1966

Anneliese Rothenberger - Successes - another beautiful album cover from Cover Heaven

Anneliese Rothenberger – Successes

Sleeve Notes:

Anneliese Rothenberger, who endeared herself to thousands who watched Eric Robinson’s BBC TV programme “Music for You”, has in a very few years established herself as an international artiste with a wide repertoire ranging from operetta to Richard Strauss.

SIDE ONE Bands 1-4 with FFB ORCHESTRA conducted by WERNER SCHMIDT-BOELKE (© 1960) Band 5 with ORCHESTRA OF THE GERMAN OPERA, BERLIN, conducted by HANS ZANOTELLI (®1963) Band 1 – Klange der Heimat (Czardas) (from ‘Die Fledermaus’ Act 2) (Meilhac and HaMvy arr. Haffner and Genee – Johann Strauss II) Rosalinde, masquerading at a fancy-dress party as a Hungarian countess and challenged as to her identity, ‘proves’ it by singing in a convincing idiom of her supposed homeland. Band 2 – In heimlichen Dimmer der silbernen Ampel (from ‘Eva’ Act 1) ( Whiner and Bodansky – Lehcir) Before a mirror Eva, a young factory worker with whom the owner has fallen in love, recalls her mother’s remembered beauty and hopes that her own cap be compared to it. Band 3—Im chambre separee (from DWopernball’) (Leon and Waldberg – Heuberier) with HELGA HILDEBRAND, soprano At a ball at the Paris Opera a pair of young lovers agree to forsake the dance-floor for the seclusion of a chimbre separee’ (or private box), where over a tete-a-tete supper they .may find better entertainment. Band 4 – Leise erklingen die Glocken vom Campanile (Barcarolle) (Softly chime the bells’, from Balkanliebe) (Kahr, Hardt- Warden – Kattnigg) A romantic song with a quiet choral backing and restrained bell effects. Band 5—Martern aller Arten (Die Entfiihrung aus dem Serail’ Act 2) (Stephanie—Mozart) Constanze, a captive in Pasha Selim’s harem, responds to his threats of torture with defiance and scorn, skilfully alternating her resistance with a plea for mercy to the potentate whose compassion Providence will surely repay. Martern aller Arten / mogen meiner warten, / len verlache Qual und Pein. / Nichts, soll mich erschattern, / nur dann ward’ ich zittern, / wenn ich untreu konnte sein. / Nur dann, usw. / Lass dich bewegen, verschone mich, / des Himmels Segen belohne dich ! usw. / Doch dich riihrt kein Flehen. / Stand-haft, sollst du sehen, / duld ich jede Pein und Not. / Ordne nur, gebiete, / drohe, strafe, wiite, / zuletzt befreit mich doch der Tod ! / Zuletzt befreit mich, usw. I des Himmels Segen, usw. / Doch dich riihrt, usw. Torture., of all kinds I may await me, / but I will laugh at torment and pain. I Nothing shall shake my resolve, | I would only tremble, | if I were to be unfaithful. | I would only, etc. / Have pity, spare me, | let Heaven’s blessing reward you, etc. | But no entreaties move you. | You shall see constancy, / | endure every pain, every torture. | Order then, command, | threaten, punish, rage, | Death will free me in the end! | Death will free me, etc. | Let Heaven’s blessing, etc. But no entreaties move you, etc.
© Peter Branscombe, 1966

