Will Glahé
SPAIN
Victor Monge 'Serrranito'
Victor Monge Serrano gained his nickname around the age of 12 as he was the smallest member of a sibling guitar trio called Los Serranos. It was at this tender age that he turned professional so by the time he met The World Of (TWO) star, Narciso Yepes, in 1963, he was already well established on the scene at age 21.
Yepes mentored Serranito and a few years later, Victor was touring the world along with all the big names of flamenco. In fact, he was the first flamenco guitarist to play in India. He is also reckoned by some to be the originator of a playing style known as the three finger picado technique.
Spanish guitar playing is usually performed using two fingers of the right hand (of a right-handed player) to pluck or strum the strings. So, how many would you think is involved in the three finger picado technique? Well, I'd love the answer to be different but yes, it is three. Using three fingers instead of two means, in theory at least, that notes can be played more quickly one after another. The fingers used are the anular (ring), middle and index fingers and these can be used whether the tirando style (where the strings are struck as part of a more normal plucking type continuous movement) or apoyando (where the finger stops on an adjacent string after striking the target string) is employed. Picado, incidentally, means to pick, or pluck, in this case. Which reminds me, picks, or plectrums, are not used in flamenco. And nor were they in the 15th century when Flamenco was in its infancy. In fact, there were no guitars used at its inception! The voice, hand claps and foot stomps were all that was used to herald the birth, amongst Andalusian gypsies, of flamenco.
Our man has 20 records to his name including España Viva (PFS 4415) and there will be no more - he retired from playing in 2021, aged 79. All eight pieces on this record are traditional tunes, seven of which have been arranged by El Sali. et al.
El Sali
El Sali was a Spanish flamenco dancer and music arranger. Legend has it that he was born into a family of gypsies who were naturally talented in the Flamenco style of dance though never did so professionally - not until the birth of El Sali, so named because he was born in Salinas de Yana, that is.
El Sali was self-taught and developed his own style of energetic dance, losing one and a half kilos each night that he performed. He also, unwittingly at first, influenced the life of at least one young lady, too.
Juana Jimenez Flamenco travelled to England and began dance classes at age 16 and was soon performing in front of appreciative audiences up and down the UK. It was around this time that she bought a Decca LP, El Sali y su Ballet Español and she fell in love on first listen, claiming that she would, one day, marry El Sali. This sentiment was reinforced when she actually saw him dance a year or so later. Think how excited she would have been when she learned that her hero would be dancing in the London restaurant where she helped out in the evenings. Well, things turned out as things sometimes do and the pair married producing two children. And why did I tell you this story? Because I can find little else on the dance supremo, El Sali.
Incidentally, the track listing for the above LP is the same as the Phase 4 Stereo record, El Sali and his Ballet Espagnol (PFS 4101) so perhaps you should keep it away from your ladies!
Paco Peña
As we learned in the TWO blog, Paco Peña was performing at the age of 12 in the early 1950s, since which time, he has toured the world with his trusty guitar. In 1970 he formed his own flamenco dance troupe comprising his favoured dancers, guitarists and singers.
His dance company have been presenting theatre experiences with music and dance used to portray stories such as the record breaking show, Musa, on the life of Spanish painter, Julio Romero de Torres. At time of writing (March 2022) this production enjoys top spot on the Longest Run of a Flamenco Show charts - seven weeks at London's Peacock Theatre! And there is still time to break more records as I notice that tickets are available for shows in 2022/23!
Paco Pena has four Phase 4s:
Paco Peña & His Group – Flamenco Puro "Live" (PFS 4237)
Paco Peña – The Art Of The Flamenco Guitar (PFS 4270)
Paco Peña – Fabulous Flamenco (PFS 4334)
Paco Peña – La Gitarra Flamenca (PFS 4419)
Roger Laredo
Roger Laredo's Bullfight! (PFS 4091) has an authentic feel to it as though it was recorded at an actual bullfight. The music is played over soundtracks of cheering, applause and the occasional OLAY! In fact, whole minutes go by when there is only OLAYs. The music seems almost incidental - like it gets on the way of the spectacle that everyone has come to witness. I suppose the technological advances being pursued by DECCA lent themselves to this kind of listening experience at home and, whilst it seems to be an odd record to put on the player to sit and listen to, I think it works pretty well as a kind of unusual entertainment.
