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Thursday, December 30, 2021

Arthur Shepherd - Henry Cowell - Roy Harris - The Emerson String Quartet

 

Three Variation On A Theme

Arthur Shepherd - Triptych, For High Voice and String Quartet
Henry Cowell - Quartet Euphometric
Roy Harris - Three Variations On A Them (Sting Quartet No. 2)
The Emerson String Quartet 
Betsy Norden, Soprano
Producer: Elizabeth A. Ostrow
Recording Engineer: Buddy Graham
Editing and Mixing Engineer: Don Van Gordon, Soundwave Recording Studios
Mastering: Lee Hulko, Sterling Sound
Recorded at Columbia Recording Studios, 30th Street, New York
Cover Art: Jack Levine "Quartette," Pencil on gray paper
Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cover Design: Elaine Sherer Cox
New World Records
Recorded Anthology Of American Music, Inc. NW 218 STEREO
1977

Roy Harris: Three Variation On A Theme (String Quartet No. 2)
1. Variation I
2. Variation II
3. Variation III - The Emerson String Quartet

Henry Cowell: Quartet Euphometric - The Emerson String Quartet
Arthur Sheered: Triptych, For High Voice And String Quartet (word from Gitanjali by Rabindranath Tagore)
He It Is
The Day Is No More
Light, My Light - The Emerson String Quartet; Betsy Norden, Soprano

In This Corner... The Musical World Of Antonino Rocca

 

Rocca Changa

In This Corner...
The Musical World Of Antonino Rocca
Arranged by Billy Mure
Produced by Guy LeBow for Tempest Enterprises
Recording Supervisor: Danny Davis
Recorded at A&R Studios, New York
Recording Engineer: Phil Ramone
Director Of Engineering: Val Valentin
MGM SE-4183
1963

From the back cover: The world of Antonino Rocco is, to most of us, the world of muscle and sport and courage in championship competition. It's a world of wrestling rings and rugby, physical culture and championship swimming, lecture tours and quiet cultural pursuits.

But Antonino Rocca has a musical world, one he knows and loves deeply. It is this world he has placed on display in this album.

The ruggedly handsome, 38-year-old athlete is one of the greatest authorities on the music and dances of Latin America in this hemisphere. He has drawn heavily on that knowledge, gained through extensive travel and years of personal study, to bring to one album the sounds and the rhythms he admires.

If he's traveled to a country (and he's been to just about every one on the map), then he knows the folk dances of that country. And he'll demonstrate them at the drop of a down beat.

Rocca was a close personal friend of the late Arturo Toscanini, and the great conductor had a profound influence on Antonio's musical education and development. His personal record library is actually larger than the collections of some radio stations! The manager of the record shop at which Rocca does most of his browsing noted recently, "Rocca's been shopping here for 14 years, and we've all come to know that his ear is absolutely incredible. By the amount of enthusiasm he shows when he buys a record or sheet music, we can judge how big a hit that particular tune will be. He hasn't been wrong yet!"

His tremendous popularity in Latin America and among Latin-American people everywhere comes quite naturally. Although Rocca was born in Treviso, Italy, a town near Venice, his family emigrated to Argentina when he was a child. His formative years were spent in Buenos Aires, scene of his earliest sports triumphs and now the site of the world-famous statue of him. 

He has become among the greatest sports attractions in history. He was the European champion swimmer, a world-famous wrestler, Latin America's greatest rugby player and an all-around athlete who plays today to full houses the world over.

He is a qualified jet pilot. He has received a doctor of humanities degree from Rosario University in Brazil. He has twice been guest of Edward R. Murrow on "Person To Person" for discussion centering on cultural and artistic subjects. David Brinkley allocated one of his most popular "Brinkley Journal" segments to a full profile of Rocca.

In addition to the sports life, Rocca now is active in the broadcasting field. He has become associated with Guy LeBow, the well-known sportscaster/newscaster, in a daily Spanish-language radio program. Rocca's show, syndicated nationally, has a huge and loyal audience of listeners who hear him hold forth daily on music, art, politics, philosophy and of course sports. He plays music from his own extensive collection. The show, now in its third year, has top ratings in its field since a few months after its start.

LeBow and Danny Davis worked out the concept of the album with Rocca. LeBow's experience in this includes stints as director, producer of radio shows starring Vic Damone, Jerry Vale, Tony Arden and Tony Bennett, among others. With arranger Billy Mure they worked out the program and the instrumentation – eight violins, one woodwind, two trumpets, and an amplified rhythm section.

Rocca was so taken with Mure's 12-year old son, Gary, that he invited the youngsters to sit in among the rhythm players for some of the tunes, Gary, a student drummer, fell right into the swing of things, as a result is part of the Latin percussion section on Esos No Son De Alli, Rocca Changa, and Rocca's Theme.

