Pete Fountain- Plays Bert Kaempfert

Here is a pretty simple purchase to justify.  Both subjects, Pete Fountain and Bert Kaempfert have appeared multiple times on this blog, thus making an easy post to write.  $2 this was. It was owned by a former Sargent Major of the United States Marines, from what I can make out from the stamps.

Released by Royal Sound Records, a German label, this , in the words of the late Dennis Green, is exactly what we thought it was, an album of Kaempfert songs performed by Fountain.  According to the back cover, Fountain recorded this in Europe withe members of Kaempfert’s orchestra.  It came out in 1967.  Pretty good interpretation as well as selection of the conductor’s catalog.  The US version was released by Coral, a MGM affiliate. It was produced by Bud Dant.

Lot of good moments ( a testament to the works of Kaempfert) on here but I was kind of drawn to “A Swingin’ Safari” since it was one of my favorites.

Good little record.  Satisfactory.

Hank Snow- Snow in Hawaii

Here is an easy post to write today. Pretty self explanatory.  I have had tons of both Hank Snow AND Hawaiian records on this blog so there is not much more I can say about wither other than this album has them both.  I bought it for $2.  Released by RCA/Victor/ Dynagroove in 1967, this effort was produced by Chet Atkins.

What can I saw other than the relationship between country’s steel guitars and Hawaii’s steel/slack instruments is uncanny.  Snow tears thru these songs as easily as if he was singing a country ballad. All the songs were pretty good and I found the album quite enjoyable. For a sample, I went “My Little Grass Shack”.

Satisfactory record. Kind of kicking myself for not saving this post for the end of the month.

Commander Cody and His Lost Airmen- Live From Deep In The Heart Of TExas

Here is the type of rock and roll album I like posting on Saturdays.  $5 for this. Not really rock and roll.  This album a swell as the group has a strong country influence.

It’s been one of those weeks and one of these weekends so I am going to gloss thru this pretty quick, noting that this live album was recorded at The Armadillo World Headquarters in Austin, Texas in November of 1973.  The recording was released in March of 1974 (close to by birthday).

It was the groups fourth album. Containing only two preciously recorded songs, the rest of the album was new material for the group.  It is also regarded as their best work.

For a sample, I went with the Doug Kershaw classic “Diggy Diggy Lo”.

Satisfactory.

Bobbie & Smoky Coats-Folk Song We Love

This album was $3.  Look at it.  Between the goofy font and the equally goofy guy with the beret, there is no way I was going to pass this up. I mean, it just really looked bad.  Also, it had a couple of songs I really like on it.

I was really expecting this to be really bad attempt at beat folk from the 60’s based on the cover.  However, in actuality, it is more like folk songs grounded in country,  I could not find much about the subjects other than what is on the back cover, written by Grand Ole Opry star Billy Walker. In 1948. Walker played in a trio with Smokey and his brother Dusty Coats (so I am assuming they are from Texas).  At the time, Smokey was known for his multi-instrument skills.  In 1952, Smoky got married to Bobby and the pair worked with swing fiddler, Wade Ray.  When the Ray band disbanded, the Coats became a duo.  They played the Golden Nugget in Las Vegas.  This is all I know and it all came from the liner notes.

This record was released in 1963 on Sims Records. 12 songs on this album, featuring Smokey on guitar, Bobbie on piano, and the duo on vocals, along with a few musicians on bass, banjo, and drums backing the couple.  Most of the vocals are handled by Smokey but Bobbie’s vocals appear here and there.  Again I was taken  aback as I set my sights pretty low on this. The arrangements are good as is the musicianship and vocals.  For a sample, I could have used 75% of this album so how to narrow it down?  Well, I really liked the song “God’s River”.  Furthermore, I thought their version of “Rovin Gambler” was really good.  Finally, I wanted to throw Bobbie some vocal light so I considered “Sweet Betsy from Pike”.  Which one of these beauties would I go with?  Well I decided to take the easy way out and go with all three.

9 times out of 10, you can judge a book by its cover. Well, here is an exception.  Quite a good little record.  Satisfactory.  If you know anything about the Coats, please leave me a comment so I can fill in the many blanks this post left.  I would love to replace the stock photos on this post.

 

Sylvia- Drifter

Here we go with the last week of the fiscal month.  Overall, the blog has been increasing in popularity pretty steadily over the last three years but there is no rhyme ore reason to what hits and what doesn’t.  Sometimes I put out a post that I am particularity proud of that goes nowhere.  Other times, the ones that I consider throwaway posts take on a life of its own.  Of course having three years of content help.  But long story short, I guess I quit thinking about what takes off and what doesn’t because I can not see a logical pattern. Anyway, the pretty face on the cover along with the low price of $1 cemented this purchase for me.

Sylvia Jane Hutton aka Sylvia Kirby aka Sylvia Allen aka Sylvia Rutledge aka Sylvia(1956-) is a country pop singer from Kokomo, Indiana.  from her childhood singing roots, she burst onto the scene in 1979, reaching her peak in 1982 with the single “Nobody” a crossover hit that went #15 on the Billboard charts as well as #1 on the country list..  She took an early retirement from music at the end of the 80’s but re-emerged sporadically in the following decades.  A short career run in her prime but a remarkable one at that with a quite busy workout put crammed into this period. Today she works as a life coach, helping people get into the music industry.

