Down in the valleys: "Death Valley Suite" (Grofe) excerpts: "Desert Water Hole," "Sand Storm," and "Valley of the Sun Suite" (also Grofe)

 

Cold weather coming on, and Christmas arriving in 32 days--so, as a reminder of the summer days of late June to late September, Ferde Grofe's 1949 gem, Death Valley Suite.  The occasion for this post is my eBay acquisition of the Purdue Symphony Band performing the third and fourth movement--a performance I predicted would be terrific--and I was correct.  

So, first off, Desert Water Hole and Sand Storm, from the 1962 A.B.A. Concert, which Google's AI describes as "the American Bandmasters Association (ABA) convention concert program, which the Purdue Symphony Band performed in."  The conductor is Al G. Wright.  

Then the same two movements as conducted by Grofe himself with the Capitol Symphony Orch., which was quite an outfit, despite a cutting review by (I think) Stereo Review when the Angel label reissued Death Valley.  Or maybe the review was in Hi-Fidelity magazine.  I never count on my memory much, since I recall it's pretty vague at times.

Meanwhile, Death Valley will be heading for nice summer-style highs just right for tourists eager to find solace from Jack Frost.  And I have no idea why I typed "solace from Jack Frost," but I did, and I only have myself to blame.  (Or maybe society itself.)

As an added bonus (forgive the redunadncy; bonuses are always "added"), Grofe's wonderful Valley of the Sun Suite, with Ferde conducting the Arizona State College (Tempe) Symponic Orchestra.  And this was my essay when I last posted the work (the zip file since deleted by Workupload): 

"From the mysterioso first movement to the joyous, Johann Strauss-esque (am I allowed to type that?) conclusion, this is mood music of the highest class. Making things more interesting are Grofe's reuse of cues from his 1950 movie score for Rocketship X-M (in The Dam Builders) and the insertion of a chord sequence from his very first work, Broadway at Night (1924), at the beginning of the last movement. Grofe was not shy about reusing material, and why not?  X-M itself reuses a portion of his Symphony in Steel (1935), and his score for The Return of Jesse James (1950) uses the opening section of his Tabloid Suite (for a telegraph office scene)." 

And Google's AI notes that Grofe premiered Sun in 1952, though he composed it in 1957.  That was quite a trick.  Enjoy, and stay warm...

DOWNLOAD: Death Valley; Valley of the Sun.zip

Death Valley Suite (Grofe, 1949)

Desert Water Hole 

Sand Storm

Valley of the Sun Suite (Grofe, 1952 or 1957)

Valley of Ditches

The Dam Builders

Masque of the Yellow Moon

Reclamation's Golden Jubilee 

The Purdue Symphony Band, c. Al G. Wright, 1962; The Capitol Symphony Orch., c. Grofe, 1951; Arizona State College (Tempe) Symphonic Orch., c. Grofe, prob. 1957.

Lee

The return of the 1927 "Pacific 231"!

November 5 1927, to be exact, making this recording 98 years old (plus almost a week)!  

And, since posting this in April of 2016, I realize now that I used the wrong bass turnover.  Though recorded in 1927, this "circle" Victor Red Seal label places this pressing (at the earliest) in 1938.  So, I've used the correct turnover of 500 Hz and a slight treble roll-off, and I think it sounds great.  The original engineers did a fabulous job of microphone placement, and the overall audio detail is superb--keeping in mind that this is from 1927 and not, say, 1957.  From my own collection.

Originally to be titled Mouvement Symphonique, this work was composed in 1923.  Honegger conducted his own recording in 1930.

According to DAHR, the "Continental Symphony Orchestra" was the Orchestre symphonique du Gramophone.
 
I love the way the orchestra speeds through Honegger's work, and flawlessly.  And Arthur's almost-as-wonderful Rugby (Mouvement Symphonique No.2), and his Mouvement Symphonique No. 3 are pretty widely available on vinyl and CD.  

DOWNLOAD:  Pacific 231 (Arthur Honegger).zip

Continental Symphony Orchestra (the Orchestre symphonique du Gramophone), under the direction of Piero Coppola, 11/5/1927.  

Lee

If you want the feeling of floating, buy Super Boron!