Antonino also introduces the vivacious singing group, The Malagon Sisters, on this album. The Girls, as attractive visually as they are aurally, give spicy Latin flavor to the musical program of the album.

Tempo and dance style vary from song to song, with a wide variety represented. There are, for example, the tango (La Paloma and El Choclo), bossa nova (La Golondrina and Liebestraum Bossa Nova), a Mure-ish variation on the conga (Rocca Changa). a bacon (Rocca's Theme), a waltz (Cielito Lindo), and more.

Arranger Billy Mure, whose Aztec Guitars launched a new romantic sound in popular music (Maria Elena MGM E/SE-4189), set the tunes in a peppery framework of brass and strings. The familiar songs have new points of view through Mure's fine arrangements.

All together, the arrangements and the sounds and the songs take you easily and melodically into the Musical World Of Antonino Rocca. And although that world is in this corner, it's far from square.

La Paloma
La Golondrina
Cielito Lindo
Clair De Luna
Esos No Son De Alli
Rocco Changa
Clap Hands - Here Comes Rocca (Chiapanecas)
La Violetera
Liebestraum Bossa Nova
Eso Es El Amor
El Choclo
Rocca's Theme

Wednesday, December 29, 2021

The Sea - The Earth - The Sky - Anita Kerr & Rod McKuen

 

The Sea - The Time Of Noon

The Earth - The Waltz

The Sky - Mr. God's Trombones

The Sea - The Earth - The Sky
Deluxe Limited Edition 3-Record Box Set
Music Written by Anita Kerr
Words Written by Rod McKuen
With The San Sebastian Strings
Arranged and Conducted by Anita Kerr
Senior Producers: Rod McKuen and Anita Kerr
Rod McKuen's appearance on "The Earth" through courtesy of RCA-Victor Records
Concert Master: David McCallum
Art Direction: Ed Thrasher
The Sea Engineers: Eddie Brackett & Wally Heider
The Earth & The Sky recored in London at Olympic Studios. Engineer: Keith Grant
Remastered in Hollywood by Wally Heider
Vocal solo on "When Winter Comes" by Anita Kerr
An Anro Production for Warner Bros. Records
1975

The Sea (Warner Bros Album 1670) - Narrator: Jesse Pearson

My Friend The Sea
While Drifting
Gifts From The Sea
The Time Of Noon
Afternoon Shadows
Do You Like The Rain?
The Days Of The Dancing
Pushing The Clouds Away
You Even Taste Like The Sun
The Storm
The Ever Constant Sea
The Gypsy Camp
Beyond The Bend Ahead
The Sea

The Earth (Warner Bros. Album 1705) - Narrator: Rod McKuen

The Tender Earth
My Mother Wanted Me To Play Moart
The Waltz
Sunday
Earthquake
Capri In July
Underground Trian
The Flower People
The Mud Kids
The Day They Built The Road
Doorways I Haven't Found
Home
Song From The Earth

The Sky (Warner Bros. Album 1720): Narrator: Gene Merlino

How Many Colors Of Blue?
The Butterfly Is Drunk On Sunshine
A Walk With The Angels
So Little Sun
Night Talk
When Winter Comes
My Dog Likes Oranges
The Forehead Of The Morning
A Patch Of Sky, Away From Everything
Mr. God's Trombones
Buy For Me The Wind
A New Lullaby (For Suzie & Kelly)
In Summing Up
Who Has Touched The Sky

Tuesday, December 28, 2021

This One's For You - The Living Strings & The Living Voices

 

The Long And Winding Road

This One's For You
The Living Stings & The Living Voices
Produced by Ethel Gabriel 
Arist And Repertoire Coordinator: Gerald P. Plano
Photographer: David B. Hecht
Art Director: Dick Smith
RCA Music Service R 233819
2-Record Set
1979

You Don't Bring Me Flowers
Day By Day
Nadia's Theme (The Young And The Restless)
Rainy Days And Mondays
This One's For You

We've Only Just  Begun
When I Need You
The Homecoming 
Mandy
The Long And Winding Road

Music Box Dancer
How Can You Mend A Broken Heart
My Life
What I Did For Love

Why Have You Left The One (You Left Me For)
Love's Theme
Yesterday Once More
You And Me Against The World
Annie's Song

Great Strauss Waltzes - Frank Chacksfield

 

The Emperor Waltz

Great Strauss Waltzes
Frank Chacksfield and His Orchestra
Photo: Mel Mills
Richmond High Fidelity 
A Product Of London Records B 20073
1960

The Blue Danube
Tales From The Vienna Woods
A Thousand And One Nights
Waltzes From "Die Fledermaus"
The Emperor Waltz
Voices Of Spring
Roses From The South
Wine, Women And Song
Morgenblatter
Waltzes From "The Gypsy Baron"

