title: Elegant French baroque

text:
François Dieupart (c.1667-c.1740), his first name sometimes given as Charles, unlike many French musicians of his time was never a court composer. Rather, he was very much of an individualist who went his own way, and it shows in his music. From 1700 he moved to London, working mainly as a teacher and keyboard performer, and remained there until his death in poverty and relative obscurity. He didn't deserve such a fate - as his published work, admittedly limited in quantity, clearly demonstrates.

His most important work was this set of six suites, published in 1701 (not 1717 as stated in the booklet notes). They were scored for recorder or flute and continuo, as in the present performance, but he also published a version for solo keyboard which I've reviewed elsewhere: [[ASIN:B00000JBDF Dieupart: Harpsichord Suites / Gremy-Chauliac]]. The suites make very fine keyboard music, but I still have a slight preference for the music in the present format. The six works, each consisting of a French overture and series of dance movements - of the kind now familiar from many works by Bach, Telemann and others - are very impressive pieces indeed. The Overtures in particular have a certain grandeur in spite of their modest scoring, each one both distinctive and inventive and containing thematic elements of the subsequent series of dance movements. The format thus results in a very satisfyingly unified work in each case, and it's not surprising that Bach greatly admired them.

The six suites are played for this 1992 disc by Hugo Reyne on recorder, with basso continuo provided by viola da gamba, archlute and harpsichord. Reyne has become better known recently as director of the baroque ensemble La Simphonie du Marais. The small but impressive cast of players includes Philippe Pierlot and Pierre Hantaï. The playing is beautiful, stylish and elegant throughout, with, of course, a starring role for Hugo Reyne on two lovely period instruments - a 'flûte de voix' (tenor recorder) for suites 1 to 4, and a ' flûte du quatre' in the form of an especially fine B flat instrument for Suites 5 and 6. My own favourite movement here is the Overture to Suite 5, and in fact this whole suite is lovely; in addition to the Overtures to each suite, I found the Sarabandes beautiful too.

Altogether, this is lovely music in a superb performance and recording. It's getting hard to find now, but fortunately it's also currently available as part of a two-disc reissue coupled with music by Purcell [[ASIN:B00005A9NY Purcell · Dieupart - Suites for recorder / La Simphonie du Marais · Hugo Reyne]]. There's also a 2001 recording of these Dieupart works by Colpron, Napper and Sempé on the Atma label, [[ASIN:B00006358G Six Suites]], spread over two discs but providing strong competition with the present one. And then there are recordings of the keyboard versions as well. The comparison between the two scorings is fascinating in itself but, either way, this is French baroque music of the very highest quality.


title: Mixed bag with some very good bits

text:
This substantial and sumptuously-presented pair of discs consists of two rather different projects. The first – and the more interesting of the two in my view – is a speculative reconstruction of the sacred music performed at that great meeting in 1520 of the kings of France and England and their vast retinues, known as the Field of the Cloth of Gold. It is not known exactly which works were performed for this occasion, but according to contemporary descriptions a Mass was sung, with successive movements from English musicians and composers on the one hand, and from their French counterparts on the other.

It must have been a grand, as well as musically fascinating, ceremony – all the more so since both kings, enthusiastic and tasteful patrons of the arts in any case, set out to celebrate peace and at the same time to impress their erstwhile adversaries. For the purpose of the present project, performed by the early music ensemble Doulce Mémoire, their director Denis Raisin Dadre makes some astute choices. The Kyrie is taken from Claudin de Sermisy's 5-voice 'Missa Quare fremuerunt gentes', the Gloria from Nicholas Ludford's 6-part 'Missa Benedicta et venerabilis', followed by a 6-part Credo by the French Antoine Divitis. Then it's back to Ludford for Sanctus and Benedictus, and to Sermisy's Mass for the Agnus Dei, this time in 8 parts. The Mass movements are introduced by an instrumental Pavane by Attaingnant, and then interspersed with plainchant passages, motets by Jean Mouton, and spoken contemporary descriptions of the occasion.

This amounts to a substantial and extremely impressive Mass performance, full of variety and lasting 70 minutes. For the French Mass sections, as was the practice at the time according to Raisin Dadre's excellent booklet notes, the voices are doubled by wind instruments, while Ludford's Mass movements are sung a cappella. In both music and performance, then, this Mass for the Field of the Cloth of Gold is unlike the normal unified entity of the renaissance Mass, but the rationale for the alternating multi-national procedure adopted for this programme is clear enough and in fact it works very well. Sermisy's Kyrie (track 4) alone is a magnificent structure, a considerable 8-minute movement in sumptuous sound, sung here with two voices per part doubled by cornetti, shawms and sackbuts. In contrast to Sermisy's Franco-Flemish polyphony, Ludford's Mass sections are in a very different style – his graceful, melismatic lines sung here by voices alone. Divitis' Credo is a fine work too, again receiving a sumptuous performance here from voices doubled by instruments. Sermisy's Agnus Dei is once again superb, and I would greatly love to hear the whole work one of these days. Voices and instruments all do a terrific job, performing with conviction and in excellent style. The recorded sound, in Fontevraud abbey, is superb, with a fine ambience as well as exemplary clarity enabling us to follow each voice.

The second disc, titled 'La Chambre du Roy' and recorded in the magnificent Loire chateau of Chambord, offers a selection of the secular music forms favoured by François Ier. So we hear a sequence of chanson settings interspersed with instrumental pavanes, galliards and basses danses. The personnel, while still chosen from the Doulce Mémoire ensemble, are partially different here, with single voices for each chanson part, sometimes accompanied by instruments, and the instrumental pieces played by recorder consort with lutes and percussion. The works are well organised, but by no means all of great interest. One of the better aspects of the procedure applied here is the pairing of settings of the same chanson by two different composers, which makes for interesting comparisons.

The star composer here, for me, is Pierre Certon, whose settings of chansons from his 'Meslanges' collection are superb; his song of lost love 'Je suis déshéritée' (CD2, track 3) is most beautiful; the performance of the engaging melody 'Tant que vivray' (14), for solo soprano and recorders, is delightful, and Certon's setting of 'Contentez-vous' (29) is absolutely lovely. Here again, it would be great to hear a complete recording of his 'Meslanges' collection sometime. However, I also have to say that quite a few other works on this second disc are nothing special. As for performance, most of the voices are OK, but I don't think much of countertenor Paulin Bündgen; the percussionist is also extremely irritating in places, for my taste drawing far too much attention to himself with unnecessary smart-alec flourishes.

Musically, then, this paired programme is a mixed bag, the first part being a complete success while the second is far less so. Matters are almost redeemed, however, by the set's presentation, in the form of a lavish 130-page book with stunning illustrations making it a true visual delight – as well as detailed and absorbing notes by director Raisin Dadre and others, full texts and translations and all the documentation you could wish for.


title: Grand finale

text:
There's never a dull moment in this unique series. Each volume brings a fresh approach to programming, to the problems of selecting and organising a coherent sequence of works to represent the incredibly rich resource of sacred renaissance music offered by the six Leiden Choirbooks. The task is even more challenging, if anything, for this final Volume 6 in the series - or Choirbook F if you prefer to count alphabetically - because Codex F's most remarkable feature is its inclusion of no less than twenty Mass settings, the majority of them unknown to us until now and of course, like much of the Choirbooks' contents, unsung and unheard for the last 400 years or more.

The contributors to Choirbook F include many well-known names such as Josquin, Mouton, De la Rue, Clemens and Gombert; it contains, for example, Josquin's 'Missa L'homme armé sexti toni' and Pierre de la Rue's 'Missa Puer natus est'. But once again, and with every justification, director Peter de Groot and his team have selected unfamiliar works for their recording. Composers represented here are of the post-Josquin generation and the one after that; they include Pierre de Manchicourt, Lupus Hellinck, Claudin de Sermisy, Joachimus de Monte and Johannes Flamingus - the latter two being local Leiden lads who are well represented in the other choirbooks and who have already made distinguished contributions to the earlier recorded volumes. And the problem of how to reflect the exceptional contents of this final Choirbook receives a simple solution - namely, the majority of these two discs is occupied by three Mass settings.

The first of these, on CD1, is a parody Mass by the little-known Lupus Hellinck (c. 1494-1564), 'Missa Peccata mea', based on a motet of that name by Jean Richafort. The model motet has not been recorded anywhere, so far as I can tell. The Mass is an austere work of typically impressive Flemish craftsmanship, and it's beautifully performed here by the Egidius Kwartet and College, with two singers per part (female sopranos, male altos), all fine voices producing an excellent tonal balance, and directed in excellent style and with absolute conviction by Peter de Groot. Separated by a graceful motet by Johannes Flamingus, we then have the second Mass setting, this time Manchicourt's 'Missa Nisi Dominus' - another parody Mass, based on a motet by Jean Lhéritier which was included in Volume 5 of the Leiden series. I especially liked this lovely Mass setting, with its varied textures including duet passages between two sets of voices. In a nice bit of programming, another obscurity brings the first disc to a cheerful close - 'Regina celi' by Franciscus Mergot, otherwise known as Franciscus de Novo Portu, his music here reminding me of the sunlit beauty of the motets by Joachimus de Monte in Volume 1 of the series.

The second disc is occupied entirely by a monumental representation of a Mass celebrating the feast of Corpus Christi. The core work is Claudin de Sermisy's 'Missa Philomena praevia', parodying a four-part motet by Jean Richafort. That, in turn, was a setting of an extract from the medieval Latin poem by the English Franciscan friar (and later Archbishop of Canterbury) John Pecham or Peckham. This extraordinarily imaginative poem tells the story of Christ's life and death as expressed through the empathetic song of a nightingale, who accompanies Christ on his journey through life; when Christ dies, so does the nightingale. Richafort's motet was then parodied by several composers including Gombert, Verdelot and Sermisy. Of course none of this narrative is contained in the text of the Mass; but a parody Mass often constitutes, at least in part, a reflection on the content of its model and this is surely the case here. Claudin's austerely beautiful Mass is remarkable both for its sombre mood and for its distinctive lines for high voices - beautifully executed in the Egidius' recording - with its repeated-note motifs giving just a hint of the nightingale's song. (There was once a recording of Richafort's motet together with Verdelot's Mass, directed by Marco Longhini, and I believe it may still be available as a download).

However, that's only half the story of this second disc, because the Mass movements are interspersed with a substantial series of hymns, chants and responsories to form a full-scale Mass celebration in the manner of the times. So although Sermisy's Mass on its own is about the same length as each one of the other two Mass settings on CD1, namely around 35 minutes, the whole Mass celebration on CD2 amounts to 80 minutes of music. The extra passages mentioned are provided in part by the three singers of an additional specialised ensemble, Gregoriana Amsterdam. Personally I'm not usually all that keen on extended passages of chant, greatly preferring the real music and often using the fast forward solutions button so as to get on with it, but in this case I must admit that the whole thing is extremely well done here. And again, the two local composers named earlier provide a few brighter polyphonic pieces to start and end this otherwise sombre occasion, with the high voices doing a lovely job in the 3-part, sopranos-only 'Crucifixum in carne' by Flamingus.

