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1
DICK HYMAN TRIO.
MGM E 3642.
RAY ELLIS and his Orchestra.
Columbia CL 1122.
• MEREDITH WILLSON: THE MUSIC
MAN featuring FRED WARING and his
Pennsylvanians.
Capitol T 989.
HILL BOWEN and his Orchestra.
Camden CAL 428.
• LIVINGSTON-EVANS: OH CAP.
TAIN! featuring STAN FREEMAN and
his quartet.
Columbia CL 1126.
Some years ago, a politician explained
to a nervous judicial candidate who was
on the same ticket with Franklin Roosevelt
that he shouldn't worry because, like
a ferryboat tying up at a slip, Roosevelt
would take all the garbage in with him.
Now these secondary recordings, of show
and movie scores certainly aren't garbage,
but they do owe their existence and whatever
sales they achieve to the originalcast
and soundtrack "ferryboats," and all
hope to be taken in right along with
them.
As for the samples at hand, Fred Waring
gives the choral workover to a slightly
laundered South Pacific and to an especially
well done Music Man, with Patti
Beems's voice an almost dead-ringer for
that of Barbara Cook. Vocals are also
heard on Victor's Gigi, which features
Gogi Grant, who is quite acceptable, as
well as Tony Martin, who gives the impression
of singing into a mirror.
South Pacific gets colorful orchestral
treatments by Percy Faith and by Les
Baxter. The latter appears to have mistaken
the locale for the Caribbean. David
Rose's Gigi is a workmanlike job, but Ray
Ellis's hand is rather heavy in arranging
the music for dancing. Hill Bowen's
sprightly Music Man on Camden, however,
is a splendid buy.
The small combo run-throughs, even
Liberace's, are all satisfactory, with both
Dick Hyman and Stan Freeman giving
their respective chores a somewhat subdued,
E ast Side supper club jazz approach.
S. G.
Satire-Group and Solo
• TAKE FIVE-Highlights from the
Nightclub Revue featuring Ronny Gra·
ham. Jean Arnold. Ellen Hanley. Ceil
Cabot, Gerry Matthews with Stan Keen
and Gordon Connell (pianos!.
Roger The Rabbit: W estport: The Pro Musica
Antiqua & 10 others. Offbeat 0 4013.
• THE FUTURE UES AHEAD-Mon.
0109S by MORT SAHL
Verve MGV 15002.
• H. L. MENCKEN SPEAKING.
Caedmon TC 1082.
Here is an on-the-spot recording of the
intimate musical revue currently running
at a New York night spot called the
Downstairs Room. Much of its humor is
dependent upon almost standard revue
formulas, but a distinctive freshness and
JULY 1958
originality frequently break through. Edward
Redding has written a remarkably
adroit number in Gossiping Grapevine,
and there is a tremendously funny satiric
sketch based on TV's Night Beat.
Taking his title from one of Thomas
E. Dewey's more profound utterances in
the 1948 Presidential campaign, Mort
Sahl, a free-wheeling, free-associating
monologist of the supper club circuit, is
presented here in two of his San Francisco
"hungry i club" appearances. Mr. Sahl
takes off after practically every important
personage of the day, and while his targets
may be scattered, his aim is deadly,
and the results frequently hilarious.
If Mr. Sahl is primarily a verbal iconoclast,
H. L. Mencken has always been
considered our leading literary iconoclast.
His recording was made in 1949, and in
it, he also ranges far over a variety of
subjects. Although he seems to have
mellowed in his declining years, Mencken's
observations are always worth lending
an ear to.
S. G.
Documenting 1861·65
• THE TRUE STORY OF THE CIVIL
WAR featuring RAYMOND MASSEY
with Orchestra, Ernest Gold condo
Coral CRL 59100.
From the soundtrack of 'the Academy
Award winning documentary short, we
have here a carefully prepared narrative,
excellently read by Raymond Massey, that
covers the period in American history
from the first election of Abraham Lincoln
as President to his assassination.
Good dramatic use is made of excerpts
from speeches by Lincoln, Douglas, Lee,
John Brown and Walt Whitman, and the
atmospheric musical background arranged
by Ernest Gross is effective. The accompanying
booklet contains speeches, songs,
photographs and maps.
S. G.
Spain Sings!
• SONGS AND DANCES OF SPAIN
-Vol. I-Cities of Andalusia: Vol. If-Cities
of Majorca and Ibiza: Vol. III--Jerez and Se·
ville: Vol. IV-Popular Dances o.f Majorca and
the Jota of Aragon.
Westminster WF 12001/044 12".
• JUERGA FLAMENCA! - 14 Selections
Recorded in Spain.
Audio Fidelity AFLP 1852.
• FOLK MUSIC OF SPAIN - 11 Se·
lections .from Galicia: Asturias, Catalonia and
other regions.
Folkways P 411.
• A TOUCH OF SPAIN -18 Selections
with various artists.
Epic LN 3446.
There is more to Spanish folk music
than the various styles of flamenco. Illuminating
and entertaining on this point
is the four-volume Westminster collection,
Songs and Dances of Spain. Alan Lomax,
who has already produced on various labels
a substantial catalogue of valuable
folk material from many cultures, is re-
" .•. quite Up to professional
standards . .. capable of
producing superb tapes ... "
- High Fidelity Magazine
Rated "A" by one of the two
major independent consumer
testing organizations.
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• 230 DUFFY AVE~HICKSVILLE. t. I •• N. '(
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