As with the last foray into the Back Room, I've compiled a list of projects that are more or less complete but unpublished for one or the other reason - either I was tired of it, concerned that no one would be interested, or didn't feel like writing about it.
A list of these items us below. Let me know in the comments if any appeal to you.
Finally, a caveat that for any resulting posts I may not write the voluminous nonsense that is typical around here.
The Music of Trevor Duncan. This gifted English composer of light music for stock libraries wrote superb melodies. Extensive transfers direct from the original issues.
Ray Charles Singers - Music from The Pajama Game and 8 Top Hits. Two LPs from Ray's Cadence period in the early 1950s, before his M-G-M recordings.
Dottie Evans - 20 Selections. Dottie was a versatile and talented studio singer who made many recordings for budget labels in the 1950s.
Cowell - Symphony No. 7, Ward - Orchestral Works. A good LP from two fine 20th century American composers.
Early Delius Recordings. Electrical recordings conducted by Geoffrey Toye and John Barbirolli.
Saint-Saëns - Septet, D'Indy - Suite in Olden Style. M-G-M recordings of the Guilet String Quartet with Harry Glantz, Julius Baker, and Claude Monteux. (Not particularly well recorded.)
Ivanov Conducts Tchaikovsky. A 1959 recording of Konstantin Ivanov leading a performance of the composer's Symphony No. 1. (Also not particularly well recorded.)
A Bell for Adano. The soundtrack to a 1956 TV musical by Dietz and Schwartz with the excellent Edwin Steffe and the OK Anna Maria Alberghetti.
Silk Stockings. The songs from the 1957 Cole Porter film score with Fred Astaire and Cyd Charisse. Based on Ninotchka.
Jeannie McKeon. 10 songs from an obscure vocalist of the 1940s. (You can sample her singing here.)
Jug Bands. A short set of 1920s-30s recordings by the Memphis Jug Band et al.
Shirley Collins. This one is far afield - 1960s-70s recordings by the English folk singer with the Albion Country Band, among others. Fleeting appearances by Christopher Hogwood and David Munrow, not to mention Richard Thompson.
Vaughan Williams - The Pilgrim's Progress. The classic recording led by Sir Adrian Boult. (I still need to finish recording this one.)
81 comments:
Hi Buster, anything by Dottie Evans is good for me. I mostly know her from Enoch Light's productions. I also have the two albums she collaborated with Tom Glazer on. These being, From Ballads For The Age Of Science.
I vote for the other Ray Charles!
Bryan - I was hoping someone would vote for Dottie!
Ernie - I assume you mean the ones I mentioned above, not the LP called "The Other Ray Charles" (which I also have).
Ernie, you really cannot go wrong with this album. If I had to place a bet, it sounds just like an Enoch Light production. It features Dottie Evans and Artie Malvin. Besides, I have never heard the Ray Charles Singers so good.
I find there MGM and Decca albums sounding somewhat flat.
this is Pajama Game-8 Top Hits is a really good one. Besides, it has to be an Enoch Light production, or at least he had his hands on before he started Waldorf. Or at least he was moonlighting.
I would just love to get more of his 8 Top Hits collections. I am a sucker for these type of records.
Besides, the songs from this Ray Charles collection, appear on several Waldorf 8 Top Hits collections, without the Ray Charles name attached to them.
And I swear that is Enoch's orchestra. But, it is late, and I should be asleep.
Bryan - These items are Archie Bleyer productions.
Well, maybe he licensed them, or had a colab with Enoch. It is funny that they appear, or seem to appear, on the Waldorf label too.
Or Enoch just made his own versions of them with the same personel? I wish the Enoch collections were on the Internet Alchieve for comparisons.
A Bell for Adano for sure
Well Buster, I have egg on my face as the old saying goes. I located 3 of the Enoch Light versions, and "they" are different. So, just another artist recording there own versions. One thing I can say, Archie Bleyer seems to have the better production values on his recordings.
But still, this "is" a great listen, and those who hear it, will enjoy it, if and when you share it.
It's pretty good, but the sound is not great.
Bryan - Anything is possible. I am by no means an expert on budget labels.
Great
Great list Buster,
I love to hear: Ray Charles, Trevor Duncan, Dottie Evans and A Bell from Adano. Thanks in advance .
