A Night At The Copacabana - Tony Martin

 

For Every Man There's A Man

A Night At The Copacabana

With Tony Martin

Michael Durso and His Copacabana Orchestra

Directed by Hal Borne

RCA Victor LPM-1357

Special RCA Victor Re-release

1956

From the back cover: Everything was done to assure a "typical" Copacabana performance, including the enthusiasm of the audience and the casual small talk Tony indulges between songs to give his upper register brief respite after his hard-sell endings. IT came out precisely right the first time – full of the excitement and enthusiasm of a Copa performance, Tony's voice full and fine with the hard-to-describe extra dimension of mood and manner only a "live" audience can extract from any entertainer.

It took a lot of planning, including field trips by RCA Victor engineers who had to size up the acoustics and assay the limitations or contributions the luxurious basement might include. This was voted a distinct pleasure, for it included listening to Tony, and  by May 14 the size-up regretfully was ended and the single performance staged. It is unusual to the point of disbelief for a recording artist to make a merchandisable record of a song on the first "take," but somehow Tony Martin, lifted on the waves not only of song but of the ringsiders' approval, did it just as everyone hoped, the very first time. To ensure the proper Copacabana music mood, the orchestra was that of Michael Durso, who has been conducting the very good Copacabana band for, lo, these many hangovers; with Tony's personal baton man, Hal Borne. The efficacy of a band such as Mike Durso's might be emphasized at this point by noting there is a vast difference between a dance band, say, and a "show band," for which Mike's crew primarily is noted. It is the cafe equivalent of the best pit orchestras at musical comedies; or, to repeat an earlier parallel, the Palace Theater orchestra of old. In this album you will hear how well and efficiently Durso's dozen does by Tony. – Jack O'Brian

Let's Face The Music And Dance

For Every Man There's A Woman

Love And Marriage

Autumn Leaves

Manhattan

Security

September Song

Begin The Beguine

Good Night Sweetheart