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Thursday, February 6, 2020

Latitude 20 - Arthur Lyman

Alfie
Latitude 20
Arthur Lyman
HIFI Records, Inc.
Life Series SL 1037
1968

From the back cover: Lying just north of the Equator, at Latitude 20 to be exact, is the Island of Hawaii, known to the natives of the islands as "The Big Island".

Latitude 20 crosses this island at Kawaihae Bay on the west side – through Waimea and leaving the island just north of Laupahoehoe on the east. Arthur has recorded the tunes which represent these areas, listen to "Waimea Cowboy" and to "The Boy From Laupahoehoe" on this album titled "Lyman '66" HiFi #1031.

Outside of the island of Oahu, there is more progress on "The Big Island" than on any of the others. The city of Hilo is growing up. Many new hotels are being built there and they have enlarged the airport to accommodate the big jets which now land and take off from there.

Hilo is the operating base for the tourists to visit the mountains, Mauna Kea – the highest point in Hawaii, 13,796 ft. – and the volcano Mauna Loa at 13,680 ft. Other tourists prefer to visit the Kalapana Black Sea Beach, the Chain of Craters road or to travel to the western side of the island to visit the district of Kona, on down to Kealakekua Bay to see Captaincies. Cook's monument. Cameras and Aloha shirts are the uniform of the day, wherever the tourists abound.

Back at Hilo there is an enterprising florist who has opened his gardens, taking a page from Disneyland, installing a volcano that hisses, a grass shack, waterfalls and lagoons for the camera bugs.

While the island of Hawaii is moving swiftly toward super-civilization, Honolulu is still the big attraction, and Waikiki Beach is the playground of the world. Here rising magnificently out of the sand is the Ilikai Hotel, where Arthur Lyman and his group entertain nightly in the Canoe House, a room which was designed specifically for his exotic rhythms. Here is where you will hear Arthur playing the melodies of the islands, Broadway show tunes, motion picture themes, as well as top hit selections, not as you have heard them played over your local stations, but as only Arthur and his group can interpret them.

In this package, Arthur is presenting some of these melodies, done only as Arthur Lyman can do them, with exotic rhythms and the incomparable Lyman feeling. Here too is Arthur's first vocal effort, a dedication to his daughter Kapiolani, plaintive, warm and sincere, opening up a new horizon for him, and leaving the listener with a desire for more. – Lee Palmer


From Billboard - June 1, 1968: Arthur Lyman's soft and subliminal Polynesian sound is drawing patrons to Hop Louie's Latitude 20 club here. Recently departed from Honolulu, Lyman and his three associates offer a brand of Hawaiian music which is neither traditional nor modern. It's mid-ground. And it's appealing.

The HiFi Recording artists open with a medley of "South Pacific" torch-burners segue to "Return to Paradise" and then go to their favorite "Yellow Birds."

Lyman is a very deliberate vibist/marimbist. He doesn't waste a single note. His four mallets are carefully placed in softly melodic patterns, but he knows when to build in dynamics and his crescendos always coincide with his percussionist, who works standing up in the Latin timbales fashion. Lyman adds his own percussive skill on conga drums on several numbers to add a throbbing lilt behind his pianist.

The dynamic "Exodus" is a showstopper and very un-Hawaiian. Lyman involves his audience in the singalong "Tiny Bubbles" and counters that with a Hawaiian language romp through "Pearly Shells." The group's skill with bird calls is demonstrated on "Quiet Village" and the room's good sound system carries the shrill whistles and screechy voice manifestations throughout the two 250 seat rooms comprising the dinner club.

