Nightcap - Dick Leibert

Nightcap
Dick Leibert
Westminster WP 6039
1957

I didn't expect to find this album online for purchase/download... but there it is.

For some reason, you don't get the fabulous original cover with the download.

I also found it curious that Westminster released a pop album as the label is best known for classical music releases.

There are references to Dick Leibert online, but for the most part he seems to be somewhat obscure.

From the back cover: Dick Leibert was born in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and educated at the Moravian Prep School and the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore. He began to play organ professionally at fourteen years of age, when he got a job as theater organist for Loew's in Washington, D.C. Later he toured the Lowe's theater circuit, and then played for two years at the Brooklyn Paramount. Against stiff competition he won the auditions for the permanent post at Radio City Music Hall at the time of the theater's opening, and his performance there made him America's most popular organist. He now devotes much of his time to TV, radio and concert appearances.

Leibert covers a number of my favorite tunes, including Laura and September Song. However, aside from the terrific cover art, I have to recommend Korla Pandit to friends of The Atomic Attic who are looking for fab Space Age organ fare.

Destination Moon - Ames Brothers

Destination Moon
Ames Brothers With Sid Ramin's Orchestra
RCA Victor LPM-168
1958

This is the mono cover, which is basically the same as the stereo release, but designed without the "Living Stereo" graphic stripped across the top. This LP is available as MP3 download purchase. So no sample. Sorry!

Sid Ramin provides a nice space age platform to help The Ames Brothers launch to The Moon. The cover, the orchestration and The Ames Brothers smooth vocals make for solid and classy late 50s vinyl collectible!

Side 1:
1. Destination Moon
2. Clear Out of This World
3. Moonglow
4. East of the Sun
5. Count Every Star
6. No Moon at All

Side 2:
1. I'm Shooting High
2. Music from Out of Space
3. Stella by Starlight
4. It's Only a Paper Moon
5. The Starlit Hour
6. Beyond the Blue Horizon

Star Wars - Don Ellis

Music From Other Galaxies And Planets
Featuring The Main Title Theme From Star Wars
Don Ellis And Survival
Atlantic SD 18227
1977

What?!! Another Star Wars theme album blogged in The Atomic Attic this week? The Force works in mysterious ways my friends.

This album can be found on CD, so no samples. Sorry! I noted when checking for a CD on Amazon that someone connected with the Ellis estate posted an interesting review. Basically, this album was thrown together in six days because of some contractual deal with Atlantic. The reviewer apologizes for the album because of the hurried nature of the production and that he feels the quality is not as good as other Ellis albums.

This being the first Ellis album I've stumbled across... I can't compare it to his other work. I simply enjoyed the record because it all at once, very 70s (like adventure TV theme music)... but with touches of 60s light pop mixed up with pop jazz passages and, of course a touch of space. The music is an interesting hybrid that I think lovers of 70s/60s/jazz/disco/a touch of space albums will love... er... if you know what I mean.

Life Is Just A Bed Of Neuroses - Katie Lee with Ray Martin

Life Is Just A Bed Of Neuroses
Katie Lee with Ray Martin And His Orchestra
RCA Victor LSP-2214
1960

Oh man, to bad, this LP is available on a CD. A CD that feature 35 Lee tunes (tunes from this album and Songs Of Couch And Consultation). I sure would like to post a sample.

Normally I don't get into comedy albums and music... but this project is different. It's insane. Well, OK... you can see where I'm going with this review.

The presentation of the vocals and orchestration isn't over the edge. The vibe is easy listening/broadway/space age with very pleasant and straight forward vocals by Lee. The contrast and humor are born from the lyrics which are terrific. And, I'm thinking that general understanding of behavioral science wasn't commonplace in most households in 1960. So this recording must have seem pretty wild to most.

The songs seem as fresh and funny now as back in the day. They don't make neuroses like they used to! Visit Lee's website: http://www.katydoodit.com/

Life Is Just A Bed Of Neuroses - Katie Lee with Ray Martin

Life Is Just A Bed Of Neuroses
Katie Lee with Ray Martin And His Orchestra
RCA Victor LSP-2214
1960

Oh man, to bad, this LP is available on a CD. A CD that feature 35 Lee tunes (tunes from this album and Songs Of Couch And Consultation) so I will not be posting a sample.

