Variety (June 1958)

58 MUSIC P^isuEnr Vedn^sdayv June 25, 1958 Jocks^ Jukes dhd Disks . Bj HBRM SCHOENFELD . Doris Day (ColumbiaV. “EVERY* (iti of his .vocalorange. ‘‘MID- BODY LOVES A LOVER” (Kor- - ~ ' win*), a swinging number wiUi a fresh quality, shapes up as Miss Day's best disk entry in some time. Could go all the. way. “USTSTANT LOVE” (Artists*) is a cute idea brightly delivered. Ricky Nelson (Impierial): “POOR ; LITTLE FOOL” .(Eric+) is a well- i NIGHT” (Sptoat) reverts to the rocking .groove in which Arika is more at home. : La^em Baker (Atlantic^: “WHIPPER SNAPPER” (Tigeri) is a clever rocking item which this songstress hammers across in typi¬ cal driving: style. “HARBOR ---- ..—-- — _ . LIGHTS” (Chappell*) is. yocaUed written juVe-angled tuiie which ! with a slow strong beat which could sounds like another winner for this [ give a hew round of spins to this youngster who gets plenty-of echo j oldie. chamber assistance on this. side-J Jack Haskell (United Artists): “DON’T LEAVE ME THIS WAY” i “LOVE THEME FROM ‘THE VIK- (Eric^i is routine. ! INGS’” (Dnartt), solid baUad with The Gihger^aps (KappV: '‘GIN- ! an old floksohg flavor, is neatly; GERBREAD” (Commander*) is a; baritoned by Jack Haskell, ;‘‘A bright rocker with good commer- l PLAGE I KNOW’^ (Brydeht) is a. cial chances via this slice by a | clas-sy romantic ballad also very ef* young femme ensemble. “LENNY, ffectively sold by Haskell, LENNY” HCommander*) is . an-1 The Wild Bees (RCA: Victor): other juve item in a familiar |‘‘BAMBOOZLED”. (World*), a groove, ' : noisy rocker with a good lyric, gets. Connie & Lee (Gone): “MAYBE j an amusing rendition by ' this YOU’LL BE MINE” (Rayvent) is combo. “D O CTO R ROCK” Best Bets DORIS DAY..,...,... . (Columbia)^.,........, RICKY NELSON.__ (imperial) THE GINGERSNAPS . (Kapp)......, ..... CONNIE & LEE....., (Gone)............. JOHNNY prophet: . (RCA Victor).. . everybody LOVES A LOVER . .,.... 1 ........ .instant Love .. .. PbOR LITTLE FOOL • ... . Don’t Leave Me This Way , . . : . . ...... - GINGERBREAD .,...,...., -. . Lenny, Lenhy . .. . MAYBE YOU’LL BE MINE .: Cool, Cool, Baby /v.. /. ,. V’.^..BANANA ;..... Sweet Thing LAWKENGE WELK , •. Presents His Interpretation of. a Selection of the “WORLD’S FINEST MUSIC” (Coral Albuni No; 67113) ing. beat/ gets a good vocal by Bonnie Lou and chorus. “FRIC¬ TION HEAT” (Buckeye*) is a typi¬ cal rocker. Tommy Payne (Felsted): “I GO APE” (Cpnleyf) is a rocking item whose, title sums up the lyric value; “TROUBLE AND PAIN” (Conleyt) is another fair: rhythm production angled for the school kids, Laura Leslie (Hahbver): “LA SANTA VANUTA” -. (Southern*) is an Italp-styled roinantic item with a pretty melody handled in appeal¬ ing style. “IMPOSSIBLE” (Rose- meadow*) is an okay ballad. *ASCAP. tBMI. AHnim Reviews a Latin-flavored number rocked * (World*), a Latinized rocking en by this duo in an offbeat style that j trj:, is okay for the genre. should snag Jotsa spins. “COOL.! The ffi-Lo’s (Columbia): ‘‘WHIS COOL. BABY (Rayvenv) is = lON’ DOWN THE LANE” (Dan- i “HAPPY IS THE BRIDE”. (Feld- cliche material. J iels*), a lilting ballad with an i HHe song from a new .British Jphnny Prophet (RCA Victor): j excellent lyric, is smoothly deliv-bas a neat lyric \vhich is “BANANA” (Sun-.Crestt) is a strik- i ered by this combo for solid . im- ; handled competently.. Flip . is a Ing calypso-type number with a : pact. “WHEN I REMEMBER” ! slafidard,: “GIVE ME THE SIMPLE standout lyric . which this singer I (Oxford*) is another literate entry * LIFE” (Victoria),. : which comes works out for. click results.