Tuesday, May 14, 2024

Continental Juke Box No. 1--Wally Stott, The Melody Sisters, Michel Legrand, Giampiero Boneschi!

 


This made-in-Holland ten-incher showed up during my latest Goodwill trip, and how could I pass up that fabulous cover?  And, it turns out, the music is terrific, too, especially if you're in the mood for a Sh-Boom cover by a popular Dutch singing duo (the Melody Sisters).  I'm giving some thought to posting Sh-Boom at Lee's Fake Hits (YouTube), except that it doesn't really qualify as such, since it's not a budget knockoff.  Still, I could stretch the rules--it's my channel, after all.  

And I just now realized I had misread "Wally Stott" as "Wally Scott," which explains why I couldn't find anything out about her, despite conducting what I thought was a thorough Google search.  Seems Stott was Angela Morley, born Walter Stott in England and working as an arranger and recording director for the Dutch Philips label.  She became a transgender woman in 1972.  Here, Stott's orchestra performs the Dave Cavanaugh number The Cat From Coos Bay.  As a composer, Stott/Morley was best known for The Goon Show, The Little Prince, and Watership Down.

And... an excellent mood music rendering of Charlie Chaplin's Smile by Orchestra Michel Legrand, as the credit reads.  Then, the internationally successful Dutch Swing College Band with Muskrat Ramble in excellent hi-fi mono.  Thus ends Side 1.

Side 2 opens with Trinidadian pianist Winifred Atwell's Let's Have a Party, featuring the 1920s hits If You Knew Susie..., The More We Are Together, and That's My Weakness Now, plus Knees up Mother Brown, a British music hall classic credited here as a folk (traditional) number.  Mother Brown was memorably recorded by Merv Griffin with Freddy Martin in 1950, most probably as a follow-up to Merv's smash hit, I've Got a Lovely Bunch of Coconuts.

Then, Danish violinist Sven Asmussen's orchestra and chorus with Do, Do, Do, Do, Do, Do, Do It Again, covering (far as I can determine) The Four Tunes.  After which, harmonicist Jean Wetzel performs The Touch (from Touches pas au Grisbi) with Jean Wiener and His Trio.  Things conclude with Giampiero Boneschi directing the Melodicon Children Chorus in Aveva un bavero, with the Children sounding more like over-18s.  Come 1970, Boneschi became known for his electronic music.  At least one of his electronic pieces (The Latest Fashion) was utilized as soundtrack music for Space: 1999.



DOWNLOAD: Continental Juke Box No. 1, 1954 (?)


The Cat From Coos Bay--The Wally Stott Orchestra

Sh-Boom (Life Could Be a Dream)--The Melody Sisters and Black and White w. Orchestral Accompaniment

Smile (From the film "Modern Times")--Orchestra Michel Legrand

Muskrat Ramble--Dutch Swing College Band

Let's Have a Party: If You Knew Susie.../The More We Are Together/That's My Weakness Now/Knees up Mother Brown--Winifred Atwell and Her "Other Piano"

Do, Do, Do, Do, Do, Do, Do It Again--Svend Asmussen and His Orch. and Chorus

The Touch--Jean Wetzel, Harmonica With Jean Wiener and His Trio

Aveva un bavero--The Melodicon Children Chorus, Dir. Giampiero Boneschi


(Philips B 10156 R)


Lee

9 comments:

Ernie said...

I love finding these non-US releases just in hopes of discovering interesting covers of familiar hits. I've learned to keep an eye out for the songwriters instead of the songs since they frequently translate the title to the local language. But they also misspell the songwriter names all the time, so you never know quite what you're going to get. :)

Bryan said...

Hi Lee, thanks for uploading this...
The following information comes from Windows AI "Copilot".

