Hugo Winterhalter - The Eyes of Love - Volume 1

1. Vanessa
2. I Only Have Eyes for You
3. Around the World (from "Around the World in 80 Days")
4. The Eyes of Love
5. Canadian Sunset
6. Anna (from the Film "Anna")
7. Frenesi
8. Hungarian Dance No. 5 (Brahms)
9. Dream of Olwen (theme from "Hall of Fame")
10. Gigi (from the MGM Film "Gigi")
11. Cheerful Little Earful
12. Land of Dreams (with Eddie Heywood, piano)
13. Blue Tango
14. Green Eyes
15. Mademoiselle de Paris
16. Delicado
17. Never on Sunday
18. Moonlight in Vermont
19. Shadow Waltz
20. Song of the Barefoot Contessa

The Eyes of Love 1

An orchestra of extraordinary versatilitiy, a modern sound; sparkling arrangements featuring strings, sometimes with a bluesy touch - this was the music brought to us by Hugo Winterhalter. We concentrate on Hugo's orchestral work in this collection, recorded at New York's Webster Hall during the period of 1954 through 1964.

Mr. Winterhalter was born August 15, 1909, in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania where he studied violin and reed instruments in high school. He first studied the violin at age six! Hugo became an orchestra leader while attending Mount St. Mary's College in Emmitsburg, Maryland. In 1925 his professional career began as a dance band sideman, earning six dollars for each performance. During the dozen years playing in dance bands, reed instruments were his tools of the trade, however, he finally did some arranging for strings in the mid 40's for Tommy Dorsey. He has arranging credits with Vaughn Monroe, count Basie, Will Bradley, Claude Thornhill, Billy Eckstine and Jimmy Dorsey.

After joining the company in 1950, Mr. Winterhalter soon held the title of head musical director for RCA, recording his own arrangements for orchestra, along with backings for balladeers such as Eddie Fisher, Jay P. Morgan and Kay Starr.

Two selections in this collection are splendid examples of his composing skills, proving that he was one of the very gifted "hyphenated" musicians of the era - composer-conductor-arranger. His was a big sound; strings scored along with plenty of French horns, tympani and solo brass with generous use of a "modern" sound - that of an electric guitar. This presentation includes some far-reaching examples of the color and diversity that were part of the Winterhalter sound; we have "Sleigh Ride" that sounds not a bit wintry, but is unabashedly ornate. In "The Coca-Cola Song" we have nostalgia - this was the theme for the Eddie Fisher Show. "Music Box in Blue" is a clever melodic and rhythmic piece that features the normally quiet celeste and plucked strings. Several selections pay tribute to his many travelogue albums, such as 'Hugo Winterhalter Goes...Continental...Gypsy...South of the Border...Latin...', and Hugo recorded a beautiful album-tribute to composer Harry Warren; from that 1964 album we hear "I Only Have Eyes for You", "September in the Rain", and "Shadow Waltz".

While some of the selections date back over forty years, they sound quite fresh, as the fifties and sixties were very much the "hi-fi" and "stereo" era. Hugo Winterhalter's RCA albums demonstrated well the advgantages of both innovations. Now we can hear these great recordings in their purest form, without clicks, rumble, pops, all the annoyances inherent with the Long Playing record!

Hugo Winterhalter died September 17, 1974 at the age of 64. It's been a long time since any substantial amount of his recorded legacy has been available until now, with (The Eyes of Love) - music to tresure and enjoy.

(Bill Halvorsen, from the original liner notes)

George Melachrino - Begin the Beguine - Featuring The Melachrino Strings

1. Masquerade
2. The Swan
3. The Pink Lady Waltz
4. Serenade (Schubert)
5. Vision d'Amour
6. Out of My Dreams
7. Dusk
8. Begin the Beguine
9. Portrait of A Lady
10. Destiny
11. La Golondrina
12. The Donkey Serenade
13. Serenade ("Les Millions d'Arlequin")
14. Malagueña
15. Poème
16. Estrellita
17. El Relicario
18. They Didn't Believe Me
19. Intermezzo ("Cavalleria Rusticana" - Mascagni)
20. Lady of Spain
21. Moonlight Serenade
22. Indian Summer
23. Woodland Revel
24. Autumn
25. Romance in E flat (Rubinstein)

Begin the Beguine

Music and the theatre seem to have been in George Melachrino's blood; happily he managed to combine both to his own satisfaction and our great delight. In 1950 when Nat Karson started his famous stage shows at the Empire, Leicester Square, Melachrino supplied the orchestra. He also supplied much of the music, writing scores as required for ballets or jazz production numbers with equal facility. The Empire Girls became, once again, one of the sights of London, but a newer and even more inspiring spectacle was George at the rostrum urging on his singing strings to greater efforts.

All his life, music has played a vital part in Melachrino's existence. At the age of four he was already the proud possessor of a miniature violin upon which his stepfather - a theatre orchestra conductor - taught him to play. Later he entered Trinity College of Music where he gravitated naturally towards string instruments and chamber works. Having mastered the violin and viola and being able to acquit himself creditably on the 'cello, the insatiable Melachrino started on the wind instruments, the oboe, clarinet and saxophone, and worked his way through the entire orchestra until only the harp and piano remained outside his range of accomplishments. In addition, he developed an extremely pleasant singing voice (at 18 he was already broadcasting solos from the Savoy Hill studios) and was beginning to be talked about as a very original arranger and composer.

