Return to the blog: Strauss Waltzes in Dance Tempo: Al Goodman, 1940

 

I'm back!  These are all eight selections from from the 1940 10-inch 78 set, Al Goodman's Invitation to the Dance--Strauss Waltzes in Dance Tempo, and though they may not make for the most dynamic comeback post in sharity history, we have to ask if these once-known-by-everybody works have retained their fame.  Strauss, Jr.'s magnificent waltzes were a major part of sound recording history for, oh, 100 years or so, but come 2026 does the average person know The Blue Danube by ear (or even by name)?  Thus, these could be a new experience for some (but not for my regulars!).  Anyway, I found this set in the still-for-99-cents record boxes at the big city Goodwill, and the cashier only charged me once for this set (rather than a buck a pop).  Maybe she knew that a 4-disc 10" 78 set=one 10-inch LP, but probably not.  She was likely surprised that anyone was interested in this thing.  One of those, "I don't know what this is, so I'll just go with a single charge" thrift-store-checkout events.

Naturally, these waltzes have been considerably abridged, since complete performances would have run this into a four- or five-volume set, but even so, we get the first and second waltzes/themes of Blue Daube, each with a sub-melody (for a total of four strains), and for Tales from the Vienna Woods, we get the first, second, and fourth waltz, plus part of the coda.  No wonder it's so hard (for me, anyway) to remember the names to all of these.  Any given "Strauss waltz" can amount to six distinct themes.  Melodies just poured out of this genius.

Anyway, a very pleasant return to the blog, and Goodman's brand of easy-listening/mood/light provides an interesting contrast to the distant-mike sound of his fellow label mates Andre Kostelanetz and Morton Gould, whose mood selections had nice, suspended-in-space acoustics.

This set is ordered in a "manual" (pick-up-the-record-and-turn-it-over) format: Sides 1/2, 3/4, etc.  Or else the selections could be heard out of order on a changer.

Strauss Waltzes in Dance Tempo (1940).zip FLAC

Blue Danube Waltz

Wiener Blut (Vienna Blood)

Southern Roses Waltz

Wine, Women and Song

Tales from the Vienna Woods

Voices of Spring

Emperor Waltz

Artist's Life

Al Goodman and His Orchestra (Columbia set C 13, 1940)

Lee