A Sacred Collection - Molly O'Day

 

If You See My Saviour

A Sacred Collection

Molly O'Day

With Lynn Davis and The Cumberland Mountain Folks

Old Homestead Records OHCS - 101

1975

From the back cover: More than a decade ago two of country music's most respected veterans A. & R. men were quoted as saying that the greatest woman country music singer was Molly O'Day. Unfortunately for the younger fans of traditionally oriented country music, this remarkable lady has not performed publicly for nearly twenty-five years except in connection with her husband's and her own evangelistic work. The purpose of this album is to present a sampling of original music  and songs of Molly O'Day to those of us not fortunate enough to own these scarce collectors items.

Molly O'Day was born Lois LaVerne Williamson in 1923 at McVeigh, Kentucky. At an early age she began to take an interest in music together with her older brothers Joe (Duke) and Cecil (Skeets). This threesome of LaVerne, guitar; Skeets, fiddle; and Duke, banjo were soon entertaining for local dances or for any neighbors they could persuade to listen. LaVerne also began to sing in the manner of the popular girl vocalists of the middle and late thirties with her favorites being Lulubelle Wiseman, Patsy Montana, Texas Ruby Owens and Lily Mae Ledford of the Coon Creek Girls. She especially admired Lulubelle as a singer-entertainer and Lilly Mae's old-time banjo playing. In her early years as a singer she tended to imitate these pioneer vocalists but as time went by, she developed her own style which was more influenced by her own mountain background.

In 1939, LaVerne Williamson began her radio career as "Mountain Fern" and then as "Dixie Lee" at WCHS, Charleston, W. Va. The next year she and Skeets played with a group which included such other country music greats as Johnnie Bailes and Jimmie Dickens. In the fall of 1940 she and Skeets joined the band of Lynn Davis and his Forty-Niners where she worked as a girl vocalist. The following April she became Mrs. Davis.

Davis was an eight year veteran of country music on radio stations in West Virginia, North Carolina and Oklahoma. In his early years he had done semi-western material not unlike that of the Sons Of The Pioneers. From the advent of Dixie Lee's joining the group, however, the Forty-Niners began to adapt more to the style of their talented girl vocalist. In the fall of 1942 she adopted the stage name of Molly O'Day and continued to use it for the remainder of her professional career.

The forties were busy years for the Davises. From Bluefield they played on a succession of stations including WJLS, Beckly, WAPI, Birmingham (1942), WHAS, Louisville (1943-1944) (and the Renfro Valley Barn Dances on CBS), KRLD, Dalla (1945), WNOX (1945) and WROL (1949), Knoxville and WBIG, Greensboro (1949). During this time they worked with or had as part of their group such important country music personalities as the Bailes Brothers, Hank Williams, the Lilly Brothers, Mac Wiseman, Carl Smith, Bill Callahan, and Lonnie Glosson. Between 1945 and 1951, they put over a hundred songs on transcription and thirty-six on record.

Fall of 1949 found them in Versailles, Kentucky, however, country music was becoming more of a laborious chore than the fun it had been in an earlier era. In 1950 both she and Lynn joined the church and began to devote their time to the service of God. A serious illness in 1952 and 1953 removed her even father from commercial country and gospel music, but sustained by her faith she eventually recovered and Lynn returned to his evangelistic duties with Molly assisting. For the last several years they have resided in the Huntington, West Virginia area and continued to do church work as time and health permit.

The major characteristic of Molly O'Day's vocal work has been the intense feeling and sincerity which she puts into a song. Perhaps this feeling of depth and emotion accounts for the fact that her best remembered numbers have either been sacred songs or "tear jerkers." Musical associates from radio days such as Carl Story, Bill Callahan and Joe Clark have all described to this writer the feeling she put into a song. She was also acclaimed for the spirited banjo playing heard on several of her records. She and Lynn were also known for their duet singing, particularly their inverted harmonies. Lynn Davis played lead guitar on all of Molly O'Day's original recordings. Skeet Williamson played fiddle on Molly's 1946 and 1949 sessions and is recalled by Everett Lilly as being one of the best fiddlers of his time. George (Speedy) Krise played Dobro on the 1946 and 1947 sessions and should be remembered as the man who apparently introduced that instrument to bluegrass in 1950 while recording with Carl Butler.