In 1939 George had advanced so far in his professional that he was fronting his own dance band at the Café de Paris and broadcasting pretty regularly from the BBC, but then the Battle of Britain closed things down all over the West End and Melachrino volunteered for the forces.

Posted to the Corps of Military Police he graduated via the cookhouse to P.T. Instructor, making a name for himself 'en route' as an entertainer specialising in juggling and knockabout comedy. an ijured back put him out of active service and he was moved to the War Office where he was responsible for recording musical programmes for broadcasting to troops overseas. Later, promoted to R.S.M., Melachrino became musical director of the newly-formed British Band of the A.E.F. which gained a tremendous reputation over the air, not only with the troops but among civilians who found the ideal antidote for the stress and strains of wartime Britain in the quiet, soothing strains of music in the Melachrino manner.

Upon demobilisation he absorbed the cream of his A.E.F. personnel into the George Melachrino Orchestra and, with these picked musicians as a nucleus of an ever-expanding organisation, he more than consolidated his position in the post-war musical world, while through his distinctive compositions and arrangements for films, radio, theatre, the ballroom, and latterly on TV, his name became a household word.

(From the original liner notes)

George Melachrino (born George Militiades; 1 May, 1909 — 18 June 1965) was a musician, movie composer, and musical director who was English born of Greek and Italian descent. He was an accomplished player of the violin, viola, oboe, clarinet and saxophone.

George Melachrino was born in London, England. As a young boy, he had a love of music. At the age of five, he began composing and by the age of fourteen he enrolled in the Trinity College of Music. In 1927, he began his career by singing and playing at the Savoy Hill Studios in London. For the next twelve years, he played in many different bands and orchestras. In the 1930s, Melachrino started working for bands led by Ambrose and Bert Firman, and started playing on radio for the BBC. By 1939, he started his own band and secured a contract at the "Café de Paris". He joined the Army a year later, and received training at the "Corps of Military Police" where he became a P.T. Instructor. Melachrino also gained experience as a military musician, at the "Army Broadcasting Department", as Musical Director for the recording of entertainment for overseas forces, leading the British Band of the American Expeditionary Forces and the Orchestra Khaki. After the war, in 1945, he formed the "George Melachrino Orchestra", an orchestra that became synonymous with sweet and melodious music.

Melachrino frequently performed on BBC and American Armed Forces Radio. He vied with Mantovani in trying to dominate the post World War II easy listening audiences.

Melachrino has a "Star" on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Esquivel and His Orchestra - Strings Aflame

1. Guadalajara
2. Scheherezade (Rimsky-Korsakoff)
3. Parade of the Wooden Soldiers
4. Andalusian Sky
5. Misirlou
6. Sun Valley Ski Run
7. Malagueña
8. Fantasy
9. Foolin' Around
10. Gypsy Lament
11. I Love Paris
12. Turkish March

Strings Aflame

Esquivel - Exploring New Sounds in Stereo

1. My Blue Heaven
2. Bella Mora
3. Boulevard of Broken Dreams
4. Lazy Bones
5. Spellbound
6. All of Me
7. Whatchamacallit
8. La Ronde
9. My Number One Love
10. The 3rd Man Theme

Exploring New Sounds

Juan García Esquivel (January 20, 1918 – January 3, 2002) often simply known as Esquivel!, was a Mexican band leader, pianist, and composer for television and films. He is recognized today as one of the foremost exponents of a sophisticated style of largely instrumental music that combines elements of lounge music and jazz with Latin flavors. Esquivel is sometimes called "The King of Space Age Pop" and "The Busby Berkley of Cocktail Music." Esquivel is considered one of the foremost exponents of a style of late 1950s-early 1960s quirky instrumental pop that became known (in retrospect) as "Space Age Bachelor Pad Music".

He was born in Tampico, Tamaulipas, and his family moved to Mexico City in 1928 where he studied at the UNAM.

Esquivel is considered the king of a style of late 1950s-early 1960s quirky instrumental pop known today as Lounge music. Esquivel's musical style was highly idiosyncratic, and although elements sound like his contemporaries, he had many stylistic tics that distinguished his music and made it instantly recognizable, including exotic percussion, wordless vocals, virtuoso piano runs, and exaggerated dynamic shifts in volume. He used many jazz-like elements, but other than his piano solos, there is no improvisation and the works are tightly, meticulously arranged by Esquivel himself, who considered himself a perfectionist as a composer, performer and recording artist.

His orchestration tended toward the very lush; he combined an orchestra, his own heavily-ornamented piano style, a mixed chorus, and a long list of novel instruments, such as Chinese bells, mariachi bands, whistling, and numerous percussion instruments. The chorus was often called upon to sing only nonsense syllables, most famously "zu-zu" and "pow!" A survey of Esquivel's recordings reveals a fondness for glissandi, sometimes on a half-valved trumpet, sometimes on a kettle drum, but most frequently on pitched percussion instruments and slide guitars.

