Provocatif - 9 Exotic Motifs by John McFarland

The Chimp And The Bumble Bee

Head Hunters

Provocatif
9 Exotic Motifs by John McFarland
United Artists UAS 5053
1959

From the back cover: Provocatif is a mystical combination of oriental, african and latin instrumental sounds, plus natural effects gathered from the sea, sky and forest, all mixed with the whimsical genius of John Leslie McFarland. Although John McFarland has been at large in the Tin Pan Alley music jungle for some several seasons, and is a well-known composer, this album is the first full expose of his talent as pianist, and arranger.

I found a reference to McFarland in historical Billboard magazine (January 1986) article about The Brill Building. Apparently McFarland also may have worked as Johnny Jungletree.

There are other online references to a John Leslie McFarland as a song writer.

This record was reviewed in Billboard, November 1959 as having good sales potential: ...John McFarland's six man group plays some strikingly original numbers with jazz motifs, a couple of humorous items, and understated treatments of "Tangerine" and Where or When" that are truly lovely.

This album was released several years after Martin Denny's Exotica, Liberty 1957, but in the same year as the Denny's successful, Quiet Village. The number 1 A side track, Jungle Bells sound an awful lot like a Denny tune, but the recording then takes on a life of it's own.

The sample above, The Chimp And The Bumble Bee was composed by McFarland.