SIDE TWO with ORCHESTRA OF THE GERMAN OPERA, BERLIN conducted by HANS ZANOTELLI (C) 1963) Band 1-0 war’ ich schon mit dir vereint (Fidelio’ Act 1) (Sonnleithner and Treitschke—Beethoven) Marzelline, the head gaoler’s daughter and courted by his assistant Jaquino, has thoughts only for the ‘youth’ they know as Fidelio, who has managed to obtain employment in the prison. O war’ ich schon mit dir vereint, / und diirfte Mann dich nennen ! / Ein Madchen darf ja, was es meint, I zur Halfte nur bekennen. I Doch wenn ich nicht erroten muss, / ob einem warmen Herzenskuss, / wenn nichts uns stort auf Erden— / Die Hoffnung schon erfullt die Brust, / mit unaus-sprechlich siisser Lust; / wie gliicklich will ich werden! Die Hoffnung schon, usw. In Ruhe stiller Hauslichkeit / erwach ich jeden Morgen, / wir griissen uns mit Zartlichkeit, / der Fleiss verscheucht die Sorgen. / Und ist die Arbeit abgetan, / dann schleicht die holde Nacht heran, / dann ruh’n wir von Beschwerden. Die Hoffnung schon ethillt die Brust, usw. O were I now united with you, | and might call you Husband! | What it would mean, a maiden can only half admit. | But when I do not have to blush | at a warm and heartfelt kiss, / when nothing on earth can disturb us – | Hope already, fills my breast | with inexpressibly sweet delight: | how happy I shall be! | Hope already fills, etc. In the peace of quiet domesticity | I shall awake each morning, | we shall greet one another tenderly, | toil will banish care. / And when the work is finished, / then blessed night will creep on, | then we shall rest from our troubles. Hope already fills my breast, etc.
© William Mann, 1962

Band 2—Einst traumte meiner sel’gen Base (Der Freischiitz’ Act 3) (Kind—Weber) Agathe, full of foreboding, is preparing for her wedding to the forester, Max, which can only take place if he is successful in a shooting contest on the morrow. She recounts her dreadful dreams to her cousin Annchen, who gently derides her fears with an anecdote—Annchen: Einst traumte meiner sel’gen Base : / die Kammertiir eroffne sich, / und kreideweiss ward ihre Nase, / denn naher, furchtbar nailer schlich / ein Ungeheuer mit Augen wie Feuer, / mit klirrender Kette, es nahte dem Bette, / in welchem sie schief: / ich meine die Base mit kreidiger Nase, / und stohnte, ach ! so hohl ! / und achzte, ach ! so tief! / Sie kreurte sich, rief, / nach manchem Angst–und Stossgebet : Susanne! Margaret! / Und sie kamen mit Licht, / und—denke nur—und— / erschrick mir nur nicht— / und—graust mir doch ! Und / der Geist war : Nero, der Kettenhund ! Du zurnest mir? / Doch kannst du wahnen, / ich fiihle nicht mit dir? / Nur ziemen einer Braut nicht Tranen. Triibe Augen, Liebchen, taugen / einem holden Brautchen nicht, usw. / dass durch Blicke sie erquicke, / und begluckte, und bestricke, / alles um sich her entziicke, / das ist ihre schonste Pflicht. Lass in &len Mauern, / Biisserinnen trauern, / dir winkt ros’ger Hoffnung Licht ! / Schon entziindet sind die Kerzen / zum Verein getreuer Herzen, | schon entzfindet sind die Kerzen, / dir winkt ros’ger Hoffnung Licht! | Holde Freundin, sage nicht! usw. My defunct aunt once dreamt / the door of her room flew open, / and her nose turned chalky white, | for nearer, frighteningly nearer, crept / a monster with eyes of fire. / With rattling chain it approached the bed / on which she lay asleep: | I mean my aunt with chalky-white nose, / and groaned, oh! so hollowly / and moaned, oh! so deeply! | She crossed herself and called, | in dreadful anguish—and quickly said her prayers: Susan! Margaret! | and they came with a light, | and—just think—and— I don’t shriek— | and don’t shudder! And I the ghost turned out to be—Nero, the watchdog! Are you angry with me? Can you really imagine | I don’t feel for you? | Only —a bride in tears isn’t right. Dejected looks, dearest, don’t suit I a lovely bride at all, etc. | for through her glances she must refresh | and delight and captivate |and enchant all around her, I that is her loveliest duty. Within cloistered walls / let penitents mourn, I Hope’s rosy light beckons you! | The candles are already lit | for the union of true hearts. | The candles are already lit. | Hope’s rosy light beckons you! / Sweet friend, do not worry! etc. Peggie Cochrane, 1960 Band 3—Tutte le feste al tempio (Rigoletto’ Act 2) (Piave— Verdi) Gilda tells her father, the hunchbacked jester Rigoletto, the circumstances of her abduction by his master, the Duke. Although distraught and dis-honoured, Gilda is hopelessly infatuated by her seducer. Tutte le feste al tempio mentre pregava Iddio, bello e fatale un giovine offriasi al guardo mio … se i labbri nostri tacquero, dagl’occhi it cor parlo. Furtivo fra le tenebre I sol ieri a me giungeva . . . / sono studente povero, / commosso mi diceva, / e con ardente palpito / amor mi protesto. / Parti .. . it mio core aprivasi a speme piu gradita, / quando improvvisi apparvero / color the m’han rapita, / e a forza qui m’addussero / nell’ansia piu crudel. Each holy day, at church, as I was saying my prayers, a handsome, striking youth came there, where I could see hitn. If our lips kept silent, our eyes spoke what our hearts were feeling. Only last night, for the first time | he secretly came to see me. / “I am a student, I am poor,” | he said with feeling. | Then, passionately, | he told me of his love. | He went away—my heart had opened | to a brighter hope, | when suddenly there appeared | the band who abducted me; | they brought me here by force. | I suffered the cruellest torment.
© Capitol Records Inc.

