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February 2000 Film Music CD Reviews |
Film Music Editor: Ian Lace |
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Part 3
Return to the February Index with thumbnails [Part 1] [ Part 2] [Part 3]
Les plus belles musiques de films, vol. 1 Hortensia (France) CD CH 622 [45:39]
Les plus belles musiques de films, vol. 2 Hortensia (France) CD CH 623 [40:21]
10 ans de musique de film Odeon/EMI (France) 821 237 2 [44:33]
Anthologie, vol. 1 PlayTime (France) PL 9909049 [74:08]
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It's unfortunate that, outside of France, his native country, and possibly Japan, where film music fans are a great deal much hipper than anywhere else in the world, Francois de Roubaix remains a total unknown. A brilliant exponent of film music, and one of the most important French film composers of the 1960s and '70s, de Roubaix, an avid deep-sea diver who died in a freak accident in 1975 at the age of 35, left behind a legacy of scores that are extraordinarily evocative and original, and that have illustrated some of the best films of the era.
The compilations listed above all pay tribute to this unusual composer whose uncanny musicality set him apart from what his peers were doing at the time, and while many of the same tunes appear in all of them, each contains themes that are not available elsewhere, making them essential to get a thorough appreciation of his talent.
One element all have in common is the sparse information about the composer's early years and training. In the liner notes provided, beyond the obligatory reminiscences of his many collaborators and colleagues (Robert Enrico, Yves Boisset, Pierre Richard, Philippe Sarde, et al), all of whom go to great lengths to outline his contributions and his professional achievements, there is little that actually informs the reader about de Roubaix' life, leaving the interested fan to find out about him, literally, through his music. In this respect, however, there is an abundant wealth of great material, and a lot to discover and admire, indeed...
Long considered an iconoclast (or a marginal), with his long flowing blond hair, his smiling blue eyes, and the beard that framed his handsome face, de Roubaix drew unusual effects in his scores by adding percussive elements to color them and give them a quality seldom heard in film music at the time. A quiet and discrete presence in French recording studios, he exerted an influence on his contemporaries that continues to be felt to this day, creating a vast array of catchy melodic themes, in which the apparent simplicity of the writing belied a tonal complexity that contributed enormously to their obsessive appeal. Though their styles are miles apart, the other composer he most resembled in terms of inventiveness and originality was Jerry Fielding.
According to the various testimonies one can gather about him, de Roubaix came to music almost naturally: intuitively gifted, he learned to play a wide range of instruments on his own, and, applied modern recording techniques to write scores in which he was almost exclusively his own interpreter. He often relied on the unusual harmonic conflict between electronic sounds and the warmer tones of acoustic instruments. This is noticeably evident in scores such as La scoumoune, in which a Hammond organ plays an important role against an otherwise electronic tapestry, Jeff, Dernier domicile connu or Chapi Chapo, where the guitar is also prominently featured. As he himself once proclaimed, "What interests me most is blending together traditional and electronic music. I try to create a balance between them, like a bridge between folk music and experimental sounds."
In the liner notes to Anthologie, vol. 1, producer Stephane Lerouge perhaps best sums up what de Roubaix was all about when he writes, "His life centered around three key elements - music, the sea, and his pals - and their different permutations: the sea and music, his pals and the sea, music and his pals. These permutations are also part of the fictional world in which he delved, most notably in the films of Robert Enrico and Jose Giovanni, bathed in virile friendships and sea adventures. This fascinating blend of reality and film invention gives a unique, almost mythical dimension, to the striking life trajectory of de Roubaix, a composer-adventurer who loved above all the ocean and his own freedom."
Over the 10 year period in which he was most active, de Roubaix created the scores for more than 35 features and numerous TV series, many of them represented here. Among the most important (and most memorable), the ones that come to mind include Le samourai, directed by Jean-Pierre Melville, in 1967; Tante Zita, also in 1967, Boulevard du rhum, in 1971, and Le vieux fusil (winner of the Cesar for Best Film Score), in 1975, all directed by Robert Enrico; and Le rapace, in 1968, with its haunting theme performed by Los Incas, Dernier domicile connu, in 1969, and La scoumoune, in 1972, directed by Jose Giovanni.
Many of these scores, with a few exceptions (Aunt Zita, Boulevard du rhum, La scoumoune), were never released on either LP or CD, leaving one to discover and appreciate their creator's skills in the compilations that are now available.