As usual, notes by Erik Jas are superb, and the CD booklet is richly illustrated with reproductions from the Choirbooks and other relevant art, as well as a couple of ensemble photos. All texts and translations are provided, although there is one error where the texts of items 1 and 7 on CD1 have been transposed; but the track listings are correct. And again, the recording engineers have done a superb job in the acoustic of the Laurentiuskerk, Mijnsheerenland. As for the whole Leiden Choirbooks project, what is there left to say? Six volumes, twelve CDs in all, dozens of beautiful and fascinating works, nearly all of them unknown for several hundred years but demonstrating - to anyone who doesn't already know - what a wonderful legacy of beauty and genius was bequeathed to the world by the Franco-Flemish school. Just in case you're not already familiar with the series, no praise is adequate; but you could try Volumes 1, 3 or 5 for a start. Or, alternatively, the whole series is now available in one boxed set at a very decent price: [[ASIN:B00YJKUZ1Q The Leiden Choirbooks / De Leiden Koorboeken, Vol. 1-6]].

So, farewell then, Leiden Choirbooks - and, for that matter, Egidius Kwartet and College. For I understand that they will now be called the Egidius Ensemble and, what is more, that they have more projects up their sleeves to bring further delight to renaissance enthusiasts. Watch this space!


title: Untold riches of the Franco-Flemish school

text:
Now that the sixth and last two-disc volume of this wonderful series has been released, music-lovers are also offered the whole set in one box. The result is a handsome package of twelve CDs, still in their original format of two-disc volumes with all their background notes, texts, translations, lavish illustrations and - just in case I forget to mention it later - an almost unimaginable wealth of fabulous renaissance music. One of the benefits of the present package is, of course, the very advantageous price compared to the cost of buying the volumes separately.

The six volumes, issued one by one over the past six years, have already been reviewed in detail on Amazon by me and others, so if you want to know more about the music in each volume you could check out those reviews. For the present collection, I’ll try here to summarise the set’s many fine qualities, and I hope both of my regular readers will forgive some repetition of previous reviews in the following explanation. The Leiden Choirbooks, compiled between 1549 and 1565 and containing more than 350 works for performance by the choir of the Pieterskerk in the city of Leiden in the Netherlands, were somehow miraculously preserved from the outbreaks of iconoclastic fury and destruction of the Reformation period. Since then this invaluable collection of sacred music had remained locked away, virtually forgotten, and certainly not heard or performed for several centuries. But in 2010 the Dutch-based Egidius Kwartet and College, under their director Peter de Groot, embarked on an ambitious project to perform and record a substantial proportion of this great body of works, selecting pieces from each one of the six choirbooks in turn. Composers represented cover three generations of Franco-Flemish masters - namely, the so-called Josquin generation and the next two after that - thus taking us through that extraordinary flowering of genius in polyphonic sacred music which continued into the latter half of the 16th century.

Some of the names represented here will be familiar to renaissance enthusiasts: Josquin, Isaac, Gombert, Willaert, Clemens non Papa, Crecquillon, Manchicourt, Sermisy, Richafort. In addition, however, as is explained at various points in the booklet notes, for their recordings the Egidius Kwartet and College chose to pay particular attention to some of the lesser-known composers appearing in the Choirbooks, and to works which had never been performed, let alone recorded, in modern times. And so the list of composers represented on these discs also includes Joachimus de Monte, Johannes Lupi, Pierre Verdelot, Cornelis Canis, Nicolle des Celliers de Hesdin, Benedictus Appenzeller, Johannes Flamingus, Nicolas Payen, Lupus Hellinck, as well as a number of extremely talented members of the Anonymous family. As will soon be evident to the listener, this decision brings rich rewards because, as it turns out, not one of these composers is a third-rate slouch - and that’s putting it mildly.

Among the most outstanding features of this splendid set are, firstly, the exceptional quality of the music, including the pieces from composers we’ve never heard of until now; the beautifully-judged selection and organisation of the works in each of the two-disc programmes; and the superb sound, cohesion and commitment of the Egidius voices under  Peter de Groot’s inspired direction. For reasons stated at the start, this is not the place to describe the music in detail all over again, but instead I’ll just mention a few highlights and favourites of my own. In Choirbook I, the graceful, sunlit motets by Joachimus de Monte are a delight, and the anonymous six-voice Missa Sancta Maria is an irresistible masterpiece. In Book II, I especially love the three Magnificat settings by Clemens non Papa and the anonymous ‘Angelus autem Domini’. For Book III, another Mr. Anonymous brings us a Requiem setting of majestic profundity. Book IV offers a beautifully organised sequence of motets covering the church year, with especially lovely pieces by Crecquillon and Clemens non Papa including both composers’ settings of the Prodigal Son text ‘Pater peccavi’. Book V brings us Thomas Crecquillon’s wonderful ‘Missa Je prens en gré’, paraphrasing Clemens’ chanson setting of a medieval-style courtly love poem, with the Mass composer using the model’s descending motifs of unrequited love to heartbreaking effect. Choirbook VI includes three lovely, very different Mass settings, especially Claudin de Sermisy’s parody Mass based on Richafort’s motet ‘Philomena praevia’ - this in turn treating the text of a beautiful medieval poem by the English friar John Pecham or Peckham. This latter Mass performance is especially effective for its treatment as a full-scale Mass celebration with interspersed hymns, chants and responsories in the manner of the times, all beautifully sung by the various constituent sections of the Egidius singers and a few additional voices.

In addition to all the musical qualities already outlined, presentation of the final result is superb. Eric Jas’ notes to all six volumes are a mine of information and insights, and the box is as handsome as its contents. The six two-disc sets actually make for a tight squeeze in the box, so once you get them out it makes life easier if you avoid pushing them all the way back in – or at least, not all of them at once. If you have at least one of the volumes out at any one time – preferably in your CD player, as you’d probably want to anyway – then there’s no problem. But why am I telling you this ? – if you’ve any sense (and that’s a big ‘if’) you can work it out for yourself. The point is, if you’ve already been collecting the series one volume at a time and so haven’t got the box, that’s no great loss and is probably better for your mental health.

If you’re not yet familiar with the world of the Leiden Choirbooks and would care for a brief taste, you could search for ‘Egidius’ and ‘Angelus Domini’ on YouTube; there you will see and hear the group performing that motet by Joachimus de Monte (from Volume I) with infectious beauty and enthusiasm, oblivious to the passing traffic and trains outside the window in the background. There's also plenty more information to be found on the internet or via Facebook, including websites for the Egidius Kwartet and the Leiden Choirbooks - with a link to a fascinating interview on the project with Peter de Groot, and with wonderful background noise in the form of the Kyrie from the earlier-mentioned Mass by Mr. Anonymous (or, again, search Leiden Choirbooks on YouTube).

Altogether, the Leiden Choirbooks project from Peter de Groot and Egidius is a fabulous store of treasures for music enthusiasts and a monumental tribute to the beauty and depth of genius of the Franco-Flemish school. It would be no exaggeration to say that it makes a unique contribution to the renaissance discography.


title: Brilliant Sicilian Vespers celebration

text:
This two-CD set is a reconstruction of a large-scale musical celebration of the Vespro per lo Stellario della Beata Vergine, which was performed in Palermo, Sicily, in 1644. I was moved to investigate this after hearing the beautiful 1653 Requiem by the Lombardian Bonaventura Rubino, [[ASIN:B00PY21PI0 Mario Capuana & Bonaventura Rubino: Requiem]]. Oddly enough, the composer's name is not even mentioned on the present set's outside cover, but the omission is rectified in the detailed booklet as well as in Amazon's listing above.

Director Gabriel Garrido and his team have really gone to town in the musical presentation, performance  and scoring of this programme. A number of early music ensembles are involved, including Garrido's usual Ensemble Elyma plus several other small choirs and some distinguished soloists including, for example, sopranos Maria Christina Kiehr and Roberta Invernizzi. There's also a group of four boy trebles, evidently from Poland and collectively titled here as Les Rossignols de Poznan, who - as I'll mention again in a moment - make an especially distinctive contribution in both sound and musicianship to this programme. The resulting forces thus add up to a rich, varied and substantial team of voices and early wind, string and continuo instruments - which, although numerous on paper, never overwhelm the music nor overdo the sound picture.

The sequence opens with a very fine 12-part Sonata by Cavalli, graced by excellent playing from the multi-choir instrumental group. It forms a noble opening, and is followed by the 8-part 'Domine ad adiuvandum', the first of a series of richly varied psalm settings. It's very Monteverdian/Cavallian in character, and not far off these in quality either. There are many concertante instrumental passages including virtuoso cornetti and other wind parts, and the four kids from Poznan make an extremely musical and colourful addition to the sound, especially in their solo passages - clearly a very well-trained and expert bunch, and all credit to whoever helped prepare them for their demanding tasks in this recording, as well as to the recording engineers who allow them due prominence in the vocal balance. The movement ends in a joyful and virtuoso Alleluia.

More lovely music follows, with an especially beautiful 'Laudate pueri' setting to end the first disc. It's a substantial and extended work with, again, more fine concertante interludes and lovely passages for those Rossignols. To open the second disc, 'Nisi Dominus' is an especially attractive piece, very much in the Cavalli manner, with lovely recorder parts. The following motet, 'O laeta dies', is given over entirely to the four nippers accompanied by theorbo and organ, and it's absolutely lovely. 'Lauda Jerusalem' is a chaconne-like piece, based on the well-known 'Bergamasca' theme which will be familiar to many devotees of the baroque. The superimposed vocal parts are a delight and, again, the whole thing is gorgeous. It's followed by an instrumental interlude in the form of a two-section 'Ave maris stella' setting by Gioan Pietro del Buono; the first of these two parts, in dark instrumental colours of bassoons, trombones, and the low-as-possible reaches of the cornetti, sounds especially fine and offers a striking contrast to the bright colours of most of the other works.

The final 'Magnificat' is a richly-scored work with all the soloists, choirs and players given every chance to shine - which they do. There are melodically sparkling, concertante instrumental interludes, as well as a lovely passage for bass and two trebles at 'Deposuit'. The rousing conclusion is enhanced by exuberant, virtuoso cornetto passages.

Presentation of the booklet is lavish but chaotic, with substantial documentation and notes scattered around in different places, and mainly in Italian with only a few sections translated (very badly) into English. Full Latin texts are provided, but with French translations only. Despite these small complaints, however, this is a unique and highly enterprising project, brilliantly carried off under Garrido's inspired direction. If you have a taste for the sacred music of Cavalli, Monteverdi and, for example, Paul McCreesh's brilliant 'Venetian Vespers' programme, then you are almost sure to love the entirely unfamiliar music in this set. The recording was issued in 1994 and re-issued in 2003, and these are still available from some US, UK and other European sources.


title: Characterful Catalan baroque

text:
This recording has been around since 1987, and was one of the early recordings by Jordi Savall's Capella Reial. It's available in its original form and in various reissues, and still sounds very well to this day. Joan Cererols (1618-1676) was a Catalan baroque composer with a very distinctive style, well reflected in this recording using solo voices with instruments playing colla parte and producing characterful sounds and textures. His Missa pro Defunctis is a fairly average setting when compared to the great Requiems of music history by the likes of Lassus, Victoria, Campra, Mozart or Brahms; but it receives a beautiful performance here, especially in the Sequentia section where the polyphonic music alternates with finely sung plainchant passages.