"Colonel Boogie March" and a secondary salute to the armed forces totally changes the intimate romantic mood. – Eliot Tiegel


Latitude 20
Hawaii
The Day The Fish Came Out
Manha de Carnival
Island In The Sun
Maori Flea
Ode To Billie Joe
Our Song
Wunderbar
I'll Take You Home Again Kathleen
Alfie
The Days Of My Youth

Patterns In Sound - Volume 2

Jersey Bounce
Enoch Light Presents
An Emotional Experience In Musical Communication
Patterns In Sound
Volume 2
Originated and Produced by Enoch Light
Arrangements by Lew Davies
Associate Producer: Julie Klages
Recording Chief: Robert Fine
Mastering: George Piros
Cover Art: Charles E. Murphy
Master Recorded On 35mm Magnetic Film
Project 3 - Total Sound STEREO PR 102SD
1967

From the inside cover: Peter Matz is the brilliantly talented conductor and arranger of the new Kraft Music Hall on television. On Broadway, his orchestrations contribution to the nightly ovations at Hallelujah, Baby! He became the most in-demand arranger in the highly competitive popular music world when his writing helped to give Barbra Streisand the distinctive ideas that shot her to international fame. Beside Miss Streisand, Matz has also arranged for Perry Como, Diahann Carroll, Andy Williams, even Noel Coward – and 'way back in the early 'Fifties he was pianist and conductor for Kay Thompson when she was at the peak of her success.

Bobby Hackett has remained one of the most consistently successful jazz musicians for the past three decades largely because he has blended inventive jazz improvisation with a dazzling sense of melody. Originally hailed as a successor to the legendary Bix Beiderbecke when he first reached New York from Boston, Hackett quickly evolved the personal style on his cornet that he has used ever since. He played guitar for a year or so in Glenn Miller's orchestra just before WWII and has been heard adding his lush touch to innumerable Jackie Gleason recordings.

The Kissin' Cousins, a singing group made up of eight men and four girls, have swept a wave of excitement across college campuses and through the programs if disc jockeys with an ear for new sounds. Part of their very individual, distinctive sound comes from the balance between make and female voices – twice as many men as women because the female voices are more penetrating that the male. Add to this a smooth harmonic blend, an essentially joyful approach to their songs and a choice of tunes that are as contemporary as today and yet timeless in their lasting values.

The True Blues – "Traveling Band with Outstanding Vocalists" – is a group that has fond but preceptive memories of the days when there were traveling dance bands with vocalists, outstanding or not. They recall the flavor or that period but their tunes are often as recent as the latest Broadway hit. They wrap it all together in a marvelous mixture of the old, the new, the borrowed and their own true blues.


The Kissin' Cousins (Listen To Your Heart)
Peter Matz (Canadian Sunset)
The True Blues (Ukulele Talk)
Bobby Hacket (The Touch Of Your Lips)
Peter Matz (Jersey Bounce)
The True Blues (Sing For Your Supper)
Peter Matz ( Chattanooga Choo-Choo)
The Kissin' Cousins (Somewhere My Love)
Bobby Hackett ( My Foolish Heart)
The True Blues (Name)
Bobby Hackett (Emily)
The Kissin' Cousins (The Breadfruit Tree)

Carefree Moments - The Wilburn Brothers

Cry Baby Cry
Carefree Moments
The Wilburn Brothers
Teddy & Dole
Vocalion VL 3691
A Product Of Decca Records

From Billboard - October 16, 1954: The Willburn Brothers, Doyle and Teddy, a regular feature of the Webb Pierce show, announced here today that they are leaving the Pierce unit November 1 to go under the personal management of Hubert Long, who also has Faron Young under his wing. The break with Pierce is entirely amicable, the brothers announced.

The Wilburn lads worked with Pierce in 1951 on the "Louisiana Hayride" out of Shreveport, La., when the army grabbed them off. They've been back with Pierce as a regular feature since January of this year. Recently they signed a Decca recording contract, being brought to the attention of Paul Cohen, Decca A&R man, by Pierce.

Their second release on Decca "Let Me Be The First To Know" and "Carefree Moments," will be out Monday (11).


Mixed Up Medley: I Told Them All About You / No Fooling' / Put Your Arms Around Me Honey (I Never Knew Any Girl Like You)
My Heart Or My Mind
I Got Over The Blues
I'm So In Love With You
Carefree Moments
Cry Baby Cry
I Wanna Wanna Wanna
Let Me Be The First To Know
Nothing At All
A Town That Never Sleeps
Till I'm The Only One
If You Love Me (Really Love Me)

The Glenn Miller Way - Ray Eberle

You Stepped Out Of A Dream
The Glenn Miller Way
Ray Eberle Sings And Plays "Music Of Today"
Arrangements by Hale Rood
Cover Design: Studio East
Photo: George Pickow
Design Records SS 48 / DLP-105
1958

From the back cover: Ray Eberle the handsome, personable young man, was born in the thriving community of Hoosick Falls, New York, on January 19th.

