Damone Special - April in Paris Plus Bonuses and Remasters

Vic Damone has become something of a sub-specialty of this blog, most recently with a collection of his Silvertone Record Club recordings.

At that time I speculated that the Silvertone sides were produced by Mercury, the singer's main label, and in fact almost all of the many Damone tunes on this blog originated with that Chicago diskery.

Today I add to the pile of Mercury LPs with a transfer of a 10-inch album from circa 1953, April in Paris. Six of the eight songs therein derive from 1951 sessions with blog favorite arranger George Siravo. A seventh comes from a 1951 date with George Bassman, and the remaining item is with Glenn Osser and comes from 1947.

As a bonus, I've included an EP with three songs that didn't appear on LP and a 78 with two additional non-LP tracks.

The EP is This Is the Night, with three 1947 songs with Glenn Osser arrangements, along with "My Heart Is Breaking" from 1952, with Joe Lipman backing. The latter also appears on the LP Amor, which I have transferred previously and which is being reuploaded today (see below).

The bonus 78 comprises "Good Morning, Morning Glory" and "Goodbye for Awhile," which come from one of the 1951 Siravo sessions.

To summarize, here are the tracks, arrangers and dates:

01 You Belong to Me (George Siravo) 1951

02 Funny (George Siravo) 1951

03 My Funny Valentine (George Siravo) 1951

04 Easy to Love (George Siravo) 1951

05 April in Paris (George Siravo) 1951

06 Far Away Places (Glenn Osser) 1947

07 Operetta (George Siravo) 1951

08 Jump Through the Ring (George Bassman) 1951

09 Everyone But Me (Glenn Osser) 1949

10 Let's Fall in Love (Glenn Osser) 1949

11 This Is the Night (Glenn Osser) 1949

12 My Heart Is Breaking (Joe Lipman) 1952

13 Good Morning, Morning Glory (George Siravo) 1951

14 Goodbye for Awhile (George Siravo) 1951

Damone sounds great throughout this collection, and is at his most Sinatra-like in the 1951 Siravo dates. "Good Morning, Morning Glory" even apes the approach Frank was taking with novelty material at the time under the heavy hand of Mitch Miller. The sound is good for the most part, with the exception of some peak shatter in "Easy to Love" and a bit of 78 surface gravel on "Goodbye for Awhile."

Mercury's cover, as often is the case with the label, is adorably dorky, with Damone's disembodied head poking out from under a "boulangerie" sign. (They had the good sense to not have it say "charcuterie.")

Reups/remasters

I've remastered and reuploaded the four Damone 10-inch solo LPs that have appeared previously on this blog. The sound is generally much improved over the original incarnations. The links below lead to the original post. Download links can be found in the comments there and in the comments to this post as well.

Amor

Ebb Tide

Vic Damone (MG25028)

Vic Damone (MG25029)