Red Norvo in Hi-Fi

Vibraphonist Red Norvo had one of the longest careers among swing era musicians, beginning in Chicago with a group called The Collegians in 1925 and continuing until the mid-1980s when a stroke forced him into retirement. He died in 1999 at age 91.

Among the bands graced by Norvo's talents were those of Paul Whiteman, Benny Goodman, Charlie Barnet and Woody Herman. As well, Norvo led a popular big band of his own from 1936-1942, scoring two No. 1 hits in 1938, Please Be Kind and Says My Heart, both with vocals by Mildred Bailey.

In 1949, when Norvo ran into trouble forming a big band, he put together a trio with the novel combination of vibes, guitar, and bass.

Red Norvo in Hi-Fi (RCA Victor, 1958), a big band date, came just past the mid-point of his remarkable career. The LP featured vocals by Helen Humes on tunes like I Was Doing All Right, a Gershwin tune from 1937.

I Was Doing All Right



Red Norvo in Hi-Fi has not received a CD release and the download version is from the dub-it-quickly-from-vinyl Hallmark outfit. Unfortunately, used vinyl copies of this album are pricey.

Here's Red Norvo with a nine-piece group. Under a Blanket of Blue, released on a Capitol 78, was recorded in 1947, featuring Eddie Miller on tenor sax.

Gene Krupa - Gene Krupa and His Sidekicks

This collection of Gene Krupa tracks, featuring some of the famous sidemen who appeared with the drummer-bandleader's orchestra, was first issued by Columbia in 1955. The LP cover looked like this:

The cover pictured at the beginning of this post is from a 1974 reissue. Among those featured on the album are Benny Carter, Anita O'Day, Helen Ward and Gerry Mulligan. Mulligan is spotlighted on How High the Moon, but as an arranger not a soloist. This arrangement, Mulligan's first for Krupa's band, was recorded in 1946. Featured soloists are Charley Kennedy on alto sax and Red Rodney on trumpet.



There has been no CD release for Gene Krupa's Sidekicks and the couple of download versions that are available are of the dubious European out-of-copyright variety, taken from less than pristine vinyl, no doubt. Far better to look for a good copy of the 1974 re-release LP, which seems generally to sell for a reasonable price.

In 1941 Krupa and his band appeared in Ball of Fire, a musical comedy starring Barbara Stanwyck and Gary Cooper in which the orchestra played Drum Boogie. I'm not sure whether the Krupa track called Ball of Fire was also used in the movie, but it was released a single on Columbia's Okeh label around the same time. Roy Eldridge is the trumpet soloist.

Roger Neumann - Introducing Roger Neumann's Rather Large Band

Roger Neumann's full-time job as a jazz educator in Los Angeles allowed him to record only infrequently. As well he's an in-demand arranger for artists as diverse as Count Basie, Ray Brown and the Beach Boys.

Neumann's Rather Large Band has made only two albums, with the debut, Introducing Roger Neumann's Rather Large Band, coming in 1983 on the Sea Breeze label. First released as an audiophile LP, it was re-released very briefly on CD a decade later and now commands collector prices ($20-80) for a copy. It's not available as a download.

Among the three standards on this outstanding date by the 19-piece big band is Ray Noble's Cherokee, a tune most associated with Charlie Barnet during the swing era. Featured on this track are pianist Tom Ranier, Bob Enevoldsen on valve trombone, Dave Edwards on soprano sax, Jack Coan on flugelhorn and Bob Hardaway on tenor sax. The MP3 is taken from the vinyl LP.

Cherokee



Best bet for obtaining (legally) this album at a reasonable price is probably checking around for a vinyl LP. I've seen copies online in the $10-15 range. There are also copies selling for twice that.

In the meantime here's the lead-off track from Introducing Roger Neumann's Rather Large Band, a driving version of a well-known TV theme, (Meet) The Flintstones. The then-unknown Eric Marienthal has an alto sax solo on this.

Pat Williams - Heavy Vibrations

Most of arranger and composer Pat Williams's work has been in the recording studios and for the movies and TV, so he remains largely unknown to the general public.

His work in the studios began in New York in 1961 and when he moved to Los Angeles seven years later, he began composing for film and television as well. Some of the TV shows he scored included Mary Tyler Moore, Cannon, The Streets of San Francisco and Columbo. On the big screen, Williams's scores enlivened The Cheap Detective, Cuba and Cry-Baby, among many others.