Great
Certainly anything with the Guilet Quartet (or ‘rare’ string quartet recordings) would be greatly appreciated by this writer! And as ever, thanks so much for taking the time to enlighten & entertain us here! 😀
Would be most interested in Cowell - Symphony No. 7, Ward - Orchestral Works. That’s assuming it isn’t the dreaded Simon Cowell! Cheers.
Would also like the Shirley Collins material if it isn’t too much trouble. Mind you, tempted by Cyd Charisse if she’s in silk (or any other kind of) stockings!!
The Jeannie McKeon songs you've posted on your other site whet the appetite for more! Also, don't know Dottie Evans but would love to hear her.
I meant the white guy, didn't know there was an LP actually called The Other Ray Charles. :)
The Shirley Collins recording sounds interesting.
Good choices, Ron!
NikZ - Thanks for your note!
Man from Mordor - No, it's Henry, not Simon, thank goodness.
Man from M. - Shirley seems to be popular, surprisingly. Cyd's popularity is not in doubt.
Arthur - I liked Jeannie myself!
Jack - Two votes for Shirley!
Would love to hear your Trevor Duncan survey. Thanks for asking Buster.
Phillip - That's a good one!
Buster,
My vote is for:
Cowell - Symphony No. 7, Ward - Orchestral Works
Silk Stockings - Cole Porter
Vaughan Williams - The Pilgrim's Progress.
Thank you for all you do.
Brst regards,
Purcell
I, too, would love to hear the works of Trevor Duncan! Many thanks for all of your wonderful posts.
Purcell - Good choices!
Anon - The interest in Duncan is surprising. Thanks for your note!
Casting my vote for the Ray Charles Singers and Dottie Evans! I don't think Dottie has gotten any in-depth treatment, being that she was a budget label singer who primarily worked for Enoch Light's Waldorf Music Hall and some one-offs for Bell in the late-'50's. I wouldn't mind having some more extended commentary on Dottie being that most people probably don't know who she is.
musicman - Agree completely!
Hi Buster
Thanks, I'll vote for Henry Cowell, please.
Also, I have the RVW Pilgrim's Progress, but I think it would be good to make it available for the benefit of others.
I agree with the general assessment that the opera lacks a strong dramatic push (though I have seen it effectively staged by ENO) but it contains some wonderful music, and clearly meant a good deal to its composer.
Andrew,
I very much would like more people to listen to Pilgrim's Progress. It contains some of the composer's greatest music. I would have loved to see the staging.
The Cowell is a popular choice in this discussion, so it will be coming up soon.
Thanks Buster.
Now that I've reread the list, I'd like to vote for Shirley Collins too.
Kind regards
Andrew
Well, I'm interested in all of these - though my most interested in's are the vocalists. I learn so much about Classical music from your blog , but the vocalists you bring into my awareness always mesmerize me.
Cyd Charisse was dubbed by Carol Richards who had a silkier voice.
Marty - The vocalists will appear for sure.
Buster - any chance of the Toye/Barbirolli Delius recordings please.
Thanks.
As a musical theatre fan and ardent admirer of the film of A BELL FOR ADANO, I'd particularly love to hear the TV soundtrack! But your other selections are intriguing, too--as always! Bring 'em on!
Eddie - A vote for ancient and obscure Delius! Will post it on the singles blog at some point.
Anon - There's been a few asks for Adano, so it will be coming up.
Buster; Any American Recording Society LP xfer is a go with me. The Cowell 7th symphony and Ward most welcome. Thank you for this blog.
Jim - You're very welcome! The Cowell-Ward is actually not ARS; it came out on MGM.
Trevor Duncan "Other Worlds" library music album, is, well, "out there". A bit to much for my ADHD brain to handle, but I read it pops up on weird YouTube corners.
A must recording of SciFi tracks, if you are so inclined to enjoy this genre of music. A must listen.
Morning! Cowell, Duncan and Collins please.
I used to bump into Shirley when I worked in the town she was living in and she was a supporter of the Morris side I used to dance with. Lovely lady!
I was most happy to find your blog. So many rare performances from a time when artists only got to record pieces they really wanted to record. From your intriguing list:
Cowell ; Saint-Saëns ; Ivanov ; and when you finish it the Boult VW Pilgrim's progress.
Bryan - Duncan wrote all kinds of music; most of the material I have is light stuff.
Anon - Wonderful! You will enjoy "Staines Morris," my favorite from this collection.
sound_hunter - Thanks for your note; happy to have you here!
