Welcome to the second post of the Phase 4 Stereo story. There are, apparently, few singers in this collection so this post may seem a little short. This possible disappointment will be exacerbated by the fact that there are a bunch of artists that I can found no information on. Still, the search will go on. And because I am still fairly early on in my collecting of these records, there are a few gaps where the LP cover images will eventually be. So, ♫ Let's go on with the show ♫ 'Not now, Ethel ... not now!'
Los Machucambos
Edmund Hockeridge
One of Edmund James Arthur Hockridge's earlier claims to fame was that, whilst living in Peterborough with his second wife, their next-door neighbour was Ernie Wise (one half of the popular TV comedy duo, Morecambe and Wise). This was not, however, enough to hang a career on, so ...
... he became a baritone singer and actor performing in stage musicals, opera, plays and singing in concert. In a varied career which only really began to take off when he was approaching age 30, he sang in such as Carousel, Guys and Dolls and Annie Get Your Gun - the latter of which, at the age of 67, he shared the stage with rock/pop singer, Suzi Quatro ... and that's not all! In a production of The Sound of Music, he appeared with Isabella Margaret Dyce! Remember her? No? Well, how about Isla St Clair? For it is she. You know, the one what appeared on TV in the 1970s and 80s with stars like Morecambe and Wise, Max Bygraves and also wound up on Blue Peter, no less. But, if you remember seeing her in only one show, it is most likely in Larry Grayson's version of The Generation Game on BBC. Grayson took over from Bruce Forsyth when he was poached for rival TV channel LWT's The Big Night which was shown at the same time as The G Game as a direct challenge for the lucrative Saturday evening viewing figures. No chance - Larry and Isla saw it off the air within three months. Their time was finally up, though, after three years, at the end of 1981 when they lost viewers to Game For A Laugh. Anyway, in case anybody is still interested, we should get back to our Ted.
As well as the musicals that he was popular for, Mr Hockridge also took lead roles in operas such as Mozart's Don Giovanni, La Boheme by Puccini and Peter Grimes which was written by Benjamin Britten. He also took on Gilbert & Sullivan characters and he hit the pop charts, too.
He got to No. 10 in 1956 with 'Young and Foolish' followed later in the year by 'No Other Love' (24) and 'By the Fountains of Rome' (17). In our record collection he features on Western Heritage (PFS 4075) ... yee haaas if you want 'em - yee haaas if you don't!
This is a not unpleasant listen if you are in the mood for some baritone cowboy cattle-rustling. Ably assisted by the orchestra and chorale of Mr Peter Knight, the pioneer story of the American West is told in song by Edmund H or Ted as he is affectionately called on the LP back cover.
Reminiscent of all those westerns that were all over the telly back in the day, this record properly evokes times of care-free youth prior to the Marvel super-heroes that seem to stressfully populate our cinema screens and TVs today..
Robert Merrill
So, you know the system by now - nobody in entertainment seems to be happy with their own name, do they? So it is with Moishe Miller. It was Moishe's/Robert's mother, Lillian, who sang fine soprano on her own radio show, who first recognised Robert's singing voice as having career potential. Merrill, like Edmund Hockridge above, also made his name as an operatic baritone who was equally at home in stage musicals and who also took to acting. Robert can be heard as one of the cast on Kismet (PFS 4035 see below) and Americana (PFS 4069) on which he stars singing stuff like 'Oklahoma', 'America the Beautiful' and 'The Whiffenpoof Song'!
His first opera was Verdi's Aida in 1944 aged about 27 and in 1952, Robert Merrill acted in the film musical, Aaron Slick from Punkin Crick a hillbilly romp in which our man played Bill Merridew, a rascally gent, thus upsetting Sir Rudolph Bing who was, at the time, general manager of the Metropolitan Opera in the US under whom, Merrill was plying his trade in proper singing. This movie was widely criticised and is generally considered to be a bit of a stinker and resulted in a temporary separation between Merrill and the Met. Mr Bing had high standards which may have been compromised by seeing one of his stars involved with such a poorly received production. Happily though, things were patched up and Merrill became the Metropolitan's principal baritone in 1960 ultimately performing 769 times in 21 roles from 1945 to 1974.