Stanley Black
Spain (PFS 4017) provides an uncomplicated and pleasant rendition of some of the popular tunes associated with Spain.
FRANCE
Maurice Larcange
Maurice does have an entry in the TWO blog but he only has one tune on each of two LPs. He is, however, really given his head in the Phase 4 series with no less than seven records.
Avec Moi a Paris (PFS 34014) is a tour around the French capital with the accordion maestro and features such classic chansons as 'La Vie en Rose' and 'The Poor People of Paris'. TWO stalwart, Roland Shaw helps Lacange, along with his orchestra and a chorus, on The French Touch (PFS 4149), an album of songs from France's classic pop writers, Jacque Brel, Gilbert Becaud, Sacha Distel and Michel Legrand. We even have Lennon & McCartney's 'Michelle', played largely by the orchestra, actually, along with a couple of Lacange co-writes, 'Voulez Vous' and 'It's Only Goodbye'.
There is a similar feel to Paris for Lovers (PFS 4168) with more from Brel, Becaud and Legrand as well as another from Lacange et al. No Beatles this time though. 'The Windmills of Your Mind' and 'Once Upon a Summertime', which appear on Paris for Lovers, also crop up on Larcange Plays Legrand (PFS 4288) an LP of songs written/co-written by Michel Legrand. As he did Legrand, so he does with Aznavour, Becaud and Trenet. Larcange plays Aznavour (PFS 4343), features tunes written by Charles Aznavour. The old favourites are here - 'The Old Fashioned Way', 'Yesterday When I was Young' and, of course, 'She', along with a co-write with Larcange himself - 'The Whole World is Singing My Love'. Larcange plays Becaud (PFS 4369) uses songs by Gilbert Becaud as a vehicle for Mo's accordion and Larcange plays Trenet has tunes by ... oh, you get the gist! Anyway, M. Accordion is ably assisted by Roland Shaw and his Orchestra on the Trenet LP.
Now, if you know just one song of Gilbert Becaud, it is probably 'A Little Love and Understanding' and this one does, indeed, feature. Still, we already know Gilbert from the TWO blog but here's new one for you.
Charles Trenet
Charles Trenet's most successful song is 'La Mer' which sold more than 70 million copies. The lyrics were from a poem that Trenet had composed in his teens though they have been rewritten with words in English by Jack Lawrence and the song retitled, 'Beyond the Sea'. Now you recognise it, eh? In 1965, at around age 52, Charles Trenet was thinking of giving his vocal chords a rest and retiring from live performance yet he was still packing them in when he was 86! Back in the day, after a short retirement, he began a series of comeback concerts with a string of gigs in Paris where he sang 342 different songs in alphabetical order. How on earth did he manage to remember all of those words? And in a foreign language too!
Trenet was a baritone singer/songwriter but is lumped in here rather than the previous Post on the vocalists as he doesn't get to sing on any Phase 4 records. The same goes for another Charles - Chas Aznavour.
Charles Aznavour
Charles Aznavour was born Shahnour Vaghinag Aznavourian to Armenian parents, his father being the son of a cook in the employ of Tsar Nicholas II, in Paris in 1924. He is remembered for singing and acting but he was also a composer, writing/co-writing over 1000 songs and recording 91 studio albums. His final performance came when he was 94!
Aznavour dropped out of school at age nine, at which time he changed his name and took to the stage. He was straight away involved in a play and then a film, La Guerre des Gosses (The War of the Kids) following which, he danced professionally in nightclubs.
His singing career began with advice from Edith Piaf, when young Charles opened shows for her, who encouraged the voice that we are all now familiar with. Throughout his 70 something year singing life, Aznavour sang in English, Italian, Spanish, German, Russian, Armenian, Neapolitan (Italian dialect local to Naples) and Kabyle (spoken by a group indigenous to Kabylia, an area of northern Algeria) as well as French. Now, you might be wondering about the Kabylians. They are a displaced people who emigrated from Algeria proper due to one thing or another and who spread and began settling in other countries, one of which was France where quite a large population has been established. Charles and his family were always looking out for disadvantaged groups and so it is easy to imagine that our man was aiming to include them in society by singing to and for them.
