Doris Day – Whatever Will Be, Will Be (Que Sera, Sera) + You Made Me Love You (I Didn’t Want To Do It) (1956)

I have to reduce my singles collection:

Doris Day (born Doris Mary Ann Kappelhoff; April 3, 1922 – May 13, 2019) was an American actress, singer, and animal welfare activist. After she began her career as a big band singer in 1939, her popularity increased with her first hit recording “Sentimental Journey” (1945). After leaving Les Brown & His Band of Renown to embark on a solo career, she recorded more than 650 songs from 1947 to 1967, which made her one of the most popular and acclaimed singers of the 20th century.

Day’s film career began during the latter part of the Classical Hollywood Film era with the 1948 film Romance on the High Seas, and its success sparked her twenty-year career as a motion picture actress. She starred in a series of successful films, including musicals, comedies, and dramas.

She played the title role in Calamity Jane (1953), and starred in Alfred Hitchcock’s The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956) with James Stewart. Her most successful films were the ones she made co-starring Rock Hudson and James Garner, such as Pillow Talk (1959) and Move Over, Darling (1963), respectively. She also co-starred in films with such leading men as Clark Gable, Cary Grant, James Stewart, David Niven, and Rod Taylor. After her final film in 1968, she went on to star in the CBS sitcom The Doris Day Show (1968–1973).

Day was usually one of the top ten singers between 1951 and 1966. As an actress, she became the biggest female film star in the early 1960s, and ranked sixth among the box office performers by 2012. In 2011, she released her 29th studio album, My Heart, which became a UK Top 10 album featuring new material. Among her awards, Day has received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award and a Legend Award from the Society of Singers. In 1960, she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress, and in 1989 was given the Cecil B. DeMille Award for lifetime achievement in motion pictures. In 2004, she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President George W. Bush followed in 2011 by the Los Angeles Film Critics Association’s Career Achievement Award. She was one of the last surviving stars of the Golden Age of Hollywood. (by wikipedia)

And here ar two nice Pop or Eady Listening tunes from two different movies (“The Man Who Know Too Much” and “Love Me Or Leave Me”).

Not my kind of music, but of course an important part of the popluar US music in the 50s.

Personnel:
Doris Day (vocals)
+
Frank DeVal Orchestra (on 01.)
Pery Faith Orchestra (on 02.)

Tracklist:
01. Whatever Will Be, Will Be (Que Sera, Sera) (Livingston/Evans) (from the film “The Man Who Know Too Much”) 2.16
02. You Made Me Love You (I Didn’t Want To Do It) (Monaco/McCarthy Sr.) (from the film “Love Me Or Leave Me”) 2.27

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More from Doris Day:

The offical website:

Bert Kaempfert – Wonderland By Night (1960)

Berthold Heinrich Kämpfert, (16 October 1923 – 21 June 1980), better known as Bert Kaempfert, was a German orchestra leader, music producer, arranger, and songwriter. He made easy listening and jazz-oriented records and wrote the music for a number of well-known songs, including “Strangers in the Night” and “Moon Over Naples”.

Kaempfert was born in Hamburg, Germany, where he received his lifelong nickname, Fips, and studied at the local school of music. A multi-instrumentalist, he was hired by Hans Busch to play with his orchestra before serving as a bandsman in the German Navy during World War II. He later formed his own big band, toured with them, then worked as an arranger and producer, making hit records with Freddy Quinn and Ivo Robić.

Kaempfert’s own first hit with his orchestra had been in 1960, “Wonderland by Night”. Recorded in July 1959, the song couldn’t get a hearing in Germany, so Kaempfert took the track to Decca Records in New York, who released it in America in 1959 (or fall 1960). With its haunting solo trumpet, muted brass, and lush strings, the single topped the American pop charts and turned Bert Kaempfert and Orchestra into international stars.

Over the next few years, he revived such pop tunes as “Tenderly”, “Red Roses for a Blue Lady”, “Three O’Clock in the Morning”, and “Bye Bye Blues”, as well as composing pieces of his own, including “Spanish Eyes (Moon Over Naples)”, “Danke Schoen”, and “Wooden Heart”, which were recorded by, respectively, Al Martino, Wayne Newton, and Elvis Presley. For Kaempfert, little may have brought him more personal satisfaction than Nat King Cole recording his “L-O-V-E”.

Kaempfert’s orchestra made extensive use of horns. A couple of numbers that featured brass prominently, “Magic Trumpet” and “The Mexican Shuffle”, were played by both Kaempfert’s orchestra and by Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass, whose initially Mariachi style, in fact, evolved towards the Kaempfert style as the 1960s progressed.[citation needed] The Brass covered “Magic Trumpet”, and Kaempfert returned the favor by covering Brass compadre Sol Lake’s number “The Mexican Shuffle”. The latter tune evolved into a TV ad, The Teaberry Shuffle.

In 1961, Kaempfert hired The Beatles to back Tony Sheridan for an album called My Bonnie. The album and its singles, released by Polydor Records, were the Beatles’ first commercially released recordings.