Nearly a decade later, he was asked to sing 'The Star-Spangled Banner to open the baseball season and from then on, was invited back by The Yankees each new season. Even now, recordings of Merrill doing the national anthem are sometimes used at special club events - usually, it should be said, on Old-Timer's Day.
Ethel Merman
Having trouble finding Ethel Merman in your encyclopaedia? Here's a hint - look between Ethanol and Ether! I'm saying no more.
Actress and mezzo soprano singer, Ethel Agnes Zimmermann was discovered singing at her local church when young and was soon exercising her powerful voice at local concert halls. She later became known for songs like 'I Got rhythm' and 'Everything's Coming Up Roses' but her signature tune was, of course, 'There's No Business Like Show Business'. It was songs like this belted out from the stage that really made her name though she also took part in the movies, her last one being Airplane! in which she played a shell-shocked soldier (say that after knocking back an ethanol or two) who thinks that he is ... Ethel Merman.
Ethel crops up on three records in the Phase 4 collection, Merman Sings Merman (PFS 4266 'Everything's Coming Up Roses', 'I Got Rhythm' and 'There's No Business etc.etc.'), Ethel Merman Sings Annie Get Your Gun (PFS 4296 'There's No Business etc. etc.', 'There's No Business etc. etc.', 'There's No Business etc. etc.' and 'There's No Business etc. etc.' Yep! Count 'em!) and Ethel's Ridin' High (PFS 4324 'Gee But It's Good to be Here', 'What Kind of Fool Am I?', and 'The Impossible Dream'). Ethel Merman sounds just great doing showtunes that need a bit of welly but, her version of 'What Kind of Fool Am I?' is just horrible ... in my opinion, that is ...
Eileen Farrell
Ms Farrell was an American soprano opera singer and she shows up on a couple of Phase 4 Stereo (P4S) LPs singing Puccini, Wagner and Verdi amongst others. Opera wasn't her only gig, however. She also sang pop, jazz and blues and Eileen has a record here (PFS 4052) which features tunes from, for example, Rogers and Hammerstein. The Magnificent Voice of Eileen Farrell (PFS 4052) contains 'Climb Ev'ry Mountain', 'You'll Never Walk Alone' and 'If I Loved You' by R&H along with such as The Lord's Prayer and 'Bless This House'. Incidentally, Farrell was the Mother Abbess on the 1988 album, The Sound of Music so, as well as 'Climb Ev'ry Mountain', she had a part to sing in 'Maria' along with the reprise of her signature song at the end with the chorus. I do wonder if her voice was cut out for more poppy-type tunes, though, as, to my ears anyway, she overuses that professional warble and the shortened last note on 'Climb Ev'ry Mountain' suggests a bit off a struggle that the song clearly wins. As ever, don't take my word for it - check out the song on the record itself or more modern digital means. Much better is her version of 'Sunny Side of the Street' which she first got a chance to sing whilst standing in front of jazz trumpeter, Louis Armstrong's band when the main man was ill one time - an invite she was never going to turn down.
When Eileen Farrell was 21 years of age, she already had a career in entertainment with a weekly half-hour radio show, Eileen Farrell Sings which kept her busy for five years, establishing her place in the affection of her classical and pop-loving listeners. Her concert soprano career began shortly after but opera singing, for which she was most known, didn't really begin until almost a decade later. Further to her credit is her standing as a notable person associated with the US city of Woonsocket! 😎 Woonsocket is a city in Rhode Island in the US.
The Magnificent Voice of ...' comes in at least two other versions other than the P4S one. There is a regular mono DECCA LP, with same front cover except for the missing 'phase 4 stereo' across the top and where the pattern design goes to the top of the cover, and one on the LONDON label subtitled Songs America Loves, in case the people of that fine country didn't realise. All three albums were released in 1965.
Eileen Farrell also contributes 'Bless This House' to PFS 4058 which is simply called Sampler.
Tony Randall & Jack Klugman
America's TV comedy actors, the Odd Couple, got together to record some tunes for PFS 4277, The Odd Couple Sings.