If one were to choose a collection over another, 10 ans de musique de film, a 2-CD set on Odeon released in 1998, probably would be the best bet. It is fairly complete, containing as it does 57 selections, including some of the composer's most popular themes in previously unreleased early development stages. In addition to the multiplicity and variety of the themes found it it, it boasts clear, up-to-date remastering.
Next would be volume 1 of the Anthologie, released by PlayTime in late 1999, in a limited edition of 3000 units, which primarily centers on tracks not found elsewhere, written most specifically for television, like Commissaire Moulin, Les secrets de la Mer Rouge, La guerre d'Algerie or A vous de jouer Milord. Though the label announces it has a website, it cannot be accessed at this time, and further documentation about volume 2 (and others) in this Anthologie series has yet to be obtained.
The two titles on the Hortensia label, Les plus belles musiques de films de Francois de Roubaix, released in 1990, were actually remastered from two LPs dating back from 1976-77. While overall quality is not much of a problem, the other anthologies obviously supersede them, the only point of interest here being the fact that they contain a couple of cues not found elsewhere (Pour un sourire, Les anges).
In the grand international scheme of things, many of the films scored by de Roubaix would probably not qualify as great hits, even in France. But, as sometimes happens, a score may elevate a modest film to greater heights of popularity, simply because of the rare quality level of the music. Such is the case here. As these compilations clearly evidence, de Roubaix certainly deserve to be discovered and to take his place in the pantheon of the great film composers.
Reviewer
Didier C. Deutsch
Les plus belles musiques de films Vol. 1 Les plus belles musiques de films Vol. 2 10 ans de musique de film Anthologie Vol. 1
OST in Dolby Surround
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This film, set in 1938, tells the story a Spanish film crew who are close to General Franco's 'new regime. At the height of the Civil War they are invited to Berlin by the German government to shoot an Andalusian musical drama entitled "The Girl of Your Dreams." Their experiences under the harsh Nazi regime make their experience something of a nightmare.
This is a rather repetitive score - we hear the source music, the exotic, full-blooded Spanish- rythmed 'Los Piconeros, performed by Arabia Martin three or four times. The music mixes, as one might expect, Spanish and German styles in a sort of cocktail of jackboots and castanets. There are dark dramatic, sinister passages and sweetly romantic tracks plus material suggestive of the decadence of the German cabaret of this period. Tangos play a major part in the score and these vary from the sweet and lively to the discordant and seamy.
The surround sound is a bonus but really there is nothing outstanding or memorable about this rather average album. Reviewer
Ian Lace
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La Ville des Prodiges (1999) is a Spanish film set in Barcelona at the turn of the nineteenth/twentieth centuries and stars Olivier Martínez and the gorgeous doe-eyed Emma Suárez.. According to the liner notes, "It is a story of love, power and death. Onofre's unrestrained ambition will take him very far; and without qualms, he'll take advantage of other people, including his beloved Delfin, to obtain power and money, yet destiny is lurking…"
Jean-Marie Sénia has composed music for more than 500 TV programmes and for numerous films including: Céline and Julie Go Boating; The Man in the Silk Hat; Red Kiss; and Breaking Out. For La Ville des Prodiges he has written a dark hued, brooding yet compelling score with a memorable main theme that is infinitely varied throughout this album as it passes through many moods and between various instrumental combinations or given to solo instruments. The Main Title evokes a sultry Mediterranean location with slowly brushed cymbals suggesting lapping waves upon the shore.
Sénia's instrument is the piano (he won first prize at the Conservatory of Strasbourg) so it may not be surprising that he favours it in this score and gives the most substantial and most beautiful cue, Le piano espagnol to it - haunting, serene yet passionate too. Another interesting piano solo is the colder, more staccato 'L'honneur d'un homme' an assertive call to duty regardless… -- a clever piece of piano writing this. The accordion ushers in 'Enfance pauvre' which is really a powerfully meditative, agonising piece for cello solo and strings. Harsh, stark staccato dotted-rhythm piano and steely string chords evoke the ruthless character of Onofre in 'Ambition devorante'. In 'Barcelone endormie' the oboe adds a plaintive note while, in lighter, less troubled mood the main theme breathes romance through guitar and strings in Onofre Bouvila
The above descriptions should give a good idea of this score. At fifty minutes, it might be just beginning to outstay its welcome - less is often more but I am carping here for this is splendid music which wears well on repeated hearings
Reviewer
Ian Lace
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This is the Italian release of the soundtrack to a French 'TV film in four episodes', with music by the Algerian-born composer Jean-Marie Senia, best known in the UK for scoring Celine and Julie go Boating (1974) and Jonah who will be 25 in the Year 2000 (1976). Senia, previously a professor at the National Theatre of Strasbourg, has written the music to over 500 TV programmes, as well as scoring numerous continental feature films.
