Teen Rock - Boyd Raeburn

 

Yesterdays

I Gotta Right To Sing The Blues

Teen Rock

Boyd Raeburn and His Orchestra

Vocal by Ginnie Powell

Arrangements by Stanley Baum

Columbia Records CL 1073

1958

From the back cover: This delightful collection of music for listening and or dancing is further proof – if that is needed  – that Boyd Raeburn leads one of the most interesting and exciting orchestras around these days. Through a program that include standards, originals and a handful of new numbers, the band keeps up a fine, swinging beat that puts the emphasis where it belongs, and runs its sonorous way through some neatly designed arrangements with high polish and enthusiasm.

In a sense, the sound and feel of this collection is a complication of the bands of the thirties, with their unforgettable shading and taste and precision, but the difference herein lies in a basic rock-and-roll beat. Gone are the honking and squawking of many rock-and-roll contributions, but remaining is that insistent propulsion that made the music so popular. Around this core, Stanley Baum has written some splendidly melodic and fastidious arrangements ate represent a wedding of new ideas with old forms.

One of the fastest-rising young arranges in the country, Stanley Baum studied composition with Stefan Wolpe and has written a number of symphonic works, including many for band. He studied conducting with Leon Barzin, and in popular music has worked with Charlie Ventura, Benny Goodman and Ella Fitzgerald. On Broadway he has helped with the preparation of several shows for Harold Arlen, and conducted Hellzapoppin' during its tour. His talented hand in these arrangements is especially visible in "There's A Small Hotel," and in the two originals, "Beachcomber" and "Teen Rock." Of the other, less familiar numbers, "Dancin' and Romancing'" and "Tomorrow" are new, as is "Wanna Do Nothin' All Day."

Boyd Raeburn has long been indentified with the forward look in poplar music. Shortly after the war, his orchestra was widely popular among dancers and musicians alike, but unfortunately the enterprise was torpedoed by the demise of the big band and the rise of the vocalist. A short period of reorganization an attempted a couple of years later, but not until recently did anything approaching a full-scale revival take place. Now the band, with its fine arrangements and a pair of best-selling Columbia LPs has bade its way back to the top, as this collection demonstrates.

Yesterdays

Bye Bye Blues

I Gotta Right To Sing To Blues

Beachcomber

Dancin' And Romancin'

April Showers

There's A Small Hotel

Wanna Do Nothin' All Day

Teen Rock

The World Is Waiting For The Sunrise

Tomorrow

By The Light Of The Silv'ry Moon