Esquivel's use of stereo recording was legendary, occasionally using two bands recording simultaneously in separate studios, such as on his album Latin-Esque (1962). The song "Mucha Muchacha" makes particularly mind-bending use of the separation, with the chorus and brass rapidly alternating sides.

He arranged many traditional Mexican songs like "Bésame Mucho", "La Bamba", "El Manisero" (Cuban/Mexican) and "La Bikina"; also Brazilian songs like "Aquarela do Brasil" (also known simply as "Brazil"), "Surfboard" and "Agua de Beber", and composed spicy lounge-like novelties such as "Mini Skirt", "Yeyo", "Latin-Esque", "Mucha Muchacha" and "Whatchamacallit". He was commissioned to compose the music of a Mexican children's TV show Odisea Burbujas.

His concerts also featured elaborate light shows, years before effects like that became popular in live music. He performed in Las Vegas on several occasions, often as the opening act for Frank Sinatra.

Several compilations of Esquivel's music were issued starting with Space Age Bachelor Pad Music in 1994. The apparent success of these releases led to reissues of several of Esquivel's albums. The first reissues were compiled by Irwin Chusid, who also produced the first CD reissues of Raymond Scott and The Langley Schools Music Project.

The last recording Esquivel worked on was Merry Christmas from the Space-Age Bachelor Pad in 1996, for which he did a voiceover on a track by the band Combustible Edison, as well as including several obscure tracks from his past sessions. The last CD released during his lifetime, See It In Sound, was actually recorded in 1960, but was not released at the time because the record company considered it wasn't commercial enough. When finally released in 1998, it exhibited very unusual and introspective stylings absent from his other works, including a version of "Brazil" which is played as a musical soundscape of a man bar-hopping, and the band playing different renditions of "Brazil" at each bar.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

The Jackie Gleason Orchestra - For Lovers Only - Volume 3

1. Alone Together
2. Moonlight Becomes You
3. I've Got You Under My Skin
4. The Song Is You
5. Once in A While
6. It's the Talk of the Town
7. Love Is Here to Stay
8. You're My Thrill
9. I'm in the Mood for Love
10. My Ideal
11. I'm Thru with Love
12. You Call It Madness (But I Call It Love)

For Lovers Only 3

Bert Kaempfert and His Orchestra - Afrikaan Beat and Other Favorites

1. Afrikaan Beat
2. Dancing in the Dark
3. Moonglow
4. Where Flamingos Fly
5. Stardust
6. Pony Violins
7. Solitude
8. Cherokee (Indian Love Call)
9. Trumpet in the Night
10. Where or When
11. Bert's Tune
12. Just As Much As Ever

Afrikaan Beat

Composer-conductor-arranger Bert Kaempfert created a sensation with the hit recording of his own song, the hauntingly beautiful "Wonderland by Night". With it, he almost singlehandedly reestablished the popularity of the big band, and in so doing became one of its most popular and vital forces.

Wonderland has been followed by a bright succession of Kaempfert hits - the most recent of which, and perhaps the most significant being the title song of this album, "Afrikaan Beat". An original Kaempfert composition, "Afrikaan Beat" - with its brilliant trumpet passages and beautiful intrusion of massed strings - represents one of the most rhythmically exciting and melodically imaginative sounds ever conceived by Mr. Kaempfert, or anyone else on the scene today.

The album - which also includes such lovely "standards" as Hoagy Carmichael's ever-popular "Stardust", Duke Ellington's poignant "Solitude", the Rodgers-Hart popular classic "Where or When", the enigmatically beautiful "Moonglow", and Bert Kaempfert's own "Trumpet in the Night" and "Bert's Tune".

The mood of the album ranges from softly sentimental to lightly swinging. The sound is characteristically rich.

(from the original LP liner notes)

The Jackie Gleason Orchestra - For Lovers Only - Volume 2

1. Dancing in the Dark
2. Darn That Dream
3. It All Depends on You
4. I'm Glad There Is You
5. Body and Soul
6. It Could Happen to You
7. I Only Have Eyes for You
8. I'll Be Seeing You
9. I Thought About You
10. You've Changed
11. I Remember You
12. When Your Lover Has Gone

For Lovers Only 2

The Jackie Gleason Orchestra - For Lovers Only - Volume 1

1. My Funny Valentine
2. I Can't Get Started
3. The Man I Love
4. Just One More Chance
5. She's Funny That Way
6. Yesterdays
7. You and the Night and the Music
8. I Hadn't Anyone Till You
9. Time on My Hands (And You in My Arms)
10. (I Don't Stand A) Ghost of A Chance
11. A Cottage for Sale
12. Somebody Loves Me

For Lovers Only 1

    * Born: 26 February 1916  
    * Birthplace: Brooklyn, New York
    * Died: 24 June 1987 (cancer)
    * Best Known As: Ralph Kramden on The Honeymooners

      Name at birth: Herbert John Gleason

Not only was he one of the finest comedians America has ever produced, Jackie Gleason applied his prodigious talents to music as well. With a strong jazz roots background (leaning to mesmerized idolatry when dealing with good trumpet players), Gleason developed a chart-topping series of mood music albums in the '50s, citing his reason for their existence: "Every time I ever watched Clark Gable do a love scene in the movies, I'd hear this really pretty music, real romantic, come up behind him and help set the mood. So I'm figuring that if Clark Gable needs that kinda help, then a guy in Canarsie has gotta be dyin' for somethin' like this!"