 

These are Sohio/Boron radio spots for Ex-tane gas, apparently the ideal winter car fuel.  No idea on the year, but I'm guessing 1962/63.

The ads run the gamut from funny to weird (or both), and there's some unintentional humor in cut 5, a rhythmic narration in which the announcer can't quite find the proper meter--this is followed by a far more successful effort.  The henpecked husband in tracks 3 and 4 sounds familiar--and it turns out to be voice actor Bill Thompson, as identified by Josh.  (Thanks, Josh!)

Help stop hubcap theft, and don't forget to buy Atlas Cushionaire Tires!  

DOWNLOAD: Cleveland Recording Company - Sohio ET #64.flac

Lee

The Return of Halloween 2023, Part 3: Monster-Size Monster tracks! Or, look out for "Lookout Mountain"!

 

I think we all prefer our monsters monster-sized.  So long as they obey.  And so long as they aren't mutant insects...

With Jeane Dixon, break-ins, and seasonal soundalikes out of the way, it's time (just barely) for more of my favorite pieces of tongue-in-cheek terror.  And, for some reason, it was only last nght that I found the recording dates for Haunted House Polka and He's Going to Eat Me Up (thanks, 45cat).  I'd searched for them in the past, but you know how that goes: Locating data is often a matter of using the exact correct phrase or phrase combination, or you're up a haunted creek without a crucifix.  I'm probably showing my age, but I can remember when Google searches were pretty straightforward.  You put in a search phrase, and up popped the object of your search.  That was, what?  1888 or so?

And, save for the creepy Lookout Mountain, the rest of the slaylist is classic October 31 absurdity: Haunted House Polka (1955), The Screemin' Meemies From Planet "X" (Merv's finest novelty, and he made a number of them), Close the Door (a lighthearted take on The Thing), Rip Van Winkle, Munster Creep, In the Hall of the Cha-Cha King (the least dread-invoking title, after Planet "X"), Which Witch Doctor, Funny Farm, and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (nothing to do with Robert Louis Stevenson's brilliant novella).  My worn Jekyll copy sounded best with my 1 mil mono stylus, so that's the rip you'll hear.  Also, Spooky Movies, which seems to me a Halloween variation on the "I took my girl to the movies, hoping for romance, but she just wanted to moon over Troy Donahue/Guy Madison" genre, only with monsters the target of her ardor.  (No, not a love for big-screen pirates.)

Bob Hudson's 1966 I'm Normal, and The Napoleon XV Revue's 1975 He's Going to Eat Me Up are our two axe-cellent copycat answers to They're Coming to Take Me Away, though there are other thump-a, thump-a, thump-a, thump-a knockoffs lurking around.  Any number of them, actually, and I have--or used to have--a CD-R of same, though one would have to be strapped down (or in) to take them away in one session.  I mean, to take them in.  Note that the latter contains a phrase not suggested for family listening.

And this is just from my boo-point, but I seriously believe Merv Griffin made the best, most campy novelties of all time, and of course I've included his two moss-terpieces for the season: the above-mentioned Screamin' Meemies and House of Horrors, both penned/co-penned by Doris Roberts.  Another Merv novelty accomplice was the famous Charles Randolph Grean (Quentin's Theme), who produced Merv's RCA hits (during Merv's brief period of chart success) and, far as I know, all of his later special productions, including the immortal Have a Nice Trip (1968), co-written by Charles.

1961's Rip Van Winkle is not so much Halloween in theme but feel, with sound effects fit for the season, and a sufficiently supernatural theme.  And a Halloween without Steve Allen is, well, a Halloween without Steve Allen.  Allen's "rockin'" ghost rocks in the fashion of cool jazz, as we'd expect from Steverino, who was (hardly) one of rock and roll's early champions.

I cited Lookout Mountain as the single credibly creepy title in the mess--er, mix.  That's because there's no lightness in the handling, and, really, it would be a chillingly challenging task to add levity to a narrative about a vengeful ghost coming to kill his widow and her new man.  But, a couple questions, at least: Were the Voodoo (?) hexes love spells which backfired?  And, if they knew the ghost would find them on Lookout Mountain, wouldn't the simplest solution have been to not go there?

