Re-Post: The Beatles Remixers Group: Abbey Road

The members of the Beatles Remixers Group have been reworking and reawakening the original versions of Beatles releases for over a decade now.  From mash-ups to remixes you can get a fresh splash of awareness of the originals.

Some presentations are so good you wonder, "Why wasn't THIS the released version?", and others less inspiring, but all are fun.

 1. Come Together
 2. Something
 3. Maxwell's Silver Hammer   
 4. Oh! Darling   
 5. Octopus's Garden   
 6. I Want You (She's so Heavy)   
 7. Here Comes the Sun   
 8. Because   
 9. You Never Give Me Your Money   
 10. Sun King   
 11. Mean Mr. Mustard   
 12. Polythene Pam   
 13. She Came in Through the Bathroom Window 
 14. Golden Slumbers   
 15. Carry That Weight   
 16. The End
 17. Her Majesty  

Bonus Tracks:
18. What's This One Called, John?
19. The Ballad of John and Yoko
20. Ain't She Sweet
21. Old Brown Shoe

... Corrected link as of 11/30/2016:
BRG Abbey Road

See you on Thursday!
  

Tales from the Western Union

It's not often that you find a release so obscure that you get to create the album's Discogs page.

But now is that time.  Found in a thrift store, sponsored by a grant from the Key West, FL Arts council, we have Tales from the Western Union.

This is a group that plays Celtic-influenced music with the typical dulcimer, guitar, and fiddle arrangements.  It's well played, but my appetite is quickly sated.

01. Sailor's Hornpipe (2:01)
02. Haul Away Joe (2:00)
03. Banish Misfortune (2:11)
04. Over the Waterfall - Soldier's Joy (2:41)
05. Road to Lisdoonvarna (1:54)
06. Jamie Allen (2:04)
07. Shebeg, Shemor (3:55)
08. Key West Hornpipe (2:09)
09. I'll See You in C-U-B-A (3:24)
10. Golden Slippers (2:05)
11. Kesh Jig - Morrison's Jig (2:51)
12. Rosetree - Swingin' on a Gate (3:15)
13. Trafalgar Hornpipe (2:07)
14. Liberty (2:14)
15. Planxty Irwin (3:37)
16. Red Haired Boy (Little Beggar Man) (3:09)
17. Midnight on the Water (3:43)

Tales from the Western Union -- Zimmerman & Friends

See you Thursday.

Mitropoulos Conducts Copland, Sherwood, Ginastera, Guarnieri and Barber

It's an interesting melange of music with very poor recording standards, perhaps because of the 50-year-old recording dates!

01. Appalachian Spring, Suite - Aaron Copland (23:23)

02. Introduction and Allegro - Robert Sherwood (9:42)

03. Creole Dance, Overture - Alberto Ginastera (9:10)

04. Prologo y Fuga - Camargo Guarnieri (7:12)

05. Medea's Meditation and Dance of Vengeance, op.23a - Samuel Barber (12:47)

So, can any of you tell me if Dimitri Mitropoulos is really a "legendary conductor" in somebody's opinion?

Mitropoulos Conducts Copland, Sherwood, Ginastera, Guarnieri and Barber

 

 See you Monday.

Roland Shaw's Boffo Arrangements

Roland Shaw was a British conductor and arranger.  After WWII he hit a gold mine when he began arranging cover versions for the newly popular spy genre.  His arrangments are nealy always energetic and thoughtful, even if they don't exactly reproduce the "original versions" of TV or film themes.

1)  Diamonds Are Forever
2)  From Russia with Love
3)  Gypsy Camp
4)  Thunderball
5)  Teasing the Korean
6)  You Only Live Twice
7)  The Wedding
8)  Casino Royale
9)  007 Theme
10)  Diamonds Are Forever — Reprise
11)  Goldfinger
12)  The Look of Love
13)  Mr Kiss-Kiss Bang-Bang
14)  On Her Majesty’s Secret Service
15)  Capsules in Space
16)  Kingston Calypso
17)  Talia Meets Klebb
18)  Miami
19)  Spectre Island
20)  Underneath the Mango Tree
21)  Guitar Lament
22)  Death of Goldfinger
23)  Mission Impossible
24)  Peter Gunn
25)  Wednesday’s Child
26)  The James Bond Theme

More Themes from James Bond and Other Spy Themes

See you on Thursday!