The songs on this album have been chosen to portray a variety of her work on country sacred songs. Several feature Molly's banjo playing and three are from rare transcriptions never before available on record. And the song "Mothers Gone But Not Forgotten" there is an early example of two fiddles being used on Mountain Music. Hopefully, this album will reacquaint Molly's old fans with her great music and win new admirers for "The Girl With A Million Friends." – Ivan M. Tribe, University of Toledo

The Tramp On The Street

Matthew Twenty Four

I Heard My Mother Weeping

At The First Fall Of Snow

Mothers Gone But Not Forgotten

Coming Down From God

Teardrops Falling In The Snow

If You See My Savior

When My Time Comes To Go

Don't Sell Daddy Anymore Whiskey

Higher In My Prayers

Traveling The Highway Home

When We See Our Redeemer's Face

Something Got Hold Of Me

Waiting For The Boys

A Hero's Death

Sho-Budding Again - Shot Jackson & Buddy Emmons

 

Footprints In The Snow

Sho-Budding Again

Shot & Buddy

Shot Jackson featured on Sho-Bro

Buddy Emmons on Sho-Bud Steel

Picks The Famous Sho-Bud Guitars

The Two Aces Back Together

Vassar Clements on Fiddle

Produced by John Capps

K-Ark Records K-6028

1971

Banks Of The Old Pontchartrain

Mansion On The Hill

No One Will Ever Know

Red Wing

Linda Lou

Maiden's Prayer

Footprints On The Snow

Crazy Arms

Together Again

I'm So Lonesome

Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain

Hold It

Recorded Study Course On Skiptracing

 

Recorded Study Course On Skip Tracing (Disc 1)

Recored Study Course On Skip Tracing (Disc 2)

Recorded Study Course On Skiptracing

American Collectors Association, Inc., Minneapolis, Minnesota

KB 4431

1964

Importance Of Skiptracing

Classification Of Skips

Skiptracing Tools

Sources Of Information

Methods Of Approach

Qualification Of A Skiptracer

Skiptracing By Mail

Skiptracing By Personal Calls

Skiptracing By Personal Calls (continued)

Personal Information On Skips

Skiptracing By Telephone

Sample Skiptracing Calls

Summary

Push Push - Herbie Mann

Push Push

Push Push

Herbie Mann

Produced by Arif Mardin

Photography: Joel Brodsky

Album Design: Paula Bisacca

Production Assistant: Neal Rosengarden

Recording Engineer: Jimmy Douglas

Re-Mix Engineer: Arif Mardin

Recorded at Atlantic Recording Studios, New York, N.Y.

Embryo Records SD 532

1971

Personnel on Push Push, What's Going On & Never Can Say Goodbye:

Herbie Mann - Flute and Alto Flute

Duane Allman and Cornell Dupree - Guitars

Gene Bianca - Harp (except on Push Push)

Richard Tee - Piano, Electric Piano and Organ

Chuck Rainey - Bass

Bernard Purdie - Drums

Ralph McDonald - Percussion

Personnel on Spirit In The Dark & What'd I Say:

Herbie Mann - Flute

Duane Allman & David Spinoza - Guitars

Richard Tee - Electric Piano

Jerry Jemmott - Bass

Bernard Purdue - Drums

Ralph McDonals - Percussion

Personnel on If and Man's Hope:

Herbie Mann - Flute and Alto Flute

Duane Allman & David Spinoza - Guitars

Richard Tee - Piano and Electric Piano

Donald "Duck" Dunn - Bass

Al Jackson, Jr. - Drums

Ralph McDonald - Percussion

All guitar solos are by Duane Allman, except on Man's Hope which is by David Spinoza

Push Push

What's Going On

Spirit In The Dark

Man's Hope

If

Never Can Say Goodbye

What'd I Say

The Victors - Sol Kaplan

The Victors

Original Soundtrack Recording

Carl Foreman's The Victors

From The Man Who Fired "The Guns Of Navarone"

Composed and Conducted by Sol Kaplan

Soundtrack Edited and Produced for records by Jack Lewis

Colpix Records CP 516

1963

From the back cover: The Victors, Carl Foreman's first film since his spell-binding "The Guns Of Navarone." is a motion picture classic. One of the most provocative, stunning and controversial war stories ever filmed. The Victors is a story not of violence and heroism (although it contains some of the most exciting combat footage ever filmed) but rather a film primarily concerned with the moral destruction created within men by the pressures of war and loss of ideals. In modern war there are no real victors.

Mr. Foreman has already displayed his remarkable ability to create knife-edge suspense and in the process to leave an unforgettable impression with his audience. "The Guns Of Navarone" is his most recent example. But prior to that, as a writer, Carl Foreman's credits are staggering. Mr. Foreman wrote "Champion," "Home Of The Brave," "The Men," Cyrano de Bergerac," "High Noon" and "The Bridge On The River Kwai." Each was a timeless motion picture based on the universal conflicts within men. It is part of the unique quality of Carl Foreman's films that they retain their power. Although none of them, "High Noon" and "The Bridge Over The River Kwai," have contained outstanding musical themes. The Victors possesses a score with the same kind of power and beauty. The album is a superb memento of this brilliant film and a welcome addition to any record collection.

