Hair - Stan Kenton

Walking In Space

Hair
Stan Kenton
Arrangements - Ralph Carmichael
Capitol ST-305

Here's another out-of-print Kenton "must have" for space age fans. This album is stuffed to bursting with 60s groove. The LP plays through, in some respects, as if you were listening to a "musical" as some tracks feature light pop vocals. There is a lot of depth, or layers to the audio experience.

Super!

Aquarius
Walking In Space
Frank Mills
I Got A Life
Colored Spade
Where Do I Go
Sodomy
Hare Krishna
Easy To Be Heard
Good Morning Starshine

Around The World - Guadalajara Brass

Sorrento

Around The World
Guadalajara Brass
Coronet/Premier Albums
CXS-294

As I review my posts, I found that I was pretty hard on another Guadalajara Brass LP, Tijuana Taxi.

As I remember, I thought the album was so bad and not bad good... that I didn't care to post a sample.

This album, however, is a good light and peppy example of space age brass.

Moon River
Sukiyaki
Mondo Cane
Afrikaan Beat
Midnight In Moscow
Funiculi Funicula
Sorrento
Can Can
Barcarola
Espana

Happy Heart - Morty Lewis

The Hall Of The Mountain King

 Opus No. 1

Morty Lewis On The Galaxy Sax
Design SDLP 303

Here's an obscure album without a title... if you don't count the song titles on the cover. The artist's name is printed on the cover, but very small, almost as if an after thought.

The record plays through, in segments as though the musicians were rushed into the studio with possibly not much prep time. However, the apparent spontaneousness works on as many or more tracks than it hinders.

Posted are several of the more groovy wonders.

Arabesque

Pharonic Dance

Arabesque
Dance Of The Near East
Distributed by Orient Records Co. - Brooklyn, N.Y.

Here's a sample from another one of the "near eastern" LPs I stumbled across yesterday.

Traditional, but slightly unusual arrangements, possible Western touches and changing emphasis on featured instruments kept me interested until about halfway through side two when the producers seemed to have inserted lesser quality tracks (from an engineering stand point). From the cover information it is hard to tell how the material was assembled.

Sing With The Stars

Mina Wa 'Ataba - Nahawand

Sing With The Stars
Parlophone LPVDX 104

Sometimes I post stuff just because I rarely find records like this in Northern Kentucky. Also, floating head covers are cool...

English/Arabic notes on back cover.

From the back cover: Nahawand is the sweetest of the Maqams (modes) of Arabic music. The name is most suited to the artiste whose sweet voice is very much loved among recording artistes.

Perez Prado And Others

Speak Up Mambo

Perez Prado And Other
Fortuna TLPS 918

Budget compilation that must include at least one Prado track, although there is no way of knowing from information printed on the album or label. Nice set over all.

Cabaret - King Richard's Fluegel Knights

Misirlou

Castle Holiday

Cabaret
King Richard's Fluegel Knights
MTA Records MTS 5003
1967

King Richard was Dick (Richard) Behrke. He put out a number of albums on MTA, including Just Some Of Those Songs Mrs. Robinson and Something Super. Somewhat obscure, all of these albums are great space age fare featuring inventive arrangements and a peppy 60s light pop sound.

From Billboard, March 4, 1967: With their rendition of the title tune riding the Easy Listening charts, this LP follow-up featuring other recent pops should be a much-programmed item.

Cabaret
Sing, Sing, Sing
Night Train
Misirlou
In The Still Of The Night
Heartaches
Everybody Loves My Baby
So Rare
Miniskirt Waltz
Two Different Worlds
Walk In The Black Forrest
Castle Holiday

Dance Party Hits - Manuel Garcia

Vacation Cha Cha

Dance Party Hits
Manuel Garcia Orchestra
Valiant V-4905

Over all, this isn't a great Latin set. There are a few tracks on the Cha Cha side that are decent. But the Tangos found on the B side sound like they came from another source.

Sweet And Gentle
Cha Cha After Hours
Sing A La Cha Cha
Vacation Cha Cha
Tropicana Cha Cha
Cha Cha Felicidad
La Paloma
Lover's Tango
Sugar Loaf Tango
Blue Tango

Party In Rio - Dolores Ventura

Carnival Tango

Party In Rio
Dolores Ventura With The Carnival Orchestra
Valiant V-4926

Nice budget Latin set. There was a mention of Ventura in Billboard, April 27, 1957 as "Britain's pinup of the piano".

From the few grainy photos found online... it is hard to tell if the cover model on this cover is Ventura (with dark hair).

El Cumbanchero
El Choclo
Beguine For Lovers
Copacabana Samba
Montivedeo Bolero
Miserlou
La Viotetera
Cuban Love Song
La Golindrina
Cumana
Carnival Tango

Profile Of South America - Erwin Halletz

Perfidia

Profile Of South America
Erwin Halletz And His Orchestra
Polydor SLPM-3
1961

Here's a pretty decent if somewhat obscure space age Latin album. My copy features an English language cover with a Korean language back cover.