- tailored for this polished en- ' through so-so. “SWEET THING” (Sun-Crestt ) is : semble. i EUas & Zig-Zag Jive Flutes more routine rocking material. j The Del-Larks (East-West): ! (Columbia): “TQM HARK” fM/S(#j Peggy Lee (Decca):“WRONG, j “LADY LOVE (Bourne*) is ; a) ^ autheriUc but .monotonous WRONG, WRONG” (Anvil*) is a j rocker; with a lot of nonsense svl- African piece* features' several nifty rhythm jnumber with a first-J lables interspersed among, the t thned flutes but a whole j lyrics wh^h aren’t particular senr j heap , of atmosphere. “RY-RY” sible either. It has a; good sound, ] (M/S) cpuld be tbn same number however.“REMEMBER THE played backwards; But it’s selling! NIGHT” (Bpume*) .is more of the C Malcolm Vaughan (HMV): “TO; rate lyric which Miss Lee projects with a light jazz touch, backed strongly by Oliver’s orch. “NEVER MIND” (Valando*) is a slov^tem- poed torch number delivered with this songstress’ lisual sensitivity. Mitch Miller & Obes (Columbia): “ROCKABYE IN BEARDLAND” (Korwin*), a nifty instrumental theme designed to do for Mitch Miller’s beaver what "Lullabye of Birdland” did for the Broadway nitery, gets an attractive oboe-ac-, ^ . cented slice. “THE KEY” (Colum-! Johnny Hartman (Hpra 1 fI) “Vn ‘ J^hUee Records is continuing its bia Pictures*), title song . of the LteaRS TOMORROW” rAri(r“f'^ P“^h through the summer col pic, is a slick ballad done with | a; fair rocking'ballad ^belled in six new a choral ensemble. I heavv stvle • ; “YOU: GOTTA ; LP s for the hot weather drive. . pi^ Co?tina^(AIercu^j: “TAN- ■ OEVE” !Angelt) is an uptempo j diskeiy’s summer release are slice handled more effectively. . [ sets by Moe Koffman, Lois Kahn, Bonnie . Lou ' (Fraternity): “I' Maryann McCall, Grav Rains orch, GIVE . MY LOVE TO YOU” j Helen De Lys, and David Bee & same typa of weird Vocalizing. The CU^sers (Dore): “RENDEZ¬ VOUS 22:” (Thunderbird*) is a rocking ifeni with a catching sax arrangement and some iheidental lyrics. “BUOYS AND GULLS” (Chadwick*) is an. ihstrumerit'al with a. couple of; pleasing melodic themes. Johnny Hartman. (Herald): “NO BE LOVED” Is a big song, and‘ Vaughan does it with a . strong, distinctive tenor.. Strong U.S, po¬ tential “MY LOVING ARMS” (Words & Music) is pleasant. ' Jubilee 6 Summer LP’s GO OF THE ROSES” (Marks fine Latin instrumental, makes a melddic showcase for. this accor- xiionist’s technique.. .“AmaPOLA” (Marks*) also gets^ sai strong wbric- out. Jackie Cooper (Dot): “MID¬ NIGHT TRAIN” (Saunders), a folk-styled number, gets a compe¬ tent vocal by Jackie Copper, Avho-s the latest actor to make a stab at disks. “WHEN MY ' SUGAR WALKS DOWN THE STREET” (Mills*), the standard gets ah okay talk-singing treatment by Cooper against a standout orch backing. Teddy Randazzo (VikV: “LITTLE SERENADE” (Maurice*),, based on an Italian melody, is turned into a lilting slice by this Une \’oung singer: “BE MY LITTLE KITTEN, LITTLE CHICKEN” (Raleight) re¬ verts to the frantic ro-'king iciiom and doesn’t go very far. Huelyn Duvall (Challenge): “LIT¬ TLE BOY BLUE” (Golden Westt) reworks the nursery song into a good conteraporary ballad belted in typical rockabilly style ;by this lad. “THREE MONTHS TO KILL” (Golden Westt); is a fair vacation-pegged item, . The Gaylords (MercurjO: “MA MA, MA MARIE’^ (Peters*), an Italo-styled ballad, is dressed up in a rocking beat and delivered for maximum returns by this conibo. “BUONA SERRA’* (Winston*) is a legitimate pizza-flavored balled nicely handled. Joe Harper (MGM): “LAZY .TRAIN” (Kassner.