The composer of The Victors, Sol Kaplan, is one of the few men able to master the technique of writing dramatic music without losing melodic values. Kaplan has scored such films as "Tales Of Manhattan," "Titanic," "Niagara," Cinerama's "The Seven Wonders Of The World" and a host of others. His score for the Broadway play, "Tonight In Samarkand' won him the Show Business Award. As an enlisted man in the Signal Corps, Kapland scored innumerable films dealing with all phases of the Armed Forces' operations – from training films to the final battles. 

The score of The Victors is Kaplan's crowning achievement. Flown from New York To London to view the first rough footage to come out of the filming, Kaplan was literally jolted by the impact of this great motion picture. 

"Even in this particularly unedited state, Carl Foreman's The Victors has tremendous impact. It is unique, daring in its honesty, sad, funny, meaningful and tragic. In a bare, cold projection room, I fell in love with a motion picture." That was Kaplan's reaction to The Victors.

The following months were spent by Kaplan searching through forgotten sheet music in dusty record shops attempting to capture the spirit of World War II. From the bittersweet agony of that ear, Sol Kaplan was inspired to create this beautiful score. He met the greatest challenge of his career with a soundtrack that moves from Salerno to Berlin with The Victors.

The spirited march which bears the film's title is certain to be hummed by all as they leave the theatre. The haunting love theme, "My Special Dream," has the sound of a standard.' "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas," specially recorded for The Victors by Frank Sinatra, is hear under circumstances at once so poignant and so shocking that its imprint will never leave the mind of the film viewer. In the album, the Sinatra recording becomes an outstanding bonus. 

We can best describe The Victors – both the motion picture and its music – as a magnificent experience in entertainment. – Quentin Reynolds

The Overture

Main Title

The Olive Grove

The Wolf Pack

Singnora Maria

Off Limits

Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas (sung by Frank Sinatra)

My Special Dream

Jean Pierre

The French Woman

No Other Man

Magda's Theme

Sweet Talk And Death Fight

March Of The Victors – End Title

Do The Twist - Connie Francis

 

Johnny Darlin'

Connie Francis

Do The Twist

Arranged by Stan Applebaum

MGM Records E4022

1962

Mr. Twister

Teach Me How To Twist

Johnny Darlin'

Telephone Lover

Mommy Your Daughter's Fallin' In Love

Drop It Joe

Kiss 'N' Twist (Tarantella)

I Won't Be Home To You

My Real Happiness

Ain't That Better Baby

Hey Ring-A-Ding

Does Ol' Broadway Ever Sleep

Sergio Mendes' Favorite Things

 

Boa Palavra

Serdio Mendes' 

Favorite Things

Arranged & Conducted by Dave Grusin

Produced by Nesuhi Ertegun

Cover Photo: George Jerman

Cover Design: Stanislaw Zagorski

Recording Engineer: Phil Kaye

Atlantic SD 8177

1968

Sergio Mendes - Piano, Harpsichord & Electric Piano

Tom Scott - Fute, Soprano Sax & Piccolo (appears through the courtesy of ABC Records)

John Pisano - Guitar

Dave Grusin - Organ

Joe Mondragon - Bass

Larry Nechtel - Fender Bass

Dom Um Romao - Drums

Joao Donato & Moacir Santos - Percussion

My Favorite Things

Tempo Feliz (Happy Times)

Ponteio

Veleiro (The Sailboat)

A Banda (Parade)

I Say A Little Prayer

Comin' Home Baby

Boa Palavra (The Good Word)

O Mar É Mey Chao (The Sea Is My Soil)

So What's New

Singin' And Swingin' - The Mills Brothers

 

Smack Dab In The Middle

Singin' And Swingin'

The Mills Brothers

Decca Records DL 8209

1956

From the back cover: Although they are perhaps most famous for their particular style of singing, the Mills Brothers are also famous for the wide variety of their numbers. They excel in music which is hot, and they are unsurpassable in songs that are sweet. Whether the rhythms have a jumping pulse or a quiet beat, whether they soothe or excite, they are as captivating as they are unique. All these moods are displayed in this album, a collection which covers an unusual scope of songs and singing.

