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.

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.