This was her first album, released in 1981.  It went to #10 in the country album charts.  It also produced 6 singles, 5 of which that hit the top 20 country singles.  The title track went to #1.  Decent album overall.

If you read this blog with any regularity, you should know that in general, I don’t like a whole lot of country past 1968 and 80’s country is no exception.  But putting my personal preferences aside, it is easy to hear Sylvia’s  talent on this record and the songs are decent enough for the time period.

For a sample, I went with a track that sticks out on this record, only because it sounds more like Euro-pop than country.  Kind of strange for this record but here it is.  Titled “The Matador”, it went to #7 on the charts.  It also was one of the first concept music videos to appear on CMT.

Not exactly my cup of tea but still good album.  Satisfactory.

Rusty Draper- Sings Night Life

This was a dollar.  I got it because I have a soft spot for the song “Night Life” which was one of the 1st posts I did when I started this blog. I believe it was the second post, to be exact.  Off an early live Willie Nelson record.  You can search for it to hear it.

I went to two more Half Price Books during the 20% off sale on Sunday morning (technically speaking three hours ago as of writing this).  I went to the one in Rice Village and the one in Montrose.  I actually still really like the Village HPB.  Other than the jump in prices, they have remained relatively the same, with the most notable exception being a smaller International section (which is really what I am looking for these days).  They did have (and always have had) a large opera box section which was great as I want to listen next season’s HGO works before I see them.  Anyway, I purchased a big box of records from the Village along with a folk song book and a Jaw Harp.  The latter also widely known as a Jew’s Harp, I was unsure which nomenclature I should use for the blog.  

I also made a stop at the Montrose Half Price because I like on of the cashiers there.  In the last three years, they really screwed up that store, starting with the elimination of half their $1 records to make more room for used VHS tapes.  Anyway, I made a smaller purchase, around 9 records or so, but was able to find some really good records, including one my favorite cashier had her eye on.  We talked about that and the general increase in record prices.  That makes me 2 for 3 for sweet talking HPB cashiers this weekend.

Well, back to the record at hand.  From one Farrell Haliday “Rusty” Draper, born in Kirksville, Missouri in 1923.  Draper started on radio before becoming a country/ pop crossover star.  His success came mostly in the 1950’s.  By 1980, I believe he largely faded out of music.  He would die in 2003 of pneumonia.

This record, released in 1964 on Monument Records, features a title track written by Willie Nelson.  Released as a single, it went to #56. Other than that, a pretty good cross section of songs and song writers.  The album really does walk the line between country and pop.  So much so, that I was not sure what kind of singer Draper was when I first listened to this album.  But I found it quite entertaining, none the less.

Of course, I mentioned above that I do have an affinity for the title track.  I also felt the other Willie Nelson song on the album, “Crazy”, was quite an excellent version as well.  Also, “St James Infirmary” is one of my all time favorites.  So here they are.  I believe I have done a decent job this month of keeping it to one sample per post so I think I can splurge with this one.

Satisfactory.

Al Hirt, Arthur Fiedler & The Boston Pops- “Pops” Goes The Trumpet

Here is unlikely collaboration from two heavyweights of their respective field (no pun intended for one of them).  Both Pops mastermind Arthur Fiedler and Dixie Land Trumpeter Al Hirt have been on this blog before.  So why not together?  I bought this to find out how this duo would sound for $1.  So not a whole lot of risk involved with this.

This record was released on RCA Victor/Dynagroove in 1964 while both men were at the top of their games.  But how would it sound.  Pete Fountain famously remarked about his time with Lawrence Welk noting that “Bourbon and champagne don’t mix.  Would this record share a similar fate?

Well, I was taken aback how well the two men worked together on this album and it really highlights their skills.  The fantastically orchestrated pieces are punctuated with solid trumpet works.  The pieces include traditional work, Hayden’s “Trumpet Concerto”, and pieces by such diverse folks such as Sir Arthur Sullivan and Raymond Scott.  The album also boasts a rendition of Hirt’s classic, “Java” which would have been included here as a sample but alas it skipped.

However, we do have the opening track, “La Virgen De La Macarena” by Bernardino Bautista Monterde, of whom I know nothing about.

Great little record.  Satisfactory.

Nancy Sinatra- Country, My Way

Country music is the theme this week and here we are with a piece from The Northern Country Music hot seat, Jersey City, New Jersey, by Nancy Sinatra.  This was $6.  Seems to be a theme this week.  Eh gads.  When will the price gouging end?

Sinatra, (born in 1940), is of course the daughter of Frank and best known for her hit single “These Boots Are Made For Walking”.  Her country credibility was greatly bolstered by singer, song writer, and producer Lee Hazelwood (1929-2007), who collaborated on many of her efforts over the years, including this one.

Hazelwood was born in Mannford, OK but spent his teenage years in Port Neches, Texas, where he was exposed to a diverse Gulf Coast music scene.

