Maxwell Davis- The Compositions of Lionel Hampton and Others…

I bought this because I failed to properly read the front cover other than the being one dollar part.  I saw Lionel Hampton and the price and just picked it up.  When I got home, upon closer inspection, I saw it was a budget record.  That is how they get you.

Here is a record from 1959 on Crown Records, featuring songs written by vibe legend, Lionel Hampton. Theses songs were arranged and conducted by Maxwell Davis, the R&B saxophonist who was the musical director of the label’s parent, Modern Records.

Decent idea for a record I suppose and despite being a cover record, the tunes are okay.  In respect to Hampton, the album does feature a lot of vibes.

One strike against this record however was that it was in horrible condition.  Almost every track skipped.  So for a sample I went with the track that skipped the least which was “Airmail Special”, which was one of the tunes from the “and others”.  Written by Benny Goodman, Charlie Christian, and James Mundy, the tune was a popular hit for Ella Fitzgerald. When you listen to it, remember I said that it skipped the least.

Was I disappointed that this was not Hampton.  Yes, but for a dollar, this is not bad and pretty true to the composer’s intent if memory serves me well. Satisfactory.

Knuckle Fingers Joe-Honky Tonk Piano

 

Here is another piece of old timey music that I bought for ….. $2?  Should have been cheaper.  I am not sure if there was a song on here that I liked or at the time of purchase I just had a thing for pian-ee.  For some reason or another I keep buying these old timey records and keep getting disappointed. And for yet another reason, I still keep on a buying them.

This came out on Custom Records, a budget label run by the Bihari Brothers, who were apparently legends in the world of budget labels.  I believe this came out some point in the sixties.  I am also pretty sure old Knuckles Joe is a studio band.I probably posted this before but to me this gag only gets slightly old.

 

Other than the old school bar room piano .  There is not much else to say about this record.  For a sample, I went with “Hot Time In The Old Town Tonight” with the slightly out of tune sound.  Almost makes you want to throw a mug of beer across the bar.

Meh.  But I will not let this deter me from future old timey purchases.

The Jay Gordon String Orchestra- Music For A Lonely Night

dscn5544Been awhile, huh? This was a dollar. I found the title funny.  Not sure to whom this album is marketed to.llli

This record was released in 1957, a year before the label, Tops merged with PRI Records. I am guessing these guys were a budget label.  I could not find anything on Jay Gordon other than there are a handful or records under his name.  He may or may not even exist.  It could be the label’s house band for all I know.dscn5545

Anyway, the album itself is okay, although I do not see how it fixes a lonely night.  The songs are well orchestrated and the arrangements are pretty silky smooth.  2fimage2f3212372f936full-de-lovely-poster

For a sample, I went with Cole Porter’s classic, “Begin the Beguine”.  I have been somewhat influenced this month by the movie De-lovely, which has been playing on cable as of late.  It is the story of Porter and his marriage to Ashley Judd.  Kevin Kline plays Porter.  It also features several artists of the 2000’s singing Porter standards.  Overall, I thought it was a decent movie.

“Begin the Beguine” sung in the movie by Sheryl Crow, is one of Porter’s most popular songs.  It has become a pop standard and has been covered by many artists.  It is known for its complex structure. Porter wrote the song in 1935 while on a cruise between  Indonesia and Fiji.  Here is the Jay Gordon String Orchestra’s take on the classic.  I particular like the woodwinds at the beginning.  Overall, it has a very exotica sound to it.people_20131122_dark

Meh.  I mean this is better than some of the budget orchestra albums I have bought over the years but it does not have enough merits for me to rate it any better.

101 Strings- Music To Relax By After A Hard Day

DSCN3662This was 80 cents.  By now I have bought enough 101 String albums to know what I am getting into when I buy them.  I bought this one due to the title and the cover.

And quite frankly, this is all this album really has going for it.  A funny cover.  These songs are easy listening arrangements done on the cheap as was Alshire’s style at the time.  They went with more popular songs than usual as the label preferred public domain songs to save money.  Other than that, I do not know what to say.  I have listened to this album a few times, in some cases after work.  I am not getting the relaxing quality shown on the album cover.  Maybe I am doing something wrong.DSCN3663

Either way, I need to leave with something so here is “Alone Together”.

You probably saw this coming in the opening paragraph but if not, here is a big meh for this one. At least it made for a quick write up.

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Kurt Maier-Sampler of 10 Echo Records

DSCN3660The Labor Day 20% discount puts this baby at 20 cents.  I generally love samplers but at that price, I am going with this for sure.  Since this was originally 25 cents, I am guessing I got this at the Half Price Books in Pearland.

Allegro Royale was a budget label. It is one of the labels run by Eli “Obie” Oberstein under the Record Corporation of America. This was a series of piano music called “Echoes”.  It would appear each series is representative of a place (Paris, Rome, Broadway, Times Square Etc).  The piano on these records was done by Kurt Maier.  My best guess puts this at 1956.  There are a few copies on the net for sale in the $15 range.  I would say this would make for a good buy on my part but it would also appear these records on the net have been looking for a buyer for some time.

Oberstein
Oberstein

Brief Word on Allegro Records

Kurt Maier’s story is a but more solemn.  Born in Karlovy Vary, Czechoslovakia in 1911, he lived as a well known pianist until Germany was awarded the Sudetenland in 1938.  He went to Prague to live with his mother until 1941 when he was eventually deported to concentration camps.  He moved thru different camps until his liberation in 1945.  The most tragic part of this existence was his two month stint at Auschwitz, where he was forced to play music while prisoners were led to the gas chambers.  Upon his liberation, he moved to America to live with his sister. There he continued to play piano both in night clubs and on records. I imagine he is dead now.

Maier
Maier

Site that is a jumping point for more information on Kurt Maier

Given that rather grim bio, this is a light an airy sampler of piano tracks with little backing.  The tracks are standards to the areas they represent such as “Rumba-Tumba”, “La Vie En Rose”, “”Dance Gypsies”, etc. A lot of songs were used in cartoons at the time. The piano is good.  There is nothing really radical about the arrangements.  I imagine these were made on the cheap so a good piano player who can cut the tracks quickly is what they were looking for.DSCN3661

I really wanted to put something more somber as a sample but most of the songs are rather upbeat.  Therefore I went with a song used in cartoons that I watched as a kid. From the French Rivera album, here is “The Can-Can”.  Personally. I thought it would be more suited for the Paris album.  Anyway, Maier gives a good performance on this.  Be warned, however, as this got stuck in my head.

If it were any higher in price, meh for sure, but at 20 cents, I will put this in the satisfactory range.

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