CLICK HERE to open an order form you can fill out
as you peruse the current list. Click DISPLAY ORDER INFO at the bottom of the form to print a copy
of your order, then click the SUBMIT MY ORDER button to submit your requests.
[sometimes with small hole punch or promotional sticker, sometimes not shrink-wrapped]
Peggy Lee, EIGHT CLASSIC ALBUMS
Incredible value on this 2012 4-CD import. Eight original albums—99 tracks—by the legendary vocalist, including BLACK COFFEE, her classic collection of torch songs; BEAUTY AND THE BEAT, her collaboration with pianist George Shearing; IF YOU GO, arranged and conducted by Quincy Jones; and LATIN ALA LEE and OLE ALA LEE, her two influential Latin albums. Plus THINGS ARE SWINGIN', CHRISTMAS CAROUSEL, and BASIN STREET EAST PROUDLY PRESENTS MISS PEGGY LEE.
BLACK COFFEE (1956)—Songs: I’ve Got You Under My Skin, title tune, Easy Living, My Heart Belongs to Daddy, It Ain’t Necessarily So, A Woman Alone with the Blues, I Didn’t Know What Time it Was, When the World Was Young, Love Me or Leave Me, You’re My Thrill, There’s a Small Hotel, and Gee, Baby Ain’t I Good to You;
THINGS ARE SWINGIN’ (1959)—Songs: It’s Been a Long, Long Time, It’s a Wonderful World, Things Are Swingin’, Ridin’ High, Lullaby in Rhythm, Alone Together, I’m Beginning to See the Light, It’s a Good Good Night, You’re Getting to Be a Habit with Me, You’re Mine You, Life Is for Livin’, and Alright, Okay, You Win;
BEAUTY AND THE BEAT (1959)—Songs: Do I Love You?, I Lost My Sugar in Salt Lake City, If Dreams Come True, All Too Soon, Mambo in Miami, Isn’t it Romantic?, Blue Prelude, You Came a Long Way from St. Louis, Always True to You in My Fashion, There’ll Be Another Spring, Get Out of Town, Satin Doll, Don’t Ever Leave Me, and Nobody’s Heart;
LATIN ALA LEE (1960)—Songs: Heart, On the Street Where You Live, Till There Was You, I Am in Love, Hey There, I Could Have Danced All Night, The Surrey with the Fringe on Top, The Party’s Over, Dance Only with Me, Wish You Were Here, C’est Magnifique, and I Enjoy Being a Girl;
CHRISTMAS CAROUSEL (1960)—Songs: I Like a Sleigh Ride, title tune, The Christmas Song, Don’t Forget to Feed the Reindeer, The Star Carol, The Christmas List, Santa Claus Is Coming to Town, The Christmas Waltz, The Christmas Riddle, The Tree, Deck the Halls, and White Christmas;
OLÉ ALA LEE (1960)—Songs: Come Dance with Me, By Myself, You’re So Right for Me, Just Squeeze Me, Fantastico, Together (Wherever We Go), Love and Marriage, Non Dimenticar, From Now On, You Stepped Out of a Dream, Olé, and I Can’t Resist You;
BASIN STREET EAST PROUDLY PRESENTS MISS PEGGY LEE (1961)—Songs: Moments Like This, Fever, One Kiss / My Romance / The Vagabond King Waltz, The Second Time Around, I Got a Man, I Love Being Here with You, But Beautiful, Them There Eyes, Just for a Thrill, Yes Indeed, Peggy Lee Bow Music, and Day in, Day Out;
IF YOU GO (1961)—Songs: As Time Goes By, title tune, Oh Love Hast Thou Forsaken Me?, Say it Isn’t So, I Wish I Didn’t Love You So, Maybe it’s Because (I Love You Too Much), I’m Gonna Laugh You Right Out of My Life, I Get Along Without You Very Well, (I Love You) Gypsy Heart, When I Was a Child, Here’s That Rainy Day, and Smile.
4-CD import, $15.99 [regularly $21.99]
Vera Lynn, THE FORCES' SWEETHEART
Excellent price on this ultra-budget 3-CD import—a whopping 75 vintage tracks by this beloved British singer, who earned the moniker "the forces' sweetheart" during World War II.
Lynn's sentimental songs of loss, parting, reunion, and a brighter future resonated with her countrymen, helping them survive the Blitz and the war years, with songs like (There'll Be Bluebirds Over) The White Cliffs of Dover, When They Sound the Last All Clear, Wish Me Luck as You Wave Me Goodbye, When You Hear Big Ben (You're Home Again), We'll Meet Again, Welcome Home, It's a Lovely Day Tomorrow, When My Dreamboat Comes Home, Far Away Places, Travellin' Home, The Happiest New Year of All, From the Time You Say Goodbye, Goodnight Wherever You Are, When the Lights Go on Again, There'll Come Another Day, Coming Home, Goodnight Children Everywhere, Do You Ever Dream of Tomorrow?, The Faithful Hussar (Don't Cry My Love), Forget-Me-Not, (I'll Be with You) In Apple Blossom Time, and Auf Wiederseh'n Sweetheart—all included here.
The set includes Lynn's very first solo recording, Up the Wooden Hill to Bedfordshire, from 1936, as well as many of her hits and standards, including Two Sleepy People, The Lambeth Walk, As Time Goes By, Long Ago (and Far Away), My Dreams Are Getting Better All the Time, The Anniversary Waltz, It's a Sin to Tell a Lie, Over the Rainbow, Drifting and Dreaming, Harbour Lights, I'm in the Mood for Love, I Don't Want to Set the World on Fire, I Couldn't Sleep a Wink Last Night, Through a Long and Sleepless Night, You Can't Be True Dear, A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square, When You Wish Upon a Star, That Lovely Weekend, Again, I'm Beginning to See the Light, We Three (My Echo, My Shadow, and Me), I've Heard That Song Before, You'll Never Know, and My Son, My Son.
Click HERE for complete track listing.
3-CD import, $11.99 [regularly $14.99]
|
Cass Daley, Hoagy Carmichael, YOU CAN'T BLAME A GIRL FOR TRYIN'
2002 import featuring 25 rare performances—comic songs, rhythm numbers, and standards—by this truly great, but largely forgotten, ‘40s film singer and comedian, including three duets with Hoagy Carmichael.
A powerhouse performer, Cass Daley was a charter member of the Martha Raye-Judy Canova school of screwy, big-voiced—make that loudmouthed—female comedians not afraid to take pratfalls or walk with their butts sticking out. What’s important to remember, though, is that these women were great singers, with pipes—"chops"—and a formidable sense of swing, not to mention personality to burn.
Daley fired up the screen in her film debut, 1942’s THE FLEET’S IN, belting, mugging and funny-walking her way through Johnny Mercer’s Tomorrow You Belong to Uncle Sammy (But Tonight You Belong to Me)—included on this CD—a long, hysterical parody of the pop songs of the day. Looking alternately goofy and lovely, and performing at a volume and energy level matched only by Betty Hutton (who, ironically, was just getting her start in the same film), she turns in a tour de force performance, filmed in a single take—one of the great moments in movie musicals. Daley went on to become a popular singer and second banana in radio, movies and on record before retiring in the ‘50s, only to die a gruesome death in 1975 at age 59 when, alone (and intoxicated?) in her apartment, she fell on a glass coffee table, cut her throat and bled to death—a tragic and ignoble end to an enormous talent.
Daley duets with Hoagy Carmichael on Woman Is a Five Letter Word, Aba Daba Honeymoon, and Grandma Teeter-Totter. Plus He Loved Me Till the All Clear Came, You Can't Blame a Girl for Tryin' (by Burke & Van Heusen), My Maid (a parody of My Man), I'm Getting Corns for My Country, Evelina, Willie the Wolf of the West, Mama's Gone—Goodbye, It's a Cruel Cruel World, A Sailor with an Eight Hour Pass, I'd Do it All Over Again, Kiss Me Sweet, Together, It Had to Be You, Ev'ry Time, Meet Me in St. Louis, A Good Man Is Hard to Find, Exactly Like You, Mean to Me, Please Don't Talk About Me When I'm Gone, That's the Begining of the End, and All Right, Louis, Drop the Gun.
Import, $11.99 [regularly $17.99]
|
|
Inge Brandenburg, EASY STREET
2015 import, on the prestigious Bear Family label, of rare performances—20 mostly standards sung in English by this jazz singer popular in her German homeland but virtually unknown stateside. (That's Brandenburg, pictured here, with June Christy at the Juan-les-Pins jazz festival.)
According to the publicity materials, "At the Antibes Jazz Festival in July 1960, Inge Brandenburg was elected best jazz singer in Europe. But when she died in a Munich-Schwabing hospital on February 23, 1999—only five days after her 70th birthday—she had become poor and almost forgotten.
"The recordings collected on this CD fill a painful gap in the documented work of one of the greatest singing talents coming out of the German jazz scene. The recordings were made between January 1959 and July 1961. At the time, Inge Brandenburg was living in Frankfurt/Main, where she was discovered during the 6th German Jazz Festival....EASY STREET finally gathers all 20 tracks Inge Brandenburg recorded with the Frankfurt Jazz Ensembles and makes them publicly available more than 50 years after their creation.
"These songs certainly are some of the most carefully produced jazz recordings in the vocalist's entire career. Accompanied...with chamber-music-like sensitivity, her voice with all its expressiveness and nuances of sound can be heard with impressive clarity."
Songs: Moonglow, title tune, Stormy Weather, What a Difference a Day Made, Easy Living, Love for Sale, I Guess I'll Have to Change My Plan, Angel Eyes, That Old Black Magic, They All Laughed, Skylark, You're Not So Easy to Forget, When Sunny Gets Blue, Almost Like Being in Love, I've Got to Pass Your House to Get to My House, You Gotta Wail, Yardbird Suite, Ev'ry Time, Way Out There, and You Don't Know What Love Is—a total running time of 61 min.
CD incl. 44-page booklet. Import, $14.99 [regularly $29.99]
|
Matt Dennis, WELCOME MATT DENNIS
1989 import of the 1959 album by this great singer and songwriter, arranged and conducted by Sy Oliver.
A dozen songs about the comforts of home, including three tunes written by Dennis and Bob Russell—Your Family, Welcome Mat, and You Make Me Feel at Home.
Plus nine standards: Show Me the Way to Go Home, Ray Noble’s By the Fireside, You’d Be So Nice to Come Home To, Back in Your Own Backyard, Home, My Blue Heaven, Cheek to Cheek, Let’s Put Out the Lights (And Go to Sleep), and A Cup of Coffee, a Sandwich and You. Import, $7.99 [regularly $17.99]
|
| | |
Dora Bryan, Phil Silvers, Jim Dale, Tommy Steele, Frankie Howerd, et al., OOOH! MATRON!
Subtitled HITS OF THE 50S AND 60S BY THE STARS OF SAUCY BRITISH CINEMA, this delightful 2014 2-CD import compiles 44 commercial recordings—satirical songs, serious songs, and a few comic routines—by performers in the wildly successful CARRY ON franchise of 31 (!!) British film comedies.
There are contributions from co-stars like Dora Bryan (Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend), Tommy Steele (Where's the Birdie?, with Bernard Cribbins and Sid James), Phil Silvers (All of My Life, The Late Late Show), and Reprise recording artist Roy Castle (Little White Berry)—but, mostly, by regulars in the series, virtually all popular veterans of movies, TV and musicals, including:
• Jim (BARNUM) Dale, who performs Be My Girl, Piccadilly Line, and Just Born (To Be Your Baby);
• Kenneth ( SHARE MY LETTUCE, PIECES OF EIGHT) Williams, who performs One Leg Too Few, Hand Up Your Sticks, and If Only (with Fenella (VALMOUTH) Fielding);
• Barbara (COME SPY WITH ME, FINGS AIN'T WOT THEY USED T'BE) Windsor, who sings Where Do Little Birds Go? and Ten Gallon Hat;
• Frankie (A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM, THE COOL MIKADO) Howerd, who performs It's All Right with Me, Three Little Fishes, and Song and Dance Man;
• Bernard (LITTLE MARY SUNSHINE) Cribbins, who performs Right Said Fred, The Hole in the Ground, Gossip Calypso, Winkle Picker Shoes Blues, Verily, and Folk Song;
• Kenneth (THE FOUR MUSKETEERS) Connor, who performs Nearly a Nasty Accident, Smile, Rail Road Rock, Ramona, and The Ugly Duckling;
• Bernard Bresslaw, who performs Mad Passionate Love, You Need Feet, I Only Arsked, and The Army Game;
• Hattie Jacques, who performs Bedtime Story, Many Happy Returns, Cockles and Mussels, and We Go Together (all with Eric Sykes). (That's Jacques pictured here, with Sykes and Harry Secombe.)
Plus Brush Up Your Shakespeare, Splish Splash, Don't Light the Fire Til Santa's Gone, Hello My Darlings, My Brother, Dancing with Someone, Come Outside, Talks to Gerry, and What Was That, That You Said.
