gmonahan

Given the price of college textbooks, $10 large should pay for about...one! gregmo

Police Squad and its goofy movie follow-ups are comic masterpieces, thanks in large part to Nielsen's wonderful work. What a *great* second career! RIP. gregmo

Me too. I recently downloaded the album Sarah Vaughan made with Jimmy Rowles for Mainstream because there was no other way to get it, but I'm missing the "stuff" that comes with it--cover art, liner notes, etc. I can scrounge together something and sort of make my own cd, but it just ain't the same. I have to wonder, though, how long it will be before Mosaic starts a download service on its discs. gregmo

Well, Jim, first I really appreciate your posting these because they do offer two interestingly different takes on the same song. It's a pretty melodramatic song no matter who arranges it! But I have to say I really prefer the Columbia version (which I assume is a Stordahl arrangement--again, I'm not close to my collection to check). Despite the choral group at the beginning and end, which was more typical of the Columbias and with which I could do without, it's a more subtle arrangement, and Sinatra is, I think, in better voice for it. What Jenkins did with his acres of strings was to make Sinatra work harder (which may be why he very seldom sang these in concert), making him sing louder and therefore a bit more dramatically...or melodramatically, if one is being critical. There are times when that's kind of fun. "Where Are You" (the song, not the album) is a case where I think the melodrama kind of works, but even there, the strings are really intrusive. I think they completely overwhelm his version of "Laura" on that album. I think you're right that Riddle captured "melancholy" better than any other arranger, and maybe it's just that one person's "sentiment" is another person's "maudlin." I guess I've always thought of "September of My Years" as a made-to-order melancholy album, so that the strings in "It was a Very Good Year," just go *way* over the top for me! A bit more of Riddle's melancholy and less of Jenkins's sentiment would have been a good thing in that song! Of course, all of this has taken us a pretty fair distance from Friedwald's book, but I'm enjoying the conversation! gregmo

Each set of ears is different! The most startling contrast is between something like that track and Riddle's (for me) utterly brilliant arrangement of "One For My Baby" on the Only the Lonely album. The strings are so subtle on the latter you're barely even aware they're there, but they make for a gorgeous background. (I often wonder what "September of My Years" would have sounded like with Riddle at the helm.) gregmo

I'm not saying I dislike all the stuff Jenkins did with Sinatra, but it just seemed to me that too often, he overdid it with the strings. The most classic case for me comes from "September of My Years" on the hit song "It Was a Very Good Year" where the strings completely overwhelm everything, making one of Sinatra's best and most heartfelt vocals sound maudlin. Riddle, May, and even some of the lesser used arrangers like Mandel and Oliver, sound much better. They didn't overwhelm the singer--and Sinatra wasn't easy to overwhelm! gregmo

Yeah, but they are long-gone and, as neveronfriday says, pricey to collect today. For those of us who missed the boat on those (and I've been buying jazz CDs since the late Eighties), this is a useful collection. Crisp, I spent several months hunting down the Mercury triples. If you are patient and check each and every world-wide Amazon site, etc., you will be able to get these at a reasonable price, if you are lucky. Hell, I waited months to get certain volumes, jumping on them the day someone who didn't know what he/she had put them up for sale. I have lots of music, but Dinah Washington - even the (later) stuff other people hate - is a cornerstone of my collection. Those 7 triples are worth it all the way! I love her voice, her intonation ... everything. She could breathe life into even the shoddiest of songs. Go for'em! Volkher (NeverOF) P.S.: Although I get piss*d off regularly when things I paid a load for become much cheaper, I'd be the first one to bow East, West, North and South if the complete Mercury was available in a (much) cheaper format. Labels being what they are though, I wouldn't get my hopes up! Volker! Good to see you! Yes, I also had to hunt those down, though I did it a few years ago when they were still a bit more available. Same with the Sarah Vaughan Mercury boxes, and I was quite a while getting hold of that one Helen Merrill Mercury box! Finally got hold of a very fine Japanese pressing of that one. Way cool. gregmo