The Other Chet Akins

 

Poinciana (Song Of The Tree)

The Other Chet Atkins
Produced by Chet Atkins
Recorded in Nashville, Tennessee
Recording Engineer: Bill Porter
RCA Victor LPM-2175
1961

Begin The Beguine
Sabrosa
Your (Quiereme Mucho)
Siboney
The Streets Of Laredo
Delicado
Peanut Vendor
El Relicario
Maria Elena
Marcheta
Then Then Then
Poinciana (Song Of The Tree)

Monday, December 27, 2021

The Nat King Cole Songbook - Dean Franconi Strings

 

As Far As I'm Concerned

The Nat Kind Cole Songbook
The Dean Franconi Strings
Nouveau A Now Record By Design
Design Records DLP-278
A Product Of Pickwick International, Inc.

When I Take My Sugar To Tea
Love Letters
Mona Lisa
Tell Me All About Yourself
Twilight On The Trail
As Far As I'm ConcernedTo Each His Own
Remember You
Moon Love
Back In My Arms

Koto & Flute - Kimio Eto & Bud Shank

 

Tanima No Suisha

Koto & Flute
The Japanese Koto Music Of Kimio Eto
Featuring The Flute Of Bud Shank
World-Pacific Records STEREO-1424
A Product Of Liberty Records
1963

From the back cover: One of Japan's most renown musical artists, Kimio Eto, has set himself a one-man mission: that of familiarizing the people of the Western world with the koto, the ancient 13-string instrument of his native land.

Mr.  Eto, recognized as the master of his instrument, was attracted to the koto not only for its beautiful tonal qualities but by its remarkable versatility, for on it can be performed not only the folk music and Oriental melodies of the East, but the music of the Western world as well.

Born 35 years ago in Oita, Japan, Mr. Eto at first planned a career as a concert pianist until, at still an early age, he became fascinated with the koto and began his study of the instrument with the late Michio Miyagi, one of the great kotoists of the day.

When he was seventeen, Kimio Eto composed "Omoide" (World-Pacific WP-1278), the first of many works that he has written for the koto. Composing continues to be one of his chief occupations and he performs many of his own selections in concerts. His virtuosity is all the more remarkable when it is realized that he has been totally blind since the age of five.

Clifford, "Bud" Shank is well known in jazz circles for his mastery of the entire saxophone family of instruments together with the flute. His achievements in this field have won him innumerable awards for excellence. Shank's ability to perform this difficult material (totally alien to his musical background) successfully, to Mr. Eto's complete satisfaction and delight, attests to his unusual musical flexibility.

Apparently, Kimio Eta's faith in the koto and his own capacity to introduce the instrument into the West has been well founded. The demand for Mr. Eto's appearances in concert has increased sharply during the past several years, and his recorded efforts have been extremely well received. This album once again effectively showcases Kimio Eta's brilliance, is additional proof of the dedication that has shaped his career and so strongly influenced his life.

Haru No Umi by Michio Miyagi
Haru No Otozure by Michio Miyagi
Tanima No Suisha by Micho Miyago
Soyo Kaze by Kimio Eto
March by Kimio Eto
Chidori No Kyoku by Yoshizawa Kengyo
Yachiyo Josh by Sonohara Koto
Yorokobi by Kimio Eto

Sunday, December 26, 2021

Gentle On My Mind - Don Hughes

 

Getting Over You

Gentle On My Mind
Don Hughes
Vocal Series Custom Records CS 1131

Gentle On My Mind
Settling Dust
Between The Palms Of My Hands
Getting Over You
March With Me
Rumors Are Flying
Prison Of Memories 
Ask Her
PR.N.DL
Intercepted By Love

Border Affair - Tex Ritter

 

Yo Vendo Unos Ojos Negros

Border Affair 
Tex Ritter
Arranged and Conducted by Ralph Carmichael
Produced by Lee Gillette
Cover Photo: Capitol Photo Studio / Ken Veeder
Capitol Records ST 1910
1963

From the back cover: Tex Ritter was born in Panola County, Texas and raised in the heart of the Lone Star State's cattle country. He became interested in the heritage and folklore of the Old West at an early age, and furthered this interest at the University of Texas, where he studied with the famed expert on Western Americana, J. Frank Dobie. Tex himself has become recognized as quite an authority in the field, and he actually launched his professional career as a singing lecturer on the subject of authentic American cowboy songs.

From Billboard - November 23, 1963: The new president of the Country Music Association has a pleasant album for his fans here in an excursion into the border territory with a flock of Spanish language offerings. These include "Cielito Lindo," "Guadalajara," "Las Golondrinas," "Alla, En El Rancho Grande" and others. Those deep down Ritter pipes sound in great form and the set should be a good contender for long-term fan appeal.

