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Saturday, April 24, 2021

Here's To Our Love - Brian Hyland

 

Devoted To You

Here's To Our Love
Brian Hyland
Arrangements by Bill McElhiney and Allen Lorber
Produced by Gary Geld and Peter Udell
Engineers: Mort Thomasson and Selby Coffeen
Recorded at Bradley Studios, Nashville, Tennessee
Mercury Wing STEREO WC 16341
1967

Moments To Remember
The Nearness Of You
That's The Way Our Loves Go
Young Years
Pledging My Love
Devoted To You
Graduation Day
Two Kinds Of Girls
Now I Belong To You
Here's To Our Love

The Hi-Lo's & Jerry Fielding

 

Bye Bye Blues

The Hi-Lo's
And The Jerry Fielding Orchestra
KAPP Records, Inc. KL-1027
1956

From the back cover: The Hi-Lo's, cited by numerous critics as the most musical and most inspiring vocal group to come along in years (they sing no rock and roll here, either!), have a fresh-sounding approach, combining a fantastic blend and range, arresting harmonies, and a live, pulsating beat for a startling different and exciting sound. These four bright, eager lads (Clark Burroughs, Bob Morse, Bob Strasen and Gene Puerling) worked and lived together for months before capturing the feeling of oneness that eludes all but the greatest of vocal groups.

The Jerry Fielding Orchestra is a pride of the West Coast, and, like the Hi-Lo's, has achieved enthusiastic recognition for its combined spirit and musicianship. Jerry, who has arranged for bands like Tommy Dorsey's, Kay Kayser's and Charlie Barnet's, and for numerous top TV and radio shows, has gathered a hand-picked crew of Hollywood musicians who eagerly flock to rehearsals, as well, as performances, to play the bright, fresh music which Jerry writes. Sam Donahue, himself a leader; Gerry Wiggins, one of the most sought-after modern pianists; Conrad Gozzo, the great trumpeter who also leads his own band – these and many others comprise one of the most brilliant bands of this era, playing some of the smartest, juiciest scores ever etched into wax – anytime – anywhere.

The Hi-Lo's

They Didn't Believe Me
Peg O' My Heart
My Baby Just Cares For Me
Georgia On My Mind

The Jerry Fielding Orchestra

Tea For Two (Vocal - Morgan Sisters)
Here In My Arms (Trumpet - Mickey Mongano, Piano - Gerald Wiggins, Tenor - Sam Donahue, Trombone - Lloyd Ulyate)
Starts In My Eyes (Alto - George Dorsey)
Bye And Bye ( Tenor - Phil Urso)
Faintly Reminiscent (Tenor - Buddy Collette, Piano - Gerald Wiggins)
Bye Bye Blues (Trombone - Joe Howard, Trumpet - Ed Shedosky, Tenor - Phil Urso)

Robert Mitchum CalypsoIs Like So...

 

What Is This Generation Coming To?

Robert Mitchum Calypso – Is Like So...
Capitol Records T853
1957

From the back cover: For ten months of the kind he likes best, Mitchum followed his Calypso trial, listening acutely to local champions like Lord Melody and Mighty Sparrow, memorizing newer and more intricate lyrics in some small native bistro, absorbing the rhythmic excitement of such festivities as the great annual Jump Up Carnival.

From Billboard - May 13, 1957: This one will  have to be sold mainly on Robert Mitchum's drawing power as a movie star. His current pie "Heaven Knows Mr. Allison," is big box office, which might hypo sales if package is pushed in areas where film is showing. Mitchum warbles capably, but sans any real vocal showmanship or humor on a group of calypsos – some traditional, others new – including one already released as a single, "What Is This Generation Coming To?" Sexy cover shot of Mitchum gives LP good display value.

