Hi-Fi Holidays: Happy Holiday

Peggy Lee - "Happy Holiday" (1965) - Capitol Records

Hello Friends,

We're off to a pretty swinging start this year!

Happy Holiday is Peggy Lee's second Xmas LP, following 1960's Christmas Carousel. Actually, Happy Holiday is more of a re-packaging of the former LP with 9 of its 12 songs already existing on the former.

Pretty decent record overall.  There's definitely some jazzy, swinging tracks to help make your cocktails go down a little too easy ("Winter Wonderland", "I Like A Sleighride (Jingle Bells)", "Happy Holiday"), but there's a few cornball tracks thrown in that are kind of like inviting little kids to a late night soiree at the tiki bar!  No thanks!

Peggy Lee has always been at her best with a smoky & sultry ballad and here we get three great ones: Mel Torme's "The Christmas Song", Jule Styne & Sammy Cahn's "The Christmas Waltz" and Irving Berlin's "White Christmas".

Its getting late... Time for another cocktail!

RATING: 4 don't get caught under the mistletoes out of 5

Muted Jazz

Jonah Jones - "Muted Jazz" (1957) - Capitol Records

Hello Friends,

While Snowstorm Jonah is pounding the east coast tonight, we're hunkered down indoors, in the warm glow of the tiki bar lights and doing some pounding of our own.  Pounding drinks, that is.

And we got another Jonah blowing up a storm of his own, jazz trumpeter and bandleader, Jonah Jones.

Jones here sounds like Louis Armstrong-lite.  Bouncy and safe swing arrangements with far less gravel on the vocals and much less cojones on the solos.  Still Muted Jazz is the perfect album for a cold and blustery winter evening.  Transforming the tiki bar into a cozy and nostalgic NYC supper club.

Bring on the snow, we're gonna burn some us some steaks! 

SIDE A

Rose Room

Mack the Knife

I Can't Get Started

On The Street Where You Live

Undecided

SIDE B

St. James Infirmary

Too Close For Comfort

Main Title from The Man With The Golden Arm

My Blue Heaven

Royal Garden Blues

As Tiki T. put it (through wine-stained lips), "What are we in a fucking Woody Allen movie?"

RATING: 4 stretched our on a long white table, so cold, so sweet, so fair out of 5

Music to Change her Mind

Jackie Gleason - "Music to Change Her Mind" (1956) - Capitol Records

Hello Friends,

Its been a while since we've had The Great One on the VITV turntable and tonight we've got a classic piece of Gleason "mood" music spinning.  And just what mood is that?  How about the mood to feed our date some red wine and sleeping pills while taking complete advantage of her! 

You think we're kidding?  All the clues are there friends.  Something is amiss! Just check out some of these song titles: "You've Changed", "GUILTY", "It WAS so Beautiful", "She's Funny That Way", "All By Myself", "You and the Night and the Music", "Dancing in the Dark", "You Call it Madness", et cetera.  It reads like some creepy night stalker's diary entries!

Music to Change Her Mind is the sound you hear in the wee hours of the morning, just before you fall asleep, with a good buzz going, after you smoked your last cigarette.

It's the sound of your brainwaves in a dense fog: misty, muddled, familiar and dreamlike.

The ethereal horn of Bobby Hackett is present throughout like a beacon in the night guiding us to shore!

FUN FACT: Side One's haunting "You're My Greatest Love" is also the theme music to The Honeymooners!

RATING: 4 Strings of Poloponies out of 5

You're The Reason I'm Living

Bobby Darin - "You're the Reason I'm Living" (1963) - Capitol Records

Hello Friends,

After the huge success of Ray Charles's Modern Sounds in Country & Western Music (1962), it became very en vogue for non-country artists to release records with a country & western sound.

In 1963, Bobby Darin threw his (cowboy) hat into the ring with this record of swinging, soulful Country music.  It sounds like Nashville by way of the Bronx.

The result has echoes of Ray Charles's masterpiece but it falls prey to overly produced, too-slick-for-their-own-good arrangements.  Darin's vocals are good, as always, especially on songs like Gene Autry & Fred Rose's "Be Honest With Me", Hank Williams's "(I Heard That) Lonesome Whistle" and Glen Campbell's "Here I Am".  Songs like the opener, "Sally Was a Good Old Girl" and Don Gibson's "Oh, Lonesome Me" are definitely more swing than country.  

