You've gotta love that Percy Faith jacket: "How to sell these elegant popular concert numbers to the still-evolving 12-inch-LP market? Sex! That's the only way." The streak up the man's back is the result of the lamp whose glare I couldn't totally suppress--not the photographer's fault. Anyway, I love that "Get me out of here!" look on the lady's face. Or, "Darn, I forgot to let the sitter know I'd be this late..."
So, a Golden Records classic, some recently-thrifted shellac, the Mills Brothers doing doo-wop, a couple century-plus-year-old goodies, fine rural '40s gospel, and an authentic Hawaiian number from back when everyone expected that state to become my country's 49th.
And, luckily, there are still local thrifts (two of them) that haven't gotten stupid with their vinyl pricing, and so I've hauled in a decent amount of analog audio since my last "Various Artists" bash (in March). I think the principal inspiration for this VA post was the atypical appearance of 40 or 50 78s in fine condition at the big city Goodwill--of which I nabbed nine or so. Also, Hi Yo Silver! simply demands a blog slot. (And let me check to make sure I haven't already posted it... Nope; we're good.) Amazing work by the Arthur Norman Singers and the virtuoso accordionist--plus, surprisingly decent audio from a six-inch Golden Records release. Audio which sounded dreadful in stereo but just fine with the channels summed.
Ripped in mono from Music from Hollywood is Percy Faith's superb 1953 instrumental version of Song from Moulin Rouge, and from Mantovani's 1962 Moon River and Other Great Film Themes LP, the equally superb Big Country theme.
And, from that recent 10"-shellac haul, the soft and sultry crooning of Peggy King (whose Zero Hour is among my all-time favorite pop gems), with the amusing Gentleman in the Next Apartment, plus Bob Merrill's great Make Yourself Comfortable (made famous by Sarah Vaughan), both 1954. And Freddy Martin pianist Murray Arnold on the Cardinal label, performing his own Boo Boo Boogie and a boogie-woogie version of Camptown Races. No record collection is complete without one.
The 1955 Sid King 45 showed up in the St. Vincent de Paul Thrift, and when I saw the title--Sag, Drag and Fall--something told me that I was in for some Shake, Rattle and Roll-style rockabilly. I was correct. Fine stuff, with a nice flip.
And a good dance-band version of the famous Black and White Rag (George Botsford, 1908), and though I have no idea who Bobby Mills was, I suspect he may have been European or European-American. Just a guess from a Discogs listing. Actually, the label, K and K, was a country operation. So... dunno. And we move on with the marvelous West Lawn Polka (1912), by banjo mega-virtuoso Frederick J. Bacon, followed by a 1914 rendition of the National Anthem (another no-collection-should-be-without disc), and great 1946 country gospel by Roy Acuff--That Glory Bound Train. I was very happy with the 1946 rip, since picking the right Columbia response curve is always a matter of guesswork.
From the RCA Camden Easy to Love Skeeter Davis LP of 1970, Carole King's magnificent 1964 Let Me Get Close to You. And, further down the list, another Goffin-King classic, Down Home (Little Eva, 1963), from an original, much-played 45 release.
Elsewhere, Neal Hefti and Woody Herman's 12-bar-blues rocker, Blowin' up a Storm (1946, Carnegie Hall), an almost hilariously over-the-top Pink Panther (theme) by the world-famous Columbia Musical Treasuries Orch. (1968), and an I-hoped-it-would-be-better Hugo Montenegro version of Good Vibrations.
From the Tops-related cheapie line Golden Tone, a marvelous budget cover of the Peter Gunn Theme, credited to "The Hi-Tones" (whatever), and from the 49th State Hawaii Record company, Little Brown Gal. Apparently, Hawaii was in the running for No. 49, until Alaska took that slot. And two numbers from my mono copy of Dionne Warwick's 1965 Here I Am LP: (Are You There) With Another Girl, and the astounding Lookin' With My Eyes, both Hal and Burt, of course.
Garage-band gold with the Kingsmen's rendition of Money (too bad about the piped-in audience noise), and Paul Revere and the Raiders' 1963 Louie, Louie. A standard cover tune which, in an under-rehearsed take, was a huge hit for the Kingsmen, of course. And, back to Bob Merrill, the superb Take Me Along (from a Broadway show), as performed by the Mills Brothers in either 1959 or 1961. It all depends on whether or not my source LP--the MB's 1961 Yellow Bird--utilized the single release, which I strongly suspect was the case. From the same LP, MB's excellent Get a Job cover, which may or may not be the 1958 single release.
And who hasn't wanted, more than anything else, to hear Sheb Wooley's rendition of Rawhide? Well, long no longer--it's here. Sheb was no Frankie Laine, but his take is decent enough. We close with the 1971 jazz-rock of Get It On by Chase--a huge hit in my home town of Toledo, and one of my fondest AM-radio memories. We even had a call-in talk show named after it.
Enjoy!
DOWNLOAD: Various Artists August 2025.zip
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