A Spoonful Of Lovin' - Artie Schroeck

Six O'Clock

A Spoonful Of Lovin'
The Artie Schroeck Implosion
Verve V-5034
Manufactured by MGM Records
1967

Six O'Clock
Younger Girl
Lovin' You
Darling Be Home Soon
Do You Believe In Magic
(You And Me And) Rain On The Roof
Did You Ever Have To Make Up Your Mind
Amy's Theme
You Didn't Have To Be So Nice
Didn't Want To Have To Do It
Summer In The City

Sing A Song Of Paris - The Ray Charles Singers

April In Paris

Sing A Song Of Paris
The Ray Charles Singers
With Instrumental Accompaniment
Engineer: Bob Doherty
MGM Records E3484
1957

Singers: Lois Winter, Audrey Marsh, Lillian Clark, Bettye Mc Cormick, Peggy Powers, Trudy Packer, Rae Whitney, Imelda, Kathleen and Mary Margaret Mullen, Jerry Duane, Bob Bollinger, Gene Steck, Alan Sokoloff, Artie Malvin, Ed Lindstrom, Gene Lowell, Mike Stewart, Bob Miller, Jimmy Polack, Bob Spiro and Rudy Williams

Musicians:
Piano: Dick Hyman
Accordion: Nick Perito
Guitar: Tony Mottola
Harp: Janet Putnam
Bass: Frank Carroll
Drums: Bob Rosengarden

Sing A Song Of Paris
Under The Paris Skies
La Vie En Rose
Frere Jacques
April In Paris
Mademoiselle De Paris
Il Pleut Bergere
Where Are You?
Au Clair De Lune
Mam'selle
La Seine
J'ai Du Bon Tabac
Speak To Me Of Love (Parlez-Moi D' Amour)
Rendezvous Time In Paris
Sur Le Pont D'Avignon
You Don't Know Paree
Pour Endormir

George On My Mind - Anita Kerr

Hard Times

Georgia On My Mind
The Anita Kerr Singers
A&R Coordinator: Fred Allen
RCA Camden STEREO CAS-2209
1968

Georgia On My Mind
Yes Indeed!
I'll Drown In My Own Tears
I Got A Woman
Hard Times (No One Knows Better Than I)
Swanee River Rock (Talkin' Bout That River)
What Would I Do Without You
Hit The Road Jack
I Believe To My Soul
What'd I Say

This Time By Basie

The Swingin' Shepherd Blues

This Time By Basie (Count Basie)
Hits Of The 50's & 60's
Arrangements by Quincy Jones
Reprise STEREO R9-6070
1963

Personnel:

Piano: Count Basie (Count Basie appears courtesy of MGM – Verve Records
Trumpets: Sonny Cohn, Albert Aarons, Thad Jones, F.P. Ricard and Edward Preston
Trombones: Henry Coker, Benny Powell, Urbie Green and Gover Mitchell
Tenor Saxophone and Clarinet: Frank Foster
Alto Saxophone and Clarinet: Marshall Royal
Baritone Saxophone, Bass Clarinet and Flute: Charlie Fowlkes
Bass: Buddy Catlett
Guitar: Freddie Green
Drums: Sonny Payne

From the back cover: In this album, Count Basie's music has managed to become all things to all men. It is as if the Musical Messiah has finally arrived to erase all the boundaries that have separated all the idioms of swing heard in America's last three decades. Basie has synthesized them as surely as a Mix Master, clearly as a glockenspiel, as pleasingly as a hashish hallucination. Arranged by Quincy Jones, one of the most important musicologists of his time, these works have some of the majesty of the Mississippi Suite, Dvorak's symphony to the New World, and all that jazz Basie has played since first he set out in that long ago Kansas City yesterday.

Reminiscent of the great aggregations of times past, yet fresh as tomorrow's newspaper, it shouts at the top of its musical lungs: "Hey there! Big bands are back."

Indeed, it is hard not to become enthusiastic upon hearing Basie at his best, but here he presents us with a seldom heard side of himself. It suggests nothing so much as men long confined to the smoke-soaked gloom of the jazz room, treading unfettered through a broad green meadow, commanding as if they owned it, yet in no way guilty of trespass, nor ever losing sound of their identity.

Several years in the thinking, this album was discussed in dialogues between leader Basie and arranger Jones on both sides of the Atlantic. "At first we were worried about whether popular tunes were adaptable to the Basie style," Quincy confessed. "But a couple of months ago I started hanging out with Basie when he was at New York's Basin Street East. We decided to go ahead with it. We just reduced everything to its musical common denominator and forgot all the obstacles. Basie swung the hump out of a camel's back by knowing when not to play. He's a fantastic whole-hunter."

