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This is not one of the sets I bought at HPB a copuple of years ago (it has been n my collection for decades), and it is not one I am listening to now, but I've been thinking about it recently. When I was a freshman in college, I took a class called "Jazz, Pop and Rock." I didn't need the music credit because I was in Marching Mizzou, but I took the class anyway because I was interested in the subject matter. The class was split into two parts: "jazz" was taught by one professor, "pop and rock" by another. The "pop and rock" professor also ran the college radio station, but he couldn't stick to a syllabus if his life depended on it. I was pretty impressed with the jazz guy, though... not only the depth of his knowledge, but the access he had to classic recordings. For example, the very first thing he played was a 1916 recording of a piano roll of "Maple Leaf Rag" actually performed by Scott Joplin. The music he selected for the rest of his section of the course was equally impressive.
The semester after I took the course, I was perusing the local used record shop just off campus where I came across a copy of The Smithsonian Collection of Classic Jazz. Back in those days, not only was this nigh-legendary (among record collectors) set available exclusively through the Smithsonian, it was sold only to members. Imagine my shock when I descovered the "jazz" portion of my class was taken from this collection verbatim, not only the music, but the lectures were taken from the liner notes. It's like a college course in a box! The set has been reissued a couple of times since. You can read more about it and find a complete track listing HERE.
The Smithsonian Collection of Classic Jazz
The Smithsonian Collection of Classic Jazz is a six-LP box set released in 1973 by the Smithsonian Institution. Compiled by jazz critic, scholar, and…
Ha, I'm guessing that new info altered your opinion of the "jazz" professor. Recognizing a great source and using it was smart, but not identifying it was shady.
LISTENING IN DEPTH: An Introduction to Columbia Stereophonic Sound:
"The selections which make up this album, both Masterworks and Popular, have been chosen to illustrate particular aspects of stereophonic sound and to represent a cross-section of the disc recordings available in Columbia Stereo Fidelity. Whether featuring a soloist, a symphony orchestra or a smaller ensemble, each of these presentations exhibits--in addition to high fidelity at its finest--the skillful definition of fine definition (directivity) and natural over-all room sound, creating an exciting new acoustical perspective, a new experience: Listening in Depth!"
This is one of the one of the sets I bought at HPB a couple of years ago, but it is not one I've never listened to before. I've listened to this one sereral times, as much to read the informational booklet as to listen to the music. Actually, although it is in a box, it's not a "set" per se in that it's only a single disc. Released at the height of the "high fidelity" craze, the booklet provides detailed analysis of magnetic vs. crystal reproducers, graphs detailing recording characteristics such as velocity and displacement vs. frequency, a guide how to properly balance your speakers, etc.
THE SPECTACULAR WORLD OF DYNAGROOVE: His Master's New Voice:
Here is one I should have listened to earlier, despite its position on my shelf. It is five discs, but I was able to move through them quickly because they are all instrumental and I was able to listen to them while I read. The discs are...
Hail the Conquering Nero - Peter Nero
Uniquely Mancini - the Big Band sound of Henry Mancini
The Themes From Cleopatra - The Rome Sound Stage Orchestra
Jalouse - Arthur Fiedler Boston Pops
SOUNDPOWER! Music to the Limits os Audibility - Marty gold and His Orchestra
Unlike The Smithsonian Collection of Classic Jazz, this set has no liner notes whatsoever; even the track listings on the sleeves don't differentiate between sides. The selections, however, are phenominal, especially on the "Soundpower!" disc, even better than the Listening in Depth disc. If you ever come to my house and want to hear my hi-fidelity system, "Soundpower!" is the record I will play. Well worth the buck I paid for it!
AS YOU REMEMBER THEM, Vol. 3: Great Instrumentals & Other Favorites; A Connoisseur's Collection in Stereo:
So far in this project I have listened to recording from RCA and Columbia House, and from Reader's Digest. Now it's time for some from Time/Life. I don't think we had a subscription to Life magazine when I was growing up, but there always seemed to be a copy lying around. I think that's because we did have a supscription to Reader's Digest, and every few weeks my mom would swap one for the other with our neighbor two doors down. (Nonavee and my mom knew each other since the first grade and ended up living on the same block.) One of those Life magazine had a little flimsy plasic record inside advertising Time/Life's "As You Remember Them" series of record sets (of which the internat tells me there were eight total). We never had any of the sets, but I remember listening to that flimsy record every once in a while, the announcer telling anyone who would listen about "the leaves... yes, The Autumn Leaves." I bought volumes 3 & 4 at that HPB sale a couple of years ago. (They didn't have any others.)
