Pops Concert IV--Revenge with Music

"No way," you say. "No way you've waited twenty years for Andre Kostelanetz' Revenge with Music to show up. No way." "Way," I reply. "Wow," you exclaim.

True--all of it. Well, except the pretend dialogue. Twenty years I've waited for the Shellac God to bless my collection with the 1934 Andre Kostelanetz twelve-incher you see in the photo. Of course, I've been doing other things during that time--such as hunting down other records. A long time ago, I reasoned that I'd never have a record collection until I'd amassed a certain number of them.

But, yes, twenty years. Was it worth the wait, you ask? I suppose it was, in the sense that it's no disappointment. First-rate vintage easy listening, lovely medley of songs (including You and the Night and the Music and If There Is Someone Lovelier Than You), ingenious arrangement, and more dynamic range that I would have expected from a 1934 78. The classic Kostelanetz sound was there--it only needed more reverb and strings. But it's very close to the Andre sound of the 1940s and 1950s.

Speaking of the 1950s, AND the year of my birth, from 1957 we have Mario Ruiz Armengol with gorgeous elevator versions of three Pops mega-standards: Brahms' Lullaby, Foster's Old Folks at Home, and Juventino Rosas' 1884 waltz, Over the Waves. Many composers set out to write tunes that will last forever--these three beat the considerable odds and accomplished just that.

I've always wanted a chance to type "beat the considerable odds."

Then there's Don Baker's theatre organ version of Rube Bloom's Soliloquy, last heard at this blog in its 1927 Paul Whiteman version. This one is from 1959.

Finally, and from the same year, Raymond Scott's Huckleberry Duck, as played by Glen Gray and the Casa Loma Orchestra in imitation of Scott. Like most Scott compositions, it does next to nothing for me, but I know I have Scott fans who stop here. And what's taste, anyway, except something that dulls when allergy season blows in?

The Andre took me twenty years to find, but you get to enjoy it after a measly two-minute download. Lucky you. I hope you're happy.

Download. Enjoy. Sing along. Grow.

Click here to reach zip file: Pops Concert IV--Revenge with Music

PLAYLIST

REVENGE WITH MUSIC, PTS. 1 and 2 (Dietz-Schwartz)--Andre Kostelanetz Presents, 1934.
SOLILOQUY (Bloom)--Don Baker on the Robert Morton pipe organ, 1959.
OLD FOLKS AT HOME--Armengol and His Orch. (Rec. in Mexico), 1957.
LULLABY (Brahms)--Same
OVER THE WAVES (Rosas)--Same
HUCKLEBERRY DUCK (Lawrence-Scott)--Glen Gray, Casa Loma Orch., 1959.


Lee

Halloween at MY(P)WHAE, Part 1!!

So... On Sunday, Hurricane Ike struck with Category-One force and caused some serious damage here in Ohio. We were two days running our generator before the power came back in the country--folks in the city weren't as lucky. Phone and DSL were down until today. Hence, my absence from cyberspace these three long days.

Addicted to the Internet? Me? Yeah. Apparently. But my blog fans have yet to complain.

And, now, we have twelve terrific Halloween tracks to get spooked out over (if the stock market horrors of the past two days aren't enough). Half are repeats, and half are new to the blog. A few really odd ones, including Cliff (Delta Rhythm Boys) Holland's Tops label cover of The Thing (which, like many early Tops sides, sounds really bad), the Capitol University Cappette's Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte, and Lalo (Mission: Impossible) Schifrin's The Hautning, a 1963 instrumental inspired by the Robert Wise movie. Download with caution, for the sanity you lose may be your own!! Buwa-ha-haaaa!!

Click here to reach slaylist: Halloween 2008, Part 1

SLAYLIST

1. HOUSE OF HORRORS--Merv Griffin, 1962.
2. MY FRIEND THE GHOST--Tommy Dorsey, feat. Gordon Polk, 1954.
3. THE NIGHT BEFORE HALLOWEEN--Bill Buchanan, 1962.
4. BONEYARD SHUFFLE--Red Nichols, Five Pennies, 1926.
5. THE SNAKE--The Liverpool Five, 1966.
6. QUENTIN'S THEME--Charles Randolph Grean Sounde, 1969.
7. WITH HER HEAD TUCKED UNDERNEATH HER ARM--Kingston Trio, 1960.
8. THE HAUNTING (Scifirin)--Lalo Schifrin and His Orch., 1963.
9. MY FRIEND THE GHOST--Jill Whitney, 1954.
10. THE THING (Grean)--Cliff Holland.
11. SATAN AND THE POLAR BEAR (Rose)--David Rose O., 1957.
12. HUSH... HUSH, SWEET CHARLOTTE--The Capettes.


Lee

Sunday morning gospel--The Thomas Duet

For once, we have a recording date, believe it or don't. Well, the year of purchase, anyway--and that would be 1973. The owner wrote it on the label. And 1973 feels about right.

Great stuff here. The liner notes tell us that Glenn and Geneva Thomas "were born and reared up in Knott County, Kentucky. They met in 1944 and were married in 1945. They are the parents of seven children. They have sang on many radio stations in eastern Kentucky and Virginia. They moved to Ohio in 1961, where they became affiliated with a religious broadcast already in progress and are now full pledged members of the Apostolic Church of Jesus Christ; 555 Prince Albert Blvd.; Dayton, Ohio. We sincerely hope these songs will be a blessing to you and your home."

I Found the Way is the album's title (meanwhile, the first track is called I've Found the Way). And I found this way satisfying and uplifting. And that's way bad word play. How to find my way out of this?

Click here to reach zip file: I Found the Way--The Thomas Duet

PLAYLIST

I'VE FOUND THE WAY
A CROSS ON A HILL
THIS WORLD CAN'T STAND ALONE
SATAN'S JEWEL CROWN
IF WE FORGET GOD
WHEN JESUS CALLS HIS CHILDREN
OVER IN THE GLORY LAND
C-A-L-V-A-R-Y
HE SAVED ME
MY MAIN TRAIL


Lee