The Mills Brothers – John, Herbert, Harry and Donald – came from Piqua, Ohio. Their father, John Mills, Sr., was a barber who had been a concert singer, the boys naturally became a quartet. They were originally known as "Four Boys and a Kazoo," and it was the kazoo – or rather the lack of it on the eve of their stage debut – that was responsible for the development of of the unique "orchestral" style for which they were to become world-famous. Nervous enough when they marched out on the stage for the first audience conquest, they immediately became paralyzed with fear when they discovered that John had forgotten the all-important kazoo! The critical seat-holders began to get restless. Three of the boys looked anxiously at the forgetful and equally nervous fourth, John. Something had to be done – and fast – to save the situation. Desperate, John cupped his hands over his mouth and, to the surprise of himself, his brothers and the audience, produced sounds amazingly similar to that of the absent instrument. The kazoo imitation went over solidly, and soon all the brothers were imitating musical instruments to perfection, until their repertoire included trumpet, trombone, tuba, saxophone, clarinet, bassoon and oboe. With a guitar for rhythm, the quartet was able to sound like a whole orchestra.

At the peak of their career, the Mills Brothers suffered a tragic loss in the death of John Mills, Sr. in 1935, rather than see the quartet broken up, he stepped in to fill the place of his late son. Although the quartet then actually became the Mills family (father and sons) they elected not to change the name which had won international acclaim, and continued to be known today as the Mills Brothers.

Opus One with Sy Oliver and His Orchestra

You Didn't Want Me When You Had Me (So Why Do You Want Me Now) with Sy Oliver and His Orchestra

The Jones Boy with Sy Oliver and His Orchestra

Please Don't Talk About Me When I'm Gone with Tommy Dorsey and His Sentimentalists

You're Nobody 'Til Somebody Loves You with Sy Oliver and His Orchestra

Smack Dab In The Middle with Sy Oliver and His Orchestra

She Was Five And He Was Ten with Sy Oliver and His Orchestra

(Why Have A Falling Out) Just When We're Falling In Love with Sy Oliver and His Orchestra

Paper Valentine with Sy Oliver and His Orchestra

You Know You Belong To Somebody Else with Tommy Dorsey and His Sentimentalists

Yes You Are with Sy Oliver and His Orchestra

The Urge with Sy Oliver and His Orchestra

Cybernetic Warfare - Herbert Philbrick

 

Cybernetic Warfare

Cybernetic Warfare

Are You Sure Communism Hasn't Brain-washed You?

By Herbert Philbrick

Key Records  KEY LP/780

From the back cover: When Herb Philbrick was an F.B.I. counterspy in the Communist Party, he observed a curious and enigmatic situation prevailing in every cell library and research facility: the book shelves were not dominated by the works of Marx and Lenin but by a Russian who was not even a member of the Soviet party – a man named Pavlov.

One day Herb was to realize why – and, in so learning – was to become aware that something Pavlov discovered would turn out to be the major device employed by the Communists in their revolution to overthrow the United States government.

In this brilliant address, delivered at a Disneyland Hotel session of the Dr. Fred C. Schwarz Anti-Communist School, Herb Philbrick spectacularly dissects the diabolical propaganda machine of the Soviets, vividly shows how it operates, clearly acquaints you with how to guard against its destructive designs.

If the North American continent staves off the Communist threat – and there are men of sober judgement who believe our chances are now no better than fifty-fifty – historians yet unborn may well look back and credit our survival in considerable degree to this penetrating and strategic analysis by Herbert Philbrick, the man who sagely observed that the real enemy within our boundaries has not been essentially the card-carrying Communist, but rather the brain-washed fellow travelers. – Vickie Knight, Owner, Key Records

Coldwater Flat - The Three Sound & Oliver Nelson

 

Star Trek

Coldwater Flat

The Three Sounds and The Oliver Nelson Orchestra

Produced by Jack Tracy

Arranger: Oliver Nelson

Art Direction: Woody Woodward

Design: Gabor Halmos

Cover Photography: Ken Kim

Blue Note BST-84285

A Product of Liberty Records

1968

The Three Sounds:

Gene Harris - Piano

Andrew Simpkins - Bass

Donald Bailey - Drums

From the inside cover: No matter what jazz persuasion you may prevailingly subscribe to, you should be warmly snug to be in the jazz aura of the meld of The Three Sounds and the big band conducted by Oliver Nelson. This value judgement is made in response to the current examination of the gross lack of communication between what composer-musicologist George Rochberg terms the performance culture – which continues to dominate the classical music world of our society – and the creative culture which is trying to modify and extend the range of musical consciousness. Rochberg is disenchanted with the unhealthy way in which the curators of the performance culture and Musical Establishment invest only in a repertoire marked with past success. This condition is relevant to one of the several directions jazz has been moving in. Specifically, the vital experience of contemporary culture representing what occurs on the screen, on the stage, in art galleries, in books, and the music of the younger generation does, indeed, contribute to the jazz repertoire. But the repertoire is just one of many components of concern in the world of jazz. Another basic difference is that jazzmanship in its natural set of behavioral relationships fuses both performance and creativeness into a single system. And it is this blending process which the team of The Three Sounds and Oliver Nelson achieve so beautifully on this album.