Les Moissons de l'Ocean is described as a drama about a tuna fisherman based in the small port of Saint Jean-de-Luz, who encounters animosity following the development of a new fishing technique. The adventure involves incarceration in an African prison, diamond mines, and a romantic sub-plot involving 'Violette'; from the booklet apparently the name of both the hero's boat and girlfriend. The back-cover photograph shows one of those impossibly beautiful and elegant actresses the French seem to have in endless supply.
The score features nine named soloists playing predominantly, accordion, oboe, piano, trumpet, cello, saxophone, percussion, horn and guitar. There is also some discrete synthesiser backing to a few of the 31tracks: some pieces are very short, none lasting more than 3 minutes, and several lasting between 50 seconds and a minute. This is a chamber score, with often only one instrument playing at a time, or two or three in combination with one soloing and the others providing backing. Several tracks are more in the nature of ensemble pieces, and given the limited forces this does provide for considerable variety of sound. Further, Senia's music ranges from sunny atmospheres, passages of introspective melancholy and jazzy tunes, through a fandango, African rhythms and classical sounding solo pieces. There is a very open French Mediterranean feel about much of the score, with light folk accordion melodies, together with trumpets and castanets more suggestive of Spain, and giving a sense of the melting pot of Southern Europe.
The music here is light and breezy with very clear sound, entirely lacking in dark shadows or tension, and apart from a couple of percussive sections is just the sort of thing that might play in an English café attempting to be French café. Anyone who enjoyed Gabriel Yarde's score for Betty Blue should like this, while if you can imagine an acoustic version to Eric Serra's The Big Blue you are half-way to Les Moissons de l' Ocean. In one or two of the accordion-led seascapes it may just be possible to detect an echo of Jerry Goldsmith's great score for Papillon. It may not be particularly attention grabbing or dramatic, but if you want a pleasant reminder of balmy summer days spent relaxing in France then you could do much worse than this album.
Reviewer
Gary S. Dalkin
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Director Guiseppe Bertolucci is brother to Bernardo, and has worked on many of his projects. This picture covers a life in 3 stages to tell the complex love story of Sofia.
Straight away, the Italian tragedy brief ought to put you in mind of the style of music. Sure enough, there's plenty of guitar, clarinet, and accordion to satisfy those stereotypical expectations. But the good news is that each cue is a gentle joy. The main theme "Ellas" is a gorgeous, utterly captivating life-affirming piece whether in its version with voice or without. This Mediterranean mood lasts all the way to the surprise tribal coda entitled "Grano Grano". Up to that point, you'll be yearning for a place in the sun to drive through.
The only peculiarity stems from this reviewer's unfamiliarity with who Bevano Est is - a person or group. Next to an overall 'composed by' credit for Est, each track is credited to another name in brackets. While some of the names from the album's credits appear, there's also the highly noticeable 'E Bernstein' credited for "Valse Tragique".
Whatever the story is, this is a lovely album.
Reviewer
Paul Tonks
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The classically trained, Italian composer Ezio Bozzo, scored this love story of a man and a woman constantly exploring the world (although not literally) they are living in.
Bozzo uses a small ensemble, sometimes just one instrument -- the piano or contrabass, for instance, to dress the drama with a minimalist, often atonal score. The music in each track is a constant repetition of a basic motif, and is quite hypnotic. A few tracks stand out such as 'GIOCHINI' with its delightful one-dimensional simplicity, 'A
LITTLE WALTZ FOR A LITTLE PIANO', with it sweet lullaby-like piano melody, or 'DIRTY TANGO' and 'MMM' which are actually quite enjoyable, and exhibit a higher level of colour and texture.