His "big" break came at 18 when he was hired to fill the featured vocalist spot with the late, great Glenn Miller, who was organizing an orchestra. During the pre-war years when he was a mainstay of the Miller Band. Ray consistently won vocalist polls and was regarded by trade observers as the top band singer. His voice was heard from coast-to-coast on the Chesterfield program thrice weekly and while a featured member of the Glenn Miller Orchestra, Eberle was seen in two 20th Century Fox musicals, "Sun Valley Serenade" and "Orchestra Wives."

He put in six years as Glenn Miller's featured vocalist and toured the nation with the band. His name became a byword in music to the millions who flocked to see and hear the Miller band wherever it appeared. Among the many showcases where Elberle's name and fame were spread were: Paramount Theatre, New York; Oriental and Chicago Theatres in Chicago; Statler Hotel in New York; Palladium in Hollywood and all other top locations and theaters where top name orchestras regularly appear.

Going on his own just before the war broke out, Ray seemed headed for the top. He made eight feature films and six short subjects for Universal and was star of his own CBS radio show from California. However the call to the service cut short his budding career as a solo star.

Coming back again after a service hitch, Eberle started again as a single. Engagement in the East and Mid-west proved he had lost none of his polish or popularity. He has been featured twice a week on WPIJ-TV, and is a great favorite wherever he appears. His years of experience have given this star a good idea of what the people want, and Ray shows us on this LP how well prepared he is, both vocally and otherwise, to fill the bill.

Ray's feeling for Glenn Miller and his musicianship really comes to the front as he gives the songs that Glenn, himself, could have made famous if her were alive today.


Did I Remember
Johnson Ray
Stairway To The Stars
Elmer's Tune (Cha Cha)
My Blue Heaven
One O'Clock Jump
My Reverie
Chattanooga Choo Choo (Cha Cha)
Ebb Tide
You Stepped Out Of A Dream

Woodchopper's Ball - Woody Herman Orchestra

Northwest Passage
Woodchopper's Ball
A Tribute To Woody Herman
Members Of The Woody Herman Orchestra
Crown Records STEREO CST 533

Woodchopper's Ball
Northwest Passage
Apple Honey
Goosey Gander
Four Brothers
Blue Flame
Wild Root
Bijou
Blowin' Up A Storm

We Go Together - Paul & Paula

So Fine

Paul & Paula
We Go Together
Cover Design: William Smith
Philips Records PHS 600-089 & PHM 200-089
1963

From the back cover: Even in a business as prone to lightening as the entertainment business, the story of "Paul and Paula" is extraordinary. They've simply made it that fast.

The two kids came out of Texas in November, 1962, their vehicle was a Philips record titled "Hey, Paula." This record geared the wheels of more chart winners. "Paul & Paula Sing For Young Lovers" shortly after its release, became one of the top "10" albums in the nation. Later their single recording of "Young Lover" jumped on the charts of the leading trade magazines, and rapidly soared into the top "10" of the singles. Young Lovers is still holding position in the magazines, as Paul & Paula are still holding the attention and adoration of "teens" throughout the nation.

Yet, as it rarely happens (but just often enough so that kids everywhere can dream), here they are today, established personalities, thanks to the very first recording they ever made.

How'd it happen? Well, for one thing, as the title of this album indicates, they "go together." They blend. Their voices are complementary. They make sense as a team. Even more than that, in doing what they do, singing what they sing, being what they are, they make a powerful appeal. They've been called, "America's number one boy and girl," and they might well be. They represent, in a very real sense, the kind of boy-girl combination that this country has always taken to heart, a 1963 version of Janet Gaynor-Charles Farrell team of "Seventh Heaven."