*) is a solid ^ change-of-pace instrumental fea¬ turing Joe Harper’s harmonica with wordless choral backing; “HER LIPS WERE LIKE VELVET” (Kassner*) is an attractive slow in- strumental- Paul Anka (ABC-Paramount': **VERBOTEN” (Feist*), title song of the RKO film, is a big ballad which this young rock ’n’ roll singer delivers straight at the lim- (Peer-), a baUad with a light rock- ’ His Dixieland orch. “Showcase: Grtat l^hgs From United Artists Pictures’* (United Artists): This collection of pic tunes is natural for .this picture company label. It’s a book of stand¬ out tunes delivered in swinging big band style by Hal Schaefer’s orch. Schaefer presents moderir, jazzed- up arrangements oh numbers like “The . Song From Moulin Rouge,” The Mo()n Is Blue,”“High NOon,” Around The World,” “The Ken¬ tuckian Song,” “Return To Para¬ dise,” the theme from VLimelight,” another Chaplin pic song, “Smile,’’ from “Modern Times,” and “Dad¬ dy,’’.among others. George Feyer:“South Pacific” & “Oklahoma’* (RCA Victor). George Feyer, Budapest - born . pianist whose “Echoes” series have, been perennial sellers on the Vox label, now bows under the Victor banner with another tasteful and melodic keyboard display/ Feyer has a liicid technique and a definite style, but one that doesn’t overwhelm the original miisic with schmaltzy vir¬ tuoso displays. In this offering, he works over medleys from two Rod¬ gers & Hammerstein Shows in his usual highly listenable way. Jackie Gleason: “Riff Jam’* (Cap¬ itol). Jackie Gleason, who cut out an empire for himself With, his “mood music” albums, how invades an opposite sphere, jazz; and could rack up the same commercial re¬ sults. Gleason has assembled a big aggregation of jazzmen plus fiddles and turned them loose on a flock of original instrumentals. It all jumps and could be titled “music to listen to jazz by.”. Featured are such top¬ flight soloists as Charlie Shavers. Charlie Ventura, Jimmy Cleveland and Hank Jones. Les & Lairy Elgart: “Sound Ideas” (Columbia). The freres El- gart have provided some of the frCshest ideas in the dance band field in recent years and in this set, they again come up with some original conceptions that give their Dave Lampert Singers, sounds hokey. “The Weavers At. Home” (Van¬ guard): The Weavers keep oh add¬ ing to their immense folksong rep- ertory on wax with this disk reci¬ tal. Delivered with this combo's customkry verve, the ; huihbers range from Americana, sea chan¬ ties and Israeli songs to material from Africa. Eddie Albert: “High Upon A Mountain” (Dot). Actor Eddie Al¬ bert has pleasantly rugged baritone pipes which he uses unpretentious¬ ly. His straightforward style is particularly effective on ^s selec¬ tion of poetic ; and inspirational numbers including “YouTl Never Walk Alone,” “The Best Things in Life Are Free,” “No Man Is Ah is- .. land,” “Oh, What A . Beatuiful Mornihg,” “Let There Be Feace” and the album’s title song. Paul Ulayton: “Unholy Matrl-. mony” (Elektfa). This is an amus¬ ing set of folksohgs about the un- , happy, and sometimes dangerous institution of marriage. Paul Clay¬ ton delivers the material with a light touch, backed by Bob Yellin on banjo. Tohsan; *?The Wild Sound of New Orleans” (RCA Victor): Tousan, a 21-year-dld pianist from New. Or¬ leans, pounds the keyboard, with, tremendous power iri his wax bow. He plays blues, barrelhouse and. some oldfashioned comball num- . bers with color and drive. “Go Champs Go” CChalienge). Riding with their click “Tequila’’ number, which is; part of this set, the Champs here are showcased in a dozen ^ driving: . ihstrumentals, some, blending the Latin and rock ’h’ roll motifs. This quintet, un¬ like. many rocking combos, strives for original sounds and. fraquently h-ts a high-flying groove, as in “Midnighter” and “Robot. Walk” where the beat is terrific. Stan ; Getz-Chet Bakerj^ “Stan work a special stamp. The Elgart j Meets Chet” (Verve): Two j^ourtg band uses subtle instrumental col- Pvptaganists m modern jazz,, tenor - ’saxist Stari Getz and trumpeter Chet Baker, tilt horns at each other in this package and blow up a cool