Let's Face The Music And Dance - Nelson Riddle

I Get Along Without You Very Well

Let's Face The Music And Dance
Nelson Riddle and His Orchestra
Pickwick/33 Records PC-3036
A Product of Pickwick International, Inc.
1966

Let's Face The Music
Just One Of Those Things
You Do Something To Me
You Are My Lucky Star
I Get Along Without You Very Well
Let's Do It
I Love Paris
You Leave Me Breathless
For All We Know
Jeannie I Dream Of Lilac Time

Swingin' Southern Stye - Glen Gray

Southland Shuffle

Swingin' Southern Style
Glen Gray and The Casa Loma Orchestra
Produced by Dave Cavanaugh and Tom Morgan
Capitol Records ST 1400
1960

From the back cover: This fine new musical idea stemmed not only from a blending of instrumental styles, but from a combination of creative talents. In developing the scores, Glen Gray and producers Dave Cavanaugh and Tom Morgan called on three top arrangers to work with them: Van Alexander, Jack Marshall and Larry Wagner. And the inspired result of their collaborative effort is this album of music that swings in a happy new way – Southern Style!

From Billboard - July 11, 1960: Here's a group of robust, big-band stylings, based along classic Dixie patterns, except it's nicely modernized with a swinging beat, and a solid ensemble sound. The Glen Gray studio compliment includes "Milenberg Joys," "Panama" and "That's A Plenty," in the entertaining program. It all has a fresh sound and the recording job is tops. A lot of good listening here.

Milenberg Joys
Yessir, That's My Baby
Riverboat Shuffle
Stars And Stripes Forever
Panama
Southland Shuffle
That's A Plenty
Cotton Belt Cannonball
Columbia, Gem Of The Ocean
Carolina In The Morning
Dixie
Cajun Shout

Breakfast Dance And Barbecue - Count Basie & Joe Williams

5 O'Clock In The  Morning

Breakfast Dance And Barbecue
Count Basie and His Orchestra featuring Joe Williams
Produced by Teddy Reig
Engineered by Bill Scripps & Tory Brainard
Liner Notes by Bud Katzel
Roulette Birdland R 52028

Personnel:
Piano: Count Basie
Vocalist: Joe Willams
Guitar: Freddy Green
Drums: Sonny Payne
Bass: Eddie Jones, Jr.
Trumpets: Harry 'Sweets' Edison, Thad Jones, Joe Newman, Wendell Cully and Snooky Young
Trombones: Henry Coker, Ben Powell and Al Grey
Saxophones: Marshall Royal, Frank Wess, Frank Foster, Willie Mitchell and Charile Fowlkes

From the back cover: It was 2 a.m., in the grand ballroom of the luxurious American Hotel in Miami. There were 2,500 members of the radio and television fraternity known as disc-jockeys, some 500 members of the recording industry and assorted guests present. Suddenly, with unbelievable dispatch, a dance floor was cleared, the spareribs were dished out, the bottles opened, the glasses filled and their contents emptied and Count Basie and his orchestra opened up...

It was a night to remember, it was a morning that those who were present will never forget. It was a bash to end all bashes. It was a breakfast dance and barbecue feted by Roulette Records in honor of America's disc-jockeys at their second annual convention. It was all these things and one thing more; it was the morning Count Basie and the greatest big band jazz aggregation ever assembled cast a hypnotic spell over 3,000 or more stunned guests.

This album is the on-the-spot recorded documentation of that history making morning of May 31st 1959. Now you can hear the mesmerizing sounds that Basie and his men weaved that kept the guests enthralled for some five hours. Now you can listen to that morning when Thad Jones on trumpet gave out with "Counter Block" and Snooky Young's trumpet held the crowd spellbound with "Let's Have A Taste." Here is that moment of glory when Harry 'Sweets' Edison who played trumpet with Basie for seventeen years, was reunited once again with the Count to relieve every note of the maestro's jazz classic "One O'Clock Jump."

Listen too, if you will, to that time on the 31st when darkness had fled the Miami sky and the sun began to rise and the Basie touch was put to Duke Ellington's "In A Mellow Tone"; also the shining minutes of early morning when the master of the blues, Joe Williams, held sway over the crowds wailing "Hallelujah, I Love Her So." It was now 5:00 a.m. and the ham and eggs and hot coffee were served and still the Basie Band played on and still the unyielding crowd, refusing to be denied, called for more...