Band 4—Saper vorreste (‘Un Ballo in Maschera’ Act 3) (Somma—Verdi) The final scene takes place at a masked ball in the Governor’s residence where the conspirators have planned to murder him. Renato, his secretary, recognises Oscar the page by his perky manner and tries to prise from him the secret of his master’s disguise. The boy teasingly admits that he knows the answer, but will not tell.

Oscar. Saper vorreste / di che si veste, / quando 1’6 cosa / ch’ei vuol nascosa. / Oscar lo sa / ma nol dirk / tra la la ecc. / Oscar lo sa, ecc. Pieno d’amor / mi balza it cor, / ma pur discreto / serba it segreto. / Nol rapira / grado o belts, / tra la la ecc. / Oscar lo sa, / ma nol dirk / tra la la ecc. You’d like to know / what he’s wearing, | when that’s the thing / he wants kept dark. | Oscar knows, | but he’s not going to tell, | tra la la etc. / Full of love, my heart leaps wildly, / but ever discreet / keeps the secret. | Neither rank nor beauty I will discover it, | tra la la etc. / Oscar knows, | but he won’t tell, | tra la la etc.

Band 5—Volta la terrea fronte alle stelle (Un Ballo in Maschera’ Act 1) (Somma— Verdi) In the first act the Governor seeks Oscar’s views concerning Ulrica, a Negro sorceress whom the Chief JuStice wishes to banish. Oscar describes her arts, at the same time vigorously defending her. Volta la terrea fronte alle stelle! / come sfavilla la sua pupilla, / quando alle belle it fin predice / mesto o felice dei Toro amor, mesto, / felice dei Toro amor. / Ah. e con Lucifero d’accordo ognor! ecc. Chi la profetica sua gonna afferra, / o passi ‘| mare, vol’ alla guerra, / le sue vicende soavi, amare, / da questa apprende nel dubbio cor. / Ah 6 con Lucifero d’accordo ognor ! ecc. When she turns her dusky brow to the stars, | how her eyes flash like lightning | as she foretells the course of their loves | to the belles of the town, be it happy or sad, | be it happy or sad. | With Lucifer himself she has a pact! etc. Whoever touches her prophetic gown, | whether he plans to cross the sea or go off to war, | his future, his fortunes, be they bitter or sweet, | his doubting heart will learn from her. | Ah! with Lucifer himself she has made a pact! etc. © Capitol Records Inc.