2-CD import, $9.99 [regularly $15.99]
|
Eydie Gorme, Jaye P. Morgan, Ella Mae Morse, Betty Johnson, Vicki Young, et al., THE POPSTERS, VOL. 3
2015 import, part of the Bear Family label's THEY TRIED TO ROCK series—a whopping 33 tracks spotlighting the efforts of '50s pop singers to tackle the challenges of early rock 'n' roll, with varying degrees of success and appropriateness.
The above perform, respectively, Soda Pop Hop, Baby Don't Do It, Money Honey, I'll Wait, and Riot in Cell Block Number 9.
Plus songs by Lola Ameche (Rock the Joint), Sarah Vaughan (Hey Naughty Papa), Georgia Gibbs (Great Balls of Fire), Eartha Kitt (Honolulu Rock-A-Rolla), Peggy Lee (Every Night), Kay Starr (Fool Fool Fool), Patti Page (Oh What a Dream), The McGuire Sisters (Sincerely), Perry Como (Juke Box Baby), Billy Eckstine (Tennessee Rock and Roll), The Fontane Sisters (Please Don't Leave Me), Steve Lawrence (Party Doll), The Mills Brothers (Get a Job), Les Paul & Mary Ford (Fantasy), Louis Prima (Jump Jive and Wail), Dean Martin (Just Kiss Me), Teresa Brewer (Rock Love), and Frank Sinatra (Two Hearts, Two Kisses (Make One Love)).
Other artists include The Ames Brothers, Eddie Fisher, Pat Boone, Joe Reisman, Jim Lowe, Big Dave and His Orchestra, Jerry Mercer, The Crew Cuts, and The Hilltoppers.
Import, $13.99 [regularly $18.99]
|
|
Michael Cerveris, Alexander Gemignani, et al. [Original Cast], ROAD SHOW
2009 CD, issued jointly by Nonesuch Records and PS Classics, of this musical with a score by Stephen Sondheim and a book by Pulitzer Prize winner Jerome (FIORELLO!) Weidman.
Michael Cerveris, a two-time Tony Award winner, and Alexander Gemignani, who starred together in acclaimed revivals of ASSASSINS and SWEENEY TODD, were reunited in this New York Public Theater production, playing the intrepid Mizner brothers, speculators in the Alaska gold rush and the Florida real estate boom of the early 20th century.
This famously trouble-plagued show began in 2003 as the musical BOUNCE [see below] and went through several incarnations before finally emerging, with roughly half a dozen new songs, as ROAD SHOW. Nevertheless, the production ran only a little more than a month. But there are those—myself among them—who feel that ROAD SHOW is underrated, one of those later Sondheim shows (like MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG and ASSASSINS) that did not receive its due the first time around.
17 numbers, orchestrated by Sondheim's favorite arranger, the brilliant Jonathan Tunick: Waste, It's in Your Hands Now, Gold!, Brotherly Love, The Game, Addison's Trip, That Was a Year, Isn't He Something!, Land Boom!, Talent, You, The Best Thing that Ever Has Happened, The Game (Reprise), Addison's City, Boca Raton, Get Out / Go, and Finale, $9.99 [regularly $12.99]
Larry O'Leno, MAXIMUM LARRY
We are delighted to be able to offer AUTOGRAPHED copies of this brand new but hard to find CD, a tasteful program of 15 songs by veteran singer-pianist Larry O’Leno, his first recording in literally 20 years.
Like Bobby Short and Charles Cochran, O'Leno comes from an earlier generation of cabaret/saloon performers, a generation that would pave the way for later singer-pianists like Michael Feinstein, Eric Comstock, and Steve Ross. He was the first singer to release a tribute album to Billy Strayhorn—in 1984 on Ben Bagley’s legendary Painted Smiles label.
O'Leno never achieved the renown of some of his colleagues, perhaps because he relocated from New York to the Bay Area fairly early on, and because he didn't release a second album, SPEAKEASY, until 1995. But he has never stopped making music, and in recent years he has held court nightly at San Francisco's popular Max's Opera Cafe, accompanying himself on piano as he proffers songs from the Great American Songbook with a seasoned vocal and an easygoing manner.
This new CD, only his third release in 30 years, is a collection of tunes familiar to his audiences at Max's (thus the title), highlighted by some lesser-heard numbers by Hoagy Carmichael (Old Man Harlem, written with Rudy Vallee, and Come Easy Go Easy Love) and Frank De Vol (I'd Rather Have the Blues), as well as a sassy original (No Room at This Inn) and a brace of art songs (Dawn, by his later partner Howard Miller, and A Poet's Lament, O'Leno's musical setting of a poem by Patrick Smith, a local poet).
Plus nine standards: Street of Dreams, When I Fall in Love, Blue Turning Grey Over You, Stella by Starlight, Don't Worry About Me, Slap That Bass, All My Tomorrows, and two instrumentals, Autumn Nocturne and Manhattan Serenade.
AUTOGRAPHED, NOW $14.99 [WAS $15.99; regularly $19.99]
Donna Hightower, Ernestine Anderson, Annie Ross, Chris Connor, et al., GREATEST JAZZ DIVAS
Incredible price on this 2012 3-CD import, subtitled 75 ORIGINAL CLASSICS.
Donna Hightower and Ernestine Anderson, both great singers, are rarely included in such compilations. The former sings All or Nothing at All and Every Day I Have the Blues, and the latter You Go to My Head, Trouble Is a Man, Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams, and See See Rider. Annie Ross sings Everything I've Got, The Lady's in Love with You, and Manhattan. And Chris Connor performs Come Rain or Come Shine and Just in Time.
There are songs by Cleo Laine (Early Autumn, T'Aint What You Do), Etta Jones (Where or When, Almost Like Being in Love, That's All There Is to That, My Heart Tells Me), Ella Mae Morse (Forty Cups of Coffee), Eydie Gorme (Too Close for Comfort, Chicago, and Be Careful, it's My Heart), Dakota Staton (No Moon at All, Moonray, Misty), June Christy (When Lights Are Low, Swinging on a Star, Fly Me to the Moon), Nancy Wilson (The Things We Did Last Summer, The Nearness of You, Born to Be Blue, Let's Live Again, All Night Long), Abbey Lincoln (Thursday's Child, Strong Man, and Brother, Where Are You?), and Nina Simone (My Baby Just Cares for Me, Love Me or Leave Me, Summertime, The Other Woman).
And, of course, all the usual suspects—Bille, Ella, Dinah, Sarah, Lena, Carmen, Anita, Rosie, Peggy—are represented as well. Click HERE for complete track listing.
3-CD import, $9.99 [regularly $12.99]
|
Peggy King, MAKE YOURSELF COMFORTABLE
2014 import, a long-overdue CD assembling the single hits and rare early sides by this superb but overlooked '50s vocalist, dubbed "pretty perky Peggy King."
Here are 30 remastered sides—waxed with the orchestras of Percy Faith, Skip Martin, Mitch Miller, Camarata, and Jimmy Carroll—including her big hit Make Yourself Comfortable; Don't Blame Me, which she sang in THE BAD AND THE BEAUTIFUL; When Liberace Winks at Me, her novelty duet with the florid pianist; and You'll Get a Kick Outa Cookin', the Hunt's Tomato Sauce radio jingle that jumpstarted her career; as well as I Get a Kick Outa Kissin', the pop single version of the jingle.
Plus You Better Go Now, I Cried for You, You Came a Long Way from St. Louis, I'm Beginning to See the Light, Happiness Is a Thing Called Joe, I'll Be Around, In My Own Little Corner, Beautiful Love, Kiss and Run, I'm Gonna Put Some Glue 'Round the Christmas Tree (So Santa Claus Will Stick Around All Year), The Gentleman in the Next Apartment, Counting Sheep, Any Questions, Learning to Love, Song of Seventeen, Angel Pie (Postillon), Zero Hour, Does He Really Love Me?, Up Up Up (Flying High), Bon Voyage, Experience, Very Good Advice, There's Doubt in My Mind (but Hope in My Heart), The Hottentot, and Burn 'Em Up.
CD produced by Alan Eichler, who also supplied the informative liner notes, $10.99 [regularly $13.99]
|
|
Peggy Lee, EIGHT CLASSIC ALBUMS, VOL. 2
Incredible value on this hard to find 2013 4-CD import, a follow-up to the above. Eight more albums—97 tracks—including THE MAN I LOVE, an album of lush ballads conducted by Frank Sinatra; the soundtrack SONGS FROM PETE KELLY'S BLUES (minus, alas, Ella Fitzgerald's three tracks); and SEA SHELLS, Lee's esoteric 1958 cult album of art songs, with only harp and harpsichord accompaniment.
SONGS FROM PETE KELLY'S BLUES (1955)—Songs: Oh Didn't He Ramble, He Needs Me, Sing a Rainbow, Somebody Loves Me, Sugar, I'm Gonna Meet My Sweetie Now, I Never Knew, Bye Bye Blackbird, and What Can I Say After I Say I'm Sorry;
DREAM STREET (1957)—Songs: Street of Dreams, What's New ?, You're Blasé, It's All Right with Me, My Old Flame, Dancing on the Ceiling, It Never Entered My Mind, Too Late Now, I've Grown Accustomed to His Face, Something I Dreamed Last Night, Last Night When We Were Young, and So Blue;
THE MAN I LOVE (1957)—Songs: The Folks Who Live on the Hill, title tune, Happiness Is a Thing Called Joe, (Just One Way to Say) I Love You, That's All, Something Wonderful, He's My Guy, Then I'll Be Tired of You, My Heart Stood Still, If I Should Lose You, There Is No Greater Love, and Please Be Kind;
SEA SHELLS (1958)—Songs: I Don't Want to Play in Your Yard, A Brown Bird Singing, Willard Robison's The White Birch and the Sycamore, Sea Fever, Of Such Is the Kingdom of God, Nine Thorny Thickets (Rolfe Humphries's poem, set to music by Johnny Mercer), traditional folk songs (Greensleeves, The Wearing of the Green, The Riddle Song), two sets of Chinese Love Poems (The Fisherman / Autumn Evening and Going Rowing / Like the Moon / The Music), classical pieces by Debussy (The Maid with the Flaxen Hair) and Marcel Grandjany (Chaconde (Le bon petit roi d' Yvetot)), and songs written or co-written by Lee herself (The Gold Wedding Ring, Little Old Car, The Happy Monks);
MISS WONDERFUL (1959)—Songs: Where Flamingos Fly, You've Got to See Mamma Ev'ry Night, The Comeback, Take a Little Time to Smile, I Don't Know Enough About You, Crazy in the Heart, You Oughta Be Mine, We Laughed at Love, That's Alright Honey, Mister Wonderful, They Can't Take That Away from Me, and Joey, Joey, Joey;
JUMP FOR JOY (1959)—Songs: Back in Your Own Backyard, title tune, When My Sugar Walks Down the Street, I Hear Music, Just in Time, Old Devil Moon, What a Little Moonlight Can Do, Four or Five Times, The Glory of Love, Ain't We Got Fun?, Cheek to Cheek, and Music! Music! Music!;
I LIKE MEN (1959)—Songs: Charley My Boy, title tune, Good-For-Nothin' Joe, I Love to Love, When a Woman Loves a Man, I'm Just Wild About Harry, My Man, Bill, So in Love, It's So Nice to Have a Man Around the House, Jim, and Oh Johnny, Oh Johnny, Oh!;
PRETTY EYES (1960)—Songs: As You Desire Me, title tune, It Could Happen to You, Moments Like This, Remind Me, You Fascinate Me So, I Wanna Be Loved, I'm Walking Through Heaven with You, I Remember You, Too Close for Comfort, Fly Me to the Moon, and Because I Love Him So.
4-CD import, $19.99 [regularly $21.99]
|
Charles Wuorinen & The Group for Contemporary Music, TASHI AND FORTUNE
Out of print 1998 CD by Pulitzer Prize-winning contemporary composer Charles Wuorinen (whose many works include the recent opera BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN) and his Group for Contemporary Music, which Wuorinen co-founded in 1962.
Five works for clarinet, violin, cello, piano and orchestra: Fortune; Cello Variations II, Album Leaf for Violin and Cello, Violin Variations, and the five-movement Tashi, $2.99 [regularly $7.99]
|
| | |
Carmen McRae, Lambert, Hendricks & Ross, Tony Bennett, Dave Brubeck, et al., VOCAL ENCOUNTERS
A previously unreleased studio version of Dave Brubeck's It's a Raggy Waltz by Carmen McRae highlights this out of print 2001 CD—18 tracks by various vocalists, all accompanied by Dave Brubeck.
Autumn in Our Town—composed by Brubeck with author Garson Kanin (!!) and sung by the obscure Ranny Sinclair, a sometime Brubeck collaborator—appears on CD for the first time as well. The remaining songs, many composed by Brubeck and his wife Iola, are culled from various albums.