It was in 1974 that Aznavour established a firm following in the UK when his song 'She' got to No. 1 and hung around there for four weeks. This followed 'The Old Fashioned Way' the previous year which got to only No. 38.
As well as his music, Charles Aznavour appeared in more than 80 films between 1936 and 2009. His last involvement appears to have been as the voice of Carl Fredricksen in the French version of the 2009 animation, Up!
Michel Legrand
More Armenian blood is circulated through this silly ol' blog by Michel Jean Legrand. His maternal grandfather was of this small, landlocked country to the east of Turkey. Legrand was, however, born in France.
Michel was a composer, arranger, conductor and pianist. He wrote more than 200 scores for film and TV. He also had some success in the pop charts as the composer of 'Windmills of your Mind' for which he won the first of three academy awards. Michel Legrand was playing concerts until his death at age 86 and had concerts booked two or three months ahead.
Phew! That's not bad for three blokes that don't even perform on a Phase 4 record, I reckon. By the bye, there are geographical differences in these LPs. Take Lacange plays Legrand - the Spanish estereo 4 fases (as it sometimes has it at the top of the LP covers and in the boxed vertical icon) record has a different tune at A3 than the UK or US versions. We have 'I Will Wait for You' while our Spanish friends have 'Los Paraguas de Cherburgo' which is, as you probably well know, 'The Umbrellas of Cherbourg'. The music for this award-winning 1965 French film was written by Michel Legrand and I expect it was more popular in the Mediterranean than in the UK and US. Also, apart from having the LONDON logo in place of the DECCA, the Canadian copy, in common with many other records in this collection, has very different cover pictures. Just the sort of thing to excite someone with time on their brain.
Anyway, just nipping back to the film, The Umbrellas of Cherbourg - this was unusual in that all dialogue was sung over accompanying music and, as the actors were not trained in the art of song, Catherine Deneuve and the rest of the cast were lip-synced by proper singers; Deneuve's (Genevieve Emery) voice belonged to Danielle Licari. Michel Legrand, himself, sang the part of Jean whilst his sister, Christiane Legrand sang Madame Emery. Christiane was the original soprano of the Swingle Singers, a group got together by Ward Swingle, originally in France in 1962 but latterly in England in 1974. In fact, it was Christiane Legrand who dubbed the voice of Disney's Mary Poppins for the French audience and how about this pop-pickers; she sang the soprano backing bit in Procol Harum's 'Fires (Which Burn Brightly)' off of the Grand Hotel album! She is more easily heard, though, in the 'raw track' on the remastered, expanded version of the album.
ITALY
There are two records here that associate themselves with Italy; one simply called Italy (PFS 4015) which is played by Roger Laredo and his Orchestra and the other, Echoes of Italy (PFS 4174) by Werner Müller and his Orchestra, the latter of whom you can read about in TWO Post 12.
It's funny how people see things differently, ain't it? You see, the back cover of Italy states that Roger Laredo 'painted' what he saw when looking at Italy - a beautiful lady. When I look at Italy, all I see is an old boot!
I can also see that the first two tunes on this record are revisited on the other. Let's have a little compare, shall we. First, 'Mattinata' Hmm ... Müller goes for a full sound relying on the swaying string attack throughout whilst Laredo favours a lighter, more whimsical journey using more of the orchestra. It begins with a regular string melody followed by
a verse of woodwind and accordion and, a little later, guitar and throughout we have some tinkling bells to accompany the string section.
And the verdict is ... well, it's a case of I say tomartoes, you say tomaytoes. I can eat 'em both! Marttinata/Mayttinata - how ever you say it , it means 'Morning' in English.
Next up is a more popular, well-known tune of Italy, 'Arrivederci Roma'. Werner Müller employs a kind of cha cha cha beat throughout, picked out by accordion, in order to propel this honest run-through. Roger Laredo puts the Phase 4 system to the test with a bongo intro first from one speaker and then from the other. The bongos do the same job as the accordion in the Müller version except for a couple of sections half-way through that swing along in the slipstream of a xylophone. Once again, nobody gets a rest in the Laredo orchestra making his version a little more interesting to my ears than the other.