By reputation and in fact, The Three Sounds is a tight swinging trio. Have you ever shared the music of The Three Sounds in person? Unless one is anesthetized or completely out of it in some other way(s) it is literally inconceivable that the driving, buoyant swing and tenacity does not imprison your attention. Overt enjoyment in performing for its audiences reflect the trio's desire to share the music: this expectancy is a consistent and happy one wherein there holds high respect for his bassist of twelve years, Andy Simpkins and drummer Donald Bailey whose attributes triggers Gene into praise. Gene has said, "This is the trio I've been waiting for." This inspired, open attitude prompts this remark, "I never hold the trio back. I let the guys go wherever the feelings direct them. I believe that music should be shared."

On this LP the performing and creating act is shared by Oliver Nelson whose ace-high services for big band scoring assignments is sought by more people than he can probably accommodate. This gifted craftsman is highly regarded for his unconventional, challenging and fresh approaches to arranging and composing. He is a natural complement to the philosophy of the trio because Oliver's music swings up front and swings big. The symbiotic process on this album began with the trio recording precisely what they wanted to sound like as a unit without orchestral embellishment. – for he decided to arrange the big band score on the rationale of remaining unobtrusive and providing a supportive backdrop. Therefore, working around the trio's original arrangements meant that the integrity of its concepts was judiciously preserved. Following these phases, the recording was ultimately produced together in the studio.

Regarding Oliver's ability to capture the feeling, essence, and flavor of the trio, Gene Harris was enthusiastic, "Oliver felt everything I was doing, utilizing the trio's chord progressions. His basic approach was fitting the reeds and trombones to my left hand and the trumpets to my right. Oliver was stimulated by the fullness of our sound and he was elated with the session. And it's a rare thing today in the studios when musicians in the whole band hang around to dig the replays!" And about big bands, Gene commented, "I dig big bands! You know I play with all ten fingers, but I wish I had fifteen." – Herb Wong - KJAZ, San Francisco and Jazz Editor, Urban West and FM & the Fine Arts

Lonely Bottles

The Look Of Love (from the Columbia Pictures release "Casino Royale")

Georgia

Grass Is Greener

Coldwater Flat

Last Train To Clarksville

My Romance

Do Do Do (What Now Is Next)

Star Trek

Ira Ironstrings Plays Santa Claus

 

Christmas Is For The Birds

Ira Ironstrings Plays Santa Claus

Christmas Music For Those Who Have Heard Everything

Produced by Lou Busch

Warner Bros. B 1339

1959

Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!

Jingle Bells Stomp

Skater's Nightmare

I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus

Christmas Is For The Birds

My Two Front Teeth

Deck Them Halls

Over The River And Through The Woods

Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer

Frosty The Snow Man

Sleigh Ride 

Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town

The Modern Jazz Sextet

 

Dizzy Meets Sonny

The Modern Jazz Sextet

Supervised by Norman Granz

Cover Design by David Stone Martin

Norgran Records MG N-1076

1956

From the back cover: Here is a jazz unit that includes the basic ingredients of the Down Beat award – winning Modern Jazz Quartet – and more besides. What is added, essentially, is a strong sense of vitality contributed by the trumpet of Dizzy Gillespie and the alto saxophone of Sonny Stitt. You might call this a super-imposition as well as a blend since the addition of Gillespie and Stitt in no way alters what has already been set down by the quartet, namely an inventive, tasteful approach to jazz as well as an unfailing swinging approach. With Dizzy and Sonny on hand there's no loss in any of these vital departments and much to be gained besides.

What piano-and-rhythm section quartet wouldn't be bolstered, after all, by Dizzy Gillespie and Sonny Stitt? Unity clearly was no problem since pianist John Lewis and Dizzy Gillespie are associates of many years standing. In fact, it was Lewis who helped Dizzy's big band in the last 1940s as arranger and pianist. Although he is ranked high as a pianist, Lewis' forte is arranging and he has arranged considerable in the past for Dizzy – and one of Lewis' important works, "Tocata for Trumpet and Orchestra" was introduced to a Carnegie Hall audience in 1947 by none other than John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie. Stitt has also worked previously with John Lewis, mainly in the same Gillespie big band.

In this album the group devotes the A side to two Dizzy Gillespie originals, "Tour de Force," which is aptly named for it is precisely that, and "Dizzy Meets Sonny," a musical introduction, as it were, with appropriate byplay between the two artists. The B side Ballad Medley finds the three soloists in expressive form, each in a separate ballad – Stitt takes "Old Folks" while Lewis is heard on "What's New" and Gillespie on another standard, "How Deep Is The Ocean?" In addition to a sprightly version of the standard "Mean To Me," there's also a tribute to Charlie "Yardbird" Parker entitled "Blues For Bird," co-authored by Gillespie and Stitt. Through it all, of course, there is the rhythmic anchor of Percy Heath's bass as well as Skeeter Best's guitar and the drums of Charlie Persip.

