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Friday, December 14, 2012

Heart & Soul Guitar - Tony Mottola

Lullabye Of The Leaves
Heart & Soul Guitar
Tony Mottola
Originated And Produced By Enoch Light
Cover Art Charles E. Murphy
Project 3 Total Sound PR 5003 SD
1966

Here we have another fabulous Mottola/Light Total Sound album. The engineering, the depth of sound, coming from the grooves is amazing.

Heart And Soul
If He Walked Into My Life
Lullabye Of The Leaves
I'm Getting Sentimental Over You
Tony's Tune
Little Girl Blue
Georgia
Love Is Here To Stay
Jimmy's Blues
The Gang That Sing Heart Of My Heart
The Impossible Dream

Latin Rhythms - Jan August

Mambo Is In The Air
Latin Rhythms
Jan August
Mercury MG 20274
1957

From Billboard - December 2, 1957: August's piano work on these Latin-styled melodies is listenable fare. However, the package is quite similar to several others. It may have a slight advantage because of the fine reproductions, but it's non-distinquishable otherwise.

Mambo Is In The Air
Where Or When
Jan's Cucaracha
Besame Mucho
Jamboree
Esplanada
Chiqui Chaqui
Perfidia
Without You
El Cumbanchero
Delicado
My Shawl

My Fair Lady - Al Goodman

Wouldn't It Be Lovely (S-82)
My Fair Lady
Al Goodman's Orchestra
With Richard Torigi and Lola Fisher
Spinorama M-82 & S-82
A Product Of Premier Albums, Inc.

My Fair Lady
Played by Al Goodman's Orchestra
With Richard Torigi and Lola Fisher
From The Original Broadway Cast
Diplomat Records (Promenade Records) 2214

From the back cover: Lola Fisher from the original Broadway Cast and understudy to Julie Andrews sings the lead in this recording and is accompanied by Richard Torigi from the cast of The Most Happy Fellow.

Al Goodman, who conducts the orchestra for this recording brings into vision through his orchestral arrangements, a fine conception of My Fair Lady, ever produced. It should be in your collections of albums.


Overture
With A Little Bit Of Luck
Wouldn't It Be Lovely
On The Street Where You Live
I Could Have Danced All Night
The Rain In Spain
I've Grown Accustomed To Her Face
Get Me To The Church On Time
I'm An Ordinary Man
Finale

Thursday, December 13, 2012

Twisting With The Twist - Jerry Kale And The Spinners


The Hip Twist
Twist Around The Clock
Twisting With The Twist
Jerry Kale And The Spinners
Galaxy Series
Hudson Record
4893

This is an obscure and fun budget twist record. The tracks sound like they come from at least three sources and likely credited to a "factitious" group.

Twisting
Go, Jimmy, Go
The Twist
You Got What It Takes
Red River Twist
The Twist Hop
The Hip Twist
Loving You
Beatin' The Twist
Poison Ivy
Twist Around The Clock
Take A Chance

Paul Dixion

My Kind Of Music
Paul Dixon
25 Of The Greatest Popular Songs Of All Time
Custom Recording By Pickwick International Inc., For Crosley Enterprises Inc.

Host of The Paul Dixon Show - "Lively in color" on WLW (Cincinnati, Columbus, Dayton and Indianapolis).

This is some type of marketing tool for Dixon. He's not actually singing on this record, rather, this is a collection of tracks from well known artists such as Sarah Vaughan, Louis Prima, Mel Trome, etc.

From the back cover: At home, Paul is extremely proud of his large record library, which he used to select the songs for this album.

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Dyn-O-Mite Guitar - Billy Strange

Dyn-O-Mite Guitar
Billy Strange
GNP Crescendo GNPS - 2094
1975

Available from online vendors so I will not be posting a sample. Presented here to share the cover.

Jaws
Love Will Keep Us Together
The Rockford Files
Star Trek
I Believe I'm Gonna Love You
Dynomite
The Hustle
Samantha
Good, Bad & Ugly
Durango
James Bond Theme

Styles The Great Pop Piano Classics - Jan August

Humoresque
Styles The Great Pop Piano Classics
Jan August
Orchestration by Hal Mooney
Mercury Records MG 20659
1962

The cover screams "budget mood"... but the tracks shout upscale space age pop. For another August sample check out Music For The Quiet Hour.

Computer Generations

Crossings
Computer Generations
Godfrey Winham - N P (Two Pieces For Computer-Synthesized Sound)
Barry Vercoe - Synapse For Viola And Computer
Richard Hoffmann - In Memoriam Patris (1976)
Joel Gressel - Crossings (1976) and P Vibes: Three Canons (1972)
CRI Composers Recordings CRI SD 393
1978

Enjoy a sample from this obscure CRI album.

From the back cover: This recording contains three "generations" of computer composers whose music users three generations of computer music languages. The late Godfrey Winham is recognized as a prime force in the development of computer music – he was responsible of the FORTRAN version of Music IV, the original program developed in 1960 by Max Matthews of Bell Telephone Laboratories. Barry Vercoe was Winham's student at Princeton and there invented a more streamlined language, Music 360, now in wide use. The newer Music - 11 system was developed by Vercoe at M.I.T. Richard Hoffman and Joel Gressel did there work at M.I.T. and Princeton respectively, Hoffman using Vercoe's Music - 11 and Gressel using Music 360.

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Let's Dance The Merengue - Pete Balboa

Artistry In Rhythm
Let's Dance The Merengue
Pete Balboa And The Nassau Palms Orchestra
Capitol Records ST1349
1960

From Billboard, May 16, 1960: The orchestra involved provide clear, rhythmic renditions, well and crisply performed. Virtually every selection falls into the category of "familiar favorite." some being of recent origin, while other are derived from the classics. As dance recordings, these (Capitol "dance series") rank among the best whether for learners or experts.

This is a very good album featuring upfront percussion that drives the sound throughout the disc.

Everybody Loves A Loser
Le Secret
Artistry In Rhythm
Arrivederci Roma
Brazilian Hobo
That's Amore
Get Me To The Church On Time
Melody In F
Near You
La Paloma
Marie
Lisbon Antigua

String Quartet - Kirchner & Weinberg

For String & Electronic Tape

Kirchner
String Quartet No. 3
For Strings & Electronic Tape
Beaux - Art Quartet

Wienbreg
String Quartet No. 2
The Composers Quartet

Engineering: Fred Plaut, John Guerriere and Raymond Moore
Cover Design: Lloyd Ziff / Sphere by Robert Bart, from the Sculpture Garden of the Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art, Ridgefield, Conn.
Cover Photo: Robin Forbes
Columbia MS 7284
Masterworks
1969

From the back cover: Leon Kirchner's Quartet No. 3 and Henry Weinberg's Quartet No. 2 occupy distinctly dissimilar positions in the contemporary musical spectrum. Kirchner's music is essentially concerned with gesture – the broad sweep of melodic line, the dramatic use of dissonance and silence. Weinberg's emphasis is on method, and it may accurately he said that the method is the material in his work. Kirchner's Quartet employs electronic sounds and contains aural and formal complexities, yet its statements are quickly perceived and grasped by the sophisticated ear.