Aryeh Leonard Rosenberg/Anthony Leonard Randall and Jacob Joachim Klugman are best known as Felix Unger and Oscar Madison from the TV adaptation of the Neil Simon play, The Odd Couple. Both had very successful careers on stage and screen (silver and TV), Randall's beginning in the mid-1940s and Klugman's in 1950 but it was some 20 years later that they bumped into each other when they began a five year stint as the Odd Couple on TV. It was a kind of reprise for Jack Klugman as he had been playing Oscar in the stage play, replacing Walter Matthau. The year after The Odd Couple's run ended, Klugman began a seven year term as Quincy, M.E.
Tony Randall was the original choice to voice the part of Templeton the gluttonous rat in Charlotte's Web but was ousted by Paul Lynde, who's nasal delivery was considered more suitable for the character. Randall continued his varied professional career until 2003 whilst Klugman worked until 2010, the duo teaming back up in 1993 when they revisited their characters in the TV film, The Odd Couple: Together Again.
The Odd Couple Sings was released in 1973 with the duo backed by the London Festival Orchestra and Chorus conducted by Roland Shaw. Songs on the LP include 'Johnny One Note', 'The Inch Worm' and 'When Banana Skins Are Falling (I'll Come Sliding Back To You)'.
Fela Anikulapo Kuti
Fela was born in Abeokuta which lies some fifty miles to the north of Lagos, Nigeria. Also known as Olufela Olusegun Oludotun Ransome-Kuti as well as just Fela Kuti, he is considered to be a musical pioneer.
It was he that established the Afrobeat sound - this weird mix of funk, rock, psychedelia and jazz. Oh, and Yoruba chants, naturally. Never heard of them? Well, listen up my friends! Yoruba is a religious life-style that is practised in Western Africa, including Nigeria. It is a system of living through a series of reincarnations, the ultimate aim of which is to gradually reach transcendence - a condition of superior existence. The music associated with Yoruba features advanced drumming, particularly with the dundun talking drums. The dundun talking drum is the shape of an hourglass with a drum head at each end separated by a waist. Expert use of such an instrument can result in a sound similar to a talking human voice with the drum held beneath the arm and struck with a stick whilst the elbow is used to change the tension of the skins by squeezing leather cords connecting each drum head. Words chanted over such music is usually devoted to the Orisas, that is, the saints who intercede between mortals, and Olodumare, the supreme deity. So that is it in a nutshell. Mind you, popular Afrobeat is most likely to be influenced by Western pop and rock styles but the drumming is the thing that should separate it from other music.
Having said all of that, however, the four tracks that straddle the two Fela LPs (one track of approximately 15 minutes per side) in our collection are largely instrumental and of a rather sedate western beat. Oh well, interesting story, anyway.
In the middle of his musical career, Fela Kuti began to infuse political radicalism into his music and excited the wrath of the Nigerian government resulting in him being arrested some 200 times! Amongst his causes were civil rights and the ideals of the Black Panther Party, originally known as the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense, a movement which set out to monitor police brutality in the US in 1966. There were also branches in the UK and Algeria. In an attempt to increase his global popularity, Kuti began using pidgin English to get his message across.
Fela's inclination towards political activism may have stemmed from his mother who was a feminist back in the day - in fact, she became the very first woman to drive a car on the roads of Nigeria and it was she who encouraged Fela to travel to England to study medicine. Whilst in London, though, he decided to study music instead, forming his first band, 'Koola Lobitos'. Back home, during a trip to Ghana in 1967, he began to formulate ideas for a new kind of music and he called it Afrobeat.
A couple of years later, he and his band were touring America and on their return back to Nigeria, he changed the groups name to 'AFRIKA 70'; the band that features on his Phase 4 records, Upside Down (PFS 4411) and Yellow Fever (PFS 4412), both released in 1976.
This is far from the end of the life and times of Fela Kuti but perhaps we'll leave it here for now, eh?
Choir of Trinity School
The boys' choir of Trinity School is the only school choir to be regularly asked to sing at the BBC Proms Festival in front of the big orchestras such as the London Festival Brass Ensemble and alongside major players such as Leslie Pearson, the great keyboard supremo, such as they are here on The Magic of Christmas (PFS 4316). The Trinity boys and girls are no strangers to the recording studio either. The school is equipped with all the latest recording gear along with a surprising bunch of instruments including harpsichords, virginals and Steinway pianos.