He has worked with such singers as Barbra Streisand, Barry Manilow, Billy Joel and Frank Sinatra, as well as finding time to record albums of his own, including three for Verve in the late 1960s.

Heavy Vibrations came out in 1969 and spotlighted brassy arrangements of current hits like Get Back, Son of a Preacher Man and River Deep, Mountain High. Also on board were several Williams originals, including the gently swinging Catherine.

Catherine



None of Pat Williams's Verve LPs have received a full digital release, but a couple of tunes from them have surfaced on iTunes. These apparently have been sourced from vinyl, with audible clicks and pops, and are not recommended.

Here's Williams's funky take on Get Back from Heavy Vibrations.

Various Artists - Dance Time (Parliament label box set)

The 1950s and '60s were awash with big band compilations and box sets for those who wished to relive swing's heyday in the '40s.

RCA Victor, Columbia, Reader's Digest and Longines Symphonette were all into this sort of thing, as were the budget labels. Releases on the cheap labels were all over the place quality wise, ranging from unlistenable to surprisingly good.

Parliament, one of the bevy of budget labels headquartered in New Jersey, wasn't known for the quality of its LPs. But the company outdid itself with Dance Time, a five-record box set with excellent sound. I believe this was issued in the mid-'60s. Many of the tracks are in true stereo, which means the recordings must have been fairly recent.

All of the names would be recognizable to fans of swing, jazz and Latin bands with the exception of the first, Paul Fontaine. The only Paul Fontaine I can find reference to in a musical context was a trumpeter with the Woody Herman band in the '60s and later taught at the Berklee College of Music in Boston.

He's unlikely to have been responsible for the tracks included here as most are soft dance band melodies. Carolina Moon, for instance, has muted brass and strings, not unlike Jackie Gleason's recordings for Capitol. But the guitar player (not identified, of course) contributes an all-too-brief break and does some fine comping (easily audible) throughout that really set the tune apart.

Carolina Moon - Paul Fontaine



The Dance Time box naturally hasn't had a digital release, although it's possible some of the tracks may have been issued in other compilations. Best to visit the vinyl bins at your local thrift stores as this set is just the sort of thing that's liable to turn up.

Finally a bit about Carolina Moon, written in 1924 by Joe Burke and Benny Davis. Crooner Gene Austin had a No. 1 hit with it in 1929. Thirty years later a version by Connie Francis gained some notice when it was included on the flip side of her hit Stupid Cupid.

Here's Gene Austin's original.

Peter Matz & His Orchestra - Thanks for the Memory

Composer, arranger and conductor Peter Matz (1928-2002) is best known for his work with Barbra Streisand and Carol Burnett. Matz, a Pittsburgh native, began working with Streisand in the early 1960s and won a Grammy Award himself for his work on her 1964 album People.

Matz also won an Emmy for Streisand's TV special My Name Is Barbra and an Oscar nomination for her movie Funny Lady. He won a second Emmy for an episode of The Carol Burnett Show, for which he was music director for eight years.

Since Matz played in dance bands at the beginning of his career it's no surprise that in the stereo era he should choose to resurrect the big band sound. Thanks for the Memory (Project 3, 1979) -- subtitled "Great Song Hits of the Big Band Era" -- does just that. This is actually a straight reissue of Brings 'Em Back, an earlier (1966) Matz release for Project 3.

As is usual with Project 3 releases the sound quality is first rate -- as are Matz's arrangements. Here's a sample.

Canadian Sunset



This Peter Matz album has not had a straight digital release on CD or as a download. However, the title tune of Thanks for the Memory turns up on a various artists download compilation, Memorial Day Orchestrals, which is for sale on a number of online sites, including iTunes.

Also on Peter Matz's big band tribute is Bei Mir Bist Du Schön.

Tiny Bradshaw - Heavy Juice (single)

The career of bandleader Tiny Bradshaw (1905-1958) spanned both the swing and rhythm-and-blues eras. He made his first recordings under his own name for Decca in 1934.

Bradshaw struggled over the next decade or so and when he got his band into the recording studio again, in 1944, he'd more or less left swing behind, opting for jump blues and R&B.

All of Bradshaw's best known R&B sides were cut for King Records in Cincinnati, with the majority coming between 1950 and 1954.

The instrumental Heavy Juice came out in 1953 and was reasonably successful as a followup to Bradshaw's big hit of 1952, Soft. Saxophonist Red Prysock is listed as co-writer of Heavy Juice and since he was a member of Bradshaw's band around this time, I'm assuming it's him playing the brief, but rousing, sax solo.