Cererols' following Missa de Batalla is a more distinctive and arresting work. The otherwise excellent booklet notes indicate that this is a parody Mass; the model work for the alleged parody is not mentioned, but the writer is presumably referring to Janequin's oft-quoted chanson 'La Guerre'. In fact, although Cererols uses elements of Janequin's thematic material in places, the work as a whole is not actually a parody but a fairly free paraphrase Mass with plentiful themes and ideas of its own. It's a fine piece in its own right and again benefits from a first-class performance from three 4-part choirs of solo voices with colla parte instruments.

This recording offers a fascinating insight into Iberian musical development as it built upon the magnificent work of Spanish renaissance composers and moved into the curious and inventive world of the baroque. There's also a more recent and equally fine recording of the Missa de Batalla by Cappella Mediterranea, directed by Leonardo García Alarcón, on [[ASIN:B00BPW210O Carmina Latina]].


title: Just when you thought you knew it all .......

text:
Codex D of the Leiden Choirbooks differs from the three volumes so far covered in this splendid series. The fourth book consists entirely of motets, without any of the larger-scale works such as Mass, Requiem or Magnificat that formed part of the content of the previous books. Instead, this entire two-disc programme of motets is arranged according to a distinctive overall scheme, namely in groups based upon the feast days and events of the church year for which they were written.

Like the first three recordings, the present one brings us a remarkable number of discoveries that have probably not been heard for several centuries, let alone ever recorded before. What is more, their composers' names read like a "who's who" of the post-Josquin generation, with such figures as Crecquillon, Clemens non Papa, Verdelot and de Rore, as well as some lesser-known names I'll mention in a moment. The church-year schema of the set is framed by two very fine works from Crecquillon and Clemens non Papa, which must surely have cried out for inclusion even though they don't belong to any particular event in the liturgical year - namely, the two composers' settings of the "Pater peccavi" text, the parable of the Prodigal Son. Opening the first CD, Crecquillon's 4-part setting is a lovely example of this wonderful craftsman's work, its crystal-clear textures beautifully expressing the complex of emotions at the heart of the story. It is very finely sung here with two voices per part by the expanded Egidius Kwartet & College with female sopranos, as are about two-thirds of the works in the set, with the remainder being performed by the four male single voices of Peter de Groot's original Kwartet.

Progress through the church year then begins with Advent, in the form of Johannes Lupi's motet "Veni electa mea", then followed by Christmas in the company of Crecquillon and Clemens non Papa. The two Clemens motets are especially fine, with the first, "Angelus domini ad pastores" expressing excited anticipation of the coming event. The second one, "Pastores loquebantur", is an absolute delight, one of Clemens' finest and one of the very few works here that has been recorded elsewhere - at least twice, as far as I can tell. It is a work of beautiful, subtle textures, with the first series of "Noe" (Nowell) calls gradually emerging from the complex 5-voice textures; the word-setting is fabulous throughout, culminating in the insistent directness of the final series of "Noe"; it's simply a masterpiece, and quite wonderfully sung here by the 2VPP ensemble.

We then move on towards Lent and Passiontide with Richafort, Verdelot and Lupi. The latter's Easter motet "Expurgate vetus fermentum" is another absolute beauty, with lovely, ecstatic melodic lines somehow drawing joy from the tragedy of the Passion. The Resurrection is, again, wonderfully expressed in the form of Clemens' "Congratulamini mihi omnes" - a joyful piece graced by the composer's typical melodic beauty and soaring lines, and here showing off to fine effect the pure, clear soprano voices of the College.

The second disc takes us on to the Assumption with "Virgo prudentissima" by the lesser-known Nicolas Payen, another gorgeous piece, calm and serene, its fine textures again lovingly conveyed by these singers. There follow works by De Rore, Leiden choirmaster Johannes Flamingus, and Eustacius Barbion. Then, once again, we start to approach the end of the year with the Feast of All Saints, here represented by another delight from Clemens non Papa, "Sancti mei qui in carne". After a motet by the obscure Franciscus IJsenbaert we are treated to a beautiful and masterly piece by Philippe Verdelot, "Infirmitatem nostram", an exceptional and fascinating work which uses a well-known secular renaissance text "Fors seullement" (Except only awaiting death, in my heart no hope doth dwell) as a cantus firmus; this is a solemn, dignified and deeply satisfying piece.

Next we have Clemens' earlier-mentioned setting of "Pater peccavi", and the programme is then brought to a serene close with "Christus, qui lux es et dies" by local man Johannes Flamingus, his calm, measured polyphonic hymn setting again enhanced by the beautiful vocal balance and textures of the Egidius Kwartet & College. And so ends another marvellous programme from this group, once again in excellent recorded sound and in a superbly presented package with copious illustrations in a 58-page booklet including reproductions from the Choirbook, Books of Hours and the like. All texts are given, with translations, and there are also detailed notes in Dutch and English by Eric Jas, covering the historical background of the Choirbooks and with ample and exemplary details on the design and rationale of the musical programme and on every one of the composers and works represented here.

It's perhaps almost inevitable, in a project of this kind, that there should be a few items of lesser interest in among the many fine works whose qualities I have enthused about in the above descriptions; and indeed I found this to be the case at certain points on these two discs. But overall the levels of both quality and rarity are exceptionally high, and together they amount to a superb collection. Choirbook IV, then, once again brings us some wonderful and largely unknown music, beautifully organised and in splendid, stylish performances by all involved. If you've already been collecting this series you probably won't hesitate; if you don't know the series yet but are the slightest bit interested in renaissance music, I can't recommend it too strongly - this or any of the other volumes would make an equally good introduction and a terrific asset to any collection of early music. This fourth volume is also available from leidsekorboeken, the Leiden Choirbooks' own website.


title: Reaching into the listener's soul

text:
Until recently there was little available on disc of the music of Jehan Titelouze. Organist of Rouen cathedral from 1588 to 1633, and commonly regarded as the founder of the French organ school, his music is pioneering, inventive and magnificent. But now - all of a sudden, or so it seems - we have two superb recordings of the twelve Hymnes de l'Église: a very fine two-disc set by Yves-G. Préfontaine [[ASIN:B001OBT3HU Titelouze: Les Douze Hymns]], and the present set from Markus Goecke. And all this in addition to Robert Bates' splendid collection including all of the composer's Hymn and Magnificat settings [[ASIN:B00GJ626FQ Complete Organ Works of Jean Titelouze]].

The twelve hymn settings, 'Hymnes de l'Église pour toucher sur l'orgue, avec les fugues et recherches sur leur plain-chant', each consist of 4-voice variations on Gregorian hymns, in three or four organ verses. In each case the first verse is based upon a statement of the hymn melody in long notes overlaid by polyphonic treatments of varying complexity; the last verse, typically fugal in character, is generally the most complex, with brilliant and highly developed counterpoint. On these two discs, the organ verses are interspersed with sung versions of their respective hymns - a point which I'll return to in a moment.

Markus Goecke plays the early baroque organ of the church of Saint-Michel in Bolbec, Normandy, originally built by Guillaume Lesselier (Scots-born William Leslie) in 1630, modified and enlarged a few times since then, and superbly restored in 1997 by Bertrand Cattiaux. It's the same instrument as that chosen by Robert Bates for his complete Titelouze survey and again it sounds magnificent, brilliantly suited to this music and recorded here with splendid realism. These hymn settings are music of genius, austerity, poetry and profundity; and Markus Goecke, more than any other player I have yet heard, expresses these qualities magnificently. His style and technique are impeccable, his vision of the music both soulful and elegant, and his embellishments spot-on.

To mention just a few remarkable moments: the majestic rhythms of the opening verse of 'Ad coenam Agni providi' (CDI, track 1), setting the tone of the collection most beautifully; the lyrical beauty of the inner verses such as the second verse of 'Pange lingua' (I/18) or that of 'Ave maris stella' (I/29); and the striking rhythmical treatment of the opening verses of 'Ut queant laxis' (I/22) or 'Ave maris stella' (I/27). In fact, the whole of 'Ave maris stella' forms a splendid sequence, culminating in the superb polyphony of its concluding verse (I/33). My personal favourite, however, is the setting of 'Exultet coelum laudibus' (II/7-12), which for me is an absolute masterpiece. Its final organ verse is a stunning contrapuntal tour de force, played here to perfection by Markus Goecke, with the heightened urgency he applies from the halfway point a master stroke in itself (II/11). Organ enthusiasts, do yourselves a favour and don't miss out on these four minutes of magic!

I mentioned that the organ verses are interspersed with chanted versions of the hymn texts, here performed by the four male voices of Vox Resonat directed by Eric Mentzel. Unlike the rather artificial manner of the procedure in  Préfontaine's recording, this works extremely well here. The singing sounds natural and the continuity of pace between organ and voices is just right. In fact, the sung verses alternate with organ verses throughout, and all the texts are given in the booklet including those verses not sung but set to the organ by Titelouze. Both programme and booklet are extremely well organised, and the organ's specifications and the registrations for each verse are all listed. The booklet notes, and translations of the Latin texts, are in English and German.

Since the content of this set corresponds directly with that of Préfontaine, a comparison is hard to avoid. Both organists are superb musicians, and I would say that their different approaches to Titelouze are complementary in revealing the various facets of this composer's singular genius.  Yves-G. Préfontaine is particularly successful in conveying the colour, drama, flamboyance and originality of Titelouze's fabulous hymn settings. Markus Goecke, for his part, expresses their gravity, subtlety, clarity, elegant beauty and sheer profundity. For me, Goecke penetrates to the very heart of this music, and in doing so he reaches deep into the listener's soul as well. I'm very grateful to have both of these versions, but if I had to choose one it would be Markus Goecke.

Finally, many thanks to fellow reviewers Gérard Begni and Nicolas for drawing my attention to the music of this fascinating composer through their excellent reviews on the French Amazon site.


title: Italian baroque Nativity

text:
This is a graceful programme of music from around 1600 on the theme of the Nativity, from three lesser-known Italian early baroque composers - Centorio, Merula and Anerio. After an opening passage of plainchant, the remaining works are all for solo and concerted voices with a substantial variety of instruments. The second item, Marco Antonio Centorio's Concerto in Dialogo for 8 voices, representing shepherds and angels, and instruments, is charming and delightful, with lovely duetting for two sopranos and equally fine passages for a pair of recorders and for violins, all the while supported by a rich and euphonious continuo ensemble. It's all most beautifully performed here, with stylish playing by the Accademia del Ricercare's period instruments and exquisite solo vocal work throughout.

