This 1956 double EP is equivalent to a 10-inch LP. The album also exists in a 12-inch version with a few extra songs, but I don't have that edition, alas. What's here is very good, though.
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| Tony Martin |
The songs, however, weren't that old when Martin recorded them. These sides were drawn from Martin's 1939-42 sojourn with the Decca company, a fact that is not mentioned on the LP. Rose Room, California and Avalon come from his first recording dates for Decca, in March 1939. I can't find any evidence that A Pretty Girl Is Like a Melody, Cuban Love Song or Beautiful Ohio were ever released as singles, but that may be an oversight on my part.
The conductors on these sides were the veteran Abe Lyman, the youthful David Rose and Dick Winslow, who was mainly known as an actor (at least I think it's the same fellow).
Postwar, Martin signed with Mercury and then RCA Victor. You can find his Mercury Dreamland Rendezvous LP here on this blog, in a newly remastered version. From RCA, we have his Desert Song album, done with Kathryn Grayson. Both are very good - Martin lost little of his voice's luster as time went on.
27 comments:
Link (Apple lossless):
https://mega.nz/file/iRclGABC#XhTXJwhginsiJHe3Bd8HgV5TWVwd1d6r-KnwdbtBCjk
Looks great, thanks Buster!
https://mega.nz/file/awRRXYiD#0r-ZjQUF06dOFv1ShSvHliFD66ZjTMQxoZ7su3r2vDQ
Here are the four tracks. These are not my rips. I include the back cover of the 12" release and note that the three Abe Lymon accompanied tracks are listed as Fox Trots, a throwback to the 78 releases.
I played bass for Tony Martin at the Granit Hotel in the Catskills. The guitarist was a very young Matt Finck whose father, Ron, played sax in the house band. Finck was studying jazz, but this was one of his first "showband" gigs. He was acquainted with songs like "You Stepped Out a Dream" and "Begin the Beguine", but he was not aware of their history. Tony was a pleasure at rehearsal and even introduced Cyd Charisse to the band. Still, the youthful plectrumist was unaware of who Tony Martin was, until the show started and Tony would introduce every song with a line like: "and here's something Irving Berlin wrote for me which I introduced in the movie.......". It is fortunate that guitar playing requires no embouchure, as young Mr. Finck's jaw dropped in realization whose tuxedo clad back he was staring out.
BTW, this happened in the early 90s and Martin still sounded great. He could sustain notes and the tone was still pleasing and warm.
He had been a sax player (who doubled bassoon) and in the 90s he said he sometimes played with a rehearsal band and it was great fun for him.
Thank you very much for these Buster! As usual, they sound fabulous!
Eric - Wonderful anecdotes! I would have loved to have met the glamorous Cyd as well as the talented Tony!
I presume the "addendum" contains the extra songs from the12" release. How does it open? The file name has a 7z suffix... HELP!!
7z files are archives made with the 7-zip freeware. (7-zip will also create zip files and expand zip and rar archives. I've used it for many years.)
https://www.7-zip.org/download.html
Thanks Buster and Eric. Sadly no anecdote. Merely gratitude.
Thank You Buster Love listening to Tony Martin and there are a few songs here I haven't got. He did some great tracks with the Pied Pipers for RCA. Much appreciated
Tony Martin & Pied Pipers Hits from Oh You Beautiful Doll
https://mega.nz/file/O05RgDJZ#5gaAwwnWBv5lvSVaxxgodAAejsLRwOO-I2taFK9U6w0
Tony Martin & Pied Pipers Hits from Oh You Beautiful Doll
All three of the tracks about which you were uncertain were released as 78s, but only belatedly after Martin's success on Mercury and Victor:
"A Pretty Girl Is Like a Melody" - Decca 18763 (1946)
"Cuban Love Song" - British Decca F-8900 (1948)
"Beautiful Ohio" - Coral 60030 (1949)
This according to Michel Ruppli's The Decca Labels: A Discography.
Thanks, everyone for the comments!
Eric - Special thanks for the additional Martin recordings.
Boursin - I appreciate your finding that information on the singles. I did check the 78 listings for the period, but I don't have a copy of Ruppli and didn't think to look on DAHR.
The one time that I heard him live he was well into his nineties and by then, unfortunately, time had caught up with him.
But I can well believe that his early years on a reed and double-reed instrument gave him superior breath control for many years. You can't play sax, let alone the bassoon, without breath control.
7-zip is the best. It will unpack any file format I have ever heard of and many more than I have never heard of.
And it is freeware.
Supposedly Unarchiver opens 7z files but not on my Mac. Is 7-zip only Windows?
Geoconno - The 7-zip site says that this Mac software incorporates its functionality:
https://www.keka.io/en/
I downloaded another app called Keka which was able to open the 7z files
Thanks, Buster. I found that and downloaded it before I read your reply.
Thanks!
Thank You!
Hopefully, you have some later period albums from Martin in your collection; the two Audio Fidelity albums (self-titled and Tony Martin At the Plaza) or Days of Wine & Roses; a rare 1963 LP on MGM-distributed Charter Records; I did not know that the latter two of these albums existed until I was looking at his LP's on E-Bay a few weels ago. He also cut an album titled Tony In Nashville on Chart Records (then Lynn Anderson's label), however since you don't feature country here, it could be a long shot. I am glad you featured this one; I still have not found a copy of this record since I first found out about it.
musicman - I am fairly sure I don't have the later recordings. Not sure I've seen them.
Another RCA Tony Martin album that I am looking for that I hope you will have in your collection is The Night Was Made For Love.
musicman - Could be. I'll have to look.
Great! Thanks.
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