Heavy Juice



Most of the sides that Bradshaw recorded for King are available on Heavy Juice: The King Recordings 1950-55, a 32-track CD compilation issued by Rev-Ola in 2006.

The CD is out of print, but copies appear to be still available from the long-established and reliable Raucous Records, based in the United Kingdom. Postage rates for international customers are reasonable and the price ends up being half of what most North American sources are charging.

Bradshaw's King recordings are available on a number of download collections. I'd probably opt for The EP Collection... Plus, from the British See For Miles label, primarily because of the company's reputation for quality recordings.

I mentioned this one earlier -- Bradshaw's 1952 hit, Soft.

Jerry Fielding - When the Saints Go Marching In (track)

In 1992 Bainbridge Records released Brass Menagerie: Big Band Brass of the Sixties, a selection of tracks from the catalogue of Time Records. Bainbridge re-released a lot of the output of Time, a label that was much favoured by stereophiles in the 1960s.

Brass Menagerie included tracks from the orchestras of Jerry Fielding, Jim Tyler, Hugo Montenegro and Mel Davis. One of the selections from Fielding was the Dixieland warhorse When the Saints Go Marching In, which first appeared on his 1961 Time LP Magnificence in Brass. (To hear a selection from Mel Davis, visit this previous post.)

                                      (Photo from Unearthed in the Atomic Attic blog)

Fielding's take on Saints is certainly unique, containing elements of big band, Dixieland and exotica. The MP3 is taken from a cassette version of Brass Menagerie, so there's a fair amount of tape hiss.

When the Saints Go Marching In



Magnificence in Brass and Near East Brass, another Fielding LP from the 1960s, are favoured by exotica enthusiasts. Fielding became a sought after soundtrack composer, receiving Oscar nominations for The Wild Bunch (1969), Straw Dogs (1971) and The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976).

Fielding died of a heart attack in 1980 while in Toronto scoring the cheap horror flick Funeral Home. He was 57.

Here's another track from Magnificence in Brass. This is also on the Brass Menagerie CD.

NOTE: The Brass Menagerie CD is out of print, but cheap copies seem to be plentiful. Here's one source. Brass Menagerie is also being sold as a download by all the major sources.

Jimmy Mundy and His Orchestra - Playing the Numbers

Swing era arranger Jimmy Mundy (1907-1983) began his career playing saxophone in several bands in the 1920s. At the beginning of the following decade he joined Earl Hines and it was with this orchestra that he first became interested in arranging. One of the tunes Mundy worked on was Cavernism, which became Hines's closing theme.

From Hines, Mundy moved on to Benny Goodman, where he arranged some of that band's most famous numbers, including Sing, Sing, Sing, Solo Flight and Springtime in the Rockies. Others he arranged for included Count Basie and Gene Krupa.

Although Mundy was highly recorded by his fellow musicians he never became well known to the general public and made few recordings under his own name. But he did manage a brace of albums for the Epic label, On a Mundy Flight (1958) and Playing the Numbers (1959).

For the latter LP all the selections referred to numbers in their titles, like the opener Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?, a Depression-era number from 1932. Bing Crosby, Rudy Vallee and Al Jolson all had hits with the song after it appeared in the musical Americana.

Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?



Unfortunately, none of the musicians on this excellent big band recording are identified. Mundy had given up his instrument some years earlier and was concentrating on arranging and conducting when this was recorded.

Neither of his Epic albums has received a digital release.

Here's a recording Jimmy Mundy and His Orchestra did for V-Disc in 1946. V-Discs were 12-inch 78 r.p.m. discs that were made available to U.S. military personnel serving overseas in World War II. These recordings were not sold in the United States. Production of V-Discs ended in 1949.

This video also includes a selection by Buddy Rich.

Urbie Green - The Persuasive Trombone of Urbie Green

What sets The Persuasive Trombone of Urbie Green (1960) apart from most other early releases on the Command label is the jazzy arrangements, courtesy of Bobby Byrne and Lew Davies.

Command focused on appealing to audiophiles who had purchased stereo systems, so the emphasis on many of the label's LPs by Enoch Light and others was spotlighting the still developing technology. The result was a lot of "ping-ponging" of instruments, particularly percussion, between left and right channels and a lot of gimicky arrangements.