Normally I don't get into comedy albums and music... but this project is different. It's insane. Well, OK... you can see where I'm going with this review.

The presentation of the vocals and orchestration isn't over the edge. The vibe is easy listening/broadway/space age with very pleasant and straight forward vocals by Lee. The contrast and humor are born from the lyrics which are terrific. And, if we might consider that behavioral science terms weren't common in most households in 1960... this record, to my thinking... would seem crazy to most.

The whacked thing is that the songs seem as fresh and funny now as back in the day. They don't make neuroses like they used to! Visit Lee's website: http://www.katydoodit.com/

Themes For Secret Agents - The Roland Shaw Orchestra

I Spy

Themes For Secret Agents
The Roland Shaw Orchestra
Phase 4 Stereo
London SP 44076
1966

One of a number of fabulous "spy/secret agent" themed albums released by Roland Shaw.

I've blogged two others here in The Atomic Attic: More Themes From The James Bond Thrillers and
The Return Of James Bond In Diamonds Are Forever.

This series of albums, I think, is a must have for the space age collection.  

Star Wars And Other Galactic Funk - Meco

Star Wars And Other Galactic Funk
By Meco
Milllennium Record Company
1977

A 1977 disco album displayed up here in The Atomic Attic may push mankind to the brink of something horrible. Like asking even higher ebay prices for too tight vintage polyester shirts that won't breath when you sweat.

I was tempted to listen to a copy of The Archies that I must blog in a effort to regain my senses. But, alas... I'm a sucker for funk... and side two is good funk. Side two features a single track with a driving drum rhythm that you might hear a marching band play as they come onto the field. I realize that doesn't sound like much fun... but you can find this album on CD, so I will not be posting a sample to prove it.

The Star Wars side... for my money... could have been a sandwich made with more "cheese"... Or... with more "science-fiction" effects to help drown out the disco beat. Don't hate me... I'm sub-human... and don't know any better.

Motion In Percussion - The Hollywood Pops Symphony

Voodoo Moon

Motion In Percussion
The Hollywood Pops Symphony
Conducted By Robert Lowden
Miller International 

Sonic Workshop - Project No. 0100
1960

This is a curious album, produced by D. L. Miller. Miller was Somerset Records, a budget label he owned that produced some good product, along with tons of budget records, including 101 Strings (there are some great 101s out there).

Miller seems to have distanced himself from the "budget" side of his business for this project. I'm thinking that he wanted to try his hand at producing a slick and trendy album. This package was obviously influenced by Enoch Light and Command. The jacket is a gatefold and more, the red panel featuring the word "MOTION" is die cut into the jacket. The insert is one of those ridged pieces of plastic that when you turn the jacket one way, it changes from red to yellow and the word motion repeats, but in red and at a different scale. This was an EXPENSIVE jacket to produce. Design credit goes to W. Dressler.

The engineering is very good on this record (recorded at United Recording Studios, Hollywood, CA). The quality is close to what I hear on Command and Mercury from the period. Somerset recordings, in general weren't necessarily low in quality.  But so much of the content came from where ever he could beg barrow or steal it. There was little control or emphasis on quality recording.

The content of this album is as good as many of the fun, light pop records coming from Command at the time. And Miller is right on top of the trend, borrowing ping pong and percussion stylings from Light. Voodoo Moon is probably one of the cooler tunes off the album. There is also a cool cover of Caravan on this album and a dramatic cover of Ski Run from the movie Spellbound.

This is a fun record! Enjoy the sample!

More Mission Impossible - Lalo Schifrin

More Mission Impossible
Arranged And Conducted By Lalo Schifrin
Paramount PAS 5002
1969

Wow! What a great record! Schifrin wrote the Theme From Mission: Impossible (a song that is on this album). It was a treat to hear that song again, to refresh my memory as to how unique the tune is.

Needless to mention, a CD is available. So I won't be posting a sample.

The track Self Destruct is also standout. I've never heard tubular bells used with such effect.

Read about Schifrin's brilliant career on his wiki page.

Folkdance Underground

Kostursko Opo (Macedonia)

Folkdance Underground
1975

Curious private press with a home-made cover. The record content, according to the cover, is copyright free material which was assembled onto 200 copies costing $1.75 each. Copies were being sold for $2 to help pay for the pressing so that the responsible collective could give away free copies to "folkdance" groups.