The leadoff single, "You're the Reason I'm Living", was a pretty big hit reaching # 3 on the Billboard singles chart.  It was also Darin's first single for Capitol after leaving Atlantic Records.  

None of the songs here are as great as Darin's classic recordings of "Beyond the Sea", "Splish Splash", "Mack the Knife" or "Dream Lover" but its a fun and listenable record nevertheless.  Enjoy it because its Bobby Darin and not because you're hoping for some groundbreaking country western crossover LP.

The album's most soulful tune is side two's "Who Can I Count On?", a duet with fourteen year old gospel singer, Merry Clayton.  This song began Merry's long and illustrious recording career.  In addition to her own music, she sang backup vocals for a ton of artists including Ray Charles, Tom Jones, Neil Young, Lynyrd Skynyrd and Joe Cocker, but her most famous duet is with Mick Jagger on the Stones' classic, "Gimmie Shelter".

Rape and Murder, indeed.

RATING: 3.5 Hardest Working Girls in the Neighborhood out of 5

Spraying My Night Mist All Over the Place

The George Shearing Quintet with Voices - "Night Mist" (1958) - Capitol Records

Hello Friends,

We're trying to catch a break from these Winter Blues so we cracked open 3 or 4 bottles of wine, dimmed the lights and listened to this LP by The George Shearing Quintet.

For the most part, its a nice, relaxing affair.  We'll give the music a solid "A" (straightforward and competent jazz for the Sears crowd), but we'll give the vocal choruses that appear throughout the record a "D+".  Man, they really bring the record down: they're obvious and obtuse and are mixed too loudly and sound too tinny.  Basically, the "follow-the-bouncing-ball" Mitch Miller vocal choruses are unnecessary and distracting and bring down what is otherwise a pretty good record.

The wine is good though... my teeth are purple...

RATING: 3.5 Polka Dots and Moonbeams out of 5

When I Paint My Masterpiece

The Band - "Cahoots" (1971) - Capitol Records

Hello Friends,

This 1971 LP, The Band's fourth album, is often overlooked.  This is probably because (a) their first two records-- Music From the Big Pink & The Band -- are regarded as classics that set the bar ridiculously high; (b) their third record-- Stage Fright-- though not as revered as the first two was still pretty well received; and (c) The Band, themselves, never really held this album in high regard often dismissing it in interviews and only really playing one song ("Life is A Carnival") at live shows.  

The album starts out with the very strong, aforementioned "Life is a Carnival" featuring a pretty jazzy horn arrangement by Allen Toussaint.  Next is the album's best track, the Bob Dylan-penned, "When I Paint My Masterpiece".  Two fantastic songs with the Band's familiar folk-rock-jazz-rhythm & blues sound.

In title alone, "Last of the Blacksmiths" sounds like a song by The Band. 

The song, "4% Pantomine", has lyric and vocal contributions from none other than everyone's favorite purple jumpsuit wearing, Van Morrison.

Side Two doesn't fare as well.  Songs like "Shootout in Chinatown", "The Moon Struck One", "Smoke Signal" and "Volcano" aren't terrible but they're certainly not all that great!

Overall, we think that this is a pretty good record!  Perhaps by 1971 critics and fans were looking for a new direction or sound out of The Band or maybe the boys themselves were growing sick and tired of each other.  (We're looking at you Robbie Robertson!)  Its worth mentioning that Cahoots would also be their last all original studio album for four years which is strange because up until then they were releasing albums at a rate of one per year!      

RATING: 4 the Streets of Rome are filled with rubble out of 5

Hi-Fi Holidays: The Christmas Song

Nat King Cole - "The Christmas Song" (1963) - Capitol Records

Hello Friends,

Its Christmas Eve.  The shopping is done, the presents are wrapped, the punch bowl is brimming and the Christmas Eve Paella is nearly done.  Best of all, we've got an undisputed classic on the turntable tonight.

Nat King Cole would release his first and only Christmas LP in 1960 (entitled, The Magic of Christmas).  In 1963, Capitol Records would re-release this LP with a different cover and the updated version of the title track.

With his smoother-than-silk voice, Nat sings the definitive version of Mel Torme's classic, "The Christmas Song" aka "Chestnuts Roasting On an Open Fire".   Nothing sets the mood for a romantic Christmas Eve dinner party quite like this recording, friends.  



In addition to "The Christmas Song", Old King Cole sings classics like "Deck the Halls", "Adeste Fideles", "O Little Town of Bethlehem", "I Saw Three Ships", "O Holy Night", "Joy to the World", "O Tannebaum" (sung in its original German!), "Silent Night" and the lesser-known, "A Cradle in Bethlehem" & "Caroling, Caroling". 

