Sunday, February 25, 2007

ALL LINKS ARE FIXED!

Enjoy!

I hope they will not get erased by rapidshare again!

ps. is anyone interested in ripping lp's and sharing them on here with me?I hope so! I know some of you have big collections!

Joanie Sommers & Anna Maria Alberghetti

Prior to "Friends and Family," Anna Maria Alberghetti filmed “The Whole Shebang” with Stanley Tucci, Bridget Fonda, Giancarlo Gianinni, and Talia Shire. Her other feature films include co-starring roles in “Here Comes The Groom” with Bing Crosby, “Cinderfella” with Jerry Lewis, “10,000 Bedrooms” with Dean Martin, “The Stars Are Shining” with Rosemary Clooney, “The Last Command” with Sterling Hayden, and “The Medium” with the Metropolitan Opera’s great Lauritz Melchoir.
Anna was born in Pesaro, Italy and as the daughter of a concertmaster father and a pianist mother, she began singing professionally at the age of six with a 100 piece orchestra on the Isle of Rhodes. “I cannot remember a time when music was not part of my life,” Anna Maria recalls today. “My father sang with a number of famous opera companies, including La Scala and he was concertmaster for the Rome Opera Company,” she explains. Her father was also her only vocal instructor.
The tragedy of World War II forced the Alberghettis from their homeland and after a tour of Europe, Anna’s parents brought her to America where she debuted at Carnegie Hall. The New York Times marveled at the child’s extraordinary talent and “some of the purest, loveliest sounds that have ever been heard.” Success with the New York Philharmonic and other distinguished symphonies followed, paving the way for a career as soloist with outstanding orchestras that still flourish today. Ed Sullivan introduced Anna Maria to television audiences and the public has remained enchanted with her ever since. She appeared with Sullivan a record 53 times. As she matured, the beautiful girl with the angelic voice made her mark in every area of entertainment. In addition to her Tony winning performance in “Carnival,” Anna Maria has also given illustrious performances in “West Side Story,” “The Sound of Music,” “Cabaret,” “Camelot,” “Fanny,” “Most Happy Fella,” “The Boyfriend,” “The Student Prince,” “Side By Sondheim,” and recently has toured in the Kopit-Yeston production of “Phantom.”
Her recording career has included performances for Capitol Records, Columbia Records, Mercury Records and MGM Records.

ANNA MARIA ALBERGHETTI - I CAN'T RESIST YOU

The voice, like wind through sugar cane, first rustled into U.S. living rooms last year singing "Now it's a Pepsi . . . for those who think young." Joanie Sommers, owner of the voice, has come a long way since those anonymous days, has already earned her first quarter-million dollars (and her first ulcer) at the age of 20. Says she: "I'm a worrywart. I'm tired and I ponder about being tired." At the age of ten, Joanie Drost (her real name) won a prize on a Buffalo TV show singing Your Cheating Heart, largely because (she says) her numerous relatives bought piles of postcards and stuffed the ballot box by mail. Four years later her family emigrated to California. She recalls: "It was a miracle. We didn't have a flat until we were sitting in a gas station in California. We had $1.62 left." Joanie's early career is like a clip from an old Judy Garland movie. She sang and sang—with the jukebox in the tavern where her mother worked, with the Venice (Calif.) High School dance band, with a harmony group for the Elks Club. Finally came the Big Audition—with Tommy Oliver's band at the Deauville country club in Santa Monica, and the Big Click. A demonstration disk played for Warner Bros. record company resulted in her first album, Positively the Most, a title artfully designed to rhyme with Drost. But Joanie had already decided the Drost was dross as far as names went, tried out Joan St. Clair, Joanie Post, and finally decided—for no particular reason—on Joanie Sommers. Says she: "I can't think of myself as anybody else now, even if I try."

The album and Joanie's haunted-hoarse voice, became pets of disk jockeys everywhere. A refreshing change from the smoldering young sirens whose singing style tries to suggest that they are capable of unseemly passion, Joanie sounds throaty but relaxed, is admired both by rock 'n' rollers (for whom she steadfastly refuses to rock) as well as by those who pant for Ella and Frankie. Mort Sahl heard the records, took a look at gamin-faced Joanie, signed her up to accompany him on a 35-city concert tour. Suddenly everybody wants Joanie.

JOANIE SOMMERS - POSITIVELY THE MOST

Saturday, February 10, 2007

Debbie Reynolds double bill!

Debbie Reynolds regularly appeared in movie musicals during the 1950s and chalked up several hit records despite an only occasionally active career as a recording artist. Her song "Aba Daba Honeymoon" was a top 3 hit in 1951. She is best remembered for her smash recording of the theme song "Tammy" which earned her a gold record and was the best-selling single by a female vocalist in 1957 and was number one for 5 weeks on the Billboard pop charts. Reynolds also scored two additional top 25 Billboard hits with "A Very Special Love" in 1958 and 1960s "Am I That Easy To Forget", a pop version of Skeeter Davis' country hit (interestingly, Davis' real first name also was Mary Frances). Reynolds currently has several CDs on the market of both vintage performances and later recordings.

DEBBIE - AM I THAT EASY TO FORGET?

Here's what Bing Crosby said on the back on the record:"It was small surprise to me then that when I listened to this beautiful album she has etched for Dot, I found myself captivated and enchanted. Quite obviously, Debbie had spent a great deal of time selecting the songs to be included, because she made them her own, and invested them with a sincerity that's inescapable - of contrasting moods, to be sure, but the moods are there, and to me, mighty effective. And that, mes amis, is artistry.

