More Early RCA Sides from Pérez Prado

I recently remastered Pérez Prado's first RCA Victor LP for a reup on this site (available here). The experience was so enjoyable that I transferred this 1960 budget label reissue of more early RCA recordings from the mambo maestro.

Most of these sides date from the early 1950s, when RCA issued Prado's material in its International series. The earliest is probably the fantastic "Ni Hablal" from 1950, the latest possibly "Beautiful Margaret" from 1957, by which time Prado had crossed over to pop success.

The sound is generally very good, although RCA has added some reverb, as was the custom for reissues. The thinking was that the electronic "spaciousness" made things more modern sounding. Spacious or not, the Prado sound was something special, captured here in all its splendor. The great vocalist Beny Moré appears on the superb "Anabacoa."

The Great B.B. King

A small tribute today to the fine guitarist and singer B.B. King, who passed away last week. It's in the form of a 1960 Crown LP with the bonus of one of King's best known singles.

1954 ad

Crown was a budget label owned by the Bihari brothers, who had issued King's single records throughout the 1950s on their RPM label and its successor, Kent. These sides made King's reputation; before joining RPM in 1950, his sole efforts were two unsuccessful singles for Bullet in 1949.

The Crown LP collates sides dating from 1952 (an alternate take of "Someday, Baby") to 1959 (the double-sided "Sweet Sixteen"). I've added King's 1956 78 of "Sweet Little Angel," one of his best known songs, and the terrific "Bad Luck."

In fact, the whole set is terrific. King's inspiration was T-Bone Walker, and these records show the influence of that guitarist's big-band blues approach, which was popular and influential in the 1940s. That's not to say that King was not an inspired performer himself - these records swing and rock in an irresistible fashion.

Crown was infamous for its poor quality control, but these recordings sound fairly good, although there is surface noise on "I Was Blind." The best sound, however, is found on the original RPM 78.

I am sure I have some of King's Kent 45s somewhere, but rather than wait until I find those items (which may never happen), let me just post what's at hand. Hope you enjoy these excellent records from this beloved artist.

Heinie Beau's Moviesville Jazz

Arranger Heinie Beau has been an interest of mine because of his association with Frank Sinatra, so several years ago I was pleased to find this pristine stereo copy of the only major label recording under his name.

Last year, Marc Myers of the JazzWax blog wrote about Beau and this record, and that article motivated me to pull the LP down from the shelf and to do a transfer - which I finally got around to finishing not long ago.

It's quite a good record, with Beau's compositions and arrangements using filmic set pieces as their starting points, e.g., "In Your Private Eye," "The Tattooed Streetcar Named Baby," "The Five and a Half Gallon Hat Story," "The Gina Pastrami Cha Cha Cha." Beau assembled two groups of Hollywood studio stars for the June 1958 sessions, which were quite well recorded.

Myers' article on the record has details both of the sessions and about Beau's work for Sinatra, which happened mainly as a subcontractor for better known arrangers such as Billy May. Heinie had a reputation for being both fast and talented - talents that are on full display here.

LINK to remastered version (July 2025)

Morton Gould, Oiltown, U.S.A., Plus Reups

I have been out sick for a number of weeks, but now that I am restored to health, what better way to celebrate than to address some of the many requests I've received lately.

To start off, we have a new offering - one of the earliest LPs of Morton Gould's easy listening recordings. This 10-inch album primarily consisted of standards to accompany a romantic interlude, anticlimactically leading up to "Goodnight, Sweetheart" and "Let's Turn Out the Lights (and Go to Sleep)".

Gould and the band recorded these songs in December 1947, during a session in New York's Liederkranz Hall, which Columbia would soon abandon for its 30th Street studios. Notable among the eight items is the gorgeous "My Silent Love," written by the now forgotten Dana Suesse in her early 20s as "Jazz Nocturne." Gould pays homage to Suesse's own piano recording in his arrangement.

The sound here is good, but there is some background rustle from my early pressing. As Columbia sometimes did with its "better" artists, this appeared on the Masterworks label.

Also on today's docket:

Oiltown, U.S.A. I've had a couple requests for the soundtrack to this 1953 film produced by evangelist Billy Graham, which I shared back in the early days of this blog. The original transfer is now lost, but I recently rerecorded the 10-inch LP (my copy is actually in double EP form). Artists featured are Cindy Walker, Redd Harper and George Beverly Shea. Read more about it on the original post.

Jo Stafford - Garden of Prayer. Jo's recordings of gospel material are treasurable. This 10-inch LP from 1954 compiles 1950-53 recordings.  I have remastered the lossy originals and the sound is much improved.

Jo Stafford - Sings American Folk Songs. If anything, this early 10-inch LP is better than Garden of Prayer. Again, I've remastered the lossy originals for the best sound from the available files. The recordings come from the late 1940s.

Brahms - Piano Concerto No. 1 (Rudolf Serkin; Pittsburgh/Fritz Reiner). This is the companion recording to Serkin's Brahms 2, which I reposted last month. It comes from February 1946. The lossless transfer has been remastered.

Fran Warren Singles. I posted a variety of material from singer Fran Warren following her death a few years ago. I have reupped her early single with Charlie Barnet, her EP Sings for You, both from my other blog, as well as an extensive collection of RCA singles posted here

Links to all of these are in the comments to this post.