Country Guitars

Yet another release that begs the questions who, where, why and when. There is absolutely no information other than song titles on this cassette release -- no artist, no details about where or when it was recorded.

There is not even a release date on the packaging of this tape, which was distributed in Canada (and possibly in the U.S.) by Madacy, a Quebec company. But judging by the song titles, it was in retail stores in the mid to late 1970s.

Country Sunshine, for instance, was a 1973 hit for Dottie West. Here's a link to the instrumental version from Country Guitars.

Country Sunshine



By the way, Country Sunshine began life as a Coca-Cola commercial.

Country Guitars is a pleasant enough listen for the most part and for instrumental completists is worth picking up for versions of Groovy Grubworm (remember Harlow Wilcox & the Oakies?) and Guitar Boogie (Arthur Smith). Thrift stores are probably your best bet.

The Ray Charles Orchestra - Booty Butt

Ray Charles showcased his orchestra on several LPs for his Tangerine label in the 1970s, beginning with the 1970 release My Kind of Jazz.

Well, it appears it was definitely HIS kind of jazz because none of the other musicians were credited on the original album release despite some excellent solos on jazz standards like trumpeter Lee Morgan's Sidewinder (which is on the flip side of this 45), I Remember Clifford and Bluesette.

Booty Butt, which garnered some airplay as a single and made it to No. 31 on the pop chart, is the odd track out on this album -- a Charles original with some multitracked vocal interjections by the man himself. Here's a link to listen to and/or download the track, which is taken from the original 45.

Booty Butt

None of the tracks included on the My Kind of Jazz LP appear to be available as legal downloads. However, the album's 10 tracks were tacked on to Rhino's 1997 reissue of Charles's earlier release on Impulse, Genius + Soul = Jazz. It's out of print but easily obtained through the Amazon Marketplace and other sources.

The combined albums were issued again on CD in 2009 by Concord. This version was a two-disc set that added volumes two and three of My Kind of Jazz. As a bonus, the musicians involved in the My Kind of Jazz sessions were identified.

The tenor sax work on Booty Butt is by Andy Ennis.

Claude Thornhill & His Orchestra Play for Dancing

By the time this album came out on the budget Design label in 1959, bandleader, pianist arranger and composer Claude Thornhill (1909-1965) had largely been forgotten.

After making a name for himself with arrangements for the orchestras of Paul Whiteman, Benny Goodman and Ray Noble, Thornhill put together his own band in 1940. Although it was basically a dance band, the orchestra began attracting the attention of the jazz world after the addition of arranger Gil Evans in 1941.

A progressive post-war band put together by Thornhill retained the services of Evans and utilized soloists such as alto saxophonist Lee Konitz and trumpeter Red Rodney. This band's sound and arrangements influenced the development of the cool jazz that emerged in the late 1940s, in particular the 1949 sessions of the Miles Davis Nonet that produced the legendary Birth of the Cool recordings.

Thornhill's discography is extensive and it's difficult to figure out just where Play for Dancing fits in. As was the norm for budget recordings, the album notes give no indication when or where this was recorded. It also doesn't indicate any of the musicians involved, outside of Thornhill of course.

The sound of the recording indicates it was probably recorded in the 1950s, perhaps even especially for Design, although their products were often resissues of much earlier recordings. From the original vinyl album comes Where or When. Listen and/or download below.

Where or When

This album isn't available in a digital format, but used vinyl copies turn up now and then on auction sites. The prices will probably deter all but the most diehard Thornhill fans.

As a composer, Thornhill's most famous song is Snowfall, which has been recorded by dozens of artists and has become a standard since its introduction by the Thornhill band in 1941.

Enoch Light and His Orchestra at Carnegie Hall Play Irving Berlin

Enoch Light (1907-1978) was leading a big band in the 1940s and 50s, but is best remembered today for his groundbreaking stereo recordings that began when he founded Command Records in the early 1960s and continued through the 70s on the Project 3 label. Light established that company after he sold Command to ABC Records, which in turn was bought out by MCA. Command ceased operations in 1970.

Light was among the first producers to exploit the full range of possibilities of the relatively new stereo technology, especially on his albums Persuasive Percussion and Provocative Percussion. He often utilized what was termed "ping pong stereo," in which the music jumped from speaker to speaker.