Most tracks sound like mini quartets or trios for strings and piano etc. Basically, Bozzo consistently combines a couple or several of his 5-6 instruments and experiments in minimalist music. The result is somewhat repetitive and monotonous. Those who appreciate minimalist music will probably enjoy this work. Others may find it just tedious. Reviewer
Kostas Anagnostou
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Charlotte is intelligent and highly cultivated but she is a dwarf. Her mother, Leonore, a middle-aged widow is her staunch champion and defender against the cruel taunts of the children. Ludovico (Marcello Mastroianni), is a mysterious and wealthy bachelor who befriends Charlotte. She is captivated by his fabulous tales about mythical places and distant shores. Broadly this is the description of this "extraordinary, passionate and incredible love story set in a small (Italian?) town some fifty years ago" that accompanied my review copy. There was no mention on the usual skimpy 4-page liner when the film was made - Mastroianni died in 1996. Looking up Halliwell's Who' Who in the Movies, however, it seems the film was released in 1993.
Piovani created sympathetic and compassionate music for 'Charlotte' with cold and distant piano figures that suggest her essential shyness and enforced isolation. But there is sinew, too, giving the feeling that she is determined and dogged. 'Ludovico's' music is as fantastic, as heroic and comic as his tales. The few other tracks, on this not exactly over-generous CD, comprise a perky, humorous sound picture of 'Promenade', an exotic Latin-rhythmed 'Baile de la cerveza' and a Valse complete with accordion and very much in Nino Rota's fairground/circus mode. The final reprise of the title track has an upbeat feel that might suggest a happy ending.
Reviewer
Ian Lace
Scores From Australia
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The odd thing about this album is that the front cover of the booklet mentions only Simon Walker's music for The Wild Duck. This is a pity because Brian May's Frog Dreaming score is more substantial (see timing for both suites in the header above) and far more interesting.
The Wild Duck is the Australian film of Ibsen's celebrated play. It is a story of the corrosive and tragic consequences of a wife provoked into being completely honest with her husband about the paternity of their daughter whose duck she (the daughter) sacrifices to prove how much she loves her father when he rejects her after he learns the truth. Simon Walker's score, written when he was in his mid-twenties, begins with agitated figures before the music relaxes into a lush warm music (a lovely theme) for the close-knit family before the interfering Gregory precipitates the tragedy. Later the music becomes appropriately ever more darkly intense and powerful and one is reminded of Steiner, Newman and Waxman etc.
Conversely Herrmann comes to mind (Beneath the Twelve Mile Reef, for instance) listening to Brian May's music for the more mysterious and thrilling scenes of the hunt for the killer monster that lives deep in the waterhole in Frog Dreaming. This music is made all the more eerie by the judicious use of didjeridoo, sticks and bullroarer (a stick attached to a line, that, when swung above the head, roars as it whirls through the air like a helicopter blade). There is contrasting appealing high-spirited material for the youngsters, and some romance too -- all written rather in the easy melodic style of Lee Holdridge.
Two interesting scores but rather over-long; some judicious editing and a running time of some ten minutes less would probably have secured listeners' attention.
Reviewer
Ian Lace
The Wild Duck Frog Dreaming
General Sutter is the feature film debut score by the Swiss composer Philippe Blumenthal. The film tells the true story of the Swiss adventurer Johann A. Sutter, who left his homeland to become a key figure in the early history of California. The drama takes place over a period of 5 days, with the aged General looking back over his life whilst his portrait is painted by Frank Buchser, a reproduction of which graces the cover of the album. While the film has elements of the western, it is perhaps more accurately described as a historical drama set in the American West.
To date the film is unreleased, so this review must necessarily be of the CD as an album only. How the music works in the film can only be imagined. Fortunately, the CD insert comes with a separate leaflet with a description of each track, both in musical terms, and with regards to the scene(s) in the film the music was written to accompany. Further, although the music has been sequenced to play well as an album, for those who wish to programme the disc appropriately, information is provided as to the original film sequence. Beyond this, the composer has thoughtfully placed the source cues - there are six brief traditional cues, the longest running 81 seconds - at the end of the disc, such that they don't break the flow of the score proper. If only all soundtrack albums where so thoughtfully presented.