Gleason began making films in the '40s, but he rose to stardom in the early '50s, thanks to the late '40s/early '50s television series The Life of Riley and Cavalcade of Stars. His television stardom led to a contract with Capitol Records, who released his first album, Music for Lovers Only, in 1953. As a musician, Gleason favored lush, dramatically orchestrated instrumentals, patterned after the mood music of Paul Weston. Gleason wasn't a trained musician, but he was responsible for the musical direction of his records; when he did write a piece, he would dictate to someone who could read and write music.

Music for Lovers Only was a surprise hit, selling over 500,000 copies. Every subsequent Gleason album was a major hit, reaching the Top Ten and selling a large number of copies. Gleason continued to release albums into the '60s, but his popularity dipped dramatically after 1957. After that year, he no longer was able to make it into the Top 15, even though his records continued to appear in the lower regions of the charts. Gleason's records have continued to be popular cult items and they have come to be regarded as definitive mood music albums. ~ Cub Koda & Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide

The Clebanoff Strings & Orchestra - Besame Mucho

1. Malagueña
2. Quiereme Mucho
3. Hava Naguila
4. Taboo
5. Cumana
6. Jungle Drums
7. Granada
8. La Paloma
9. Besame Mucho
10. Black Orpheus
11. El Manicero
12. Quizas, Quizas, Quizas
13. My Shawl
14. Aquarela do Brasil
15. The Girl from Ipanema
16. La Macarena
17. El Humahuaqueno
18. Solamente Una Vez
19. Misirlou
20. Adoro
21. Guantanamera
22. La Comparsa
23. Andalucia (The Breeze and I)
24. Poinciana

Floyd Cramer - Collector's Series

1. Last Date
2. For the Good Times
3. Tennessee Waltz
4. Green Green Grass of Home
5. Blue Bayou
6. Honey
7. Born to Lose
8. Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain

Collector's Series

Collector's Series is a reasonably thorough overview of Floyd Cramer's career, offering nearly every one of his hits ("Last Date," "Tennessee Waltz," "For the Good Times") in its original version. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide 

A distinctive pianist whose unique, slip-note playing style came to typify the pop-oriented Nashville sound of the late '50s and early '60s, session and solo musician Floyd Cramer was born October 27, 1933, in Louisiana. After a childhood spent largely in Arkansas, he returned to his home state in 1951 and began appearing on the radio program The Louisiana Hayride, where he performed with the likes of Jim Reeves, Faron Young, Webb Pierce, and, in his debut, Elvis Presley.

While Cramer cut a few solo sides in 1953, his most important work in the early '50s was as a session musician, where he first met Chet Atkins, who encouraged the pianist to move to Nashville. He did in 1955, rejoining Atkins as the house pianist at RCA Records to begin developing what would ultimately be recognized as the Nashville sound, a style shorn of the elements associated with traditional country and honky tonk instead favoring a more polished, progressive sheen. With Atkins behind the production boards, Cramer began to perfect his unique style of playing, a method not dissimilar to guitar-picking in that he would hit one key and then slide his finger onto the next, creating a blue, lonesome sound. Under Atkins' guidance, Cramer played on hundreds of sessions, including many for Presley, among them "Heartbreak Hotel."

In 1957, Cramer released his own solo debut, That Honky-Tonk Piano, and in the next year scored a minor pop hit with the single "Flip, Flop and Bop." As his solo career was largely secondary in relation to his session work, he recorded his own music sporadically, but in 1960 notched a significant country and pop hit with the self-penned instrumental "Last Date." The follow-up, a cover of Bob Wills' "San Antonio Rose," reached the Top Ten of both charts. He also released an LP a year between 1960 and 1962, starting with Hello Blues and followed by Last Date and I Remember Hank Williams.

From 1965 to 1974, Cramer annually released a Class Of... album, a collection of the year's top hits done in his own inimitable style. In 1971, he also teamed with Atkins and saxophonist Boots Randolph for the album Chet, Floyd and Boots. By 1977, Cramer was exploring modern technology, and on the LP Keyboard Kick Band, he played a number of instruments, including a synthesizer. In 1980, he released his last significant hit, a recording of the theme from the hit TV drama Dallas. Though largely quiet for most of the decade, in 1988 Cramer released three separate albums -- Country Gold, Just Me and My Piano!, and Special Songs of Love. He died December 31, 1997. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Music Guide

Orquestra Românticos de Cuba - Momentos de Amor

1. Mi Sueno Azul
2. Viver em Paz - Nuvens (Clouds)
3. Momento de Amor
4. The Shadow of Your Smile
5. The Sound of Music
6. Murmullo
7. Insensatez - Meditação
8. Dear Heart
9. Forget Domani
10. Charade