Tchaikovsky has his Capriccio Italien on PFS 4388 and this was the source of 'The Echo Told Me a Lie', the third track on Roger Laredo's Italy. Played here with the usual sack-load of orchestral instrumentation with, as it says in the back cover notes, humour. Assuming that the meaning of 'capriccio' in Italian is akin to that of 'caprice' in English, we can also assume that Capriccio Italien is Tchaikovsky's attempt at whimsy. The piece does flit from one mood to another, Laredo's version starting rather soberly with a bugle call to rouse the sleepers followed by a quiet section on strings before cutting to the main theme of the work, a smooth, luxurious tune that stays in the mind after just one listen. This appears to be borrowed from a traditional Italian folk song called ' Bella Ragazza Dalle Trecce Bionde' (literally 'Beautiful Girl with Blond Braids' but more likely 'Pretty Blond-haired Girl') made famous by Carlo Buti in the mid-nineteen forties. Tchaikovsky visited Rome one time and, it seems, came home with this melody in his head.
GREECE
There is one record appertaining to Greece, which is titled simply, Greece (PFS 4410) by orchestra leader, Takis Athineos. The LP is mainly one of traditional bouzouki music.
Circle dancing is popular all over the world amongst many different cultures. It may be used for religious traditions, meditation or good old-fashioned fun.
Greek dances such as Syrtos and Kalamatianos are performed with dancers in a curve, rather than a circle, holding hands and facing to the right. The leader at the far right-hand end, may stick to the basic steps but also has the chance to improvise and show off a bit. Sometimes the dancers may hold handkerchieves and stay connected by grabbing their partner's. This allows a little more freedom when it comes to those parts of the dance that require a bit more elaboration. So there you go - all you need now is PFS 4410!
GERMANY
Beethoven, Bach, Handel, Brahms, Glahé... Whoa! Who? Oh, you know. You met him in TWO Post 12. Solo accordionist and band leader. That's right - old Dancing Fingers himself.
Will Glahé
Well, whereas Will had just the one TWO LP, here he has six plus he has a double LP set in the Focus on series, Focus on Will Glahé (FOS 11/12) and a tune on three other various artists records: On The King Size Sound of Phase 4 Stereo (PFS 4086) it is the
'Liechtensteiner Polka'. He contributes 'Beer Barrel Polka' to This is Phase 4 Stereo (PFS SPD 0007?? - need to find out about this one) and to Focus on Phase 4 Stereo (BPS 1) he provides 'Skater's Waltz'. These three tunes, incidentally, are the first three tracks of his first Phase 4 LP, In Bavaria (PFS 4071).
There then comes Strictly Oompah (PFS 4166), Oktoberfest (PFS 4194), The Polka King (PFS 4330 [Early on in his touring career, Will Glahé's first visit to America saw him named The Polka King]) and Bavarian Merry-go-round (PFS 4372). The remaining record is covered in the Austria section below.
Rudi Bohn
I perceive a small problem with Rudi Bohn's contribution to the party. He and his band emulate Will Glahé on a record called Percussive Oompah (PFS 34012). Now, this is a
fine bunch of music, of its type, and there is plenty of percussion. Plenty of it. Loads! But there is hardly an oom or a pah to be heard! It is a bit too light, I feel. A couple of tunes with a few deep, heavy ooompahs on the trombone would have added a sort of gravitas which would have set the record up, just right. A bit of light and a smidge of dark ... still, the percussion is fun!
Rudolph 'Rudi' Bohn was an accordion playing band leader and music arranger - he also played piano and organ and, of course, allegedly, the trombone! He was, apparently, also known as Roger Bean, Rubino and Sammy Bird.
And then, guess who turns up again - yep! It's Germany's Werner Müller!
Werner Müller
Well, we should not be surprised that he crops up in the German section - after all, he has had a go at most other genres: Italian, Latin American, Hawaiian, Viennese, Gypsy, percussion, even the music of the Moody Blues and Elvis Presley and, as they say, much, much more!