Appropriately, This Could Be The Start Of Something Big opens side one, with the whiplash brilliance of Basie brass and piano and the tenor saxophone of Frank Foster moving it out of the subjunctive mood into the present indicative active. Following the pit band feeling is a medium tempo I Left My Heart In San Francisco. One Mint Julep is a basic blues stirred with a strong beat and garnished with choice sprin-klings of piano. The fine flute work of Frank Wess and Eric Dixon is woven into the fabric of an excellently arranged The Swingin' Shepherd Blues. Basie leads into I Can't Stop Loving You, which completes the premiere offerings.

Nostalgically reminiscent of that big band era that may never come again, Moon River opens side two. It's very good. Fly Me To The Moon charts its course on the wings of some very fine bass lines and fluting, but, then, listen, you'll hear it. Perhaps for many What Kind Of Fool Am I? may prove the piece de resistance. Unashamedly beautiful, Marshal Royal's honest distortion-free alto saxophone solo may cause you to pause for a dozen heart beats and wonder what ever happened to that breed of men who were unafraid of melody. It is here enriched by four trombones. Walk, Don't Run revives the time Marshal has stood still, with the band wide open and all 16-pieces coming through with the articulation of a single voice. Nice 'n' Easy adequately describes the way the band seems to tiptoe its way through. The Theme From "The Apartment" ends this uncommon excursion into that fantastic world of music where Basie dwells.

Quincy Jones once told me that Basie was a master of understatement. It was true in more ways than one. Consider Count Basie's reaction when I played the dub for him. Said he: "I think we have played nicely."

-MARC CRAWFORD
This Could Be The Start Of Something Big
I Left My Heart In San Francisco
One Mint Julep
The Swingin' Shepherd Blues
I Can't Stop Loving You
Moon River
Fly Me To The Moon
What Kind Of Fool Am I?
Walk, Don't Run
Nice 'N' Easy
Theme From "The Apartment"

Spanish Masters - The Swingle Singers

Concerto de Aranjuez (Adagio)

Spanish Masters
The Swingle Singers
Arranged by Ward Swingle
Philips PHS 200-261
1968

From the back cover: In this recording the Swingle Singers depart the Baroque road they've been traveling since 1963 to enter new territory, the compelling land of Spain. Seven albums ago, with the release of their "Grammy Award" winning "Bach's Greatest Hits," the octet set the musical world on its ear with their exciting modern phrasing of 17th and 18th century music. This album, however, is really less a departure than an arrival... for over the past four years the Swingle Singers have been steadily working their way forward through musical time, giving serious vocal interpretations of the progressive history of instrumental sound.

There was a strong tendency toward nationalism in the post-romantic last half of the 19th century. Even in Spain, composers such as Albania and Granados, to a great extent reacting against Germanic music which held center stage through much of the century, deliberately used their country's folk songs and native rhythms to express a growing national pride.

In the melancholy Concierto de Aranjuez, written for the guitar by the blind Valenciano, Joaquin Rodrigo, the adagio first movement expresses the warm mediterranean spirit and moorish grace of Andalusia. In this album, Ward Swingle, the leader of the group, performs for the first time as a soloist. In the slowly paced Rondalla Aragonesa of Grandos he vocalizes the romance and vigor of the rhythmic Spanish dances.

Swingle and soprano Christine LeGrand combine their talents to render the familiar Romance Espangnole, a piece derived from Spanish folklore. Many will recognize it as the theme used in the French film, "Jeux Interdicts," (Forbidden Games).

One cannot too highly praise the powerful bass of Guy Pederson. Sometimes adding warm depth to the voices by running parallel overtones, at other times providing a well-balanced counterpoint, the bass, to a great degree, accentuates the upbeat jazz tempo so characteristic of the gourd. The interplay is especially effective in Albania Granada.

That the sonata in D major by Padre Soler is the only selection reminiscent of the traditional Swingle sound is explained fully when one realizes that Soler, a contemporary of Bach, was a Spanish composer of the baroque era.