Retiring for the most part in the 1970’s, Hazelwood became an underground/ musician’s musician of sorts. He also wrote the 1965 tune for Dean Martin, “Houston”.

This record, released in 1967, was Sinatra’s fourth effort.  Released on Reprise Records, it would go to #43 on the album charts.  A good mix of country tunes, including some very good versions of country standards including ” End Of The World”, “Oh Lonesome Me”, “It’s Such A Pretty World Today” , and “Walk Through This World With Me”.  Pretty good record. Rather countrypolitan in nature.

For a sample, I decided to go with the single from the record, the duet made famous by Johnny Cash and June Carter, “Jackson”.  Sinatra is joined by Hazelwood on this.  This single went to #14.  Also, as a sample, I went with “Get While The Getting’s Good”.

Satisfactory Record.

 

R J Benninghoff – An Evening With Chopin

DSCN4862 (800x797)This record had been staring at me for some time during multiple visits to Half Price. This was one dollar. If show tunes were one sub theme this month, modern interpretation of classical music was the other.  I think the Captain America looking cartoon on the record caught my attention when I saw this record.  The other characters on the cover are Chopin with George Sand, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Heinrich Heine, Lord Byron, and Novalis.  George Sand was the pseudonym of Amantine Lucile Dupin.  She had numerous affairs with artists including Chopin and was not a 19th century transvestite as I originally thought.A-963801-1312054971.jpeg

I was unable to find out much of anything of pianist, writer, and arranger R.J. Benninghoff.  From what I can tell, he is from Indiana.  I believe he worked in Nashville as a song writer and a session man  According to one source, he liked to use the word groovy, he worked on Bob Dylan’s “Rainy Day Women”, and he was a handsome young man. Sometime in the late 60’s he became the leader of the house band for Minaret Records (most of his band mates also played on this album).  I believe during this period, he was in Valparaiso, Florida. He also put out a few more other classical/rock hybrid albums.  Sometime in the 70’s, Minaret Records started to fade and Benninghoff returned to Indiana.  I believe he is still alive.

This record, released in 1976, is a collection of tunes written by Benninghoff, augmented with pieces of Chopin.  The pieces are all tied together and grouped in sets.  It is a real ambitious project.  When I first heard this album, I thought it was really great. The second time I listened to it, I thought it was pretty good.  Kind of the opposite effect of the New York Rock and Roll Ensemble record I posted, but I still feel that this is an excellent record.  No matter my opinion, this was a pretty bold concept which was pulled off in a good manner.  The Chopin pieces really tie the songs together. My favorite numbers include the “Magic Land” set, “Show Don’t Know”, “Here Comes The Night”, and the song I picked for a sample. Besides piano, rocksichord, and organ, Benninghoff also arranged and produced this.  I do not know for sure who sang, but I am assuming this was Benninghoff as well.

DSCN4863 (800x782)

For a sample, I went with a set that includes ” Waltz-Op 64 #2, Part 1 / In-Stra-Mental / Waltz-Op 64 #2, Part 2 / The Love Of Women / Waltz – Op 64 #2, Part 3″. Both original pieces are quite good and they mesh with the Chopin tunes.

I think this is Benninghoff
I think this is Benninghoff

I do really like this record. Top Rated.

 

Skeeter Davis- The End of The World

DSCN4677 (800x777)This was $3.00.  Pretty classic female vocal 60’s album. Hard to pass up.skeeterdavis

Mary Francis Penick, known to the world as Skeeter Davis, was born in Dry Ridge, Kentucky in 1931.  She started in the business of show as a teenager in the country  vocal duo, the Davis Sisters (despite being neither sisters or a Davis).   The duo had a bonafide #1 hit single with “I Forogt More Than You’ll Ever Know”.  However, tragedy struck in 1953 when a car accident killed Betty Jack Davis and injured Skeeter. She would continue the duo with Betty’s sister Georgia until 1956 when she decided to retire from music and get married.sk11

Retirement was short and Skeeter returned to country music in 1958, this time as a solo artist.  She gained success working with Chet Atkins on several hit singles.  Her biggest success, however, was the pop country crossover, “The End Of The World”, a millions seller.  It would become Skeeter’s signature tune.  She would record for RCA up until the mid 70’s.  From there it is unclear what happened other than a few albums for smaller labels and appearances here and there. As a member of the  Grand Ole Opry since 1959,she made her final appearance in 2002.  She would pass away from breast cancer in 2004. She was one of the first female country solo stars.  Both Tammy Wynette and Dolly Parton acknowledge Skeeter as an influence.

This was Skeeter’s  forth solo studio album, released in 1963.  Produced by Chet Atkins and Anita Kerr, the album was her biggest success.  In order to get a full sound as well as mimic her Davis Sister’s sound, Skeeters vocals were double tracked.  Furthermore, the Nashville Sound complete with strings and piano is evident here. The songs are good, Skeeter’s vocals are great, and overall, the production values are good.DSCN4678 (800x798)

For a sample, I went with “Once Upon A Time”.skeeterdavis02-430x250

Satisfactory Record.