The music on the record is conducted and arranged by Ralph Carmichael and features the usual lush and warm orchestrations that permeated Capitol releases of this era.  

By 1965, Nat King Cole would be dead from lung cancer leaving behind a legacy of some pretty great jazz-inspired popular music. Not only would this record become THE top-selling Christmas album of the 1960's, but it would become one of the most beloved records of Cole's career.

Merry Christmas everybody!

RATING: 4.5 feasts of the seven fishes out of 5

Hi-Fi Holidays: A Jolly Christmas

Frank Sinatra - "A Jolly Christmas from Frank Sinatra" (1957) - Capitol Records

Hello Friends,

We're kicking off our Holiday festivities tonight with some Ol' Blue Eyes on the turntable. 

Incidentally, we're also celebrating the Chairman on the Board's birthday today (December 12th)-- he would have been 98!

A Jolly Christmas is Sinatra's second holiday album and first holiday record for Capitol. With the chorus and orchestra arranged and conducted by frequent Sinatra collaborator, Gordon Jenkins, the record tows the line between the jazzy-sentimentality of Sinatra's earlier records and the light-hearted corniness of some his late 50's, early 60's recordings. 

Its a record of two sides.  Side One being the "fun" side with secular classics like "Jingle Bells", "The Christmas Song", "Mistletoe & Holly", "I'll Be Home for Christmas", "The Christmas Waltz" and "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas".

Side Two is the more religious side with carols like "Silent Night" & "Adeste Fideles".

Both sides are good, but be forewarned merrymakers, this is not exactly a swinging Christmas record. The songs and arrangements are excellent, but the tone is mellow and contemplative.  Tiki T. and I are enjoying this one admiring our newly decorated tree while enjoying a glass bottle of wine or two!

Frank Sinatra - The Christmas Waltz

Happy Birthday you big goomba! 

RATING: 4.5 oh by gosh by gollies out of 5

Come Fly With Me

Frank Sinatra - "Come Fly With Me" (1958) - Capitol Records

Hello Friends,

If you can use some exotic booze, there's a bar in far Bombay that has Ol' Blue Eyes on the turntable tonight.  

Come Fly With Me is one of Sinatra's "concept" albums with all the songs being about globe-trotting to strange and romantic lands.  It also marks his first collaboration with arranger, Billy May. 

The album kicks off with the inviting title track, written especially for Frank by Sammy Cahn & Jimmy Van Heusen.

It ends with the upbeat "It's Nice to Go Trav'ling" where the tired gypsy traveler returns home and turns his attention away from the frauleins and senoritas to a quiet night at home where he burns his passport, lights a fire, puts on his slippers and makes a pizza!  (Literally, the last words spoken on this record is "make a pizza"!)

In between the departure and the return, there's "The Isle of Capri", "Moonlight in Vermont", "Autumn in New York", "The Road to Mandalay" (based on a Rudyard Kipling poem), "April in Paris",  "London By Night", "Brazil" and a "Blue Hawaii".

Overall its one of Sinatra's most fun and jauntiest records. 

FUN FACT # 1: This album was nominated for album of the year at the very first Grammy Awards ceremony in 1959.  It lost out to Henry Mancini's Music from Peter Gunn!

FUN FACT # 2: Frank Sinatra was supposedly upset with the album cover because he thought it looked like an ad for TWA.  I've never had their coffee, but I really like the TWA Tea!

RATING: 4.5 Paddles Chonkin' from Rangoon to Mandalay out of 5

Spring Is Here Again

The Beach Boys - "Concert" (1964) - Capitol Records

Hello Friends and Happy Spring!

Its been a long, cold, lonely Winter and we're getting ready for some longer days, warmer nights and colder drinks!  HALLE-FUCKING-LUJAH!!!

Tonight we've got The Beach Boys first # 1 LP-- and first "live" album-- on the turntable.  Hopefully it helps us melt some snow off the tiki bar! 

(We say "live" because we suspect there's a fair amount of overdubbing and roller coaster-style crowd noise included as enhancements, but who are we to bicker?)

Its a great, fun live set with their harmonies and instruments sounding in fine form.  The album would mark one of the last live performances that Brian Wilson would play with the group as he would go cuckoo-bananas shortly thereafter and concentrate more on songwriting and production. He does a great job singing his ballad, "In My Room"-- which, in hindsight, ends up being sadly prophetic.

