Another year older

So, I went to my profile to change my age to 51, and it had already been done. Either I'd updated it recently (and forgot about it), or Blogger has my birth date information. That must be it.

(Theremin: Oooooo-weeeee-oooooo)

Anyway, today is the day I enter the second year of my sixth decade, which is what happens when one turns 51. How counterintuitive is that?

But think about it--when we turn, say, thirty, we've already clocked thirty years. Meaning that we're starting our FOURTH decade. Ditto for fifty. And we're always a year ahead of ourselves in the singles column, as well--the moment we turn one, we're starting our second year, and so on.

And we thought aging was enough of a bummer already....

Having a good Birthday. Two tuxedo-cat Birthday cards, both awesome, and nice, spring-like weather. (Pollen? Well, yeah. Some.) Soon, I'll be driving over to pick up my foster mom, Bev, who is nicely recovering from gall bladder surgery. Surgery went well (though her g.b. was a little worse than her surgeon had thought), and she's completely un-doped at this point. Her painkiller drip had her in another time zone, but she's off of it. The miracles of short recovery time in our modern age.

Here on (at) the farm(house), all the cats are present and accounted for.

A healthy foster mom, a full roster o' cats, nice weather, and another year older. It all adds up to a fine, fine Birthday.

Lee

MY(P)WHAE Special Comment--Keith Olbermann: Idiot or moron?

Americans want to know--is Keith Olbermann an idiot or a moron?

Here's what happened. Hillary Clinton, campaigning in Kentucky yesterday afternoon, said she considers herself a stronger candidate against McCain than Barack. (We agree, but that's not the point.) Then she said the following words, laughing as she spoke them:

"Just today, I found some curious support for that position when one of the TV networks released an analysis done by--of all people--Karl Rove, saying that I was the stronger candidate. Somebody got a hold of his analysis and there it is."

It was meant for humor. How do we know? Because she was laughing. Because she used phrases like "curious support" and "of all people." Solid clues, those.

Yet, Keith Olbermann, host of Snortdown--er, Countdown with (Guess Who?) on MSNBC, was either outraged by Hillary's words or pretending to be.

(This brilliant and profound special comment continues at: MY(P)WHAE Text.)



Lee

Great Stuff--Hillbilly Heaven, Get Back, The Warbler's Serenade, more!

And what a great bunch of great stuff--major label 78s, cheap label 78s, major and cheap label LPs, Get Back on an Avant Records 45, a cut-price version of Autumn Leaves, and, oh, so much more. (What? You expect mediocre great stuff from this blog?)

The transfers are all mine, and two of my three 78 rpm transfers--Arthur Pryor's Band from 1925, and Roy Acuff from 1946, came out very well, I think. The third, a Shifting, Whispering Sands cover that no one will confuse with Billy Vaughn, is from a noisy Big 4 Hits EP, and even it sounds adequate. I outdone myself. I mean, muhself. Oh, and if it sounds like a small section is missing from the third strain of The Warbler's Serenade, it is. I had to delete a noisy portion thereof, though you pretty much have to know where I did it to detect the exact location of the splice. And I'm not telling. (Nyah!)

Sorry. I got carried away.

As far as I know, harpist Robert Maxwell's terrific version of Ay, Ay, Ay is from 1946. Somehow, I'd tracked down the date, and I included it in the track info. And, as ever, that part of the track info isn't showing up. I wish I could figure out why not. Did I say something that offended that particular field? ("Hey, you stupid field!")

Al Caiola's very fine version of A Hard Day's Night is from his very fine Tuff Guitar LP. Eddie Dean's classic Hillbilly Heaven was ripped from a 33 1/3 EP put out by Starday under some funky, TV-offer-sounding name. Apparently, the song was written shortly after Hank Williams' death, but a number of country stars are noted in advance of their passing--including the late, great Eddy Arnold.

Of course, nowadays we'd call it Country and Western Heaven.

Rock and Roll Music and At The Hop are two of my favorite Waldorf Musical Hall label r&r covers--chintzy, but incredibly fun (though Hop could have used an instrumental break). The dime-store cover of Roger Williams' Autumn Leaves is the kind of thing I live to find. Don't miss the final, unintended major-against-minor chord. As my piano teacher would likely respond (where he here), "Ouch!"