El Abandonado
La Cucaracha
Las Golondrinas
Adelita
A Border Affair
Alla En El Rancho Grande
Poor Lonesome Cowboy
Yo Vendo Unos Ojos Negros
Lo Que Digo
Cielito Lindo
Guadalajara

Saturday, December 25, 2021

Wolf At Your Door - Tommy Wolf

 

Wolf At Your Door

Wolf At Your Door
Tommy Wolf
Cover Design: Burt Goldblatt
Back Cover Photo: John Goldstone
Fraternity Records - Cincinnati, Ohio
F-1002

From the back cover: To those of you who are several dollars poorer, welcome to a recital of No Coast Jazz. In this case... vocal. If you're searching for musical boundaries this LP was created within the city limits of St. Louis, Missouri, which has been accused of many things but never of being a coastal city; and at least I must assume that this LP will be classified as "JAZZ" along with the other four thousand LPs released this week. For "JAZZ" is now ubiquitous, and has attained such levels of snobbery in our culture I fear we soon shall be smoking jazzarettes, commuting in jaamobiles, living in the jazz burgs, getting our credit on the jazzmen plan, and making weekly visits to our psyjazzitrists. But please don't conclude that I'm against the idea of reaching this state of complete jazziness. The jazzier things are, the better I like them. I'm just apprehensive of some jazzy clerk's inevitable filing of this record in the "Mood Section" of his store, next to "Musical Therapy for Musical Therapists". This would infuriate Harry Carlson, the last of the great Ohio River gamblers, who picked up the tab for Fraternity and who thinks that he's getting his bourbon straight.

If, by this time, you've had your fill of rhetoric, I suggest you stop this reading and dig the LP; but for the rest of us masochists... let's cliche on. Mush!

I was playing background piano music for a horde of stumbling conventioneers at the Jefferson Hotel in St. Louis one cold October evening in 1952, when a group of people wearing European imitations of American clothing entered the Rendezvous to listen to a speech by Adlai Stevenson on the giant-size 7 inch screen. I took them to my heart immediately, because although they also weren't paying any attention to me, at least they had a different reason; and when, during the lull of one of the Democratic commercials, they requested a few tunes that I not only despised but hadn't even heard of to boot, they became my friends for life, and invited me to become Musical Director of a bar they were about to open. Of course I had to play the piano, but the TITLE was costing me only a hundred dollars per week; so I thought... what the hell. That was the beginning of the Crystal Palace, a saloon very difficult to omit from any list of the world's ten best dressed boîtes, and my association with a fabulous family... the Landesman... Fred and Paula, Jay and Fran. And it was also the beginning of this LP.

I had always dabbled at songwriting so my daughter would have enough special material to support me when she grew up, and occasionally I would perform them at the slightest provocation. My solo venturesomeness ended that last Saturday in January, 1953, when Fran Landesman slipped a lyric into my pocket as I was leaving the bar... a lyric with such freshness, humor and satire that I was forced to set it to music before I could think of sleep. Thus, our first song, "This Little Love Of Ours", was born without the aid of a piano in little more time than it took me to write it down; and it remains my sentimental favorite. I realized immediately, if this was only a sample, that after years of precarious, accident-prone existence I finally had had a happy accident.

This is really Fran's LP, and in a sense I am just the mechanical UNIVAC that will come up with the correct answer after the correct button is pushed. Fran writes everywhere: in taxis, movies, bed, bathrooms and bars. Consequently the lyrics are printed (she attended a progressive school) on whatever paper is handy... which sometimes produces quite astonishing souvenirs. She writes with incredible speed in curious flashes of intense concentration, as a stenographer taking sudden, urgent dictation from a personal, omnipotent muse. When this hysteria is exhausted, she gives battle to the stammers of self-conscious-birthing:; but she reacts to the completed song with the simple excitement of a child. Since she knows nothing whatever about music (except the lyric from every song that was a smash failure), her writing very often cannot be crammed into conversational phrase lengths and patterns; yet her rhythms and accents are so natural and flowing that you are never aware of odd measured periods, phrases and cadences.

The main object in our collaboration is a unity of lyric and music with logical comfortableness. The lyric is paramount and always precedes the music. My job is to give the diamond a purposeful setting, and, in rare instances, to suggest, a different cutting (damn these metaphors). Then, after much anguish, many bruises and more vituperation, we reach some sort of disagreeable agreement that my melody has imprisoned the spirit of her lyric... and our song is ready for complete obscurity.