Ah, the Continental Juke Box No. 1! 🎵 It’s a 10-inch EP released by Philips Records in Holland back in 1957. Let’s dive into the details:

The Cat From Coos Bay: This track is performed by The Wally Stott Orchestra. Interestingly, Wally Stott was actually Angela Morley, an arranger and recording director for Dutch Philips. She later transitioned and became a transgender woman in 19721.
Sh-Boom (Life Could Be A Dream): This lively tune features The Melody Sisters and Black And White.
Smile: The talented Michel Legrand contributes to this EP with the track “Smile.”
The compilation spans various genres, including jazz, rock, Latin, blues, and pop. Quite the musical journey! 🎶 If you happen to come across this vintage gem, consider giving it a spin! 😊

Bryan said...

Plus...

Learn more

1
musicyouwont.blogspot.com
2
ebay.co.uk
3
discogs.com

Copilot lists you as #1 to learn more. How impressive is that...

Lee Hartsfeld said...

Bryan,

Wow! I'm honored. Is "Copilot" a Windows 11 feature?

Ernie,

Yes, I've encountered some German releases that don't give the English translations. The composer credits only appear on the label for this LP, and the only goof is "Cavanagh" for "Cavanaugh"! Funny how my eyes read "Stott" as "Scott." When in doubt, the human brain defaults to the familiar.

Bryan said...

Hi Lee, one of the last times we talked, over 1 year ago...longer?, you were still running Windows 10.
As soon as I knew Windows 11 was going to drop this version, I installed Windows 11 Preview and joined their insider program. First, Bing offered Copilot. You needed to sign up for it. So I did and was invited to join in about a week. You can talk to it or type in your query. I type it in. Actually, I hate it, because if you ask, umm...a naughty question, at first, the AI scolded you for asking it. Now it says, I cannot answer, but do you have another question?
Anyway, it still is in the preview stage. There is no way to turn it off, so I just normally cancel out the answer as they type it. But, if I let them complete their answer, it is always worth reading as it cuts through most of the stuff you are looking for.
So, I can see why it has become popular.
When it was first introduced, Google was not happy about being beaten to the post, so to say.
Oh, Windows 11 Preview was introducing new products and fixes every week. The last few months it is now monthly. I think this is because in about 6 months Windows 12 should be available.

Unknown said...

Hi Lee,

Her is a small surprise from Hungary. A 78 rpm pearl from the late 40's, before the kommunist era.

https://1drv.ms/f/s!Aqr2_CNWpJcrjaMMGIhWmYR6gxixnQ?e=NnDSPF

Anna Kelly and Ernő Vécsey Orchestra - 2 FLAC files no copyright, free for You and All :)

Lee Hartsfeld said...

Anon.,

Thank you from the United States! These are marvelous. I especially like "Chattanooga"!

Andrew said...

Lee, I think you would like Angela Morley's "A Canadian in Mayfair" which she wrote as an 'homage' to, and in the style of, one of her musical heroes, Robert Farnon. who needs no introduction.

There are more faithful reproductions online (cf. the version by Sidney Torch) but I quite like the amusing subitles added to this one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KpxdAJ9zQ3k

After moving to the States Morley did a fair amount of tv background music and, on film, she arranged/orchestrated for, among others, John Williams.

Lee Hartsfeld said...

Andrew,

Sound sampling has come an amazingly long way--If I didn't know this was PC-generated, I would have guessed a second-generation recording (on magnetic tape). The subtitles are funny (and, presumably, not program-generated!). They actually remind me of that now-lost (?) descriptive-piece tradition of an accompanying text, a la Ferde Grofe's blow by blow account for "Grand Canyon." I've seen that tradition going back to the late 1700s, at least for American light concert works. Oh, and British light concert works, too--such as the "storm fantasies" of the late 1800s/early 1900s. Like so much "light" music, that genre didn't get no respect from the critics. And this is due, in large part (imo), to a lack of acquaintance with "middlebrow" conventions. Anyway, the PC grid is the next best thing to the original score--it demonstrates the mastery that went into most light fare.