The score itself is divided into 13 tracks, totalling approximately 42 minutes of music. Originally, due to financial constraints, this was going to be an electronic score. Happily, the producers raised the money for a full orchestra score, and the result is a work which is confidentially traditional, yet with a distinctive musical personality of its own. This is obviously a 'Western score', but one in the Americana lineage of Copland and Thompson, more than that of Bernstein or Moross. There is a decidedly classical sensibility to the dreamlike, nostalgic 'Sutter's Dream (Main Title)', before the inevitable military snare appears with understated voice. 'When I was a Child' introduces Sutter's 'Childhood theme', a beguilingly innocent melody which still hints at the wistfulness of the main title theme. 'The Hotel' introduces a folk-like tune of delicate beauty, and it is these two elements, the classical and the folk-like that form the heart of the score. In all there are four main melodies, in addition to which, Blumenthal uses (which kind permission of the composer) Bruce Broughton's main title theme from O Pioneers in the sequence 'Going West'. This section has a grand, hymnal quality of considerable majesty, while the following 'Untamed Country' pulls out the stops for an epic depiction of the great American landscape. The interpolation of another film composer's music is unusual, but works very well. Blumenthal has great respect for Broughton, intelligently citing Tombstone as one of the great scores of the decade, though General Sutter is in conception and scale more akin to O Pioneers.
'Gold' is a 6-minute section of essentially suspense/dialogue underscore. Philippe Blumenthal has told me that he thinks this track is 'boring' and he wonders why he put it on the album at all. He has also said that in retrospect it sounds too much like James Bond music. I understand what he means, in that it does evoke memories of some of the suspense music from Goldfinger, but more generally, there is something of the sensibility of John Barry about the cue. This is perhaps not so surprising when one learns that the film was originally 'temp tracked' with Barry's Dances With Wolves music. Blumenthal says that the film sounded very good with Barry's music, and wondered how he could compete against such a great score. His solution is a more traditional approach, for Barry's score, however fine, does sound typically Barryesque, rather than essentially 'western'. Bluementhal's 'Gold' cue is the one track which reveals the influence of John Barry, with clean, pared-down strings, timpani and horns. It offers a balance to the more sweeping aspects of the score, ebbing and flowing in a low-key way, never developing or resolving into anything definitive.
'This is My Land' is more landscape music, a lyrical journey between classical scale and folk intimacy, while 'It is Finished' concludes the film in melancholy vein, before the 'End Credits' recap all the main themes in a stirringly poetic fashion.
General Sutter is not a 'big' film, though it would certainly appear to gain stature from the strength and nobility of this memorable score. Nor is it a film you are ever likely to see, expect perhaps eventually on late night/early morning television. Due to the film being in distribution limbo, the soundtrack album has not been released. However, copies are available for £12 (including p&p) directly from the Philippe Blumenthal, who can be contacted by email at film.music.journal@BLUEWIN.CH. I can only hope that this is the beginning of a major film-composing career, as it is already apparent that, even while working within a very traditional genre, Blumenthal has both a fine gift for melody and a distinctive musical personality. In the future we may, if we are fortunate, be able to enjoy the fine music that will result if Blumenthal ever gains the opportunity to score a really epic western. Meanwhile, if the lure of the romance of the West is in your blood, then General Sutter will be a most worthwhile and rewarding purchase. Reviewer
Gary S. Dalkin
Promotionals
Information on obtaining Promo discs here
This promo 2-disk compilation contains music written for films and TV by composer Richard Band who is widely known for scoring numerous horror B-movies such as the Re-Animator 1&2, the Puppet Master series, The Arrival etc, as well as many successful TV series such as Buffy: The Vampire Slayer, Walker: Texas Ranger, Dawson Creek etc.
The two CDs are cleverly labelled 'Drama' and 'Comedy' and within each CD many sections appear such as 'Sci-fi', 'Romantic', 'Adventure' etc. The compilation focuses mainly on the composer's television work and surprisingly omits almost all of his early horror-movie scores.
The first CD provides a taste of the composer's remarkable dramatic scoring capabilities -- - from the epic, full bodied 'Overture', somehow reminiscent of Newton-Howard's Waterworld (although I can't say which one was written first), to the magnificent, choral 'Hyperion Bay', to the pounding, action-packed 'Robo-Warriors' with its splendid fanfares, and 'Metalstorm'. Dawson's Creek's light-hearted and warm melodies add a up-lifting touch to the CD, while in Stargate SG-1, he skillfully integrates David Arnold's original themes in his work yet contributing his own strongly original voice. In Dragonworld, he craftily paints the music with ethnic orchestral colours. In Castle Freak, there is Richard Band's brand of horror with atonal string passages and distorted, metallic, synthesised sounds assist in that! Add to that 7 superb tracks from Buffy: The Vampire Slayer in which eerie string music is interweaved with choral passages. Finally Waterworld (CDROM game) is a lovely theme rendered by strings and brass mixed with chanting wordless choir.