McRae also sings Take Five, In the Lurch, Travelin' Blues, Weep No More, and My One Bad Habit. Lambert, Hendricks & Ross perform The Real Ambassador, Cultural Exchange, and They Say I Look Like God—all with Louis Armstrong. Armstrong solos on Summer Song and Since Love Had its Way.
Jimmy Rushing sings My Melancholy Baby, There'll Be Some Changes Made, Ain't Misbehavin', and Blues in the Dark. And there are contributions from Tony Bennett (That Old Black Magic) and Peter, Paul & Mary (Because All Men Are Brothers), $9.99 [regularly $11.99] [A promo edition in a plain cardboard sleeve—no booklet or tray card—is also available, $3.99]
|
Carole Carr, IMPORTED CARR—AMERICAN GAS!
2014 import CD of the sole domestic album by this superb and sultry band vocalist—a "British TV singing sensation" and the younger sister of singer Dorothy Carless—plus eight bonus tracks.
This 1959 Warner Bros. album—that's the original album cover, pictured here—backed Carr with an ensemble that included Buddy Collette and Jack Costanzo. The album's dozen songs are: They Can't Take That Away from Me, He's My Guy, I'll Build a Stairway to Paradise, He's a Tramp, I Am Loved, To Love and Be Loved (a rarely heard tune by Cahn and Van Heusen), Irving Berlin's I Poured My Heart into a Song, Smoky Morning, You Bring Out the Lover in Me, Come Runnin', Regular Man, and As I See It.
The bonus tracks were recorded with Geraldo and His Orchestra, with whom Carr performed extensively as the girl singer. Eight songs (five of them not available on any other CD): Where Flamingos Fly, Sleigh Ride in July, The Nearness of You, This Is Always, The Little Old Mill, Blue Bayou, More and More, and Come to Baby, Do.
Import $11.99 [regularly $19.99]
|
|
LOTTE LENYA SINGS KURT WEILL & BERTOLT BRECHT
Incredible price on this 2014 3-CD import, subtitled THREE ORIGINAL ALBUMS FROM THE DIVINE LOTTE LENYA—two collections of songs, in English and German, by her husband Kurt Weill, and an album of songs from HAPPY END, Weill's 1929 musical written with Bertolt Brecht, all digitally remastered. (Those are the original covers, pictured here.)
SEPTEMBER SONG AND OTHER AMERICAN THEATRE SONGS OF KURT WEILL (1955)—It Never Was You, September Song, The Saga of Jenny, Foolish Heart, Speak Low, Sing Me Not a Ballad, Lonely House, A Boy Like You, Green Up Time, Trouble Man, Stay Well, Lost in the Stars;
LOTTE LENYA SINGS KURT WEILL (1955)—Moritat, Barbara-Song, Seeräuber-Jenny, Havanna-Lied, Alabama-Song, Bilbao-Song, Surabaya-Johnny, Was die Herren Matrosen sagen, Ballade vom ertrunkenen Mädchen, Ich bin eine arme Verwandte, Cäsar-Ballade, and Wie man sich bettet, so liegt man;
HAPPY END (1960)—Introduction (Hosiannah), Bilbao-Song, Der Kleine Leutnant Des Lieben Gottes, Geht Hinein In Die Schlacht, Matrosen-Tango, Das Lied Vom Branntweinhandler, Der Song Von Mandelay, Furchte Dich Nicht, Surabaya-Johnny, Das Lied Von Der Harten Nub, In Der Jugend Gold'nem Schimmer, Die Ballade Von Der Höllen-lili, Der Kleine Leutnant Des Lieben Gottes, and Bruder, Gib Dir Einen Stob.
3-CD import, $9.99 [regularly $14.99]
|
Alice Faye, I FEEL A SONG COMING ON
2007 2-CD import, the companion to the 1997 set GOT MY MIND ON MUSIC (see below).
This volume features soundtrack performances from 20 more of Faye's movies, like LILLIAN RUSSELL, WEEKEND IN HAVANA, HELLO FRISCO HELLO, ROSE OF WASHINGTON SQUARE, ALEXANDER’S RAGTIME BAND, IN OLD CHICAGO, ON THE AVENUE, and WAKE UP & LIVE—44 tracks in all.
Songs include Scraping the Toast, Who Killed Maggie?, You’re a Sweetheart, There’s a Lull in My Life, I’ve Got My Love to Keep Me Warm, It’s an Old Southern Custom, Foolin’ with the Other Woman’s Man, Who Stole the Jam?, Tropical Magic, After the Ball, The Band Played On, I Never Knew Heaven Could Speak, Blue Skies, I’ve Taken a Fancy to You, My Future Star, Yes to You, Take it Easy, So it’s Love, Half Moon on the Hudson, Ma Blushin’ Rosie, Last Rose of Summer, Adored One, Boa Noite, Blue Lovebird, Where You Are, The Man with the Lollipop Song, Lindy, You’ll Never Know, and many more.
Click HERE for complete track listing.
2-CD import, $11.99 [regularly $15.99]
|
| | |
Neva Small, MY PLACE IN THE WORLD
2004 solo debut album by veteran musical comedy actress Neva Small, best remembered for her appearance (as Chava) in the film version of FIDDLER ON THE ROOF. Musical theater aficionados, however, know her for her starring role in the 1967 cult Broadway musical HENRY, SWEET HENRY, which struggled through a mere 80 performances, despite the formidable talents involved. (The show boasted a score written by Bob Merrill and arranged by Eddie Sauter and a young Marvin Hamlisch; and the cast—which included Don Ameche, Carol Bruce, Alice Playten, Louise Lasser, and Robin Wilson—was put through their paces by director George Roy Hill and, making his Broadway debut as a choreographer, Michael Bennett.)
Small has worked continually in musicals for forty years—mostly flops, alas, which is why she is not better known. She apparently formed a mutual admiration society with Bob Merrill, who cast her in two of his later shows—HANNAH...1939 (opposite Julie Wilson) and THE PRINCE OF GRAND STREET (opposite Robert Preston), Merrill's last Broadway-bound musical, which closed out of town in 1978. Small also appeared in F. JASMINE ADAMS, the unsuccessful 1971 musicalization of MEMBER OF THE WEDDING; Leonard Bernstein's original MASS; and Sammy Fain and Alan & Marilyn Bergman's 1964 flop SOMETHING MORE (starring opposite Barbara Cook, Hal Linden, and Ronny Graham).
Songs from these shows and more are featured here. It goes without saying that the CD is bursting with rare theater songs— many of which have never been recorded before—and will be of great interest to fans of musicals and vocals alike.
SONGS:
Here I Am [from HENRY, SWEET HENRY]
The Girl with Too Much Heart* [from THE PRINCE OF GRAND STREET]
You Gotta Taste All the Fruit [written for SOMETHING MORE]
When Messiah Comes [written for FIDDLER ON THE ROOF]
Cigarettes [from THE GOLDEN LAND]
The Portrait
I Go On [from MASS]
I Feel Like New Year's Eve* [from SOMETHING MORE]
Riverboat Shuffle
Show Me Where the Good Times Are [from SHOW ME WHERE THE GOOD TIMES ARE]
Peach Ice Cream* [from F. JASMINE ADAMS]
My Place in the World* [from THE PRINCE OF GRAND STREET]
Bonus track: Matchmaker, Matchmaker [featuring Dizzy Gillespie on trumpet]
*premiere recording
NOW $9.99 [WAS $11.99; regularly $16.99]
|
Kei Kobayashi, JUST YOU
Japanese import of the 2000 album by this popular and acclaimed Japanese jazz singer—14 standards, sung in English.
Kei Kobayashi started singing professionally as a teenager in the early '90s and began his recording career soon after, exploring the Great American Songbook in a dozen or so albums to date.
Here, backed by a quintet, Kobayashi sings Fly Me to the Moon, On the Street Where You Live, It's Easy to Remember, Take the "A" Train, I Could Write a Book, Autumn in New York, Just Friends, A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes, It Had to Be You, I Got it Bad (and That Ain't Good), Pennies from Heaven, Smile, Sometimes, and Just You, Just Me.
Booklet incl. complete lyrics in English and Japanese. Japanese import, $14.99 [regularly $29.99] [NOTE: CD is brand new—never played—but like many imports, it is not shrinkwrapped.]
|
|
Lita Roza, Michael Holliday, The Beatles, et al., LIVERPOOL SOUNDS
Subtitled 75 CLASSICS FROM THE SINGING CITY, this 2015 3-CD import collects tracks, many of them rare, from 1938-1965 by a diverse group of musical Liverpudlians.
Of course, The Beatles are represented— with P.S. I Love You, Love Me Do and, in their earlier incarnation as The Beat Brothers, Cry for a Shadow and My Bonnie (with Tony Sheridan). So, too, are Merseybeat rockers, like Gerry and the Pacemakers (Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On, What'd I Say) and, especially, Billy Fury. Fury's reputation, like many of the others here, never reached much beyond England, but on LIVERPOOL SOUNDS he is heard in no fewer than seven tunes: Halfway to Paradise, Last Night Was Made for Love, Wondrous Place, Jealousy, I'd Never Find Another You, Collette, and Fury's Tune.
There are five songs by the great but often overlooked Lita Roza: In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning, Hey There, Allentown Jail, (How Much Is) That Doggie in the Window?, and The Man in the Raincoat.
And there are contributions by:
• top male pop stars Frankie Vaughan (Give Me the Moonlight—Give Me the Girl, Kisses Sweeter Than Wine, The Green Door, Tower of Strength, The Garden of Eden and, with Marilyn Monroe, Incurably Romantic) and Michael Holliday (The Story of My Life, The Rose Tattoo, Dear Hearts and Gentle People, Starry Eyed, Four Feather Falls, The Runaway Train, and Keep Your Heart);
• music hall veteran Arthur Askey (The Bee Song, Have a Bit of Pity on the Crooner);
• trad jazz performers George Melly (After You've Gone, Frankie and Johnny) and Clinton Ford and the Merseysippi Jazz Band (Oh By Jingo, Get Out and Get Under, and Chicago Buzz);
• folk singers Stan Kelly & Leon Rosselson (Greedy Landlord) and The Spinners (The Champion of the Seas, Whip Jamboree, and Johnny Todd);
• and a variety of girl singers, like Lyn Cornell (The Sweet Life—Nino Rota's theme from LA DOLCE VITA—and Never on Sunday); The de Laine Sisters (It Might as Well Rain Until September); Alma Warren, seen here with her big sister Lita Roza (Young at Heart, Stealin'); and The Vernons Girls, pictured here with the Fab Four (The Loco-Motion, Funny All Over, Lover Please, and You Know What I Mean).
Other songs, all by artists we've never heard of, include Pianissimo, Love Is Like a Violin (both by Ken Dodd), Theme from Danger Man (Red Price Combo), Roll Over Beethoven (King Size Taylor and the Dominoes), Trains and Boats and Planes (Michael Allen), The Sneeze (Red Price), Swinging in the Rain (Norman Vaughan), Sweet Little Sixteen (Michael Cox), I Ain't Mad at You (Howie Casey and the Seniors with Derry Wilkie), and
Gonna Find Me a Bluebird (Russ Hamilton).
Plus songs by Lance Fortune, Mal Perry, Earl Preston's Realms, The Crescents, Johnny Gentle, and Darren Young. Click HERE for complete track listing.
20-pg. booklet incl. detailed song notes. Import, $14.99 [regularly $20.99]
Friedrich Hollaender, ZWISCHEN DEM WOHER UND DEM WOHIN
2002 CD on the prestigious Bear Family label—33 recordings by the renowned German composer, playing songs from his later musicals, ADAM UND EVA and SCHERZO, plus DAS BLAUE VOM HIMMEL, a reading of his short story Die Memoiren des lieben Gottes (The Memoirs of a Loving God), and miscellaneous tracks—a total running time of 79 min.
Hollaender became famous in 1930 for his score for THE BLUE ANGEL, including the now-standard Falling in Love Again. He fled Nazi Germany in 1933, eventually settling in the United States, where he wrote the music for numerous films, including DESTRY RIDES AGAIN, THE 5,000 FINGERS OF DR. T, and SABRINA.
He scored four Academy Award nominations in the process, and wrote a number of popular songs, many of them associated with Marlene Dietrich, including See What the Boys in the Back Room Will Have, Black Market, Illusions, and You Leave Me Breathless.
Forming the centerpiece of the CD are 15 songs and themes from ADAM UND EVA, and 11 from SCHERZO (including songs which translate as One Dry Martini, Crazy Money, The Happy Island, It's So Simple, The Train, Hunger, Fugue, Love Song, What Can I Do for You?, Conrad's Song, and Rosina's Song).
CD incl. 48-page booklet. Import, $15.99 [regularly $25.99]
Libby Holman, SOMETHING TO REMEMBER HER BY
Subtitled THE SCANDALOUS LIBBY HOLMAN, this 2005 import is one of only three CDs of the music of this great but unjustly neglected torch singer, who either introduced or popularized such classics as Moanin' Low, Can't We Be Friends?, Body and Soul, Something to Remember You By, I'm One of God's Children (Who Hasn't Got Wings), Love for Sale, and You and the Night and the Music—all of which are included here.