The choir and various musical groups from rock, through jazz to classical, all make regular tours worldwide. On our record, though, we are taken through some well-rehearsed Christmas carols. OK everyone. From the top. 1, 2, 3 and ...
♫ Venid Fieles Todos ... ♫ alegre y triunfante ♫ I can't hear you! OK, OK. Just a little fun. This is the track listing from the back of the Spanish version of the record. It amused me so I left it here and there ain't nothing you can do about it!
Adeste Fideles (venid Fieles Todos) O Come all ye Faithful
Llega la Navidad Christmas is Coming
Noche de Paz Silent Night
Alegria En Las Alturas Ding Dong Merrily on High
Nacido En Un Pesebre Away in a Manger
El Buen Rey Wenceslao Good King Wenceslas
Jingle Bells Jingle Bells
El Primer Noel The First Noel
El Acebo y la Hiedra The Holly and the Ivy
Ven Niño Manuel O Come Emmanuel
Navidades Blancas White Christmas
¡escuchad! Los Arcángeles Cantan Hark the Herald Angels Sing
Kismet
The studio cast recording of the stage show Kismet (PFS 4035) throws up a number of singers, amongst whom are Adele Leigh, Regina Resnik, Ian Wallace and new acquaintance, Robert Merrill as well as old TWO friend, Kenneth McKellar (TWO blog Post 3). Even Mantovani (TWO blog Post 4) gets in on the act!
Adele Leigh
Londoner, Adele Leigh, was an opera soprano whose singing career began, after several years training at RADA and the Juilliard School, when she joined the Royal Opera at Covent Garden at the age of 19. She even fitted in a little acting, playing Joanna in Davy, the final Ealing Comedy filmed at the Ealing Studios which starred Harry Secombe of Goon TWO fame in the part of Davy himself, who harboured a secret desire to become an opera star. My advice: 'Stick to what you do best, Neddie Seagoon!'
Leigh was Roy Plomley's guest on Desert Island Discs in 1965 when her final three choices were 'Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye' by Ella Fitzgerald, The Second World War by Sir Winston Churchill and a make-up table. When she returned in 1988 as a guest of Michael Parkinson, she chose 'Let's Do It' by Noel Coward, Alice in Wonderland and a loofah!
Regina Resnik
Beginning her 50 year career as a soprano, Regina Resnik retrained as mezzo soprano in her early thirties. This change was brought about by her voice spontaneously beginning to drop so it is much to her credit that she was able to adapt in order to progress her career. Now, do you remember Sir Rudolph Bing from the piece on Robert Merrill above? Well, he crops up again here all huffy and puffy. The Director of the Metropolitan Opera was upset that Merrill had taken a part in an inferior play and he was equally upset by Resnik's abandonment of Soprano work and relegated her to minor parts. She soon left the Met to make a new start abroad becoming famous for her new voice in Europe. Ker-ching! Bing Bing!
Ian Wallace
That is, Englishman, Ian Bryce Wallace OBE, sang bass-baritone in opera and in concert and was also an actor which is how he began his career in entertainment. He was known for playing buffo roles in opera which, as you may remember, refers to comedy parts, and even played one of the Ugly Sisters in Cinderella in a London pantomime and though he did not abandon straight parts, he became most known for his association with comedy song writers, Flanders and Swann, his signature tune being 'The Hippopotamus'. You know, the ♫ 'Mud, mud. Glorious mud' ♫ song.
And so to Kismet ... the story of one day in the life of Hajj, the public poet sung by Robert Merrill, who becomes Emir of Baghdad but not before gaining wealth, avenging wrong-doing to his daughter, falling in love and then triumphing over the evil Ian Wallace's Wazir. Phew! What a day! And, as if that wasn't enough, Adele Leigh (Marsinah) goes unwittingly falling in love with the Caliph (Kenneth McKellar)!
So, how many songs do you know from this show? More than you realised possibly. How about 'Baubles, Bangles and Beads' or 'Stranger in Paradise'. The song, 'And This is My Beloved' played by Mantovani and his Orchestra crops up on The King Size Sound of Phase 4 Stereo (PFS 4086) as well as Sampler (PFS 4058).
