Halloween 2009, Part 6: That Hypnotizing Man, The Thing (From Another World), more!

Once again, Goodwill has been good to me. The latest trip yielded a number of gospel LPs, which I chose over more m.c. (musically correct) selections, including several in the jazz vein.

Non-gospel titles include J. Lawrence Cook's Piano Roll Rock 'N (sic) Roll, whose version of Rock Around the Clock I've been wanting to find for a while. It doesn't show up on eBay very often, and here it was at Goodwill for 99 cents. Also, a 1960 RCA Red Seal (and Living Stereo) recording of Symphonie Fantastique, which means I now can put up the Halloween-perfect Witches' Sabbath movement.

Best find of all, in the context of October, is 1978's The Spectacular World of Classic Film Scores, which includes The Thing (from Another World): Suite as taken from Dimitri Tiomkin's fabulous 1951 music. Sound quality is excellent--does digital recording go back to 1978? (He asked, too lazy to Google the subject.)

We'll be hearing this plus five other selections ripped from 78s in my out-of-control collection. That Hypnotizing Man features a marvelous tune, surprisingly jazzy singing (for 1912!), and lyrics that are, on one hand, clever but, on the other, apparently very difficult to sing. I feel for the vocalist. Will-0'-the-Wisp is from Edward MacDowell's Woodland Sketches, and it's 1) a mini-masterpiece, 2) beautifully performed, and 3) ripped from a very noisy copy. In the battle of noise vs. MAGIX, filtering was mostly victorious. And I have no idea what I just typed.

The 1941 (?) Dance Macabre features Lew White on organ and assisted by piano and xylophone. Just in case you thought you were hearing the Three Suns. The Mosquitoes' Parade is pure late-1920s in sound--which is odd, considering that it was written in 1900. I think it works beautifully as Halloween music, though it is also famous as a circus march and as an item on the Titanic's final-voyage playlist.

Finally, Venus and Back, recorded in 1954 on MGM by the Coronet Orchestra, described by Billbaord in a 1955 album review as "a British group of some 50 musicians." Fabulous side.

To the music: ZIP FILE NO LONGER AVAILABLE

SLAYLIST

THAT HYPNOTIZING MAN (Albert Von Tilzer)--Dolly Connolly (Mrs. Percy Wenrich), 1912.
WILL-O'-THE-WISP (MacDowell)--Myrtle C. Eaver, piano solo, 1927.
DANCE MACABRE (Saint-Saens)--Lew White, organ; Harry Breur, xylophone; Sam Praeger, piano, 1941(?).
THE MOSQUITOES' PARADE (Whitney)--London Novelty O., 1931.
VENUS AND BACK (Shaw)--The Coronet Orch., 1954.
THE THING (FROM ANOTHER WORLD): SUITE (Tiomkin)--National Philharmonic O., c. by Charles Gerhardt, 1978.


Lee