Momentos de Amor

Orquestra Românticos de Cuba - Besame Mucho - Boleros

1. Besame Mucho / Dos Almas
2. Frio en el Alma / Hipocrita
3. Una Vez / Venganza
4. Angelitos Negros / Senora
5. Somos / Una Mujer
6. Ay de Mi / Nosotros
7. Amor, Amor, Amor / Quiereme Mucho
8. Amorosamente / Final
9. Abrazame Asi / Inutilmente
10. Una Aventura Mas / Verdad Amarga
11. Pecado / Quizas, Quizas, Quizas
12. Llevame / Palabras de Mujer

Boleros

Clebanoff e Sua Orquestra - Sucessos de Hoje

1. Follow the Boys
2. Our Day Will Come
3. Puff
4. The End of the World
5. Don't Set Me Free
6. Days of Wine and Roses
7. Can't Get Used to Losing You
8. All I Have to Do Is Dream
9. Pipeline
10. Sax Fifth Avenue
11. Our Winter Love
12. Love for Sale

Produzido por Jack Tracy
Arranjos de Wayne Robinson - Orgão Thomas utilizado exclusivamente neste disco

Sucessos de Hoje

Este disco reúne os mais deliciosos e mais duradouros ingredientes que podem ser encontrados nos discos populares modernos. Unidade: a estilização eterna e rica das cordas por uma dominante organização musical - Clebanoff e Sua Orquestra.

Mesclando as influências de campos clássicos e populares, Clebanoff aplica seu próprio toque orquestral aos mais vendidos números da atualidade. O resultado é música belíssima e altamente atrativa para o ouvinte, independendo de época, lugar ou predileção. Cada música possui seu encanto inegável - aquele certo "quê" misterioso que a torna sucesso. Quanto a isso, apesar do selo inimitável de Clebanoff, os ouvintes familiarizados com as versões originais destas seleções notarão a pureza das traduções para este novo estilo pessoal. Nada foi perdido. E ao mesmo tempo, tanto foi ganho.

"Don't Set Me Free", de Ray Charles, conserva todo seu sentimento dos 'blues' - mesmo no seu invólucro de cordas grandiosas e suave percussão. Provando que seus músicos podem balançar no idioma leve do jazz, Clebanoff continua através das melhores canções da atualidade. Interpretações belíssimas de "The End of the World" - com seus arpejos chopinescos - e "Our Winter Love" demonstram a habilidade singular dessa orquestra de transformar melodias simples em memoráveis e duradouras sempre-vivas.

O sentimento gerado por esta versão orquestral de "Pipeline" surge com a excitação dos primeiros tempos do ouro negro. Antes de poder recuperar-se, se está a duas mil milhas de distância, no coração de Manhattan - com o lento, sonhador e noturno "Sax Fifth Avenue" fornecendo o transporte. Os temas cinematográficos "Follow the Boys" e "Days of Wine and Roses" soam como se houvessem sido especialmente criados para Clebanoff.

(Extraído das notas originais do LP)

Victor Young e Suas Cordas Cantantes - Música para Dois

1. Her First Corsage
2. Never Come Sunday (focalizando Ray Turner ao piano)
3. Rita
4. My Time of Day (do filme "Eles e Elas")
5. Enamorando
6. Bright Lights
7. I Love Your Gypsy Heart (solo de violino por Anatole Kaminsky)
8. Latin Nocturne (focalizando Ray Turner ao piano)
9. Take Back Your Mink (do filme "Eles e Elas")
10. Lover's Lane (focalizando Ray Turner ao piano)
11. Night Song (focalizando Ray Turner ao piano)
12. Summer Clouds

Música para Dois

A envergadura e a versatilidade artísticas - para não mencionarmos a enorme popularidade - de Victor Young é comprovada pela vasta aceitação, pelo público mundial, de várias coletâneas fonográficas dedicadas ao saudoso músico e à sua obra.

Young destacou-se tanto como regente, quanto como compositor em long-plays Decca de grande procura, tais como "Night Music", "Hollywood Rhapsodies", "Gypsy Music", "Cinema Rhapsodies", "For Whom the Bell Tolls" e "Golden Earrings", além de "Victor Young's Musical Sketch Book", uma seleção de suas mais importantes composições.

Como sua música, a carreira de Victor Young foi espantosamente variegada. Nasceu ele em Chicago, no ano de 1900, herdando do pai o talento. Aos quatro anos de idade, Victor já dedilhava as cordas de um violino que lhe fora dado de presente pelo avô; aos seis já tocava melodias reconhecíveis nesse mesmo instrumento. Aos dez foi mandado para Varsóvia, a fim de morar com o avô. Foi na capital polonesa que atraiu a atenção do diretor do Conservatório Imperial, e para justificar tão lisonjeiro interesse, trabalhou com afinco. Posteriormente recebeu diploma do Conservatório e foi contemplado com um violino Guarnerius, a ele doado por um banqueiro polonês.

Após a assinatura do armistício da Primeira Guerra Mundial, Young regressou aos Estados Unidos e desposou sua namorada polonesa, na California. Começou a tornar-se conhecido em sua pátria e passado algum tempo voltou para Chicago, onde passou a reger grandes orquestras em cinemas de luxo. Por essa época já se encontrava em condições de compor e arranjar sua própria música. Interessando-se pelo movimento jazzístico daqueles dias, transformou-se num dos mais entusiasmados expoentes deste grande gênero da música americana. Galgando novos planos em sua carreira, tornou-se diretor musical para Balaban e Katz. Nessa fase do decênio 1920-1930, toda a nação cantava "Sweet Sue", de sua autoria, o que ainda faz neste ano de 1957.