Band 6—E strano ! e strano ! . . . Ah, fors’e lui . . . Follie! follie! .. . Sempre libera (La Traviata’ Act 1) (Piave—Verdi) The courtesan Violetta, touched by the declaration of love lately made to her by Alfredo, reflects on her longing to be truly the object of genuine love — but realises that it is folly for her to pretend to be otherwise than she is. In the background Alfredo can be heard singing beneath Violetta’s balcony of his love. E strano! e strano! In core scolpito ho quegli accenti! Saria per me sventura un serio amore? Che risolvi, o turbata anima mia? Null’uomo ancora t’accendeva— I 0 gioia ch’io non conobbi, esser amata amando ! E sdegnarla poss’io / per l’aride follie del viver mio? Ah, fors’e lui che (‘anima / solinga ne’ tumulti / godea sovente pingere / de’ suoi colori occulti! / Lui che modesto e vigile / all’egre soglie accese, / e nuova febbre accese, / destandomi all’amor. / A quell’amor ch’e palpito / dell’universo intero, / misterioso, altero, / croce e delizia al cor! Follie! follie! Dcliro vano e questo! Povera donna, sola, abbandonata in questo popoloso deserto che appellano Parigi. Che spero or piu? Che far degg’io! Gioire! di volutta ne’ vortici perir! Ah!— Sempre libera degg’io / folleggiare di gioia in gioia, / vo’ che scorra it viver mio / pei sentiri del piacer. / Nasca it giorno, oil giorno muoia, / sempre lieta ne’ ritrovi / a diletti sempre nuovi / dee volar it mio pensier. Alfredo: Amor, amor e palpito / Dell’universo intero — / Violetta: Amore. / Alfredo: Misterioso, altero, / croce e delizia al cor. / Violetta: Follie! follie! Ah si! Gioir! gioir! Alfredo: Amor e palpito, usw. Violetta: Ah! ah! il pensier! Il mio pensier. How strange! how strange! His words are burned upon my heart! Would a real love be a tragedy for me? What decisions are you taking, o my soul? No man has ever made me fall in love. O joy which I have never known—loving, to be loved! And can I scorn it for the arid nonsense of my present life? Ah, perhaps he is the one / whom my soul / lonely in the tumult, loved | to imagine in secrecy! | Watchful though I never knew, | he came here while I lay sick, / awakening a new fever, / the fever of love. | Of love which is the very breath I of the universe itself— |mysterious and noble, I both cross and ecstasy of the heart! Folly! all is folly! This is made delirium! A poor woman, alone, lost in this crowded desert which is known to men as Paris. What can I hope for? What should I do? Die in the whirlpool of earthly pleasures! Forever free, I must pass | madly from joy to joy, my life’s course shall be | forever in the paths of pleasure. | Whether it be dawn or dusk, / I must always live I gaily in the world’s gay places, | ever seeking new joys. Alfredo: Love is the very breath of the universe itself — 1 Violetta : Love. 1 Alfredo : Mysterious and noble, I both cross and ecstasy of the heart. Violetta : Folly! folly! Ah yes, from joy to joy, Alfredo : Love is the very breath, etc. Violetta : Ah! ah! new joys ever seeking.
© Capitol Records Inc.

Anneliese Rothenberger - Successes - another beautiful album cover from Cover Heaven

Label: HMV SXLP 30099

1966 1960s Covers

Billy Vaughn and His Orchestra - La Paloma - beautiful record covers from Cover Heaven

Billy Vaughn and His Orchestra – La Paloma

Sleeve Notes:

If you start throwing around statistics, Billy Vaughn really comes out on top. In addition to his several million-seller albums, one of them ‘Sail Along Silv’ry Moon,’ has by now gone over the three million mark. He’s got awards by the dozen — ‘best selling orchestra’ Most programmed orchestra,’ best studio orchestra’ plus special honors like the Golden Tulip award in Holland, the Gold Cow Bell award in Switzerland. Three Million Sellers from Germany, and similar recognition from Sweden and all over Latin America.
This album is yet another example of Billy Vaughn’s magic, listen to his superb interpretations of such great standards as La Paloma, Brazil, Perfidia and of course the famous Stan Kenton standard ‘The Peanut Vendor.’

Billy Vaughn and His Orchestra - La Paloma - beautiful record covers from Cover Heaven

Label: Contour Records 2870 322

1966 1960s Covers

Sydney Thompson and his Orchestra - Latin in Tempo

Sydney Thompson and his Orchestra – Latin in Tempo

Sleeve Notes:

Latin American rhythms constitute one topic on which every-one in the world of ballroom is agreed. They are unrivalled for colour, vivacity and cultivating a universal urge to move one’s limbs in tempo.

Sydney Thompson, a leading name in British ballroom dancing music for twenty-one years, has epitomised all the attractive appeal of the cha cha cha, paso doble, samba and rumba in this scintillating LP collection. He has not neglected the music itself in favour of a metronomically strict tempo as others have done on record, but has accommodated both in an adroit fashion which will satisfy dancing teachers, their pupils and Latin American aficionados alike.