Jean And Dinah
From A Logical Point Of View
Not Me
What Is This Generation Coming To?
Tic, Tic, Tic
Beauty Is Only Skin Deep
I Learned A Merengue, Mama
Take Me Down To Lover's Row
Mama, Looks Boo Boo
Coconut Water
Matilda, Matilda 
They Dance All Night

The Big Beat - Johnnie Ray

 

Lotus Blossom

The Big Beat
Johnnie Ray
Arrangements by Ray Ellis and Ray Conniff
Columbia Records CL 961
1957

From the back cover: It was 1951 when Johnnie Ray astonished everyone with his remarkable performances of Cry and The Little White Cloud That Cried, and he became a major star with almost supersonic speed. He was born in Roseburg, Oregon, in 1927, indicating musical talent at an early age, and confirming the indications when he reached fifteen and shared a Portland radio show with Jane Powell. A few years later he took off for Hollywood, hoping to break through the ranks of anonymity, and served his term as soda dispenser, carhop, movie extra and various other employments before landing a job as a pianist in a night club. Engagements in various small clubs followed, leading him farther and father east. He was singing and playing one night at the Flame Club in Detroit when the sharp ear of a Columbia Records official caught the distinctive and compelling character of his singing, and he was signed at once. His first record sold well enough, considering that he was relatively unknown, and the second consisted of the coupling mentioned above. Since that time he has been starred on radio, television, in the movies and in night clubs, and has made a series of outstandingly successful appearances in England, as well as extended tours of Australia and other outlying sections of the world.

Pretty-Eyed Baby
How Long Blues
Sent For You Yesterday
I'll Never Be Free
I'm Gonna Move To The Outskirts Of Town
Shake A Hand
Lotus Blossom
Every Day
I Want To Be Loved
I Miss You So
Trouble In Mind
So Long

Friday, April 23, 2021

Margie's At The Lincoln Park Inn - Bobby Bare

 

If There's Not A Hell (There Ought To Be)

(Margie's At) The Lincoln Park Inn
And Other Controversial Country Songs
Bobby Bare
Produced by Chet Akins and Danny Davis
Arranged by Don Tweedy and Brenton Banks
Recorded at RCA's Nashville Sound Studio, Nashville, Tennessee
Recording Engineers: Tome Pick, Bill Vandevort and Jim Malroy
Assisted by Leslie Ladd, Milton Henderson and Roy Shockley
RCA Records Stereo LSP-4177
1969

Ruby, Don't Take Your Love To Town
The Son Of Hickory Hollow's Tramp
The Law Is For Protection Of The People
Cincinnati Jail
Watching The Trains Go By
Bid Ben Colson
(Margie's At) The Lincoln Park Inn
If There's Not A Hell (There Ought To Be)
Skip A Rope
Wild As The Wind
Drink Up And Go Home
Rainy Day In Richmond

The Vince Guaraldi Trio

 

It's Delovely

The Vince Guaraldi Trio
Recorded in San Francisco in April, 1956
Fantasy 3-225

Vince Guaraldi - Piano
Eddie Duran - Guitar
Dean Reilly - Bass

From the back cover: Off and on during the fall and winter of 1955 the hungry i (all lower-case, it's Bohemia!), a San Francisco night club offered its patrons modern jazz by the Vince Guaraldi Trio.

The hungry i is one of those downstairs clubs where the customers are as entertaining as the acts and the management is more entertaining than both. However, in 1955 it had blossomed forth as one of the top attractions on the tourist circle in San Francisco and as the crowds lined up to enter the main room to catch Mort Sahl, Prof. Irwin Corey or whatever wild wit was currently holding forth, they were beguiled by the music of Vincent Anthony Guaraldi in an adjunct of the foyer called "The Outer Room."

Vince and his guitar-playing friend, Eddie Duran, grew up together in San Fransisco and have worked all kinds of jobs over the years until now they have an instinctive mutual musical mind reading act. Dean Reilly, a comparative newcomer to the Bay Area, has in a few years established himself as one of the better, if not the best, modern bassist in the area.

At the hungry i, Guaraldi and company had no restrictions on what they played. Part of the time, they were on their own and the hungry i gradually attracted a number of jazz fans who were there solely to hear Guaraldi and Duran make modern music. Early in 1956, Guaraldi left San Fransisco to join Woody Herman as pianist with the Third Herd, talking over from Nat Pierce.

In the spring, while home on a vacation from the Herman band, Vince reassembled the Trio for this album. Already the recipient of considerable critical praise for his work with Herman, it seems likely that this album will further enhance his stature.

From Billboard - September 29, 1956: Altho sales are unlikely to be spectacular, this is one of the pleasant surprises of the month. Guaraldi is a young San Francisco pianist who has been getting rave notices with the Woody Herman band. Evidence here says he's a tasteful, authoritative and facile modernist, and that he swings. Further, he has a sense of humor. Guitarist Eddie Duran and bassist Dean Reilly are worthy colleagues. Try their version of John Lewis' Django for a real delight.