Centorio's Concerto con Sinfonia (track 4) brings fine opportunities for two sopranos and bass to shine, again with beautiful accompanying instrumental sonorities. Following upon the three pieces by Centorio and a vocal Canzonetta by Merula, the most substantial item on the CD is the Dialogo Pastorale by Giovanni Francesco Anerio. It's a narrative scene on the theme of the three shepherds at the manger, with each one singing a passage in turn; and again, it's most beautifully delivered here in graceful, stylish and well-prepared performances by all the singers and players.

Personally I enjoyed the Centorio pieces best in this programme; clearly it's not great music, but it's touching, enjoyable and delightful. It has charm, euphony and melody, and it receives sensitive and committed performances by all concerned. Pietro Busca is an excellent early music director, and he and the Accademia del Ricercare have made a number of very fine renaissance and baroque recordings. It's good to see that most of them are still available; the others I'm familiar with are [[ASIN:B0000019A8 Banchetto Musicale]], [[ASIN:B00DE0TE7I Anonimi: Chenonceau, Musique à la Cou de Caterina De Medici]] and [[ASIN:B006VOPVSU La Rovattina: Canzoni e danze nelle corti europee del Rinascimento e del primo Barocco]], and every one of these, including the present disc, is well worth investigating by early music enthusiasts.


title: Delightful baroque opera

text:
In recent years, a few recordings have begun to appear of the music of this hitherto little-known Neapolitan composer of the mid-baroque. With one exception, the hard-to-find [[ASIN:B000007NXN Colomba Ferita / Cappella De Turchini]], these have generally concentrated on Francesco Provenzale's sacred music. This present work, then, is a revelation, at least to me. Post-Cavalli in style, the music is highly attractive, graceful and colourful, with never a dull moment.

The plot of this 1674 opera is full of the usual baroque absurdities. As befits a work titled "The Revenge of Stellidaura", it's a story of passion, amorous intrigue, rivalry, treachery, vindictive and wrongful punishment, mislaid letters, mistaken identities, miraculous recovery from presumed death, long-lost relatives and, of course, a last-minute fit of problem-solving (sorry for giving it away!). But this kaleidoscope of baroque activities is a vehicle for genuine and heartfelt emotions, beautifully expressed in music that is subtle, varied and full of great tunes. The five singers - mezzo, two tenors, countertenor and bass - respond superbly to these opportunities, with voices well contrasted and full of character. There's a touch of comedy, too, in the character of the servant Giampetro (bass Enzo Capuana), but finest of all is the splendid performance by the lovely-voiced Stellidaura of mezzo Jennifer Rivera, with every one of her contributions a delight to the ear.

The playing of the period-instrument ensemble Academia Montis Regalis is excellent too, with some colourful and adventurous instrumentation, plenty of plucking, strumming and piping of recorders in the mixture - though with just a bit too much percussion in places for my taste. The playing and singing are stylish and committed throughout, under the admirably spirited direction of Alessandro De Marchi. The two-disc set comes with an excellent booklet, with full notes on music and background, plot synopsis, text and translation. The sound is excellent - it's a live recording, but you wouldn't know it except for a few laughs in the humorous passages and applause at the very end.

Altogether this is a delightful discovery and a highly attractive prospect for baroque fans. At the time of writing it's available from European Amazon and other sources at very reasonable prices.


title: Beautiful Requiem Mass

text:
This Requiem is by far the best-known work by Jean Gilles. It was highly respected and much performed in the 18th century, serving at the funerals of Rameau and Louis XV among others. It is indeed one of the masterpieces of the French baroque, more than worthy to stand alongside the Requiem masses of Campra and Charpentier, for example. It's a graceful and beautifully structured work, appropriately sad but full of good tunes, with moments of hope and elation amidst the mourning. The start of the Sanctus and Agnus Dei are among many examples of the composer's melodic gift.

This fine performance by French soloists, the Choeur de chambre les éléments, and the period-instrument Orchestre les Passions, is at least equal to the very best I have heard. Its first great asset is the omission of the extremely tedious drumbeats which were added, long after Gilles' death, by an unknown hand for the occasion of Rameau's funeral in 1764 and which continued to deface the very start of the Introit in most performances and, more recently, recordings. These and the other tasteless and unnecessary trumpet and drum parts added later are all deleted, the work is here restored to its original form and is very much the better for it. So the atmosphere from the start is not one of ominous pomposity, but of sadness, devotion and consolation.

The entire performance by Jean-Marc Andrieu and his forces is stylish and affecting. These performers have already been making something of a speciality of the work of Jean Gilles (see below and [[ASIN:B008OJ28YU Messe En Re & Te Deum]]) and it shows. The soloists are excellent with, among others, Alain Buet an especially fine bass-baritone with plenty to do here. The work is coupled with Gilles' dramatic and colourful 'grand motet' "Cantate Jordanis incolae", another excellent example of grand siècle baroque. Its section "Redemit Christus" (track 12) is another of many examples of Gilles' graceful melodies.

There have been other good recordings of the Requiem, including Herreweghe's second version (on Harmonia Mundi - [[ASIN:B00005NCMF Requiem]]) which, apart from its unfortunate use of those intrusive timpani parts at the start and elsewhere, is otherwise very fine indeed, with excellent soloists. Personally, I would now count the present recording under Andrieu as my first choice, at least of the ones I've heard. It's also available as part of a superb 3-disc set, coupled with the composer's Lamentations and Mass in D, all of which are splendid works; at the time of writing this is only obtainable from European sources such as amazon.fr, fnac or the German mail-order firm whose initials stand for jazz-pop-classic; in any case, it's a terrific set and well worth seeking out.

The booklet notes, at least in the above-mentioned three-disc set which is the one I have, are excellent, but are poorly translated into English. All texts are given.


title: Complete letdown

text:
This CD is one of a series of early dance music programmes entitled « Dansez Renaissance », well documented and no doubt earnest in intent, played by Compagnie Outre Mesure directed by Robin Joly. One of its companion discs, [[ASIN:B00349F2Q6 Bal au Château de Chambord - Concert d'Alta]], is also still available but, sadly, the same criticisms I made of that disc apply equally to the present one. To cut a long story short, it is extremely disappointing. The usual names in the contents list seem promising enough - Susato, Praetorius, Gervaise, Arbeau, Phalèse - but the pieces are played without spirit, charm or any sense of spontaneity or enjoyment.

The dances are often moderately rhythmical in a crude sense, but none of them catches fire at any point. There is ample use of rather loud and insistent percussion, to the detriment of other instruments; also, while bagpipes have their uses, I find their unmelodious screeching most unwelcome in this repertory.

In short, this is as dull and disagreeable a programme of renaissance music as you can imagine, all the more disappointing because this genre has so many delights to offer to fans of early music. There are literally dozens of far better discs of this repertory available. I won't repeat myself any more, but if you do need to know the names of some decent early music groups and their recordings, please check the other review referred to above.


title: Live recordings

text: This set was made about the same time as the EMI studio recordings.  Tho some of the tempi are different(mostly faster) the sound, for its age, is rather poor.  Very listenable but rather dry for 1960.<br />Keep your studio set


title: excellent

text: excellent


title: Vintage

text: Vintage. Pretty good sound overall.  Barbirolli


title: Okay

text: This is NOT the cover for the Maazel/Mahler set.  Read my review elsewhere.  Erratic tempos.


title: Loved it!

text: Whoa!  This isn't your grandfather's Vivaldi.  There is tremendous fire in these interpretations.  Perhaps too much fire for some.  I really loved it.


title: Higly recommended

text: WOW!  This is some performance.  Great sound also. Highly recommended


title: Charming

text: One of Elgar's most charming works.


title: Five Stars

text: Great all around!


title: Looked for years....waiting....

text: I have owned this LP set on Angel(EMI) since the 70s. It had at that time never been issued by same in CD format. So I am very glad it has been issued by this little company. Better sound than on the LPs and fine performances by Barbirolli and the magnificent VPO.<br /> Symphony number four is also on this label while numbers 2&3 are on Seraphim(go figure????) Wonderful!


title: Lovely Christmas variety

text: This is a lovely Christmas disc. A variety of styles and material. Highly recommended. Too bad it's out of print


title: You ain't heard anything yet!

text: What a crying shame this isn't out on CD.  One of the greatest trumpet/big band recordings ever made. Sensational!!<br />Hey!  What's the hold up????


title: This edition is a 2007 remaster by the Sony Legacy ...

text: This edition is a 2007 remaster by the Sony Legacy group.  Normally, they produce better-than-original editions.  Something amiss with this title.  They seem to have left the original "Sony Walkman"  mastering intact: tremendous bass and treble boost to account for AM radio range of 100-7000hz.  The drum and guitar tracts are so loud as to make the vocals almost inaudible.  Have not heard the 2013 remaster, but hopefully a step up from this one.  Avoid if playing on better audio equipment.


title: Great sound; I just wish I understood Russian!

text: Very nice, complex voice with a some very excellent songs. I can't speak to the lyrics; I don't understand them. Nonetheless, the songs are pleasant to listen to.


title: Simply divine!

text: Love David Newman -- and love this CD -- so so so glad to have this in my collection!


title: Awesome CD!

text: The music on this cd is very inspiring.


title: Great CD!

text: Really enjoyed the instrumental songs on this recording.


title: Great CD!

text: The songs on this CD are very inspirational.


title: Would recommend to anyone who is gieving the loss of a ...

text: Would recommend to anyone who is gieving the loss of a child!  Reminds me of my son who was murdered!


title: Gomer Hits A Home Run!

text: Great LP! Listened to Jim Nabors with my parents when I was growing up. Thanks for the memories.


title: I guess it's not mine anymore.

text: UH! My daughter took it away from me! She's 43 and I'm somewhat, so age has nothing to do with who enjoys Sheppard.I forgave her because I have a full length album with both tracks on it.I can not remain still when I listen to Sheppard. It would make great work-out music for my Silver Sneakers classes.(I don't instruct,I just show up and fake it til I make it,every once in awhile).I heard them the first time on the "Today" show and liked them immediately.I had a hard time finding their albums,but am really excited that I did.


title: Oops!  I'm SMILING!!

text: My children listened to this record when they were young, when they borrowed it from a friend.  I was so excited to find it on Amazon.  It sure brings back alot of good memories of my children praising God!  Oops, there's another smile!!


title: Ballads of Madison County

text: This cd is as good as the book and movie. Robert waller is a story teller and makes you feel like part of the story. "Idaho Rain" is all of our stories of first love, who went on while we stayed home. Wallers presentation of "wabash Cannon Ball" is better than the orginal. He puts us there with him as he dreams of home. GOOD MUSIC.


title: Wonder Christmas piano

text: Wonderful sounds in piano of all the Christmas favorites


title: Five Stars

text: excellent


title: The Twilight Zone side of the 1960s Rock Revolution

text:
Tennessee Ernie Ford, EVERYTHING IS BEAUTIFUL, Capitol ST 583

Ernie gets heavy funky Southern Soul (with Nashville seasoning) on these tracks from 1970.  It's just so BIZARRE, one of those so bad-it's-good-pop just WEIRD '60s albums by establishment artists, completely off Ernie's audience taste (country?  No.) expectation.  The guy REALLY stretched putting his deep white Gospel voice over these Dave Cavanaugh orchestra concoctions.  This album is a kind of "country" counterpart to Jerry Vale's Columbia album, LET IT BE, CS 1021.  Rhino Records put Ern's version on their Beatles' GOLDEN THROATS IV album with Shatner and Nimoy.  The period around 1970 suggests that a lot of LSD made it into the major labels' recording studios with old style vocalist with orchestra crooners veering into the weird, wild, and Nixon Silent Majority strange, strange, strange trying to swim with the psychedelic '60s--think Mel Torme's two Capitol album ventures into Nehru jacket pop for 40-something guys ("Sunshine Superman").

