At Home With The Barry Sisters

At Home With The Barry Sisters
Roulette R 25060
1958

Available for purchase online so I will not be posting a sample.

From the back cover: These are Jewish melodies that are indigenous to Jewish culture, just as any songs of any culture or nation must of necessity be. The songs run the gamut of every human emotion; songs of love and devotion, of laughter and sadness, of remembrance of things past and of hope for the future. It is for that reason that although the girls sing in Yiddish, they are in truth speaking musically in a universal language.

To my surprise, the recording is not "folk" music, but inventive late 50s pop arrangements. There is nothing dull about this recording. The copy got it right, the girls are speaking a musical language that anyone who digs space age music can enjoy.

Grand Ole Opry's New Star - George Jones

Play It Cool

Grand Ole Opry's New Star
George Jones
Country Song Hits
Starday Records LP-101
1957

There aren't many country albums to be found up here in The Atomic Attic but this album turns out to be the first record released by both Jones and Starday Records.

Session personal:

George Jones – vocals, guitar
Hal Harris – guitar
Benny Barnes – guitar
Herb Remington – steel
Buck Henson – bass
Link Davis – fiddle
Doc Lewis – piano

I'm In The Mood - The Silver Strings

Perez Prado's Big Band Sounds

Played By Dave Pell's Big Band
P.R.I. Records 3006
1960

This album is available by purchase/download so I will not be posting a sample.

Tops, a budget label launched this subsidiary label in 1960 and this record was one of the nine introductory releases. Records were priced at $1.98. If I'm reading the Billboard article correctly, the titles are all Dave Pell Plays (tributes) to the likes of Harry James, Artie Shaw, Benny Goodman, Lawrence Welk, Duke Ellington, Glenn Miller, Mantovani and The Dorsey Brothers.

The music is good (not wild) Latin done up big band with a slight space age flare. The online download doesn't feature the original cover art and of course, you only get the nifty translucent vinyl... if you buy the vinyl.

Bread, Love and Cha Cha Cha - Xavier Cugat and His Orchestra

Bread, Love and Cha Cha Cha

Xavier Cugat and His Orchestra
Columbia CL 1016
1957

This album can be found on a combo CD with Cugat Calvalcade so I will not be posting a sample.

I just love the cover, Cugat with his ever present hot red head. What is that thing he is holding on to? Oh... that's a cigar silly... wait... no... it is a loaf bread. And the hot red head? Why, that's Cugat's fourth wife, Abbe Lane!

Cugat's albums are always fine Latin pop efforts. This album is only a Cha Cha album in name, there are a few calypso tracks on this album, Very, Very Satisfied and The Banana Boat Song and several mambo tracks.

Whatever Lola Wants is one of the better space age tracks featuring some electric guitar passages.

Mambo! - Xavier Cugat And His Orchestra

Sun! Sun!

Mambo!
Xavier Cugat And His Orchestra
Mercury Records MG 20108
1956

Cugat is my favorite Latin artist. He managed to consistently blend the Latin sound with pop vibe to create some most sparkling space age tunes of the his time. This album is no exception. Most of the tracks really smoke for 1956 when compared to the competition and they still sound great today. However, there are three tracks on side 2 that sound out-of-place or if they were recorded for a soundtrack.

Gypsy Mambo
Riviera Mambo
Park Avenue Mambo
Oooh
Sun Sun Babae
Mambolette
China Boy Mambo
Mambo Mania
My Prieta
Acapulco Polka
Festival Babalu

Golden Saxophone Hits - Sil Austin

Peter Gunn

Golden Saxophone Hits
Sil Austin
Mercury Stereo SR 60663
1962

Austin blends a 50s sax vibe with a touch of 60s light pop on this pressing made fresh by his energetic approach. The Mercury engineering is terrific as usual and really makes the audio pop. Of course, the cover of Peter Gunn is the stand-out track.

Apparently, Austin made over 30 albums for Mercury (see Austin's wiki page for details). That is an impressive track record.

The Harmonica Rascals

Sabre Dance

The Harmonica Rascals
Grand Prix Series K-177

Here is a relatively obscure Harmonica Rascals album. The Rascals were a group of harmonica players formed by Borrah Hinevitch in the 1920s that lasted into the 1950s. The group was a comedy/musical act (see video embedded below) and featured number of "little people" including Johnny Puleo (who, I think, is NOT pictured on this cover). Members also included Leo Diamond and Richard Hayman, both who went on to become even better know harmonica players.

The Rascals also made a number of motion picture shorts between 1932 and 1942.

I couldn't date this album. A guess would be late 50s. There is no indication on the cover who the members are in this version of the group.

A Thinking Man's Band - Si Zentner And His Orchestra

Si Zentner And His Orchestra

... a thinking man's band
Liberty Records LST 7133
1959

This one is available on CD so I will nopt be posting a sample.

Zentner's stuff is always solid. There are no space age fireworks but the music is solid for big band lovers.

Big Band Bash - Ted Heath And His Music

Big Band Bash
Ted Heath And His Music
Phase 4 Stereo
London Sp 44017
1962

Available on CD, so I will not be posting a sample. This is a great Heath space age album. This recording sounds very much like a Command project. There's some ping-pong going on, the music has that touch of that early 60s "light pop" humor and the stereo engineering is as good as the excellent sound you are treated to on most Enoch Light projects.

Heath's cover of Harlem Nocturne, the second track on side 2, is very cool. This is an inventive and enjoyable record.

Spectacular Harmonicas

Ritual Fire Dance

Spectacular Harmonicas
MGM Records E3846
1960

This is a Richard Hayman project. I have blogged a number of his albums up here in The Atomic Attic. One of his projects, an album titled Voodoo! is an excellent exotica recording.

This released featured covers of some of my favorite tunes including Ritual Fire Dance. I like the way Hayman arranged this song and, overall, the album has an appealing space age vibe to it.