André Previn Meets David Rose

Today’s post comes to us courtesy of friend-of-the-blog Stealthman, who previously contributed the lone Conrad Salinger LP in stereo. Today he comes to us with a stereo copy of the first collaboration of blog-favorite André Previn with composer-arranger David Rose. M-G-M brought them together for a 1958 LP called Secret Songs for Young Lovers. (Apparently these were songs that had been kept hidden from Frank Sinatra when he recorded Songs for Young Lovers earlier in the 50s).

Rose and Previn were among M-G-M's leading lights, although Previn also recorded for Contemporary, and would soon defect to Columbia. (See his outing with Jackie & Roy here.) This album was a winner for the pair, ending up in the Billboard album charts for several weeks and spawning a popular single in the form of Previn’s composition, “Like Young,” and then an LP sequel, Like Blue.

Among the Grammy winners for 1960 were (from left): David Rose, André Previn,
Bobby Darin, Jonah Jones and Shelley Berman

The sedately funky “Like Young” was likely the inspiration for two other notable compositions that came along in the next year or two – Nelson Riddle’s “Route 66 Theme” and Cy Coleman’s “Playboy’s Theme,” the latter of which has appeared on my other blog here. But as I have opined previously, all three compositions owe a debt to the work of such artists as Horace Silver and especially Bobby Timmons.

That said, this is quite a good LP that is at once easy listening and jazz - or at least jazzy. “Like Young” also was somewhat popular in the R&B market, hitting both those charts and the pop listings in 1959.

The album includes two compositions from Rose (“Young Man’s Lament” and “Young and Tender”) and two from Previn (“Too Young to Be True,” written with then-wife Dory Langdon, along with “Like Young”) plus standards, including David Raksin’s memorable theme for The Bad and the Beautiful in its guise as the song “Love Is for the Very Young.” The sound is superb early stereo, with solid piano presence and Rose’s sweet strings.

Many thanks to Stealthman for this gem!