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.