TV Radio Mirror (Jan - Jun 1963)

-Me** GREAT! +++ GOOD LISTENING -K-K FAIR SOUNDS If you are a Chet Atkins fan, this album's virtues come as no surprise. If you are not an Atkins fan, all I can say is . . . it's time you were! Simply another good album from the daddy of the guitar world. ••••Gospel Mission, Shorty Rogers and Orch. (Capitol) — This is one of the few real "dancing" products that have come out in the last couple of years. Milton "Shorty" Rogers, hardly a newcomer to big-band playing and arranging, leaves not a few bandleaders far behind with this offering. Shorty has effectively married the gospel materials with the "dance band" set-up. (Because of the staccato-like playing one must perform to insure the playing is exceptionally good. The few tenor-saxophone solos sound like the work of California-based Plas Johnson. (He is a vibrant soloist, possessing the drive to stimulate the band, as it strives for greatest excitement levels.) The piano and organ solos are also A-one. The band sounds like a first-rate organization loaded with the cream of the West Coast's musicians. The section and ensemble work is done with precision, and the rhythm section does have that certain spark. All in all, an exciting music and dance package. Keep 'em comin', Shorty! •••A Very Good Year for Girls, Adam Wade (Epic) — This is one fine tribute to all the ladies, in song. Adam's well worth your money. See about this young Mr. Wade. POPULAR: COUNTRY •••Cattle Call, Eddy Arnold (RCA Victor) — Eddy Arnold's warm and resonant baritone voice makes this a pleasant journey through the Western country. It's categorically "prairie" music — the songs and the sounds of the Big Sky and Cattle Country. And no one I know of is more suited to sing these songs than Eddy himself. He turns in beautiful and relaxed performances on such lyrical classics as "The Streets of Laredo," "Tumbling Tumbleweeds," "The Wayward Wind" and "Ole Faithful." There is a joggin' ADAM WADE gospel character, most bands sound exceedingly "tacky" and rarely can sustain more than one or two tracks on an album.) The tunes, as one would imagine, are adaptations of gospel classics. Among the most impressive cuts are "Sit Down, Shorty" (a version of "Sit Down, Servant"), "Gospel Mission" (a take-off on "Down by the Riverside"), "Swinging Gold Chariots" (an excitingly dressed-up "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot") and a shouting version of "Joshua Fit de Battle of Jericho" (which utilizes the saxophone section and is aptly titled "Joshua's Saxes"). Throughout the album there are two featured instruments: a harmonica and a twelve-string guitar. Unfortunately, we are not told who plays them, because there are no liner notes, but their soft and easy approach to things makes the feminine portraits just that much more interesting and rewarding. Such choice tunes as "Laura," "Ruby," "Stella by Starlight," "Georgia on My Mind" and "Maria" are included, along with teen things like "Go Away, Little Girl," "Teenage Mona Lisa" and Paul Anka's hit, "Diana." Adam reads beautifully. He injects the broadest feelings into each of these class tunes. The arrangements are warm and uncluttered. Always there, but subsidiary. Now that Johnny Mathis has moved to Mercury, I guess Epic will be fighting for his market with Adam. And well they should. Adam takes a back seat to no balladeer. Professional is the word for his whole expression. Good songs, good arrangements and a betterthan-good singer make for an album version of "Cool Water" and an. adaptation of "Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie" called "Carry Me Back to the Lone Prairie." The title tune, "Cattle Call," is done in a yodeling fashion which creates the atmosphere of a round-up. The accompanying forces are Nashville's fine musicians. Economical but pointed backgrounds, which are always tasteful, are the hallmark of Nashville. As a package, this album succeeds in being a listening experience— an experience that is dramatic and dimensional. I'd take a listen! JAZZ •••Seven Steps to Heaven, Miles Davis (Columbia) — Miles Davis is one of the pillars of modern jazz. A figure 21