In the many years since he came up from Kansas City, "the kids from Red Bank" has been the object of much glorification. Time and time again tribute has been paid to this man and deservedly so. Truly, in all this time no greater honor was bestowed upon him and his band than on the morning of May 31st. The crowd that had gathered that night had, prior to Basie's appearance, been treated to more than five hours of entertainment. They had sat a long time and were getting noisy and restless. Any audience sitting that length of time would have had enough for one night and it would not have been at all surprising if en masse they would have exited. It just didn't happen. When the Count and his band began to play, it seemed as though the crowd had suddenly been revived. The full-force of the band's sound acted like a shot of adrenaline and that same crowd not only sat through another five hours, but they got up and dance! This is a once-in-a-lifetime tribute. It came not from the critics or the jazz buff or supposed hipsters in the know. This was a tribute from the people, the people who stayed on and on and on into the wee hours of the morning.

Basie and his boy have been given a night off from their engagement at the Birdland nightclub in New York City to make this one-night appearance. It was now 7:00 a.m. and it was only because the band had to catch a plane back to Birdland to finish out their gig that inevitably brought the proceedings to an end. As the musicians filed off the bandstand and the photographer from Dude Magazine, which had exclusive coverage of the bash, was popping his last bulbs, everyone seems to sense that this had not been an ordinary affair. The morning of May 31st was a time they would talk about again and again.

Fortunately, we can do more than talk about it, we can hear it all in this set. All of the excitement, all of the crowds' enthusiasm, elation and applause have been etched here. Happily too, all of the resounding sounds that shook the rafters of that ballroom have also been faithfully captured. Where were you on the morning of May 31st, 1959? If you were in Miami in the grand ballroom of the Americana you lived through a momentous time in jazz. If you were unlucky to have been somewhere else, all is not lost for here it is put together for you in an album as unforgettable as that historic morning.

In A Mellow Tone
5 O'Clock In The Morning
Counter Block
Who Me
Let's Have A Taste
Moten Swing
Hallelujah, I Love Her So
One O'Clock Jump

Trinidad Tripoli Steel Band

Love Is Blue

Super Group
Trinidad Tripoli Steel Band
Produced by Liberace in association with Attarack-Heller Corp., Seymour N. Heller, President
Leader: Hugh Brode
Musical Director: Revd. John Sewell
Under the Direction of W. Roncken
Cover Design & Photography: George S. Whiteman
Forward Records STEREO ST-F-1005

From the back cover: "I (Liberace) think the music that this group is producing is remarkable, ranging from the traditional calypso to symphonic works."

"Not to be confused with various calypso bands, this group is a concert band... or perhaps I should say orchestra. Their repertoire consists of such selections as The Poet and Peasant Overture, Handel's Messiah, Midnight In Moscow, Sabre Dance, as well as rock, jazz and calypso presentations."

"And the Trinidad Tripoli Steel Band is the first touring act I've seen receive a standing ovation at every performance."

The band has given concert in Central Park in New York City, for the Diplomatic Corps,. in Washington, D.C., two command performances for Queen Elizabeth of England, and at the Flamingo in Las Vegas. This album is, indeed, a command performance in itself.

Sabre Dance
Poet And Peasant Overture
Alley Cat
Hallelujah Chorus
March Of The Gladiators
Love Is Blue
The Man I Love
Yellow Bird
You Do Something To Me

Have Guitar Will Travel - Eddy Arnold

Idaho

Have Guitar Will Travel
Eddy Arnold
Recorded in Nashville, September 1958
Recording Engineer: Bob Farris
Produced by Chet Atkins
RCA Victor LSP-1928

Indiana
Oklahoma Hills
Mister And Mississippi
Stars Fell On Alabama
Idaho
Kentucky Babe
Missouri
Carolina In The Morning
Carry Me Back To Old Virginny
On Miami Shore
Beautiful Ohio
Georgia On My Mind

Fair And Warmer - June Christy

When Sunny Gets Blue

Fair And Water
Is A New Musical Outlook For Jnne
A Sunlite Album With A Rhythmic Accent
Arranged and Conducted by Pete Rugolo
Capitol Records T833
1957

From Billboard - May 20, 1957: June Christy previous album, "Something Cool," was a smash. In a sunny mood, the thrush is equally appealing. Her radiant projection of bright, cheerful tunes adds up to a choice buy. Clever, modern orking by Pet Rugolo enhances the package all the way thur. "Fair and Warmer" should easily coast into the best selling league. Attractive cover fits the gay mood.