To pick up on the notes on the back cover, this versatility is never more prevalent than when selecting music to best represent a country and its people - especially one as diverse as Germany. So what did Werner select? Well, he starts off getting people in the right mood with the 'Drinking Song' from The Student Prince. You know, the one that begins ♫ Drink! Drink! Drink! da dee dee da ... ♫ - a very upbeat and cheerful start. This is followed by a quite eclectic mix of styles which emphasises Werner Müller's, not to mention his orchestra's, versatility! I mean, from Lili Marlene to The Ride of the Valkyries - a version that I reckon Wagner, himself, would be happy with.
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AUSTRIA
Whilst none of the records in our collection have 'Austria' in the title, we do have two LPs with, or reference to, Vienna. And, as if you haven't heard enough about him
already, we have Werner Müller and his album simply called Vienna (PFS 4153) along with Viennese Carnival (PFS 4404) by Will Glahé.
Müller plays a fairly straight bat with his arrangements of this mainly classical collection whilst Will Glahé's record is a largely jolly affair with the occasional more reflective piece - still jaunty and happy. This is not brassy oompah, like most of his work is, but sounds more fairground with the accordion to the fore and strings taking a large part of the proceedings. A pleasant carnival, indeed.
LATIN AMERICA
Werner Müller
The ever-present Werner Müller gives us The Latin Splendor of Werner Müller. (PFS 4199) on which we find a whole bunch of classic Latin tunes. On Side 1 alone, there is 'Perfidia', 'Delicado', 'Light My Fire' and 'The Girl from Ipanema'. This whole LP is very punchy - jazzy. It is my current favourite Phase 4!
Edmundo Ros
Well, as you may have come to expect, Edmundo Ros is prevalent in the Latin section of our new collection. He has no less than 12 LPs to his name plus two on which he shares the billing with Big Band leader Ted Heath and one with Caterina Valente (PFS 4157). Ros also has a track on each of Sampler (PFS 4058) and The King Size Sound of Phase 4 Stereo (PFS 4086) 'What a Difference a Day Made' from the New Rhythms of the South LP can be found opening Side 1 of Sampler and Side 2 of King Size ...). He also has a double album.
The first of his is PFS 34010, Bongos from the South, followed [deep breath] by Dance Again (PFS 4016), New Rhythms of the South (PFS 4054), Latin Melodies Old and New (PFS 4079), Arriba! (PFS 4092), Latin Hits I Missed (PFS 4119), Strings Latino (PFS 4145), Hair Goes Latin (PFS 4178), Heading South of the Border (PFS 4193), In Concert (PFS 4235), This is My World (PFS 4263), Caribbean Ros (PFS 4302), Today (PFS 4421) as well as Ros Remembers (DKL 6/1 & 6/2) the double.
Oh, those Latin rhythms. They are all here - mambo, merengue, cha cha, rumba, conga, tango, samba. And that is only the Dance Again LP!
On Heath vs. Ros: Swing vs. Latin (PFS 4033) Edmundo pits his versions of, amongst others, 'The Coffee Song' and 'Malaguena' against some of Ted Heath's big hitters and it is amusing to think that Ed may have been trying to undermine Ted from the off by doing a bit of singing in the former tune. I don't remember Ted Heath ever singing on his records! Heath vs. Ros: round 2 (PFS 4111) is a little less predictable with songs like 'Baby it's Cold Outside' and 'Come to the Mardi Gras', this latter on which Edmundo once again, tries to wind Ted up by singing.
Anyway, if you believe the back cover notes of the LPs, both bands were summoned to the studio together and set up next door to each other with their favoured microphones dangling above their heads and they recorded what they played there and then.
AMERICA
There are five records in our collection appertaining to the United States of America: America Sings by Eric Rogers PFS 4032), America on the Move by Bob Sharples (PFS 4042), Americana by Robert Merrill (PFS 4069), New York (PFS 4190) by Frank Chacksfield and A Salute to America (PFS 4364) by Alan Civil.
A Salute to America begins with a bit of an insult to America, actually. Good natured, I'm sure, but more of an insult than a salute none the less. 'Yankee Doodle' was originally chanted, whistled and warbled by British army troops having a dig at their
American allies of the French and Indian War, part of the Seven Years War of the mid-1700s. It amused them to consider the Americans as village idiots who thought that all they had to do to achieve sartorial splendour was stick feathers in their caps! The Brits liked to make fun of their compadres-in-war who they saw as being disorganised and more concerned with their appearance than a fighting man ought to be.