Tour De France

Dizzy Meets Sonny

Ballad Medley

   Old Folks

   What's New

   How Deep Is The Ocean (How High Is The Sky)

Mean To Me

Blues For Bird

The 2nd John Handy Album

 

Scheme #1

The 2nd John Handy Album

The John Handy Quintet

Produced by John Hammond

Columbia Records CS 9367

1966

John Handy - Alto and Tenor Saxophone

Jerry Hahn - Guitar

Mike White - Violin

Don Thompson - Bass

Terry Clarke - Drums, Glockenspiel

From the back cover: Art does not always blossom in the cultural hothouses built for it by well-meaning society. It has a habit of appearing in the most unlikely places, where the well-shod feet of the patrons of the arts never tread.

Thus, when poet Kenneth Rexroth and I tried to tell several members of the music establishment on a educational television program that the most important experimental music being played this year in San Francisco was not being heard at the traditional Opera House nor in the concert halls, but the dimly lit rendezvous for young people called The Both/And, they simply did not believe us.

The music we were referring to was that of the John Handy Quintet, and this album of that music proves the truth of what we were saying. The new, live, important American music has been coming from the jazz musicians for decades now, and who will deny it who can accept reality? What music will produce in the future is unpredictable, but the basic experimental bent of adventuresome jazz musicians such as Handy, combined with the incredible emotional intensity and control which is part of the best jazz music, is providing something that may outlast concert halls themselves.

What confuses some people, even genuine music listeners, is the assumption that some kinds of music are "better" than others, that jazz is entertainment, and it is astonishing that anything good comes out of it.

I submit to you the concept that John Handy's performance in this album of his composition Scheme #1 is important American music in any context, by any standards and, above all, by the standards set through the history of music itself by the great experimenter-composers. It seems to me it is a good thing that Handy does not play an entire program of this kind of music; we would not be able to stand up under it – the impact would be entirely too strong!

In the hard world of the music business in which jazz groups live, Handy's diversification is one of his greatest assets. No one conducts fund-raising campaigns to keep them working, no one organizes associations, grants, endowments or establishes foundation to subsidize jazz. It must exist on its own merit. This is one of the reasons why it has such strength. It has to have it!

When jazz music is produced by virtuoso musicians playing at their best, as in this album, they can successfully take an audience through such a variety of moods and feelings that there is something for almost everyone.

"We enjoyed making this album," John Handy says. "We played the tunes shorter and better in the recording studio. We were really exhausted by the long sets we were playing at Shelly's Manne Hole, where we were working, and it was satisfying to play them shorter in the studio.

"Dancy Dance was written in 1957 for my little boy, John Handy IV. When he heard it and was told it was for him, he was delighted. It's a simple little melody – I had never thought much about it and never thought we'd perform it, but when Jerry Hahn joined us, the rhythm section listened to it twice and wanted to play it, no lead sheet, just play it.

"Theme X is in 5/4 time – we've been playing this one for quite a while. I gave it its name for lack of something to call it. We're getting into the 5/4 time now without being conscious of where 1 is all the time. The song is in the same mode as 'If Only I Knew,' in our first album, and Jerry Hahn bends notes like a sitar – he plays quarter tones, and it's a great vehicle to improvise on. It's difficult to do this on a saxophone – to bend notes and play quarter notes – and I can only do it on certain notes.

"Blues For A Highstrung Guitar I wrote when we were working at The Both/And. I Wanted something people who would not ordinarily dig jazz would like to listen to but not so down home it would be only fort the Memphis Slim and Howlin' Wolf fans. It's the first time I wrote something with a definite purpose in mind. The tag on the end is perfect for Jerry Hahn to play!

"Dance For Carlo B I wrote for my first wife. It doesn't use the traditional Latin rhythms – I didn't want to follow any established formula. It's one of the more subtle tings we've done. We never rise much above a whisper, and yet it grabs you. The tension is in there and you get to it.

"Scheme #1 was written for a Carnegie Hall studio concert I gave on May 1, 1962. It was my own presentation, the way I thought jazz should be presented. I wrote six things for the concert. 'If Only We Knew' was in it, and it was a good concert Scheme #1 was my wildest venture with a small group. It was originally written for piano, bass and saxophone. There are more things I would like to do in this direction in the future, but that doesn't mean I want to abandon all the other things we do. I even like schmaltz! But this direction is where I want to go. There are a lot of arranged parts in it and it might have been easier to do with a conductor – it's hard to play and conduct at the same time."