I Want To Be Happy
Imagination
I've Never Been In Love Before
Irresistible You
No More
Better Luck Next Time
Let There Be Love
When Sunny Gets Blue
The Best Thing For You
Beware My Heart
I Know Why
It's Always You

More Golden Goodies

Caravan - Ralph Marterie

More Golden Goodies
Songs That Sold A Million
Mercury Records Stereo SR 60249

Ruby - Richar Hayman
Melody Of Love - David Carroll
Yours - Dick Contino
Miserlou - Jan August
Peg O' My Heart - Harmonicats
Blue Tango - Xavier Cugat
Harbor Lights - Jerry Byrd
Caravan - Ralph Marterie
Misty - Erroll Garner
Slow Walk - Sil Austin
Soft Summer Breeze - Eddie Heywood
Night Train - Buddy Morrow
Bumble Boogie - Jack Fina
Sugar Blues - Clyde McCoy

Girl In Love - Bud Shank

Strangers In The Night

Girl In Love
Bud Shank
Orchestra Arranged & Conducted by Oliver Nelson
Producer: Richard Bock
Engineer: Dave Hassinger
Art Direction: Woody Woodward
Cover Photo: Ken Kim
World Pacific WP-1853
A Division of Liberty Records
1966

Oliver Nelson is heard through the courtesy of Impulse Records

From the back cover: A glance through the past achievements of Clifford Everett Shank Jr. on the World Pacific / Pacific Jazz labels gives a striking picture of the man's range of musical interests. He has not only recorded on alto sax, but also on tenor, baritone and flute. He has worked in a hard-bop setting, with a string ensemble and teamed with Bob Cooper's oboe; with musicians from Brazil, India and Japan. He has recorded popular songs, jazz standards and his own originals, including the score for a motion picture. Then, of course, in 1965 Michelle brought him to the attention of an unprecedentedly large audience. The end justified the means, for there are Shank fans who, having been attracted to his work by the Michelle single or album, are now digging back into his prior history as a recording artist. The present album, like the California Dreaming' set which followed Michelle, was patterned along lines that will maintain Bud's new reputation. A new element has been added, in the person of Oliver Nelson, the St. Louis born composer arranger-conductor who for some years was better known as a saxophonist like Bud. Nelson shows a unique faculty for taking the essence of a hit of the day and orchestrating in a manner that displays Shank's instrumental personality to optimum effect. The somewhat unconventional instrumentation was a challenge to Oliver: six strings (on some tracks, though technical ingenuity, they are doubled to a dozen); four trombones and a large rhythm section; Bob Florence at the piano, Herb Ellis, Dennis Budimir and John Pisano on guitars, Bob West on bass, Frank Capp on drums, Victor Feldman on miscellaneous percussion. Frank Rosolino's trombone is woven into Bud's lines on Strangers In The Night. This song and Summer Wind are both hits associated with Frank Sinatra. Most of the tunes will be readily identified in connection with another popular version – Lady Jane with the Rolling Stones, Solitary Man with Neil Diamond and so forth.

From Billboard - October 1, 1966: Featuring jazz treatments of recent hits such as "Strangers In The Night" and "Summer Wind," Shank has a topper for his past two album successes. The well-planned program, combined with the arrangements of Oliver Nelson and spotlighting the haunting sax of Shank at its best, should hit the LP chart rapidly. Outstanding programming material.

Lady Jane
Summer Wind
The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine (Anymore)
Strangers In The Night
When A Man Loves A Woman
Girl In Love
Don't Go Breaking My Heart
Everybody Loves Somebody Sometime
Time
The Shining Sea
Lara's Theme From "Doctor Zhivago"
Solitary Man

The Original Hit Performances! Into The Fifties

Little White Lies

The Original Hit Performances!
Into The Fifties
The Music Goes 'Round And Around
Decca Records DL 4003
1959

From the back cover: Decca began operations in August, 1934 – in the midst of a nation-crippling depression – with the single purpose of bringing America the variety and quality of recorded entertainment it wanted to hear. Within a few short years, Decca presented to an ever-growing audience, such great talents as Bing Crosby, Guy Lombardo, Al Jolson, Jimmie Lunceford, the Dorsey Brothers, the Andrew Sisters, Mills Brothers, Judy Garland, Deanne Durbin, Victor Young, the Boswell Sisters and countless others. The first significant hit record was, symbolically, The Music Goes 'Round And Around, played by the Riley-Farley Orchestra.