There is a complaint at the outset of the copy which goes on about one nameless record merchant (who apparently they all know) who was appropriating music without consent, pressing and selling 45s and profiting from sales without compensating the artists. This person so incensed these people that they former the Folkdance Underground to help guide other performers through a fair record making process and to help with the ins and outs of personal appearances.

Click on the image above to read the entire page.

Jungle Odyssey

Jungle Odyssey
Evolution/ RPM Records, South Africa 2005
1966

When I found this album in the bin at Goodwill... I almost put it back because the cover and song titles suggests that the LP is a childrens record. I then noted on the back cover a list of instruments used in the recording that included Vibes, Xylophone, Congo Drums, Clavinette, Harpsichord and Bongos. How could any record go wrong with a set up like that?

If I had read the too small jacket notes I would have then learned that a composer/arranger by the name of Mike Simpson, a 30 year veteran of the music business, had produced this album. Simpson worked with the likes of Henry Mancini, Gene Krupa, Jack Teagarden and Danny Kaye and had written music for TV and films. THEN I would have figured out that the record was originally marketed to adults. Not that children would not LOVE this record!

Unfortunately I can't post a sample because this album is available for purchase/download. Too bad, because this record is so crazy good! You've got to get a copy! The vibe is hard to describe... It is like Exotica was visiting the zoo one day. She was walking along minding her own business, intently sucking on a lime Slurpee.  Suddenly she trips over a jungle root blocking her path finds herself flung headlong into a pit swarming with 60s Ping-Pong Light-Pop. The creatures don't rip her to shreds... rather they mate with her. Later she gives birth to this record.

I think that is clear enough.

The Mancini Touch

The Mancini Touch
RCA Victor LPM-2101
1960

Here's another Mancini album that can be found on CD, so no samples. Sorry!

What's to say? This is another fine early (I think, his second) Mancini album released on the heels of his Liberty Records release, The Versatile Henry Mancini. Mancini did he have the touch. In this case, a light and smoky cool jazz/swing touch. Great bachelor pad addition to the collection.

Featured performers are listed on the back cover. They include: Bob Bain - Guitar, Vince DeRosa -1st French Horn, Vic Feldman - Vibes and Marimba, Ronnie Lang - Baritone Sax and Alto Flute, Shelly Manne - Drums, Dick Nash - 1st Trombone, Ted Nash - Alto Sax and Johnny Williams - Piano.

At Home With The Barry Sisters

At Home With The Barry Sisters
Roulette R 25060
1958

From the back cover: These are Jewish melodies that are indigenous to Jewish culture, just as any songs of any culture or nation must of necessity be. The songs run the gamut of every human emotion; songs of love and devotion, of laughter and sadness, of remembrance of things past and of hope for the future. It is for that reason that although the girls sing in Yiddish, they are in truth speaking musically in a universal language.

OK... that sounds dry. I thought, well, if I buy the album I'll have this great space age cover to enjoy. But, to my surprise, the recording is not tame folk music, but inventive late 50s pop arrangements. There is nothing dull about this recording. The copy is right, that the girls are speaking a musical language that anyone who digs space age music can enjoy.

Unfortunately, this album is available on a combo CD with The Barry Sisters album, Side By Side... so I won't be posting a sample. On the bright side, you can buy the CD and enjoy the entire album!

Grand Ole Opry's New Star - George Jones

Play It Cool

Grand Ole Opry's New Star
George Jones
Country Song Hits
Starday Records LP-101
1957

Sure, there aren't many country albums to be found up here in The Atomic Attic. I find one now and then stuck in a nook... or a cranny. This album turns out to be the first record released by both Jones and Starday Records. The album is a rare bird and a fine album to boot!

Session personal:

George Jones – vocals, guitar
Hal Harris – guitar
Benny Barnes – guitar
Herb Remington – steel
Buck Henson – bass
Link Davis – fiddle
Doc Lewis – piano

Apparently... after visiting a blue million thrift stores I got finally got lucky when I scored this album.

I'm In The Mood - The Silver Strings

Perez Prado's Big Band Sounds

Played By Dave Pell's Big Band
P.R.I. Records 3006
1960

This album is available by purchase/download so I can't post a sample.