In his capacity as record producer, Kaempfert played a part in the rise of The Beatles when he signed a Liverpool-based singer named Tony Sheridan. Sheridan had been performing in Hamburg, and needed to recruit a band to play behind him on the proposed sides. He auditioned and signed the Beatles, and recorded two tracks with them during his sessions for Sheridan: “Ain’t She Sweet” (sung by rhythm guitarist John Lennon) and “Cry for a Shadow” (an instrumental written by Lennon and lead guitarist George Harrison).

On October 28, 1961, a man walked into the music store owned by Brian Epstein to ask for a copy of “My Bonnie”, a song that was recorded by the Beatles, but credited to Tony Sheridan. The store did not have it, but Epstein noted the request. He was so intrigued by the idea of a Liverpool band releasing a record, he investigated. This event led to his discovery of the Beatles and, through his effort, their signing by George Martin to Parlophone Records after Kaempfert helped them elude any contractual claim by Polydor. (by wikipedia)

And here´s another highlight of the musical career of Bert Kaempfert:

And of course his “Wonderland By Night” is one his classic tunes.

But also otherwise this album is almost a kind of reference LP for his special sound … languorous trumpets, discreet rhythm and the also so popular “crack bass” by Ladi Geisler.

So: for all romantics and those who want to become one… this album is a must !

Personnel:
Bert Kaempfert Orhestra
+
Charly Tabor (trumpet)

The original German edition:

Tracklist (running order from the German edition):
01.Wonderland By Night (Wunderland bei Nacht) (Neumann) 3.13
02. As I Love You (Livingston/Evans) 3.04
03. The Aim Of My Desires (Das Ziel meiner Wünsche) (Moesser) 2.54
04. Stay With Me (Kaempfert) 3.01
05. Tammy (Livingston/Evans) 3.04
06. Lullaby For Lovers (Kaempfert) 2.23
07. Drifting And Dreaming (Sweet Paradise) (v.Alstyne/Schmidt/Gillespie/Curtin) 2.32
08. La Vie En Rose (Piaf/Louiguy) 2.40
09. Happiness Never Comes Too Late (Das Glück kommt nie zu spät) (Kaempfert) 2.40
10. On The Alamo (Kahn/Jones) 2.54
11. Dreaming The Blues (Kaempfert) 3.02
12. This Song Is Yours Alone (Dieses Lied gehört nur dir) (Kaempfert) 3.20

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More from Bert Kaempfert:

The official website:

Various Artists – Werner Tautz – Time for Music (2002)

I did not know him before, thw composer Werner Tautz (* Dezember 9 1922 in Leipzig/Germany, – † 19. Mai 2014 in Tutzing/Germany).

There are few German composers who can boast an high international regard in the world of Dance Band and Light Music. One such man is Werner Tautz, who on 9th December 2002 celebrates his 80th Birthday. He is one of the very few who has managed to write for all the Radio Dance Orchestras of Germany, thereby adding many musical gems to the repertoire and archives of these Broadcasting organisations. (taken fromthe original linernotes)

And he not only composed extensively, but also founded a record company.

BRILLANT-MUSIK was established in 1964 by the composers Werner Tautz and Heinz Kiessling, and the publisher Hans Gerig. The business specialised in the production and distribution of instrumental light music (Easy Listening, Mood Music, String Orchestras, Big Bands, and Combos) for use in radio, television, film, advertising and on video. The catalogue also contains popular Austrian “Volksmusik” as well as jazz and serious music of Czech origin. Since 1989 a selection from the catalogue has been made available on bliss records though not exclusively. Foreign partner companies publish parts of the catalogue on their labels, and vice versa BRILLIANT-MUSIK and bliss records also represent foreign products in Germany.

Werner Tautz celebrated his 80th birthday last December, and this great collection of 25 of his compositions is a worthy tribute. Many readers of the magazine of the Robert Farnon Society  will already be familiar with Werner’s tuneful melodies through earlier Bliss Records releases, and they will be aware of his talent for composing bright and tuneful works that are so easy on the ear. This time the emphasis is more on dance and swing music, and once again Werner demonstrates that he is a master of this as well. The music simply bounces along happily from track to track, with some great big band sounds from various German radio orchestras that may well come as a pleasant surprise to collectors who think that the Americans (and perhaps a few British outfits) had a monopoly in this area. Not so! The likes of Kurt Edelhagen, Delle Haensche, Alfred Hause, Horst Jankowski, Erwin Lehn, Werner Müller and even Britain’s Reg Owen, all have a ball playing Werner’s great tunes. The recordings date from 1956 to 1977, and they seem to come from all the top radio stations in Germany. The booklet notes are in German and English, and I have no hesitation in saying that this new CD is going to give a lot of pleasure to folks who enjoy tuneful big band music from a few decades ago. (David Ades (Robert Farnon Society)

Tracks no. 6, 11, 16 & 19 are off-air domestic radio recordings due to the fact that the original master no longer exists. They have been remastered for optimum quality