Also included is BLUES TILL DAWN, the superb 1942 album Holman recorded with African-American guitarist and balladeer Josh White—half a dozen dynamic folk-blues sides: The House of the Risin' Sun, When the Sun Goes Down, Good Morning Blues, Hansom' Winsome Johnny / On Top of Old Smoky, Fare Well Honey / Fare Thee Well, and Baby Baby.
A dozen more tracks recorded between 1928-1942, all newly remastered: Who's That Knocking at My Door?, There Ain't No Sweet Man That's Worth the Salt of My Tears, The Way He Loves Is Just Too Bad, Am I Blue?, I'm Doin' What I'm Doin' for Love, I May Be Wrong (but I Think You're Wonderful), Here I Am, Cooking Breakfast for the One I Love, When a Woman Loves a Man, A Ship Without a Sail, What Is This Thing Called Love?, and When You Love Only One.
Import, $11.99 [regularly $18.99]
|
David Friedman, Anne Runolfsson, Alix Korey, et al. [Original Cast], LISTEN TO MY HEART
2003 2-CD cast recording of this musical revue, subtitled THE SONGS OF DAVID FRIEDMAN, "recorded live Upstairs at Studio 54" and performed by a six-member cast led by Anne Runolfsson, Alix Korey, and Friedman himself (doubling on piano). The show features 27 songs by the popular contemporary singer-songwriter, whose tunes have been recorded by artists like Barry Manilow, Diana Ross, Jane Olivor, Sam Harris, Portia Nelson and, especially, by the late Nancy LaMott, Friedman's early mentor, and Kathie Lee Gifford, his most recent champion.
The 27 numbers here (with occasional lyrics by the likes of Portia Nelson, Kathie Lee Gifford, and Alix Korey) include Friedman's most popular songs, many of which have entered the standard cabaret repertory, including Listen to My Heart, We Can Be Kind, We Live on Borrowed Time, Help Is on the Way, I'll Be Here with You, You're There, I'm Not My Mother, and the amusing My Simple Wish ("I wanna be rich, famous and powerful / Step on all my enemies and never do a thing / I wanna be rich, famous and powerful / So all I have to do in life is sit around and sing.... / I don't wanna audition, I don't wanna take class / I wanna be discovered while I'm sitting on my ass.")
Plus Trust the Wind, What I Was Dreamin' Of, He Comes Home Tired, If You Love Me Please Don't Feed Me, You'll Always Be My Baby, Live it Up, Trick of Fate, The Gift of Trouble, Catch Me, Only My Pillow Knows, Nothing in Common, What I'd Had in Mind, If I Were Pretty, As Long as I Can Sing, and many more.
32-pg. booklet incl. complete lyrics. 2-CD set, $11.99 [regularly $23.99]
|
|
Cleo Laine, UNFORGETTABLE
Subtitled 50 ORIGINAL RECORDINGS ON 2 CDS, this budget-priced import set is highlighted by five ultra-rare single sides that do not appear on any other CD. Recorded by Laine during her seven-year tenure with Fontana Records in the 1960s, they include Waiting for Johnny to Come Home (a cover of Etta James's Waiting for Charlie to Come Home, by Burt Bacharach and Bob Hilliard), I Only Have Eyes for You, No Such Thing as Love, Mister One and Only, and You Gotta Have Love.
The remaining sides, many not easy to find elsewhere, are culled from the various labels, large and small, for which she recorded throughout the '50s and '60s—Columbia, MGM, Pye Nixa, Wing, Esquire, Piccadilly, and NJE—a vast and eclectic oeuvre of acclaimed recordings which led to her eventual breakthrough, and subsequent popularity, in the States. A few more pop tunes of the day are included—Hal David's You'll Answer to Me, A Love Like Ours, I Think of You, All About Me—as well as a smattering songs from her famous 1964 album SHAKESPEARE AND ALL THAT JAZZ (Blow Blow Thou Winter Wind, It Was a Lover and His Lass, Sign No More Ladies, O Mistress Mine).
However, the vast majority of the selections here are standards—I Can Dream, Can't I?, Mad About the Boy, Alec Wilder's The April Age, Stormy Weather, I'm on a See-Saw (from Vivian Ellis's JILL DARLING), I Want to Be Happy, I Gotta Right to Sing the Blues, I Don't Want to Set the World on Fire, I Got it Bad (and That Ain't Good), I'll Get By, My One and Only Love, April in Paris, Early Autumn, Old Devil Moon, I'm Just Wild About Harry, Something's Gotta Give, Hit the Road to Dreamland, I'll Remember April, I'm Beginning to See The Light, I'm Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter, Unforgettable, I Don't Know Why, T'ain't What You Do, I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm, I'll Be Around, Jeepers Creepers, Just A-Sittin' and A-Rockin', Mood Indigo, Happiness Is a Thing Called Joe, I'm Putting All My Eggs in One Basket, St. Louis Blues, 'Round Midnight, Love Is Here to Stay, Deep in a Dream, Mean to Me, It's a Pity to Say Goodnight, and I'm a Dreamer, Aren't We All?
2-CD import, $9.99 [regularly $11.99]
|
Carole Carr, THIS THING CALLED LOVE
Subtitled THE LOVELY VOICE OF CAROLE CARR, this 2014 import collects 20 sides from the '40s and early '50s, highlighted by rarely heard tunes by Irving Berlin (Getting Nowhere (Running Around in Circles)) and Jule Styne and Sammy Cahn (Can't You Read Between The Lines?). Recorded with the orchestras of Frank Cordell and, mostly, Geraldo, most of these tracks have never previously been issued on CD.
18 more songs: There's a Small Hotel, I'm on a See-Saw (both duets with Dick James), Gotta Be This or That, What Is This Thing Called Love?, Mocking Bird Lament, A Journey to a Star, Little Yellow Bird, Patience and Fortitude, The Nearness of You, Coax Me a Little Bit, Dancing with Someone, Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah, Where in the World, People Will Say We're in Love, How Much Is That Doggie in the Window?, Sometimes, The Things We Did Last Summer, and Heart and Soul. Import, $9.99 [regularly $19.99]
|
| | |
|
Pearl Bailey, Dorothy Collins, Georgia Gibbs, Eileen Barton, Rosemary Clooney, et al., THE POPSTERS, VOL. 4
2015 import, a follow-up to the above—another 33 tracks of '50s pop singers tackling the rock 'n' roll rhythms of the era.
The above perform, respectively, Can't Rock and Roll to Save My Soul, My Boy Flat-Top, Rock Right, Fujiyama Mama, and Shot Gun Boogie.
Plus songs by Jo Stafford (I Got a Sweetie), Jean Dinning (Bo Diddley), Gloria Mann (Teenage Prayer), Ella Mae Morse (Lovey Dovey), Vicki Young (I'm All Shook Up), Betty Johnson (Little White Lies), The Fontane Sisters (Rock Love), Doris Day (Two Hearts, Two Kisses (Make One Love)), Nat King Cole (Send for Me), Les Paul & Mary Ford (How High the Moon), Tony Bennett (Close Your Eyes), Donny Baker (Drinkin' Pop—Sodee Odee (Pop Pop)), Cindy & Lindy (Let's Go Steady), Perry Como (Ko Ko Mo), Teresa Brewer (Bo Weevil), The Chordettes (Eddie My Love), Hugo & Luigi (Rockabilly Party), Johnnie Ray (Flip Flop and Fly), Don Cherry (Band of Gold), and Pat Boone (The Fat Man).
Other artists include Don Cornell, Jim Lowe, Guy Mitchell, The Crew Cuts, The Diamonds, Lawrence Welk & His Champagne Music, Art Mooney & His Orchestra, and The Hilltoppers.
Import, $13.99 [regularly $18.99]
|
|
|
Jenna McSwain, WAX & WANE
Subtitled SONGS WITHOUT SEASONS, this 2013 CD marks the debut of McSwain, a New Orleans singer, pianist and songwriter.
With some of the Big Easy's most talented young musicians on guitar, percussion, bass, cello, trombone, tenor sax, and trumpet, the album, asscording to to the publicity materials, "is eclectic, organic, and undoubtedly jazz, moving smoothly from sambas to hard-driving swing tunes with heartfelt ballads interspersed."
McSwain performs the spiritual I've Got Peace Like a River and eight original jazz compositions: Autumn Surprise, title tune, Alright, Without a Word, The Okra Strut, Amanhã, Seasons Change, and Somethin' to Sing About, NOW $2.99 [WAS $4.99; regularly $14.99]
|
| | |
Margaret Whiting & Jimmy Wakely, TILL WE MEET AGAIN
This 2006 import features, according to the liner notes, "all twenty-nine tracks that Margaret Whiting and Jimmy Wakely recorded together for Capitol between 1949 and 1954, and it is the first time they have ever been assembled in one collection. Most have not been available since their initial dates of release." The CD also includes two solo sides by Whiting (Foggy River, Try Me One More Time) and one by Wakely (Peter Cottontail)—a total of 32 tracks.
The unlikely paiiring of pop vocalist Whiting and country-western singer Wakely yielded a surprise number one hit, Slipping Around, in 1949, and the duo scored subsequent top 10 hits with A Bushel and a Peck, When You and I Were Young Maggie Blues, Wedding Bells, I'll Never Slip Around Again, Broken Down Merry-Go-Round, The Gods Were Angry with Me, Let's Go to Church (Next Sunday Morning), and I Don't Want to Be Free.
Other songs include Easter Parade, title tune, When Love Goes Wrong, Beyond the Reef, Silver Bells, Christmas Candy, Star of Hope, Gomen-Nasai (Forgive Me), Six Times a Week and Twice on Sunday, There's a Silver Moon on the Golden Gate, Let Old Mother Nature Have Her Way, Fools Paradise, I Learned to Love You Too Late, Close Your Pretty Eyes, Why Do You Say Those Things (That Hurt Me So)?, Let's Live a Little, Why Am I Losing You?, My Heart Knows, The Tennessee Churchbells, and Give Me More, More, More of Your Kisses.
Import, $9.99 [regularly $12.99]
Bebe Daniels, Betty Driver, Nora Bayes, Binnie Hale, Al Bowlly, et al., SONGS FROM THE WAR YEARS
Incredible price on this excellent 2014 import, subtitled A CELEBRATION IN MUSIC—three CDs of songs, most with a wartime theme, from the Great War and the Second World War. The vast majority of the 60 songs here are of British vintage.
The above perform, respectively, There's a Boy Coming Home on Leave (with Ben Lyon), The World Will Sing Again, Over There, A Nice Cup of Tea, and Goodnight Sweetheart.
Other songs include (We're Gonna Hang) The Washing on the Siegfried Line (Flanagan & Allen), Sister Susie's Sewing Shirts for Soldiers (Billy Murray), Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition (Kay Kyser & His Orchestra), The Laddies Who Fought and Won (Harry Lauder), There'll Always Be an England (Alfred Piccaver), Pack Up Your Troubles in Your Old Kit Bag (Reginald Werrenrath), Kiss Me Goodnight Sergeant Major (Alan Breeze with Billy Cotton's Band), It's Time for Every Boy to Be a Soldier (Charles H. Hart), How Ya Gonna Keep 'Em Down on the Farm? (Harry Fay), Lili Marlene (Lale Andersen), In the Quartermaster's Stores (Tommy Handley), They Can't Black Out the Moon (Harry Roy), I've Got My Captain Working for Me Now (Al Jolson), When the Lights Go on Again (All Over the World) (Vaughn Monroe), The White Cliffs of Dover (Vera Lynn), Comin' in on a Wing and a Prayer (Anne Shelton with Ambrose & His Orchestra), Keep the Home Fires Burning (John McCormack), Mr. Wu's an Air Raid Warden Now (George Formby), Oh! It's a Lovely War (Courtland & Jeffries), When They Sound the Last All Clear (Harry Roy & His Band), I Didn't Raise My Boy to Be a Soldier (Morton Harvey), Mademoiselle from Armentieres (Jack Charman), We'll Meet Again (Vera Lynn), It's a Long Way to Tipperary (John McCormack), Take Me Back to Dear Old Blighty (Ella Retford), Wish Me Luck as You Wave Me Goodby (Gracie Fields), Hey Little Hen (Nat Gonella & His Georgians), A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square (Anne Shelton), Good Morning Mr. Zip-Zip-Zip! (Arthur Fields), You'll Never Know (Dick Haymes), Bless 'Em All (George Formby), I'll Be Seeing You (Anne Shelton), Sing as We Go (Gracie Fields), Don't Sit Under the Apple Tree (The Andrews Sisters), Till the Clouds Roll By (Anna Wheaton & James Harrod), I've Got Sixpence (Billy Cotton & His Band), and This Is the Army, Mr. Brown (Harry Roy).
Click HERE for complete track listing. 3-CD import, $9.99 [regularly $11.99]
Sophia Loren, GOODNESS, GRACIOUS!