Volume three is three discs, side 1 backed with 6, 2 with 5, and 3 with 4, to facilitate automatic record changers (a practice which I am opposed too on philosophical, moral and ethical grounds). The set includes a nice little booklet of liner notes. the music is well-recorded and appropriately kitchzy, except, despite the title, not all of the tracks are strictly instrumental. (I guess that's the "other favorites" part.) Again, I was able to burn through this set rather quickly as most of them were instrumental and I could listen while I read. I can see myself listening to these again in the future (although not as often as The Spectacular World of Dynagroove).
AS YOU REMEMBER THEM: Great Instrumentals blah, blah, blah Vol. 4:
Pretty much the same as volume three. One thing I don't get, though, is that both of these credit "such and such" version of each song, yet it also says "Orchestra for re-creation conducted by Billy May." Yet release dates spanning the '50s through the '60s are also cited. So are these cover versions or what? Different arrangers are also credited.
Also, our cat will not come into the house while this music is playing. She comes up to the door, takes one step in, turns around and goes back out. The radio (NPR) doesn't bother her, but she doesn't like music.
I bought the EP version of this release at a flea market back in the '80s. At the time, I wasn't even aware that Jackie Gleason, in addition to his TV and comedy successes, was also an orchestra leader. Back in my bachelor days, I used this record exactly as it was intended: to woo women. (At least I tried. With that and Howard chaykin's pasta recipes.) This is not a set, but when I found the LP version at that HPB sale a couple of years back, I couldn't resist the purchase. The record itself is not in the bast of shape (no inner sleeve), but the cover itself is near mint. I have a few of those LP picture frames and would consider hanging it if I could decide where.
Before returning to my task of listening to all of my $1 sets (the next on is going to take a while to get through), I would like to take a look at one of my favorite jazz albums in my collection, Red Hot & Cool by Dave Brubeck and Paul Desmond. This is a 1955 album that had been out of print since 1961 when I first heard it. It belonged to my roommate at the time, from his dad's record collection, and he would not part with it. He did, however, allow me to copy it to cassette tape. CDs were first becoming popular around that time (mid-80s), and many record companies were releasing remastered verions of the out-of-print back-catalogue in that format. I kept looking for years to no avail. Then, shortly after moving to Texas, I found a copy on vinyl in my LRS. It wasn't cheap, but I decided to trade for it. I had a set of vinyl blues albums duplicated on CD, so I decided to trade them in and put part of the money toward the albulm I had sought for so long. I ended up trading the entire set for this one record, and even that was a near thing. I like everything about this album: the title, the colver, the liner notes, and especially the music. (It is much more useful in endevour of wooing women than Music for Lovers Only.) I immediately tranferred it to disc so that I could listen to it in the car, but only a few months later Columbia finally got around to reissuing it on compact disc! No matter; I still sometimes listen to the analog copy I made with the occasional gentle hiss and pops still audible.
Jazz: Red Hot and Cool
Jazz: Red Hot and Cool is a jazz live album by The Dave Brubeck Quartet. It was recorded during one 1954 and two 1955 performances at the Basin Stree…
The reason I thought this one would take me a while to get through is twofold: first, I expected a lot of vocals (which slows me down), and second, the box itself was thicker than most, which led me to believe there were more discs in it. But the reason for the thickness was not the number of discs (there are nine), but rather the supplemental material.
First, there is a "Reader's Digest record album catalogue" in a still-sealed envelope. "LOOK INSIDE FOR YOUR FREE 'MYSTERY GIFTS'" it says, but I resisted the temptation. I seriously doubt if this set was listened to more than once, if that. It was probably a gift (but maybe not).
There is also a little booklet written by John S. Wilson (record reviewer for the New York Times) titled "Popular Music Fun time," which includes an overview of the set as well as track listings.
Also included is a separate advertisement for seven of their offerings on "new Stereo8 tape cartridges!" (the set was released in 1968). The add includes seven perforated "stamps" (one for each set) and a postage-paid post card with room for two of them. They were being optimistic because none of the stamps nor the postcard were removed.
But if you think that was optimistic, also included are two additional sheets of business reply cards, eight on each sheet. Six of them (per sheet) are to give to friends, and two are to order as gifts. Guess how many of them have been torn off and used?
My favorite "extra" is the "Popular Music Hit ParadePleasure Programmer." This is a little perferated card within a sleeve designed to be loosened and slid to indicate which records to listen to to suit your mood. Choses include, "Happy Time," "Music to Lift Your Spirtis," "Sweet and Lovely," "With a Beat and a Bounce," "For Piano Lovers," "Strictly for Listening," "Light and Latin," "Remembering Time," "Easy Listening," "Young-In-Heart," "Show Time," "Party Time Today's Hits," "All-Star Varieties," "Film and TV Favorites," ""Perfect for Dancing" and "Down Home in Nashville." I can't read all of the "programs" because I am reluctant to rip the perferations, "Happy Time" (45 min.) for example, direct the listener to "Record 7--Side 1; Record 4--Side 2; Record 5--Side 1." Or you could, y'know, just listen to whichever records in whichever order you choose.