Personnel:
Das Tanzorchester des SFB
Das Tanzorchester des HR
Das Orchester Cornelis op den Zieken (Radio Bremen)
Das Tanzorchester des SWF
Das Orchester Kurt Edelhagen (SWF)
Das WDR-Tanzorchester
Das Kölner Tanz- und Unterhaltungsorchester
Das RIAS-Tanzorchester
Das Tanzorchester des SR
Das Tanzorchester des SDR
Das Orchester Eddie Sauter (SWF)
Das Tanzorchester des NDR
Das Tanz- und Unterhaltungsorchester des NDR
Studio-Orchester, Hamburg
Das Münchner Rundfunk-Tanzorchester
+
Freddy L’Host (clarinet on 09.)
Horst Jankowski (piano on 16., 19.)
Paul Kuhn (piano on 08.)
Klaus Marmulla (saxophone on 24.)
Kai Rautenberg (piano on 23.)
Helmut Reinhardt (saxophone on 06.)
Dieter Reith (piano on 05.)

Tracklist:

01. Das Tanzorchester des SFB (William Greihs): Big Bang (1966) 2.15
02. Das Tanzorchester des SFB (Roland Kovac): The Better Idea (Billy’s Trumpet) (1961) 2.50
03. Das Tanzorchester des HR (Heinz Schönberger): On The Road South (1972) 2.53
04. Das Orchester Cornelis op den Zieken (Radio Bremen):  Your Tenderness (1976) 4.31
05. Das Tanzorchester des SWF (Rolf-Hans Müller): Al Pari (1964) 2.36
06. Das Orchester Kurt Edelhagen (SWF): Penguin’s Walk (1956) 3.06
07. Das WDR-Tanzorchester (Werner Müller): Piccadilly Walk (1973) 2.54
08. Das Kölner Tanz- und Unterhaltungsorchester (Adalbert Luczkowsky: Portrait Of A Dream (1961) 3.52
09. Das RIAS-Tanzorchester (Günter Maier): Janine (1966) 2.21
10. Das Tanzorchester des SFB (Jerry Van Rooyen): Black Velvet (1966) 2.35
11. Das RIAS-Tanzorchester (Werner Müller): Tokyo Tea Time (Swinging Geishas) (1962) 2.06
12. Das Tanzorchester des SR (Manfred Minnich): Like Golden Dust (Aquamarin) (1961) 4.02
13. Das Tanzorchester des HR (Reg Owen): Window Shopping (Schaufensterbummel) (1963) 2.19
14. Das Tanzorchester des SR (Eberhard Pokorny): Drummer’s Holiday (1967) 2.22
15. Das Tanzorchester des HR (Willy Berking): Dinner Date (Du sagtest) (1959) 2.33
16. Das Tanzorchester des SDR (Erwin Lehn): Please Get Me Right (1957) 2.53
17. Das Orchester Eddie Sauter (SWF): Vanishing Shadows (1958) 3,41
18. Das Tanzorchester des NDR (Franz Thon): Collier (1962) 2.57
19. Das Tanzorchester des SDR (Erwin Lehn): Why Not (1960) 2.52
20. Das Tanz- und Unterhaltungsorchester des NDR (Alfred Hause): Sign Of Memory (Nur ein Souvenir) (1970) 3.38
21. Das Tanzorchester des SFB (Paul Kuhn): Music Is Never Wrong (1977) 3.15
22. Studio-Orchester, Hamburg (Rolf Kühn): La Belle (1967) 3.20
23.Das RIAS-Tanzorchester (Helmuth Brandenburg): Remember Rio (1970) 4.58
24. Das RIAS-Tanzorchester (Horst Jankowski): Yes I Am (1975) 3.54
25. Das Münchner Rundfunk-Tanzorchester (Delle Haensch): The Party Goes On (Party am Riz) 2.19

Music: Werner Tautz:
04. under the pseudonym Frank Nienburg
15. under the pseudonym Franz Rüger
21. under the pseudonym Jo Part

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Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass – What Now My Love (1966)

Herb Alpert (born March 31, 1935) is an American trumpeter who led the band Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass in the 1960s. During the same decade, he co-founded A&M Records with Jerry Moss. Alpert has recorded 28 albums that have landed on the Billboard 200 chart, five of which became No. 1 albums; he has had 14 platinum albums and 15 gold albums. Alpert is the only musician to hit No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 as both a vocalist (“This Guy’s in Love with You”, 1968) and an instrumentalist (“Rise”, 1979).

Alpert has reportedly sold 72 million records worldwide. He has received many accolades, including a Tony Award, and eight Grammy Awards, as well as the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2006, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Alpert was awarded the National Medal of Arts by Barack Obama in 2013.