The second CD in comprised of music from comedy features and cartoons and it exhibits the same remarkable diversity in compositional styles as presented in the first CD, and it certainly is a delightful compilation that contains many highlights such as the funny 'In the Dog House', the jazzy 'Shrunken Heads', the detailed and colourful 'Dungeon Master', influenced by the music of Bernard Herrmann, etc. Several hilarious "Cartoon Bumpers" are interspersed throughout the CD elevating the comic and light-hearted mood of the CD.
Not often is such craftsmanship found in a compilation like this and if you are familiar with Richard Band's music you will be pleasantly surprised. He demonstrates a great diversity and ability to adapt to the needs of the drama or comedy on-screen and to produce scores that contribute significantly and enhance the emotional impact of the show, whether this is a TV movie, a cartoon, a film or even a CDROM game. These who are familiar with his music will probably find the omission of his early horror scores disappointing. Highly recommended!
Reviewer
Kostas Anagnostou
Special Promotional Review
Information on obtaining Promo discs here
Photo courtesy of Jonathan Broxton
Movie Music (UK).Our webmaster, Len Mullenger, sent me this 55-minute privately made (by the composer) CD for assessment. I am delighted to say that I found it a real pleasure from beginning to end. Julian Nott has a nice feel for a melodic line; his music flows beautifully and shows impressive craftsmanship. It is powerfully dramatic and has grace and charm. His influences are subtly and cleverly worn behind his originality.
His best known work is for the Wallace and Gromit series and three tracks: the Wallace and Gromit theme -- overspilling with broad North Country humour and jazzy high spirits - the heroic 'Thunderbirds' sequence from A Close Shave and the glorious chase music from 'The Wrong Trousers'.
I was strongly impressed by many other tracks. 'My Mother's Courage' has a particularly strong score. The Main Title has is strongly pastoral with a touch of Rozsa in religious mode while 'Mother's Theme' is warm, deeply felt and delicate. Four French Lieutenants - Tubular Bells is a bravura Late Romantic heroic piece. Some tracks recall the Hollywood's Golden Age; there are mischievous echoes of Korngold and Steiner in The Pirate Suite from The Chest and the music of Bliss, Elgar and Walton is recalled in the regal sweeping romantic music for 'Original Sin'. In quieter mood, there is an attractive pastoral oboe theme written for Zomba library music which brings Jerome Morross's Big Country music to mind. From Sunburn, Nott writes a Cypriot Dance and his authentic-sounding use of ethnic instruments, impresses. 'Reef Encounter' is a very evocative seascape suggesting not only the beauty of the reef but also lurking dangers.
On this evidence, Julian Nott would seem to have an even more successful career ahead of him.
Reviewer
Ian Lace
Curio Corner
I remember fidgeting whenever the Andrews Singers came on screen and interrupted the comedy of Abbot and Costello or Bob Hope etc. But that was in the 1940s when I was a child so it is a real pleasure to reacquaint myself with this wonderfully talented and joyous close harmony group from that era. Their immaculate technique, beautiful timing, flawless blending and fabulous sense of humour is a joy to the ear.
This album has 25 of their very popular numbers from 1938 to 1948. Who could forget 'Joseph! Joseph!'; 'Oh Johnny, Oh Johnny, Oh!'; 'The Woodpecker Song'; 'Three Little Sisters'; 'Pistol Packin' Mama'; and 'Is You Is Or Is You Ain't My Baby'; For some numbers they are joined by the swoonin' croonin' Bing Crosby -- 'Don't Fence Me In'; 'Ac-Cent-Thuate the Positive'; 'Along the Navajo Trail' and South America Trail'; while the mad tongue-twister Danny Kaye joins them in 'Civilisation (Bongo, Bongo, Bongo - I don't want to leave the Congo)'.
Their contribution to the (Second World) War effort was inestimable. One wonders, however, what their song, 'Three Little Sisters' (one loved a soldier, one loved a sailor and one loved a man from the marines) did for morale? One can only guess with these liens -- "And when the boys marched away, the girls said they would be true until the boys came back some day. Now the three little sisters stay home reading their magazines - you can tell it to the soldiers, you can tell it to the sailors and tell it to the marines!"