His orchestra was augmented for this occasion by two expert percussionists handling maraccas, guiro (scraper), cabasa, and pandeiro (samba tambourine), all of which sound notably effective in the stereo version of this album, and the lilting ebullience of these rhythms comes across in full value.

Sydney’s perceptive formula of four bars intro. and sixteen bars regular movement for providing music tailor-made for dancing pupils and their instructors is employed here once again. This is both Latin and in tempo, and both learners and teachers will find it ideally stimulating.

NIGEL HUNTER

Sydney Thompson and his Orchestra - Latin in Tempo

Label: Sydney Thompson Dance Records SDR 2001

1966 1960s Covers

Victor Silvester and His Orchestra - Love Is A Many Splendoured Thing

Victor Silvester and His Orchestra – Love Is A Many Splendoured Thing

Sleeve Notes:

The name of Hollywood has been associated with films for many years past and most of America\’s great films have been made there. Although the motion picture industry has now spread far beyond the confines of Hollywood itself, people all over the world still associate the name of this Californian city with any American film they may chance to see.

This album contains just a few of the many outstanding melodies that have been presented to a world-wide audience through the medium of the silver screen. Some of these tunes were specifically written for certain films; some were old favourites revived because they happened to suit the mood of the picture in which they were featured; others were composed as theme music and because they were so popular with the public, lyrics were added at a later date.

These melodies will recall the memories of films made during four decades, and they were used to express the various moods of the stories. Love is a many splendoured thing, My foolish heart, themes from Limelight and Moulin Rouge were sentimental and sad; As time goes by, It can’t be wrong, Laura, Diane, All of you, Around the world, Goodnight my love, Moonglow and the Picnic theme were all melodies of tenderness and love; That old black magic, Sand in my shoes and Gal in calico were bright and scintillating. All of them evoke a variety of emotions – sad, happy, gay, dreamy and romantic.

This is Victor Silvester’s tribute to the music of what is, to many people, an almost legendary city – a city whose name has become a household word in almost every civilised country throughout the world – Hollywood, California U.S.A.

VICTOR SILVESTER Junior

Victor Silvester and His Orchestra - Love Is A Many Splendoured Thing

Label: World Record Club TP616

1966 1960s Covers

Dave Brubeck Quartet - My Favourite Things

Dave Brubeck Quartet – My Favourite Things

Sleeve Notes:

I’d like to tell you a little about how Dave’s MY FAVOURITE THINGS came to be. In the course of his career, Dave has recorded many Rodgers tunes – several of the songs in this album, in fact, have appeared in other Brubeck versions. For example, Dave’s first recording of one of his special favourites, My Romance, dates back to an album he made for Fantasy Records at Mills College eleven years ago, before he came to CBS.

He asked the engineers to leave the recording equipment on and leave the auditorium. He wanted to record the song solo, with no one around. Dave then Invited the engineers back into the hall, saying: “Fellows, here it is!” It was a perfect “take.” In this new version of Romance – again recorded in a single “take” – the rest of the Quartet joins Dave after his new solo piano intro. And he even allowed the engineers and me to stay this time. Dave and I have been very dose to this project for two-and-a-half years, planning arrangements of some of the songs that Dave wanted to record from Rodgers’s vast song output. During sessions for several recent Brubeck albums, we always made time to record at least one of this set’s tunes. MY FAVOURITE THINGS, a new dimension for Dave in spirit and emotion, expresses his high regard for Rogers, one of our most prolific and best-loved composers.

A lot of my friends tell me I should be angry when the modern boys fool around with my music. I think a lot of my friends aren’t being very smart about this. When Dave Brubeck fools around, he isn’t fooling. For me, this whole MY FAVOURITE THINGS album is deeply enjoyable and highly flattering. I’m indeed grateful to Dave Brubeck.

