At Facebook, I was discussing the great mood music orchestras, and Al Goodman popped up. His name, that is. In connection with his superlative pop-orchestral music. And this 1953 EP set is as good as mood music gets. And its value as a collectable? Between one and three bucks at Discogs. Well, nobody said good and collectable were necessarily the same thing. I never did, certainly.
Fabulous early-RIAA curve RCA Victor sound, incredible arrangements and musicianship, and... My pick for the all-time best rendition of The Song From "Moulin Rouge," the famous hit by Les Six member Georges Auric. In this set, Rouge is followed by the almost-as-amazing The Happy Time, a Dimitri Tiomkin title from the 1952 movie starring Louis Jourdan, Charles Boyer, and The Outer Limits' own Marsh Hunt (memorably thought to death by a swarm of intelligent bees).
I knew Goodman made great recordings, having heard his fabulous forget-Arthur-Fiedler version of A Hunt in the Black Forest, but this is my first time listening to a Goodman LP. (Unless I put up one of his Brand "X" releases.) Or EP set. Same thing, in this case. Oh, yes, there's his wonderful 1950 12" RCA Victor 78, Christmas Fantasy. Same killer arranging, fidelity, and playing.
So, why don't he get no respect? Well, that's not an issue at this blog--here, he's going to get plenty of appreciation (once I find out what I've got by him and what I need). Pure A-plus "semi-Class." And whoever coined "semi-Class" (shortened form of semi-Classical) wasn't expressing a compliment, I'm sure, unless by some tiny chance he or she wasn't engaging in word play.
So, along with the two gems already mentioned, the themes from A Place in the Sun (Franz Waxman), Quo Vadis and Ivanhoe (both Miklos Rozsa) and The Snows of Kilimanjaro, credited to one Bernard Herman, otherwise known as Bernard Herrmann. Bernard was never one not to repeat himself (and why not?), and so listen for the hints of Vertigo in the 1952 theme.
Was Al's stuff too lacking in gimmicks, too straightforward? Musicals, the GAS (Great American Songbook), Strauss waltzes... no jungle drums or other "exotica" fare, no Al Plays the Great Beatles Hits. (Wait, wait... I take it back. He did a Fab Four LP for SPC's Diplomat label!) He did record an awful lot, but that shouldn't work against him. Well, count me hugely impressed by this wonderful set, and if you're only up for two tracks, please experience Moulin Rouge (which I keep mistyping as Rogue) and The Happy Time. Oh, and catch the Vertigo chord progressions to come in the Herman/Herrmann selection. So, if you're only up for three tracks...
I determined the track order by the matrix numbers. I suppose I could have consulted the ten-inch LP...
DOWNLOAD: Music From Hollywood--Al Goodman and His Orch. (RCA Victor EPB 1007, 1953)
High Noon (Do Not Forsake Me)
Theme Music From "The Snows of Kilamanjaro
Ivanhoe
Theme Music From "David and Bathsheba"
The Song From "Moulin Rouge" (Where Is Your Heart)
The Happy Time
A Place in the Sun
Quo Vadis
Lee
17 comments:
I think Goodman made his name as a Broadway orchestrator/conductor. In the early LP days he did quite a few operetta sets.
Berrnardd Herrmann not only repeated himself, he repeated a lot of other composers as well - Prokofiev, Elgar, etc. I do love his stuff, though.
My favorite Herrmann-repeating-Herrmann examples are from Citizen Kane, which has a number of Twilight Zone cues to come. Re Goodman operetta sets, I have several of these on RCA Victor, but I'm hoping to find his earlier, "regular" mood music on Columbia, including his Irving Berlin, etc. tributes. Goodman's stuff is a breeze to find--unless you're seeking specific issues. True for any epically common recording artist.
A fellow I knew once managed a record store for a gent who had a large collection. I was in there once when the owner was berating him for pricing the Al Goodman records too low. "We can get $10 for these!" he exclaimed. It was then that I knew the enterprise would not succeed.
Amazingly, two days before you posted this, I played the original hit Frankie Laine version of "High Noon" on my own turntable! Starting out with some of the kind of whimsical sounds that would be featured in his SPC Irving Berlin Songbook, this arrangement recalls the instrumental break in Doris Day's hit recording of "Secret Love". The French horns and the strings sound great on this. The trumpet playing on the bridge sounds it belongs on a Christmas recording (and Al did some great Christmas sides). It is a good version. However, considering the subject matter of the lyrics, it is just a touch too cheerful here.
Happy Time is a really great mash-up of music styles, sweet band, almost Lawrence Welk-style flourishes, and a mostly jovial mood considering the flavor of the piece. Also features some Hugo Winterhalter-style passages in the strings and the French horns.
"Moulin Rouge" is a real winner. While the cheapies were doing their best to ape the original Percy Faith and Felicia Sanders version, Goodman thankfully goes for uniqueness here with the strings at times sounding like the string section that would play on The Three Suns' album Soft and Sweet, released in 1955, two years after this album was released. There are even some period (for the era in which the movie is set) musical flourishes. Somehow, when I listen to this version of the "Theme From Moulin Rouge", "Tara's Theme" from Gone with the Wind somehow comes to mind. Great harp solo and whimsical horns at the end of the number.