Of part-Norwegian, part Greek parentage, The Andrews Sisters from Minneapolis - Laverne (born July 6th 1915; died May 8th 1967), Maxene (born January 3rd 1918; died October 21st 1995) and Patricia (born February 16th 1920) - began singing at an early age. From local radio they progressed to vaudeville and nightclubs. They were singing with Leon Belasco's Hotel Edision Orchestra in New York when they were discovered and signed up by Jack Kapp, then head of American Decca Records. There followed a fabulously successful radio, recording and screen career reaching its height during the war years. The Andrews Sisters- Bing Crosby partnership spanned the years 1939 to 1947. Their recording of 'Don't Fence Me In' charted for 21 weeks, including 8 at number one and sold a million copies. The Andrews Sisters' career spanned some thirty years closing only with the death of Laverne.
ASV has released another Andrews Sisters album spanning the years 1937 to 1940 (CD AJA 5096).
Reviewer
Ian Lace
MEL TORMÉ Early Hits (1944-1949)
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Another generous helping of 1940s nostalgia. "The Velvet Fog" -- how appropriate a nick-name for this amiable and highly popular jazz-inspired singer. The voice was slightly husky the delivery, mostly, slow and very relaxed. A noted wit and hilarious ad-libber, he made his debut at the tender age of four and wrote his first hit tune at the age of 16. He was a seasoned Hollywood show-singer by the time he was 30, and his career spanned more than 60 years working with the greats like Tommy Dorsey, Woody Herman and Glen Miller, with Ellington and with Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughan.
Mel also appeared in a number of films including: his debut alongside another newcomer, Frank Sinatra in Higher and Higher (RKO - 1943); Pardon My Rhythm (1944) and Let's Go Steady (1945); the latter two pictures from Universal.
This 25 song collection features many of numbers that he made unforgettable: 'Try A Little Tenderness'; 'It Happened in Monterey'; 'Ramona'; What is This Thing Called Love'; 'The Best things in Life Are Free'; and 'Careless Hands'.
Great stuff
Reviewer
Ian Lace
Nostalgia from the 1940s:
Collection: WARTIME HEART-THROBS 24 songs from the crooners of World War II:
Wartime Heart-throbs helped to keep the home fires burning through the dark days of World War II and this compilation is a vivid reminder of their talents. The tunes here were nostalgic and often a little sad. Who could top Frankie and Bing for they were inimitable; and included on this disc I particularly liked Sinatra's 'I'll Never Smile Again' (smoochy and romantic) and from Bing I just loved 'I'll be Seeing You' (warmly nostalgic for parted couples. Then there are the great Eberle Brothers' swing numbers: Ray Eberle's 'Skylark' and Bob Eberle's 1941 No.1 hit, 'Blue Champagne'. Both brothers were nice dreamy crooners. I would also just mention: Nat King Cole singing, 'Embraceable You', Dick Haymes' 'You'll Never Know' and Fred Astaire's 'Dearly Beloved' - another very popular wartime melody.
Oran Thaddeus Page, known as 'Hot Lips' Page, delivered jazz at its popular best. Upbeat, his music really gets your feet tapping. Page was a natural - you can hear the passion and warmth in his music. He is best remembered for 'Uncle Sam's Blues' - what a routine - really laid back jazz but with trumpet at its hottest, with excellent rhythm. This is a live concert and the spontaneous joy of the musician's exptemporising is rawly communicated. 22 numbers are included on this generously filled album including 'Jamming the Boogie' (it swings superbly and there is great ensemble playing to jam this all together); 'Blues in the Groove' (nice and moody); and of course who could forget 'The Sheik of Araby'.
Hits of '49 is another attractive compilation bringing back vivid memories from that post-war era when things began to seem brighter and the tunes correspondingly more upbeat. The tone is set right at the beginning with the ebullient Evelyn Knight and the Stardusters in 'A Little Bird Told Me'. The songs from this 25 number collection that impressed me the most were: 'Les Brown singing 'I've Got My Love To Keep Me Warm' with its great swing instrumental introduction; Doris Day's softly romantic 'Again' that led you to wish that she was 'the girl next door'; another atmospheric (and draughty) swing number, 'Baby, It's Cold Outside beautifully sung by Dinah Shore and Buddy Clark. Then Perry Como enchants 'Some Enchanting Evening' (from South Pacific) with Como and orchestra perfectly complimenting each other; the wonderful country style of Frankie Laine in 'That Lucky Old Sun' (No.1 hit for eight weeks) and 'Mule Train', another big hit; and the infectious rhythms of Mel Tormé's 'Careless Hands'.
Rating for all three albums
Reviewer
'Zara'
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