Spinning My Dad’s Vinyl

Next stop on our World Tour November is also a stop back to the 19th century. Back to one of the music centers of the world at the time. Budapest. Home of the Danube River and a beautiful opera house.

All of that and more made it a popular tourist stop for that era. And the two composers you will hear from were partly responsible for that popularity as well.

So, get ready to hear an important orchestra in its own right perform music from this landlocked central European country in Volume 203: Classic Hungary.

More information about this album, see the Discogs webpage for it. 

Credits and copyrights

Franz Liszt, Johannes Brahms, RIAS Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Karl Rucht – Hungarian Rhapsodies No. 2 And No. 14 / Hungarian Dances No. 1 Through No. 6

We will hear 5 of the 8 tunes on this record.

Franz Liszt:

Johannes Brahms:

I do not own the rights to this music. ASCAP, BMI licenses provided by third-party platforms for music that is not under Public Domain.

#hungariandances #hungarianrhapsody #classicalmusic

We continue World Tour November with music about a location I’ve actually been to. It’s on the list as being one of the seven natural wonders of the world. 

If you’ve ever visited that big hole in the ground in the southwestern United States, sometimes words escape you. That’s why we have composers like Ferde Grofe who skillfully describes the wonder through the lens of black notes on a white sheet of paper.

I have been absolutely mesmerized by this album since I found it, especially since the five-movement suite depicts two of my favorite moments on that side trip. Which is why I’m playing the tunes out of order.

So get ready to hear music as big, bold and beautiful as the scenery it was written about in Volume 202: Grand Canyon.

More information about this album, see the Discogs webpage for it. 

Credits and copyrights

Andre Kostelanetz And His Orchestra – Grand Canyon Suite Featuring On The Trail

Composed by Ferde Grofé

On The Trail

I do not own the rights to this music. ASCAP, BMI licenses provided by third-party platforms for music that is not under Public Domain.

We begin a month of travel-related music in what I am calling World Tour November. And what better way to begin that month than with a tour of the world all in one album. This episode will serve as the month’s Overture, so to speak.

The movie, based on a Jules Verne novel, was an epic screen hit that won eight Academy Awards. Not only was the lead character a trailblazer in the film, but the entire production was considered a trailblazer itself in many ways.

So, get ready to hear the soundtrack that won the 1957 Oscar for Best Original Score in Volume 201: 80 Days with Passepartout.

More information about this album, see the Discogs webpage for it. 

Credits and copyrights

Around The World - Part 1

I do not own the rights to this music. ASCAP, BMI licenses provided by third-party platforms for music that is not under Public Domain.

Well, here’s a milestone for you. I can’t believe that I have reached 200 shows with no intent of stopping. 

While I’ve played over 12 hundred songs on this show over those more than three and a three quarter years, I have several that have stuck in my brain or keep coming up in conversation and memories.

They may not be the most popular of the songs I’ve played, the biggest hits or even necessarily among my favorites, but they had a catchy melody or rhythm that I couldn’t get out of my head.

So get ready to hear a dozen extra memorable tunes you’ve heard on this show before in Volume 200: Frank's Earworms Take 2.

Listen to the Ted Alexander unedited phone interview.

Credits and copyrights

The Lady Is A Tramp - Buddy Greco

Take the A Train - The Duke Ellington Orchestra

Day-O - Harry Belafonte

Java - Al Hirt

Let’s Cha Cha - Tito Puente

Debbie Reynolds and the cast of the musical motion picture The Unsinkable Molly Brown - Belly up to the Bar, Boys

(Running Around in Circles) Getting Nowhere - Bing Crosby with John Scott Trotter and His Orchestra 

Ye-Me-Le - Sergio Mendez & Brasil ‘66

Sing, Sing, Sing - Henry Mancini

Spinning Wheel - Sammy Davis Jr.

Che La Luna - Louis Prima With Sam Butera And The Witnesses 

Taste Of Honey - Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass 

I do not own the rights to this music. ASCAP, BMI licenses provided by third-party platforms for music that is not under Public Domain.

Most of the albums so far in my father’s collection were of popular artists from the US. This record is the first of four my dad had from an orchestra leader who reportedly was from England, featuring a trumpet player, who reportedly has the same name as the guy who writes all the liner notes for the orchestra leader.

Meanwhile, there were a number of musicians who really recorded this album. Who they were is a budget record label mystery.

So, get ready to hear some pretty melodies while you’re having your afternoon crumpets in Volume 199: Tea and Trumpets.

More information about this album, see the Discogs webpage for it. 

Credits and copyrights

Stanley Applewaite, Roy Freeman – Stanley Applewaite Plays Tea And Trumpets Featuring Roy Freeman

If I Had A Love That Loved Me

Medley: Darling My Heart Is Yours/Standing In The Rain (written by Sammy Fain, Irving Kahal)/Sing Nightingale Sing (written by Bob Iller, Bruno Balz, Michael Jary)

Please

Moritat

Medley: You Make This World Beautiful / Virginia Blues (written by Ernie Erdman, Fred Meinken) / Two Hearts In May (Michael Jary)

John And Julie (fitting to end the show with a song written by another trumpet player.)