Django
Fenwyck Farfel
Never Never Land
Chelsea Bridge
Fascinatin' Rhythm
The Lady's In Love With You
Sweet And Lovely
Ossobucco
Three Coins In A Fountain
It's Delovely

Wednesday, April 21, 2021

Swing Your Partner - Riviera

 

Rickets Reel

Swing Your Partner
12 Square Dances With Calls
Riviera R0024

Ragtime Annie
Promenade Thur Georgia 
Hot Time In The Old Town Tonight
When The Work's All Done This Fall
Pop Goes The Weasel
Rickets Reel
The Campbells Are Comin'
Honey Musk
Darlin' Nellie Grey
Rosie Lee
Sally Goodie
Skip To My Lou

Slaughter On Tenth Avenue - Arthur Fiedler

 

Estancia; Malambo

Rodgers Slaughter On Tenth Avenue (and Other Selections)
Boston Pops Orchestra
Arthur Fiedler
Musical Director: Richard Mohr
Recording Engineer: Lewis Layton
RCA Victor - Red Seal LM-2294
1959

From Billboard - August 10, 1959: The Boston Pops under Arthur Fiedler presents a stirring interpretation of the well-known Richard Rodger's ballet from "On Your Toes." Also included are ballet selections from "Fancy Free," "interplay" and "The Three Cornered Hat." Sound is excellent. The orchestra should have a strong seller with their latest effort.

Rodgers - Slaughter On Tenth Avenue (from "On Your Toes")
Gould - Govotte; The Blues (Piano solo: Leo Litwin)
Bernstein - Three Dances From "Fancy Free" (from the repertory of Ballet Theatre) Galop, Waltz; Dazon
Falla - Dances From "The Three Cornered Hat"
Shostakovich - Polka From "The Age Of Gold"
Copland - Rodeo: Saturday Night Hoedown
Ginastera - Estancia; Malambo
Khachaturian - "Gayne" Ballet Suite No. 1: Sabre Dance

Man Of La Mancha - Henri Rene

 

The Psalm

The Wonderful Music From 
Man Of La Mancha
The Impossible Dream
Music From The Mitch Leigh & Joe Darion Hit Musical Play
Henry Rene And His Orchestra
KAPP Records, Inc. KL-1521
Recorded in Europe
1967

From Billboard - June 3, 1967: The Henri Rene Orchestra's treatment to this superb score will put this disk on the sales mark bulls-eye. "The Impossible Dream" and all the other numbers from the off-Broadway hit are included.

Man Of La Mancha
The Impossible Dream
Dulcinea
It's All The Same
I Really Like Him
The Barber's Song
Golden Helmet
To Each His Dulcinea 
Little Bird, Little Bird
Aldonza
A Little Gossip
The Psalm

Tuesday, April 20, 2021

If The Whole World Stopped Lovin' - Val Doonican

 

Yesterday

If The Whole World Stopped Lovin'
Val Doonican
Recorded in England 
A Pye Records, U.K. Recordings
Decca Records DL 4962
A Division of MCA Inc.
1968

From the back cover: England continues to play a major role in the introduction of new talent to the international music scene. The latest candidate to the world-wide popularity is a 6 ft. tall product of Waterford, Eire, by the name of Michael Valentine Doonican, and the song that first brought him to the attention of American audiences in the British Isles and raced up the charts of The New Musical Express (one of England's most popular music papers) and landed in the No. 2 spot, just behind another English act by the name of... The Beatles.

With the release of this single record on the Decca label in the United States, the American trade papers were unanimous in their praise of Doonican. Now the name and talents of Val Doonican are well on their way to becoming as well known to these shores as they are to his home audiences. His successes, there include, beside recordings, radio, television, theater and cabaret appearances,. Continental tours, song-writing, and the distinction of being the first British artist to make two consecutive appearances on the highly rate "Sunday Night At The London Palladium."

It must be said of Val that he came from a home full of music, and a family that owned almost every type of stringed instrument except one – a guitar. It was in such an atmosphere that Val, too, developed a love of music – and an ambition to own and play the one instrument that his family did not possess! But as fate would have it, a professional musician, who just happened to own a guitar, came to live nearby, and he gave the youngster his first opportunity to play the instrument.

