riddlemay

I liked his charts for Vikki Carr's early albums, like this one:

I don't get to the Half Price in Skokie very often, but I have fairly recently, and it seemed to me that prices on used CDs the store was selling were not appreciably lower than before. It makes sense that demand for CDs is down, what with streaming, digital downloads, and the resurgence of vinyl. But then you'd think the sales price on used CDs ought to be something more like a dollar. And it isn't.

Wow--I don't remember the Crossroads label (apparently a tiny little division of Columbia) at all! I well remember their budget classical label Odyssey, which had lots of good repertoire in good performances in good sound on good pressings, but not Crossroads. I love the Seymour-Chwast-meets-Peter-Max graphics, too.

In that video (and on the record they're lip-synching to), it's my strong suspicion, just based on sound, that Lani is double-tracked and Karen isn't singing at all. Karen is there because Brasil 66 had two girl singers and it would have looked weird if she wasn't. (And for the additional eye candy.) Karen was a good singer; I just don't think we're hearing her on this cut. But I could be wrong.

Much as I love Sinatra's original recording of Cahn-Van Heusen's "All My Tomorrows" with Riddle's arrangement, I think Costa's arrangement on the remake inspired one of the greatest Frank Sinatra recordings of all time.

Well I'll be. Her husband Artie Schroeck arranged on Jackie and Roy's Grass.

"Now there's a gal who can sing." Except I'd put money on her lip-synching to a session singer who isn't her.

If anyone's using the PayPal link for the first time, don't type a $-sign onto the indicated line on the Organissimo page--just a numeral, including a decimal point followed by zeroes. I kept getting error messages until I figured that out.

Had a good title song written to promote it (not sure if it was used at any point in the film) by Harry Warren and Harold Adamson. Eydie Gorme made a recording of it.

I occasionally stream music via Apple Music through my Apple TV into my stereo. I notice that I always quickly lose interest, and I think it's because of, not in spite of, endless choice. Somehow, when practically the entire world of recorded music is at my fingertips, no one piece of music matters; and my mind quickly turns to wondering what else I could be hearing. When I actively choose a physical disc to play, I listen.

ClipGrab lets you download videos from YouTube and has an audio-only option in the drop-down menu under "Format." I've found the app to work simply and well.

I too am sad to hear Larry's story. I once saw Roy handle a situation with amazing grace. They were booked into the ballroom of the Fairmont Hotel in Chicago in the nineties, which at the time was trying to make it as a music venue. The opener was a sixteen-piece big band, then J & R. In that huge ballroom, two tables were occupied--ours, and the one next to ours, both in the front row. A total of eight people. The show went on. Jackie & Roy came out and went right into their first number. Then Roy addressed the eight of us. Facing the situation head-on, and sidestepping the fact that he and Jackie were humiliated, he expressed concern for us instead. "Don't be embarrassed or uncomfortable," he said. "Pretend that Jackie and I have had you all over to our house for dinner, we've had a wonderful meal, and now we're in living room, where Jackie and I go to our piano and entertain you for a while."