On to the music! The records/sides are grouped by catagories.
The Best Hits of Today
Academy Award Winners
Downright Fun
A Gershwin Serenade
The Insinuating Bossa Nova
Dance Time
Swing Time
Pop Hits from the Countryside
Country Music Whing Ding
Sweet and Lovely
A Touch of Tijuana
The Happy Pianos of Wayne and Geraldi
Dixieland Jam Session
Remember?
Peter Gunn and Other Popular TV Themes
Show Stoppers
The Sounds of Nashville
In case you are wondering why there are nine discs but only 17 groupings (and I know you are), it's because "The Best Hits of Today" was given two sides. speaking of which, if the song selections were the original versions this collection would be schmaltzy enough, but they're not, making this set doubly schlocky.
I took some time off from my PLP (personal listening project) today to buy the recent (released September 6) David Gilmour album, Luck and Strange. Gilmour's wife, the novelist Polly Samson, wrote many of the lyrics, which she said addressed mortality and aging. Their children contributed additional vocals, lyrics and instrumentation. The song "Luck and Strange" features keyboards recorded in 2007 by the Pink Floyd keyboardist, Richard Wright, who died in 2008.
Replies
THE SMITHSONIAN COLLECTION OF CLASSIC JAZZ:
This is not one of the sets I bought at HPB a copuple of years ago (it has been n my collection for decades), and it is not one I am listening to now, but I've been thinking about it recently. When I was a freshman in college, I took a class called "Jazz, Pop and Rock." I didn't need the music credit because I was in Marching Mizzou, but I took the class anyway because I was interested in the subject matter. The class was split into two parts: "jazz" was taught by one professor, "pop and rock" by another. The "pop and rock" professor also ran the college radio station, but he couldn't stick to a syllabus if his life depended on it. I was pretty impressed with the jazz guy, though... not only the depth of his knowledge, but the access he had to classic recordings. For example, the very first thing he played was a 1916 recording of a piano roll of "Maple Leaf Rag" actually performed by Scott Joplin. The music he selected for the rest of his section of the course was equally impressive.
The semester after I took the course, I was perusing the local used record shop just off campus where I came across a copy of The Smithsonian Collection of Classic Jazz. Back in those days, not only was this nigh-legendary (among record collectors) set available exclusively through the Smithsonian, it was sold only to members. Imagine my shock when I descovered the "jazz" portion of my class was taken from this collection verbatim, not only the music, but the lectures were taken from the liner notes. It's like a college course in a box! The set has been reissued a couple of times since. You can read more about it and find a complete track listing HERE.
Ha, I'm guessing that new info altered your opinion of the "jazz" professor. Recognizing a great source and using it was smart, but not identifying it was shady.
And speaking of liner notes...
LISTENING IN DEPTH: An Introduction to Columbia Stereophonic Sound:
"The selections which make up this album, both Masterworks and Popular, have been chosen to illustrate particular aspects of stereophonic sound and to represent a cross-section of the disc recordings available in Columbia Stereo Fidelity. Whether featuring a soloist, a symphony orchestra or a smaller ensemble, each of these presentations exhibits--in addition to high fidelity at its finest--the skillful definition of fine definition (directivity) and natural over-all room sound, creating an exciting new acoustical perspective, a new experience: Listening in Depth!"
This is one of the one of the sets I bought at HPB a couple of years ago, but it is not one I've never listened to before. I've listened to this one sereral times, as much to read the informational booklet as to listen to the music. Actually, although it is in a box, it's not a "set" per se in that it's only a single disc. Released at the height of the "high fidelity" craze, the booklet provides detailed analysis of magnetic vs. crystal reproducers, graphs detailing recording characteristics such as velocity and displacement vs. frequency, a guide how to properly balance your speakers, etc.
THE SPECTACULAR WORLD OF DYNAGROOVE: His Master's New Voice:
Here is one I should have listened to earlier, despite its position on my shelf. It is five discs, but I was able to move through them quickly because they are all instrumental and I was able to listen to them while I read. The discs are...
Unlike The Smithsonian Collection of Classic Jazz, this set has no liner notes whatsoever; even the track listings on the sleeves don't differentiate between sides. The selections, however, are phenominal, especially on the "Soundpower!" disc, even better than the Listening in Depth disc. If you ever come to my house and want to hear my hi-fidelity system, "Soundpower!" is the record I will play. Well worth the buck I paid for it!