Talvez seja Victor Young mais conhecido pelas muitas partituras que compôs para Hollywood. Consta ter ele contribuído com mais de duzentos números, temas e música de fundo para as películas cinematográficas. Foi, em verdade, um dos primeiros a conceber partituras para os filmes não apenas como caracterização de imagens e situações, mas ainda como pura música - música para o prazer do ouvinte de gosto musical.

Este novo disco coletivo ratifica a atração exercida pela música de Victor Young e suas muito apropriadamente intituladas "Cordas Cantantes". É uma música ao mesmo tempo alegre e nostálgica, ligeira e duradoura, em seus matizes tonais. Escolhidas com um gosto pelas delicadas variações, estas melodias, com o seu amálgama de reminiscência e fascínio, se destina a qualquer ouvinte.

(Extraído das notas originais do LP)

Tommy Garrett - The Best of The 50 Guitars - Volume 3

1. I Left My Heart in San Francisco
2. Love Me with All Your Heart
3. Lara's Theme
4. You Don't Have to Say You Love Me
5. Michelle
6. You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'
7. Hung Up in Your Eyes
8. My Special Angel
9. If You Go Away
10. Old Cape Cod
11. Guitar Serenade
12. Frenesi

The 50 Guitars - Volume 3

Tommy Garrett - The Best of The 50 Guitars - Volume 2

1. Volare
2. Non Dimenticar
3. Come Back to Sorrento
4. Anema e Core
5. Return to Me
6. Arrivederci Roma
7. Love Theme from "La Strada"
8. O Sole Mio
9. Mattinata
10. Ciao, Ciao Bambino
11. Summertime in Venice
12. The Good, the Bad & the Ugly

The 50 Guitars - Volume 2

Tommy Garrett - The Best of The 50 Guitars - Volume 1

1. Spanish Eyes
2. Maria Elena
3. South of the Border
4. Besame Mucho
5. Guantanamera
6. Cherry Pink & Apple Blossom White
7. Malaguena
8. Granada
9. Brazil
10. Perfidia
11. La Bamba
12. La Virgen de la Macarena

The 50 Guitars - Volume 1

Born Thomas Lesslie Garrett 5 July 1939, Dallas, Texas

Tommy Garrett was "Snuff" Garrett, A&R director for Liberty from 1958-1966, producer of numerous early 60s hits by white rock-n-roll artists such as Bobby Vee, Johnny Burnette, and Gary Lewis. Garrett also gave Phil Spector his first job in the business, as A&R man in New York for Liberty. He produced a series of LPs for Liberty under the name of "The 50 Guitars of Tommy Garrett," one of the least adventurous and most easy-listening guitar groups, usually arranged by Ernie Wilkins and with Tommy Tedesco as lead guitar. Garrett also produced a number of exotica recordings by "The Midnight String Quartet" and Jonathan Knight on the Viva! label.

Recordings

    * 50 Guitars Go South of the Border, Liberty LSS-14005
    * 50 Guitars Go South of the Border, Volume 2, Liberty LSS-14016
    * 50 Guitars Visit Hawaii, LSS-14022
    * 50 Guitars Go Country, Liberty LSS-14025
    * 50 Guitars Go Italiano, Liberty LSS-14028
    * Maria Elena, Liberty LSS-14030
    * Bordertown Bandido, Liberty LSS-14031
    * Espana, Liberty LSS-14032
    * Return to Paradise, Liberty LSS-14033
    * Love Songs from South of the Border, Liberty LSS-14035
    * Viva Mexico, Liberty LSS-14036
    * 50 Guitars in Love, Liberty LSS-14037
    * 50 Guitars in a Brazilian Mood, Liberty LSS-14038
    * More 50 Guitars in Love, Liberty LSS-14039
    * Six Flags Over Texas, Liberty LSS-14040
    * Our Love Affair, Liberty LSS-14041
    * El Hombre, Liberty LSS-14042
    * The Sound Of Love, Liberty LSS-14044
    * The Best of the 50 Guitars, Liberty LSS-14045
    * Mexican Leather and Spanish Lace, Liberty LSS-14046
    * 50 Guitars for Midnight Lovers, Liberty LSS-14047
    * The 50 Guitars of Tommy Garrett Go South of the Border, Volume 3, United Artists UAS-5528
    * Down Mexico Way, United Artists UA-LA 123-F
    * The Way of Love, United Artists UAS-5569
    * You're a Lady, United Artists UA-LA039-F

Bert Kaempfert - Série Autógrafos de Sucesso

1. Afrikaan Beat
2. Stardust
3. Dancing in the Dark
4. Caravan
5. Unchained Melody
6. Tijuana Taxi
7. My Way of Life
8. Swingin' Safari
9. Blue Moon
10. Wonderland by Night
11. Red Roses for A Blue Lady
12. Besame Mucho