Two new vocalists join the group with this recording. Joseph Noves, an accomplished violinist who played many years with the Toulouse Symphony Orchestra, as well as a fine tenor, replaces Claude Germanine. Helen Devos, the youngest of the set, came from the Double Six to replace Alice Herald. – Leonard Aronson

Romanza Andaluza
Concerto de Aranjuez (Adagio)
Rondalla Aragonesa
Tango In D Major
Granda (Suite Espangnole)
Sevilla
Spanish Romance
Tango In A Minor
Sonata In D Major
Andaluza (Spanish Dance No. 5)

Janos Vitez

Janos Vitez
Qualiton LPX 6529-31
3 Record Boxed Set
1961

This Hungarian Operetta is outside of the material I normally post, however, I love the cover art and wanted to save the box from being destroyed in the thrift store bin. The cover art is printed on gloss paper stock (the gloss caused the scanner reflection on the right side of the image). The full-box-sized program booklet included with the set also features a reproduction of the art (scan above). The booklet is printed in three languages, including English (those pages are featured as scans above).

I've also included a scan of the booklet credits page. All scans will enlarge if you click on them. You should be able to read the text.

I've included one side of the set above as an audio sample.

The Charming Miss Edie Adams

I Must Love You

The Charming Miss Edie Adams
A Product of Unique Music Corp.
Printed and Mfg. by Crown Album Corp.
RKO Records ULP-135
1959

From the back cover: Edie Adams, the honey-voiced lass with the golden hair and a sparkling personality to match, is one of the most versatile young stars in show business today. A proficient actress, singer, satirist and comedienne, Edie's credits list like a European holiday menu. Nightclubs, Broadway and TV have all been graced with the appearance of the charming Miss Adams.

Though Kingston, Pa. claims Edie as its native born, Grove City, Pa. was her home from the time she was six until her second year in high school when the family again moved to New York. One year later the final move was made and the family settled in Tenafly, New Jersey, during which time Edith Enke (as she was known then) completed high school at Julia Richmond. A bundle of energy and vitality, Edie didn't let the complications of moving interfere with her extracurricular activities which included singing in the church choir, leads in the school operates and marching at the head of all parades twirling a baton.

Intending to be a music teacher like her mother, Edie enrolled at New York's Juilliard School of Music studying voice during her four years there and acquired a solid classical background. Then came a year at Columbia's School of the Drama, while at the same time attending voice training classes with Met star Helen Jepson and Edie was ready for the bright future which was to be her well deserved fate. She was already a "pro" when she made one of the most important decisions of her career. Convinced her soprano voice was "not too commercial" and that she was a frustrated "pop" singer, Edie made the difficult transition to popular music and in a matter of months worked successfully in her brining her voice down more than two octaves.

After a number of TV and nightclub appearances, Edie auditioned and was signed as a regular on the "Ernie Kovacs Show" on WCBS-TV where she developed her great potential for comedy. Though Edie claims not to be a comedienne, TV audiences will always remember the glib Miss Adams running through a variety of crazy sketches or acting the dumb blonde salesgirl commenting on the conveniences of a breakaway vacuum cleaner. While still cavorting daily on the Kovacs show she was selected to play Eileen in the Broadway musical comedy "Wonderful Town" based on "My Sister Eileen." Beating some 300 competitors for the part, Edie made her Broadway debut with such theatrical luminaries as Rosalind Russell and won not only unanimous critical praise but two Donaldson awards in one theatre season, one for the Best Debut Performance and the other for Best Supporting Actress. In addition, she was also awarded the Daniel Blum Theatre World Award and the New York Post Student Citation.

Edie' nightclub appearances at such fashionable spots as the Plaza's Persian Room and Sherman Billingsley's Stork Club doing her famous Marilyn Monroe characterization as well as her impression of Grace Kelly doing Rock 'n' Roll and Marlene Dietrich slouched in a raincoat, won her more accolades. Another laurel was added to the Adams wreath of success when she was chosen for the covetous part of Daisy May in the Broadway hit "Li'l Abner" based on the famous Al Capp comic strip.

Yet another role in her already busy lie is that of wife to another performing favorite, Ernie Kovacs.

Supplying the musical background for Edie is Joe Leahy and his orchestra. Joe, composer, orchestra leader and musician was one of the first who predicted stardom for Edie at the outset of her career when she was unknown to the "Who' Who" of the theatrical trade. Joe Leahy's compositions won immediate approval from Edie and it is only fitting that two of these, "Swiss Holiday" and his "Theme from Studio X" be included in this album, Edie Adams, which RKO Records is proud to present.