In addition to "In My Room", they perform their early classics, "Fun, Fun, Fun", "Little Deuce Coupe", "Hawaii" and "I Get Around".  They cover Dick Dale's seminal surf-instrumental, "Let's Go Trippin", Jan & Dean's "Little Old Lady From Pasadena", The Rivington's "Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow", The Four Freshmen's "Graduation Day", Chuck Berry's "Johnny B. Goode" and Dennis Wilson sings a great version of Dion's "The Wanderer".

And holy crap, they do "The Monster Mash"!

Thanks to Shelby & Bobby for finding this for us!

RATING: 4.5 Worlds Where I Can Go And Tell My Secrets To out of 5

Music for the Love Hours

Jackie Gleason - "Music For the Love Hours" (1957) - Capitol Records

Hello Friends,

More like "Music for the Love Minutes"... am I right?

Once again, this Jackie Gleason LP is like audio dilaudid.  Lush, soothing arrangements that flow into one another like a hypnotic stream.  String arrangements aplenty, punctuated by Bobby Hackett's trumpet-in-the-fog cornet.

Its the perfect soundtrack for a lazy, snowed-in Saturday!

Why is the nightgown lady with the piercing blue eyes smoking a cigarette on the cover of this LP? Doesn't she know that that can be dangerous?  That nightgown looks flammable!

RATING: 4 Serenades in Blue out of 5

Rubber Soul

The Beatles - "Rubber Soul" (1965) - Capitol Records

Hello Friends,

There's already been tons written and researched on every Beatles album and song out there.  If you really wanted to know, you could probably find out how many times Ringo pee'd during the recording of "You Won't See Me".  Here on "Vinyl in the Valley" we're too drunk and lazy caught up in the music for all that.  We're not trying to re-write history friends, that takes the fun out of it all.  We're happy just to kick back, drop the needle and enjoy a classic album, song-by-song, side-by-side, the way it was meant to be heard!* 
(* sort of...)

Squeezed in between HELP and REVOLVER, this is the folksiest of all Beatles' Records.  Recorded in just four weeks-- under pressure to make the December 1965 holiday market-- RUBBER SOUL sounds like a band who are growing up.  On the distorted photo on the cover their hair is longer and gone are the suits.  (Its also the first Beatles album to not feature the band's name prominently on the sleeve!)  The music and the instruments being used are getting more experimental: there's the use of the sitar on "Norwegian Wood", a fuzz bass on "Think For Yourself", harmonium on "The Word"... etc.  The lyrics, too, are getting darker ("Run For Your Life"), more introspective ("In My Life"), paranoid ("Norwegian Wood"), ambiguous ("Its Only Love", "Girl") and existential ("I'm Looking Through You").  Its the sound of band in transition who have recently discovered marijuana and started listening to lots of Bob Dylan.

This is the original American Capitol Records version of the LP we're listening to tonight which varies slightly from the original UK version (and subsequent CD releases).  In case you were curious here's the track listing:

Side One:
I've Just Seen A Face
Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)
You Won't See Me
Think for Yourself (George Harrison)
The Word
Michelle

Side Two:
It's Only Love
Girl
I'm Looking Through You
In My Life
Wait
Run For Your Life

The British release omits "I've Just Seen A Face" and "It's Only Love" but includes "Drive My Car", "Nowhere Man", "What Goes On" and George Harrison's awesome "If I Needed Someone."  I think the theory behind this is that they wanted this album to appear more "folksie" for American audiences based on the recent successes of Dylan and bands like The Byrds.  But what do record companies know anyways?  Just ask Tony Meehan of Decca records!

An absolute classic record, RUBBER SOUL provides a nice bridge from the "early" Beatles' sound to the psychedelic stuff that was looming right around the corner.  

RATING: 5 girls who put you down when friends are there out of 5

2 Days of Xmas: The Beach Boys - "The Beach Boys Christmas Album" (1964)

The Beach Boys - "The Beach Boys' Christmas Album" (1964) - Capitol Records

Hello Friends,

Surf's up tonight at the Christmas party tiki bar and we got another classic on the ol' Holiday turntable!

"Oh... I hope its the 'Get A Life' DVD box set!'
(Gil Elvgren)

Clocking in at just 27 minutes, The Beach Boys Christmas Album is must for every holiday record listening party!  Along with Elvis's & Phil Spector's, its one of the few bona fide rock & roll Christmas LPs.