In a growing sense, they also are the very people they sing about – "The Average Boy, the Average Girl" who go together like "two straws in a soda." The subjects of their songs are the subjects other boys and girls find important and for good reason – "We Go Together"... "Pledging My Love"... "Flipped Over You"... "The Beginning Of Love." They sing of a world that is brand new, to them, where kids pair off, maybe forever. – Lou Sidran


From Billboard - July 6, 1963: Paul and Paula have gone well together over the course of several hefty singles hits and an earlier album. The title describes them well, musically speaking, at least, as they turn in the familiar duet harmony stylings on a flock of love ditties like "Pledging My Love," "Flipped Over You," "Something Old and Something New" and the title tune. Interestingly and somewhat contrary to current practice, neither of their previous hits is included. The set should grab a lot of action.

We Got Together
Oh What A Love
The Beginning Of Love
Flipped Over You
We Two Forever Shall Be One
Stepping Stone
Average Boy And Average Girl
So Fine
Love Comes Once
You Send Me
Something Old, Something New
Pledging My Love

Dance At The Discotheque

Petite Fantasy
Dance At The Discotheque
Make Your Home A Discotheque
Recorded under the direction of D. L. Miller
Cover Design: Chic Laganella
Somerset ALBUM SF-22000
Manufactured by Miller International, Co.
1964

Moonlight Serenade - Fox Trot
Valentine's Day Massacre - SwingBig Ben Twist - Twist
Concerto For Cha-Cha - Cha Cha
We'll Remember - Fox Trot
Sugar Foot - Fox Trot
Java - Twist
Petite Fantasy - Fox Trot Blues
Organ Twist - Twist
Bed Room Blues - Frug/Hully Gully
Fantasy Impromptu - ChaCha
Desafinado - Bossa Nova



Front Row Center - Marjorie Meinert

Bali Ha'i
Front Row Center
Marjorie Meinert At The Lowrey Organ
Produced by Herman Diaz, Jr.
Recording Engineer: Bob Simpson
Recorded in RCA Victor's Studio A, New York City
RCA Victor LSP-2170
1960

Shall We Dance?
Getting To Know You
I Whistle A Happy Tune
Gigi
The Night They Invented Champagne
Thank Heaven For Little Girls
People Will Say We're In Love
The Surrey With The Fringe On Top
Oh, What A Beautiful Mornin'
Some Enchanted Evening
Bali Ha'i
I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Outa My Hair
On The Street Where You Live
I Could Have Danced All Night
Get Me To The Church On Time
Make Believe
Why Do I Love You?
Bill

Wednesday, February 5, 2020

The Now Generation

Grazing In The Grass
The Now Generation
Produced by Tom Walls
Cover Design by Jim Johnson
Recorded at Spar Recording Studio
Spar Premiere 4803

Love Theme From Romeo & Juliet
Love Can Make You Happy
Grazing In The Grass
Oh Happy Day
In The Ghetto
Get Back
Good Morning Starshine
Aquarius/Let The Sunshine In
Bad Moon Rising
These Eyes
Hair
Israelites

The Million Dollar Sounds Of The World's Most Precious Violins - Volume Two

Alone Together
The Million Dollar Sounds Of The World's Most Precious Violins
Volume Two
Conducted by Enoch Light
Command Records Stereo RS 804 SD
1959 Award Publishing Corporation

From Billboard - August 31, 1959: Here's incredible beauty and richness of sound produced by an orchestra built around actual original string instruments.

That Old Black Magic
My Reverie
I Get A Kick Out Of You
Summertime
I Cover The Waterfront
Long Ago (And Far Away)
Alone Together
They Didn't Believe Me
You Go To My Head
Manhattan Serenade
Lisa Darling, Lisa Dear
Embraceable You

Harmonica Moods - Johnny Cadente

To A Wild Rose
Harmonica Moods
Johnny Cadente
With Rhythm Accompaniment
Palace PST-602
Buckingham Records - New York City

Love Walked In
Humoresque
Yama Yama Man
No Other Love
La Cuaracha
Isle Of Capri
To A Wild Rose
My Heart At Thy Sweet Voice
I Talk To The Trees
Man On The Flying Trapeze

Country & Western War Songs - The Lonesome Valley Singers

It's Got To Be Done
Hello Vietnam
Country & War Songs
The Lonesome Valley Singers
Diplomat Records D 2376
1965

