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Saturday, April 3, 2010

Ronnie Aldrich And His Two Pianos

Good Morning Starshine
Ronnie Aldrich And His Two Pianos
The London Festival Orchestra
Destination
London SP 44135
1969

Groovy dreamy cover with groovy on the outside and dreamy light pop covers on the inside.

Bachelor pad and lime green leisure suits.

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Persuasive Percussion Volume 4

Oh Lady Be Good
Persuasive Percussion Volume 4
Enoch Light and The Command All Stars
Command Records RS 830 SD
Originated and Produced by Enoch Light 1961
Cover Design By Charles E. Murphy
Recording Chief: Robert Fine
1961

Oh Lady Be Good
I May Be Wrong
It's De Lovely
Hello Young Lovers
Am I Blue
Besame Mucho
Hold Me
You Brought A New Kind Of Love To Me
In The Mood
Got A Date With An Angel
Can't Get Enough Of My Baby
My Blue Heaven

Monday, March 29, 2010

Persuasive Percussion Volume 3

Bingo Bango Bongo Baby
Persuasive Percussion Volume 3
The Command All Stars
Originated and Produced by Enoch Light
Associate Producer: Julie Klages
Recording Chief: Robert Fine
Mastering George Piros
Cover by Josef Albers
Grand Award Publishing Co. Inc. New York, N.Y.
RS 33-817
1960

The Command All-Stars

Doc Severinsen
Bob Haggart
Phil Bodner
Romeo Pence
Cliff Leeman
Sol Gubin
Dominic Cortese
Mel Davis
Bobby Byrne
Moe Wechsler
Ezelle Watson
Bernie Glow
Artie Marotti
Al Cassamenti
Willie Rodriguez
Stanley Webb
Tony Mottola

From Billboard - December 6, 1960: This album, Volume III in the best selling "Persuasive Percussion" series, looks like another winner. Once again Enoch Light has turned out a bright, breezy, tasteful and musical percussion set, featuring The Command All Stars, which shows off clean, and well-nigh perfect recording. The tunes include "Moments To Remember," " All The Way," "One For My Baby" and "Kashmiri Song." The arrangements are both spectacular and at the same time delightfully subtle. Fine wax.

Moments To Remember
All The Way
Theme From Polovetzian Dances
Perdido
Come Rain Or Come Shine
Hawaiian War Chant
One For My Baby
Kashmiri Song
When Your Lover Has Gone
Bingo Bingo Bongo Baby
Autumn In New York
Don't Worry 'Bout Me

Persuasive Percussion Volume 1

Tabu
Persuasive Percussion
Volume 1
Terry Snyder and The All Stars
Originated And Produced By Enoch Light
Cover Art Josef Albers
Command STEREO RS 800 S.D.
1959 Award Publishing Corporation

Persuasive Percussion
Command/ABC Records/Pickwick SPC-3807
Pickwick Records Division
1978

The Pickwick reissue does not include the tracks: Japanese Sandman & Love Is A Many-Splendored Thing.

Cover Art by Josef Albers, one of America's foremost contemporary painters, was born in Westphalia, Germany in 1888. After studying in Berlin, Essen and Munich he taught at the famous Bauhaus school from 1923 - 1933. When the Bauhaus was closed by order of the German government in 1933, Mr. Albers came to the United States to head the Art Department of Black Mountain College where he remained until 1950. After leaving Black Mountain, Mr. Albers took over the direction of the Department of Design at Yale University. At the present time, Mr. Albers lives and works in New Haven, Connecticut.

I'm In The Mood
Whatever Lola Wants
Misirlou
I Surrender Dear
Orchids In The Moonlight
I Love Paris
My Heart Belongs To Daddy
Tabu
The Breeze And I
Aloha Oe
Japanese Sandman
Love Is A Many-Splendored Thing

Ellis In Wonderland

You're My Girl
Ellis In Wonderland
Ray Ellis and His Orchestra
Columbia CL 933
1957

From the back cover: ...he (Ellis) has arranged music for many other conductors, and has performed the same chore, as well as conducting, for such varying entertainers as The Four Lads, Mahalia Jackson, Guy Mitchell, Cathy Johnson, And the DeJohn Sisters, among others, on some of their best-selling records. Here he is on his own, for the first time, in a richly rewarding collection of his distinctive inventions.

From Billboard - September 9, 1957: Smooth treatments by top-flight orkster, Ellis, provide easy listening. A variety of tempos, Latin, slow, lush settings with chorus, and others with danceable beat, can appeal to teens and mature buyers.

You Are Never Far Away From Me
How About You
For All We Know
When I Fall In Love
36-26-26
Alone Together
Milk And Honey
P.S. I Love You
Love Is A Simple Thing
You're My Girl
Poor Butterfly
Trust Me

Earl Bostic Plays Sweet Tunes Of The Fantastic 50s

Canadian Sunset

Earl Bostic Plays Sweet Tunes Of The Fantastic 50s
X-15 cover art illustrated by L. Paleno
King Records 602
1959

From the back cover: Earl has always loved music, so much so he gave up a job as grammar school teacher to go on the road. He first learned to play the clarinet in his home town of Tulsa, Oklahoma. His first job netted him exactly 15¢, yet he liked what he as doing, and move to Xavier University in New Orleans where he received training in harmony, composing, theory, arranging, plus all the brass, reed and string instruments.

He formed a small combo and managed to get one week's commitment at Small's Paradise in New York City. He didn't leave, however, when the week was up... but was held there for four years.

With a desire to learn more through experience, he joined Lionel Hampton's sextet, and played along with Teddy Wilson, Sid Catlett and J. C. Higginbotham. Through experience he picked up, he began arranging for Paul Whitement, Louis Prima, Cab Calloway and Ina Ray Hutton among others.

In 1945 he started on his own again and blossomed into one of the outstanding horn men in the music business. At the time he recorded "845 Special" and "That's The Groovy Thing" things really began to happen. Both records were instant hits and Bostic's musical career was assured.

Because Of You
Unchained Melody
Stranger In Paradise
Ebb Tide
Lisbon Antiqua
Love Is A Many Splendored Thing
April IN Portugal
Blue Tango
Three Coins In The Fountain
Canadian Sunset
Autumn Leaves
The Song Form Moulin Rouge