I feel that in his own way and with his own musical personality, Dave Brubeck has given a new breadth to these songs. His performances are warm and often humorous For example, Circus on Parade, the Quartet’s first recording of this tune, opens with a wry little military march before breaking into a swinging tempo and ends with Joe Morello’s parade-drum cadence disappearing down the street. Dave felt at first that he should perhaps not include this track because of its slightly off-beat touch. I reminded him that there are many facets to Rodgers’s music, and humour is definitely one of them. Dave, of course, agreed that it should stay in.

Let me say here that the musicians – Dave, Paul Desmond on alto sax, Joe Morello on drums and Gene Wright on bass – play superbly as always, sharing in each other’s musical ideas as if they were second nature to them. In addition to being a musical album, it is also a fun one. At least it was to those of us involved in the making of it.
Teo Macero

Dave Brubeck Quartet - My Favourite Things

Label: CBS BPG 62643
Cover Photo: Jerome Ducrot

1966 1960s Covers

The Norman Newell Orchestra - More Than Memories

The Norman Newell Orchestra – More Than Memories

Sleeve Notes:

The first time I met Norman Newell he was selling sheet music in a music publisher’s store in Charing Cross Road. Our first conversation was related to my asking him to run out and get me a packet of cigarettes and his first words to me were to ask my advice about song writing. We have been great friends ever since and today he is one of our top lyric writers.

I knew immediately I met Norman that he would go a long way in show business; he seemed to be so essentially a part of it. It was not long after we met that he ‘graduated’ from the shop to become, what is termed in the song writing world, a ‘promotion manager’, a rather glorified name for a travelling salesman in songs, but he soon got tired of selling other people’s songs and decided to write his own. He achieved early hit parade status with such songs as NICE TO KNOW YOU CARE, OUR LOVE STORY and MY THANKS TO YOU and it was about this time that E.M.I. Records asked Norman to join them as a recording manager. The list of artists he has since recorded sounds like the Command Performance of all time they include: Julie Andrews, Noel Coward, Marlene Dietrich, Gracie Fields, Norman Wisdom, Judy Garland, Johnny Mathis, Russ Conway, Ken Dodd, Margaret Rutherford, Joyce Grenfell, Paul Anka, Tommy Steele, Mary Martin, Richard Burton, Elizabeth Taylor, Johnny Ray, Dora Bryan, Frankie Howard, Errol Flynn, Anna Neagle, Stanley Holloway, Petula Clark, Shirley Bassey, Eartha Kitt, etc., etc. Although he is undoubtedly one of the best recording directors in the business, Norman still manages to find time to concentrate on his writing career, which he insists is his first love. He has written lyrics for hit parade songs like BELLE OF THE BALL, THE SHADOW WALTZ, MORE THAN EVER, JEANNIE, BY THE FOUNTAINS OF ROME, SAILOR, PROMISES, MORE THAN LOVE and SAY WONDERFUL THINGS.

Norman has written songs for over forty movies and this facet of his career was highlighted when he became the first English lyricist to be awarded a Hollywood Academy Award Nomination for his song MORE from “Mondo Cane”, written with Riz Ortolani. This song is now one of the most recorded numbers in the world, having over three hundred different versions in the English language and countless others throughout the world. MORE has earned Norman a BMI Award and the coveted American GRAMMY Award. The lyric for PORTRAIT OF MY LOVE, with music by Cyril Ornadel, was described by famous American columnist Walter Winchell as poetry. This song also earned Norman a BMI and an Ivor Novello Award. Ivor Novello Awards were also given to him for BY THE FOUNTAINS OF ROME and JEANNIE, and last year, he and Riz Ortolani won the Hollywood Golden Globe Award with their song FORGET DOMANI from “The Yellow Rolls-Royce”.

Included on this album are MORE and PORTRAIT OF MY LOVE and also the new film titles that Norman has recently written, WHO CAN SAY, with Riz Ortolani, from the forthcoming film “Africa Addio” and AMANDA, written with Brian Fahey and included in the film “The Alphabet Murders”.

Norman Newell has appeared on television on several occasions and recently undertook a series of interview programmes for the B.B.C. in which he interviewed Laurence Harvey, Paul Newman, Rachel Roberts, Carroll Baker, Peter Ustinov, Anthony Perkins, Tony Curtis, Jean Simmons, Stanley Holloway, and for ABC Television, a highly successful interview with the late Sophie Tucker.