Hello Vietnam
Jungle War
Why Doesn't Someone Write To Me
What We're Fighting For
Tell The Folks I Miss 'Em
I'm Just A Lonesome Soldier
It's Got To Be Done
Don't Worry, Just Pray
It's All Worth Fighting For
Goodbye Curly Head

Jose Melis On Broadway

Small World
Jose Melis On Broadway
Mercury Records SR 60610
1961

From the back cover: Jose Melis began his musical study at three, immediately showing amazing virtuosity. At six, he entered the Havana conservatory, from where he graduated four years later, as a teacher. So precocious was Melis that the Cuban government awarded him a scholarship to study in Paris, where he won a competition which provided for study with the eminent French pianist, Alfred Cortot. After his study in Paris, he returned to his native Havana, where he did concert work, including performances with the Havana Symphony. Shortly after, he went to Boston to study with Edwin Brodky, harpsichordist and concert pianist. After three years in Boston, a second scholarship to study under Joseph and Rosa Lhevinne at Juilliard Graduate school took him to New York. After serving in the U.S. Army, he toured the States as a musical director for the USO Camp Shows.

Before joining the Jack Parr Show, he spent almost ten years playing outstanding professional engagements that ranged from the Hotel Sahara, Las Vegas, to the Hotel Sherman, Chicago, to Basin Street and the Park Sheraton Hotel, New York.


I Could Have Dance All Night
Tonight
So In Love
Joey, Joey, Joey
Small World (Cha Cha)
The Party's Over
From This Moment On
The Heather On The Hill
We Kiss In The Shadow
Climb Ev'ry Mountain
Till There Was You
Stranger In Paradise

Tuesday, February 4, 2020

Country Songs For City People - Roberta Sherwood

Blue Moon Of Kentucky
Country Songs For City People
Roberta Sherwood
With Jack Pleis and His Orchestra
Hi-Fi Decca Records DL 8739
1958

From the back cover: Roberta Sherwood, whose meteoric rise from the obscurity of small lounge bars in Miami led to unprecedented national acclaim almost overnight, is a singer with a style that is unmistakably her own. Her throaty voice and unbridled enthusiasm give exciting new meaning to any song... regardless of how often it has been heard before. When she sings a torch song... you cry, and when she gives out with a "knee-slapper"... you're going to slap you knees!

Her story – the subject of a full length feature in Life Magazine and recently the subject of TV's "This Is Your Life" show – couldn't be more exciting if it came from the pen of a fiction writer. Her appearance – every bit that of the devoted wife and mother that she is – stands in unique contrast to her pyrotechnic vocal delivery.

On stage, in a characteristically conservative gown, covered at the shoulders by a sweater, the audience is invariably caught unawares by the sudden rush of undiluted talent and dynamism emanating from this unpretentious looking "Mrs.-next-door-neighbor." The proud owner of a "Copa Bonnet" – New York's equivalent of Hollywood's "Oscar" – Roberta Sherwood also holds the honor of being one of the few entertainers to out-draw the roulette and dice tables of Las Vegas.


From Billboard - January 5, 1959: In an attempt to compete with Miami Beach's plush niters, the smart Flat Ocean Mile Hotel in nearby Fort Lauderdale has initiated a headline name policy this season, opening Friday (19) with thrush Roberta Sherwood, a Florida resident of long standing who as a large local following.

Vocally competent, but not outstanding, Miss Sherwood's greatest attribute is her more than 20 years in show business. From her usual opening, when she warbled "Love Is A Many Splendored Thing." sans mike and standing in the middle of the audience, thru "Bill Bailey," some 42 minutes later, Miss Sherwood controlled the situation with warmth, poise and dignity.

Show was well-paced and varied including ballads, such as Irving Berlin's "All Along" and "Always," upbeat number like "Look Down That Lonesome Road," and two tunes from her new Decca album "Country Songs For City People." Also spotlighted were previous clicks "Lost In His Arms" and "Lazy River."

Playing up her role as housewife and mother to the hilt, Miss Sherwood presented her son, Don Lanning, a Miami University student, singing a rock and roll version of "Girl Of My Dreams." This was a nice theatrical touch but added little of musical value to the otherwise satisfying program – Charles Roberts.