After many months of hard practice, Val was given a guitar to call his own and the opportunity to play and sing with a quartet of local musicians for the summer season. Many more hours of practice led to a trip to Dublin for a sponsored series of Radio Eireann. Shortly after, as his popularity grew even greater, he joined the Four Ramblers for his first professional engagement in England.

The first solo performance in England as a singer and instrumentalist for this rapidly rising young talent was a radio series with the famed Frank Chacksfield; then, his debut on English television. Shortly after, he was offered his own radio series in Englan, "Your Date With Val." And the rest, as they say, is history – the story of the brilliant rise of a new, exciting musical star, as success followed success for the personable Val Doonican.

From Billboard - March 23, 1968: England seems able to score better in the pop field with country music than Americans. Here's the latest sensation, Val Doonican racking up a hit with "If The Whole World Stopped Lovin'." Some of the other country tunes here include "He'll Have to Go," "Take Me." "Yesterday" is also here.

If The Whole World Stopped Lovin'
Take Me
Small World
I'd Rather Think Of You
Hold Me
Scarlet Ribbons (For Her Hair)
If I Were A Carpenter
Yesterday
He'll Have To Go
Hy Coloring Book
The Folks Who Live On The Hill

The Most Exciting Guitar - Roy Lanham

These Foolish Things

The Most Exciting Guitar
Roy Lanham
Producers: Josie Wilson and Bob Reisdorff
Engineers: Don Blake and Henry Lewy
Cover Design: Pate/Francis & Associates 
Photography: Garrett-Howard, Inc.
A Blue Horizon Production
Dolton Records BLP 2009
1960

From the back cover: Backing Roy are two of the best men in Los Angeles – Red Wootten of bass (currently with Benny Goodman) and Earl Palmer on drums.

Lost Weekend
Where Or When
Body And Soul
Song Of India
A Smooth One
These Foolish Things
Steel Guitar Rag
Lover Come Back To Me
As Time Goes By
Wildwood Flower
Kerry Dance
Old Joe Clark

Sunday, April 18, 2021

Holiday For Harpsichord - E. Power Biggs

 

Falla: Ritual Fire Dance from "El Amor Brujo"

Holiday For Harpsichord 
Fun-Filled Favorites From E. Power Biggs & His Pedal Harpsichord
All Arrangements by E. Power Biggs
Produced by Andrew Kazdin
Cover Photo: Bob Cato
Cover Illustrations and Lettering: Chas B Slackman
Columbia Records ML 6278 & MS 6878
1966

From Billboard - August 20, 1966: One of the surest sellers in the classical field, E. Power Biggs has come up with one of the most unusual recordings in a long time, containing a series of standard selections he transcribed for a pedal harpsichord. One after another they come, "Marche Melitarie," "Brahms' Hungarian Dance No. 3," "The Swan," "In The Hall Of The Mountain King."

Schubert: Marche Militarie, Op. 51, No. 1
Schubert: Moment Musical In F Minor
Mozart: Rondo Alla Turca from Sonata In Major, K, 331
Haydn: Minuet from Symphony No. 104 In D Major, "London"
Beethoven: Turkish March from "The Ruins Of Athens"
Beethoven: Minuet In G Major
Falla: Ritual Fire Dance from "El Amor Brujo"
Chopin: "Military" Polonaise In A Major, Op. 40, No. 1
Chopin: Prelude In C Major, Op. 28, No. 20 / Prelude In A Major, Op. 28, No. 7
Weber: Country Dance
Boccherini: "Celebrated Minuet In A Major
Brahms: Hungarian Dance No. 5
Grieg: In The Hall Of The Mountain King from "Peer Gynt Suite No. 1"
Saint-Saens: The Swan from "The Carnival Of The Animals"
Tchaikovsky: Russian Dance ("Trepak") from "Nutcracker Suite," Op. 71a

Cowboy Favorites - Sons Of The Purple Sage

 

When My Blue Moon Turns To Gold

Cowboy Favorites
Sons Of The Purple Sage with Linna Shane
Golden Tone Hi-Fidelity C 4046

Cimarron
Take Me Back To My Boots And Saddle
Night Train To Memphis
No Letter Today
You Are My Sunshine
Wabash Cannonball
You Don't Know What Lonesome Is
I'm Thinking Tonight Of My Blue Eyes
Red River Valley
When My Blue Moon Turns To Gold