It's not hard to figure out why this never achieved the renown of Manhattan Tower - that composition had a story arc, the romance of New York and some relatively well-known songs.
This work - which indeed is composed of seven dream scenes - has no such continuity and a dark undercurrent, and is punctuated by an annoying alarm going off every few minutes. There are no hit songs, unless you want to consider "Crescent City Blues" a hit song because much of it was "borrowed" a few years later by Johnny Cash for his "Folsom Prison Blues". "Crescent City Blues" is performed here by Jenkins' wife, Beverly Mahr.
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| Bill Lee with his own record |
The "dreamer" on this LP is studio singer Bill Lee, one of the Mellomen singing group along with Thurl Ravenscroft (who also makes an appearance on this LP). Lee did extensive work for Disney, and was a well-known vocal double, dubbing the singing voice John Kerr in South Pacific and Christopher Plummer in The Sound of Music, among others. He is very effective here.
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| John McIntire and Jeanette Nolan |
Appearing on the corny but affecting "The Pink Houseboat" is the husband-and-wife team of John McIntire and Jeanette Nolan, who were fixtures on American television for many years. Also prominently featured on the concluding "The Girl on the Rock" is the excellent Laurie Carroll. I don't have any information on her, but would assume she was a studio singer.
The cover on this LP is by Alex Steinweiss, signing as "Piedra Blanca". It is one of his more effective post-Columbia designs, although the background looks like something the cat brought up. You may notice among the murk on the center left that Gordon Jenkins autographed my copy of the record.
This was a very long record for the time (1953), and as a result the sound was cut at a low level. The first side was mastered a half-tone sharp, probably to make the side a little shorter and the cutting easier. I have corrected the pitch in this transfer.
As I said, you will find much to like here if you enjoy Manhattan Tower. The first song is recognizably the same sound world as the earlier work, and the final number has a similar ecstatic feel. However, it is, as I mentioned, a curiously dark work, and at the end, the dreamer remains asleep permanently, forsaking reality and yielding to his fantasy.
The cover on this LP is by Alex Steinweiss, signing as "Piedra Blanca". It is one of his more effective post-Columbia designs, although the background looks like something the cat brought up. You may notice among the murk on the center left that Gordon Jenkins autographed my copy of the record.
This was a very long record for the time (1953), and as a result the sound was cut at a low level. The first side was mastered a half-tone sharp, probably to make the side a little shorter and the cutting easier. I have corrected the pitch in this transfer.
As I said, you will find much to like here if you enjoy Manhattan Tower. The first song is recognizably the same sound world as the earlier work, and the final number has a similar ecstatic feel. However, it is, as I mentioned, a curiously dark work, and at the end, the dreamer remains asleep permanently, forsaking reality and yielding to his fantasy.
LINK to remastered version in ambient stereo (April 2025)
13 comments:
Link (Apple lossless format):
http://rapidshare.com/files/3736370290/Gordon%20Jenkins%20-%20Seven%20Dreams.zip
Nice! Thanks. And autographed, no less.
Curious. How did you know this should be a half tone lower?
Thanks a bunch!
groovylounge - First side was pitched higher than the second side and the 60Hz hum on that side was pitched at 62Hz - that is, about a half step sharp.
Thanks many times over, Buster. I've been searching for my copy of this one recently...you made the search easier, especially with a high-quality version!!!
Many MANY thanks! My LP>CD transfer suffers because my copy is so worn out. I will burn and treasure this. Yes, it IS dark...part of it's appeal. I suggest the 'Nightmare' cut next Halloween...and Yes, the Alarm clock and following chant IS annoying. It's supposed to be! I may have heard this over 1000 times in my life. It may be the most heard recording in my life. Again, I thank you. I 've been listening to this since is WAS BRAND NEW (1953) when my parents bought it and I was TWO.
I have listened to this lp recently from my collection, good to see someone else likes it too!
Another notable voice shows up in the train sequence—the annoying kid is voiced by Richard "Dickie" Beales, who played kids in movies until he started looking too strange as a kid, then he played eccentric characters a while. For reasons a doctor could explain, Beales never achieved maturity, so his voice stayed youthful, and he continued as a juvenile voice on radio and in animation (Speedy Alka-Seltzer!). Archive.org has a CBS Radio Workshop half-hour adaptation of "The Little Prince" starring Beales, narrated quite well by Raymond Burr, with an appearance by Hans Conried.
Can you please kindly reupload ?
AvidListener - OK, might take me a day or two.
The new link is at the end of the post itself.
Hi Buster, what an interesting album. Well worth listening to, but I certainly would not want to hear two similar albums back to back.
I knew almost right from the start, that The Caretaker, was going to be a scary type song. Brought back memories of several old films where there is a Caretaker in a graveyard...spooky, in a macabre sort of way.
Plus, you mentioned this was from 1953, and they included the song, The Pink Houseboat. Was this an adult type record? It seems to have themes that would not be family friendly, at least for that time period?
Anyway, I am glad I found your share and that you indeed shared it.
Bryan - It is an interesting album, but much inferior to the most famous Manhattan Tower, which you can find on this site in a few versions. I don't think the houseboat song was that far out for the time, but this is not a kiddie record for a number of reasons.
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