In these words John Handy makes an interesting statement, "There are more things I would like to do in this direction," he says. I asked him to talk more about this. He thought a while and said, "All of this is in preparation for types of composition I want to do later. All of it will culminate in something I'm working toward."

There speaks the true artist. It is all part of the body of work, every piece, and it is all evidence of the surging vitality in the best of jazz.

If this should be your first meeting with the Handy Quintet, you should know that violinist Michael White does not play an amplified violin, but rather a regular violin held close to the microphone; guitarist Jerry Hahn has worked with rock bands, Country and Western groups and jazz units; bassist Terry Clarke numbers among his fans the entire Woody Herman band and Charlie Watts, the Rolling Stones' drummer, whose one desire, on his last trip to the West Coast, was to find out where John Handy was playing so he could hear Terry Clarke. – Ralph J. Gleason

Dancy Dance

Theme X Blues For A HighStrung Guitar

Dance For Carlo B

Scheme #1

The Way We Were - George Shearing

 

Superstar

The Way We Were

George Shearing

The Quintet and Amigos

Produced by MPS Records at the MPS Studios in Villingen

Recording and Mixing: Hand Georg Brunner-Schwer

Assistant Director: Willi Furt

Executive Supervision & Cover: Baldhard Folk

MSP Stereo MC 25351

1974

From the back cover: There are those who argue (and I admit freely to having been among them from time to time) that a quarter of a century is a long, long time to keep a jazz group together and an even longer time to keep your sound intact, when all around you are changing theirs and blaming it on rock. But there is another and valid side to this argument, namely that any instrument combination that can sustain itself, through all the vicissitudes of pop music and jazz over that period, must have something inherently meaningful for a large segment of the world's population. Not that George Shearing has been impervious to change. As far back as 1954 he began using a Latin percussionist, Armando Peraza, who remained with him for a decade. On various other occasions he has conducted such experiments as working with an organist, dispensing with the guitar and vibes, and of course, in a number of albums, surrounding himself was a larger orchestra. Through all these changes, the Shearing sound has remained as precise and tasteful as ever, smooth and mellow on the ballads for those who want it that way, live and pulsing on the up tempos and particularly on those involving some sort of Latin Beat.

For the present album, George assembled a group that was quite unusual in its constitution. Two of his regular sidemen were used: Rusty Jones on Drums and bassist Andy Simpkins, the latter a veteran of the Shearing entourage since the late 1960s (Andy was part of the Shearing trio on George's first MPS album, Light, Airy And Swinging.) TO them he added two outstanding Laint-American musicians, both familiar figures on the West Coast scene, Chino Valdes and Carmelo Garcia. Rounding out the personnel with the complementary guitar and vibes were two German musicians, Sigi Schwab and Heribert Thusek respectively. What struck me immediately on listening to the tapes was, first, that the uniquely distinctive Shearing blend has been maintained, yet along with this identity there is diversification, through the use of pop tunes in a Latin treatment that reaches out a various points into the borderline of jazz, rock, folk and classical music.  On some tracks, notably Marvin Hamlisch's The Way We Were with its interesting 12/8 treatment, and Killing Me Softly, the essence is pure Shearing all the way. On several, there are devices long associated with George and used with particular ingenuity here. For example, the fugue-like interlude in Elanor Rigby sets this version apart from any other interpretations I have heard of the Lennon-McCartney standard. (This, incidentally, is the senior citizen among the tunes performed, dating back to 1966. It's closely followed by Do You Know The Way To San Jose and Aquarius, both 1967 products.)

The Shearing facility for keeping a good groove going and sustaining it all the way to the end is noticeable especially in the outgoing vamp of San Jose, the percussion fade on The World Is A Ghetto and the remarkable finale on Superstar which suddenly (and quite spontaneously during the recording session) switched from bolero to baroque.

The interpretation of Brain's Song is short, sweet and as beautiful as this stunning Michel Legrand melody would lead you to expect. Stevie Wonder's You Are The Sunshine Of My Life is decorated, at either end, by a series of fascinating piano-guitar breaks based on augmented intervals. Finally, Alone Again (Naturally) sounds as if it had been designed as an Afro-Cuban or Latin-American work.

In fact, George Shearing and his associates have succeeded in bringing these relatively new tunes into his own fold and making them all sound as if they had belonged there originally. It becomes irrelevant that most of the tunes at the time of their first popularity were vocals. In couple of instances, it seems to me, the melodies were stronger than the lyrics, but whether this was the case or not, George has managed, as has been his wont for Lo these many years, to distill something very personal and personable out of each work, and bring to all these pop hits a quality that sets them in a different category from the objectives of those who first put them on the charts.

