The Omaha Benson High School Studio Singers

By The Time I Get To Phoenix

The Omaha Benson High School Studio Singers

Sound Recorders - 197?

Every track on this LP is preformed by a bunch of apparently well adjusted kids... VERY happy kids singing grindingly happy songs in early 70s small town AM radio style.

Thank God the Directors, James Elsberry and Robert Edson had the foresight to allow Dave Peyton to do one solo... The one track that kept me from being very unHAPPY about my purchase.

Makes you wonder why Dave rated a solo above the other happy kids?

Rock on Dave!

Mexican LP With Bloody Cover

Antonio Aguilar
Musart - 1978

No spaghetti style western music... which is what I'd hope for... but great cover none-the-less!

Upper St. Clair High School - This One's For You

Sweet Caroline

Upper St. Clair High School
This One's For You
Grubb Associates Recording - 1976 - 77

High School (or even Junior High) records can be a great source of entertainment!

My first inclination is to say that I am usually amazed at how great these kids can sing.

Many high school records offer the same old group sing along which usually give me a headache. The best treasures are the student who sings all by his/her lonesome.

As always, if there is a problem with any post, let me know and I will attempt to make corrections

Al Zahlout And His Singing Violin - His Eye Is On THe Sparrow

His Eye Is On The Sparrow

Al Zahlout And His Singing Violin
His Eye Is On The Sparrow
Singing Violin Recordings - Cincinnati, Ohio
Pressed by the Snyder Album Co.

It's hard to date this release from the photo or music. The cover art is a hand tinted black and white photo which could have been shot in the late 40s through the early 60s.

The music is VERY dated sounding almost as if listening to a silent movie score or as if the LP was remastered from 1920s 78 rpm.

None-the-less this is a WONDERFUL oddball cover and fun gimmick track from ANOTHER local rare and obscure Cincinnati private press.

Potpourri - Keith Pierce

Potpourri

Keith Pierce
Private Press out of Lexington, KY

Hold on to your Hammond Concorde with 1 Model 700 and 1 model 710 Leslie Tone Cabinet.

From the back cover:

One thing 15 years in Lexington has taught me is that expecting superior talent in a Lexington night spot on a regular basis is a whole lot like expecting an oak tree to stay green through the winter. Not that there isn't some good talent from time to time. But, on the other hand, it isn't Basin Street or Music City, either. There's good talent sometimes, but there's a lot of Joe Blow and Hot Air, and the result is that if you want a little more than dance music, you haven't always got it on tap.

And it gets BETTER!

I'm one of those types who like almost empty bars, where there are lots of dark corners and empty seats, where aloneness is a positive asset, where you can sit for hours without anyone butting in on your conversation with yourself. The bar isn't making any money, you know, but it's a great place to be.

Yma Sumac - The Voice Of Xtabay

Yma Sumac
Voice Of The Xtabay
Capitol Records W684 1950

This lady came from another planet. The Planet Of Super Awesome 50s Fun.

From the back cover: There is no voice like it in the world of music today," said Glenn Dillard Gunn of the Washington Times-Hearld. "It has a greater range than any female voice of concert or opera. It soars into the acoustic stratosphere, or it plumbs sub-contralto depths of pitch with equal ease. Such voices happen only once in a generation.

After surfing for information is that this release contains the contents from two earlier 10 inch releases, The Voice Of Etabay and Inca Taqui - Chants Of The Incans. The Voice Of Etabay was conducted by Les Baxter (An Exotica King). Inca Taqui was conducted by Moises Vivanco.

As this album is available for purchase/download I will not post a sample here. But you can easily find sample tracks on YouTube.

Voices Of The Xtabay
Yma Sumac
Capitol DW 684
1955

Capitol's Duophonic reissue. Capitol reprocessed the mono version.

From wiki: Duophonic is a term used to refer to a sound process by which a monaural recording is turned into a kind of "fake stereo" by splitting the signal into two channels, delaying the left and the right channels by means of delay lines and other circuits, desynchronizing the two channels by fractions of a second, and cutting the bass frequencies in one channel with a high-pass filter, then cutting the treble frequencies in the other channel with a low-pass filter. The result was an artificial stereo effect, without giving the listener the true directional sound characteristics of real stereo. In some cases, the effect was enhanced with reverb and other technical tricks, sometimes adding stereo echo to mono tracks in an attempt to fool the listener.

The copy I'm listening to right now is very clean and the sound is full featuring a rich low end.

Ghost Town 1952

Musical Magical Christmas Tree

Ghost Town 1952

Private Press

This record collection was a interesting purchase. An 8 side, 10 inch, 78 rpm private prep school Christmas project.

The name was so intriguing that I had to have it!  All original songs written by the music teachers (I assume). The problem is that when you have a group of kids singing chorus and singing chorus that is recorded using more primitive equipment, you just can't understand the words. Or, at least I can't. I would have loved this recording to pieces if there hand been a few solo pieces.

The Musical Magical Christmas Tree is quirky enough to hold your attention. And there is some odd screeching towards the end that I love.

The real treasure for me was that the cover art. It is terrific! The art is silk screened to paper which was fixed to the record book.  A nice piece of original art!