The Sammes Chorus
Mike Sammes brought the Sammes Singers together in 1957 and they were soon busy backing pop singers, doing soundtracks and radio jingles. Possibly their most unusual work, though, was to sing backing for The Beatles' 'I Am the Walrus' on which they were obliged to sing such lyrics as 'ho ho, hee, hee, ha, ha' and 'oompah, oompah, stick it up your jumper'! Proper rock 'n' roll! I Am the Walrus was the b-side to the single, 'Hello, Goodbye'' and was written by John Lennon, who, for a change🙄, was in a mischievous mood, writing to baffle those who were attempting to apply all sorts of absurd hidden meanings to The Beatles' lyrics.
The Day of the Locust
This soundtrack LP (PFS 4339) is largely taken over by John Barry, first husband of Jane Birkin (wonder if she knew his real name was John Barry Prendergast) songwriter and composer of film music which, as in this case, he liked to conduct. There are four vocalists who get a bit of the limelight, however.
Michael Dees
Busy Jazz singer Michael Martel Dees' first record Michael Dees Sings Steve Allen was released in 1964 when Dees would have been around 23 years of age and he was still recording in his mid-seventies. His voice could/can be heard on TV shows, commercials and jingles along with film soundtracks such as that for The Day of the Locust. Not only that - he can be heard on nine episodes of The Simpsons!
Dees married Playboy magazine's Miss June 1981, Cathy Larmouth, producing daughter, Hayley Dees, actress.
Nick Lucas
Dominic Nicholas Anthony Lucanese was more of a pioneering guitar wiz to begin with but became known as crooner way back in the 1920s. Indeed, he was known as the crooning troubadour. His recording career lasted something like 70 years, shifting more than 80 million records!
Lucas recorded the first ever solo guitar record in 1922 - a kind of single with 'Picking the Guitar' on one side b/w 'Teasing the Frets' both of which he wrote. Another song made famous by him was ' Yes, We Have No Bananas' which became a hit, of course, along with those of various other composers such as 'Bye Bye Blackbird', 'I'm Sitting on Top of the World' and 'Side by Side' amongst others. He even sold three million copies of the first pressing of Tiny Tim's signature tune (though not written by him) 'Tiptoe Through the Tulips with Me' but since those days, five million more of Nick Lucas' version have been sold. Lucas had it at Number 1 of the US charts for ten weeks whereas Tiny Tim could only manage No. 17.
Instrument manufacturers, Gibson, made Nick Lucas guitars back then and still are able to offer a Nick Lucas model. Similarly, you can get guitar plectrums/picks sporting the Lucas name as you could in the 1930s.
Paul Jabara
American Paul Frederick Jabara was a short-lived acting singer-songwriter, passing from this life to the next at age 44. He featured in the original cast of Hair and Jesus Christ Superstar and took over from Tim Curry in The Rocky Horror Show when he left to join the cast of the film version. Jabara featured in Midnight Cowboy in 1969 as a drug-dealing hippie.
Jabara's musical recording career began in 1977 with the album Shut Out and his songs were recorded by such as Whitney Houston, Billy Preston, Julio Iglesias, Bette Midler, Diana Ross, Donna Summer and Barbra Streisand, the latter two coming together to duet on his co-written 'No More Tears (Enough is Enough)'. He was used to collecting various industry awards for his songs in the US but Paul Jabara scored big in the UK when The Weather Girls took his 'It's Raining Men' to Number 2 in the 1984 pop charts. The song, rejected by Summer, Streisand, Ross and Cher, finally got to the top when taken on by Geri Halliwell in 2001. Incidentally, The Weather Girls were kept off of the top spot by Lionel Ritchie with 'Hello'.
Pamela Myers
Pamela Myers seems to have been happy with the name that Mr and Mrs Myers snr. chose for her because she took it with her on all of her acting and singing assignments. She did appear on TV but her main career was centred around the stage.
Pam debuted in the musical Company (Stephen Sondheim) as Marta at the age of about 24 but arguably her main claim to fame was being offered the part of Peppermint Patty in Snoopy! The Musical four years later. Snoopy is the dog in the newspaper cartoon community known as Peanuts (Charles M Shultz) in which, Peppermint Patty is a main player.