With this album, Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass settle into their hitmaking groove, the once strikingly eclectic elements of Dixieland, pop, rock, and mariachi becoming more smoothly integrated within Alpert’s infectious “Ameriachi” blend. They sound more like a band; along with Alpert’s now-indelibly stamped trumpet sound, you can recognize jazzman John Pisano’s distinctive rhythm guitar, Lou Pagani’s piano, the droll Bob Edmondson’s dulcet trombone, etc. Pisano, who debuted as a composer on Going Places, comes up with a memorably whistleable song, “So What’s New,” and the rest of Alpert’s songwriting brigade (Ervan Coleman, Julius Wechter, and Sol Lake) chime in with some lively, catchy tunes. There is also an assortment of pop, film, and Broadway standards of the day, all impeccably arranged by Alpert, whose production instincts grew sharper and surer with every release. The result is another highly entertaining hit LP, one that stayed at number one longer than any other Tijuana Brass album (nine weeks). (by Richard S. Ginell)

Personnel:
Herb Alpert (trumpet, vocals)
Nick Ceroli (drums)
Bob Edmondson (trombone)
Tonni Kalash (trumpet)
Lou Pagani (piano)
John Pisano (guitar)
Pat Senatore (bass)

Tracklist:
01. What Now My Love (Bécaud/Sigman) 2.20
02. Freckles (Coleman) 2.15
03. Memories Of Madrid (Lake) 2.42
04. It Was A Very Good Year (Drake) 3.42
05. So What’s New? (Pisano) 2.13
06. Plucky (Alpert/Pisano) 2.44
07. Magic Trumpet (Kaempfert) 2.22
08. Cantina Blue (Lake) 2.38
09. Brasilia (Wechter) 2.32
10. If I Were A Rich Man (Harnick/Bock) 2.38
11. Five Minutes More (Styne/Cahn) 1.56
12. The Shadow Of Your Smile (Mandel/Webster) 3.31

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More from Herb Alpert:

The official website:

Burt Bacharach – Plays His Hits (1969)

Burt Freeman Bacharach ( May 12, 1928 – February 8, 2023) was an American composer, songwriter, record producer, and pianist who composed hundreds of pop songs from the late 1950s through the 1980s, many in collaboration with lyricist Hal David. A six-time Grammy Award winner and three-time Academy Award winner, Bacharach’s songs have been recorded by more than 1,000 different artists. As of 2014, he had written 73 US and 52 UK Top 40 hits. He was one of the most important composers of 20th-century popular music.

Bacharach’s music is characterized by unusual chord progressions, influenced by his background in jazz harmony, and uncommon selections of instruments for small orchestras. Most of Bacharach and David’s hits were written specifically for and performed by Dionne Warwick, but earlier associations (from 1957 to 1963) saw the composing duo work with Marty Robbins, Perry Como, Gene McDaniels, and Jerry Butler. Following the initial success of these collaborations, Bacharach went on to write hits for Gene Pitney, Cilla Black, Dusty Springfield, Jackie DeShannon, Bobbie Gentry, Tom Jones, Herb Alpert, B. J. Thomas, and the Carpenters, among numerous other artists. He arranged, conducted, and produced much of his recorded output.

Songs that he co-wrote which have topped the Billboard Hot 100 include “This Guy’s in Love with You” (1968), “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head” (1969), “(They Long to Be) Close to You” (1970), “Arthur’s Theme (Best That You Can Do)” (1981), and “That’s What Friends Are For” (1986).

A significant figure in easy listening music, Bacharach is described by writer William Farina as “a composer whose venerable name can be linked with just about every other prominent musical artist of his era”. In later years, his songs were newly appropriated for the soundtracks of major feature films, by which time “tributes, compilations, and revivals were to be found everywhere.” He influenced later musical movements such as chamber pop and Shibuya-kei. In 2015, Rolling Stone ranked Bacharach and David at number 32 for their list of the 100 Greatest Songwriters of All Time. In 2012, the duo received the Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song, the first time the honor has been given to a songwriting team.

Bacharach died of natural causes at his home in Los Angeles on February 8, 2023, at the age of 94. (wikipedia)

Composer and arranger Burt Bacharach is perhaps best known for his work with lyricist Hal David. The pair practically unleashed an entire subgenre of pop music beginning in the late ’50s. After racking up numerous hits for other folks — notably female vocalists Dionne Warwick stateside and Dusty Springfield in England — the artist began exploring his considerable back catalog. While living in London in the early ’60s, Bacharach recorded his first collection of Bacharach/David songs, aptly titled Hit Maker! (1965). As the package was issued under the Burt Bacharach moniker, many thought that the tunes would actually feature him singing and playing. Instead, the slightly updated arrangements are scored for a decidedly more discerning and mature ear. Although listeners would never know it by the practically ersatz interpretations, future Led Zeppelin members and mid-’60s London recording session musicians Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones were contributors to the likes of “Walk on By,” “Don’t Make Me Over,” “Blue on Blue,” “(There’s) Always Something There to Remind Me,” “Wives and Lovers,” and “Anyone Who Had a Heart.”

In the context of those familiar melodies, some of the second-tier selections, such as “And So Goodbye, My Love,” “The Last One to Be Loved,” and “Saturday Sunshine” are among the most memorable. Hit Maker! became just that in the U.K., as the album rocketed into the Top Ten and the single “Trains and Boats and Planes” took off after being aired on BBC Radio, eventually spending 11 weeks on the charts. The unqualified success didn’t translate stateside, even though the package was reissued — with some slight modifications — twice, first as The Man! Burt Bacharach — His Songs (1965) and then several years later as Burt Bacharach Plays His Hits (1969). Nearly four decades later, Hit Maker! was included — along with a rare mono version of “Saturday Sunshine” from the same time frame — as part of the limited-edition five-disc Something Big: The Complete A&M Years…And More (1994) box set. (by Lindsay Planer)

But of course I have to say that this music never really hit my taste and yet he is of course an important part of music history.