Not so with The Persuasive Trombone of Urbie Green, which turns the spotlight on one of the busiest studio trombonists of the 1950s and '60s. Green (b.1926) had appeared on over 600 recording sessions by the time he made his last record in 1995. He got his start in the big band era of the late 1940s, including stints with Woody Herman, Gene Krupa, Jan Savitt and Frankie Carle.

I'm Getting Sentimental Over You, from the vinyl LP of Persuasive Trombone, is a tune most often associated with Tommy Dorsey.

I'm Getting Sentimental Over You



There was a second volume of Persuasive Trombone and both albums were combined on CD by Lone Hill Jazz in 2008. This is out of print and you'd have to take out a second mortgage for the prices they're asking on Amazon (try $150 for a used copy!).

But the two volumes of Persuasive Trombone are also included on the four-CD set Seven Classic Albums Plus Bonus EP (Real Gone Jazz, 2013). Used copies start at about $9 on Amazon. This set may be sourced from vinyl and I can't vouch for the quality.

Download versions of Persuasive Trombone are also being sold, but some are of poor quality, so proceed cautiously.

Here's another selection from The Persuasive Trombone of Urbie Green.

Al Caiola - Percussion Espanol

Two volumes of Percussion Espanol by guitarist Al Caiola were issued in 1960 by Time Records, whose early releases were designed to showcase the emerging medium of stereo. This was most often accomplished by the generous (and sometimes excessive) use of percussion that often "ping-ponged" between the left and right channels.

As one of the early issuers of genuine stereophonic LPs, Time competed with labels like Audio Fidelity and producer Enoch Light's Command Records.

The two Percussion Espanol albums (Vol. 1 is shown above) came out around the time that Caiola was enjoying chart success with the western themes Bonanza and The Magnificent Seven, both of which were recorded for United Artists. The guitarist stayed with that label until the end of the 1960s.

Percussion Espanol contains some pretty decent Latin big band arrangements by Caiola, who orchestrated the tunes recorded at sessions in New York on May 16 and 17, 1960. Most of the tunes are extremely short, however, no doubt in an effort to encourage airplay. Tico, Tico, for instance, runs just 1:50.

The MP3 is from the vinyl LP.

Tico, Tico



Neither of the Percussion Espanol albums has been issued on CD, but both volumes are available as downloads from most of the major sources. These are being marketed by a rejuvenated Time Records label and are very good quality for a compressed file.

Another sample from the first volume is below.

Bernie Green with the Stereo Mad-Men - Musically Mad

Musically Mad (RCA Victor, 1959) by Bernie Green and the Mad-Men is an extension of the brand of musical satire popularized by Spike Jones and His City Slickers in the 1940s and '50s. But make no mistake: Despite the Mad magazine-inspired cover (the mag apparently commissioned this LP), this is an album of first-rate big band jazz, albeit one with a sense of humor.

A few jazz fans take their music far too seriously, which probably accounts for the negative online reviews that Musically Mad sometimes receives.

Bernie Green's background was mainly in television (he was musical director for The Garry Moore Show) and he conducted the orchestras for the Miss USA and Miss Universe pageants. Perhaps that accounts for the cinematic nature of his arrangements on Musically Mad.

Listen to Give Me That Good Old Progressive Jazz. As the album notes put it: "If you have stereo you'll hear the drummer actually move across the bandstand [to kill the chimes player.]" That's Phil Kraus banging the kit on this one.

Give Me That Good Old Progressive Jazz



Musically Mad made a brief appearance on a European CD in 2004 but copies of that are now selling for $50 and up. A much better buy is the download ($9.99) on iTunes and elsewhere. Online reviews indicate it's very good quality, but make sure you get the version from Sony Music. Other companies are also marketing this album and the quality may vary.

Here's another bit of musical madness from Bernie Green.

Gene Krupa & His Orchestra - Georgia on My Mind (single)

Gene Krupa and Buddy Rich are generally acknowledged to have been the greatest drummers of the big band era. Krupa, of course, gained fame with the Benny Goodman orchestra before leading his own band.

The stars of the highly regarded Krupa band, besides the leader, were trumpeter Roy Eldridge and singer Anita O'Day. The March 1941 New York session that produced Georgia on My Mind was O'Day's first-ever recording date. The 78 single on Columbia's OKeh label, with another O'Day vocal, Alreet, on the flip side, was released later that year and was a fairly substantial hit.