The album was apparently also released on Polydor featuring the same cover art but sold under a different title, Olé.

No Can Do (Mambo)
Perfida
Tipitin (Foxtrot)
Sambesi (Foxtrot)
Mama Inez (Rumba)
Maria From Bahia (Samba)
Te Quiero (calypso)
O Cangaceiro
South America Take It Away (Rumba)
Amorcito Mio (Rumba)
Cha-Cha Roulette
Baião Bongo (Baião)
South Of The Border (Mexico Serenade) (Rumba)

Detour To The Moon - Mary Ann McCall

No Moon At All

Detour To The Moon
Mary Ann McCall
Jubilee 1078
1958

This is a great album from the concept and cover image to the small club sound. From the jacket copy, McCall had reservations about working clubs, but from the sample, you can hear that she had an excellent clear and bluesy voice that would have projected well and been most engaging in an intimate setting.

From the back cover: Mary Ann was born in Philadelphia May 4, 1919. Her credits include singing with Tommy Dorsey 1938, Woody Herman 1939 - 41 and Charlie Barnet, 1941 - 43. She was semi-retired for the next three years and then rejoined Herman from 1946 to 1950, working also as a single during that time and later. Following this she worked with Charlie Ventura through most of 1954. "For the next three years or so" Mary Ann says, "I mostly stayed home in Maple Shade, New Jersey. I'd grown tired of night clubs and the way the music business was going in general. I did make one album in 1957, but that was about all. Toward the end of the year, I met Lee Magid, Al Hibbler's and Della Resse's manager, at Birdland, and he convinced me to make this album and to go back into the business again. This time thought I'm going to concentrate on concerts and tours more than clubs. A club, unless it's an intimate-type room, can do a singer a lot of harm. Offices have murdered several singers by sending them into the wrong rooms.

From McCall's wiki page: Mary Ann McCall (May 4, 1919 in Philadelphia – December 14, 1994 in Los Angeles, California) was a practitioner of both traditional pop music and vocal jazz. Along with solo work she sang for Tommy Dorsey and Woody Herman's bands. She was briefly married to Al Cohn. In 1949 she won the Down Beat Readers Poll for "Girl Singer (With Band)".[1]

Mary Ann never became as commercially successful as her talent might have otherwise allowed. She worked as a bartender in a popular but rather disreputable bar called "the forty-niner" in L.A. (located on the corner of Hollywood Blvd and Western Ave.) from roughly 1974 to 1976. The bar featured nude-dancers, as well as catering to the gay and lesbian crowd. She often amazed patrons with her singing ability and outgoing personality.

Like many great but not famous jazz musicians, she slowly ended her career by playing jazz in airport bars, notably at LAX.

Detour Ahead
I Wished On The Moon
The Moon Was Yellow
Oh! You Crazy Moon
Moonlight Becomes You
Moonglow
Shine On Harvest Moon
Blue Moon
East Of The Sun
No Moon At All
It's Only A Paper Moon
Moon Country

Jungle Drums - Thruston Knudson and Augie Goupil

Orare Orare

Jungle Drums
Featuring Thruston Knudson and Augie Goupil
And Their Jungle Rhythmists
Decca DL 5426
1952

This is a 10 inch 33 and a decent early traditional recording featuring good engineering. The sample is the only track to feature a vocal.

Conga Kongo
Te Moana
Orare Orare
Marara
Rhumba Uganda
Samba Tembo

Vicos Goldene Schallplatte

Vicos Goldene Schappplatte
Vico Torriani
Decca LF 1566
1958

I found this 10 inch obscurity in a Northern Kentucky thrift store.

Curiously, even though the cover is printed with a Decca logo, there are pieces of paper as shown above, with the London (record) logo pasted over the Decca label.

Songs From Sesame Street

Rub Your Tummy

Stop And Go

Songs From Sesame Street
Certron CS-7015
1970

Kids records come in three flavors: boring (non-offensive), nuts (this LP was recorded for children?) and pretty darn decent (pretty darn decent). This covers album is pretty darn decent stuff for kids and the parents who were forced to listen to the tracks over and over... and over.

Sesame Street
People In Your Neighborhood
I've Got Two
A Face
Up And Down
I Love Trash
Rubber Duckie
Number 5
Five People In My Family
Somebody Come And Play
One Of Those Things
Stop And Go
Rub Your Tummy

On The Road Again - Santo & Johnny

On The Road Again
Santo & Johnny
Imperial Records/Liberty LP-12418
1968

Space age meets Pop rock. Great blend makes for an unique and groovy late 60s sound. I really enjoyed this album.

The album seems to be available on vinyl only but I'm not sure of the LPs obscurity, so I will not be posting a sample.

Santo & Johnny's wiki page. Santo & Johnny's website.

On The Road Again
Hush
Sealed With A Kiss
Mr. Businessman
Apache
Revolution
Six Man Band
Aranjuez
The Fool On The Hill
Let's Go
Indian Reservation