Personnel:
unknow orchestra conducted by Burt Bacharach
+
Joel Grey (vocals on 11.)
Tony Middleton (vocals on 02.)

Tracklist:
01. Trains And Boats And Planes 2.46
02. My Little Red Book (All I Do Is Talk About You) 2.13
03. Anyone Who Had A Heart 2.59
04. (There’s) Always Something There To Remind Me 2.57
05. 24 Hours From Tulsa 2.37
06. Walk On By 2.58
07. Wives And Lovers 2.55
08. Don’t Make Me Over 2.57
09. Blue On Blue 2.00
10. Don’t Go Breaking My Heart 2.23
11. What’s New, Pussycat 2.12

Music: Burt Bacharach
Lyrics: Hal David

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Sheldon Allman – Folk Songs For The 21st Century (1960)

Sheldon Allman (June 8, 1924 – January 22, 2002) was an American-Canadian actor, singer, and songwriter.

Allman was born in Chicago, Illinois He began his singing career with the Royal National Guard during his World War II service with the Royal Canadian Air Force. He moved to Los Angeles in 1949, in order to attend the Los Angeles Conservatory of Music. After it, he appeared in 12 films, including such notable films as Nevada Smith, The Sons of Katie Elder, Hud and In Cold Blood. His co-stars included, respectively, Steve McQueen, John Wayne and Paul Newman. He also made appearances in numerous TV series during the 1960s and 1970s.

On television, Allman provided the voice of Big H in CB Bears on CBS[5] and played Norm Miller in Harris Against the World on NBC. He provided music on the game show Three for the Money on NBC and he was the singing voice for TV’s Mister Ed, for which he also wrote and recorded “The Pretty Little Filly with the Ponytail” and “The Empty Feedbag Blues”. Mr. Allman wrote longer versions of these songs, but never recorded the longer versions. He was the lyricist for the theme song to George of the Jungle. Additionally, Allman worked with Stan Worth, co-writer of the “George of the Jungle” theme, to create music for a number of game shows by Stefan Hatos-Monty Hall Productions, including the 1970s versions of Let’s Make a Deal, Masquerade Party and It Pays to be Ignorant.

In 1960, Allman released Folk Songs for the 21st Century, an album of novelty songs all revolving around science-fiction themes. The tongue-in-cheek material, which Allman wrote and arranged himself, included titles such as “Crawl Out Through The Fallout” and “Radioactive Mama.” “Crawl Out Through The Fallout” is used in the video game Fallout 4.

In addition, Allman co-wrote two comedy horror-themed stage musicals with Bobby Pickett, composer of the hit novelty song, “Monster Mash.” The musicals were I’m Sorry the Bridge Is Out, You’ll Have to Spend the Night and its sequel, Frankenstein Unbound, the former of which was made into the 1995 film, Monster Mash.

On January 22, 2002, Allman died of heart failure at his home in Culver City, California, at age 77. His interment is in Culver City’s Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery. (wikipedia)

A time capsule of atomic-age country, radioactive rockabilly, and other-worldly melodies! Sheldon Allman (the singing voice of Mr. Ed!) brings you this bunker full of plutonium-charged songs about space and destruction. Features “Crawl Out Through The Fallout” as heard in the award winning video game Fallout 4! Modern Harmonic proudly resurrects this wonderfully mystifying LP! A true creative treasure, the Chicago born and Canada raised Sheldon Allman was a graduate of the Los Angeles Conservatory of Music. Known well as an actor, Sheldon also composed and sung the theme song for 60’s cartoon cult classic George Of The Jungle. Additionally, as the singing voice of Mr. Ed, he released a 45 of “Pretty Little Filly” and “The Empty Feedbag Blues.” Most rare and coveted of his musical treasures was Folk Songs For The 21st Century, a concept album with a twisted futuristic outer space take on the atom craze. As an actor, Allman has over 50 credits to his name including films Hud!, In Cold Blood, and various roles on anything from Little House On The Prairie to the Twilight Zone. (press release)

The label of a re-issue in green vinyl:

This is an album of science fiction comedy songs by Sheldon Allman. Despite the title of the album, these aren’t all “folk songs”. There are a few folk songs, but there is also rock and roll, jazz and even opera. The best known song nowadays is “Crawl Out Through The Fallout”, due to its inclusion in the video game Fallout 4. That’s a great song, but the other songs are funny, too. They are about what people in 1960 imagined the future would be like. Of course, all those predictions about life in the 21st Century ended up being wrong, but these novelty songs are still amusing. (Johnny Heering)

It is good that folk music in this century does not sound like that !