Side One contains five (!) original tunes which have now pretty much become holiday standards: "Little Saint Nick", "The Man With All The Toys", "Santa's Beard", "Merry Christmas, Baby" & "Christmas Day."  The rest of the album is rounded out with more traditional standards with the familiar Beach Boys harmonies and Brian Wilson arrangements!



FUN FACT: Hey Kids, the song "Christmas Day" is the first Beach Boys song to feature founding member, Al Jardine on lead vocals!

RATING:  5 Auld Lang Synes out of 5

4 Days of Xmas: The Kingston Trio - "The Last Month of the Year" (1960)

"Hey... get your finger outta my ear!"

The Kingston Trio - "The Last Month of the Year" (1960) - Capitol Records

Hello Friends,

Things are gettin' folksy tonight!

Formed in 1957, The Kingston Trio became a top-selling act and helped pave the way for the folk revival movement of the late 1950's/early 1960's.  In their records of this era you can usually hear the influence they would have over artists like Bob Dylan, Simon & Garfunkel, Joan Baez, the Byrds, The Muppets, et cetera.

"I got your milk and cookies right here!"

There's some great harmonies and some fine instrumentation here but when we listen to this record we feel like we're at some college frat party back in 1960 and some beatniky-looking dude in a turtleneck just brought us some reefer.

Still, its certainly not a bad album.  The song selections range from  Old English Carols to African-American Spirituals.   A must for the NPR crowd! Its also probably the best Christmas album to feature the bouzouki as a prominent instrument! 

The title (and closing) song, "The Last Month of the Year" is good, but the version by the Staple Singers is vastly better!

RATING: 3.5 Sommerset Gloucestershire Wassail's out of 5   

6 Days of Xmas: "Christmas Music of France" (1967)

Jean Paul-Kreder Choir & Les Petits Chanteurs A La Croix de Bois - "Christmas Music of France" - 1967 - Capitol Records

Bonjour Friends,

"This one has your name on it!"
(Bunny Yeager)

A little disappointed here.  We were hoping for a record full of bustling Parisian street music with lots of accordions,  jazzy, nightclub ballads and general yuletide debauchery.  I went to whip up some French 75's while Tiki T. went to slip on something more "comfortable"!  

Cue the Can-Can girls!

We put on the record and instead of some swinging, sleazy album of Christmas tunes sung in French, we got a very tame, unsexy album of French choral music.  In an instant, our romantic corner of the tiki transformed into a Medieval French Cathedral!

Cancel the Can-Can girls!

Don't worry friends, we made the best of it!  We lit some candles, drank some strong red wine and enjoyed a quiet, reverential night.  Plus, for some reason, Tiki T. knew all the words (in French) to "Il Est Ne Le Divin Enfant" which kind of turned me on!

Oui! Oui!

RATING: 3.5 Petit Papa Noels out of 5

     

12 Days of Xmas: Jackie Gleason "Merry Christmas" (1959)

Jackie Gleason - "Merry Christmas" (1959) - Capitol Records

Hello Friends,

We're kicking off our 12 days til Christmas countdown with this criminally underappreciated LP by Vinyl in the Valley favorite, Mr. Jackie Gleason.

This is holiday mood music at its absolute best!  Each song is deconstructed to an atmospheric and slowed down tone poem.  Melodies are buried in a snow drift of lush strings and haunting vocalise.  In lieu of Bobby Hackett's iconic cornet solos, there's a fellow by the name of Hercules playing sparse and fragile solos on an electric celeste!  It really doesn't get more lush and relaxing than this!

"Comin' down my chimney?"
(Alberto Vargas)

Now friends, this ain't a record for your next Holiday party... unless, of course, your party includes strong whiskey, slow-dancing and quaaludes!   But, hey who are we to judge?

Tiki T. loves falling asleep to this record, snuggled up on the couch, drink in hand, in front of a roaring fire!  Now, if we only had a fireplace...

RATING:  5 Holiday Hangovers out of 5

The Bax is Back

Les Baxter and His Orchestra & Chorus - "Kaleidoscope" (1955) - Capitol Records

Hello Friends,

We've got some early Les Baxter ("The Bax") on the turntable tonight!  The sublime twelve instrumental tracks on Kaleidoscope pre-dates the really groundbreaking Exotica stuff that would comprise Baxter's LP's of the late 50's/early 60's. 