So, ‘doodle’ stands for ‘simpleton’ in the parlance of the day and ‘dandy’ is, well, a dandy, showily dressed. If you remember the words to the popular version, you may recall that, after riding to town on a pony, Yankee Doodle, stuck a feather in his cap and called it macaroni. Wha…? Why? Well, back in the 1700s, fashionable gentleman wore ornate white wigs to top off their apparel and these were thought to look like macaroni but also, macaroni, I assume because it has an an 'i' on the end of it and thus sounds Italian, was a word used to describe a person who affected foreign, exotic, mannerisms in the narcissistic attempt to draw attention to himself. To be fair, the Yankees took the tune and re-wrote the lyrics so as to answer their tormentors. Towards the end of the 18th century, after some reworking of the words, it had become a song of national American pride. The song exists today as a 16-verse song with a chorus after each. Now, that is long song.
Alan Civil
It was Alan Civil who arranged and conducted this fine LP of music associated with the USA. He also composed the short fanfare that heralds the final track on this record, 'the 'National Anthem'. Alan was into the playing of the horn when he was a young lad and became a member of the Royal Artillery band whilst still in his teens. In fact, it was Civil who was asked to play the horn solo bit in The Beatles' 'For No One' off of Revolver as well as being one of the orchestra that got to contribute that fantastic cacophonous crescendo in 'A Day in the Life' from the Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band album.
Americana is sung by Robert Merrill over the London Festival Orchestra conducted by Stanley Black. The orchestra sound really big and lush on the opening 'Battle Hymn of the Republic' and remains strong throughout. After this and the second track, 'America the Beautiful' which are rather austere, we are ready for a 'Hoe Down!' and soon we are into 'Oklahoma' and 'Camptown Races' and, with a few quieter tunes snuggled in between, we are set for a fine old sing-song.
Frank Chacksfield's New York (PFS 4190)! Now here's a happy little story for you. Featuring on this record is Richard Rodgers' tune 'Slaughter on Tenth Avenue' - a ballet that crops up near the end of Rodgers and Hart's stage comedy, On Your Toes. 'Slaughter on Tenth Avenue' tells of a dancer who falls in love with a dance hall girl who is not considered available by her boyfriend. Well, the boyfriend got to thinking, 'If I can't have her, nobody will!' So, he shoots her dead! So then, right, the dancer shoots the boyfriend dead ... apologies to all those who readers who were looking forward to a happy story - I was only joking!
Now, prior to this, I had heard only Mick Ronson's version of the piece. Now that I am enlightened, having listened to Frank Chacksfield's orchestral approach, I can safely say that I very much prefer ... Mick Ronson's! To be honest, I find this LP a bit dull, lacking that sense of lushness that one normally associates the Chacksfield sound with. Ronson, of course, was David Bowie's right hand Spider in his band, The Spiders from Mars.
America Sings
Or rather, Eric Rogers' Chorale sing and with Eric being born in England and bred in Wales, it is difficult to see a connection with the US but when he was 54 he emigrated to America. He had worked in the States on and off before then and with our record being released in 1963, when he would have been 42, I assume that this was one of his earlier American-themed LPs.
So, you remember the song, 'America (My Country Tis of thee)' - how it is to the tune of the British National Anthem - well, Eric's lot sing it on here, and below, for your amusement, are the words that they sing:
My country tis of thee, Let music swell the breeze, Sweet land of liberty, And ring from all the trees, Of thee I sing. Sweet freedom's song. Land where my fathers died! Let mortal tongues awake, Land of the Pilgrim's pride! Let all that breathe partake, From every mountain side, Let rocks their silence break, Let freedom ring! The sound prolong.
My native country, thee, Our father's God to thee, Land of the noble free, Author of liberty, Thy name I love. To thee we sing. I love thy rocks and rills, Long may our land be bright, Thy woods and templed hills; With freedom's holy light, My heart with rapture fills Protect us by thy might, Like that above. Great God, our King!