Click here to reach the zip file: Great Stuff

STUFFLIST

THE SHIFTING, WHISPERING SANDS--Art Rouse (Big 4 Hits 74)
GET BACK--No Artist Listed (Avant Records)
AT THE HOP--Hal Willis and the Woodchuckers, 1958.
THE RARE BREED (John Williams)--Sammy Kaye O., 1966.
ROCK AND ROLL MUSIC--Hollis Haribson, 1958.
AUTUMN LEAVES--No Artist Listed ("An Hour of Tops in Pops," Royale 1389N)
A HARD DAY'S NIGHT--Al Caiola, 1965.
AY, AY, AY--Robert Maxwell, 1946?
A MILLION BUCKS (Johnny Williams)--Andre Previn, 1966.
THE WARBLER'S SERENADE--Arthur Pryor's Band, 1925. From Victor 78.
THAT GLORY LAND TRAIN--Roy Acuff & His Smoky Mt. Boys, 1946. From 78.
HILLBILLY HEAVEN (Hal Southern-Eddie Dean)--Eddie Dean



Lee

Sunday morning gospel: The Boone Family--The Family Who Prays (1973)

Okay, so it's Monday morning--I'm a little late today. I mean, yesterday. I've been allergied-out worse than I can ever remember. And, forgive me if this is a repeat announcement, but our big city newspaper wrote that the pollen counts this year have been as much as fifty times higher than last year!

That's flat-out ridiculous, but what can I do expect complain? (Ahhhh-chooo!!!) Well, sneeze. There's that.

So, we have The Boone Family with the First Nashville Jesus Band from either 1972 or 1973. The label says '72, the jacket says '73. What do I know? I'm just the poster.

I've been hoping for this one to show up for a while, and all because of one track--He Will Set Your Fields on Fire. I just had to know what a Pat Boone version would sound like, and it turns out to be just fine. Other well-known gospel numbers include Gloryland March, Dust on the Bible, Stuart Hamblen's delightful The Lord Is Counting on You, and Albert Brumley's I'll Meet You in the Morning. Boone was born to sing gospel, Leethinks.

Wife Shirley Boone joins Pat on Old Fashioned Singing, and Debby (You Light Up My Life) Boone provides the child's voice on Help Me Understand, a wonderfully corny Hank Williams original. Slick, smooth, and totally honest--a Sunday treat for your Monday.

Click to reach zip file: Boone Family--The Family Who Prays.

PRAYLIST

Gloryland March
How Can You Refuse Him Now?
Dust on the Bible
Old Fashioned Singing
Bubbling in My Soul
The Family Who Prays
Help Me Understand
The Lord Is Counting on You
I'll Meet You in the Morning
Thank God
Old Country Church
He Will Set Your Fields on Fire


Lee

"Serenade in Soft Shoe" downloads??

"I'm having trouble with the video part of your transmission. Er, unless that's what you actually look like."

(Update: Savefile is now computing the downloads. There must have been a glitch at the site.)

Hi, everyone. At the Savefile site, it tells me that the "Serenade in Soft Shoe" zip file has been downloaded zero times. And I know it's been downloaded at least once--I tested it last night, and it worked perfectly. So, maybe the file is working fine, and the site is simply failing to keep track of the traffic.

On the other hand, if the d/l isn't working, please let me know, and I'll transfer the file to Box.net. Thanks!

And I hope you're all having a better allergy day than I... (Aaaaaa-choo!!) am.

End of transmission.


Lee

Serenade in Soft Shoe

Today, a short zip file of six pop-instrumental sides, beginning with Joseph Stefano's first-rate Serenade in Soft Shoe, as recorded by Jack Pleis and His Orch. in 1957.

The late Joe Stefano, of course, was the screenwriter for Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho and the producer of the classic first season of The Outer Limits. His scripts for Limits include the one about the giant alien ants in the desert, and the one about the ball of dust that feeds on a vacuum cleaner motor and emerges as a big, scary cloud of pure energy. Ed Asner starred (with hair) in the latter.

And Stefano wrote pop songs during the Fifties, a number of which I've featured here in posts past. I mean, pasts post. (Wait a minute....) Serenade in Soft Shoe is the best of his musical creations (with Wonder Struck, recorded by George Shearing, a close second), and I can't tell you how happy I am to finally land a copy. It's been years of searching.