Autógrafos de Sucesso

Dick Haymes - The Very Best of Dick Haymes - Volume 2

1. It Might As Well Be Spring
2. I'm Always Chasing Rainbows
3. Slowly
4. Oh! What It Seemed to Be
5. In Love in Vain
6. For You, For Me, For Evermore
7. How Are Things in Glocca Morra
8. Mam'selle
9. Ivy
10. I Wish I Didn't Love You So
11. And Mimi
12. Teresa
13. Little White Lies
14. You Can't Be True, Dear
15. Nature Boy
16. It's Magic
17. Room Full of Roses
18. Maybe It's Because
19. The Old Master Painter
20. Count Every Star

The Very Best - Vol. 2

Vocal Accompaniment:

Track 13 & 19 with Four Hits And A Miss

Track 14 & 15 with The Song Spinners

Track 18 with The Tafflers

Orchestral Accompaniment:

Tracks 1 & 3 under The Direction of Victor Young

Tracks 2, 4 & 5 under The Direction of Earle Hagen

Tracks 6-9, 11, 13, 16 & 18 under The Direction of Gordon Jenkins

Track 12 under The Direction of Vic Schoen

Track 19 under The Direction of Sonny Burke

Track 20 with Artie Shaw and His Strings and Woodwinds

In the liner notes to the first installment of this two volume Dick Haymes retrospective, we reviewed the path that Haymes followed to lead him through the ranks of the big band era until, when he decided to launch his career as a soloist in 1943, he was instantly transported to the rarefied heights of superstardom. So pervasive was his influence that a number of imitators soon appeared, but we might do well to pause before considering their merits and dwell for a moment on the forces which helped to shape the Haymes approach in the first place.

Like his contemporaries Frank Sinatra and Perry Como, he started out under the inescapable sway of Bing Crosby, the singer who virtually defined the modern popular vocal. In time, Haymes narrowed the focus of his admiration to one of Crosby's ablest disciples, band singer Bob Eberly. "There wasn't a boy singer in the business who had a better voice box than Dick Haymes - not even Bob Eberly, whom Dick worshipped so much", noted George Simon, former 'Metronome' writer and author of "The Big Bands". Simon also recalled that Dick was shocked to witness his idol smoking on the job, a habit he considered unprofessional (though it is sadly ironic to remember that Haymes overcame this aversion, and that lung cancer contributed to his premature death). The early vocal training that Dick received from his mother Marguerite left him acutely aware of all the potential hazards, such as cigarette smoke, improper breathing, and an incorrect stance while performing, that lay in waiting to sabotage a singer's best efforts. This accounts in large part for the technically flawless nature of his mature performances.

Haymes's additions to the Crosby tradition include a strikingly masculine virility and a deep, seamless baritone voice so peculiarly "throaty" in its resonance that members of bandleader Bob Crosby's outfit facetiously nicknamed him "Phlegm". "I remember vividly the impact he had on women in our audiences - and the reactions of their escorts", recalled Dick's former accompanist Bobby Scott. "It created situations of true danger". No one ever caressed a romantic lyric with more warmth and conviction, but before long there were any number of "would-be Dicks" willing to try. The two most prominent graduates of "the Haymes school" were Bob Manning, who scored hits for Capitol Records in the early 1950s, and David Allyn, who stretched the boudaries of the Haymes approach in collaboration with such progressive jazz figures as Boyd Raeburn. Less well-remembered today are singers like Billy Usher, who waxed some fine sides with Sonny Dunham and Randy Brooks (with whom he went so far as to record his own derivative version of "That's For Me") before launching a solo career that failed to catch fire. Genetic happenstance also relegates Dick's younger brother Bob to this group. Bob Haymes, who later changed his professional name to Robert Stanton, made some fine sides with several bands, including those of Bob Chester and Freddy Martin, before abandoning a solo career to concentrate on his songwriting, a move that produced, among many other sensitive compositions, the lovely standard "That's All".

Our present anthology opens on a high note with Dick's definitive reading of "It Might As Well Be Spring" from the soundtrack of Fox's 1945 film musical, 'State Fair'. Another Haymes film, "The Shocking Miss Pilgrim" from 1947, is represented here by the tender duet "For You, For Me, For Evermore" (contractual conflicts prevented his co-star, Betty Grable, from making the record with Dick, so Decca label-mate Judy Garland was pressed into service as a most delightful substitute). "Slowly", though a hit for both Haymes and Kay Kyser, is today a forgotten song that was taken from a 1945 Fox film entitled "Fallen Angel". "Mam'selle", a continental charmer from the Fox film "The Razor's Edge" that topped the charts for both Sinatra and Art Lund in 1947, has proved much more enduring. This winning Haymes performance peaked at #3 (it is interesting to note that later in the same year, Art Lund was again Dick's main competition for chart honors with the similarly Gallic-flavored ballad "And Mimi").