Subtitled A MUSICAL PORTRAIT OF SOPHIA LOREN, this 2013 import features musical tracks related to Sophia Loren—songs she sang, numbers from her 1960 album with Peter Sellers (pictured here), and instrumental movie themes.
Loren sings Almost in Your Arms, Bing! Bang! Bong! (both from HOUSEBOAT), Tu vuo fa l'Americano, Carina (both from IT STARTED IN NAPLES), S'agapo (from BOY ON A DOLPHIN), I Wanna Guy, Mambo Bacan, Felicità, Perché domani?, and Che m'e 'mparato a fa.
Also included are six of her seven songs from PETER SELLERS AND SOPHIA LOREN: Goodness Gracious Me, Bangers and Mash, I Fell in Love with an Englishman, Fare Thee Well (all duets with Sellers), To Keep My Love Alive, and Zoo Be Zoo Be Zoo.
Plus instrumental themes from the above films, and from TWO WOMEN, BOCCACCIO '70, THE PRIDE AND THE PASSION, DESIRE UNDER THE ELMS, and THE KEY—26 tracks in all. Import, $9.99 [regularly $11.99]
|
Ella Fitzgerald, RHYTHM IS MY BUSINESS [Bonus Tracks]
2015 import—her 1962 Verve album, plus a dozen additional bonus tracks—two session tracks that never appeared on the LP, as well as Ella's entire set from the 1957 Newport Jazz Festival—23 tracks in all.
On RHYTHM IS MY BUSINESS, Ella is backed by an ensemble that includes such luminaries as Melba Liston, Kai Winding, Phil Woods, Hank Jones, Mundell Lowe, and Bill Doggett.
Songs: Rough Ridin', Broadway, You Can Depend on Me, Runnin' Wild, Show Me the Way to Get Out of This World ('Cause That's Where Everything Is), I'll Always Be in Love with You, I Can't Face the Music (Without Singing the Blues), No Moon at All, Laughing on the Outside (Crying on the Inside), After You've Gone, Taking a Chance on Love, If I Could Be with You (One Hour Tonight), and Hallelujah, I Love Him So
At Newport, supported by Don Abney (piano), Jo Jones (drums) and Wendell Marshall (bass), Ella performs This Can't Be Love, I Got It Bad (and That Ain't Good), Body and Soul, Too Close for Comfort, Lullaby of Birdland, I've Got a Crush on You, I'm Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter, April in Paris, Air Mail Special, and I Can't Give You Anything But Love.
Import, $9.99 [regularly $15.99]
|
|
Joan Crawford, Lauren Bacall, Shelly Winters, Susan Hayward, Bette Davis, et al., DID YOU KNOW THESE STARS ALSO SANG?
Subtitled HOLLYWOOD'S ACTING LEGENDS, this sensational 2007 2-CD import presents 55 songs performed by movie stars of the Golden Age, stars who were not known as musical performers or known for their singing (in many cases for obvious reasons). Some of these have sufaced before on movie soundtrack collections or on what-were-they-thinking compilations, but many of these are only available on this collection.
The above perform, respectively, Always and Always, Who Wants Love? (both by Joan Crawford), How Little We Know, I Don't Know Why (I Just Do) (both by Lauren Bacall), Lie to Me, I'll Cry Tomorrow, and They're Either Too Young or Too Old.
Other artists include Barbara Stanwyck (Take it Off the E String, Fill it Up, I Hum a Waltz), Gracie Allen (Honolulu, Snug as a Bug in a Rug), Paulette Goddard (Sea Shanty), Paulette Goddard (Pete the Piper), Ava Gardner (How Am I to Know?, Bill), Ida Lupino & Ronald Colman (I've Got Sixpence), Robert Mitchum (O-He-O-Hi-O-Ho, Just Like Me / Summer Song / Tall Dark Stranger, Foolish Pride / Rachel), James Cagney (Shanghai Lil), Jack Lemmon (Temporarily), Charlie Chaplin (I'm an Animal Trainer, The Sardine Song), Jeff Chandler (I Should Care), Claudette Colbert (Give Me Liberty or Give Me Love), Cary Grant (Did I Remember?, Old-Fashioned Garden, You're the Top), Humphrey Bogart (The Bold Fisherman), Marlon Brando (Luck Be a Lady, A Woman in Love), Ann Sheridan (Love Isn't Born—it's Made, In Waikiki, Would You Like a Souvenir?), George Sanders (Marrying for Love, You're Just in Love / Something to Dance About), Van Johnson (I Won't Dance), and Tony Curtis (The Two of Us).
Plus performances by Jean Simmons, Kirk Douglas, Alan Ladd, Robert Young, James Stewart, Errol Flynn, Clark Gable, Fred MacMurray, Basil Rathbone, and Frank Morgan. Click HERE for complete track listing.
2-CD import, $11.99 [regularly $14.99]
|
Josephine Baker, REMEMBERING
2014 2-CD import—a whopping 57 early sides by this American expatriate singer. Baker sailed to Paris in 1925 to appear in LA REVUE NÈGRE at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, where her singing and her erotic dancing made her an instant sensation and, ultimately, a show business legend.
Songs in English and, mostly French: Sleepy Time Gal, Then I'll Be Happy, Dis-mois Josephine, J'ai deux amours, La petite Tonkinoise, Pretty Little Baby, Suppose, Aux Îles Hawaii, Confessing, King for a Day!, Love Is a Dreamer, My Fate Is in Your Hands, You're Driving Me Crazy, You're the One I Care For, Les mots d'amour, Madiana, Ram-Pam-Pam, Sans amour, Si j'étais blanche, Sous le ciel d'Afrique, C'est si facile de vous aimer (Easy to Love), Brazil, Begin the Beguine, Come Prima, Night and Day, Parlez-moi d'amour, April in Paris, Paris je t'aime, Sous les ponts de Paris, La Seine, Donnez-moi la main, Sous les toits de Paris, J'attendrai, Clopin-Clopan, Don't Touch My Tomatoes, Avec, Moi "Io," Je pars, C'est Paris, and many more.
Click HERE for complete track listing. 2-CD import, $11.99 [regularly $19.99]
|
| | |
|
Original Soundtrack, PLANET OF THE APES [Bonus Tracks]
1997 CD, on the prestigious Varèse Sarabande label, of Jerry Goldsmith's score to this classic 1968 sci-fi film, with six previously unreleased tracks, including a 16-minute suite from 1971's ESCAPE FROM PLANET OF THE APES. And there are expanded versions of three other themes.
Preceded by the Twentieth Century Fox Fanfare, the tracks from PLANET OF THE APES are: Main Title, Crash Landing, The Searchers, The Search Continues, The Clothes Snatchers, The Hunt, A New Mate, The Revelation, No Escape, The Trial, New Identity, A Bid for Freedom, The Forbidden Zone, The Intruders, The Cave, and The Revelation (Part II)—18 tracks in all, with a running time of over 67 min., $7.99 [regularly $13.99]
|
|
Peggy Lee, Bobby Darin, Connie Francis, Patti Page, et al., I'LL BE SEEING YOU
An entry in GOLDEN AGE OF POP, Time-Life Music's self-described "definitive music collection of the '50s," a series of 3-CD sets released in 2010.
The above perform, respectively, It's a Good Day, Mr. Wonderful (both by Peggy Lee), Beyond the Sea, Who's Sorry Now?, and Old Cape Cod.
42 songs in all, including hits by Dinah Shore (Love and Marriage), Brenda Lee (I Want to Be Wanted (Per Tutta La Vita), I'm Sorry), Perry Como (Papa Loves Mambo, More), Vic Damone (On the Street Where You Live), Bing Crosby (Around the World), The Paris Sisters (I Love How You Love Me), Ricky Nelson (Poor Little Fool, Believe What You Say), Ray Charles (Georgia on My Mind), Eddie Fisher (I Need You Now), Johnny Mathis (It's Not for Me to Say, The Twelfth of Never), Nat King Cole (Send for Me, Ramblin' Rose, Those Lazy-Hazy-Crazy Days of Summer), The Everly Brothers (All I Have to Do Is Dream, Bye Bye Love), Frankie Avalon (Venus), Harry Belafonte (Banana Boat (Day-O)), Roy Orbison (Crying), Frank Sinatra (I'll Be Seeing You), Sonny James (Young Love), The Platters (Twilight Time, Only You), and Paul Anka (Put Your Head on My Shoulder, Puppy Love, Diana).
Other artists include Brook Benton, Elvis Presley, The Ames Brothers, Andy Williams, The Four Coins, and Dean Martin. Click HERE for complete track listing.
3-CD, $8.99 [regularly $14.99]
Richard Kates, DARE TO BE GREAT
Out of print 1999 import, on the prestigious Dress Circle theater label, by this British theater composer and singer, who performs songs from his "hopefully soon to be produced" musicals, plus half a dozen original "songs written over the years that have yet to find their show," including one entitled The Words and Music of Richard Kates, which might well serve as the subtitle for this CD.
Though in one of his songs he laments I've Never Been in a Show by Andrew Lloyd Webber, Kates, refreshingly, does not compose grand, self-conscious arias or hollow, overblown pop ballads. More Jerry Herman than Lloyd Webber, he writes in the classic tradition of musical theater and cabaret—charming, pointed songs which are sometimes poignant, often funny.
A good example of the latter is When I Gaze into a Mirror, which he puts across with his customary verve and a respectable singing voice:
When I gaze into a mirror what I see
Is a person I don't recognize as me
I am surely ten years younger
Make that twenty, make it more
Who the hell requested wrinkles
Or an ass that hits the floor?
So what happened to the blossom and the bloom,
Turning heads from simply walking in a room?
Well, the heads have not stopped turning
'They just turn to look away
No one loves a faded fairy
Or a queen who loves ballet.
Kates performs songs from four of his musicals—TALLULAH DARLING! (No More Mr. Nice Guy, The Helen Keller Rag, and The Masturbation Tango—shades of Tom Lehrer!), DICK WHITTINGTON (Doesn't Anyone Remember?, Dare to Be Great), SNAKES & LADDERS (With Me in My Heart), and MAE I? (It's What I Understand). Plus Oh So Sad About the Girl, My Memories, When I Gaze into a Mirror, and Forgive Me if I Stare.
Booklet incl. complete lyrics. Import, NOW $14.99 [WAS $17.99; regularly $22.99] [CD is brand new—never played—but like many imports, it is not shrink-wrapped]
|
Maye Cavallaro & Abe Battat, IN THE MIDDLE OF A KISS
Extremely rare 1990 debut CD, virtually impossible to find anywhere else, by this excellent and popular Bay Area-based jazz singer, a collaboration with the late pianist Abe Battat .
Cavallaro sings I See Your Face Before Me, No Moon at All, Make Someone Happy, (Song for) A Rainy Afternoon (by Carroll Coates), I Didn't Know What Time it Was, Like a Lover, He's Funny That Way, And it All Goes 'Round and 'Round (by Bernard Ighner, composer of Everything Must Change), and two songs by Battat (Once You Were Mine, and the title tune).
Abe Battat leads the quintet backing Cavallaro and supplies three vocals himself—How Little We Know (the Carolyn Leigh song), I See Your Face Before Me, and It Could Happen to You (a duet with Cavallaro), $14.99 [regularly $19.99]
|
| | |
Jon Hendricks, A GOOD GIT-TOGETHER / EVOLUTION OF THE BLUES SONG
2015 import combining two complete albums—23 tracks—on one CD by Jon Hendricks, the legendary master of vocal jazz.
A GOOD GIT-TOGETHER—Hendricks assembled renowned sidemen like Wes Montgomery, Nat and Cannonball Adderley, Pony Poindexter, Gildo Mahones, and Ike Isaacs for this, his appropriately-titled debut solo effort, released in 1959. They provide stellar support for the singer on a program that balances self-penned originals and well-known instrumentals to which Hendricks has set his customarily deft lyrics.
The former include Feed Me, title tune, Minor Catastrophe, I'm Gonna Shout (Everything Started in the House of the Lord), and the exuberant I'll Die Happy (which has been recorded by Louis Jordan—and Carol Channing!!). The latter include Benny Golson's Out of the Past, The Shouter (by Gildo Mahones), Randy Weston's Pretty Strange, and two songs by Gigi Gryce, Music in the Air and the classic Social Call;
EVOLUTION OF THE BLUES—Previously out of print on CD, this 1961 album documented the musical—a combination of originals and popular classics—that Hendricks created and starred in at the 1960 Monterey Jazz Festival, along with some notable jazz friends, who are also featured on the album.
According to critic Michael Nastos, "Of the many projects Hendricks has been involved in, this is his crowning glory. It toured the country as a stage production, depicting the history of African-American roots music, from spirituals and field hollers to blues, gospel, and jazz. Hendricks recites signposts of the musical progression in rhyme and singing....If you'd like to get your children—or uninformed grown-ups—a quick, painless, enjoyable lesson in the last 100+ years of our American classical heritage, this is a perfect primer."