This album is part of a defacto series of Ern making middle-of-the-road contemporary pop albums with predictable and other song choices, and establishing himself as a not-country pop artist sometimes on record, when he was otherwise churning out Gospel albums based on his 1956 HYMNS monster album:

MY FAVORITE THINGS, ST 2444 (the Beatles' RUBBER SOUL was T/ST 2442)
WORLD OF POP AND COUNTRY HITS, ST 2896 (April, 1968)
SONGS I LOVE TO SING, ST 127
THE NEW WAVE, ST 218 (Spring, 1969)
EVERYTHING IS BEAUTIFUL, ST 583
THE FOLK ALBUM, ST 833 (his son appears on this Lp)
COUNTRY MORNING, ST 11205 (1972)

On these Lps he sometimes recorded some ghastly awful and unintentionally FUNNY tracks, most notably his version of the Beatles' "Let It Be" (Jerry Vale did it, too! Really!), "Wichita Lineman,"  and, OMG, I heard his version of "Talk To The Animals" on a Capitol DJ Lp from April, 1968 (my jaw clenched trying to hold back exploding laughter while it played), which I found spun off from WORLD OF POP AND COUNTRY HITS, ST 2896 Lp. That version has to be heard to be believed.

Capitol's answer to Jim Nabors.  Jerry Vale.  Johnny Mathis.  Tony Bennett ("I Gotta Be Me") . Glen Campbell (kinda).  Andy Griffith (?)....


title: Mood music acid rock for easy listening fans

text:
Mariano & the Unbelievables 25TH HOUR, Capitol ST 2875 (stereo) vinyl Lp.

Album dates May-June, 1968.  It's easy listening mood music that features acid rock hits predigested for instrumental "beautiful music" fans.  A & C credit is by Mort Garson, produced by Glen Campbell's in-house producer Al DeLory.  I was enthusiastically crate digging at an overstock record sale looking for forgotten rock Lps and spied this album, figured the date from the Capitol release number, and thought it might be one of those Capitol Records' 1968 rock acts in frilly ruffled velour tuxedo stage costumes that bombed out forgotten with no hits and no chart appearances.  One of those '60s (you think) rock albums from staring at the cover art, suggesting Paul Revere and the Raiders or maybe Gary Puckett and the Union Gap, or so perfectly spoofed by Mike Meyers's Austin Powers character in his movies.  Nope.  Think more like Liberace plucks the harpsicord for '60s moptop teenagers' ... parents.  Think the kinda instrumental rock music you'd hear on '60s crime drama TV shows' bar scenes.

Capitol featured, er, plugged three tracks from this album on their deep album cuts' radio promo albums, THE CAPITOL DISCO JOCKEY ALBUM for May, 1968 (two tracks:  "Green Tambourine" and "Love Is Blue") and June, 1968 ("Live For Life").  Those kind for easy listening/beautiful music pop stations with some vocalists.  Think George Shearing, Wayne Newton, Nancy Wilson, lounge mood music acts that presaged "smooth jazz" for the late 1960s.  Those two Capitol DJ filler cuts' albums were pushing Capitol's MICHAEL DEES AFFAIR Lp, who'd previously had an album on Dot Records (home of Pat Boone and Lawrence Welk).


title: Petra's biggest '80s album, sold only through Christian bookstores

text:
Petra THIS MEANS WAR CD reissue, 2021 on Girder

I have Petra's MORE POWER TO YA, NOT OF THIS WORLD, BEAT THE SYSTEM, and CAPTURED IN TIME & SPACE albums on period vinyl; however, locating a used copy of this THIS MEANS WAR album on vinyl is a little difficult if you're a vinyl junkie shopping in local used record shops--most used vinyl shops where you can flip three-buck common albums are run by counter culture owners, and most '80s CCM albums were pop vanilla sold to teens from Silent Majority families.  Most shops pass on unsalable collections of easy listening white pop styles, and CCM generally only rocked as hard as early Amy Grant, Pat Boone, and B.J. Thomas vanilla.  This new CD is a welcome affordable way to acquire an out-of-print '80s CCM album, without having to resort to gambling on mail order used vinyl.

Petra returned to a melodic '70s pop/rock style after BEAT THE SYSTEM failed to cross over in the secular (shopping mall and record store) market on A&M's gamble to sell Word Records and Word-distributed album acts through regular record distribution, and THIS MEANS WAR album is the first album after A&M dropped Petra's titles in the general/secular market distribution, being sold only in Christian bookstores again.  The album's sound is "heavier" than  1982-1986 titles, though the instrumental breaks tend toward keyboard sounds, more shopping mall overhead pop melodic than fist-pumping glam/metal anthems.  The album had advance sales of 170,000 copies and was the band's biggest '80s seller at the time.  The album was released on 8/01/1987, charted on the Billboard TOP INSPIRATIONAL ALBUMS chart beginning 8/22/87, and hit #1 twice, on 11/14/87, then hit #1 again on 3/12/88, finally ending its run on 3/11/89, but never appearing on the regular 200 pop albums chart.  The Lp did not earn the RIAA gold record award, (500,000 copies),  but likely sold over 400,000.  Previously, Petra's biggest album was MORE POWER TO YA, which charted from 1/08/83 until 6/01/85.  MORE POWER TO YA sold 200,000 by 11/12/83, and probably doubled that for another year and half by mid-1985.


title: The 1985 synth-pop crossover attempt on A&M

text:
Petra, BEAT THE SYSTEM, CD reissue Girder Records 2021

This CD copy updates my vinyl Lp on Star Sound.  The CD booklet includes the lyrics on the foldout, but not the original Lp's merchandise and tour sheet from the original.  This album was Petra's bid to cross over from being distributed exclusively in Christian bookstores.  Word/ABC inked a deal in late 1984 to distribute CCM albums to the general/secular (mall) retail outlets via A&M Records and RCA distribution, and the first two acts on the roster on the A&M imprint were Petra and Amy Grant.  Petra's BEAT THE SYSTEM came first, but only sold about 10% of their albums in regular retail channels, while this album topped the Billboard TOP INSPIRATIONAL ALBUMS monthly chart on three appearances, on 6/01/1985, 6/29/85, and 7/27/85, replaced at the top by Amy Grant's UNGUARDED album.

Petra and Word changed the band's style on this album from a 1970's pop/rock sound (think the softer Boston and Journey pop ballads) to a synth/pop sound much like period Top-40 acts like Hall & Oates, Kenny Loggins, Huey Lewis, and mid-'80s dance soundtracks like FOOTLOOSE and TOP GUN.

The album charted on the Billboard TOP INSPIRATIONAL ALBUMS monthly chart (published every four weeks) from 2/09/85 debut until 7/26/86. but did not appear on the regular 200 pop albums chart.  Petra followed this album with a 2 Lp live set, CAPTURED IN TIME AND SPACE, that returned to a more guitar '70s rock sound, which charted on the ...INSPIRATIONAL ... chart beginning 5/03/86.


title: Are you really THAT desperate?

text:
Rick Segall, I LOVE YOU BECAUSE YOU'RE FAT, vinyl Lp on Casablanca Records, February, 1983.  That disco label known for those just GORGEOUS hot Donna Summer albums and KISS.

Uh, if you wonder why Casablanca went belly up bankrupt, this Lp might give you some idea.  Rick Segall here is that Partridge Family cutesy annoying screachy whiny pretty little moptop kid who destroyed the TV show, Ricky Segall's (1974 Lp on Bell Records) DAD, which is why he's going bald.  The little kid you might think this is (he was 6 in 1974, so he'd be hitting age 15 or so in 1983 when this album was made) ain't.

Two funny songs, but the rest, blah, not so inspired.  Buy it for "Amazing Weight" and "Michael Ate the Smorgasborg".


title: Merry Christmas to You All, uh, Yule, oh, PUNNY, VERY PUNNY!

text:
UP With People, MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU ALL, Pace Records 1105.  Vinyl Lp dates Christmas, 1968.

Track list:
side one--
Merry Christmas to You All -- Linda Blackmore
Pat's Poem -- Pat Ector (recitation)
Up With People! -- Linda Blackmore, Pat Ector, Debbie Kirkpatrick (song reimagined for Christmas)
Jingle Bell Beat -- rockin' instrumental
O Little Town of Bethlehem -- Linda Blackmore
Away in a Manger -- Linda Blackmore
Hope of Mankind -- Linda Blackmore
side two--
A Present for Santa -- Howie Surrey
Waddle -- rockin' instrumental
Children -- Frank Fields
I Wonder As I Wander -- Debbie Kirkpatrick
There'll Be A new World Beginnin' from Tonight -- Finis Fator
O' Holy Night -- Linda Blackmore
Merry Christmas to You All -- Linda Blackmore (reprise)

Linda Blackmore and Debbie Kirkpatrick sing, Pat Ector reads a "talky" recitation, Finis Factor plays guitar instrumentals, Graham Young on trumpet.

Best (er, most memorable) tunes are "Hope Of Mankind," which is a kind of Swords and Sandals movie bombastic production that sounds kind of like a '60s "spaghetti western" orchestra arrangement.  Think period movie themes like "Theme from Exodus."  "Waddle" sounds like a Santo & Johnny reverb guitar instrumental with some Go Go boots Tijuana Brass vibe.  The most outright weird/strange reading is "There'll Be a New World Beginnin' from Tonight" Nixon rock music alternative go go rockin' pro-establishment Wild West, Manifest Destiny horse & saddle happy, er, Christmas song?  Take Cowboys & Indians' '64 New Christy Minstrels and drift a bit into the horse opera Twilight Zone....  If it was supposed to turn on the '60s kids, it was a kind of TV rockin' My Three Sons feel rock song that scrupulously avoided any Beatles association.

Sound overall is maybe AA ball, second tier professional.  It's obviously aimed at selling to parents FOR the kids (teens).  Linda Blackmore sings like a state university soprano theater vocalist, a generic female voice that's very white suburban.  Cover shot says '20 something Republican establishment, high collar and long sleeves buttoned up, beehive hairdo, someone Phyllis Schlafly would have approved.  She looks very conservative '70s Utah collegiate.  Side One, track two, "Pat's Poem," features a talky reading by Pat Ector, with backing instrumental music from the vanilla rock group, the Cascades', "Listen to the Rhythm of the Falling Rain."

