So, my fervent hope is that I ripped and labeled these things properly, because each EP has eight titles per side (!), and because I ripped them out of order, thus necessitating the moving of MAGIX project tracks. This is always a risky process, which is why I made a backup, just in case things went wrong. It was then I discovered that I'd tagged sides BU-3AA and BU-3BB in reverse. Had to fix that. This stuff gets complicated.
So, the Waldrof Record Corp'.s Rock 'N Roll Jamboree (with the lone apostrophe preceding the N, this time) was, as far as I can speculate, a let's-get-the-most-out-of-our-catalog-before-the-buyout gimmick, the set apparently issued in four discs on at least two series. Mine is the series which starts with "BU-," and I have discs 2-4. Meanwhile, at Discogs, there's a CA- series. As we say in the "Brand X" collecting community, don't look for logic--it's not there. And, if we don't say it, we should.
I can't believe Enoch Light would have put his stamp of approval on a project this tacky, and since I tend to believe (without sufficient evidence) that, come sometime in 1957, Enoch was basically done with Waldorf ("Do whatever you like, guys"), I'll not blame Enoch for this sloppily engineered series, which offers sometimes comically truncated sound-alikes. There are blatant engineering glitches--mistimed edits, and even (on side 4AA) a pitch dip. Yet, for all the snarky things I could say about this set, it's incredibly entertaining. I mean, it's like a fast-forward through the world of Waldorf sound-alikes, from the days when the outfit's rock and roll covers sounded like big band relics, to the days (starting in 1957) when there was far greater pop chart verisimilitude, if I'm using that word correctly. By the time Waldorf's r&r tracks were actually sounding like r&r, Enoch was packing up to leave. Not to suggest that the Light-style r&r sound-alikes were anything but beautifully done and charming, but for most of its existence, Waldorf's r&r fakes were fakes in every sense of the word.
But, as I said, this is a very fun playlist, and I reckon that the sloppy editing only adds to the fun. We have no fewer than 48 tracks clocking in at about 51 minutes, so hold on to your seat! Not surprisingly, my copies, though they look fine, have their share of surface distortion. I don't think the crammed-together grooves helped in the graceful-aging department. So, expect some minor surface issues. Your ears will quickly adjust. I opted not to kill the treble, because I hate doing that.
There's no way I was going to type out all 48 titles, so please refer to the label scans below (and, of course, my mp3 ID tags). Somehow, I was able to cram all of the titles and artists on those tags, though I abbreviated when necessary. Link follows:
DONWLOAD: Rock 'N Roll Jamboree (Waldorf Record Corp. BU-2, 3, 4; poss. 1957)
6 comments:
I imagine that Artie Malvin, Loren Becker and the rest are no longer with us, but I suspect they would be pleased by your expeditions into their recordings.
Wow!!
i do know that Bob Eberly passed in late-1981, and according to the Space Age Pop website, Artie Malvin passed on June 16, 2006.
Where in the world do you find this stuff, Lee? I never even KNEW that Waldorf put together a kind of sampler collection such as this. I know from listening to the full length versions of some of these songs on YouTube that Bob Eberly does a real good job on "Send For Me" and does a so-so job on "heartbreak Hotel" that could have been a warm-up for the kind of sound Producer Jimmy Bowen would do with Dean Martin when he began producing him on Reprise Records in the 1960's. George Barnes has got some tasty electric guitar solos throughout.
Because, like you, I also have the full-length Artie Malvin recording of "Rock Your Little Baby To Sleep" that I actually prefer his version over the original By Buddy Knox. And I always suspected that that was him singing on "Long Tall Sally" which I prefer over Pat Boone's cover version--Little Richard's original is in a class by itself. My lone "8 Top Hits" Waldorf LP in my collection has that song listed as by Loren Becker.
This probably was around the time that Enoch Light wanted to do more sophisticated, classy material and concentrated more on this and its big-budget sister label, Grand Award, that he decided to let some other people call the shots when it came to doing Top 40 covers such as these. It took a few years for these former Big Band veterans to discover through trial and error that Top 40 music was changing at a rapid pace and he kind of felt out of place. Two years after this record, he started Command Records and became an A-list artist in the early days of Stereo. However, he did return to the Top 40 on some of his Project 3 albums, covering such songs as "People Got To Be Free", the Doors "Touch Me", Gary Puckett's "Lady Willpower" and even Steppenwolf's "Born To Be Wild" done in the style of the Ray Conniff Singers! Plus he covered Beatles hits like "I Want To Hold Your Hand" and "A Hard Day's Night" on some of his Command albums. He was more open to cover more current Rock-driven material from the Top 40 than some of his peers were doing at the time.
Again, great find! Thanks for sharing.
Wow, musicman -- thanks for all that Enoch Light history! I'm fascinated by his work on Grand Award, Command, and Project3, and have been collecting those albums. The art he commissioned for covers is in frames on my walls. Clearly he took care with the entire package, which most at that time did not. I love the Light!
Do you have any of the full-length versions of these fakes in your collection? Hopefully they will show up either here on this blog or on your new YouTube channel. Even those most of these were sloppily edited, they do serve as great samplers of Waldorf's fake Rock hits.
Good idea for a post--I probably have most of these in their unedited state. Of course, some have probably already been posted. (Or maybe not. So hard to keep track after a while!)
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