Personnel:
Sheldon Allman (vocals)
+
a bunch of unknown studio musicians

Tracklist:
01. Radioactive Mama 1.52
02. Rocket To The Moon 1.38
03. Univac And The Humanoid 3.10
04. Space Opera 1.25
05. Girl In The 4th Dimension 1.57
06. Change 1.55
07. It Conquered The World 2.16
08. Crawl Out Through The Fallout 2.27
09. Schizophrenic Baby 1.49
10. Big Brother 2.25
11. Extra Sensory Perception 1.28
12. Free Fall 2.02
13. X Square Plus 2 2.34
14. Walking On The Ground 2.40

All songs written by Sheldon Allman

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Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass – Sounds Like… (1967)

Herb Alpert (born March 31, 1935, in Los Angeles, California) is an American trumpeter who led the Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass in the 1960s. During the same decade, he co-founded A&M Records with Jerry Moss. Alpert has recorded 28 albums that have landed on the Billboard 200 chart, five of which became No. 1 albums; he has had 14 platinum albums and 15 gold albums. Alpert is the only musician to hit No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 as both a vocalist (“This Guy’s in Love with You”, 1968) and an instrumentalist (“Rise”, 1979).

Alpert has reportedly sold 72 million records worldwide. He has received many accolades, including a Tony Award, and eight Grammy Awards, as well as the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2006, he was inducted as into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Alpert was awarded the National Medal of Arts by Barack Obama in 2013. (wikipedia)

Sounds Like… is a 1967 album by the instrumental group Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass, the group’s eighth.

According to liner notes in the 2006 Shout!Factory CD release, the title theme for the 1967 James Bond spoof Casino Royale was originally recorded with vocals, but Bacharach was dissatisfied with the recording. He sent the tapes to Herb Alpert, who overdubbed some trumpets and some Tijuana Brass instruments (most prominently marimba and percussion) and sent the song back to Bacharach. This version, with the Bacharach orchestra, rather than the Brass members, providing most of the backing, is the one included on the Sounds Like… album.

The song “Wade in the Water” was also a popular concert number, according to Alpert, and was featured in the group’s first television special in 1967 (wikipedia)

For one week in June 1967, Sounds Like was able to break the Monkees’ 31-week hammerlock on the number one slot on the charts — just two weeks before the Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper took over and changed the world. This shows, lest you forget — and many have — just how popular Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass were, still spanning the generations during the Summer of Love, still putting out records as fresh and musical and downright joyous as this one. Though not as jazz-flavored as S.R.O., Sounds Like does preserve the feeling, particularly in the extended vamps on an updated slave song, “Wade in the Water” (a hit single). “Gotta Lotta Livin’ to Do” settles you into the record with nothing but a long vamp — a daring production decision. Yet Alpert was on a roll; everything he tried in the TJB’s heyday seemed to work. The lesser-known tunes back-loaded on side two are a string of pearls — John Pisano’s appropriately titled bossa nova “The Charmer,” Roger Nichols’ tense “Treasure of San Miguel,” Ervan Coleman’s catchy “Miss Frenchy Brown.” Finally, Alpert takes a flyer and concludes the LP with an extravagant Burt Bacharach orchestration of his theme from the film Casino Royale — an artifact of ’60s pop culture, to be sure, but still a perfectly structured record. (by Richard S. Ginell)

Personnel:
Herb Alpert (trumpet, vocals)
Nick Ceroli (drums, percussion)
Bob Edmondson (trombone)
Tonni Kalash (trumpet)
Lou Pagani (keyboards)
John Pisano (guitar, mandolin)
Pat Senatore (bass)

Single front + backcover:
Tracklist:
01. Gotta Lotta Livin’ To Do (Strouse/Adams) 2.48
02. Lady Godiva (Leander/Mills) 2.07
03. Bo-Bo (Lake) 3.04
04. Shades Of Blue (Wechter) 2.44
05. In A Little Spanish Town (Wayne/Lewis/Young) 1.54
06. Wade In The Water (Alpert/Edmondson/Pisano) 3.04
07. Town Without Pity (Tiomkin/Washington) 2.15
08. The Charmer (Pisano) 2.13
09. Treasure Of San Miguel (Nichols) 2.14
10. Miss Frenchy Brown (Coleman) 2.27
11. Casino Royale (David/Bacharach) 2.35

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The inlets:

More from Herb Alpert:

The official website:

Julie London – The Best Of Julie London (1992)

Julie London (née Peck; September 26, 1926 – October 18, 2000) was an American singer and actress whose career spanned more than 40 years. A torch singer noted for her sultry, languid contralto vocals, London recorded over thirty albums of pop and jazz standards between 1955 and 1969. Her recording of “Cry Me a River”, a track she introduced on her debut album, was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2001. In addition to her musical notice, London was nominated for a Golden Globe Award in 1974 for her portrayal of nurse Dixie McCall in the television series Emergency!.

Born in Santa Rosa, California, to vaudevillian parents, London was discovered while working as an elevator operator in downtown Los Angeles, and she began her career as an actress. London’s 35-year acting career began in film in 1944, and included roles as the female lead in numerous westerns, co-starring with Rock Hudson in The Fat Man (1951), with Robert Taylor and John Cassavetes in Saddle the Wind (1958), with Gary Cooper in Man of the West (1958) and with Robert Mitchum in The Wonderful Country (1959).