America on the March (PFS 4033) by Bob Sharples is a jolly marching record, enjoyable by all. 'The Caissons Go Rolling Along' is a fun, upbeat marching song, listening to which it is easily possible to imagine soldiers happily going off to war along a dusty track (or is it just actors in a war movie that do that), some singing, some whistling ... and some playing brass instruments ... naturally! Ah, so it IS actors that I am thinking of! No matter - this 75-piece brass band sets a fine mood. Caissons, incidentally, are the two-wheeled carts that ammunition is carried on alongside these smiling, happy soldiers. Caissons are also, sometimes used to carry the coffins of less happy soldiers at military funerals. There are marching songs here that you would expect, even if you don't know what they are called - 'The Marine's Hymn', 'When the Saints Go Marching In' and 'Anchors Away' along with American staples like 'Stars and Stripes Forever' and 'Star Spangled Banner'. If you are in the mood for brass and pipes and a big bass drum, this could be the one for you.
IRELAND
You may remember Johnny Keating (variously known as John) from TWO Post 12 where we discussed the first track from his Phase 4 LP Ireland (PFS 4200), 'Londonderry Aire' and how the cat jumped up on the piano keyboard mid-way though the tune to insert a few plinks and plonks to proceedings. Well, he's back and can be heard in 'Danny Boy' at about 1min 15secs going for a wander along the keys and other junctures on the record. I'm afraid I just amuse myself listening out for the feline feet rather than enjoying the music. Ah well. Get it where you can, eh?
Anyway, here we have Keating doing Irish tunes so, obviously, he was Irish, right? WRONG! He was Scottish! John Keating has eight LPs here plus a track on each of two Various artist records. There is Percussive Moods (PFS 4013) credited to Johnny Keating's Kombo, Temptation (PFS 4020) by John Keating Orchestra and Singers, Swing Revisited (PFS 4038) by Johnny Keating and his Band, The Keating Sound (PFS 4060) by John Keating, Keating ... Straight Ahead (PFS 4078) by John Keating with the Keating Sound, Johnny Keating & 27 Men (PFS 4100) by The Keating Sound and Ireland by plain old John Keating. Mind you, he is conducting the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus. He also has 'Listen' on Sampler (PFS 4058) and ' Ticket to Ride' on King Size ... (PFS 4086).
Much of the music that is produced by the John Keating factory is of the big band/easy listening department but the final Phase 4 LP on his roster is a bit different. An Astromusical Odyssey (PFS 4208) by Sounds Galactic, is, I suppose, easy listening, too but this time it is played on synthesizers like the Moog. Not sure how much Keating contributed to the recording but he is credited with arranging the stuff that was played and this record, along with others like it, was used as a demonstration aid in Hi Fi stores due to its fine quality.
There is another Sounds Galactic record in our box, Nova...Sounds Of The Stars (PFS 4306), but this one is arranged and directed by Roland Shaw.
MEXICO
For our trip to Mexico, we will jump on the back of a couple of mules and tag along with Decca man, Roland Shaw and his Orchestra.
Well, the record begins in fine traditional fashion with the call of the trumpet ringing loud and clear and maintains that Mexican feel as the orchestral strings take over. The mood is short-lived, however, as the second track, 'Pepe', sounds like any easy listening tune. We get back on track with 'The Three Caballeros' but then I think that the mood gets broken once again and it is this alternating on/off type way that Side 1 runs, ruins the fun for me. Side 2 is a little more of a satisfying listen. Shame really - we could all do with a bit of a 'Yip, yip, yip!' every now and again - I'm just not sure that this is the record to do it to.
HAWAII
There are two Phase 4 LPs with a sense of the Hawaiian about them. Hawaiian Swing by yep, Werner Müller (PFS 4022) and Hawaii (PFS 4112) from Frank Chacksfield. So, who can evoke that holiday feel of warm sun, the gentle lapping of the sea ... etc. the best. Werner or Frank?