There May Be A Lover
He Don't Wanna Be Kissed
Why Can't I
Swiss Holiday
He Was Too Good
If You Don't Love Me
Sailor Man
I Must Love You
The Theme From Studio X
There's So Much More

Pearl Bailey Sings For Adults Only

You Can Be Replaced

Pearl Bailey Sings For Adults Only
Orchestra Conducted by Don Redman
Fabulous Furs by Milton C. Herman
Cover Photo: Chuck Stewart
Dynamic High Fidelity
Roulette R-25016
1959

She Had To Go And Lose At The Astor
Josephine
To Keep My Love Alive
I Want A Man
Zip
Let's Do It
The Physician
You Brought Me More Sunshine (Than I Can Use)
Flings
You Can Be Replaced
I Wanna Get Married

Party Songs Vol. 3 - Charley Drew

Substitute For Love

Charley Drew
With His Program Of Party Songs
For The Connoisseur

Gale

From the back cover: Charley Drew is a unique figure in the entertainment world. He is the sole performer in the Tap Room (also call "The Drew Room") of the Hotel Taft on Broadway where he held that spot for eighteen consecutive years.

She's Got The Biggest Kanakas On The Island
Gladys
Lady Psychiatrist
The Newlywed Song
Marie Of The Follies Bergere
Annie's Trailer
The Book Song
Substitute For Love
Morris
She Got Them Caught In The Wringer
The Shameless Little Shed
I Guess I'm Not The Gut I Used To Be

With My Eyes Wide Open I'm Dreaming - Enoch Light

Stormy Weather

With My Eyes Wide Open I'm Dreaming
Enoch Light And The Light Brigade
Originated and Produced by Enoch Light
Recording by Robert Fine
Art Direction by Casper Pinsker Jr.
Cover Painting by Tracy Sugarman
Grand Award Record Corp.
World's Finest High Fidelity
G.A.33-406
1959

I'm Dreaming
Deep Purple
All My Love
Harbor Lights
Only You
Smoke Gets In Your Eyes
I Cried For You
I Still Get A Thrill (Thinking Of You)
I'll Never Smile Again
Blueberry Hill
Stormy Weather
Am I Blue?

Mexican Trip - Mystic Moods Orchestra

La Golondrina

Mexican Trip
The Mystic Moods Orchestra
Arranged and Conducted by Don Ralke
Produced by Brad Miller
A Mobile Fidelity Production
Location Sound Effects recorded by Brad Miller
Engineering by Stan Ross, Gold Star Recording Studios
Guitar Soloist: Tommy Tedesco, Bud Coleman
Trumpet Soloists: Cappy Lewis, Tony Terran
Philips PHS 600-250 STEREO
Philips Records / A Division Of Mercury Records Productions
1967

Malaguena Salerosa
Las Chiapanecas
La Virgen De La Macarena
Ti-Pi-Tin
Mexican Hat Dance And Soliloquy
Puerte De Manzanillo
Maria Elena
La Golondrina
Queretaro-Tula Fast Freight
Cielito Lindo
Gay Ranchero

Golden Hits - Sandy Nelson

Teen Age Baby

Rock House

Sandy Nelson
Golden Hits
STEREO IR
Imperial High Fidelity LP-12202
1962

The STEREO pressing of this "set" is presented here, in The Atomic Attic, as an oddity. The disc label information matches the cover descriptions. However the label is applied to a disc that actually another Imperial release: T Bone Walker "Singing The Blues." The T Bone Matrix # is IX 234 which could have been confused with the Nelson matrix #: XRS 234.

The sample "Teen Age Baby" is from the T Bone set.

The second sample, "Rock House" is from the actual Nelson set as sampled from the Mono disc which features the catalog the same LP-9202 catalog number

Live It Up
Splish Splash
Kansas City
Early In The Morning
Rock House
Walking To New Orleans
What'd I Say
Honky Tonk
Bony Moronie
I'm Gonna Be A Wheel Someday
I Want To Walk You Home
Be Bop Baby

Wanted Border Town Bandido - Tommy Garrett

Viva Durango

Wanted Border Town Bandido
The 50 Guitars Of Tommy Garrett
Producer: Tommy "Snuff" Garrett
Solo Guitar: Tom Tedesco
Arranger: Ernie Freeman
Engineer: Eddie Brackett
Cover Design and Photography: Studio Five
Liberty Premier Poly 120 Sound
LSS-14031
1964

Mexico
Love Me With All Your Heart (Cuando Calienta El Sol)
The Lonely Bull
Theme From "Viva Zapata"
Stranger From Durango
The Magnificent Seven
The Comancheros
Juarez
The Three Cabelleros
El Paso
Gringo's Ambush
The Bandit

This Is Chet Atkins

Lady Madonna

This Is Chet Atkins
Remastered by Don Miller
RCA Victor STEREO VPS-6030
1970

From Billboard - October 24, 1970: A winner from the first guitar string plucked. Chet Akins, America's answer to just about every guitar player in the rest of the world, has here "Mrs. Robinson," "Lady Madonna," "Yakety Axe," and "Yellow Bird," plus several tunes with the Boston Pops. This repackaging is elite; a superb series; Chet's the latest and bound toward big sales.