In the mid-1950s, she signed a recording contract with Liberty Records, marking the beginning of her professional musical career. She released her final studio album in 1969, but achieved continuing success playing the female starring role of nurse Dixie McCall in the television series Emergency! (1972–1979), in which she acted with her husband Bobby Troup. The show was produced by her ex-husband Jack Webb.

London was a chain smoker from the age of 16 and at times smoked in excess of three packs of cigarettes per day. She suffered a stroke in 1995 and remained in poor health for the following five years. In late 1999, she was diagnosed with lung cancer but forwent treatment due to her weakened physical state. On October 17, 2000, London was rushed from her home to the Encino-Tarzana Regional Medical Center after choking and struggling to breathe. She died in the hospital in the early morning hours of October 18 of what was later determined to be cardiac arrest; she was 74.

London was cremated and buried next to Troup in the Courts of Remembrance Columbarium of Providence at Forest Lawn-Hollywood Hills Cemetery in Los Angeles.[62] Her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (for recording) is at 7000 Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles. (wikipedia)

And here´s a nice compilation:

Julie London´s ravishing beauty and warm, sultry voice made her a singing and acting sensation during the 1950´and 1960´s. Her 1955 recording of Cry Me A River, with its simple, intimate accompaniment of guitar and bass is widely regarded as the definitive interpretation. This album presents this all time classic, along with nineteen more of her most popular recorings (takefrom the linernotes)

Personnel:
Julie London (vocals)
+
many, many studio musicians

Tracklist:
01. Come On-A My House (Bagdasarian/Saroyan) 2.39
02. In The Wee Small Hours Of The Morning (Mann/Hilliard) 2.51
03. Slightly Out Of Tune (Desafinado) (Jobim/Mendonca/Hendricks/Cavanaugh) 2.08
04. I Loves You Porgy (G.Gershwin/Heyward/I,Gershwin) 2.43
05. Hot Toddy (Flanagan/Hendler) 1.52
06. Cry Me River (Hamilton) 3.01
07. More (Theme From “Mondo Cane”) (Newell/Ortolani/Olivero) 2.48
08. Our Day Will Come (Hilliard/Garson) 2.25
09. A Taste Of Honey (Marlow/Scott) 3.23
10. My Heart Belongs To Daddy (Porter) 2.49
11. Love Letters (Young/Heyman) 2.54
12. Midnight Sun (Hampton/Burke/Mercer) 2.31
13. Must Be Catchin’ (Stanley) 2.10
14. Black Coffee (Webster/Burke) 3.00
15. Daddy (Troup) 2.16
16. Blue Moon (Roders/Hart) 2.35
17. Baby, Won’t You Please Come Home (Warfields/Williams) 2.16
18. Sway (Gimbel/Ruiz) 2.38
19. Never On Sunday (Towne/Hadjidakis) 2.25
20. Fascination (Manning/Marchetti) 1.57

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More from Julie London:

A fan website (now deleted):

Various Artists – Greatest Love Songs (2001)

And here is one of these countless compilation albums with “Greatest Love Song” …

… Compilations of this kind are part of the music industry to earn a little more money with low budget productions.
Many of the songs are actually “sad love songs” and I think there is something for everyone on these two CDs.

My favourite songs are “Morning Has Broken “, “Island In The Sun”, “The Air That I Breathe”, “Light My Fire”, “When A Man Loves A Woman”, “Pretty Woman”, “Wonderful World”, “My Girl”, “Only You”, “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue” and “Brown Eyed Girl” … they touch my soul.

Enjoy your sentimental side.

Tracklist:

CD 1:
01. Al Martino: Spanish Eyes (Kaempfert/ingleton/Snyder) 2.49
02. America: Sister Golden Hair (Beckley) 3.21
03. Art Garfunkel: Bright Eyes (Batt) 3.59
04. Barry White: You’re The First, The Last, My Everything (White/Sepe/Redcliffe) 3.26
05. Bellamy Brothers: If I Said You Have A Beautiful Body Would You Hold It Against Me (D.Bellamy) 3.12
06. Cat Stevens: Morning Has Broken (Stevens/Farjeon) 3.19
07. Chicago: If You Leave Me Now (Cetera) 3.54
08. Commodores: Three Times A Lady (Richie) 3.38
09. Dean Martin: Everybody Loves Somebody (Lane/Coslow/Taylor) 2.46
10. Diane Warwick: Heartbreaker (B.Gibb/R.Gibb/M.Gibb) 4.18
11. Eric Carmen: All By Myself (Carmen) 4.54
12. Everly Brothers: All I Have To Do Is Dream (Bryant) 2.24
13. F. R. Davids: Words (Fetoussi) 2.51
14. Gary Pucket: Young Girl (Fuller) 3.08
15. Gary Wright: Dream Weaver (Wright) 4.18
16. Harry Belafonte: Island In The Sun (Belafonte/Burgess) 3.23