Enoch Light and His Orchestra at Carnegie Hall Play Irving Berlin, which came out in 1962, is not, despite its title, a live album. But it does have a dozen excellent renderings of Berlin standards, including Alexander's Ragtime Band.

Alexander's Ragtime Band

ABC reissued the Irving Berlin album in 1972 and there was a horribly pressed, truncated version issued on the budget Pickwick label in 1978. It did not include Alexander's Ragtime Band. All 12 tracks surfaced on a 1987 Project 3 CD retitled as The Music of Irving Berlin and featuring the nondescript cover pictured below.

This CD is long out of print. There are used copies for sale in the Amazon Marketplace, but they start at a ridiculous $18. However, copies of the Command vinyl album can be purchased in the Marketplace for $3-$5. Make sure you get the version issued by Command before it was bought out by ABC. It's a far superior pressing.

The album isn't available as a download, but here's another sample from YouTube.

In the Beginning...Bebop

Three leaders -- trombonist Kai Winding, trumpeter Fats Navarro and tenor saxophonist Brew Moore -- contribute four tracks each to this compilation on the Savoy label that documents the early days of the jazz style known as bebop.

Some of the performances, recorded between 1946 and 1948, are a bit raw and the recording quality is not all that it might be, but there's no denying the excitement this music generated. For me saxophonist Moore, with the help of pianist Gene DiNovi, comes off best with his more laid-back performances.

Moore (1924-1973), who was heavily influenced by Lester Young, never changed his style of playing throughout his entire career. Unfortunately that cool style went out of favour and he spent the last dozen years of his life in Europe. Here, then, is a sampling of that style from 1948.

Blue Brew

In the Beginning...Bebop was first issued by Savoy on LP in 1957. There was a 1994 CD reissue that is now out of print. However, used copies are available at a reasonable price in the Amazon Marketplace. Individual tracks from this collection may be available as downloads, but the album itself is not.

To finish things off here's a recent YouTube posting of Five Planets in Leo, from a 1956 performance by the Brew Moore Quartet.

18 Golden Piano Hits 1

Presenting another in the endless series of anonymous instrumental albums that have come out of Europe over the past several decades.

This one emanated from The Netherlands in 1992 on the Point Productions label. This company's releases turned up quite frequently in the bins of cheap CDs and cassettes at discount stores like Wal-Mart and K-Mart.

The insert manages to credit the the album cover designer but not the musicians or anyone else involved with the project.

18 Golden Piano Hits 1 (one wonders whether there was ever a second volume) is a quite enjoyable listen for the most part, with a song selection comprised mainly of easy listening standards. A real orchestra backs the piano soloist (whoever he or she may be) for the most part. Here's a sample. The MP3 is taken from a cassette.

Close to You

I haven't seen this album for sale anywhere on the web, although it's listed in several CD databases. Perhaps it's available under another title. I have, however, seen it several times in thrift stores, so if it appeals to you don't give up the hunt.

Les Brown & His Orchestra - Boola

Les Brown (1912-2001), who led his jazzy dance band through seven decades, recorded hundreds of songs for major labels like RCA, Columbia, Coral and Capitol. So you'd think that just about everything of his would have turned up in the digital age, or at least on an LP when vinyl was still king.

Not so for Boola, a 45 single (Say It with Music was on the flip side) released by Coral in 1958. It never graced one of Brown's long-players and it hasn't turned up on CD or as a download either despite the declaration in Billboard magazine on Feb. 23, 1959 that "Boola by Les Brown and Happy People of Monterey by Dick Jacobs (both on Coral) are big [disc] jockey favorites."

But you can listen to, and download this hard-to-find Brown tune if you so desire, from the link below. The MP3 is taken from the original 45.

Boola

Brown is remembered by most people today for his 1944 hit Sentimental Journey, with Doris Day as the vocalist, and for his many years serving as the bandleader for Bob Hope. But he never really retired, making his last appearance in 2000, the year before he died at age 88.

Here, from YouTube, is a vintage Les Brown performance (date and venue not stated) featuring vocalist Butch Stone.