You're glad I'm happy? Why, thank you!

The flip is Robert Wright and George Forrest's The Carefree Heart, from the musical of the same name. I find it annoying and likable at the same time (annoyingly likable?). A great tune to blast while driving. Be sure to roll the windows down and whistle along. Ignore the people who yell at you.

The remaining four sides, all gems, come from the multi-titled Crown LP, Hi-Fi Spectacular--Your Invitation to Stereo--The Sounds of a Thousand Strings. In spite of the usual cheap and noisy Crown pressing (complete with vinyl bubbles), the sound quality itself (apart from the analogue medium) is quite good--who knows where they got the masters from? The orchestra is conducted by Antoine de Treville, whoever he is/was. The kind of LP any sane person would take one look at and say, "Waste of money." Assuming it's a person who talks to himself while album-hunting.

Yes, the jacket promises little, but the grooves deliver astonishing sounds. And I wouldn't have bothered with it had the playlist not included something called Journey Into Space. This is a "new" copy of an LP I allowed to slip out of my collection long ago, and it's not in as good a shape. Serves me right, I guess.

Oh, and here's the link I forgot to put up. It was suggested to me that it might help in getting to the zip file, and I'm forced to agree:

Serenade in Soft Shoe

PLAYLIST

SERENADE IN SOFT SHOE (Stefano)--Jack Pleis and His O., 1957.
THE CAREFREE HEART--Jack Pleis and His O., 1957.
A TEXAN IN PARIS--Antoine de Treville Orch.
LA CUCARACHA--Antoine de Treville Orch.
LOVE AFFAIR--Antoine de Treville Orch.
JOURNEY INTO SPACE--Antoine de Treville Orch.


Lee "It's Not Me, It's the Sinus Meds" Hartsfeld, 2008

Tuesday Sounds

And what sounds they are!

Notes: Jerry Samuel, writer of The Shelter of Your Arms (a hit for Sammy Davis, Jr.) also gave us They're Coming To Take Me Away, Ha-Haaa!

Everything was ripped from my vinyl collection and edited with MAGIX, as ever. Enjoy!

Click here to reach zip file: Tuesday Sounds


PLAYLIST

But I Love You--Johnny Restivo, w. Bob Davie Orch., 1960.
Never Go 'Way--Gisele MacKenzie, w. Shorty Rogers Orch., 1957.
Balancing Signals--Left/Right Identification--Admiral Stereophonic Demo. Record
Another Man Gone--June Valli, w. Joe Reisman Orch., 1957.
Street of Memories--June Valli, w. Joe Reisman Orch., 1957.
The Shelter of Your Arms (J. Samuels)--Peter Nero, 1964.
I Want to Hold Your Hand--Peter Nero, 1964.
The Pink Panther Theme--Peter Nero, 1964.
Tenement Symphony--Tony Martin, Skyrockets Orch., 1948.
Tenement Symphony--Mantovani, 1963.


Lee

Sunday morning gospel: Praise Him, Praise Him (Eddy Arnold, 1958)

From 1958 (in a fake stereo reissue of 1967), the late, great Eddy Arnold's Praise Him, Praise Him--Fanny Crosby Hymns. Lovely songs, lovely singing, and not too shabby fake (a.k.a. "electronically reprocessed") stereo.

Bear with some sibilance (hissing s's) on a couple bands, and try to ignore the uneven speed(s) at the end of Rescue the Perishing. Must have happened during the reissue--I know it wasn't my turntable throwing a fit.

Arnold sings Crosby's brilliant hymn lyrics simply, humbly, and winningly. His voice was not unlike Burl Ive's--gentle, slightly raspy, and utterly natural. Of course, we must keep in mind that sounding "natural" is one of the toughest tasks a singer can hope to take on. But Arnold was a natural when it came to that art.

Yeah. I think it's time to get to the music.

Click here to reach zip file: Praise Him, Praise Him.

PLAYLIST

Praise Him, Praise Him
Safe in the Arms of Jesus
Near the Cross
I am Thine, O Lord
He Hideth My Soul
Jesus Is Calling
Blessed Assurance
Tell Me the Story of Jesus
Pass Me Not
Close to Thee
Rescue the Perishing
Though Your Sins Be As Scarlet



Lee