Back cover has plugs for the four previous UP WITH PEOPLE albums, beginning with SING OUT!, which charted on both Billboard and Cash Box album charts from May, 1966.  This Lp did not chart in Billboard's seasonal Lp chart.


title: Apples or Onions:  Crawford Gates BELOVED MORMON HYMNS CD reissue from the 1964 vinyl Lp

text:
The album was originally released on Century Records/Continental Records C/CS-101 vinyl Lp, sold through the BYU bookstore and LDS stake center bookstores.

The original vinyl Lp featured a rough paper white cover with gold lettering, and dates from December, 1964.  The Lp was reissued on vinyl Lp about 1976 on the LDS Church business imprint, Covenant Records, in 1976, and on this CD from 2006.


title: Apples or Onions:  July, 1967 Sacred Music LDS album recorded in New York and sold through ZCMI

text:
Mormon music vinyl Lp sold in Utah's department store chain, ZCMI:

Side one
The Holy City (Weatherly-Adams) --vocal by Melva Barborka
The Pilgrim's Song (Tschaikovsky) --vocal by Robert Peterson
More Holiness Give Me (Bliss) --vocal duet by Barborka/Peterson
The Lost Chord (Procotr-Sullivan) --vocal by Robert Peterson
If Christ Should Come Tomorrow (A.W. "Mickey" Hart) -- vocal by Melva Barborka
Side two
Praise Be to Thee (Harrell-Handel) --vocal by Robert Peterson
I Walked Today Where Jesus Walked (Twohig-O'Hara) --vocal by Melva Barborka
Abide With Me 'Tis Eventide (Hofford-Millard) --vocal due by Barborka/Peterson
The Lord's Prayer (Music: Malotte) --vocal by Melva Barborka
A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief --vocal by Robert Peterson

Credits on the Lp state:
Musical Advisor Eugene Cines CBS-TV
Associate Producer Clifford Barborka
Rehearsal Pianist & Coach Clare Neu
Allen Organ Model TC1 Allen Organ Co. 139 Post Rd. White Plains, N.Y.
"If Christ Should Come Tomorrow" is by A. W. "Mickey" Hart, whose Mormon hymns were recorded in 1956-59 by Jessie Evans Smith, wife of Joseph Fielding Smith, the LDS Prophet.

Conductor is Alfredo Antonini, composer/arranger is by Frank Denning, and Phil Ramone at A&R Recording Studios is the audio engineer. The Lp dead wax area (runoff groove) is stamped XSV123762-1A/1B, which means it was mastered and custom pressed by Columbia Records.

B.T. Records C/o Bishop, Church, in Scarsdale, NY. John S. Dawson of Greenwich, Connecticut wrote the liner notes.

Sound:
Stereo. Strings and woodwinds orchestra, with flourishes by bells and harps on occasion. Instrumental backing is quite decent, though of small orchestra scale. Best track on the Lp is Robert Peterson's reading of "A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief." He replaced Bob Goulet in the early '60s on the road version of Camelot and I think has a much better voice than Robert Goulet, who went on to some fame as a moderately popular middle-of-the-road vocalist in the early '60s. The conductor gets good work from Melva Niles, but it's Robert Peterson who really rises up to these songs.

The vinyl Lp was sold in the late '60s via ZCMI department stores, at least in Utah, for $4.97. Robert Peterson and Melva Niles toured a show, FROM BROADWAY WITH LOVE, performing period show tunes mainstream pop, beginning about April, 1968, with an Ogden, Utah 18 year old pianist, Brent Johnston, and recorded a kind of keepsake album of that tour on Clifford Barborka/Melva Barborka's Utah record label, National Theatre Productions NTPS-333, MELVA NILES/ROBERT PETERSON, BRING US TOGETHER ONCE AGAIN (1969 Lp), with local Utah TV personality Eugene Jelesnik conducting at the 1965-1970+ Valley Music Hall, located at what is now the Bountiful Regional Center.


title: THIS IS SPINAL TAP 1984 vinyl original pressing; a Mime is a Terrible Thing to Waste

text:
THIS IS SPINAL TAP movie soundtrack, Polydor 817846.  Vinyl Lp and cassette dates March, 1984.

I've had the movie twice, the first time on the Embassy Pictures VHS tape (blue cover with the twisted guitar neck artwork slipcover), now the 2000 DVD version.  I got a whim to spin the original vinyl Lp on Polydor Records label (think all those late '70s Osmond and C. W. McCall albums after MGM folded up), to check it against the 2000 CD version.  I've had the Lp for a few decades; my copy has a slightly scuffed cover and M- vinyl Lp, and still has the price tag on it.  I found the vinyl Lp playback has a bit more bass than the CD, and the whole album is loaded up with echo.  The style on the Lp reminds me of a more heavy and moderate tempo Anvil.  I had to scan the Lp inner sleeve lyrics sheet to follow the vocals.  Other side of the inner Lp sleeve shows recording studio credit.  I followed the Lp listening with viewing/listening to the movie segments' "concert" chapters.  Like Lenny & Squiggy's 1979 Casablanca live album, LENNY & THE SQUIGTONES, I long thought this band did live performances which were recorded and released on the soundtrack; however, the movie performances were largely identical to the studio recordings on this soundtrack.  In effect, most of the movie music performances were lip synched, with some additional recordings overlayed during filming the "live" concert footage.  The only fully live performance on the movie was the "Give Some Money" sound check.

All tracks on the Lp are true stereo, including the three "1965-1967" singles tracks.  British rock bands' '60s Lps crossed the Atlantic to the U.S. in hideously rechanneled stereo (butchered by the American labels' sound engineers), like the Who on Decca, Dave Clark Five on Epic (GAAADS! WRETCHED!), Rolling Stones on London, Gerry & the Pacemakers on Laurie, the Hollies on Imperial, and, of course, Capitol chopping up the Beatles' albums with electronic reverb and out-of-phase duophonic singles' tracks....  A minor quibble, but had the ...Tap early tracks been presented in rechanneled phony stereo, the joke would have been better played on the album.  (Especially with U.S. Decca's shimmery far away bathroom tile bleeding echo-echo-echo reverb on the right stereo channel.)

I was also curious about the sales stats on the album(s).  Polydor didn't spin off any singles on the Lp (the album dates roughly when Yoko Ono was on the label, who had several singles' hits).  My Whitburn chart album books, 1955-2009 and 1955-2016 editions, do not indicate any RIAA gold record awards, nor does the RIAA site's search option, which means none of the chart albums have registered the 500,000 unit sales thresholds 30 years out.  Chart runs on both THIS IS SPINAL TAP and BREAK LIKE THE WIND were less than three months each on both Billboard and Cash Box, and neither album appeared on Billboard's catalog album charts.  BREAK LIKE THE WIND has the longest run, on the Cash Box chart.

Oh, yes, some guys in my dorm watched the movie at the Century Syufy and thought the group was real....


title: Sounds like an Olivia Newton-John country impersonator on a no-budget country indie label

text:
Um yeah.  CD dates Spring, 1994 recording while she was recording and shopping for a label, what looks like self-released on a kind of private press album as FROM NASHVILLE TO YOU in the U.S. about August, 1994.

La Toya and country music--curiosty; this is the EU budget copy.  Sound is '80s middle-of-the-road Nashville pop.

I checked for cover songs, got Elvis's rocker from 1972, "Burnin' Love," also spotted the songwriter credits to Lionel Ritchie on "So In Love With You," Patsy Cline's pop hit, "Crazy," and "Boots" which is a cover of Nancy Sinatra's '60s hit, "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'".  I checked my Whitburn country books for the song titles, but only these three checked out; the Lionel Ritchie song is Kenny Rogers's 1981 hit from his country album, SHARE YOUR LOVE.  La Toya's album opens with a fanfare, a truncated version of "Also Sprach Zarathustra," if you remember the soundtrack of 2001, A SPACE ODYSSEY.  Three of the songs list La Toya's publishing interests.  The final song on the Lp shows songwriting credit to David Briggs, who apparently was one of the session people on this project; Briggs was all over '80s Barbara Mandrell album credits.

Sound:  Vocally, She sounds like ONJ country/pop albums (like "I Honestly Love You," "Have You Never Been Mellow," and "Please Mister Please").  Instrumentally, the lead guitar guy's sound is that not-steel guitar metallic Nashville sound featured on tunes like Tammy Wynette's "Another Chance" and Tanya Tucker's "Can I See You Tonight."  The album sounds very middle-of-the-road mid-'80s Nashville pop/country.  There's a couple almost fun semi-rockers, but they don't sound completely finished.  Overall, the tracks sound like '80s indie label 45s' songs.


title: Recycled previous Capitol album tracks and hit singles

text:
SONNY JAMES, TRACES, Capitol ST 11108.  This Lp dates from 1972, a package of 1963-71 recordings, bleeding off sales from Sonny's first Columbia Lp, WHEN THE SNOW IS ON THE ROSES, KC 31646, his new album after leaving Capitol.

Capitol released "Traces" on 45 single Capitol 3398, which competed with "When The Snow Is On The Roses" Columbia 4-45644 45 single on the C/W singles' charts ("When The Snow Is On The Roses" peaked at #1).  "Traces" had previously been an Lp cut on Sonny's EMPTY ARMS, Capitol ST 734 album from 1971.  The oldest track on this Lp is "Invisible Tears," from I'LL KEEP HOLDING ON Capitol ST 2317 album.  Balance of the tracks are the obvious past Capitol country hits.  The cover art on this Lp apes Neil Diamond's SHILO album, Bang BLP 221, with the connect-the-dots' theme.

Maybe about 1979, Capitol dumped the album to Pickwick Records, minus two tracks from this 1972 Capitol Lp.


title: Pop and dance bands from 1927, when Coolidge was President

text:
(Various artists) 1927, RCA Vintage LPV 545.  This Lp dates 1967.

One of my shellac friends (who first turned me onto rock 'n roll, the good stuff, on 78s before Elvis) sent me some spare "grape juice" RCA/Victor Vintage series (pre-WW2) albums, one of them being the 1928 album, LPV 523, which has just one Black music track, Duke Ellington's original filthy banned immoral jazz instrumental, "The Mooche," as well as the original version of Helen Kane's "I Wanna Be Loved By You" (the "boop-boop-dee-do" song).  Mix in several doses listening to Tony Randall's '30s nostalgia albums on Mercury ("When Banana Skins Are Falling I'll Come Sliding Back to You"), some Regis Philbin, several spins of Tiny Tim's albums, Joe Feeney on the Lawrence Welk Show, and tracking back Paul Whiteman's jazz recordings (with young Bing, Bix, and Red Nichols, too), then searching out this comp of 1927 white pop and white jazz recordings seemed a natural.  Most of the "grape juice" RCA Vintage series albums cover '30s and early '40s jazz, while few albums in the series feature the white mass market ephemeral vocal pop music.