I Can't Help It (If I'm Still In Love With You)
Half As Much
Cold, Cold Heart
When My Blue Moon Turns To Gold Again
I Love You So Much It Hurts
Blue Moon Of Kentucky
Your Cheatin' Heart
Someday (You'll Want Me to Want You)
Jealous Heart
Tumbling Tumbleweeds
I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry
I'll Keep On Loving You

Hour Of Love - Florian ZaBach

2nd Piano Concerto
Hour Of Love
Florian ZaBach
Violin Solos with Orchestra directed by Phil Boutelje
Decca Records Hi-Fi DL 8086
1955

From the back cover: ZaBach was a phenomenon from the start. A true prodigy, he performed the Beethoven Violin Concerto at the Auditorium Concert Hall when he was twelve. At fifteen he was astounding listeners at the Chicago World's Fair. A few years later, in 1936, he toured European capitals to a crescendo of continental acclaim.

Back in the United States he added to his successes, went into radio and learned the popular side of music as staff artist and soloist. When war came he served two years in the Medical Corps of the Army. After his discharge, ZaBach formed his own orchestra and was a star attraction in the Persian Room of New York's Plaza Hotel, the Empire Room of Chicago's Palmer House, the Cocoanut Grove of Los Angeles' Ambassador Hotel, the main room of Washington's Mayflower Hotel, and other topnotch spots. Playing at New York's Strand Theatre, he broke all records with an unprecedented stay of thirty-three weeks. In television he made half a dozen appearance with Arthur Godfrey as well as other coast-to-coast leading TV shows, was featured many times with Milton Berle, Ken Murray, and other headliners, before he starred on his own Florian ZaBach Show.

ZaBach owns a priceless Guarnerius violin on which he performed with great effect in this album entitled "Heart Strings." H
is amazing technical virtuosity is displayed in a pervious album, "The Hot Canary," and the present collection is another indication of ZaBach's verve and versatility, as well as his scintillating musicianship.

From Billboard - February 5, 1955: Liberace clicked big on records as a result of his TV film series, so dealers should watch this package by Florian ZaBach. The handsome violinist is currently getting the same kind of romantic video buildup accorded to Liberace (via the syndication of ZaBach's own film series). And the promotion results could pay off big sale-wise for this album. ZaBach, best known for his "Hot Canary" LP, is an accomplished violinist, and this album contains 12 excellent examples of his work, including "Intermezzo," Schubert's "Unfinished Symphony," and "Melody in A." All the selections as "classical" but the package is definitely aimed at the pop market.

Intermezzo
Theme from Tchaikovsky's 5th Symphony
Theme from Chopin's Fantasied Impromptu
Theme from Tchaikovsky's Romeo And Juliet Overture
Eighteenth Variation
Theme from Rachmaninoff's 2nd Piano Concerto with chorus
Poeme By Fibich
Theme from Tchaikovsky's Andante Cantabile
Theme from Schubert's Unfinished Symphony
Melody In "A"
Dance Of The Slave Maidens

Fly Me To The Moon - Jesse Crawford

Fly Me To The Moon
Fly Me To The Moon
Jesse Crawford & Jay Dodds
Diplomat Records D2341

Jess Crawford

Roses From The South
Villia
Gypsy Love Songs
Buttercup

Jay Dodds

Fly Me To The Moon
Cuddle Up A Little Closer
Life Is Just A Song
Hymn To The Sun
Claire De Lune
Revery

Monday, February 3, 2020

Mambo Party - Edmundo Ros

Ole Mambo
Mambo Party
Edmundo Ros and His Orchestra
Richmond High Fidelity
A Product Of London Records
B 20022
1959

From Billboard - March 16, 1959: A somewhat abbreviated version of the disk the bandleader cut for London in the pre-cha cha era. As usual, Ros' rhythm section is a strong feature, with its smooth, danceable beat. Both the English and Spanish vocals and the instrumentals come across in fine style. Tho the mambo is less popular than it was, there are still enough enthusiasts to make this a good rack item.

Mambo No. 5
More More Mambo
Chivi Rico
Anything Can Happen
Mambo Negro
Mambo Jambo
Mambo In F
El Baile Del Sillon
Ole Mambo
Cuca