A word should be added in praise of the recording. The Shearing sound is a very special and potentially elusive mix. It was captured with complete fidelity by Hans Georg Brunner-Schwer at his MPS Studios in Villingen.

George deserves nothing but the best in committing of his work to tape and disc. Clearly on this occasion it has been accorded him, enabling us to hear this admirable assemblage of musicians the way they were, the way they are. – Leonard Feather (Author of The Encyclopedia of Jazz in the 60s, Horizon Press)

The Way We Were

Do You Know The Way To San Jose

Killing Me Softly

The World Is A Ghetto

Superstar

Eleanor Rigby

Brain's Song

Aquarius

You Are The Sunshine Of My Life

Along Again (Naturally)

Country... The Wright Way - Johnny Wright

 

The Devil's Own

Country... The Wright Way

Johnny Wright

Cover Photo: Hal Buksbaum

Decca Records DL 4846

1967

From the back cover: Johnny had never been known as what show business calls a "single" until the passing of his beloved partner, Jack Anglin. But when it became a cold, hard fact that he had to go on alone.. well, go on he did... and succeed he did. Since becoming the fellow who occupies the spotlighted position on a stage all by himself, Johnny Wright has been all around the world. Even in countries where large parts of his crowds weren't able to understand English, the sincerity of his manner became sort of universally understood language.

Johnny Wright has become an institution within the field of country showmanship. You see, we didn't just coin the phrase "Wright Way" to have something catchy to put on the cover. Professionals in country music have been using that term for years to describe Johnny's distinctive way with a song. The Wright way is respected because it's as straightforward and honest as the day is long. If there is good, better, and best in country music, there is no question which one of those words applies to Johnny Wright!

Think Of Me

I'm Doing This For Daddy

Swinging Doors

Racing Man

Immune To Love

The Shoe Goes On The Other Foot Tonight

Mama's Little Jewel

Making Ends Meet

Drinking Beer And Shedding Tears

Open Up You Heart

The Devil's Own

Nothing From Nothing

Daddy'a Little Angel - Doc Williams

 

Daddy's Little Angel

My Canada

Daddy's Little Angel

Doc Williams

Quality Records SV 1849

1970

From the back cover: Carrying the title "A Living Legend" is a great and grave responsibility; but Doc Williams carries it well... with the utmost dignity, professionalism and sincere humility. Because Doc knows full well that it is the PEOPLE... the audiences who have been so faithful to him for so many years, that have MADE him this legend. And perhaps that's why the song Doc Williams sings are songs of and about the PEOPLE: those common, everyday situations and event that never make the front pages, but that affect and control the lives of all of us. But, after all, isn't that what country music is really all about? Isn't that what has made country music as well liked by so many people the world over?

Again in this great new album, beyond a doubt Doc's best, he is singing about PEOPLE and FOR people. The title song is a case in point: A real "slice of life" that well being tears to millions of eyes. Asked about "Daddy's Little Angel" written especially for this album by one of Doc's closest friends, Jack Jackson, Doc said "This is the most powerful song to come to me since Chickie recorded "Beyond The Sunset". You'll agree when you hear it. This great artist sang it like he sings every song... straight from the heart!

Doc KNOWS the people he sings to. Since 1937, for 33 consecutive years, he has been a star of "The World's Original WWVA Jamboree", now known as JAMBOREE USA. With this famous show being broadcast every Saturday night over 50,000-watt WWVA out of Wheeling, W. Va., the name and sound of Doc Williams is known to countless millions thru-out the north-east and all of eastern Canada. In addition, he gets out to the people, and his popular show has been seen "in person" in just about every corner of these 23 states and six provinces. In fact, to many people, Doc Williams and WWVA's Jamboree USA are most one-and-the-same. Those in music respect him for his continuing success as a business man, label-owner and publisher, but to Doc and his musical family (wife Chickie and daughters Barbara, Madeline and Karen), meeting and entertaining people is and always has been their first love.

"Daddy's Little Angel" is bound to be one of Doc's most popular albums. Not only is this a fine collection of songs, done in this straight-from-the-heart manner, but producer Billy Grammar gathered some of Nashville's top studio side-men for the sessions. After listening to Doc over WWVA, seeing him on Jamboree USA, or enjoying his show on one of his many tours, I'm certain you'll want to add this latest collection of his efforts to your own personal record library! – Quentin W. Welty, Gen. Mgr. Jamboree UAS, Inc. Radio Station WWVA, Wheeling, W. Va.

Daddy's Little Angel

A Beautiful Picture

Already Back From Being Away

King And Queen

Big Man

San Antonio Rose

My West Virginia Home

My Canada

Yardstock Minnie Brown

City, I Want To Go Home

A Faded Rose, A Broken Heart