Our music doesn't hate anyone. It's created specifically to increase your consumption of chuckles and chills, and attempts to prove only that it has nothing important to prove. Many composers demand an "as written" performance of their sanctified works, whatever that many mean, since arrangers are hired to bring out any piano copies to which the public eventually may have access; or if the song is written for the movies or stage, another arranger,  scorer, orchestrator, vocal coach, director and conductor all may have some influence on the final performance. But we have no such delusions. A song is a story to be told with sympathy and understanding, or an experience recalled with vivid perception. It is the "mean" with which an interpreter achieves a valid, emotional "end", and to restrict the interpretation or limit the performer's personal, imaginative horizons is pure folly. After all, we are dealing with AMERICAN Lieder, whose COLLECTIVE musical importance I will defend always, and a style of free-wheeling pulsation that gives the American Lied its peculiar charm. The "right way" to present any particular song and the individual independence of the performer are inseparable... a position which made ironic shambles of the many contemplative hours I was forced to spend to arrive at the "right way" for ME to project my own creations.

Just as Fran furnished the original impetus for this collection, so, too, did Jackie Cain and Roy Kral add the necessary momentum. The many facets of this exciting couple are guaranteed to stimulate the fantasies of any fastidious cult... from a rollicking brand of raillery to a flawless musical and personal strength which rejoices in the fact that Jackie is a woman and Roy is a man. Without their encouragement and publicity, Fran and I would be just a couple of unknowns from St. Louis instead of a couple of unobtrusive paupers... from St. Louis. And I herby acknowledge a great debt of gratitude to Dick Noel, who, with no other motive except perhaps a perverted sense of justice, spent a large part of his spare time seeing that we received the proper number of rejection slips from all sort of publishers (to classify us as "pros") before placing our tunes in the Buckeye catalogs.

Chicago's Universal Recording Studios on February 5th and 6th, 1956, converged the labors of the past three years to an ultimate conclusion, and marked the debut of my voiceless voice (which, according to music critic Jerry Berger, "resounds with all the brassiness of a Velvet Hammer striking a Scotch Mist"). I was extremely fortunate to enjoy the musical empathy of three exceptional musicians who have an early breakfast every morning with Don McNeil on ABC: guitarist Johnny Gray, bassist Jack Shirra and percussionist Tommy Thomas. Their aggregate musical itinerancy puts Rand-McNally to shame, and the roots of their inspiration are traceable puts Rand-McNally to shame, and the roots of their inspiration are traceable to the Paleolithic Age... good reasons why they now should be entitled to the choice security of the studios. Johnny, known to his associates as "Screamy", and rather understates the exciting fireworks of which he is capable, wailed his lusty way through the Dardanelle Trio and the Ray McKinley band to collect his quota of medals. The only leader who was denied the steady, tender warmth of Jack's confident fingers seems to be John Philip Sousa, since Jack has seen action with Hal Kemp, Kay Kyser, Percy Faith, John Scott Trotter, Joe "Fingers" Carr, Red Nichols, Dave Barbour, Ralph Merterie and countless others. Tommy, in addition to earning a national reputation as a teacher, theorist, and show drummer, was the timekeeper for many of the musicians whose names are now legend; and his friends suspect to his groovy funkiness. Inasmuch as musicians similar afflicted with an A.F. of M. card (for whosoever shall be considered hip this week is apt to find himself recategorized completely by next Sunday), I hope I have contribute my little bit to correct this unfortunate condition.

The probability that several tunes will catch on as singing commercial is, of course, a stimulating prospect; but my greatest thrill is my opportunity to join the vast army of unsung heroes who indulge themselves in America's most provocative hobby... writing liner notes. And so with a smile and a cap d'off to the better known writers, let me fearlessly and foolish state, simple, that I am certainly extremely positively delighted, elated, enthused, and ecstatic about the whole durned thing. 

Well, bring on the depression; I'm tired of being lonesome! – Tommy Wolf

It Will Only Hurt A Minute
It Isn't A Secret
This Little Love Of Ours
You Inspire Me
Say Cheese
Season In The Sun
I Love You Real
I'm All Right 'Til You Touch Me
You Can't Go Home Again
There Are Days When I Don't Think Of You At All
Listen Little Girl

Friday, December 24, 2021

Love Letters - Julie London

 

Come On-A My House

Love Letters
Julie London
Producer: Snuff Garrett
Engineers: Eddie Brackett & Jim Economides
Cover Design: Francis & Monahan, Inc.
Photography: Garrett-Howard, Inc.
Liberty Records LRP 3231
1962

From the back cover: This being Julie's fifteenth LP, liner notes seem superfluous. What more could be said about this sensational personality? Let's just say that this album contains Julie's inimitable performances of twelve superb songs, each of which was recently a big hit.

Now, let's get down to some fine listening.