Hendricks himself supplies an introduction and several numbers—Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child, W.P.A. Blues, Amo, Some Stopped on de Way, Aw Gal, and Swing Low, Sweet Chariot. He is ably abetted by singers Hannah Dean (That's Enough), Jimmy Witherspoon (Please Send Me Someone to Love, See See Rider, Sun Gonna Shine in My Door), "Big" Miller (If I Had My Share, Sufferin' Blues), and Pony Poindexter (Jumpin' with Symphony Sid, New Orleans).
Import, $8.99 [regularly $18.99]
|
Betty Hutton, THE BLONDE BOMBSHELL IN HOLLYWOOD
2006 2-CD import, the most extensive collection to date of songs—many of them not available elsewhere—by "Hollywood's blonde bombshell," or "Miss Dynamite"—or any of several other monikers used to describe this powerhouse performer from the golden age of movie musicals.
Both on film and on record Betty Hutton's style was one of total abandon, even anarchy. She seemed hellbent on perfecting hollering as an art form and selling mania as the basic human condition—and she succeeded. At her peak, Hutton recorded extensively for RCA and Capitol, and mostly she sang funny novelty numbers especially written for her, many by Frank Loesser. But more important, when she wanted to, she could handle a ballad with ease and aching, heartbreaking simplicity, proving herself to be one of our great popular singers.
Here are 50 soundtrack performances, including all twelve of her songs from SOMEBODY LOVES ME, the 1952 biopic of Blossom Seeley and Benny Fields. Plus Ol' Man Mose, The Jitterbug, If You Build a Better Mousetrap, Not Mine, Arthur Murray Taught Me Dancing in a Hurry, I'm Doin' it for Defense, Murder He Says, The Fuddy Duddy Watchmaker, The First Hundred Years, Bluebirds in My Belfry, His Rocking Horse Ran Away, Join the Navy, There's a Fella Waitin' in Poughkeepsie, I Promise You, Ragtime Cowboy Joe, What Do You Want to Make Those Eyes at Me For?, Row Row Row, It Had to Be You, Oh by Jingo—Oh by Gee, The Hard Way, Swinging on a Star, I'm a Square in a Social Circle, In the Shade of the Old Apple Tree, If I Had a Dozen Hearts, The Sewing Machine, Rumble Rumble Rumble, I Wish I Didn't Love You So, Poppa Don't Preach to Me, That's Loyalty, Hamlet, I Wake Up in the Morning Feeling Fine, (Where Are You?) Now That I Need You, Can't Stop Talking, Oh Them Dudes, Why Fight the Feeling?, Tunnel of Love, and Doctor, Lawyer, Indian Chief.
2-CD import, $11.99 [regularly $16.99]
|
|
Felicia Sanders, Helen Humes, Bea Wain, Dusty Springfield, Johnny Hartman, et al., EMI MUSIC RESOURCES: THE STANDARDS, VOLUME 1
Superb 1998 4-CD set—a whopping 93 tracks on four CDs— released by music publisher EMI as a promotional item only and never available commercially.
Critic Jason Ankeny writes, "It's a real shame that EMI MUSIC RESOURCES: THE STANDARDS is available solely as a promotional item—a better collection of American popular classics you're not going to find. A four-disc, 91-song compilation assembled by EMI Music Publishing to highlight the crown jewels of its massive catalog for potential licensing deals, THE STANDARDS doubles as one of the most comprehensive and tasteful overviews of traditional pop ever put together....There are no liner notes, but the fidelity is excellent, and as a crash course in the history of the popular song, it's tough to beat."
The above perform, respectively, The Song from MOULIN ROUGE (Where Is Your Heart), Blame it on My Last Affair (with Count Basie), My Reverie, The Look of Love, and My One and Only Love (with John Coltrane).
"The set includes an absolutely stunning number of the greatest recordings of the 20th century," Ankeny continues, "including (but certainly not limited to) Judy Garland's Over the Rainbow, Glenn Miller's Moonlight Serenade, Fats Waller's Ain't Misbehavin', Nat King Cole's Stardust, and Tony Bennett's I Left My Heart in San Francisco."
88 more great songs by great artists, including Barbra Streisand (How Lucky Can You Get?), Nino Tempo & April Stevens (Deep Purple), Ray Eberle (Stairway to the Stars), Michael Feinstein (Anything Can Happen in New York), Hot Lips Page with Artie Shaw (St. James Infirmary), Linda Ronstadt (Sophisticated Lady), Otis Redding (Try a Little Tenderness), Jimmy Durante (If I Had You), Johnny Mathis (A Certain Smile), Helen Forrest with Benny Goodman (Taking a Chance on Love), Ed Townsend (For Your Love), The Chordettes (Never on Sunday), Dinah Washington (A Handful of Stars), Fred Astaire (You're All the World to Me), Doris Day (I'll Never Stop Loving You), Etta James (At Last), Nina Simone (Mood Indigo), The Edwin Hawkins Singers (Oh Happy Day), Charles Brown (Goodnight My Love), Kitty Kallen (Little Things Mean a Lot), Duke Ellington (It Don't Mean a Thing (if it Ain't Got That Swing)), The Andrews Sisters (Don't Sit Under the Apple Tree (with Anyone Else but Me)), and Cab Calloway (Minnie the Moocher).
And there are multiple contributions by Peggy Lee (You Stepped Out of a Dream, Bewitched), Tony Bennett (The Best Is Yet to Come, The Shadow of Your Smile), Billie Holiday (Yours and Mine, Prelude to a Kiss, Ghost of a Chance), Vic Damone (Ebb Tide, An Affair to Remember, Alone), The Everly Brothers (Don't Blame Me, Temptation), Mel Tormé (Again, Blue Moon, One Morning in May), Ella Fitzgerald (If Dreams Come True, Day Dream, Don't Worry 'Bout Me), Sarah Vaughan (Street of Dreams, In a Sentimental Mood, Moonglow, Goodnight Sweetheart, Solitude), and Gene Kelly (All I Do Is Dream of You, Singin' in the Rain, You Were Meant for Me and, with Betty Noyes, You Are My Lucky Star), as well as Nat King Cole, Louis Armstrong, Frank Sinatra, and Dean Martin
Click HERE for complete track listing. 4-CD set, $15.99 [regularly $19.99] [Used copy also avail., $11.99]
Georgia Brown, Pat Thomas, Ketty Lester, Jane Morgan, et al., QUEENS OF HEARTACHE
Incredible price on this 2015 3-CD import—a whopping 75 songs by girl singers.
The above perform, respectively, As Long as He Needs Me, Desafinado, I'm a Fool to Want You, and My Foolish Heart.
Among the dozens of PRIMA DIVAS (according to the subtitle of this set) featured here, many are not usually represented in such collections. They include, in addition to the above, Alma Cogan (Little Things Mean a Lot), Helen Shapiro (Little Miss Lonely), Cathy Carroll (Poor Little Puppet), Barbara George (I Know (You Don't Love Me No More)), Mary Wells (You Beat Me to the Punch), Barbara Lynn (You'll Lose a Good Thing), Esther Phillips (Release Me), Skeeter Davis (The End of the World), Carla Thomas (I'll Bring it Home to You), Maxine Brown (One Step at a Time), Faye Adams (Shake a Hand), and Sue Thompson (Two of a Kind).
There are multiple contributions from Shirley Horn (Love for Sale, Come Rain or Come Shine), Timi Yuro (What's a Matter Baby?, She Really Loves You), Aretha Franklin (Over the Rainbow, I Surrender Dear, Trouble in Mind), Connie Francis (Where the Boys Are, Who's Sorry Now?, He Thinks I Still Care), Helen Merrill (Here's That Rainy Day, What's New?, My Only Man), Shirley Bassey (With These Hands, As I Love You), Peggy Lee (Black Coffee, As Time Goes By), Julie London (It's a Blue World, Goodbye), Joni James (When I Fall in Love, There Goes My Heart, Your Cheatin' Heart), Brenda Lee (I'm Sorry, Everybody Loves Me but You, I Want to Be Wanted), Dakota Staton (Crazy He Calls Me, I Could Make You Care), Judy Garland (Do I Love You?, By Myself, The Man that Got Away), and Wanda Jackson (One Teardrop at a Time, If I Cried Every Time You Hurt Me).
And there are selections by Helen Forrest (Ghost of a Chance), Anita O'Day (The Man I Love), Nancy Wilson (Save Your Love for Me), Marlene Dietrich (I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face), Betty Carter (Moonlight in Vermont), Blossom Dearie (Inside a Silent Tear), Kay Starr (My Last Date with You), Rosemary Clooney (What'll I Do?), Patti Page (Let Me Go Lover), June Christy (I Can Make You Love Me), Jeri Southern (All Too Soon), Carmen McRae (The Very Thought of You), and Etta James (All I Could Do Was Cry).
Plus songs by Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Dinah Washington, Patsy Cline, Jo Stafford, Sarah Vaughan, and Marilyn Monroe. Click HERE for complete track listing.
3-CD import, $9.99 [regularly $14.99]
|
Eric Comstock & Randy Napoleon, BITTER/SWEET
2010 CD, the fourth, and most recent, by this superb New York-based singer-pianist.
BITTER/SWEET, however, represented a radical departure for Comstock. He not only steps away from the piano but he is supported throughout only by Randy Napoleon, the virtuoso guitarist in Freddy Cole's quartet and Michael Bublé's band, as well as the leader of his own group. Such an unexpected and intimate accompaniment demonstrates something that may have been overlooked before. While Comstock is the co-heir apparent, with Steve Ross, to the mantle of the late Bobby Short—that is, our premier cabaret or "society" singer-pianist—he is also, far and away, the best singer of all the performers, past or present, with whom he shares his particular musical niche.
Napoleon's sensitive arrangements present an ideal musical setting for Comstock's vocals, cushioning and showcasing them at the same time. Comstock's singing is lovely—unaffected, heartfelt, warm, clear, even sensual (at least to these ears)—in short, every good thing.
Despite the obvious temptation posed by solo guitar accompaniment, Comstock wisely resists interpreting these songs as bossa novas, with the natural exception of Jobim's Living on Dreams (which features lyrics by the late Susannah McCorkle). This impeccably tasteful collection of songs includes another dozen tunes: I Have Dreamed, the obscure title tune (Billy Strayhorn's Ballad for Very Tired & Very Sad Lotus-Eaters, with lyrics by Roger Schore), Too Late Now, If I Had You, Billy May's rarely heard Somewhere in the Night (a hit for Teri Thornton in 1963), Gone with the Wind, This Can't Be Love, Paul Weston and Alan & Marilyn Bergman's little-known Goodbye Is a Lonesome Sound (also recorded by Teri Thornton, as well as Jean DuShon), Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams, A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square, Two for the Road (a duet with wife Barbara Fasano), and Goodbye, $9.99 [regularly $15.99]
|
| |
|
Jaye P. Morgan, June Valli, Joan Weber, The Four Coins, The Jamies, et al., CLASSIC '50s JUKEBOX
Excellent price on this out of print 2006 3-CD collection of 30 of the biggest hits of the '50s—original recordings by the original artists.
The above (all pictured here) perform That's All I Want from You, Crying in the Chapel, Let Me Go Lover, Shangri-La, and Summertime, Summertime.
Plus chart-topping sides by Lena Horne (Love Me or Leave Me), Kay Starr (Rock and Roll Waltz), Vic Damone (On the Street Where You Live), Tony Martin (There's No Tomorrow), Doris Day (Que Sera, Sera), Della Reese (Don't You Know), Perry Como (Magic Moments), Johnnie Ray (Just Walking in the Rain), Don Cherry (Band of Gold), Rosemary Clooney (Hey There), Dinah Shore (Love and Marriage), Frankie Laine (Jezebel), The Ames Brothers (Tammy), Guy Mitchell (Singing the Blues), Roy Hamilton (Unchained Melody), Terry Gilkyson & The Easy Riders (Marianne), Hugh Winterhalter & His Orchestra (Canadian Sunset), Vaughn Monroe (Sound Off (The Duckworth Chant)), Neil Sedaka (Oh! Carol), and more.
Click HERE for complete track listing.
3-CD set, only $6.99 [regularly $11.99]
|
Dionne Warwick, NO NIGHT SO LONG [Bonus Tracks]
2014 reissue of Warwick's 1980 album for Arista Records, plus four bonus tracks from the original sessions that did not appear on the final album.
Backed by a group that includes Isaac Hayes on organ and the Tower of Power horn section, Warwick sings Easy Love, title tune, When the World Runs Out of Love, Sweetie Pie, and songs by Melissa Manchester (We Had This Time), Peter Allen (Somebody's Angel), Carole Bayer Sager & David Foster (It's the Falling in Love), Allee Willis & Bruce Roberts (How You Once Loved Me), Peabo Bryson (Reaching for the Sky), and Isaac Hayes (We Never Said Goodbye).