And we get a soul version of Buck Owens' It's a Monster's Holiday.  Had I been able to find Owens' own recording (I failed to exhume my copy of same), I'd have made coffin space for it, but...  Oh, and there's an incredible story (thanks, Charlie Christ!) behind The Incredible Shrinking Man, on which Ray Anthony is credited as "Ray Anothony."  This title music, not surprisingly, started as an acetate not related to the film to the tiniest degree.

And the theme from William Castle's The Night Walker (1964) by (who else?) Sammy Kaye, the fondly remembered (by me, anyway) King Kong cartoon theme, and SPC doing some PD-graverobbing (in this case, from Charles Gounod) with The Alfred Hitchcock TV Show (aka, Funeral March of a Marionette).

A demon's dozen today: Thirteen titles!  Well, actually, that was true last post, but I neck-glected to depart that fact.  But, today we have a double demon's-dozen today: 26 grisly groaners!!  So, be careful!  Times two.  

DOWNLOAD: Halloween 2023, Part 3

SLAYLIST

Lookout Mountain--Chuck Miller, 1956

Haunted House Polka--The Cavaliers, 1955

The Screamin' Meemies From Planet "X"--Merv Griffin, 1961

Spooky Movies--Roy Clark, 1963

Thirteen Men--Dinah Shore With Harry Zimmerman's Orch. and Cho., 1958

Close the Door--Jim Lowe With Norman Leyden Orch., 1955

Big Bad Wolf--Don Cherry With Ray Conniff and His Orch., 1958

The Sorcerer's Apprentice and Danse Macabre--Dick Jacobs and His Orch., 1958

Rip Van Winkle--The Devotions, 1961

Munster Creep--The Munsters, 1964

House of Horrors--Merv Griffin, Orch, conducted by Charles Grean, 1962

The Naughty Ghost--Jan August With Vocal Group, 1955

I'm Normal--The Emperor (Bob Hudson), 1966

The Rockin' Ghost--Archie Bleyer Orch. and Chorus, 1956

He's Going to Eat Me Up--Napoleon XV Revue, 1975

In the Hall of the Cha-Cha King--Belmonte and His Afro-American Music, 1955

Tennessee Hill-Billy Ghost-Red Foley With the Anita Kerr Singers, 1951

It's a Monster's Holiday--Chick Willis, 1975

Murder, He Says--Betty Hutton With Pete Rugolo and His Orch., 1951

Which Witch Doctor--The Vogues With Al Kavelin's Music, 1958

The Alfred Hitchcock TV Show--Unkown (Diplomat, 1962)

The Incredible Shrinking Man--Ray Anothony (Anthony) and His Orch., 1957

The Thing--Danny Kaye, Orch. and Cho. Dir. by Ken Darby, 1950

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde--The Emersons, 1959

The Night Walker--Sammy Kaye and His Orch., 1965

King Kong--Wade Denning and His Port Wawshingtons, 1966

Lee

Shellac City 2022 Halloween Youtube playlist, 1904-1947

So, I discovered--not to my surprise--that most of my Halloween 78 rpm rips were lost when Workupload had deleted all of my zips--AND when all the zip files on my previous PC's D drive couldn't be retrieved by the Geek Squad.  Sometimes, it doesn't pay to get out of the coffin at sundown...

Yes, a more tragic tale has ere been told.  Well, actually, that would require a hyphen--e'er.  As in ever, except with the v omitted.  No, wait.  It's "ere" in the sense of before.  My bat--er, my bad.  So, no punctuation necessary--my error.  No more tragic tale has before been told.  Or e'er for "no more tragic tale has ever been told."  I'll leave this up to you.

However, my 2022 YouTube Halloween 78 playlist is still in place, and below is the link.  At least, I think it's the link.  Let me be sure.  (Annnnnnnd, no.  I isn't.  Time to create a new link.)  Here we go--this one works:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NR451Zkh5EA&list=PLZptDb6GpTWgqE6xz9YEfSlqNxRImV0va&index=1

26 acoustic/acoustical and electric 78s, from Spooky Spooks (1916) and Chopin's Funeral March (1909) to Little Nell (1932) and Hooray! Hooray! I'm Goin' Away (1947).  Also, Murder, Witch Hazel, and No! No!  A Thousand Times No!!

And the moral of the season is, Buwa-ha-haaaaa!!

Lee