storm. Getz’s alto is in fine form in this set and tends to overshadow Baker’s lucid but thin style. Duo plus combo work oiit qn. some standards, including the ubiquitous “I’U Remember April” and some original works. Herm. orings over a good beat on such numbers as “I've Got A Crush On You.” ‘T Could Write A Book,” “Lazy Afternoon.” “You’re My Thrill,” “When The Sun Comes Out,’’ and “Alone Together,” among others- Shoshani Damari: “Haifa in Hh Fi’* (Seeco). Israeli songstress Shb-^ shani Damari is an outstanding Her brew'folksong; exponeht and in this offering,: her superb talent regis¬ ters on a stirring repertory of Is¬ raeli songs. Missing are transla¬ tions of the songs in the liner notes, a detail which adds consid¬ erably to appreciating foreign lan¬ guage songs. Johnny Richards; “The Rites of Diablo” (Roulette): Based bn some primitive African ritual, this is an extended jazz offering composed and conducted by Johnny Richards. Using an eight-voice chorus and a jazz combo loaded with percussion¬ ists. Richards has created some in¬ teresting jazz motifs. Some of the African material, as sung by the 1. PURPLE PEOPLE EATER (3) .. 2. ALL I HAVE To DO IS DREAM (4) ■ ••3:-BiG MAN'42)^ V...., ' .4; YARETY-^Ak- (2);;.y,/’.;;... iVv.., 5; TWILIGHT TIME (7) ^!. *: / ____ / 6 * SECRETLY (1) 7. SUGAR MOON (7) ..y,..:...,/.,- 8 . return TO DIE (10) 9. YOU NEED HANDS H):.. .; / v.. 10. DO YOU WANNA DANCE (2) .... Second Croup WEAR MY RING .. ^. y ... y , ciUnson d’Amour ,. .... V .: JENNIE LEE JODY : . . padre' . . . .y. T FOR YOUR LOVE i:.. *. .,. . Igotamatch.. j WRAT AM I LIVING FOR ; . i EL RANCHO ROCK , ; : [ y^y y t ENCHANTED ISLAND [ / .... Elvis Presley . yArt & Dotty Todd * ’ ” I Fontahe Sisters ... .Victor . : , Era .. Dot \Arwin Jan Sc Amie ........... Frankie Vaughn ...... . Epic Toni Arden . ^_ ...... Deccd E. Townsend .,., ;.... Capitol Daddy-O’s ............;. . Cabot Chuck WUlis .......... Atlantic Champs .. .Challenge Four Lads ......... _ . Cohtnibia [Figtires in parentheses, indicate number of weeks song has been iii the Top 10 ] DANNY FERGUSON ORCH ( 8 ) With Alicia Ward Hotel Mnehleb^ch* Kansas City Muehlebach is making one of its periodic changes of music in the downstairs: Terrace Grill and has ■ brought In another of the allar()und bands to hold forth, likely for the summer. Dariny . Ferguson has never played the room, but is a familiar on the hotef arid club circuit, mostly from St^tler dates in the east. He’S ai pianist; as have been his several predecessors, and surrounds himself with trio of teeds, pair of tiaimpets, string bass and drums. As is becoming almost standard for the entertainment type of room, the Ferguson crew plays both danc¬ ing and for shows, and coiisequent- ly offers a wide range of doubles,, including bass clarinet, fiddles, and a wealth of reeds.. These are put to, extensive use, hoth in playing for dancing and in backing the floorshow. Ferguson whips out some piaiio specialties along the way; such as the “Warsaw Concerto”'excerpt as part of the floorshow, or fingers a neat rhythni for customer terping. All is embellished by the. side in¬ strumentation. some of it also e.x- tensively featured. Ferguson gen¬ erally has a; capable and commer¬ cial crew. , New in the vocM department is pert Alicia Ward, who is fresh out of college; although she has been chirping along with her studies in Milwaukee. She is an attractive brunette, and ^ haiidles a balla(l nicely. Quin. Mills’ European Trek . Jack Mills is due back in New York July I after an extended Eu¬ ropean trek. The Mills Music top¬ per is on a junket through England, Spain, France*./Belgium, Germany and Italy. In England, Mills huddled :\vith Fred Jackson, general manager of his London office.