The bonus tracks are Now That The Feeling's Gone, Starting Tomorrow, and two versions of This Is What I've Wanted All My Life (Piano Version and Full Mix), $6.99 [regularly $11.99]
|
| | |
Janet Lawson Quintet, DREAMS CAN BE
2001 Japanese edition of the 1981 debut album by this respected contemporary jazz singer whom the All Music Guide calls "A brilliant singer...an inventive and expressive scat singer with a very wide range" who is "long overdue for much greater recognition." According to her own publicity materials, "Lawson is widely recognized for her impeccable musicianship and free-spirited, swinging improvisation. Her commitment to improvisation... nourished her conception of the voice as an instrument."
Lawson made her debut in the early '60s at the Village Vanguard with Art Farmer's quartet. Since then she has toured internationally,
co-written the musical JASS IS A LADY (produced by Playwrights Horizons in New York), formed her own quintet, and received a Grammy nomination in 1981 for Best Female Jazz Vocal Performance. (She lost to Ella Fitzgerald.) According to her bio, "After a lengthy illness that prevented her from singing, Lawson is recovering and has returned to living, gigging and teaching"—she currently teaches vocal jazz technique at three New York City universities—and, in a rather camp addendum, "She wrote a book, THE INTEGRATED ARTIST: IMPROVISATION AS A WAY OF LIFE, about her journey to recovery, which will be published in Latvia."
Her long absence from the music scene accounts for the fact that her recorded output is minscule—a mere two albums with her own group, the last released nearly 30 years ago, plus occasional guest appearances on albums by artists like Eddie Jefferson and Bob Dorough and on 1998's SLEEP WARM: THE JAZZ SLUMBER PROJECT, alongside artists like Dianne Reeves and Kenny Rankin.
Lawson performs In a Sentimental Mood, the self-penned title tune, Tadd Damron's Hot House, Out of This World, Charlie Mingus's Better Get (H)it in Your Soul, and Break Free—six songs with a running time of over 43 min. Japanese import, $9.99 [regularly $24.99]
Joe Williams, THAT KIND OF WOMAN / SENTIMENTAL & MELANCHOLY
2015 import—two complete albums on one CD by this great jazz singer, both with an orchestra arranged and conducted by Jimmy Jones. The former, from 1959, has never been available on CD. The latter, released a year later, was available only on a now out of print, collectible import. (Those are the original albums covers, pictured here.)
THAT KIND OF WOMAN—12 songs: Candy, title tune, Stella by Starlight, Louise, It's Easy to Remember, Cherry, You Think of Everything, Why Can't You Behave?, When a Woman Loves a Man, Here's to My Lady, Have You Met Miss Jones?, and I Only Want to Love You;
SENTIMENTAL & MELANCHOLY—11 songs: Ev'rytime We Say Goodbye, Day by Day, Just as Though You Were Here, For All We Know, You Leave Me Breathless, Love Is the Sweetest Thing, Did I Remember?, Darn That Dream, Stay as Sweet as You Are, Just Plain Lonesome, and How Deep Is the Ocean? / Contented—23 tracks in all, with a running time of 67 min.
Import, $9.99 [regularly $12.99]
|
Alice Faye, GOT MY MIND ON MUSIC
1997 2-CD import—a whopping 64 tracks (!!) culled from the soundtracks to 21 of her movies, including THE GANG'S ALL HERE, ROSE OF WASHINGTON SQUARE, ALEXANDER'S RAGTIME BAND, TIN PAN ALLEY, YOU CAN'T HAVE EVERYTHING, ON THE AVENUE, POOR LITTLE RICH GIRL, THAT NIGHT IN RIO, and HELLO, FRISCO, HELLO.
Songs include But Definitely, You've Gotta Eat Your Spinach Baby (both with Shirley Temple), Got My Mind on Music, Think Twice (both with Joan Davis and Marjorie Weaver), The Shiek of Araby, Hawaii-a (both with Betty Grable), The Grizzly Bear (with June Havoc and Jack Oakie), Romance and Rhumba (with Cesar Romero), Afraid to Dream / You Can't Have Everything (with Tony Martin), Danger—Love at Work (with Louis Prima), You Belong to Me, Whose Big Baby Are You?, I'm Shooting High, You Turned the Tables on Me, Goodnight My Love, He Ain't Got Rhythm, This Year's Kisses, Slumming on Park Avenue, Remember / Alone, Are You in the Mood for Mischief?, I'm Sorry I Made You Cry, The Vamp, I'm Just Wild About Harry, My Man, I'll See You in My Dreams, I'm Always Chasing Rainbows, I Never Knew Heaven Could Speak, Moonlight Bay, Ragtime Cowboy Joe, Sweet Cider Time, Why Do They Always Pick on Me?, By the Light of the Silvery Moon, You'll Never Know, No Love—No Nothin', The Polka Dot Polka, One Never Knows—Does One?, and many more.
Click HERE for complete track listing.
2-CD import, $11.99 [regularly $15.99]
|
|
Frances Faye, NO REGRETS
Singer Frances Faye, whose motto was "I think when you're pretty, it doesn't matter how you wear your hair," is largely forgotten except by gay men, who especially relish the dry, hip, camp repartee of her live albums ("I was gonna strip but I'm not feeling too well [pause] I'm not pretty but I'm very wild [pause] and if you ever saw me during the day in a black sheath and sneakers, you'd kill yourself.").
Her two CAUGHT IN THE ACT albums are an important entry in, for lack of a better phrase, the lounge literature, and logical candidates for rediscovery by the Louis & Keely cult—just as her entire body of work needs to be reassessed by students of jazz and popular music. It is important to acknowledge her greatness as a singer, and this 2-CD import, released 15 years after her death in 1991, goes a long way toward that end.
The mere dozen LPs Faye (who pronounced her first name Fron-ces) recorded during her career showcase the breadth of her musical interests, including a jazz version of PORGY & BESS, albums of blues, folk songs and Latin-style tunes, and of all things, a tribute to Fats Domino. Her standard repertoire embraced pop, jazz, r&b and rock & roll.
This 2006 collection—a whopping 52 tracks—features three complete albums in their entirety—NO RESERVATIONS, recorded for Capitol in 1953, and I'M WILD AGAIN and RELAXIN' WITH FRANCES FAYE, both released on the prestigious Bethlehem jazz label soon after—plus all 10 of her Capitol single sides, plus additional rarities.
Complete track listing:
NO RESERVATIONS (1953)—Drunk with Love, Summertime, Mad about the Boy, Miss Otis Regrets, Sometimes I'm Happy, I Wish I Could Shimmy Like My Sister Kate, The Man I Love, You're Heavenly, I Can't Give You Anything but Love, Night and Day, A Hundred Years from Today, and Tweet, Tweet, Tweetheart;
Capitol 45s (1952-1953)—A Fool in Love, There's a Bell that Rings in My Heart, Dummy Song, Uh-Huh, She Looks, Sorry Baby, Hey Mister, I Was Wrong about You, My Last Affair, and On a Raft (in the Middle of the Ocean) ;
I'M WILD AGAIN (1955)—Toreador, They Can't Take That Away from Me, He's Funny That Way, I've Got You Under My Skin, My Heart Sings, Somebody Loves Me, September in the Rain, These Foolish Things, Love for Sale, Out of This World, and Medley: Little Girl Blue / Where or When / Embraceable You / Exactly Like You / I Don't Know Why / My Funny Valentine / Bewitched;
RELAXIN' WITH FRANCES FAYE (1956)—Love Is Just Around the Corner, I'm Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter, Don't Blame Me, Ain't Misbehavin', All the Things You Are, Darktown Strutters' Ball, Just You—Just Me, You're My Thrill, My Baby Just Cares for Me, Well All Right, The Thrill Is Gone, and Way Down Yonder in New Orleans;
Bonus tracks—No Regrets (Decca 78, 1936]), Mr. Paganini (Norge Radio Broadcast, 1937), and I Ain't Got Nobody (1942 "soundie");
International Records 78s (1946)—Boogie Woogie Washer Woman, Personality, Purple Wine, and I Can't Believe That You're in Love With Me.
2-CD import, $11.99 [regularly $16.99]
John Barry, Henry Mancini, Dimitri Tiomkin, et al., THE ESSENTIAL HOLLYWOOD
2006 2-CD set featuring 27 classic themes from the silver screen, performed by John Barry, Henry Mancini, Ennio Morricone (with the Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia), Elmer Bernstein, Dimitri Tiomkin (with The Hollywood Bowl Symphony Orchestra), Arthur Fiedler, John Williams (with the Boston Pops and the Los Angeles Philharmonic), David Raksin, Maurice Jarre (with Royal Philharmonic Orchestra), Riccardo Muti, and others.
Music from GONE WITH THE WIND (Main Title: Dixie, Mammy, Tara, Rhett), DOCTOR ZHIVAGO (Prelude & Lara's Theme), LAURA (Main Theme), PSYCHO (Prelude, The Murder, Finale), E.T.—THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL (Flying Theme), JAWS (Theme), VERTIGO (Scène d'amour)
CASABLANCA (Main Title / The Immigrants / Morocco / "Sam, I thought I told you never to play..." / As Time Goes By), DR. NO (The James Bond Theme), THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY (Titles), HIGH NOON (Theme), SUNSET BOULEVARD (Main Title / Norma Desmond / The Studio Stroll / The Comeback / Norma As Salome), THE PINK PANTHER (Theme), BEN-HUR (Parade of the Charioteers), BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY'S (Moon River), CITIZEN KANE (Rosebud / Finale), STAR WARS (Main Title), KING KONG (The Forgotten Island / Natives / Sacrificial Dance / The Gate of Kong / Kong in New York).
Plus themes from LAWRENCE OF ARABIA, THE MAGNIFICIENT SEVEN, THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD, THE GODFATHER PART II, CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND, AND KINGS ROW.
2-CD set, $8.99 [regularly $11.99]
Lea Delaria, k.d. lang, Madonna, The B-52's, et al., THE LARAMIE PROJECT
This CD—never released commercially, only as a promotional release in a cardboard sleeve— features 17 songs donated by various contemporary artists "in support of promoting social tolerance" to coincide with HBO's 2002 all-star film production of THE LARAMIE PROJECT. THE LARAMIE PROJECT is the "powerful, true story that explores the effects of Matthew Shepard's murder in Laramie, Wyoming, and how the town struggled to understand and come to terms with the crime."
Lea DeLaria (pictured here) sings Lowdown-down from Michael John LaChiusa's THE WILD PARTY; Josh Groban and Charlotte Church perform The Prayer (by Carole Bayer Sager and David Foster); and Barenaked Ladies's popular hit What a Good Boy is also included.
Plus songs by k.d. lang (Simple), Madonna (Frozen), The B-52's (Private Idaho), Orchestra of St. Luke's (After Laramie), Enya (Fallen Embers), Alanis Morissette (Awakening Americans), Meshell Ndegeocello (Earth), R.E.M. (Beat a Drum), Depeche Mode (Freelove), more, $2.99
|
Sylvia Syms, Gogi Grant, Debbie Reynolds, Jane Morgan, et al., SENTIMENTAL JOURNEY
Subtitled POP VOCAL CLASSICS VOL. 4 (1954-1959), this out of print 1993 CD compilation from Rhino Records and Sony Music Special Products features 17 smash hits of the mid-'50s—original songs by the original artists.
The above perform, respectively, I Could Have Danced All Night, The Wayward Wind, Tammy, and Fascination.
Plus Mack the Knife (Bobby Darin), Fever (Peggy Lee), What a Difference a Day Makes (Dinah Washington), Chances Are (Johnny Mathis), The Man that Got Away (Judy Garland), Old Cape Cod (Patti Page), On the Street Where You Live (Vic Damone), Just in Time (Tony Bennett), That Old Black Magic (Sammy Davis, Jr.), Let Me Go Lover (Joan Weber), Singing the Blues (Guy Mitchell), Memories Are Made of This (Dean Martin), and Whatever Will Be, Will Be (Doris Day), $7.99 [regularly $15.99] [Used copy also avail., $6.99]
|
| | |
Annie Sellick, STARDUST ON MY SLEEVE
2000 CD by this Nashville-based jazz vocalist, a superb singer who deserves far greater renown than her seven self-produced albums have managed to bring her.
Sellick, who also sings with the Hot Club of Nashville, is backed here by a trio on a dozen mostly standards: Give Me the Simple Life, Everything Happens to Me, Steve Allen's Gravy Waltz, Lullaby of the Leaves, My Heart Belongs to Daddy, How Insensitive, Midnight Sun, You Go to My Head, You'd Be So Nice to Come Home To, Comes Love, Twisted, and Just Your Smile, $9.99 [regularly $14.99]
|
Jennifer Hudson, Beyoncé, Jamie Foxx, et al. [Original Soundtrack], DREAMGIRLS
Excellent price on this 2006 soundtrack.
AMERICAN IDOL finalist Jennifer Hudson won an Academy Award for her performance as Effie White, belting out a searing rendition of And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going, in this movie version of Tom Eyen and Henry Krieger's smash 1981 Broadway musical. The picture also featured starring performances by, in addition to the above, Eddie Murphy, Danny Glover, and Anika Noni Rose (who would go on to win a Tony Award in 2004 for CAROLINE, OR CHANGE).
