Resurrected: Halloween 2012, Part 4

This is my fourth zip, so please ignore the "Part 2" on the zip file itself.  Sequencing isn't my forte.  Oddly enough, I had an easy time with the college math I was required to take, yet 1,2,3,4 still sometimes eludes me.  I'm like Michael Palin in the Spanish Inquisition sketch--"Three methods.  No, four.  Let's start over."

And speaking of the Spanish Inquisition, dig the primitive but cool Classics Illustrated cover above, which I added here because I forgot to do any label scans.  The issue of Poe stories includes Fall of the House of Usher, my favorite panel of which shows the House of Usher in pieces, the hero looking on and exclaiming, "The fall of the House of Usher!"  Very nuanced.

Some great stuff here, starting with the incredible tuba playing of Bill Bell, from a Golden Crest 45 rpm EP.  I'll never hear In the Hall of... the same way again.  Then we have three animal songs--a donkey, zoo baby, and moose--followed by a lovely girl group side, Crystal Ball.  Next, Liza Morrow, a singer who had her sole big hit, Band of Gold, as Kit Carson.  Joe Reisman's 1958 single, What'd He Say, is not an answer to Ray Charles--rather, it's yet another late Fifties exercise in sped-up playback. Sadie was a number one hit in Australia, The Mountain King is Lawrence Welk-style SAP (space age pop), and Love Is the $64,000 Question is one of the cleverest TV show tie-in novelties ever.  Well, the title's awesome, anyway.  As for Scarecrow Polka, only the Promenade label knows why it chose that title--the lyrics feature typically polka-subtle word play on "Fanny."  (I realize that made absolutely no sense, but I stand by it, anyway.)

This is Lee Hartsfeld, and I approve this post.

Click hear to here. I mean, here to hear: Halloween 2012, Part 2 (actually, 4).

SLAYLIST

IN THE HALL OF THE MOUNTAIN KING--Bill Bell and His Tuba (Golden Crest CR-315; 45 rpm)
ELECTRIFIED DONKEY--Ferlin Husky
ZOO BABY--Guy Mitchell w. Norman Leyden O. and Cho., 1955.
COOL AS A MOOSE--Jimmy Richards (Ray Conniff), 1959.
CRYSTAL BALL--The Willis Sisters, 1964.
WASHING MACHINE BLUES--Liza Morrow, 1952.
WHAT'D HE SAY--Joe Reisman O. and Cho., 1958.
SADIE THE CLEANING LADY--Johnny Farnham, 1967.  (Capitol 2128)
THE MOUNTAIN KING--Lawrence Welk and His O., 1961.
LOVE IS THE $64,000 QUESTION--Karen Chandler w. Jack Pleis O., 1956.
SCARECROW POLKA--Stanley Pulaski and His O. (Promenade A-30)


Lee