Henri René Returns

Just the other day I reuploaded an early Henri René instrumental LP, and now here comes our friend Ernie with another one of René's lush creations, and in stereo!

Henri René

This one has the antiquated title Music for the Weaker Sex, with the cover model seemingly all aflutter at the sight of René's sheet music scattered at her knees.

Well, it's not a concept that would pass inspection these days, 60 years later. Nor is the music anything that would be written today. René has concocted 12 originals, titling them for the male musical idols of the time. The composer used only their first names, so a key might be helpful for those of you who, unlike me, weren't around when this record was issued. In order, we have tributes to Perry Como, Frank ("Frankie") Sinatra, Harry Belafonte, Tab Hunter (not sure how he got in the mix), Eddie Fisher, Mario Lanza, Pat Boone, Dean ("Dino") Martin, Nat Cole, Johnny Mathis, Bing Crosby and Elvis Presley.

Don't expect portraits in sound. The numbers are indistinguishable, except for the "Harry" and "Elvis" tunes. Presley's tribute is the sort of sedate rock-n-roll that big band leaders used to introduce by saying, "Now here's something for the younger set." Belafonte is represented by a cha-cha-cha, a dance that came from Cuba. Belafonte himself came from Jamaica (or his parents did), and he was famous for popularizing the island's calypsos. A calypso ain't a cha-cha. But since the islands are near to one another, René must have figured that was close enough.

Benny Carter

I have to say that I enjoyed this LP immensely, despite the gauche title and clumsy theme. René was a gifted composer of easy listening music, and the record's attractions are heightened greatly by the presence of Benny Carter's alto sax on most cuts. Carter, a distinguished instrumentalist, arranger and bandleader, plays beautifully. Using great jazz players as soloists on easy listening records was a trend at the time, one made popular by the solo trumpet of Bobby Hackett on many of Jackie Gleason's records.

I should mention that Ernie recently offered another set of Henri René compositions on his own blog via an LP called Passion in Paint. Ernie likes it even better that the Weaker Sex album, so be sure to look into it if you like this one.

Thanks once again, Ernie!