Many thanks for the thoughtful responses to my query. Sounds like there may be some duplication at either end of the set for those of us with both the Mosaic and the East of the Sun sets. I'll probably wait to see the details before I spring for this one, though those 53-54 things are enticing. gregmo

VERY nice post, Brownie. The original Renaud covers are very cool! gregmo

The set looks good and seems professionally conceived. A look at the other items from the Coda catalogue shows it is a serious operation. Thanks, Guy. Ordered it from Amazon.fr. for 30 something Euro; much cheaper than from the label itself. Hope you'll let us know what you think of it! gregmo

Virtually all of this was issued on the Complete Mercury boxes, so if one has those, one has almost all this material, with one or two exceptions, I think. gregmo

Except that he horribly misunderstands Gordon Jenkins, misuses musical terms more than once, seems to be unable to notice and/or comprehend the evolution of the singer's swing (and that of the backgrounds) throughout the 50s & 60s, seems t think that all of the post-comeback material is more or less of a piece, and seems to be convinced that at some point "I" will "need" to hear all of the 40s recordings (hasn't happened yet, not but a long shot. One or two at a time is just fine, thank you.). Other than that, a fine book. Seriously. But ain't no way that I take him at all seriously on the "insight" front. I think he's a literate fan as much (or more) than anything else. Not that there's anything wrong with that. Hmmmm. Well, I think he gets Gordon Jenkins about right. As for the other points, the fact that he organizes the book around arrangers rather than chronologically does make it harder for him to chart certain evolutionary developments in Sinatra's singing. Like you (apparently!), I'm not a huge fan of Sinatra's 40s stuff, even though I have and have listened to the Blue Box. I guess I just view that as something I need to listen to again!! gregmo

I'm away from my collection right now (arg!), so I can't check this quickly, but this doesn't repeat anything from the Mosaic Getz/Raney set does it? And how about the Verve-issued 3-disc Getz set "East of the Sun: The West Coast Sessions"? Seems to me that had some of the early quintet material, didn't it? gregmo

But that's the point where his writing usually becomes very funny. His description of Bono's duet with Sinatra is especially hilarious. I think his book on Sinatra is one of the only good ones ever written about him. I've put this one on my wish list. gregmo

It's pretty far off topic, so apologies, but for some gorgeous Diz on youtube: Dizzy, Tin Tin Deo As for Satch, still love his duet with Crosby in High Society: Satch and Bing gregmo

I've been there. I can offer little comfort except to tell you that it gets better with time. Please accept my deepest sympathies. You're in my thoughts. gregmo

The great, GREAT Johnny Hodges! Thanks for posting!

Oh my God! gregmo

We may have had a thread on this before, but does anybody still play the C Melody Sax? gregmo

I used it in a couple of college classes at the time, but my old video copy was too crappy. I can well imagine it would make students restless today. It was sort of the British answer to the American "The Day After," which made a huge stink then. Hard to believe if one looks at it now. That was also the era of the big Nuclear Freeze movement. Time passes. As for Reagan...don't get me started. gregmo

"Threads" was just about the only realistic portrayal of a nuclear attack I've ever seen. Boy, was it a *downer*!! gregmo

I'd go for the Hodes set if it were the cd set instead of the lps. gregmo

Thanks Chuck. I don't know how I missed these. Seems like he was under contract to other labels when he made these? Or were they recorded in between? Or maybe under a different name? All of the above? None of the above?! gregmo

When did Henderson record for Victor? I knew about the Deccas and the Columbia family of labels. I didn't realize he'd recorded for Victor. gregmo

Many thanks for the birthday wishes!! I bought myself a copy of the newly reissued Sidney Bechet-Buck Clayton Sextet at the Brussels Fair, 1958 for my birthday (despite the terrible exchange rates here in Paris!). Bechet was in very fine form--his last live performance, I think. Anyway, thanks again!! gregmo