The 20-track soundtrack features three new songs—Love You I Do, Patience, and Listen—written by Krieger with various lyricists. (Eyen died of AIDS in 1991.)
Besides And I Am Telling You..., which has become a bona fide contemporary standard, the original score also includes the popular
songs One Night Only, I Am Changing, and Dreamgirls. Plus Fake Your Way to the Top, Cadillac Car, Move, Steppin' to the Bad Side, I Want You Baby, Family, It's All Over, When I First Saw You, I Meant You No Harm / Jimmy's Rap, Hard to Say Goodbye, more—20 tracks in all, NOW $2.99 [WAS $3.99; regularly $5.99] [Used copy also available, $1.99]
|
|
[all guaranteed]
Joan Blondell, Ruby Keeler, Dick Powell, Jeanette MacDonald, Cary Grant [Original Soundtracks], DAMES / SAN FRANCISCO / SUZY
1997 import combining the soundtracks of two classic '30s movies, DAMES, Busby Berkeley's 1934 musical extravaganza, and SAN FRANCISCO, starring Jeanette MacDonald and Clark Gable, plus Did I Remember?, the sole original song written for SUZY (1936), a duet between stars Jean Harlow (dubbed by Virginia Verrill) and Cary Grant.
The songs from DAME are performed by Joan Blondell and Dick Powell, with Ruby Keeler duetting with Powell on I Only Have Eyes for You and When You Were a Smile on Your Mother's Lips. Plus Overture, The Girl at the Ironing Board, Dames, Try to See it My Way (two versions), and I Only Have Eyes for You (Dick Powell solo).
Following the Overture from SAN FRANCISCO, Jeanette MacDonald performs nine numbers: the famous title song (two versions), Would You?, A Heart that's Free, The Holy City, the traditional Nearer to Thee / Battle Hymn of the Republic, and arias from LA TRAVIATA and FAUST.
Import, $7.99
Dolores Gray, Lisa Kirk, Pat Suzuki, Miyoshi Umeki, et al., AN EVENING WITH RODGERS & HAMMERSTEIN
Excellent price on this 1993 2-CD set, an entry in the out of print SULLIVAN YEARS series of CDs featuring rare live performances from THE ED SULLIVAN SHOW. This volume spotlights various performances of songs from all 11 Rodgers & Hammerstein musicals, not available on any other CD. (IMPORTANT NOTE: Price has been lowered because booklet is missing.)
Dolores Gray sings It Might as Well Be Spring, Lisa Kirk performs The Gentleman Is a Dope, and Suzuki and Umeki join fellow cast members Juanita Hall, Ed Kenney and Larry Blyden for four numbers from FLOWER DRUM SONG. Umeki also performs In My Own Little Corner from CINDERELLA.
Additional highlights include three songs from ME & JULIET, as well as two songs from PIPE DREAM, sung by its young star, Judy Tyler—All at Once You Love Her (with William Johnson) and Everybody's Got a Home but Me—who died tragically only two years later in a car accident at the age of 23.
There are multiple performances by Celeste Holm (I Cain't Say No, June Is Bustin' out All Over, A Fellow Needs a Girl and, with Ray Middleton, People Will Say We're in Love) and John Raitt (Oklahoma, If I Loved You, Soliloquy, You'll Never Walk Alone). Plus songs by Gertrude Lawrence (Getting to Know You), Shirley Jones (Many a New Day), Juanita Hall (Bali Ha'i), Nancy Dussault (Do-Re-Mi), Marion Marlowe (The Sound of Music), Doretta Morrow (We Kiss in a Shadow, with Larry Douglas), Yul Brynner (A Puzzlement), William Tabbert (Younger than Springtime), more.
CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE TRACK LISTING.
2-CD set, slipcased, $5.99 [Booklet is missing, but individual jewel cases have complete artwork—front panel and rear tray card.]
Dusty Springfield, Petula Clark, Cilla Black, Nancy Wilson, The 5th Dimension, et al., THE LOOK OF LOVE
Subtitled THE BURT BACHARACH COLLECTION, this collectible 2003 import compilation —two CDs plus a special limited edition 75th birthday edition bonus disc—features 62 hits and lesser-known tunes by Burt Bacharach, most co-written with lyricist Hal David.
The above perform, respectively The Look of Love, Wishin' and Hopin' (both by Dusty Springfield), This Girl's in Love with You, Alfie, Reach Out for Me, and Living Together, Growing Together.
Needless to say, there are several songs by Dionne Warwick, who must be considered Bacharach's muse: Walk on By, I'll Never Fall in Love Again, Do You Know the Way to San Jose?, Anyone Who Had a Heart, Don't Make Me Over, Odds and Ends, and That's What Friends Are For (with Elton John, Gladys Knight and Stevie Wonder). Indeed, the special bonus disc is a collection of a dozen more original recordings, all by Warwick, including Message to Michael, Promises Promises, One Less Bell to Answer, Are You There (with Another Girl), and Here Where There Is Love.
Plus songs by Perry Como (Magic Moments), B.J. Thomas (Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head), Aretha Franklin (I Say a Little Prayer), Tom Jones (What's New Pussycat?), Brook Benton (A House Is Not a Home), Sandie Shaw (Always Something There to Remind Me), Jackie Trent (Make it Easy on Yourself), Jackie DeShannon (What the World Needs Now Is Love), Jack Jones (Wives and Lovers), Anita Harris (Trans and Boats and Planes), The Carpenters (Close to You), Gene McDaniels (Tower of Strength), Gene Pitney (The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, Twenty Four Hours from Tulsa, Only Love Can Break a Heart), Christopher Cross (Arthur's Theme (The Best that You Can Do)), The Shirelles (Baby it's You, It's Love that Really Counts (in the Long Run)), and Bacharach himself (Don't Go Breaking My Heart and, with Elvis Costello, God Give Me Strength).
Other artists include Marty Robbins, Tommy Hunt, Bobby Vinton, The Drifters, The Searchers, The Stylistics, Chuck Jackson, Bobby Vee, Trini Lopez, Tony Orlando, and The Pretenders. Click HERE for complete track listing.
3-CD import, slipcased, $14.99 [NOTE: A small piece is torn out of one edge of the outer slipcase.]
|
Andrea Marcovicci, NEW WORDS
Its subtitle, A CELEBRATION OF CONTEMPORARY SONGWRITING, notwithstanding, the highlight of this 1995 CD by the popular cabaret diva is the inclusion of a rare song (My Man's Ridin' in the Moonlight) by Forman Brown, who founded the famed Yale Puppeteers in 1941 and wrote music hall-style songs for Elsa Lanchester's acclaimed albums back in the '50s. The other 20 songs, however, are indeed by newer, younger composers (several of whom remain unfamiliar to us even today, over 20 years later).
Marcovicci sings Maury Yeston's moving title tune, which has become a staple in the contemporary cabaret repertoire, Babbie Green's poignant At the Pound ("I found me a dog at the pound / Six months old, silly and sad..."), and Dear Kitty by Enid Futtterman and Michael Cohen, from their musical YOURS, ANNE, based on the diary of Anne Frank.
Other well-known contributors include John Bucchino (Paper and Pen, Strangers Once Again), Stephen Schwartz (Life Goes On), William Finn (The Music Still Plays On), Craig Carnelia (Just Where They Should Be), Ricky Ian Gordon (A Horse with Wings), Christine Lavin (The Kind of Love You Never Recover From), Julie Gold (Goodnight, New York), Alan Chapman (a musical setting of Edna St. Vincent Millay's I Know I Am but Summer to Your Heart), and Steve Seskin (Only Love Matters in the End).
Other songs include I Furnished My One Room Apartment, A Brave and Foolish Thing, Avoid, Mirror, Michael's Song, Have Had, and Full Moon at Half Price.
Booklet incl. complete lyrics, NOW $5.99 [WAS $6.99]
|
|
|
The Kingston Trio, CLOSE-UP / COLLEGE CONCERT
Out of print 1999 CD—two complete albums by this popular folk group from the '60s on one CD, the former from 1961 and the latter, a live album, from 1962—24 tracks in all.
CLOSE-UP—12 songs, including The Whistling Gypsy, Woody Guthrie's Reuben James, Oh Sail Away, O Ken Karanga, and several original songs written by group member John Stewart or by the entire group: Coming from the Mountains, Take Her Out of Pity, Jesse James, Glorious Kingdom, When My Love Was Here, Karu, Weeping Willow, and Don't You Weep, Mary;
COLLEGE CONCERT—The dozen numbers include songs by Sheldon Harnick (!!) (the funny Ballad of the Shape of Things), Pete Seeger (Where Have All the Flowers Gone?), and Hedy West (500 Miles), the traditional Young Roddy M'Corley, and M.T.A., the satirical 1949 song. Plus This Little Light, Chilly Winds, Coplas Revisited, Laredo?, Goin' Away for to Leave You, O Ken Karanga, and Oh, Miss Mary, $5.99
|
|
Victoria Clark, Michael Cerveris, Brian d'Arcy James, et al. [Original Broadway Cast], TITANIC
2012 Sony Masterworks issue of this hit 1997 musical by Maury (NINE) Yeston, which won five Tony Awards, including Best Musical, Best Original Score, and Best Orchestrations (by the great Jonathan Tunick).
A 43-member cast (!!)—which includes, in addition to the above, Judy Blazer and Ted Sperling— performs In Every Age, How Did They Build Titanic?, There She Is / Loading Inventory / The Largest Moving Object, I Must Get on That Ship, The 1st Class Roster, Godspeed Titanic, To Be a Captain, Lady's Maid, What a Remarkable Age This Is!, Hymn / Doing the Latest Rag, I Have Danced, No Moon, Dressed in Your Pyjamas in the Grand Salon, The Blame, We'll Meet Tomorrow, and more—23 tracks in all with a running time of over 73 min. 44-pg. booklet incl. complete libretto, extensive liner notes, and color photos, $2.99
|
|
Betty Johnson, THE TAKE FIVE SESSIONS, VOLUME ONE
1993 CD—22 standards recorded in the late '50s and early '60s with the Metropolitan Jazz Quartet for the Marine Corps radio show TAKE FIVE by this songbird popular at the time.
In the 1940s, Betty Johnson sang gospel with her parents and three brothers in The Johnson Family Singers, who had their own CBS radio show and recorded sides for RCA Victor and Columbia. When the group disbanded in the '50s, Johnson struck out for New York, where she performed regularly on metropolitan radio shows. She appeared on TV variety shows, in summer stock (including CAROUSEL opposite Robert Goulet), and at major hotel supper clubs throughout the country. (Here's a lengthy YouTube tribute to Johnson and her career.)
She also enjoyed a string of modest hits, many of them novelty songs, starting in 1954 with I Want Eddie Fisher for Christmas, You Can't Get To Heaven On Roller Skates, Hoopa Hoola, Little White Lies, and her two biggest successes, I Dreamed and The Little Blue Man. The last was recorded for Atlantic, for whom she waxed two albums of standards before marrying and retiring in 1964.
30 years later, her children grown, Johnson returned to performing with an engagement at the famed Oak Room of the Algonquin Hotel. She also resumed her recording career, this time for her own label, Bliss Tavern, releasing nearly 20 CDs, including reissues of Johnson Family Singers material and rare songs from her own catalog, including this collection, which is highlighted by a pair of little-heard tunes, Two Faces in the Dark (by Albert Hague and Dorothy Fields, from REDHEAD) and Bart Howard's You Are in Love.
Plus September Song, After You've Gone, That Old Feeling, I'm Confessin', Somebody Loves Me, You Stepped Out of a Dream, I Concentrate on You, Everybody Loves a Lover, Up a Lazy River, You Go to My Head, So Rare, The Party's Over, Whispering, Taking a Chance on Love, Just in Time, Comes Love, Once in a While, I Only Have Eyes for You, Sand in My Shoes, and It's Been a Long, Long Time, $7.99
Tim Hockenberry, PENNIES FROM HEAVEN
Out of print, extremely collectible 2002 CD of standards by this superb and popular Bay-Area based singer (and tombonist!)
Hockenberry enjoyed national exposure in 2012 when he made it into the semi-finals of AMERICA'S GOT TALENT, where he was praised for his brand of blue-eyed soul (and what blue eyes they are!).
But Hockenberry had been recording (five albums to date) and performing throughout the Bay Area for many years before that. He has performed at major venues like Feinstein's, The Fillmore, Great American Music Hall, and Napa Valley Opera House, sometimes sharing the stage with prominent performers like Bonnie Raitt, Steve Miller, and Mickey Hart of the Grateful Dead.
On this, his debut CD, Hockenberry heads up a sextet on eight standards: Bye Bye Blackbird, title tune, My Melancholy Baby, Tea for Two, I Thought About You, Sweet Lorraine, I Don't Know Why, and Blue and Sentimental, NOW $11.99 [WAS $14.99]
|
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