DEBBIE - DEBBIE

I don't have her lp FINE AND DANDY, so shout if you do:-)

Thursday, February 8, 2007

Mrs.Patterson / Original Broadway cast 1954 with Eartha Kitt

This is very rare to come by, even for the Eartha Kitt enthusiasts. It was composed by James Shelton (his only musical) and it ran for only 102 performances. Kitt's return from Paris to America led to starring roles on Broadway. She appeared in New Faces of 1952 on Broadway, where her performance of Monotonous stopped the show for a year and became legendary. Kitt was soon recording such hits as Love For Sale, St. Louis Blues, the Grammy-nominated Folk Tales of the Tribes of Africa, and favorites C'est Si Bon and Santa Baby. Back on Broadway, Kitt's resume includes such varied work as Shinbone Alley, The Skin of Our Teeth, Timbuktu, The Owl and the Pussycat, and Tony-nominated turns in this dramatic play Mrs. Patterson. I'm posting this to see how many people are interested in old and rare broadway productions. Enjoy!

MRS.PATTERSON OBC

Wednesday, February 7, 2007

Lizabeth Scott sings on "The Big Record" 1958

I got at least 20 emails about Lizabeth Scott. What a positive response! I dug up a little something on YouTube just for you guys. Enjoy!

Tuesday, February 6, 2007

Lizabeth Scott / link fixed

Lizabeth is now in mp3, and a high bitrate, because a few of you requested it! Enjoy!

Tony Perkins & Marty Paich / How about you

Personnel includes: Tony Perkins (vocals); Marty Paich (arranger). Originally released on Epic (3394).
Young Mr. Perkins was the proud possessor of a deep, unaffected singing voice at the time (1957) he cut this album for Epic, which also happened to be the time that he was Hollywood's Next Big Thing. But for somebody being groomed to be a teen idol, Tony stuck pretty close to the standards on this recording, which was also blessed with great arrangements by Marty Paich. Also added is Tony's late-'50s singles for Epic plus an unreleased alternate take for a full-length, 19-track sojourn into a lesser-known side of one of the more talented and complex performers of the '50s and '60s.

TONY PERKINS - HOW ABOUT YOU

Does anyone have his "On a rainy afternoon" album?

Monday, February 5, 2007

First post!

Hello blogging world!

I have been inspired by "She sings jazz and more" and decided to share my collection with all of you. What really would encourage me to post more, is your comments and will to trade albums that I don't have. This genre is really hard to find in the blogging world, so I am also opening a private forum for exchanging music and vinyl rips - all the good stuff will be there. You can always email me if you want to be a apart of it - you surely won't regret it since your want list might shrink in a small amount of time.

I would like to start this off with a favorite rarity of mine - Lizabeth Scott / Debut - released in 1958 on Vic records label.Lizabeth Scott (born September 29, 1922) is an American actress who achieved some success in films, particularly in the genre of film noir.

LIZABETH SCOTT - DEBUT


We continue with another splendid record - Ann Richards & Stan Kenton/Two much! - released in 1960 on Capitol. Born Margaret Ann Borden in San Diego on October 1, 1935, Ann Richards burst onto the West Coast music scene in 1954 with all the promise and optimism of a young starlet. That year, songwriter Eddie Beal brought doe-eyed Richards to the attention of bandleader Stan Kenton. Kenton was impressed, and consequently Richards signed with glamorous Capitol Records, which gave her the first-rate, big-budget build-up it was famous for. For her debut album, I'm Shooting High (1958), Capitol paired Richards with society conductor Brian Farnon to record a top-drawer selection of standards lushly arranged by Warren Barker. The album's lavish cover shot featured the attractive singer dressed in debutante style with jewels and an expensive ball gown amidst a gauzy pink backdrop, while its liner notes hailed Richards as an exciting, new, multi-talented ingenue.

Due, perhaps, to that era's glut of exciting, new, multi-talented ingenues, I'm Shooting High seems to have gotten lost in the shuffle. However, the increasingly curvaceous Richards had caught the (roving) eye of Capitol star Stan Kenton who, it appears, pressed the company's execs to find a niche for her. Thus Richards' next Capitol album, The Many Moods of Ann Richards (1959), intentionally put the singer through stylistic paces ranging from Bill Holman's cool jazz to the East Asian exotica of Tak Shindo. While an impressive display of Richards' versatility, Many Moods only confused the public about the young singer's ability. Fortunately for Richards, none of that mattered for by that time she had already cemented her image - as that of Mrs. Stan Kenton. She and Kenton went on to make a number of good recordings including the sizzling Capitol album, Two Much! (1960). What's more, the busty, brunette singer became something of a jazz pinup - or, as jazz critic Leonard Feather called her, the "Elizabeth Taylor of the hip set." But Two Much! was too good to last. The Kenton marriage deteriorated badly, and by the early 1960s Richards found herself without a husband, a recording contract, and much of a future.

ANN RICHARDS - TWO MUCH!


The third rarity I present you with today is Frances Faye/In Frenzy, issued on Verve in 1961 with Russ Garcia. Amazing stuff - wild bongo-ridden, brassy, dramatic takes on mostly Latin standards. An incredible performer - I wish I'd been around to catch one of her performances! Frenzy is one of Faye's best studio albums. Garcia really brings out Faye's unique sound by contrasting it with such strong Latin flavor. I don't know anything else that sounds like it. IF ANYONE HAS HER ALBUM I'M WILD AGAIN, PLEASE CONTACT ME!

FRANCES FAYE - IN FRENZY