Norman told me that he called this album MORE THAN MEMORIES because his career has so many wonderful moments to remember that memory to him is part of the present as well as the past. His selection of melodies on this L.P., so beautifully orchestrated by Brian Fahey, are personal, and I am sure they will appeal to many people.
MICHAEL CARR (writer of South of the Border and Dinner for One Please James).

The Norman Newell Orchestra - More Than Memories

Label: Studio2stereo TW0 148

1966 1960s Covers

Manual and the Music of the Mountains - Exotica

Manual and the Music of the Mountains – Exotica

Sleeeve Notes:

The sound of Manuel and his Music of the Mountains – a distinctive blend of lyrical romanticism and exotic Latin-American rhythms – first captivated British record buyers via a hit single in the shape of The Honeymoon Song. More hits followed, including a brilliant interpretation of the film theme Never On Sunday, and the out rapidly established itself among the nation’s top light orchestral favourites. Through ingenious usage of strings and a wide variety of Latin percussion instruments, Manuel creates and sustains a mood that can be soothing one moment and exciting the next. In short, he has perfected a style that he can really call his own no mean achievement in these days of stereotyped pop singers and beat groups. And unlike out-and-out pop. Manuel’s music has a durable quality that will ensure its popularity and acceptance with the general public well into the next decade.

No other form of music benefits from the advantages of stereophonic sound like the Latin-American idiom, and this present set a collection of proven standards and lesser-known songs is an admirable showcase for the Latin-based arrangements of Manuel. The added clarity brought about by the use of stereophonic techniques emphasises the compelling urgency of the complex rhythmic patterns which are the very backbone of all twelve tracks on this album. Tico Tico, La Vie En Rose, Autumn Leaves and Forget Domani are some of the hits of bygone years brought bang up to date and made as fresh as this morning’s milk in the talented, creative hands of Manuel. Cherry Pink And Apple Blossom White, a smash hit on both sides of the Atlantic during the mid-fifties. gets a new lease of life, too. Coupled with eleven other outstanding tracks, it completes a memorable recital that proves conclusively that Manuel’s Music of the Mountains is a unit with a sound and style second to none in the world of Latin-flavoured light orchestral music.
JAMES WYNN
Manual and the Music of the Mountains - Exotica

Label:Studio2stereo TWO 103

1966 1960s Covers

George Shearing - That Fresh Feeling!

George Shearing – That Fresh Feeling!

Sleeve Notes:

It was in 1949 that the first successful American recordings by George Shearing reached a delighted public’s ears. The wonderful freshness of a new sound, the inventiveness and artistry with which Shearing played established him immediately as a bright new name among the pantheon of distinguished recording stars.

George Shearing’s popularity with listeners has never diminished. His extraordinary mastery, his ability to make a song into a delightful community experience shared among an entire audience, the lilting freshness of his music continue to delight listeners anew with each hearing, whether he is playing swinging up-tempo tunes with the Quintet, soft and dreamy ballads with strings and reeds, sensuous Latin rhythms, or freewheeling jazz concerts in clubs and open air theatres.

This album might aptly have been titled Shearing Revisits Shearing, for in it he plays new Shearing versions of songs that first introduced him to America. These are by no means painstaking note-for-note recreations. These are fresh new versions of Shearing landmark tunes such immediately identifiable Shearing hits as “Don’t Blame Me,” “The Breeze and I,” “We’ll Be Together Again,” “Pick Yourself Up,” and many more.

One of the famous tunes is called “Changing with the Times,” and its title calls forth an appropriate comment. Shearing is one of those rare artists whose creativity never flags, an artist with the buoyancy to stay fresh, sound fresh through an eternity of changing musical styles. Proof of the pudding is this collection of vintage Shearing hits enhanced by the exhilarating sound of Shearing today. These great early Shearing favorites become great new Shearing favorites in wonderful new versions for orchestras of satiny strings and woodwinds backing the Shearing Quintet. They have that fresh feeling that is the enduring hallmark of the magical Shearing touch.

Produced by DAVID CAVANAUGH

George Shearing - That Fresh Feeling!

Label: Capitol Records ST 2567
Cover photo/Capitol Photo Studio/Ken Veeder

1966 1960s Covers