AS YOU REMEMBER THEM, Vol. 3: Great Instrumentals & Other Favorites; A Connoisseur's Collection in Stereo:
So far in this project I have listened to recording from RCA and Columbia House, and from Reader's Digest. Now it's time for some from Time/Life. I don't think we had a subscription to Life magazine when I was growing up, but there always seemed to be a copy lying around. I think that's because we did have a supscription to Reader's Digest, and every few weeks my mom would swap one for the other with our neighbor two doors down. (Nonavee and my mom knew each other since the first grade and ended up living on the same block.) One of those Life magazine had a little flimsy plasic record inside advertising Time/Life's "As You Remember Them" series of record sets (of which the internat tells me there were eight total). We never had any of the sets, but I remember listening to that flimsy record every once in a while, the announcer telling anyone who would listen about "the leaves... yes, The Autumn Leaves." I bought volumes 3 & 4 at that HPB sale a couple of years ago. (They didn't have any others.)
Volume three is three discs, side 1 backed with 6, 2 with 5, and 3 with 4, to facilitate automatic record changers (a practice which I am opposed too on philosophical, moral and ethical grounds). The set includes a nice little booklet of liner notes. the music is well-recorded and appropriately kitchzy, except, despite the title, not all of the tracks are strictly instrumental. (I guess that's the "other favorites" part.) Again, I was able to burn through this set rather quickly as most of them were instrumental and I could listen while I read. I can see myself listening to these again in the future (although not as often as The Spectacular World of Dynagroove).
AS YOU REMEMBER THEM: Great Instrumentals blah, blah, blah Vol. 4:
Pretty much the same as volume three. One thing I don't get, though, is that both of these credit "such and such" version of each song, yet it also says "Orchestra for re-creation conducted by Billy May." Yet release dates spanning the '50s through the '60s are also cited. So are these cover versions or what? Different arrangers are also credited.
Also, our cat will not come into the house while this music is playing. She comes up to the door, takes one step in, turns around and goes back out. The radio (NPR) doesn't bother her, but she doesn't like music.
MUSIC FOR LOVERS ONLY:
I bought the EP version of this release at a flea market back in the '80s. At the time, I wasn't even aware that Jackie Gleason, in addition to his TV and comedy successes, was also an orchestra leader. Back in my bachelor days, I used this record exactly as it was intended: to woo women. (At least I tried. With that and Howard chaykin's pasta recipes.) This is not a set, but when I found the LP version at that HPB sale a couple of years back, I couldn't resist the purchase. The record itself is not in the bast of shape (no inner sleeve), but the cover itself is near mint. I have a few of those LP picture frames and would consider hanging it if I could decide where.
MORE.
RED HOT & COOL:
Before returning to my task of listening to all of my $1 sets (the next on is going to take a while to get through), I would like to take a look at one of my favorite jazz albums in my collection, Red Hot & Cool by Dave Brubeck and Paul Desmond. This is a 1955 album that had been out of print since 1961 when I first heard it. It belonged to my roommate at the time, from his dad's record collection, and he would not part with it. He did, however, allow me to copy it to cassette tape. CDs were first becoming popular around that time (mid-80s), and many record companies were releasing remastered verions of the out-of-print back-catalogue in that format. I kept looking for years to no avail. Then, shortly after moving to Texas, I found a copy on vinyl in my LRS. It wasn't cheap, but I decided to trade for it. I had a set of vinyl blues albums duplicated on CD, so I decided to trade them in and put part of the money toward the albulm I had sought for so long. I ended up trading the entire set for this one record, and even that was a near thing. I like everything about this album: the title, the colver, the liner notes, and especially the music. (It is much more useful in endevour of wooing women than Music for Lovers Only.) I immediately tranferred it to disc so that I could listen to it in the car, but only a few months later Columbia finally got around to reissuing it on compact disc! No matter; I still sometimes listen to the analog copy I made with the occasional gentle hiss and pops still audible.
POPULAR MUSIC HIT PARADE: 110 All-Time Favorites:
The reason I thought this one would take me a while to get through is twofold: first, I expected a lot of vocals (which slows me down), and second, the box itself was thicker than most, which led me to believe there were more discs in it. But the reason for the thickness was not the number of discs (there are nine), but rather the supplemental material.
On to the music! The records/sides are grouped by catagories.
In case you are wondering why there are nine discs but only 17 groupings (and I know you are), it's because "The Best Hits of Today" was given two sides. speaking of which, if the song selections were the original versions this collection would be schmaltzy enough, but they're not, making this set doubly schlocky.
LUCK AND STRANGE:
I took some time off from my PLP (personal listening project) today to buy the recent (released September 6) David Gilmour album, Luck and Strange. Gilmour's wife, the novelist Polly Samson, wrote many of the lyrics, which she said addressed mortality and aging. Their children contributed additional vocals, lyrics and instrumentation. The song "Luck and Strange" features keyboards recorded in 2007 by the Pink Floyd keyboardist, Richard Wright, who died in 2008.
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