CD 2:
01. Hazlewood/Sinatra: Summerwine (Nayer/Mercer) 3.39
02. Hollies: The Air That I Breathe (Hammond/Hazlewood) 4.03
03. Jose Feliciano: Light My Fire (Morrison/Manzarek/Densmore/Krieger) 3.04
04. Leo Sayer: When I Need You (Hammond/Sager) 4.07
05. Pat Boone: Love Letters In The Sand (Kenny/Coots) 2.08
06. Paul Anka: Put Your Head On My Shoulder (Anka) 2.37
07. Percy Sledge: When A Man Loves A Woman (Lewis/Wright) 2.49
08. Righteous Brothers: Unchained Melody (Zaret/North) 3.37
09. Roy Orbison: Pretty Woman (Orbinson/Dees) 2.59
10. Sam Cooke: Wonderful World (Cooke/Adler/Alpert) 3.00
11. Temptation: My Girl (Robinson/White) 2.41
12. The Platters: Only You (Ram/Rand) 2.36
13. Them: It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue (Dylan) 3.48
14. Tom Jones: She’s A Lady (Anka) 3.36
15. Van Morrison: Brown Eyed Girl (Morrison) 3.03
16. Walker Brothers: The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine Any More (Crewe/Gauido) 3.01

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James Last – Voodoo-Party (1971)

James Last born Hans Last; 17 April 1929 – 9 June 2015), also known as Hansi, was a German composer and big band leader of the James Last Orchestra. Initially a jazz bassist (Last won the award for “best bassist” in Germany in each of the years 1950–1952), his trademark “happy music” made his numerous albums best-sellers in Germany and the United Kingdom, with 65 of his albums reaching the charts in the UK alone. His composition “Happy Heart” became an international success in interpretations by Andy Williams and Petula Clark.

Last is reported to have sold an estimated 200 million albums worldwide in his lifetime (figures vary widely, for example British Hit Singles & Albums (2006) reports 100 million at that time), of which 80 million were sold by 1973 – and won numerous awards including 200 gold and 14 platinum discs in Germany, the International MIDEM Prize at MIDEM in 1969, and West Germany’s highest civilian award, the Bundesverdienstkreuz (Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany) in 1978.

His album This Is James Last remained a UK best-seller for 48 weeks, and his song “Games That Lovers Play” has been covered over a hundred times. Last undertook his final tour months before his death at age 86, upon discovering in September 2014 that an illness (the exact illness was never disclosed) had worsened. His final UK performance was his 90th at London’s Royal Albert Hall, more than any other performer except Eric Clapton.

Last’s trademark sound employed big band arrangements of well-known tunes with a jaunty dance beat, often heavy on bass and brass. Despite at times being derided by critics and purists as the “king of elevator music” or “acoustic porridge”, his style and music were popular in numerous countries and cultures, including Japan, South Korea, the former Soviet Union, the US and UK, and his native Germany, where it became “the archetypal soundtrack of any German cellar bar party”,[8] and made him the “most commercially successful bandleader” of the second half of the 20th century. Last’s composition Jägerlatein is also widely celebrated in Ireland as “The Sound of Summer” due to use as the theme tune to The Sunday Game, a live sporting show which follows GAA hurling and Gaelic football All Ireland Championships since 1979. (wikipedia)

And here´s another “party album” by James Last:

“A long time ago a cult of  very special kind developed beneath the burning sun of western Africa. In othe equatorial ares mime, gestures, dances, rhythms, taboos and other characteristics blended into one another to form a new facet in music.

At the beginning of the Colonial era negro slaves took the Voodoo-cult over to the American continent. Voodoo spread in the new world just as fast as the number of the coloured population, and then slowly vanished in those areas where it frist started.

Today the Voodoo-cult is only to be found on the Antilles, expecially on the islabd of Tahiti and as “Macumba” in Brazil.

Most Europeans will never get a chance to experience Voodoo in the place of its origin. But listening to this record will make up for this loss. Accept James Last´s invitation to his Voodoo-party.

Among the beating rhyths of congas, bongos, rattles and drums you will experience the magic of Voodoo” (taken from the original liner notes)

And we hear some “Santana” tunes .. usually not the music James Lanst played otherwise.

Enjoy this very special party album !

Personnel:
James Last & Band

Alternate frontcovers:

Tracklist:
01. 01. Se A Cabo (Chepito/Areas) 3.33
02. Sing A Simple Song (Stewart) 4.29
03, Heyah Masse-Ga (Traditional) 2.20
04.  Mamy Blue (Giraud/Trim) 4.31
05. Jin-Go-Lo-Ba (Olatunji) 3.52
06. Mr. Giant Man (Reeves/Last/Bendorff) 4.13
07. Everybody’s Everything (Santana/Brown/Moss)
08. Everyday People (Stewart) 3.17
09. U-Humbah (Traditional) 2.44
10. Inner City Blues (Gaye) 3.07
11. Babalu (Lecuona) 3.39
12. Voodoo Ladys Love (Reeves/Last/Bendorff) 3.23

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More from James Last: