That's about the time (Don was 18) he opened his first accordion studio in Lansing. A year later there was a second one in Mason, Michigan. They are now Michigan's largest exclusive accordion studios and have become famous around the Mid-west because of their 'Accordion Orchestra.'

His knowledge and training in electronics goes back almost as far as the beginnings of his accordion training. Actually, it started when he was 12 and his sound-engineering has a basis in the experimentation and pioneering Don has done with the professional equipment he has been accumulating since then.

"Crazy Rhythm" sounds off the debut of an intriguing talent who has added the dimension of electronics to an excitement of performance. This 'track-record' (these multiple recordings have been multiplied as high as twelve times on some of these tunes) is not ‘child's-play.' It's professional and promising and prodigious.

In the language of the hipster, "Crazy Rhythm" is 'crazy, man, crazy-y-y-y-!... (English Translation: it's Happy, Hearty and Hear-Marked for a hitherto un-new sound). – MORT GOODE

Crazy Rhythm
Caravan
Lover
Cordy Boogie
Lady Be Good
Exactly Like You
Echo Echo Echo
Barc-A-Roll
Charmaine
After You've Gone
Stumbling
Bells Of St. Mary's

Spectacular Percussion - Roger King Mozian

Repercussion

Spectacular Percussion
Arranged and conducted by Roger King Mozian
MGM SE3845
1960

Swinging album that swings between big band, Latin and a touch of "exotica" percussion. Mozian has a good grasp on late 50s/early 60s groove.

Curiously the producer seemed to be worried that Mozian was too far out. This from the back cover: The selection of tunes leans heavily on the rhythmic and exotic but, remarkable enough, almost every one is danceable, particularly South Of The Border and Caripoca.

Mozian wrote the sample, Repercussion.

Great Movie Hits Of '72 - The Cinema Soundstage Orchestra

Summer Of '42

Great Movie Hits Of '72
The Cinema Soundstage Orchestra
A/S Recording (Alshire) ST-94880

1972

Theme From Shaft

Brian's Song

Love Theme From The Godfather

Fiddler On The Roof

Theme From Nicholas And Alexandra

One Tin Soldier 

As Time Goes By

The Impossible Dream

Summer Of '42

Cabaret

OOPS! The Swinging Sounds Of Bill Doggett

Lady's Choice

OOPS!
The Swinging Sounds Of Bill Doggett And His Combo
Columbia CS 8614
1963

From the back cover: For the past nine years, Bill Doggett and a Hammon Organ have been transported about the country as the major cargo of a six-passenger bus. On at least 250 nights out of each year, the bus has parked outside of a dance hall somewhere between Vancouver and Orlando, Doggett and crew have unloaded and for the next four hours, hundreds of people have danced and smiled, laughed and sung to the accompaniment of the kind of music you hear on this album.

At the age of 22, Philadelphia-born Bill Doggett was a pianist leading his own band. He worked with the Lucky Millinder band in 1940 and was pianist for the Ink Spots from 1942 to 1944. Later, he worked with Louis Jordan, and in 1951 he took up the organ. Bill then worked with Ella Fitzgerald and has written arrangements for one of the vocalist's recent albums.

Walt Disney Songs For The Family - Joe Reisman's Orchestra And Chorus

Alice In Wonderland

Walt Disney Songs For The Family
Joe Reisman's Orchestra And Chorus
RCA Victor LPM-1119
1958

Apparently this is a somewhat obscure album. I picked it up because of the great cover image.

Reisman was a prolific producer working on nearly 1,000 recordings.

The Full Spectrum Of Quadraphonic Sound - Realistic Quadraphonic

Aquarius - Percy Faith And His Orchestra & Chorus

The Full Spectrum Of Quadraphonic Sound
Realistic Quadraphonic
Columbia Special Products 50-2023 CQ-10869
1972

Here's another quadraphonic album that was made as a promotion for Realistic (Radio Shack).

Unlike the Popular Science/Enoch Light "Test Record", this album is a straight forward compilation of songs, that may have been recorded in stereo and converted or remastered into quad sound. I don't know. All I can say is the Popular Science LP sounds so much better through my stereo headphones that there is no comparison.

Since these songs are, for the most part, available on CD or by the purchase download, I can't post the album (my apologies to the Quad blogger!). However, the Percy Faith tune seems not to be available, so enjoy the one sample. FYI: The Miles Davis track is killer.

Chase - Open Up Wide
Santana - Oye Come Va
Barbra Streisand - Free The People
Johnny Mathis - You've Got A Friend
Bloomfield, Kooper & Stills - Stop
Miles Davis - Mile Run The Voo Doo Down
Ten Years After - I'd Love To Change The World
Percy Faith, His Orchestra & Chorus - Aquarius
Lynn Anderson - Rose Garden
Sly And The Family Stone - I Want To Take You Higher

Everybody's Favorites - Jose Melis

Clair De Lune

Everybody's Favorites
Jose Melis
Mercury SR 60738
1963

Melis's work is too conservative for me. There are bongos backing up Melis on this album, but the songs never spill over into that space age sound. However, side one sports an excellent and engaging cover of Clair De Lune featuring a guitarist that blends his/her work nicely with Melis's subdued approach.

This version is not the version available for purchase/download (that track appears to be a more fully orchestrated version, from another album).

Exotic Percussion - Milt Raskin

Exotic Percussion
Exotic Sounds Of Milt Raskin
Crown CST 212
1959

Here we have a very nice exotica album from Milt Raskin. This album is available for purchase/download so I will not be posting a sample.

I don't know why Crown didn't spend a few dollars to produce a halfway decent cover for this album. The project was worth a flashy cover to help boost sales.

The title is a misleading. I would not lump this album in with all the percussion albums that hit the market at about this time. Raskin's work here is more of a blend between Arthur Lyman, a touch of Lex Baxter and Raskin's own instrumental sensibilities.

Raskin is also responsible for another fine "exotica" recording on Crown Titled KAPU (Forbidden). Crown did spend some money on that cover.

Percussion For Playboys

Angel Eyes

Percussion For Playboys
Omega OSD 2

This one looks like it was released in... oh, say 1960/61. The LP is a compilation of whatever Omega had on the shelf at the moment... including several weird tracks that include a sound effects track from an automobile race and the track titled A Visit To A Hindu Monastery (that I tacked onto the sample track above)! There are no artist credits and there is precious little "percussion" on the album. Actually this is more of a "jazz" album. Omega slapped the provocative title and cheesecake photo on the cover and they were good to go.

Sports Car Races
Mickey Mouse Theme
Take The "A" Train
Dancing On The Ceiling
Island Of Desire
Coop Salutes
Return To Paradise
Latin Heat
Limehouse Blues
Laura
Daybreak
Angel Eyes
It Ain't Necessarily So
A Visit To A Hindu Monastery

Big Bold And Brassy - Enoch Light And The Light Brigade

American Patrol

Big Bold And Brassy
Enoch Light And The Light Brigade
Percussion In Brass
Originated and Produced by Enoch Light
Art Director Charles E. Murphy
Cover Art by S. Neil Fujita
Command Records RS 818 SD
1960

From Billboard - February 13, 1961: Enoch Light and the Light Brigade are back in another entrancing and exciting stereo album. This time the Light crew features bright, breezy brass percussion instead of bongos, et. al., but it still makes for a mighty tasty musical album and a solid buy for stereo fans. The marches especially, such as "Colonel Bogey," "American Patrol" and "Parade of the Wooden Soldiers" and "Rambling Wreck From Georgia Tech," are a gas. This could be another best seller for the Enoch Light gang.

Great Day
Theme From The Apartment
Rachmaninoff Prelude In C#m
Whiffenpoof Song
Coloney Bogey
No Rest For The Drummer Man
American Patrol
Lullaby Of Broadway
Wabash Blues
Parade Of The Wooden Soldiers
When Yuba Plays The Rhumba On The Tuba
Rambling Wreck From Georgia Tech