The remaining movie music collected here includes "I Wish I Didn't Love You So" from 'The Perils of Pauline (Paramount, 1947)', and "It's Magic", the musical highlight of Doris Day's screen debut, "Romance on the High Seas (Warner Brothers, 1948)". "Ivy" was the title track of a Unviversal-International picture, and there is acharming story connected with this 1947 Haymes recording. One of Dick's idolaters, Bob Manning, had waxed his own competing version of the tune on the MGM label as boy vocalist with the Ziggy Elman band. When he finally came face to face with his hero backstage at the Steel Pier in Atlantic City, Manning was awestruck to learn that Dick was familiar with his recording. "One of us", Haymes jokingly told the newcomer, "had better change our style".

"I'm Always Chasing Rainbows" from 1945 is the first of three duet performances with Helen Forrest collected here, including "Oh! What It Seemed to Be" from the same session, and "In Love in Vain" from 1946. Dick's early admiration for Bob Eberly makes it worth noting how these recordings parallel a similarly successful collaboration that Eberly enjoyed with Helen O'Connell when both were employed by bandleader Jimmy Dorsey. "Bob Eberly was bigger than all of us, you know, with Jimmy Dorsey", Haymes once gushed to interviewer Fred Hakk. "I mean, hell, when he was singing "Amapola" and "Green Eyes"...and all those things with Helen O'Connell...he was the hottest thing". A significant difference between the pairings, however, is that Haymes and Forrest both explored the same arrangement, while Eberly would typically croon his assignment with Dorsey, to be followed by Helen O'Connell gleefully treating her part as an up-tempo romp.

By the mid-1940s, on both records and the radio, Haymes had embarked on a mutually rewarding collaboration with arranger and conductor Gordon Jenkins. A gifted songwriter and popular recording artist in his own right, as an arranging talent Jenkins had few peers. "Gordon wrote such lovely countermelodies", commented singer John Gary recently, "that you can take the vocal away his arrangements would still stand on their own merits". The 1946 performance of "How Are Things in Glocca Morra?" from Broadway's "Finian's Rainbow" and "Maybe It's Because" from 1949 are perfect illustrations of the always tasteful Haymes-Jenkins partnership. The two men scored their greatest triumph in 1947 with Dick's recording of "Little White Lies". "The truth of the matter is that 'Little White Lies' was an afterthought", Haymes later recalled. At the end of a recording session, with an hour of studio time leftover, Jenkins suggested that the assembled group take a stab at this simple ballad, which had first been popularized by Fred Waring in 1930. He quickly sketched our parts for Dick, the musicians, and the accompanying vocal ensemble, Four Hits & A Miss. To compound matters, legend has it that Haymes was suffering from a bad cold that day, and was anxious to wrap things up. The result was a smash hit that quickly turned gold. "I'm still not in love with the record", Haymes later confessed, "but I must respect it. It was just an accident".

"Teresa" is a pleasant 1947 duet performance that teams Dick with The Andrew Sisters, who later joined forces with Haymes on the 'Club 15' radio program. Four months after this session, the recording ban of 1948 forced Dick to return to the 'a capella' format that brought him his initial Decca success in 1943, and he re-teamed with the Song Spinners to record "You Can't Be True, Dear" and "Nature Boy". "Room Full of Roses" from 1949 is a nice change of pace, with Haymes sounding surprisingly at home on this country classic from the pen of The Sons of The Pioneers' Tim Spencer. "The Old Master Painter" is a rousing novelty that enjoyed quite a vogue in 1950, when no less than six different major label recordings battled for recognition. Our final track, "Count Every Star" from 1950, is a return to the more traditional ballad format. It found Dick paired with Artie Shaw just a few short years before the clarinetist began his self-imposed retirement.

"The peak years were 1946-47", Dick Haymes once reflected. "It was averaging up to $25,000 a week just on record royalties, radio, movies - without even personal appearances. They were paying me as much as $300,000 per movie and I made at least two a year". by the early 1950s, it started to fall apart. Problems with alcohol and a series of high profile divorces took their toll, and the coming of rock and roll certainly didn't help matters. Haymes parted company with Decca and turned out a pair of brilliant albums for Capitol in 1955, but the sad truth is that his visits to the recording studio grew increasingly sporadic in the last two decades of his life. His magnificent voice withstood the tests of time practically unblemished, however, and it is hard to imagine that future generations won't judge us harshly for not making a more concerted effort to capture it for posterity. The shortsightedness of it all makes one shudder (it's like keeping Norman Rockwell from his paints, or depriving John Steinbeck of pen and paper). His final recording efforts in the late 1970s were financed by members of his appreciation society (bless their souls!). When Dick Haymes died in Los Angeles on March 28, 1980, he left behind a legacy that has thrilled millions, and is sure to bring joy to countless more in the future.

Enjoy these recordings, and revel in the ease with which this great artist somehow manages to revive such discarded concepts as romance, chivalry, and innocent, old-fashioned, wide-eyed love. Forget the cares of the moment, and let your imagination run free. After all, whenever you're lost in the special magic of Dick Haymes, it might as well be spring...

(Joseph F. Laredo, from the original liner notes)

Orquestra Românticos de Cuba - Cuba Libre - Volume 2

1. Malagueña
2. Blen! Blen! Blen!
3. Adios, Mariquita Linda
4. Bruca Maniguá
5. Canto Indio
6. Cachita
7. Night Must Fall
8. Rumba Blanca
9. Always in My Heart
10. Tropical Magic

Cuba Libre Vol. 2