Mrs. Robinson (Arranged by Cam Mullins)
Three Little Words
Blue Angel
Hawaiian Wedding Song (Arranged by Bill McElhiney)
Music To Watch The Girls Walk By

Freight Train
Lady Madonna (Arranged and Conducted by Bill Walker)
Copper Kettle
Lara's Theme (from the MGM film "Doctor Zhivago")
Country Gentleman (Arranged by Richard Hyman)

Yakety Axe
Both Sides Now
Charlie Brown
Django's Castle (Manoir de mes reves)
Ode To Billy Joe (Arranged by Richard Hyman)

Tambone
Steeplechase Lane
From Nashville With Love
Yellow Bird
Windy And Warm (Arranged by Richard Hyman)

A Little On The Lonely Side - Eddy Arnold

A Little On The Lonely Side

A Little On The Lonely Side
Eddy Arnold
Orchestra Conducted by Charles Grean
RCA Victor LPM-1377
1957

From the back cover: Eddy is a country singer in the sense that he was born on a farm in Henderson, Tennessee; in the sense that a great number of the more than thirty-two million records he has sold were bought by folks who live in rural areas of our land; in the sense that some of his million-record sellers, like Bouquet Of Roses and Anytime, were considered "country" songs.

But in the years since he left the farm, in the decade during which he has been singing professionally, Eddy has played in virtually every metropolitan city in the nation, as well as in literally hundreds of small towns. He has appeared before the most sophisticated of city night club audiences, and in tobacco warehouses in small Souther towns. And in country or city he has been equally well received.

He has had his own network television shows on ABC-TC and the NBC-TC networks. His syndicated TV-film series, "Eddy Arnold Time," is programmed in large and small cities throughout the country. Recently he concluded a network radio show for CBS. On all of these shows Eddy sang popular as well as country songs. – Joseph Csida

From Billboard - February 9, 1957: In recent years c.&w. singer Eddy Arnold has been broadening how material and style in order to include the pop market. This development reaches a peak in this package, which contains such tunes as "I Cried For You," "That Old Feeling," "I Only Have Eyes For You," "September Song" and other tender love songs. The orchestral directions is by Charles Grean. It is distinctly pop-oriented, altho the arrangements retain the emotional and tender quality of c.&w. Jocks will find this a very interesting album, illustrative of the overlapping of categories in today's music business.

Don't Take Your Love From Me
It Had To Be You
That Old Feeling
The Very Thought Of You
A Little On The Lonely Side
Sometime
I Don't Know Why
I Cried For You
You'll Never Know
September Song
I Only Have Eyes For You
The Way You Look Tonight

Stars In Our Eyes - The Four Freshmen

Green Fields

Stars In Our Eyes
The Four Freshmen
Sing Tributes To Great Songs And To The Outstanding Vocal Groups That Originally Recorded Them
Arranged and Conducted by Dick Reynolds
Vocal Arrangements by Dick Reynolds and Ken Albers
Produced by Bill Miller
Capitol Records ST 1682
1962

From the back cover: And as usual, the versatile Freshmen add a little something extra to the intricate harmonizing by participating instrumentally too. While Ross Barbour and Bill Comstock stick strictly to the vocal end of things, Freshmen Ken Albers (trumpet) and Bob Flanigan (trombone) take time-out from their singing chores to contribute several tastefully improvised solos that highlight arranger Dick Reynold's inventive backing.

Shangri-La (The Four Coins)
Sentimental Me (The Ames Brothers)
Standing On The Corner (The Four Lads)
The Lamplighter's Serenade (The Modernaires)
Teach Me Tonight (The DeCastros)
Tom Dooley (The Kingston Trio)
Opus One (The Mills Brothers)
I Thought About You (The Hi-Los)
Green Fields (The Brothers Four)
Love Is A Many-Splendored Thing (The Four Aces)
In Apple Blossom Time (The Andrew Sisters)
Imagination (The King Sisters)