Sound on this album is top notch, sourced from RCA's early electrical period disc masters, and considering the direct-to-disc technology remarkably full, quiet, and groove distortion free, excepting two tracks, "Do Do Do" by Gertrude Lawrence on side one, and "Hallelujah" by the Revelers on side two, which have a little '78s era surface noise.  However, the sound on these RCA's Vintage series' Lps are generally far better than CDs with needle-drop mastering, mostly from EU expired copyrights' legal boots which source from private record collections (used), instead of the original source masters at the record companies used here.  I wouldn't be at all surprised that several EU CDs are sourced from the recordings on this vinyl album.

The recordings on this, eight to a side for 16 total tracks, run the gamut from Tin Pan Alley forgettable white romantic  courtship pop (the moon, June, spoon stuff), to cliche' uptempo pop songs aping Al Jolson's sunny and peppy theatrical songs, and 4/4 time white dance jazz with that '20s jerky backbeat dance rhythm (boom-click-boom-click, the opposite of march time).  As a blues-swing, rock, and honky tonk C/W fan, the dance music is a nostalgic ear-opener, hearing bands based on Tuba bass instead of string bass, the use of banjos as jazz rhythm instruments, overly complicated piano work and ensemble jazz riffs and short solos in place of hot swing stand-alone-and-blow solos after 1935.  Tin Tim's vocal mannerisms fit right in when hearing high-pitched male crooner head vocals on several of these tracks.  This pop is street downscale, city people white jazz and novelty pop apart from the snobby stuff rebranded "The Great American Songbook" later when ASCAP lost the publishing war on the mass market singles' charts.


title: Another album of all the tracks you already have

text:
Sonny James, YOUNG LOVE, Capitol ST 11196 stereo.  Lp dates about July, 1973.

"Young Love" is a rechanneled version of the '56 pop hit, although this rechanneled version is less "duophonic" than the previous phony stereo version on THE BEST OF SONNY JAMES, ST 2615, from 1966.  All the other tracks are album filler from the 1969 MY LOVE Capitol ST 478 Lp through SONNY JAMES BIGGEST HITS, Capitol ST 11013 album all over again.  Capitol was just bleeding off some of Sonny's sales on his early Columbia albums with this filler Lp.


title: Third album on little artsy Elektra Records done on the live and incredibly cheap

text:
PHIL OCHS IN CONCERT, Elektra EKL-310 mono/EKS-7310 stereo.  Per the back cover liner notes, the Lp was recorded live in concert in Boston and New York during winter, 1965-early 1966.  Lp charted and dragged the bottom, July, 1966 (Billboard, but not Cash Box); it's a money grab album, no recording budget needed (cheap), when Ochs jumped labels to A&M.

All the tracks on this Lp are topical/political for the period (late '65) while Lyndon Johnson was president.  The content has a vague theme of impending left-wing revolution brewing, and Phil Ochs sings about campus issues, workers' issues, U.S. empire policies, and anti-Christianity. He's the crank standing outside telling you the obvious.  Above the song listings the liner notes feature "Poems by MAO TSE-TUNG" rendered in English.  David A. Noebel ranted in multiple references that Phil Ochs' politics were Communist and this album's back cover credits very strongly suggest he was right.  (Oops, did I actually say that?)

Sound on the Lp is remarkably coherent for a spliced-together "live" album (most live albums are actually compilations and sound from one track to another is usually a hodge podge) and, I think, probably the best introduction to Phil Ochs' discography--it's all him, alone.  Performances feature only Ochs and his acoustic guitar, with a live audience in the background.  The stereo copy is not really stereo, since there's nothing to fill out the sound stage except some natural echo and the audience background somewhere OUT THERE.

Taste:  well, I find the album pretentious, aggressively judgmental, self-assured, matter-of-fact, annoying, earnest, in-your-face, whining and righteously opinionated (moreso than Bob Dylan who could write lyrically "sideways" and sneak it past you until you woke up), condescending, but it's Phil Ochs, warts and all.  The material is a lot like Kinky Friedman, without the funny.

I don't like this album, but I agree with most of it.  Best track, and most people don't get, is "Love Me, I'm a Liberal."  Meaning "Establishment Liberal," the guy whose political enemies are his closest and dearest friends.  The kind of guy who'll fire you, draft you for a war, and feel sorry for you at the same time.


title: Bigger sound than Mike Curb Congregation's DISNEY'S GREATEST HITS and a similar theme

text:
The Young Americans TO RICHARD RODGERS WITH LOVE, YALA 100 vinyl Lp.

Track list:
side one--
Edelweiss
Blue Room
Mountain Greenery
There's A Small Hotel
My Favorite Things
It Might As Well Be Spring
side two--
June Is Busting Out All Over
I Whistle A Happy Tune
Manhattan
Happy Talk
You'll Never Walk Alone

Lp features a gatefold cover with four pages of notes and b&w photos inside.  Although no date is given, the inner information states that Milton C. Anderson (the director/founder of this group) met with Richard Rodgers twice in the "spring of 1978," which effectively dates the Lp somewhat later.  The credits list 50 vocalists on this album.  Sound is really white pop, sweet, "wholesome family entertainment" big beautiful choral vocals, a la something like the Harry Simeone Chorale or the Roger Wagner Chorale.  Overall theme puts a BIG vocal choral sound on music suggesting a fantasy over-produced THE SOUND OF MUSIC, something like the Mike Curb Congregation's DISNEY'S GREATEST HITS March, 1973, Lp, but without that album's hardcore Nixon/Reagan Republican kitschy longing for the suburban past that never was.

The Young Americans were founded as a kind of not-rock 'n roll youth music in 1962, spawning a boatload of relentlessly awful clones (like Up With People, the Mike Curb Congregation, the Doodletown Pipers, late '60s New Christy Minstrels, ...), but this album puts over ASCAP white pop with feeling instead of aiming for a gutterball with faux teen-like theater rock 'n roll.  This Lp is more creamy vanilla than the Ray Conniff Singers, Pat Boone, or even Bing Crosby, but they put Tin Pan Alley over straight.  Three and a half stars.


title: Professionally produced private press vinyl country Lp from 1985 Melba, Idaho

text:
Jerry Tlucek, IN GOD WE TRUST, Melba County Christian Music MVCM 1003.

Songs:
Because We Believe
Future Farmers U.S.A.
Idaho
The Good News
My Life Without You

America, America
I'll Love You More and More Each Day
Jeanie and Me
Let There Be Sunshine
Memories Will Last for a Lifetime

Produced by Rex W. Bledsoe.  All songs written by Jerry Tlucek.  Full lyrics printed on the inner dust seal sleeve.

Professional album cover, solid color photography, back cover suggests a cowboy theme, but the record listing suggests it's a religious album.  The country theme won out when I spun it.  Production on this is '80s ballad country, something like the heavy slow songs on country radio, Waylon Jennings's "outlaw" music from the Urban Cowboy period, maybe Glen Campbell's LETTER TO HOME Lp (1984).  All the songs here are penned by Jerry Tlucek.  His songwriting is sincere, about B-grade lyrics and themes, with A-grade Nashville backing.  Without listening to it, you'd think it'd be full of amateurish and unintentionally funny content, but Jerry puts a professional polish on his music.  The album's feeling, polish, production reminds me of Canada's Stompin' Tom Connors music, as well as Chris LeDoux's indie real cowboy albums '70s-'80s produced in Nashville (before Garth Brooks exposed LeDoux to the pop country world).  Jerry's album's themes here are conservative rural or pastoral Idaho themes, cows, country, patriotism, farming and ranching, etc... and conventional personal love songs.  Vocally, he sounds like a generic older guy with an unpolished singing-in-the-shower voice, hits the notes decently, and doesn't go off the rails.

He blew some serious money and did a lot of work making this album sound like first line country product you might buy in record stores and hear on the country charts.  I wonder if he got local radio play on his music?  Lyrically, for a private press guy, he's a very good country songwriter; the songs sound like middle charting country hits and decent hitmakers' album filler cuts.


title: It's like listening to battle strident religious hymns like "Praise to the Man"

text:
I bought it on a whim, just in case.  The bombastic warlike earnestness in these hymns sounds like the choir practicing down by the Lion House when I'm checking out the new mall, where the ankle-length skirt army tends guard duty keeping watch on the showroom window mannequin skin displays and doing beard patrols on retail clerks.  Where guys in Smoky Bear hats chase out mall rats wearing message t-shirts and visible tattoos.  Where feminist pantsuits are discouraged with vicious stares.  Where coffee is verboten.  A green Jello with fruit cocktail world.

I just may need this album to prove my loyalty after the 2020 election.  Hymns for a Red State!


title: Reminds me of early '70s pre-CCM albums by Oral Roberts University World Action Singers

text:
Walmart Associates Choir, THE EYES OF A CHILD, CD.

Sound on this CD bin stuffer very closely follows something like old pop Christian (Light Records) Oral Roberts University World Action Singers, pop star and son Richard Roberts & wife Patti Roberts, c. 1970 or so--CCM pre-Amy Grant.  Pre-Evie Tornquist.  Think Pat Boone Family CCM albums (pre-Debbie Boone, too), Jesus pop by Evangelical groups in matching orange & purple 100% polyster tuxedos and gowns, "wholesome family entertainment" Christian music for the early '70s.  Being a schlock music enthusiast (Elvis soundtracks, song poems, Rodd Keith, David Hasselhoff '80s dance rock, phony rock groups during the Nixon administration, Mormon disco synth-pop, etc...), I had to check this release out.  It looked excruciating.  No, bland, yes; excruciating, no.

Liner notes state that a "Verl Mason" was the musical giant behind this.  This set is also contributing towards the Children's Miracle Network, mentioning that it's connected to Marie Osmond in some way.  Hearing it, I thought it sounded very much like late '70s and '80s Mormon youth pop music groups on vinyl sold via the Deseret Book chain and LDS Stake Center bookstores; however, though the sound is very much like that vanilla wholesome youth music, I managed to find references to "Verl Mason" as Verl Lee Mason, a Christian choir director and keyboardist known for Christian music and beauty pageant pop music backing tracks around the Kansas City, Missouri area.  His recording history is fairly shallow, but goes back to some local indie music 45s in the early '80s on the Fifth Street Records label, CR-1061, "That All Over Look Is You"/"We Should Be Together" by Carla Ladd.  Stylistically, Verl Mason's music has a lot in common with Ralph Carmichael's sound on those early '70s Oral Roberts singers' albums on the Light record label.

Admittedly a bizarre music release, but a milquetoast listening experience that belies the hype.


title: Five stars for the 2CD package, but maybe three stars for the songs

text:
My interests include pre-1955 white pop music, especially pre-rock hit artists from the 1947-1955 era, and Vic Damone was one of the best and most bankable of them, when Damone, Clooney, Sinatra, Shore, Starr, and Laine were guaranteed hitmakers.  Pre-rock popsters could make some beautifully, incredibly, wretchedly awful entertaining phony rock 'n roll for the major labels in the late '50s, but Vic Damone largely escaped that trend.

