GLCD 5130 - The Golden Age of Light Music in the 50s Volume IV - Cornflakes
More From The Golden Age of Light Music Series on Guild
Guild GLCD 5126.Soloists Supreme. 25 tracks. TT: 77:22.
Guild GLCD 5129. Beyond the Blue Horizon. 27 tracks. TT:
76:04
Guild GLCD 5130. 1950s'-Volume 4 Cornflakes. 29 tracks. TT: 73:21.
Regular readers know that I have more or less raved over this series of Light Music reissues by various conductors and bands from the 1920's through the 1950' s. Many of the selections (and there is no duplication!) are taken from commercial 78's or from Library Music recorded for various publishers such as Chappel or Boosey & Hawkes.
Guild GLCD 5126 features recordings that use soloists of all sorts dating mostly from the 1950's but with a few from the late 40's and late 30's. Dance of the Three Old Maids by Reginald Porter-Brown features Reginald Kell in a rare pop vein with Camarata and His Orchestra. Edward Rubach is piano soloist in the Last Rhapsody theme with Sidney Torch and His Orchestra. Charles Williams and His Concert Orchestra use Reg Leopold, violin. in Laughing Violin, and Valse Vanite with Peter Yorke and His Concert Orchestra has Freddy Gardner on also saxophone just to give a sampling of the rarities on the CD.
Guild GLCD 5129 presents pieces with a color in the title with 14 blues, 4 reds and a few others. No greens! The title tune is played by Melachrino and his orchestra. Then there are The Queen's Hall Light orchestra conducted by Robert Farnon in Flying Colours, the same orchestra under Sidney Torch in Out of the Blue, The White Scarf by none other than Edgar Bainton played by The Masqueraders, and Arthur Benjamin's Red River Jig played by Jack Leon and the New Concert Orchestra.
Cornflakes is the title tune on Guild GLCD 5130 and is played by Les Baxter and His Orchestra. Ray Martin and His Orchestra play Limehouse Blues, Quiz by WaIter Stott is played by Robert Farnon and the Danish State Radio orchestra (one of many such recordings made for Chappell), and then there is half a CD of Polygon recordings. There are 14 such recordings from this rare label which merged ultimately with Pye and then with Nixa to become Pye-Nixa. Benjamin Frankel's Lily Watkins Theme from "AKid For Two Farthings: arranged by Laurie Johnson and played by His Orchestra is among the rarities here.
Those collecting the series will have to have these. Those new to it, jump right in.
Interpretation: 4 Star
Klangqualität: 3 Star
Repertoirewert: 4 Star
Booklet: 3 Star
Der Titel der neuen Veröffentlichung in der ‘Golden Age of Light Music’-Serie von Guild ist nicht Programm, denn während man nach einem Teller Cornflakes meist schon genug hat, kann man von den musikalischen Kostbarkeiten, die die angelsächsische Menschheit in den 50er Jahren nur zu gerne genossen, eigentlich nicht genug bekommen. Bereits in vierter Folge tischt das Jäger-und-Sammler-Team David Ades und Alan Bunting populäre instrumentale Nummern aus den Mittfünfzigern auf, gespielt von ‚alten Bekannten’ wie den Orchestern von Frank Cordell, George Melachrino, Ron Goodwin, Dolf van der Linden, Les Baxter, Ray Martin, Robert Farnon, Leeroy Holmes oder Mantovani. Eine Besonderheit dieses Mal sind Aufnahmen, die das kleine unabhängige Label ‚Polygon’ seit 1949 produzierte und damit den großen Firmen Paroli bot. Laurie Johnson, Ray Martin, Geoff Love, Johnny Gregory, Jackie Bond, Bernard Monshin, Michael Fredericks und Malcolm Lockyer nahmen für ‚Plygon’ auf und unter der Rubrik ‚The Polygon Light Music Legacy’ werden dem Hörer Kostproben dieser Einspielungen aus den Jahren 1951 bis 1955 gegeben. Darunter Franz Waxmans ‚Many Dreams ago’ aus dem Film ‚Elephant Walk’ von William Dieterle aus dem Jahr 1954 mit Elizabeth Taylor und Peter Finch, von Laurie Johnson und seinem Orchester schmissig dargeboten. Das Thema eines weiteren Filmklassikers liegt in einer MGM-Aufnahme vor: ‚The Proud Ones’ von 1956, einem Western mit erstklassigem Drehbuch und der Musik des allseits verlässlichen Lionel Newman, der den Taktstock in dieser Aufnahme jedoch an Leory Holmes weiter gereicht hat.
Einmal mehr oblag David Ades die Abfassung eines editorisch glänzend gestalteten Booklet-Textes mit der Entschlüsselung etwaiger Pseudonyme der Komponisten und Querverweisen auf frühere Veröffentlichungen aus der ‚Golden Age’-Serie. Alan Bunting hat erneut die alten Bänder meisterlich restauriert und ihren Klang knackfrei optimiert. Man darf schon jetzt auf die nächsten Veröffentlichungen der überaus lobenswerten ‚Golden Age of Light Music’-Reihe von Guild. Erik Daumann
I have to admit that I’ve rather lost track of the series and volumes-within-series that pour out of the Guild Light Music foundry. But I’m not complaining when the results are so consistently entertaining and when they cannily push to the outer reaches of the fifty-year copyright period. The recording dates of this particular volume cover the years 1951 to 1956.
This disc concentrates on two things – popular instrumentals and the legacy of the Polygon Light Music series. Polygon was a small but potent addition to the recorded labels of the time and it captured a most interesting selection of songs and artists, of whom we have here a representative sample.
The range of instrumentals is much as before. There’s a mini-mini pocket piano concerto as an introductiuon to Autumn Concerto – complete with bossa percussion and "holiday strings" mood. A constant feature throughout is some of the sophisticated voicings fashioned by composers and especially arrangers – listen to Laurie Johnson’s articulate voice leading in the Peter de Rose song American Waltz. Many of the pieces evoke moods, dance or otherwise, and plumb the vernacular – try the bluesy sax in Manhatten Serenade. There are TV theme tunes, popular songs, vacation dreamscapes, and also of course the occasional genre piece to add piquancy.
The title track is the rather rinky-dink old time Cornflakes, written by Norrie Paramor here hiding under the name Sidney Norman - as well he might with this boogie and swirling strings confection. Ray Martin turns in a rather glutinous Limehouse Blues whilst Billy Vaughn comes on strong with some modish percussion in his Iberian jaunt – complete with mouth organ solo. Mantovani plumbs the generic for his contribution and Leroy Holmes goes West in The Proud Ones.
The Polygon tracks are invariably finely played. Ray Martin redeems himself with Muriella, which is the epitome of lyrical elegance, and there’s an equally well-turned Forget-Me-Not-Waltz from Johnny Gregory. The alto saxophone in light music encouraged some questionable taste; how you respond to Jackie Bond’s The Bridge of Love depends on how far you can take this kind of thing. Me, not at all – I’ll stick with Hodges and Benny Carter, thanks. Laurie Johnson infiltrates some intriguing sonorities to the tango from the Song of The Pearlfishers; the Tolchard Evans delight, The Watermill, is evocatively arranged and played by Johnny Gregory. And to finish the Guild compilers leave us on a high – Malcolm Lockyer’s scandalously good-time Fiddlers’ Boogie.
David Ades is doubtless getting thoroughly bored reading how well chosen his selections and notes are. More goodies from the Guild stable. Jonathan Woolf
Page revised Thursday November 29 2007