Elliot Lawrence

Elliot Lawrence started at the top as a Broadway conductor. His first show as music director was Bye, Bye Birdie, and he won a Tony for his second - How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. But before director Gower Champion chose him for Birdie, the 35-year-old Lawrence had already spent 15 years as a bandleader.

Lawrence died early this month at age 96. To celebrate his life, this post will present his first-ever LP, dating from 1950, back when he was one of the most popular bandleaders on the nation's campuses and in its ballrooms. Then I will point you to the singles blog, where I am uploading a few of his 1951 records for King, where he surprisingly recorded a cover of "Sixty Minute Man" and a country tune with Cowboy Copas. 

You can find my earlier posts of Lawrence's music here, and a remembrance on this site.

College Prom

One of my earlier Lawrence offerings involved his Decca album Moonlight on the Campus. It was actually the bandleader's second release for that label; the first was today's subject, the 10-inch College Prom LP.

Johnny Mandel

It's quickly apparent from listening as to why Lawrence was a campus favorite. It's hard to imagine smoother, more danceable music. The arrangements are by another notable and long-lived musician, Johnny Mandel, who died just last year. (My tribute to Mandel and an upload of his The Americanization of Emily score is here.)

Mandel spent few years as Lawrence's staff arranger after several years as a trombonist in the bands of the time. Even then he was composing; his composition "Hershey Bar" was recorded by Stan Getz, also in 1950.

The College Prom music is not jazz, although Lawrence's band included such musicians as Herbie Steward, Phil Urso and Ollie Wilson. That said, you can hear Steward's obbligatos in some songs, and Lawrence solos on piano throughout - politely, of course. Mandel does manage to work some boppish turns of phase into "I Can't Get Started."

Rosalind Patton

Vocalist Rosalind Patton, who had been with Lawrence since his high school band, can be heard on five of the eight songs. She was a good singer, although her phrasing here was not without some of the affectations of the time.

The LP, which comes from my collection, is very well recorded.

Singles on King

Following his two Decca LPs - and singles drawn from their contents - Lawrence moved on to the King label, mainly known for country and R&B fare. And perhaps predictably, the king of King Syd Nathan had him cross over into those styles.

More about those records on the singles blog.

Elliot Lawrence leads the band, circa 1950

Remembering Johnny Mandel and Ida Haendel

Two significant musicians have passed away this week - composer-arranger Johnny Mandel and violinist Ida Haendel.

In remembrance of Mandel, who has not appeared on this blog before, I've transferred the soundtrack to The Americanization of Emily, his first big success.

As a tribute to Haendel, I have remastered her classic account of Brahms' Violin Concerto, first posted a decade ago.

Johnny Mandel

I first became aware of Johnny Mandel when my father brought home Frank Sinatra's 1961 album Ring-a-Ding-Ding, which was arranged by Mandel. It was the Voice's first outing on his own Reprise label.

I loved the sound of that record - still do. Mandel was not that well known at the time, but soon would gain fame as a songwriter. His first hit was "Emily," the theme from the 1964 Julie Andrews-James Garner war film The Americanization of Emily, with lyrics by Johnny Mercer. The song enjoyed a particularly graceful interpretation by Sinatra on his Softly, as I Leave You album.

The Americanization of Emily soundtrack LP is typical of film music of the time, with a few themes that recur, notably "Emily" but also a march that sounds like it was inspired by Walton's Orb and Sceptre - fitting for a war film set in England.

At the 1964 Academy Awards: Paul Francis Webster,
Natalie Wood and Johnny Mandel

The popularity of "Emily" would soon be topped by Mandel's "The Shadow of Your Smile," the theme from 1965's The Sandpiper, with lyrics by Paul Francis Webster. That song won both an Academy Award and a Grammy, the latter for Tony Bennett's interpretation, which Mandel arranged.

Mandel in 1953

As was common back then, Mandel's career grew out of his big band experience as a brass player for Buddy Rich and Jimmy Dorsey, among others. He worked on TV's Your Show of Shows for a while, then on revues and floorshows before securing a chance to write music for the Susan Hayward film I Want to Live! in 1958. That was a jazz-oriented score, as was 1963's Drums of Africa, improbably starring Frankie Avalon.

He continued to work in films, including Harper, The Russians Are Coming, the Russian Are Coming and notably MASH, with its famous theme song, "Suicide Is Painless." He also wrote a few other hit songs, including "A Time for Love" and "Close Enough for Love."

In addition to his Ring-a-Ding-Ding arrangements, Mandel collaborated with many well-known singers, including David Allyn and Sue Raney, two favorites of mine.

Mandel's death Monday, at 94, came on the same day as his fellow Your Show of Shows vet, comic actor-producer Carl Reiner, who was 98.

The Jazzwax blog has an extensive interview with Mandel about his career here - well worth reading.

Ida Haendel

Ida Haendel was a most accomplished musician who never quite achieved the great renown her gifts might have warranted. Her recordings of the Brahms concerto with Sergiu Celibidache and the Sibelius with Paavo Berglund have long been my favorites.

She does have many admirers other than me. Her recording of the Brahms in its original pressing (at left) has sold at auction for nearly $1,000. (My transfer was from the plebeian American pressing, although I used the HMV covers for the post in preference to the generic US variety.)

You can read more about her in my post from 2010, or go to this remembrance from earlier today by critic Rob Cowan.