Buster, this is my favorite type of music in most cases. Instrumentals, MOR, Easy Listening, etc. for my at home listening.
For out and about, I prefer the same as I listed above, and more vocals.
Yes, please, for Trevor Duncan and Cowell/Ward and early Delius recordings. All good wishes to you
Peter - Those are good ones; all will appear here in the fullness of time.
Dave from Ardmore assumes the Cowell-Ward pairing is an ARS release and votes for its top placement on your to-do list. I also cast a ballot for the Ray Charles.
Dave - Those are coming up. The Cowell-Ward is actually on MGM.
Dave from Ardmore asks: In what bank vault are all those wonderful MGM and ARS master tapes stored? Have any search parties been sent out to find them?
Dave - Most of these ARS/MGM issues are from my basement, but this one I actually found on IA and thought interesting.
Another vote here for Len Trebilco. And Ray Charles please.
Hi Buster, I hope everyone one knows which of these Ray Charles you are referring to.
But, as I have said, these early Ray Charles singers are actually in better voice, than his later singers.
Anon - Both are in prep.
Here is a joke I heard many years ago. I have typed it out the best I can remember it.
If you find it, inappropriate, please delete.
A session singer gets a call to say she has a job doing work for Ray Charles.
She is so happy that she has to tell her friend about it.
Her friend, hearing the news, responds this way…
Which Ray Charles, the blind one or the deaf one?
I later learned this second Ray Chales was the singer on the theme song of that TV series, Two's Company. Yikes.
Hopefully, that series was better than that horrible off-key theme song. Double yikes...
Bryan - I hope so, too, although Ray is a big favorite around here.
Bryan - That's just fine, although inaccurate. I think he did write and sing that song.
Well, I do have to admit, The Ray Charles singers are a favorite of mine, but I fine their early Decca and MGM records sound flat. Even their output on the Somerset label (think 100 Strings) sound the same.
Once they started recording for Enoch Light and his Command label, there was a vast improvement. I am sure it was Enoch's recording technology.
I have tried to collect every album they have released, even though I find the sound a bit off.
But still, the Ray Conniff singers, are in my book, one of the very best. My CD and MP3 can attest to this.
Hi Buster, while your taking requests, how about (Tutti) Camarata's album Autumn? I've been trying to clean it up from the Internet Archive files but it's beyond my amateur skills. https://archive.org/details/lp_autumn_tutti-camarata_0
Keek - Sure, I'll take a look at it.
Hi Buster, I think that would be something we all would like to know, how to clean up an MP3 file.
Ernie suggested Clickrepair if you can find it. But It says, it is not made for MP3 files.
I know both Ernie and yourself have mentioned that you have cleaned up files from the Internet Archive. Is there a free program on the internet that does this. In my case, I rarely come across an MP3 file that needs this, so I would not want to spend money on something that gets very rare-occasional use.
But, I have a few of them that could use this.
Any ideas, would be most welcomed.
That is another thing, why do people upload files, anywhere, in such sorry conditions? They do not even try to clean them up. This also goes, well did, for out of copyrighted albums for sale on Amazon.de by various salers.
Bryan, I use Audacity, which is free, but there is a lot to learn. Lots of videos on the internet though. https://www.audacityteam.org/
Thanks Keek.
I have Audacity and tried it once. It did not work for me. Maybe I did not try it correctly. I will have to try it again.
I second Shirley Collins
Bryan - I use several programs, but the basic one is iZotope RX11, which isn't freeware. Audacity can do click reduction, I believe, via a built-in Effect called "Click Reduction," but I don't know how effective it is.
Anon - There are several hands waving for Shirley. I never thought she would be so popular.
Bryan,
I believe Audacity will open MP3 files, but when you save them out, they lose quality because of re-compression artifacts. Try to use FLAC or ALAC files, or if you do work from an MP3 original, save it out into one of these lossless formats.
ClickRepair is no longer on the market and requires a license, which is unobtainable. There probably are cracked versions out there, but downloading software from unknown sites can be dangerous. They often harbor malware.
One other thought is that you can find old versions of Adobe Audition - V3 used to be available for free.
Thanks Buster for all these suggestions.
Keek - Here is the Camarata. A good record; I will probably post it at some point.
https://mega.nz/file/DddgXACA#dnfBnE65z24DQXHeY7kIQNGHRJXNhSNy7P-zCBR9Q_c
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