Five stars for the package:  Prior to the early '60s, pop artists put out records two songs at a time on shellac, on jukeboxes, and on radio.  Albums were called "Package Goods" and were treated more or less as special recordings for the artist's fans.  Recording artists got hits on the singles, while albums were keepsakes and 2x 15 minutes Lp shapshots of the artist performing mini concerts in one's living room.  Effectively, singles and albums were two different genre's; singles were more experimental, short-lived, and sometimes equally beautiful or wretched forgettable boo-boos.  On this Taragon set, you get Damone's Columbia singles only, with only one track represented on Columbia Lp CL 900; there's more boring second-rate pop than boo-boo here on two discs.  Considering Columbia's incredibly conservative music choice on Lp, which tracked to the often boring and certainly over-represented songs you already knew, on this singles' comp you get all the attempts to hit or that did not stick.  The good stuff.  And a lot of it suggests maybe Sinatra, if Sinatra had stuck with recording for Columbia and didn't choke on worse than third rate material in '51-'53 (uh, "American Beauty Rose" and "Bim Bam Baby" anyone?).  Nowhere on this album does Damone get stuck with Bob Merrill schlock ("She Wore Red Feathers"?  "Sparrow in a Tree Top"?  "Mambo Italiano"? ...!), which is INCREDIBLY SURPRISING!  Unfortunately, he didn't swing much, either.

CD-1 tracks date from 12/06/55 to 1/28/58.  Tracks 1-12 and 15-16 are mono; tracks 13, 14, 17... remaining are multi-track stereo.  CD-2 tracks date 4/30/58 to 4/10/61; all tracks are stereo.

Three stars for the material:  CD-1 contains the best ...taste... of song selections and features that big hit from MY FAIR LADY.  The downer is that the material for the most part is fairly second rate big beautiful pop, and Damone only swings on two songs, tracks 6 and 12.  The rest of songs all run together sounding remarkably alike, while just one, "War And Peace," suggests Mitch Miller's excruciating suburban Americana early '50s styling.  CD-2 is much more experimental, which means the material as big beautiful pop goes downhill for accommodating the 1958 rock 'n roll singles' game, and none of it really works.  #11 on CD-2 is particularly Mitch Miller-y awful with ukelele, Sing Along droning male chorus, and whistling.  You get a couple songs with Damone (almost) rocking.

A great set of singles you won't find anywhere else, and mostly in STEREO, but these Columbia recordings are more boring than his Mercury period preceding them.  It speaks more about the 1956-61 period for any Columbia singles than the artists, though.


title: The Revenge of JoAnn, the Wonder Chicken

text:
Glen Campbell as an Elvis Presley impersonator, playing an Elvis Chicken.

Kiddie movie project from 1992; the music credits show T. J. Kuenster as the head of the project.  T. J. Kuenster was Glen Campbell's period keyboard player and music arranger at the time.  Running time on this set is just over 21 minutes; three of the "songs" listed on the soundtrack (with Christopher Plummer as an evil owl) run well less than one minute each; none of the other (Elvis-like) rockers clock in at over more than 2:45.  Two of the other tracks on the CD feature Ellen Greene (from LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS, ya know).  Think of this short (really short) soundtrack as an Elvis movie soundtrack parody album. say, like IT HAPPENED AT THE WORLD'S FAIR.

About JoAnn--the NORWOOD movie's real star.


title: Incredibly-Strange Lp on Amway Records by the Sanborn Singers (Fred and Jan Sanborn) from SoCal, C. 1969

text:
The Sanborn Singers SING OUT FOR FREE ENTERPRISE (From the 1969 Amway International Convention...Saluting Amway's Tenth Anniversary)  Amway Records VA 993 stereo.

Yep, the label is "Amway Records."  I was thrifting locally looking for bizarro local pop singer releases (Mormon bishop croons "Feelings" and "I Write the Songs" accompanied by a Casio keyboard kinda private press albums) and spotted this.  Took it home, cleaned it, spun it.

Track list:
side one--
Recruit, Train, Motivate
Medley:  The Sound of Music-Eveything's Coming Up Roses-Once In A Lifetime
You're Gonna Hear from Me
Blue Hawaii
Folk Medley:  'Comin' 'Round the Mountain-Workin' on the Railroad-Whistle While You Work-Gonna Build a Mountain-Climb Every Mountain
side two--
What Is Amway
Faraway Places
Southern Medley:  Cotton Fields-Michael Row the Boat-Down By The Riverside
Yankee Doodle (jazzy piano instrumental)
People
Patriotic Medley:  Power & Glory-This Is My Country

Dead wax stamps on both sides are AS-100A and AS-100B.  No recording company address listed.

So, musically, Sammy Davis, Jr., Andy Williams, Ethel Merman, The Sound of Music, Disney tunes, Babs Streisand pops.  Sound on the Lp is split male/female chorus (eight each).  Backing is piano (played by Jan Sanborn), electric organ, drum kit with brushes, and I think a string bass held way back.  Style on this 1969 Lp sounds like the contemporary pops you'd hear on smiley versions by the Lawrence Welk Show's singers.  I think the "Patriotic Medley" (Power & Glory - This Is My Country) were sourced from Anita Bryant's versions on her 1966 MINE EYES HAVE SEEN THE GLORY, Columbia CS 9373 Lp.

Jan Sanborn credits the two Amway songs.  Otherwise, what I can find on her is various Christian hymns sheet music.  She also played piano for The Roger Wagner Chorale in the late '50s or early '60s.  Her husband, Fred Sanborn's musical tastes come via Fred Waring's Pennsylvanians pop chorus, and he worked with Youth For Christ in the late '50s/early '60s, appearing on the cover with VOICES OF TEEN WORLD album on Sacred Records LP 3029 vinyl album (1962?) with the Teen World Singers.  More or less, this album's style suggests Ralph Carmichael & Orchestra, often backing Richard Roberts and the World Action Singers (Oral Roberts University albums), a kind of proto-your-evangelical-parents' pre-CCM from the late '60s.

This Amway Lp is based out of Santa Barbara and Los Angeles.  Lp cover features fuzzy pictures of then Amway products, laundry soaps, floor waxes, etc....


title: Filler cuts' album between hits "Dreams of the Everyday Housewife" and "Wichita Lineman"

text:
Glen Campbell, A NEW PLACE IN THE SUN, Capitol ST 2907 stereo.  Lp dates from May, 1968.

GC had just come off some career establishing hit singles, "Gentle on My Mind," "By The Time I Get to Phoenix," "Hey Little One," and his first #1 hit, "I Wanna Live."  His then-new single was Capitol 2224, "Dreams of the Everyday Housewife," which was duking it out with a competing version on MGM by Wayne Newton (they split the hit on the charts).  Logically, Capitol would have put out this album with the current hit single, but the label chose to run out a filler album.  GC had just gone in the studio and recorded "Wichita Lineman," and Capitol was gearing up for a BIG PUSH on that single and album coming out out in late October; they'd also paired GC with Bobbie Gentry on an upcoming album and supporting tour, apparently anticipating Campbell and Gentry were going to be their 1968+ flagship pop artists (er, to replace the fading Beach Boys and the loathsome Beatles who kept selling SOOOOOOOOO well at the label just for spite).

This is a filler album; Capitol compiled the album from unused songs/sessions in the A&R tape library.  The "hot track" on the album, song on side one, track one, was a rocking folk-rock version of "Freeborn Man," very much in same style as "Gentle On My Mind."  GC's A&R direction after "Gentle..." shifted towards syruppy orchestra pop with his cover of Pat Boone's single, "By The Time I Get to Phoenix" (and log-rolled over Boone's first single attempt on Dot 17045 single), so "Freeborn Man" sat in the can.  The hit version of "Freeborn Man" came out by Keith Allison on Columbia, later by Paul Revere and the Raiders on Lp cut.  Campbell's version on this Lp featured Campbell's producer, Al DeLory, overdubbing horns on the guitar-driven version to make the song fit with GC's middle-of-the-road pop orientation.  Other songs of note on this Lp are GC-penned "Visions of Sugarplums," which became a minor hit for John Davidson on Columbia Records, a schmaltzy cover of Merle Haggard's "The Legend of Bonnie & Clyde," the title track ("A Place in the Sun") by Little Stevie Wonder, Johnny Mathis's old "The Twelfth of Never," and Wayne Newton's Capitol hit, "Sunny Day Girl" (er, which was rechanneled stereo, duophonic, on Newton's hits' comp album a little later.  Newton had moved over to MGM and Capitol was still milking his catalog to bleed off some of his sales.).

Capitol Records had just about ceased pressing/distributing duplicate mono versions of stereo albums when this album was released.  The last verified Glen Campbell album available in a (RARE!) mono version was HEY LITTLE ONE, Capitol T 2878.  Mono Lps were still fleetingly distributed as promos to AM radio stations, and about the last of them on Capitol was an elevator pop mood album by The Sounds of Our Times, LOVE IS BLUE, on Capitol T 2892.  Several obsessed Glen Campbell collectors have been looking for a mythical mono version of this album for decades.  The Lp never quite attained a RIAA Gold Record Award.


title: A housepainter from Fallon, Nevada, had a hillbilly band in 1956

text:
Bob Luce and the Stardusters.  Lovelock Records, from dustbin Lovelock, Nevada (population 1600, one stoplight, Salute!).

I talked to the label's owner, an older lady, maybe in her late '60s, in Lovelock, Nevada, for an hour or so in her home at the time, early-mid 1980s.  She lived in a small wooden house at the north end of town by North Meridian Road, where the alfalfa fields adjoining her house had an irrigation canal and old elm trees shading the area, 16th Street, more or less a few blocks north and east of Pershing County High School (go Mustangs!).  One of my Reno record junkie pals came across a couple scratchy 45s on the label, the most common being the first 45 by Bob Luce and the Stardusters, and he wanted me to look up the other releases on the label.  I went through old microfilm of copies of the local weekly paper, THE LOVELOCK REVIEW MINER, and found some old advertising with her home address in it and looked up her place.  She was still there, a tough old tight-fisted bird.  I spent an hour with her in her home.

She stated she had her garage full of unplayed copies of all the singles, several boxes with a few thousand of them, and thought them valuable; I believe she said she had about 500 of each title.  I explained I would buy five copies of each for maybe $5-10 a piece, but she wanted an all-or-nothing sale of the entire stock.  She told me that the local Chamber of Commerce had appropriated her label's logo (the red locks) and her trademarked phrase, "Heart of Music," (roughly 20 years+ before), changing them around slightly, without paying her and that she hoped to find a lawyer so she could get paid for the infringement.  She was adamant that she wouldn't part out individual records from her storage.

Bob Luce, last I'd heard, had settled in the Fallon area and had found other work in the 1970s, per old copies of the Fallon Eagle Standard.  Copies of these old local 45s used to show up in thrifts, used furniture stores, and other used goods' places in Fallon, Carson City, and the Reno area.  If you like '50s country bands like Ole Rassmussen and Dick Bills, you'll find the Lovelock releases in a similar style.  This 45 dates about August, 1956.