But like a morning mist on a Tahitian beach, beneath the melodies of these 12 tracks you can hear faint whispers of more exotic instruments, jungle rhythms, wordless choruses and other-worldly sonic experiments! 

Kind of hate the shitty LP cover, though. Looks like a Christmas decoration my grandmother threw out!

RATING: 3.5 Aprils in Portugal out of 5

Cleveland Rocks!

The Outsiders - "Time Won't Let Me" (1966) - Capitol Records

Hello Friends,

We've got some good old fashioned U.S. garage rock on tap for tonight!

Formed by guitarist Tom King in 1958, The Starfires were a hard-working band of Clevelanders who cut their teeth in the blue collar bars and dance halls of the North Coast.  When they signed to Capitol Records on the strength of their single, "Time Won't Let Me", the band was persuaded to change their name to The Outsiders.  Their debut LP was released in 1966 and is a perfect storm of American blue-collar garage rock, British Invasion-inspired arrangements and healthy doses of blue-eyed soul and Motor City Rhythm & Blues!

The album kicks off with the rousing, "Keep On Running"-- a Jackie Edwards song that was a hit the year before for England's The Spencer Davis Group.   The ballad, "Listen People", is up next and was also a hit for another British band, Herman's Hermits!  

The single, "Time Won't Let Me" combines an uptempo Mersey-inspired rhythm with a driving background of Motown-inspired horns.   Written by King and his brother-in-law, Chet Kelley, the song blew up on AM Radio and ensured that the Outsiders would be slightly more than a footnote in the annals of rock & roll history! 
   

The oft-covered, "My Girl", is a tip of the hat to the songs coming out across Lake Eerie while the Stonesy R&B rocker, "What Makes You So Bad You Weren't Brought Up That Way", is a nod to songs coming from across the proverbial pond!  Side One concludes with a mellow and strings-laden cover of the 1962 hit by Jay & The Americans, "She Cried". 

Side Two contains two more covers-- Buddy Holly's "Maybe Baby" and Bobby Day's "Rockin' Robin"-- and the originals, "Chase Away The Tears", "Was It Really Real" and the tearjerker, "Girl In Love". In addition to being the B-side to "Time Won't Let Me", "Was It Really Real" contains a killer guitar solo!  

The Outsiders would release 4 more LP's, continually change personnel, ceaselessly tour and, by 1968, call it quits!  Another rock & roll dream left to history!  

Fun Fact: Hey kids, did you know that Outsiders' lead singer, Sonny Geraci, had a hit in 1972 with the one-hit-wonder band Climax and the soft-rock ballad "Precious & Few"?  Big Deal! That song sucks!

RATING: 4 Cleveland Steamers out of 5

Night Winds (100th Post, Bitches!)

Jackie Gleason - "Night Winds" (1956) - Capitol Records

Hello friends,

Is there anything better than a chilly November evening, a tall bottle of red French wine and Jackie Gleason on the turntable?  Well, we don't think so! 

Using an ensemble of 23 flutes (count 'em) to replace the Bobby Hackett's ghostly cornet solos, Night Winds is some more of the same lush and soothing mood music that Gleason made famous in the mid 1950's.  The songs flow into one another seamlessly-- each side of the record is like a dreamy soundscape. 

Fat, sweaty, chain-smoking and mostly drunk, its truly amazing what Jackie Gleason would accomplish in 1955-1956.  Not only was his recording career hugely successful but, "The Jackie Gleason Show" was a top- rated variety show on television and "The Honeymooners" were at their creative height!  (The last episode of the "classic 39" would air on September 26, 1956.)  I guess they don't make them like they used to!  The Great One, indeed!     

RATING: 4 packs of cigarettes a day out of 5  

September in the Rain

Frank Sinatra - "Sinatra's Swingin' Session!!!" (1961) - Capitol Records

Hello Friends,

Tonight on Vinyl in the Valley we're rocking out to some late Capitol-era Frank Sinatra.  Ol' Blue Eyes is in peak form on this 1961 release covering such classics as "When You're Smiling", "Blue Moon", "Paper Moon", "September in the Rain", "My Blue Heaven" and "Always."

Backed by Nelson Riddle's fiery and upbeat orchestra, these tunes are among the fastest tunes ever recorded by Sinatra.  Some tunes-- like "Paper Moon" and "My Blue Heaven"-- almost seem like they've been recorded in double-time.  Hey Frank... pass those jazz salts down this way!  A swingin' session indeed!

RATING:  4 Leaves of Brown Coming Down out of 5