Heartaches - Ted Weems
Maybe You'll Be There - Gordon Jenkins
The Whiffenpoof Song - Bing Crosby and Fred Waring
Little White Lies - Dick Haymes and Gordon Jenkins
A Little Bird Told Me - Evelyn Knight
I'm Looking Over A Four Leaf Clover - Russ Morgan
Once In Love With Amy - Ray Bolger
I Can Dream Can't I - Andrew Sisters and Gordon Jenkins
Blueberry Hill - Louis Armstrong and Gordon Jenkins
Enjoy Yourself - Guy Lombardo
Dearie - Ethel Merman and Ray Bolger
Goodnight Irene - The Weavers and Gordon Jenkins

Stereo Wonderland Of Sound - Andre Kostelanetz

Greenfields

Stereo Wonderland Of Sound
The New Andre Kostelanetz
Today's Great Hit
Columbia CS 8457

Recorded March 28th, 30th and April 4th, 1961 in Columbia Record's 30th Street Studio, New York City. Recording set-up included the use of ten condenser microphones. Custom recording console designed and built by Columbia Records Engineering and Development Department. RIAA curve.

Be My Love
Everybody Loves A Lover
Wonderland By Night
Volare
Greenfields
It's Not For Me To Say
Vaya Con Dios
Round And Round
Are You Lonesome Tonight?
So Rare
Unchained Melody
Marianne

We Can Fly! - The Johnny Mann Singers

Monday Monday

We Can Fly!
The Johnny Mann Singers
Producer: Jack Tracy
Arrangers: Johnny Mann and Allan Davies
Engineer: Ami Hadani
Art Direction: Woody Woodward
Cover Photo: Frank Capan
Liberty LST-7523
1967

From Billboard - July 22, 1967: Whether it be a vibrant uptempo tune or a velvety smooth melody, the Johnny Mann Singers take it on with class. This album includes zesty renditions of hit songs, "Up, Up And Away," and "I Got Rhythm." Other winners in this hit package are "This Is My Song," "Go Where You Wanna Go" and "Release Me."

Up-Up And Away
Somethin' Stupid
I Got Rhythm
Portrait Of My Love
Go Where You Wanna Go
Dedicated To The One I Love
Yellow Balloon
This Is My Song
Monday, Monday
Release Me
Joey Is The Name

Yours - Gordon Jenkins

The Lamp Is Low

Yours
The Magic Of Gordon Jenkins
Pickwick International PC-3005
Manufactured by Keel Mfg. Corp.

From the back cover: Jenkins has travelled a fascinating route from being a ukulele strummer in a St. Louis speakeasy during the 1920s to becoming one of the top maestros on the contemporary music scene. Born in Webster Groves, a small town in Missouri, Jenkins first began playing the uke in high school. Soon after he won a vaudeville contest conducted by Cliff Edwards (known as "Ukulele" Ike) and that convinced him to dedicate his life to music.

Jenkins quickly demonstrated his talent for learning almost any instrument he picked up. He played organ, piano and accordionists professionally during his early years. Jenkins, however, made his early reputation as an arranger for numerous top bands, including Paul Whiteman, Isham Jones, Benny Goodman and Vincent Lopez.

Jenkins, perhaps is best known for his composition "Manhattan Tower," a tone poem to New York. In this album, Jenkins has woven the same kind of musical spell around some superlative melodies. Here is the Jenkins sound at its most magical. – Herman Schoenfeld, Music Editor of Variety

Yours
The Lamp Is Low
Time Was
For The Want Of A Star
Arrivederci Roma
My Silent Love
Drifting & Dreaming
To Each His Own
Does My Heart Beat For Me?
My Reverie

4 Freshmen And 5 Trumpets

Goodbye

4 Freshmen And 5 Trumpets
Capitol Records T763
1957

Dick Reynolds wrote the arrangements and conducts. The five trumpets are Buddy Childers, Mannie Klein, San Rasey, Joe and Ray Triscari. Rhythm is handled by Milt Raskin, piano; Jack Marshall, guitar; Frank Carlson, drums; and Don Simpson, bass.

Bob Flanigan, standing, flanked from left to right by Ken Albers, Ross and Don Barbour (back cover photo).

From Billboard - January 26, 1957: The Frosh have been riding the charts for months with their "Four Trombones" album and this figures to be a contender for heavy follow-up honors. They stick close to the standard groove throughout with the likes of "The Night We Called It A Day," "Give Me The Simple Life." "After You've Gone," etc. The Dick Reynolds workings are superior and a top notch back-up to the close modern stylings of these heavy album sellers. A sharp and colorful cover will help sell copies, but once the jockeys take over there'll be requests aplenty, anyway.