Georgia on My Mind



The Krupa orchestra's Columbia recordings have been endlessly repacked on vinyl and CD and as downloads. Take particular care in choosing downloads as many of them have been taken from substandard vinyl.

Anita O'Day was with Gene Krupa from 1941-43 and again briefly in 1945. She's heard in a brief vocal chorus at the end of this May 1941 recording of Green Eyes. Roy Eldridge and male vocalist Howard Dulany are also featured.

Ray Anthony - House Party Hop

Trumpeter Ray Anthony was considered among the most modern of big band leaders, although his arrangements could not by any stretch be considered progressive or experimental. Still, he managed to continue into the rock 'n' roll era (his version of Peter Gunn was a sizeable hit) and he was a Las Vegas regular for many years.

In earlier years, Anthony had hits with the theme from Dragnet and Bunny Hop, a novelty dance that is thankfully not heard much anymore.

Ray Anthony's House Party Hop was the bandleader's first LP, issued first as a 10-inch album in 1951 and in 1956 as a 12-inch with four additional tunes, one of which unfortunately was Bunny Hop. However, the others tracks are mainly big band and pop standards that swing along quite nicely. Among them is a version of the Duke Ellington hit Perdido.

Perdido



The House Party Hop album isn't available on CD or as a download but some of the tracks from it are available on the many CD and download compilations of Ray Anthony's recordings. Some of the downloads are of questionable quality so always audition before buying.

Here's the title tune from House Party Hop accompanied by several nice shots of the Anthony band in action.

Woody Herman - Sound of Jazz

Sound of Jazz is a cheap, but surprisingly good quality, European CD reissue (1996) of a Woody Herman small group session recorded for Lionel Hampton's Who's Who in Jazz label in the late 1970s.

Herman, who's heard on clarinet and alto and soprano saxophone, is accompanied by Hampton on vibes, guitarist Al Caiola (check the bizarre misspelling of his name on the CD insert), drummer Richie Pratt, bassist George Mraz, pianist Roland Hanna (his name is also misspelled, even on the original LP) and Candido on conga.

All five tracks are standards, including Body and Soul.

Body and Soul



Ridiculously cheap used copies of this CD abound, including on Amazon. It's well worth a listen and you shouldn't have to pay more than a couple of bucks for it. The contents of this CD may be available as downloads, but not under the Sound of Jazz name.

Vinyl copies of the original LP, Lionel Hampton Presents Woody Herman (1977), also seem to be fairly common.

You shouldn't be paying more than $5 or $6 if vinyl is your medium of choice.

The one Woody Herman tune everybody seems to remember is Woodchopper's Ball, his orchestra's biggest hit.

Doc Severinsen - High, Wide & Wonderful

His 25 years as the bandleader on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson arguably made Doc Severinsen the best known trumpet player in North America.

Severinsen took over the post in 1967, the year after Skitch Henderson departed, but had been a member of the orchestra on The Tonight Show since 1952 when it was hosted by Steve Allen.

The fame that came from the television gig enabled Severinsen to begin recording a series of LPs for Command, the groundbreaking stereo label headed by Enoch Light. And when Light put out his own albums Severinsen was the lead trumpeter in the band.

High, Wide & Wonderful came along in 1965 and included a version of Toots Thielemans's Bluesette. The Belgian musician had had a worldwide hit with his unison guitar and whistling recording of the song three years earlier.

Bluesette



High, Wide & Wonderful has not been been made available on CD or as a legal download.

At age 86 Doc Severinsen, who has lived in Mexico since 2006, still occasionally appears with a big band or a small Latin group. Visit his website for tour dates.

Here's some vintage Doc as he appears with a couple of other trumpet greats on the Steve Allen hosted Tonight Show in the 1950s.

Hollywood Studio Orchestra - Broadway Memories (Post No. 2)

Longtime readers of this blog may remember I made favorable mention of this budget CD in May 2012. Like many of the cheap CDs emanating from Europe, this 1985 release credited to the Hollywood Studio Orchestra contains no information about the who, where and when of the recording.

But surprisingly, unlike many of its ilk, Broadway Memories is a pretty decent listen thanks to some good big band and orchestral arrangements.

Many of the songs are of course linked to stage productions, while others, such as Misty, seem to have no connection at all to the theater. As far as I know pianist Erroll Garner's 1954 composition has no Broadway link. The song, made popular by Johnny Mathis's 1959 recording, did play a prominent role in a couple of movies (eg., Play Misty for Me), but that was much later.