Patty is the tomboy with freckles and, as she would say derogatorily, mousy-blah hair. She was modeled by Shultz after his cousin, Patricia Swanson, in conversation with whom, Charles M came up with Patty's philosophy, 'Happiness is a warm puppy'.
Pamela Myers appears to have been active until 2019 when she returned to the play which started he ball rolling, Company which this time, she directed.
oooooooooooooOOOOO0OOOOOooooooooooooo
Now, the following vocal artists are a little mysterious. I can find next to nothing on any of them which I have found very frustrating. Still, I reckon that the least I can do is leave the track listing for your perusal with the promise to top up the information when and if I get it.
Cathie Henderson
Cathie Henderson (PFS 4422)
Lucky Woman
Country Girl
A Good Song
Try to be Friends
Who Knows What Happens to Love
Love Me or Leave Me
River Song
I Don’t Want to Share You
You’re Gonna Shine
I Just Don’t Care Anymore
Looking Back
Long Long Time
Alma Thibou
Stay (PFS 4414)
Once Upon a Time
Midnight Blue
Now You've Gone
He Gives Me Love
Catch Me If You Can
Stay
For as Long as I Have You
Oh Boy
Still
We'll Make It Together
I Need Help
Children of France
Le Chorale des Enfants de l'Opera de Paris (PFS 4216)
What Now My Love
The Windmills Of Your Mind
I Wish You Love
(All Of A Sudden) My Heart Sing
Once Upon A Summertime
La Petite Chanson De Paris
Live For Life
There's Something Missing Now
The Good Life
Autumn Leaves
Jennie
Plaisir D'Amour
Christmas with the Children of France (PFS 4257)
The Holly and the Ivy
Good King Wenceslas
Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
Lone Star (Noel, Noel)
God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
Joy to the World
White Christmas
O Come All Ye Faithful
Silent Night, Holy Night
The First Noel
Jingle Bells
Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer
Away in a Manger
Olive Branch
The Winds of Change (PFS 4223)
Both Sides Now
Where Have All the Flowers Gone
United We Stand
Bridge Over Troubled Water
The Madding Crowd
All My Trials
Blowin' in the Wind
Language of Love
Winds of Change
Joys of Love
The Raymonde Singers' Feelin' (PFS 4151) was directed by Ivor Raymonde, who is also involved in Shake Keane's Dig It!, (PFS 4154) but is not covered here as he is dealt with in TWO Post 12.
Los Machucambos have six LPs (In Phase 4 [PFS 34006], Mucho Machucambos [PFS
4056], Caramba! [PFS 4089], Mucho Gusto [PFS 4155], Musica Latina and Love [PFS 4238] and Machucambos Today! [PFS 4409]) amongst the Phase 4 Stereos to add to
their one from the TWO blog. They also contribute 'El Cumbanchero' to Focus on Phase
4 Stereo (BP 1) and 'Adios Irene' to Sampler (PFS 4058) as well as to King SIze Sound of Phase 4 Stereo (PFS 4086) whilst Catarina Valente has two LPs (Nothing But Aces with Edmundo Ros [PFS 4157] and Love [PFS 4256]) to add to her one from TWO. Read about the Machucambos and Caterina in TWO Post 16.
In thevmiddle of the second panel above is the back cover of Mucho Gusto, included because it is pretty. Incidentally, the US version on LONDON has a thick card gatefold cover with the stuff about Phase 4 Stereo spread over both inner panels.
And finally, Stonepillow (TWO Post 12) who have just one track in the TWO collection, have the whole Eleazer's Circus (PFS 4163) album here.
See you next time when we'll sort out contributions associated with our European friends and those beyond. Until then ...
Photographs of LP covers will be added as soon as I have them in the collection.
References available on request
Regarding the LP cover images, they are photographs of the records in my own collection and are taken by my own hand (which explains the slight wonkiness of some of them). All images should, however, be considered the property of Decca.
Any redistribution or reproduction of part or all of any image in any form is prohibited.
Any redistribution or reproduction of part or all of the text in any form is prohibited, restricted by permission of the author.