Easy Street
Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye
Laughing On The Outside
After You've Gone
Goodbye
There Will Never Be Another You
Got A Date With An Angel
Something In The Wind
Someone Like You
The Night We Called It A Day
Give Me The Simple Life
Good Night Sweetheart

Curtain Going Up - Dukes Of Dixieland

Jazz Me Blues

Curtain Going Up
The Original Duke Of Dixieland
Cover Photo: Lester Krauss
Roulette R-25029
1958

From the back cover: Back in 1947, the Assunto brothers, Frank and Fred, formed a high school band in their hometown of New Orleans. They called the small group "The Basin Street Four," and when they could add more men to the band, they just changed the name to The Basin Street Five, or Six, and so on. Most of their engagements consisted of playing weekends in and around New Orleans.

Nothing much happened for the Assunto brothers and their father, Jack (who very often plays with the band), until Horace Heidt and his "Pot O' Gold" radio show, which sought fresh, young talent, came to New Orleans. The Assunto boys rounded up a Basin Street Seven and played for the Heidt show. They won such unanimous acclaim, and so impressed Heidt, that the bandleader invited the combo to join his organization. The boys were on their way!

After completing their tour with the Horace Heidt show, the combo returned to New Orleans. They outfitted themselves in uniforms and changed their name to "The Dukes Of Dixieland," Since then, the Dukes have enjoyed success at every turn and have played to crowded audiences in almost every top night spot in the country.

Walkin' Blues
Swanee River Session
Jazz Me Blues
Duke's Stomp
Hindustan
After You've Gone
St. James Infirmary
Sampson's Delight

Four Freshmen And 5 Tombones

Love

Four Freshmen And 5 Trombones
Capitol Records T683
1956

Pete Rugolo, a dynamic force in contemporary music, wrote all the arrangements in this album, providing vocal setting for the Freshmen, and backing the group with a trombone quintet and rhythm section. Here's the who's who of instrumental personnel: trombones, Frank Rosolino, Harry Betts Jr., Milt Bernhart, Tommy Pederson, George Roberts; piano, Claude Williamson; guitar, Barney Kessel; drums, Shelly Manne; bass, Joe Mondragon.

Barney Kessel and Shelly Manne perform in this album by arrangement with Contemporary Records. Milt Bernhart performs in this album by arrangement with RCA Victor Records.

From the back cover: Discovered by Stan Kenton shortly after they had begun their professional careers, the Four Freshmen soon found themselves touring the country as one of the most popular singing groups in recent years, and making records for Capitol that were not only gaining critical acclaim, but were selling well besides.

The sudden and solid success was in large part due to their distinctive vocal blend, which they get by combining good singing with the fresh ideas that reflect the group's active participation in the modern jazz movement.

In this album it is also apparent that the group has an ear for good songs. Here are tunes by some of America's greatest song writers – George Gershwin, Jerome Kern, Kurt Weil and Richard Whiting. The list of lyricists includes Johnny Mercer, Gus Kahn, Leo Robin, Ogden Nash and Oscar Hammerstein II.

The songs are all treated handsomely, though not always predictably. Love Is Just Around The Corner bounces along in a familiar tempo, while Speak Low emerges with a rhythmic Latin flavor. I Remember You is the slow sweet ballad it was meant to be, but You Stepped Out Of A Dream goes into a brighter beat than you'd expect. So it is with The Last Time I Saw Paris, You Made Me Love You, Somebody Loves Me, and the other songs in this album: each one has a pleasant surprise in tempo, color, or interpretation, and each is sung with an unmistakably modern accent.

The Four Freshmen are (left to right in photo) Ross Barbour, Bob Flanigan, Ken Errair and Don Barbour. They are enthusiastic, devoted to their work, surprised and pleased by their quick rise to fame. This surprise and pleasure stems primarily from the fact that they have been uncompromising in their musical approach, have fought off attempts to make them change their style, and have now proved to the doubters that a singing group can be both musical and commercial.

Angel Eyes
Love Is Just Around The Corner
Mam'selle
Speak Low
The Last Time I Saw Paris
Somebody Love Me
You Stepped Out Of A Dream
I Remember You
Love
Love Is Here To Stay
You Made Me Love You
Guilt