I Love You Porgy
My Heart Reminds Me
Love Letters
Broken-Hearted Melody
The Second Time Around
Fascination 
What A Diff'rence A Day Made
Never On Sunday
Hey There
All The Way
I Miss You So
Come On-A My House

The Austin-Moro Big Band

Gonna Fly Now

The Austin-Moro Big Band
Executive Producer: Jeffery Parsons
Associate Producers: Emil Moro & Jeff Steinberg
Produced by Lanny Austin
Recording Engineer: Ken Sands
Back Photos: David Bartlett
Recorded "Live" 2-Track: Cloudborn Studios, Grosse Pointe, Michagan
Locust 006041X

Personnel

Chuck Feger: Flute & Alto Saxophone
Emil Moro: Clarinet & Alto Saxophone
George F. Benson: Clarinet & Tenor Saxophone
Jose Maltar: Flute, Clarinet, Soprano Saxophone (Lead on But Time Will Tell) & Tenor Saxophone
Lanny Austin: Piccolo, Bass Clarinet, Clarinet & Baritone Saxophone
Leo Harrison: Trombone
Al Winters: Trombone
Eldrid Baird: Trombone
Bill Lane: Bass Trombone
Maurice Davis: Lead Trumpet, & Flugelhorn
Mike Skrynski, Jr.: Trumpet (Lead on Gonna Fly Now & But Time Will Tell) & Flugelhorn
David Bartlett: Trumpet & Flugelhorn 
Gary Schunk: Acoustic Piano, Electric Piano & Synthesizer
Robert Troy: Electric Guitar
Don Lewandowski: Electric Bass
Joe Chila: Drums
Leslie David: Percussion
George Trola Jr.: Trombone (Replaces Al Winters on What Are You Doing)

From the back cover: Emil and I formed the Austin-Moro Band in 1968 with the intention of providing a big band that could meet the highest standards of our best Detroit area jazz and studio musicians. (Lord knows Detroit has always produced more than its share!)

We wanted to put together a band in which the personnel would be versatile enough to handle any musical situation. Versatile enough to perform jazz concerts, such as the 1973 Montreux Jazz Festival... versatile enough to entertain football fans (some ten zillion or so while serving as the official Detroit Lions' Band)... versatile enough to play shows and back name artists, from the likes of Pat Boone and Mel Torme to Bill Watrous and Maynard Ferguson... versatile enough to supply music for private parties without flinching at those endless requests: "Can you play a waltz?" "Do you know In The Mood?" "Got anything with a fast beat?"

Through the vast talent, energy and cooperation of the people listed on this album cover, Emil and I have been able to meet our goal of big band musical versatility, and we've had a ball doing it! For that we owe a hearty and well-deserved "Thank You" to these fine musicians and friends for their tireless efforts in our various projects.

Thanks also to those wonderful "Big Band Nuts" who've supported our music as listeners. And a special thanks to those who pestered us into doing this long overdue album. – Lanny

Gonna Fly Now (Theme from "Rocky")
But Time Will Tell
Take The "A" Train
Who Can I Turn To?
Sneaking' Thru The Door
Bad Samba
What Are You Doing The Rest Of Your Life?

George Crumb - Makrokosmos, Volume 1 - David Burge

 

Part Two

George Crumb
Makrokosmos, Volume 1
Twelve Fantasy-Pieces After The Zodiac For Amplified Piano
David Burge, Piano
Engineer & Musical Supervision: Marc J. Aubort & Joanne Nickrena (Elite Recording, Inc.)
Mastering: Robert C. Ludwig (Sterling Sound, Inc.)
Coordinator: Teresa Sterne
Cover Design: Paula Bisacca
Cover Reproduction of No. 12 Spiral Galaxy (Aquarius) courtesy of the publisher by C. F. Peters Corporation, 1973
Nonesuch H-71293
1974

From the back cover: George Crumb was born in Charleston, West Virginia. His principal teacher in composition was Ross Lee Finney at the University of Michigan. Crumb's Echoes Of Time And The River; Four Processionals For Orchestra, premiered by the Chicago Symphony, was awarded the 1968 Pulitzer Prize in Music. In 1971, his Ancient Voices Of Children (Nonesuch -71255) received both the International Rostrum of Composers (UNESCO) Award and the Koussevitzky International Recording Award. Since 1965, Mr. Crumb has taught composition at the University of Pennsylvania.

David Burge (b. 1930, Evanston, Ill.), one of America's foremost performers of contemporary music, received music degrees from Northwestern University and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree and Artists Diploma from the Eastman School of Music. Active as a composer, pianist and conductor, Burge has been a professor on the music faculty of the University of Colorado, Boulder, since 1962. He founded the University's Festival of Contemporary Music in 1966 and continued as its director for six years, also serving as musical director and conductor of the Boulder Philharmonic Orchestra, 1965-72. Mr. Burge is a founding member of the American Society of University Composers and has been its Chairman since 1970. In his frequent tours of Europe, the Far East, and the United States, Burge has given premiere performances of a number of contemporary piano works, several of them written for him. He has recorded for Advance, Candide, Fratellie Fabbri, and Mercury; his Advance album New Piano Music, FRG-3, includes George Crumb's Five Pieces For Piano. This recording marks his first appearance on Nonesuch.