In any case Misty is included on Broadway Memories.

Misty



As mentioned in the earlier post probably the best chance at getting a copy of Broadway Memories is checking the bins at your area thrift stores.

Here's Erroll Garner's original 1954 recording of Misty.

The Moments - The Other Side of the Moments

I always tend to cast a jaundiced eye towards albums in which a pop or R&B/soul star decides to redo some prime selections from the standards songbook. The misfires far outnumber the successes, often because the artist has little or no affinity for the material.

Happily, The Other Side of the Moments (1972, Stang) is one of those that does succeed, due to a combination of the group's genuine feel for the songs and the out-of-the-park arrangements by Sammy Lowe.

Lowe's roots lie in the big band era, during which he played with and arranged for the Erskine Hawkins orchestra. He would go on to arrange and conduct on one of James Brown's biggest hits, It's a Man's, Man's, Man's World (1966), and dozens of other chart singles and LPs by the likes of Nina Simone, Sam Cooke, The Tokens and Della Reese.

In 1972 came Lowe's work on The Other Side of the Moments, a New Jersey soul group who topped the R&B charts twice in the 1970s, with Love on a Two-Way Street (1970) and Look at Me (I'm in Love) (1975).

Included on the LP was Lowe's most unusual arrangement of Blues in the Night, composed in 1941 by Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer. The MP3 is sourced from the original LP.

Blues in the Night



The Other Side of the Moments can be had as a download from iTunes and other sources. The album has received two releases on CD, the easiest of which to obtain is a 2006 release from the Collectables label that pairs it with another Moments release, My Thing. Reasonably priced copies are available in the Amazon Marketplace.

Here's one of The Moments' chart-topping hits.

The Swing Era 1940-1941 (Time Life box set)

Time-Life Records began issuing a series of three-LP box sets in 1970 that recreated the hits of the swing era. Most of the recordings were made by Billy May and His Orchestra, with some sets featuring tracks made by Glen Gray and a modern version of his Casa Loma Orchestra. All arrangements followed the original hits very closely.

Each box set (there were 14 of them) included a 64-page book. Despite the fact that these are not the original recordings The Swing Era series proved to be enormously popular -- one of Time-Life's biggest sellers. The records were pressed by Capitol Records Special Markets division and the pressings and stereo quality are top of the line.

Below is May's version of the Erskine Hawkins hit Tuxedo Junction, taken from the volume covering 1940-1941.

Tuxedo Junction



These Time-Life big band recreations were reissued at least three times in their entirety -- twice on vinyl box sets, with slightly different covers in the mid-1970s and entirely new covers later in the decade, and on CD, beginning in 1999. The track listings for the CDs varied from those on the LPs and the covers looked like this:

Reasonably priced vinyl box sets are easy to come by online. They also seem to populate thrift store shelves fairly often. The CDs, however, are harder to come by and seem to be quite pricey. These recordings haven't been marketed as downloads under The Swing Era title, but it's possible they're available on other compilations.

Here's another sample of the Swing Era series, this one taken from a CD. This time it's the Glen Gray Orchestra recreating Andy Kirk's Moten Swing.

Tony Pastor & His Orchestra - Two-Fer (track)

I don't know why I always thought of Tony Pastor as a leader whose orchestra was akin to that of Guy Lombardo. That's certainly not the case. He played swing tenor and sang with a number of bands, including that of Artie Shaw, before forming his own outfit in 1939. It lasted for 20 years so he must have been doing something right.

It's true the Pastor band had a number of pop confections in its repertoire, including the first recordings by the Clooney Sisters, Rosemary and Betty, in the late 1940s. But the band could really swing too, as evidenced by something called Two-Fer. I took this selection from a five-LP set issued by the budget label Parliament sometime in the 1960s. Of course there's the usual hissy sound from the cheap vinyl used by these labels, but the quality of the recording itself is pretty decent.

This track apparently comes from the vaults of Roulette Records, which issued it on this 1958 LP.

Two-Fer



Two-Fer is among a plethora of selections by the Pastor Orchestra available on CD and as downloads. On CD Two-Fer is on the 2011 release Let's Do It, along with 23 other selections by a late 1950s edition of Pastor's band.

As a download Two-Fer is on the album The Best of Tony Pastor & His Orchestra, obtainable from most of the major sources.

Here's a rare look at a later version of the Pastor orchestra, in colour yet. Sound and video quality is above average for this vintage.