Sister Rosetta Tharpe

It's time for something different from the diet of symphonies, singers and musicals that have been on the menu here lately. So here is the powerful-voiced gospel singer Sister Rosetta Tharpe on an early 1950s LP made for Decca.

Tharpe was an early crossover artist - in two senses. She crossed over from gospel music to sing with jazz bands, and she crossed over to achieve considerable success among white audiences. This LP is an example of Decca attempting to broaden her appeal among the new audience for folk music that had been created by such artists as Leadbelly, Josh White and the Weavers. Tharpe's repertoire here includes the most well-worn gospel songs (Amazing Grace, Rock of Ages) and the liner notes are by folklorist Alan Lomax.

When this LP was made, Tharpe's greatest successes were behind her, but she had not lost a bit of her skill. The melismatic singing style that she represents has been enduringly influential - almost to the point of being unendurable as today's singers compete to cram as many notes as possible onto one syllable. Few if any of today's vocal phenoms can compete with her power and presence, captured well on this record.

Unfortunately, this pressing has seen much use over the years - and while Sister Rosetta's voice is undimmed, it also is accompanied by some unwanted noise, for which I apologize in advance.

REMASTERED VERSION - OCTOBER 2014

Portraits by George Siravo

Here by request is George Siravo's circa 1956 LP, Portraits in Hi-Fi. Siravo's records have shown themselves to be quite popular hereabouts, much to my surprise.

This album comprises Siravo compositions, and for some reason he ventures into what I would have to assume is deliberately trite material on several cuts. Not sure what the point of that is.

Nor can I tell you what is supposed to be happening on the cover. The unspoken assumption seems to be that all women are housewives, and they are getting dressed up for a portrait. But what of the man? If he is a painter, is he supposed to be Siravo himself? And if so, why is his coat four sizes too large and his hair and beard so odd?

Enough of this pointless musing (I hear you saying) - on to the sounds. I have to tell you, then as now, when you speak the words "hi-fi" to an engineer, he eagerly plugs in the reverb unit. So here, Siravo's music is bathed in an echo that only Mantovani could love.

However, I will say the LP was in excellent shape. and admit that I enjoyed the music a great deal - there is much here to like. I just wish someone had hidden the reverb machine. (Also the xylophone.)

Bernstein and the NYPO in Venice, 1959

A while ago, I wrote about the original musicals presented on US commercial television in the 1950s. Classical music also had a presence on commercial TV back then, and its face and voice were those of Leonard Bernstein, then the music director of the New York Philharmonic.

I remember seeing Bernstein on the television program Omnibus when I was just a wee Buster. He later made a series of programs sponsored by Lincoln and then Ford. Four of the programs in that series were issued on promotional LPs by Ford's advertising agency, Kenyon & Eckhardt. The particular program represented by this record was presented on CBS in November 1959.

The agency didn't do such a good job with the record production, though, and the sound is subfusc. Little Buster with his 3-inch tape recorder might have done as a good a job taping the thing off his parent's Philco. Big Buster has done his best to compensate in the transfer, and the results are at least listenable.

As I know from personal experience, having met him once, Bernstein was a magnetic personality, and that comes through on this record. He is an eloquent speaker, convincing even when superficial - and I dare say that goes for his music-making as well. Here you get a bit of the Marriage of Figaro overture and two-thirds of a Mozart piano concerto, along with as much commentary from the conductor.

While Bernstein is not a favorite of mine, his influence and importance are undeniable and his charisma unmistakable.

REMASTERED VERSION - MARCH 2015

Rich, Young and Pretty

Would that Rich, Young and Pretty - or any of the three - applied to the proprietor of this blog, but no. It instead refers to the star of this M-G-M musical of 1951, the glorious Jane Powell.

On this soundtrack LP, Jane shares the singing chores with Danielle Darrieux and Fernando Lamas (with him, the listening also is a chore). Vic Damone was the love interest in the film, but was under contract to Mercury at the time, so does not appear here.

Powell has most of the numbers, notably "Wonder Why" and "Dark Is the Night." Those songs and most of the others are by Nicholas Brodszky (his Flame and the Flesh was featured here recently) and the ubiquitous lyricist Sammy Cahn.

By the way, the orchestrations here are by M-G-M stalwarts Leo Arnaud and Wally Heglin. David Rose conducts.

LINK to Rich, Young and Pretty (remastered in ambient stereo)

The Real Joy of Living Is . . . Beer?

Back in the late 50s, the Schlitz Brewing Co. came up with a slogan insisting that you could "know the real joy of good living" by drinking its beer. A dubious proposition to be sure, but one that was powerful enough to propel to the top of the beer market for some years.

Schlitz's agency turned the slogan into a jingle, as was the practice back then, and then the jingle was turned into a song. Or maybe it was the other way around - I'm not sure. But whether chicken or egg came first, eventually Nelson Riddle got involved and a number of records ensued.

What we have here is a Schlitz promotional EP featuring Riddle, with the commercial jingle and the song, Know the Real Joy of Good Living, featuring chorus. As far as I know, these Riddle arrangements are otherwise unissued. Riddle did include the song on his Capitol LP, the Joy of Living, although in a completely different, instrumental version. The Schlitz EP depicted the cover of the Riddle LP on its back (see below).

The flip side of the EP contained two Riddle instrumentals that are not on the Joy of Living LP. I'm not sure if they were otherwise released, although I would assume they were. The download includes all the material from the promotional EP and the instrumental version from the Joy of Living LP.

One parenthetical note: singing on the commercial is Jamie Silvia, of the J's with Jamie, one of the leading commercial voices of the time. A superb singer, she, her husband Joe and their group first became well known for their commercial work, and then began making records for Columbia in the 1960s. I have an LP they self-issued that is half Columbia material and half commercials. Also in the group was Len Dresslar, who later made many records (and commercials) with the Singers Unlimited.

REMASTERED VERSION

More Tchaikovsky from Indianapolis

Many of you enjoyed the recording of Manfred from the Indianapolis Symphony and Fabien Sevitzky, so here is another pseudonymous Tchaikovsky record from the same forces.

As I explained last time out, in the early 50s, RCA issued many old symphonic recordings on its budget Camden label under made-up names. In this instance, the Indianapolis orchestra became the "Sussex Symphony" and Sevitzky became anonymous.

Fabien Sevitzky

This particular recording was made late in the orchestra's tenure with RCA, in March 1946. By that time, the band had become a very good one, and this performance gave me much pleasure - but then I love the lesser Tchaikovsky symphonies. Here we have the first symphony, sometimes called Winter Dreams (or Winter Daydreams, as RCA has it).

Adding to the my pleasure is the simply miked, coherent recording, with just enough of the hall resonance to give the sound picture a vivid sense of reality. This type of recording could not be more out of style, but I find it very satisfying.

LINK to 2025 remaster

Stravinsky's 1950 Recording of Apollo

This is the final installment of LPs of Igor Stravinsky conducting his own works on labels other than Columbia, which handled most of his recordings throughout his career.

The major work on this RCA LP is Apollo (also known as Apollon Musagète), a neoclassical ballet score from 1928. This, Stravinsky's first recording of the piece, comes from 1950 New York sessions.

Also here is the 1946 Concerto in D, sometimes called the Basle Concerto, one of the many important works commissioned by Paul Sacher. This recording, also made in New York, is from 1949. The violin soloists are John Corigliano and Michael Rosenker. (I believe Corigliano was concertmaster of the New York Philharmonic at that time.) As far as I can tell, this is the only commercial recording of this piece by Stravinsky.

The sound and performances are very good.

NEW LINK