Part One
Primeval Sounds (Genesis I) Cancer
Proteus Pisces
Pastorale (from the Kingdom of Atlantis, ca. 10,000 B.C.) Taurus 
Crucifixus Capricorn

Part Two
The Phantom Gondolier Scorpio
Night-Spell I Sagittarius

Music of Shadows (for Aeolian Harp) Libra
The Magic Circle of Infinity (Moto Perpetuo) Leo

Part Three
The Abyss of Time Virgo
Spring-Fire Aries
Dream Images (Love-Death Music) Gemini
Spiral Galaxy Aquarius

Song Without End - Harry Sukman

 

Laura

Song Without End
The Harry Sukman Orchestra Plays Classics
A&R Coordinator: Ed Barsky
Art Director: Woody Woodward
Sunset SUM-1128
A Product Of Liberty Records

Rachmaninoff Concerto
Stella By Starlight
Chopin Waltz
Laura
My Consolation
Grieg Concerto
Rachmaninoff Theme
Chopin Nocturne
Brahms Waltz
Song Without End

The Best Of Charlie MacKinnon

 

Ballad Of A Teenage Tragedy

The Best Of Charlie MacKinnon
Songs Of Cape Breton
Executive Producer: Phil Anderson
Producer: Jack Anderson
Recorded: Bay Studios, Toronto
Photo: Allan Rubin - AAR Associates
Cover Design: Graphic Preparations
ACR Sound Citation Series ACS-5029
Made In Canada

Musicians: 
The Caribou Showband
Johnny Burke
Roddy Lee
Bob Lucier
Brain Barron
Robert Cunningham

From the back cover: Charlie MacKinnon and Lillian Crewe Walsh have made a substantial contribution to the folklore of Cape Breton Island by writing many songs and poems that will take their place among the traditional music brought to the Island from Scotland and Ireland by the people who settled there.

On this album Charlie MacKinnon has re-recorded the songs he is most requested to perform on his many tours and appearances throughout the Maritimes and New England States.

Charlie is a native of Cape Breton and as evident in the song My Cape Breton Home as well as other compositions, is very proud of it. He is truly an artist that warrants the gratitude of the people of Cape Breton Island for his major contribution to their music and their culture.

My Cape Breton Home
The Ghost Of Bras d'or
The Ballad Of A Teenage Tragedy
The Legen Of Kelly's Mountain
An Old Haunted Castle In Scotland
Down By The Big Shoal
Free And Easy While Joggin' Along
Donald From Bras d'or
Black Around Their Eyes
Somebody's Waiting For You
The Little Irish Maid

My Best To You! - Connie Francis

 

Terra Straniera

My Best To You!
Connie Francis
MGM Records 91143
1968

Connie Francis performs 29 glowing songs that display her internationally acclaimed talent.

From the inside cover: Scholar Versus Singer

Connie had already cut several singles. None had really caught fire. On the other hand, she was an honor student and scholarship recipient – ideally suited, it would seem, for the arduous studies required for a medical scholar.

Her father suggested a change of material – an older song with a contemporary beat. So, in November of 1957, Connie recorded a new single, Who's Sorry Now. Soon afterward the record sold over 1,000,000 copies.

Today Connie is a glamorous and sophisticated lady – a truly regal star of the entertainment world. Two reasons for her popularity stand out: outstanding talent and great choice of material. Here on this deluxe two-record set is a wealth of songs exemplifying all of Connies's talents.

An International Star

Recognition of her star status is not limited to this country. She is loved throughout the world. One of her most treasured experiences occurred in July of 1963 when Connie was honored with the request to give a "command performance" before Queen Elizabeth.

Connie's world-wide following is attested to by the fact that she has recorded songs in eight languages, including English, Spanish, Italian, Hebrew and German. She has over 30 albums to her credit and is in constant demand for public appearances.

Even as a child, Connie loved to sing and to entertain. At the age of three, Connie was fascinated by her father's concertina playing. Because of her precocious musical interest, her father brought her an accordion. Soon she was performing at church benefits, hospitals and family gathering, all but hidden by the huge, gleaming instrument. And when she played, she sang.

Connie's First Big Break

At 11, Connie got her first big break – on Arthur Godfrey's annual Christmastime version of his Talent Scout's show. The enthusiastic audience response to that appearance resulted in an audition for a juvenile TV variety show, "Star Time," produced by George Scheck.

