Baxter Blue

Les Baxter is known these days as one of the high priests of exotica, but he also made many records in the closely related easy listening genre. Here are two EPs, Blue Tango and Blue Mirage, that present some of those early sides, along with the first recording of exotica's greatest hit, Quiet Village.

I am an easy mark for early-50s instrumentals, so April in Portugal, Ruby, and some of the other pieces here are big favorites. The harmonica player in Ruby is unidentified; I think it might be Leo Diamond, but that is just a guess.

Some of these songs feature a chorus; Baxter started out as a singer.

Capitol recycled a few of these recordings on later 12-inch LPs, some more than once.

Sooner or later I'll prepare a batch of Baxter's uncollected Capitol singles.

Frolicing with Flanagan

For the second in my series of post-war dance bands, I've chosen another college favorite, Ralph Flanagan. Here we have the Freshman-Sophomore Frolics, which was followed closely by another album called the Junior-Senior Prom.

These bands must have been fighting for campus gigs; the next in line in this series is Elliot Lawrence with a selection of college songs.

Flanagan's band was a Glenn Miller clone, with the Miller mannerisms down pat. It wasn't very original, to say the least, but I always enjoy the sound for some reason.

The vocalist on Smoke Dreams is Harry Prime, a pleasant singer devoid of personality or involvement. There is an interesting interview with Prime about his experiences with Flanagan here.

The Stars Are Singing (at Least Rosie Is)

The name of the movie was The Stars Are Singing, but the only star who sings on the 1953 soundtrack EP is Rosemary Clooney. The other stars - heldentenor Lauritz Melchior and teen canary Anna Maria Alberghetti - were otherwise occupied. Or, more likely, not under contract to Columbia, as was Rosie.

The film was an unlikely affair with Alberghetti as an illegal immigrant who wants to sing, Melchior as a kindly retired opera singer, and Don Wilson as Don Wilson. Clooney plays a pop singer who is a neighbor of Melchior.

This EP has her songs from the movie, three of which were written by the ever-present team of Livingston and Evans. The fourth tune is Come on-a My House, which was co-written by a Pulitzer Prize winner and the impresario of Alvin and the Chipmunks (William Saroyan and Ross Bagdasarian). It was, of course, a Mitch Miller production, featuring what must be one of the few recorded examples of boogie-woogie harpsichord, played by Stan Freeman.

Mewton-Wood in Tchaikovsky 1

Yet another late edition to our ongoing series devoted to the recordings of Noel Mewton-Wood, the wonderful Australian pianist who died very young.

This time out he does full justice to that warhorse of warhorses, the Tchaikovsky first concerto. Normally this is a work that makes my ears sag in anticipation, but I enjoyed preparing this version a great deal. Mewton-Wood's usual conductor, Walter Goehr, gets good playing from his anonymous players, and the sound isn't bad at all.

That said, the producers must have scoured the vinyl farms of the world in search of the noisiest substances to use for this pressing. The quiet opening of the second movement arose from a strange backwash of rustles, rattles, and even squeaks, which I have nearly eradicated in the latest remastering. Thankfully any remaining noise should not detract from a glorious performance.

But then I am a convert - judge for yourself!

LINK

Written on the Wind; Four Girls in Town

One more in our ongoing series of Hollywood soundtracks from the 1950s on 12-inch LPs. This one brings together several of the biggest names in film scoring.

The music for Written on the Wind seems to have been written by committee. The main theme, here in a pseudoemotive version by the Four Aces, is by Victor Young, with words from that lyric machine Sammy Cahn. The "background music," which presumably means everything else, is by Frank Skinner. Everything, that is, except for the Nacio Herb Brown standard Temptation, which gets inserted here and there.

The real attraction, at least for me, is the other side of the record, which contains a composition called Rhapsody for Four Girls in Town, based on Alex North's music for the movie. The sleeve gives an orchestration credit to the young composer Henry Mancini. Playing the piano is yet another notable, Andre Previn. The music has echoes of everything from Bernstein's West Side Story music to Copland and Gershwin, all in the characteristic Mancini sound of the period. Most enjoyable.

Short technical note: this record says it was processed with the RIAA curve. True on the first side, but not on the second. That side sounds shrill when you play it back that way. I have corrected for that anomaly - clever, eh?

REMASTERED VERSION

Jimmy Blythe

Returning to our series of the first reissues of early blues and jazz records, here is a Riverside LP of Chicago pianist Jimmy Blythe.

These records were made for the legendary Paramount label of Wisconsin in 1924, 1925, and 1928, a time when Blythe was active for the company, mostly as an accompanist. The sides here, in contrast, are primarily a showcase for Blythe's considerable solo skills.

The LP begins with 1924's Chicago Stomps (or Stomp, as it usually is given), which is reputedly the first recorded boogie-woogie tune, although elements of the style can be found in earlier records. These and the 1925 efforts sound to be acoustic recordings, with their limited frequency range. It's not until the final two items, made under the name of the Dixie Four in 1928 and electrically recorded, that you can fully hear Blythe's ringing tone. But even in the acoustic items, his rhythmic drive and vivid imagination are quite startling. This is compelling playing, full of the joy of living. Sadly, Blythe lived only a few more years after these sessions, dying in 1931 of meningitis. He was only 30.

Although this is a Riverside record, it was produced by the Bill Grauer-Orrin Keepnews team that did the "X" Records reissues that I have been presenting. The cover artist (Paul Bacon) is the same, as well. However, the Riverside item is pressed on red vinyl. I just love colored vinyl, although I am not sure why.

The LP sound was somewhat filtered, probably to lessen some of the noise of Paramount's poor quality shellac. I have opened out the sound, at the cost of bringing forward some of the grunge. I think it's worth it to hear a facsimile of what Blythe must have sounded like. Blythe also made many piano rolls, and I checked this record of Chicago Stomp(s) against a reissue of his piano roll of the same tune. The sound is much better on the latter, of course, but something is missing - even if it's only my emotional reaction to listening in on a great recording session some 85 years later.

REMASTERED VERSION - MARCH 2015

Dancing with Ralph Marterie

Here is the beginning of yet another new thread on this blog (how many do I have going? 30?), this one devoted to the post World War II dance bands.

You don't hear too much about these bands today, except for some of the jazz bands, leftovers from the big band heyday, and Miller-derived ensembles like Ray Anthony and Tex Beneke.

This post presents Ralph Marterie, who made many records over quite a few years, won polls such as the one touted on this cover, and yet has fallen into something very much like obscurity.

Too bad. He had a good ensemble that played a variety of music quite well - from ballads to post-Hampton big band r&b.

Marterie's band started off as a recording orchestra, then after gaining some notice, he formed a touring ensemble. This is a pattern that was also followed by Ralph Flanagan, who also will make an appearance in this series.

All these sides were recorded in 1952, according to the very helpful Mercury Records site.

The truth is, I am starting off this series with Marterie because of the very cool cover - what could be better than a disembodied cartoon face and a Down Beat magazine? Outstanding!