Well, it will depend on your mood at the time, really. If you are looking to relax on your back with the sun's rays warming your ... ahem ... cockles, then Frank's your man. If, however, you feel like jigging your shoulders up and down whilst pointing your index fingers to the sky, go the way of Werner. Whilst Müller's more progressive arrangements are all very listenable, there seems to be little concession to Hawaiian sunsets and the hula hula. Similarly, in a different way, Chacksfield tends to stick to his characteristic deep lush sound of strings which are more relaxing but sometimes, on this record, are, to my ears anyway, a bit dreary. Compare the back cover notes: Werner Müller's music is 'sparkling' with 'percussive chatter' that 'rattles nervously'! Frank Chacksfield's, on the other hand, is associated with 'star-laden skies' and 'rhythmic beauty'. Still, it's all out there for you to try. See what you think.
Gone are the days, sadly, of nose-flutes and conch shells (pu) - the trademark of Hawaiian music today is the ukulele!
AROUND THE WORLD
There are three LPs that feature music from all around the world: Percussion Around the World (PFS 34009) by the International "Pop" Stars, Globetrotting (PFS 4061) from Frank Chacksfield and Vibrations Around the World (PFS 4167) by the International All Stars.
Some countries make an appearance on each of these whilst some make just one showing over the whole lot. Amongst the former are France, Spain, Italy, Germany and England. England is represented by 'Greensleeves', 'A Foggy Day' and' Nick Nack Paddy Whack'. Classics all ...? Oh well, nobody said it was the best of England, I suppose.
So, Nick Nack Paddy Whack, eh? Sometimes called 'The Children's Marching Song' but more commonly known as 'This Old Man'. But what does it mean?
Well, it is generally agreed that the rhyme, first published in 1906, may have originated back in 1846 - 53, the period of the Great Famine of Ireland. In the 1500s, the English arrived in Ireland and, in keeping with the fashion of the day, took it as their own. Most of the good land was owned, therefore, by the relatively rich English who allowed the native Irish to live there, in their own country, for a financial consideration. Fast-forward a few years to the time of the potato crop failure - and the Irish were starving whilst the English landlords were living it up back at home in England. Naturally, this stirred up real animosity between them. The English were so angry - so very, very angry that they knocked up a nursery rhyme about the Irish. Oh yes, that is how angry they were. That'll learn 'em!
So, 'Paddy' is still in common, good-natured use when discussing an Irishman. I suspect, however, it was a slightly more derogatory term back in the day and adding 'whack' to it may describe the response elicited from an Englishman to a knock on the door from an Irish tinker selling nick-nacks.
Giving the dog a bone could have been part of the Irish tradition of shaping the rib bones to make percussion instruments at the end of a meal, giving the odd bone to the dog because they simply could not pay for proper dog food. And let's just say that this old man, you know, the one that we were discussing, was out of town and needed to get home. Well, he'd jump into his traditional caravan, and, being pulled by a horse, would simply roll home.
Now, you remember how the verses go. do you? Ahem ...
♫This old man, he played eight,
He played nick-nack on my gate ♫ ... something like that, anyway.
So, there's our old man again and this time he is playing nick-nack. Now you're wondering aren't you? Well, nick-nack is an old-fashioned name for the playing of the bones like drumsticks on various bits and pieces, mainly, it seems, to irritate the Englishman. And thus being irritated, made it OK for him to sing about giving the darn nick-nack player a well-deserved paddywhack! Throwing his nick-nack bones to the dog and sending him rolling on his way home. Or at least that will do for me. There are other versions of this story but this is the basic gist of them.
Werner Müller
In case you were curious, here is a list of all of Werner's PHASE 4 records. On each of PFS 34001 and 4058, he has just one tune and FOS 17/18 is the double LP mentioned previously so, in all Werner Müller has 20 LPs + two individual tunes on Various Artist records + the double.
34001 Showcase - Phase 4
34005 Percussion in the Sky
4022 Hawaiian Swing
4029 On the Move
4040 Great Strauss Waltzes
4047 On Broadway
4058 Sampler
4059 Plays Leroy Anderson
4073 Germany
4105 Gypsy
4123 Spectacular Tangos
4153 Vienna
4174 Echoes of Italy
4199 The Latin Splendour
4228 Songs of Joy
4257 Love with Catarina Valente
4258 The Sumptuous Strings of
4267 Learn to Love
4293 A Mystic Portrait of The Moody Blues
4319 Plays Elvis Presley
4383 Sentimental Journey
FOS 17/18 Focus on
That's all for now. See you next time!
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.
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