Tops, a budget label launched this subsidiary label in 1960 and this record was one of the nine introductory releases. Records were priced at $1.98. If I'm reading the Billboard article correctly, the titles are all Dave Pell Plays (tributes) to the likes of Harry James, Artie Shaw, Benny Goodman, Lawrence Welk, Duke Ellington, Glenn Miller, Mantovani and The Dorsey Brothers.

The music is good (not wild) Latin done up big band with a slight space age flare. The online download doesn't feature the original cover art and of course, you only get the nifty translucent vinyl... if you buy the vinyl.

Bread, Love and Cha Cha Cha - Xavier Cugat and His Orchestra

Bread, Love and Cha Cha Cha

Xavier Cugat and His Orchestra
Columbia CL 1016
1957

This album can be found on a combo CD with Cugat Calvalcade so I won't be posting a sample.

I just love the cover, Cugat with his ever present hot red head. What is that thing he is holding on to? Oh... that's a cigar silly... wait... no... it is a loaf bread. And the hot red head? Why, that was Cugat's fourth wife, Abbe Lane!

Cugat's albums are always fine Latin pop efforts. This album is only a Cha Cha album in name, there are a few calypso tracks on this album, Very, Very Satisfied and The Banana Boat Song and several mambo tracks.

Whatever Lola Wants is one of the better space age tracks featuring some electric guitar passages.

Mambo! - Xavier Cugat And His Orchestra

Sun! Sun!

Mambo!
Xavier Cugat And His Orchestra
Mercury Records MG 20108
1956

Cugat is my favorite Latin artist. He managed to consistently blend pop trend with Latin to create some sparkling fresh space age tunes. This album is no exception. Most of the tracks really smoke for 1956 and still sounds great.  There are three tracks on side two that strangely sound like they came from a soundtrack or some other recording session. These tracks seem somewhat out-of-place when compared to the rest of the tracks on the album.

Much of Cugat's stuff is available on CD. But this LP seems to be available only on vinyl. So I'll post a sample. Enjoy!

Golden Saxophone Hits - Sil Austin

Peter Gunn

Golden Saxophone Hits
Sil Austin
Mercury Stereo SR 60663
1962

Austin blends a 50s sax vibe with a touch of 60s light pop on this pressing. The 50s sound is made fresh by his approach and the tunes sparkle in the space age. The Mercury engineering is terrific as usual and really makes the audio pop. Of course, the cover of Peter Gunn is the stand-out track.

Apparently, Austin made over 30 albums for Mercury (see Austin's wiki page for details). That is an impressive track record.

The Harmonica Rascals

Sabre Dance

The Harmonica Rascals
Grand Prix Series K-177

Here is a relatively obscure Harmonica Rascals album. The Rascals were a group of harmonica players formed by Borrah Hinevitch in the 1920s that lasted into the 1950s. The group was a comedy/musical act (see video embedded below) and featured number of "little people" including Johnny Puleo (who, I think, is NOT pictured on this cover). Members also included Leo Diamond and Richard Hayman, both who went on to become even better know harmonica players.

The Rascals also made a number of motion picture shorts between 1932 and 1942.

I couldn't date this album. A guess would be late 50s. There is no indication on the cover who the members are in this version of the group.

A Thinking Man's Band - Si Zentner And His Orchestra

Si Zentner And His Orchestra

... a thinking man's band
Liberty Records LST 7133
1959

This one is available on CD so I won't be posting a sample. Zentner's stuff is always solid. And this one is no different. There are no space age fireworks but the music is solid fare for big band lovers.

Big Band Bash - Ted Heath And His Music

Big Band Bash
Ted Heath And His Music
Phase 4 Stereo
London Sp 44017
1962

Available on CD, so I won't be posting a sample. This is a great Heath space age album. This recording sounds very much like a Command project. There's some ping-pong going on, the music has that touch of that early 60s "light pop" humor and the stereo engineering is as good as the excellent sound you are treated to on most Enoch Light projects.

Heath's cover of Harlem Nocturne, the second track on side 2, is very cool. This is an inventive and enjoyable record.

Spectacular Harmonicas

Ritual Fire Dance

Spectacular Harmonicas
MGM Records E3846
1960

This is a Richard Hayman project. I have blogged a number of his albums up here in The Atomic Attic. One of his projects, an album titled Voodoo! is an excellent exotica recording.

This released featured covers of some of my favorite tunes including Ritual Fire Dance. I like the way Hayman arranged this song and, overall, the album has an appealing space age vibe to it.