"At first," recalls Connie, "Mr. Scheck didn't want to audition me. He had already listened to so many singers that he wasn't interested in hearing any more. Then, my father, who was with me, mentioned that I also played the accordion. That intrigued Mr. Scheck sufficiently to arrange an audition for me the next day." Thus began one of the most successful and enduring relationship in show business. Scheck not only hired Connie for his program, but was so impressed with her that he persuaded her parents to let him become Connie's manager. He was convinced that she had the potential for big-time stardom. His perspicacity was amply rewarded, for to this day Scheck still guides Connie's career.

An Overnight Celebrity

At 17, Connie signed her first recording contract. Following the tremendous success of Who's Sorry Now, Connie found herself an overnight celebrity. She had become a star not only in America, but throughout the entire world. Connie toured the United States, then swept through Australia, New Zeland, South Africa and Europe. The world was at her feet.

As Connie's popularity grew, fans recognized that she was blessed with more than a remarkable voice. It became clear that she was one of the most glamorous female vocalists of her time. Connie's svelte good looks and sophistication were heralded wherever she performed. Critics and audiences alike recognized the fact that Connie Francis was not only a songstress of exceptional talent, but a young woman of striking attractiveness, as well. Night club impresarios across the nation eagerly sought Connie's appearance in such top clubs as New York's famed Copacabana, Las Vegas' exciting Sahara, and Miami's exotic Eden Roc.

Offers From Hollywood

In each club appearance Connie made new conquests among critics as well as audiences. Fan clubs sprang up across the nation as she attracted new fans by the thousands. It was inevitable that Hollywood would begin wooing Connie. In 1961, she agreed to appear in MGM's "Where The Boy's Are." The film quickly became an international hit and a box office bonanza, so a sequel film, "Follow The Boys," was rushed into production. When this motion picture also scored a big success, Connie's fans rejoiced in the fact that their singing idol was now a movie star as well.

This Is You Life

1961 was a momentous year for Connie in many ways. Utilizing the same talent that made her editor of her high school newspaper, Connie wrote her first book. "For Every Young Heart." Public demand was so great that an additional soft cover printing resulted. And during the same year, Ralph Edwards reviewed her life on "This Is Your Life." As if all this were not enough excitement for any single year, the CBS-TV "Person To Person" program visited Connie. Later she starred on her one TV special.

Since that time Connie has acknowledged a cascading torrent of awards and citations. A sampling includes eight gold records signifying sales of 1,000,000 each; the title of "Queen Of Hearts" from the American Heart Association for fund-raising charity work; five citations from the popular "American Bandstand" program naming her "Best Singer Of The Year," certificates from Billboard, Cashbox, Music Vendor and Music Reporter certifying her as "most programmed" female vocalist on disc jockey programs; Playboy's Gold Medal Award as "Best Female Vocalist Of The Year." Radio Luxembourg's Golden Lion Award as "Most Programmed Vocalist" – male or female – on the European continent; a certificate from Japan, in Japanese, naming her "Japan's Favorite American Singer;" announcement by the Custom Clothiers Association of America that Connie is "among the nation's best dressed and most impeccably groomed women" – the list of Connie's plaudits goes on endlessly.

A Glamorous Young Lady

Connie is one-of-a-kind combination of looks, talent and business acumen. A singularly perceptive young lady, she is an astute manager of her own business affairs, in addition to her more artistic accomplishments. IN the fascinating world of show business and internationally famous performers, Connie reigns as one of the most alluring young ladies of the day. She has emerged from her teens into glamorous young womanhood, and her fast paced daily schedule attests to that fact. Connie's life is a dizzying merry-go-round of TV, nightclub and concert appearances as well as foreign tours, rehearsals, costume fitting and – to the delight of her multitudinous fans – recording sessions.

Here, in this two-record set of her most popular hits, Connie celebrates her tenth anniversary with MGM Records. With these unforgettable selections, Connie projects her every mood, from the pensive magic of The Shadow Of Your Smile to the up-beat excitement of Ma (He's Makin' Eyes At Me), from the majestic Somewhere, My Love to the impassioned Forget Domani. Connie is here to entertain you with all her haunting loveliness. So place your phonograph needle into the groove and settle back to listen to the thrilling voice of one of the world's most appealing female vocalists.

Who's Sorry Now
Dance My Trouble Away
Three Coins In The Fountain
It's A Great Day For The Irish
La Violetera
My Happiness
Stardust
The Second Time Around
April Love
High Noon
Forget Domani
The Shadow Of Your Smile
Three O'Clock In The Morning
Ma (He's Makin' Eyes At Me)
Siboney
Somewhere My Love
Love Is A Many Splendor Thing
La Bamba
Terra Straniera
So Long, Good-Bye