This album certainly lives up to its title. Snows of Kilimanjaro, David and Bathsheba, and Ivanhoe sounds like they were actually recorded for the respective movies but were never used.
Most of the record is classic Easy Listening fare, very pretty and relaxing with occasional cinematic overtones. When you listen, you can understand why Goodman had such a prolific career with SPC in his later years after his major-label deal ended. At times, his music has a kind of generic flavor to it. Clearly a product of its time, but it is a great record to listen to. Four out of five stars from me.
PS: Here is a link of the Al Goodman Christmas album I have in my collection, a surprisingly good entry from Premier that I found last year:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4SrEKzQkp98
musicman1979,
"Cinematic overtones"--yes. I think that's what impresses me the most about this. Plus the astounding musicianship. Couldn't agree more re "Theme From Moulin Rouge": Its departure from both the Percy Faith single and instrumental LP track is refreshing, as is the all-over-the-place arrangement, which blew me away. Nothing remotely wrong with Faith's marvelous treatments, but as you said, Goodman went his own route here. And I strongly suspect he's the arranger. Talent to be envied. Thanks for your review! And, yes, "mash-up" best describes the delightful "Happy Times."
You are welcome. I think the Raymond Paige album you discussed over on the Brand "X" Records Facebook page is Stardust Melodies.
musicman1979,
The very same!
Buster,
Yes, that was not a good sign. I wonder what he figured the Kosty and Billy Vaughn discs were worth? ($15, at least!)
Hooray, a new post! And Al Goodman, too -- I've run across his albums of specific musicals (South Pacific, Funny Girl), and also some holiday LPs (Christmas Sing Along, 1000 Strings at Christmas). He must have been a gun, or orchestrator, for hire, because they seem to be on many different labels.
Thanks much for this, Lee.
I am a sucker for "The Song From Moulin Rouge"...and I didn't have this one. I'm up to 15 versions now.
I haven't seen John Huston's 1952 film in many decades and assume the song was in it? I can't really recall how I got attached.
Felicia Sanders has haunted me ever since I first hear her do the song...this post caused me to review what I had on her. "Something Cool", "How Long Has This Been Going On", etc.
Keep at it.
I feel like there was a 12" version of this one, too, but I'm too lazy to look it up at Discogs. Might have a couple extra tracks. :) He was certainly prolific!
Diane,
Yes, he's one of the all-over-the-place names, probably best known for his budget stuff (SPC, Spin-o-Rama, Pickwick). So many former "name" conductors ended up on the budgets (e.g., Paul Whiteman, Vincent Lopez, and others on Waldorf), while others continued their careers on the majors--Sammy Kaye, Kosty, Percy Faith. Luck of the draw, I guess.
lafong,
Thank you, and glad to add to your "Moulin Rouge" collection; this is the best of the bunch, imo (no offense to Percy Faith). And I seem to recall being disappointed by Faith's extended instrumental track, since it doesn't have that lovely suspension going into the dominant. Didn't Felicia get stiffed as far as royalties, since she was essentially a guest singer (like Merv Griffin with Xavier Cugat and Mitch Miller during Merv's Columbia period)?
Ernie,
Yes, a 12-incher with two extra selections: The Four Poster and Shane. The Four Poster is a new one on me. I'm almost sure I had this in album form but didn't keep it. That, or it'll turn up sometime when I'm looking through my overflow rows!
Though his stuff is all over the place, the Columbia sides I most want to locate are, of course, not things which show up often. SPC Goodman, on the other hand...
There was one Sammy Kaye album from 1971, Theme From Love Story and Other Favorites, that did get released on Decca's budget subsidiary label Vocalion, In addtion to covers of such current fare as the title track, "Cracklin' Rosie", "Can't Stop Loving You"(the Tom Jones hit), Engelbert's "Sweetheart" (penned by the Bee Gees) and Como's "It's Impossible", it also includes a re-recorded version of his big Bobby Troup-penned glee club-sounding hit of the '40's, "Daddy."
I have yet to track down the title of Al's Diplomat Beatles album.
"Ringo's Theme (This Boy)."
https://www.discogs.com/release/3937348-Al-Goodman-And-His-Orchestra-Ringos-Theme-This-Boy-And-And-I-Love-Her
Sammy Kaye wound up on Enoch Light's Project 3 label as the seventies moved on. Not sure how much involvement he had with the music at that point though, sorta like Lawrence Welk in the Ranwood days.
Thanks for the info on the Goodman Beatles LP. I will start looking for it in my vinyl hunts.
An interesting postscript concerning the subject of this post: three or four years after this album was released, Paul Weston called his Orchestra Paul Weston and his Music from Hollywood for a few albums. Sophisticated and classy mood music, his work ranks alongside the records he made with his wife, the superb female vocalist Jo Stafford.
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