Re-Post: Liszt & Enesco Rhapsodies

This is an expansion of the LP release.  The LP does not contain Enesco's Rhapsody #2; I found it and added it in here.

At this late date I cannot tell you if the added track is also by Dorati.

Enesco
1)   Roumanian Rhapsody No. 1, Op.11
2)    Roumanian Rhapsody No. 2, Op.11
Liszt
3)  Hungarian Rhapsody No. 1 In F Minor 
4)  Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 In D Minor 
5)  Hungarian Rhapsody No. 3 In D Major 
6)   Hungarian Rhapsody No. 4 In D Minor 
7)   Hungarian Rhapsody No. 5 In E Minor 'Heroide Elegiaque' 
8)   Hungarian Rhapsody No. 6 In D Major 'Carnival In Pesth' 

Still, it's all monstrous fun!

Roumanian Rhapsodies Nos. 1-2 - Hungarian Rhapsodies Nos. 1-6

See you on Monday (unless I forget again -- this post should have come out yesterday).

Gypsy Violins, Vol 3

From 1960, it's music to make your heart swell and your wallet shrink. (Pretty proud of myself I am, to have come up with that sentence.)  Discogs page is here.

The cover art looks so clean and crisp here, because I had to play with it after scanning.

At times, you'll say to yourself, "This music sounds as if it escaped from a 1960s Cold War spy movie" -- Track Two.

Or, "This music escaped from a 1960s art film in which the characters do nothing but sit across the room from each other and speak impenetrable analogies" -- Track Seven.

Or, "This music sounds as if it escaped from a 1940s werewolf movie" -- the first 30 seconds of Track Five.

Or -- if you're like me, you'll listen to Track Six, "Two Guitars," and notice that at no time do you hear any guitars!

And you'd be right!  Still, this is lots of fun if you're in the right mood.  Some surface noise is still present, because this was an LP not in great shape.  But still worth a dance.

01. Hora Staccato (2:09)
02. When a Gypsy Makes His Violin Cry (4:56)
03. Zigeuner (3:35)
04. Play Fiddle Play (2:49)
05. Gypsy Love Song (3:12)
06. Two Guitars (3:42)
07. Play Gypsies (Czardas) (3:20)
08. Romany Life (3:39)
09. Stradivarius (3:33)
10. Zigeunerweisen (4:48)

New World Strings - Bella Babka - Gypsy Violins Vol 3 (35:43)

See you on Thursday, my wild friends!

Cheesy, Just the Way Grandma Liked It!

This is a rollicking good time, assuming that you want the kind of entertainment that is processed for homogenizative consumption.

01. Down Yonder (2:05)

02. I’m Looking Over a Four-Leaf Clover (1:52)

03. Alabamy Bound (1:51)

04. Bill Bailey (2:09)

05. Frankie & Johnny (2:01)

06. Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight (1:54)

07. Maple Leaf Rag (2:01)

08. Wang Wang Blues (1:52)

09. Pagan Love Song (1:55)

10. Spaghetti Rag (2:02)

11. Baby Face (1:50)

12. Black and White Rag (1:56)

13. Down Home Rag (2:14)

14. Sweet Georgia Brown (2:12)

15. Dill Pickles Rag (2:12)

16. When You and I Were Young, Maggie (2:10)

17. In a Shanty in Old Shanty Town (2:03)

18. The Sheik of Araby (2:07)

19. Tickle the Ivories Rag (2:18)

20. Skater Boogie (1:51)

21. Down Among the Sheltering Palms (2:16)

22. The Days of Old Vaudeville (2:19)

Jo Ann Castle - 22 Great Ragtime Hits

See you on Monday!