I do not own the rights to this music. ASCAP, BMI licenses provided by third-party platforms for music that is not under Public Domain.

Here’s an album filled with some of the biggest big band jazz orchestra leaders there ever were. And they’re the songs that each leader was most identified by.

It’s also a special promotional copy with a Cleveland area connection, which is probably why it’s in my dad’s collection. Plus it brought back some memories of TV commercial gold.

So get ready to hear tunes that introduced the bands that played them in Volume 198: Big Band Themes.

Correction: Lawson's Milk Company was founded in Cuyahoga Falls, not Chagrin Falls, which is what I said in the episode.

More information about this album, see the Discogs webpage for it. 

Credits and copyrights

Various – Dance To The Themes Of The Greatest Bands

Les Brown–Leap Frog

Woody Herman and his Thundering Herd - Blue Flame

Claude Thornhill - Snowfall

Kay Kyser - (I've Grown So Lonesome) Thinking Of You

Gene Krupa - Starburst

Count Basie - One O'Clock Jump

I do not own the rights to this music. ASCAP, BMI licenses provided by third-party platforms for music that is not under Public Domain.

Back to one of my father’s favorite trumpet players. This time, a little later in his career. It’s as if the years have slightly mellowed his sound, and he blends in more with the band.

But there’s almost never any trouble recognizing when this musician is front and center, because he had one of the smoothest sounds around.

So, get ready to hear one of the best known and easily recognized trumpet players ever in Volume 197: Jazzy James.

More information about this album, see the Discogs webpage for it. 

Credits and copyrights

Harry James And His Orchestra – Jazz Session

Marchin'

I'll Remember April

One For My Baby (And One More For The Road)

(Get Your Kicks On) Route 66!

Stealin' Apples

Queen Of The Mambo

I do not own the rights to this music. ASCAP, BMI licenses provided by third-party platforms for music that is not under Public Domain.

Today, the day this episode drops, would have been my mom’s 87th birthday. Earlier today, I dropped ten roses on her gravestone to signify how many of those birthdays we have had without her.

I’ve said this before, that my mom’s spirit is within this album collection just as much as my dad’s, and it’s artists like this that I know she enjoyed very much.

My parents did get to see him once in concert. He is one of the world’s most recognized tenors, even years after he has been gone. 

So get ready to hear Luciano sing to celebrate my mother’s birthday in Volume 196: Pavarotti for Pauline. 

More information about this album, see the Discogs webpage for it. 

Credits and copyrights

Luciano Pavarotti – Verismo Arias

The portrait reproduced for the cover was done by Gerrit Greve, and was one of Pavarotti's favorites.

We will hear 10 of the 15 songs on this album.

Amor Ti Vieta

Dai Campi, Dai Prati

La Dolcissima Effigie

L'Anima Ho Stanca or My Soul Is Tired

Apri La Tua Finestra!

Colpito Qui M'Avete.....Un Di All 'Azzurro Spazio

Come Un Bel Di Di Maggio

Ch'Ella Mi Creda

Ma Se Vi Talenta.....Tra Voi, Belle

Ah! Non Y'Avvicante!

I do not own the rights to this music. ASCAP, BMI licenses provided by third-party platforms for music that is not under Public Domain.

This is truly an interesting find in my dad’s collection. We know by now my dad’s love for the Dixieland style of music. So it’s not surprising I found this record in the stacks.

But what was surprising is that this recording was made by seven musicians that had never played together before. You most certainly can’t tell. And they’re not exactly household names. 

So, get ready to hear what it must have sounded like rollin’ down the Mississippi River in the late 19th and early 20th century in Volume 195: Delta Dixieland.

More information about this album, see the Discogs webpage for it. 

Credits and copyrights

Delta Kings – Down The River With The Delta Kings

We will hear 6 of the 10 songs on this album.

Ole Man River

Beautiful Ohio

'Way Down Upon The Swanee River

Waitin' For The Robert E. Lee

Up That Lazy River

Down By The Riverside (I Ain't Goin' to Study War No More)

I do not own the rights to this music. ASCAP, BMI licenses provided by third-party platforms for music that is not under Public Domain.

I’m not sure why, but the episodes that feature Ray Conniff music have been among the most popular…by far. Maybe because his music is so enjoyable. Maybe because his music is laid back and brings back memories of better times, or what are assumed to be better times.

But Conniff’s music had a very unique sound because of how he treated vocals in many of his songs. He used voices as instruments as they sang wordless notes. But on this record? They use their real words.

So get ready to hear some sweet music with that unique Conniff vocal arrangement in Volume 194: Ray's Honey. 

More information about this album, see the Discogs webpage for it. 

Credits and copyrights

Ray Conniff And The Singers – Honey

We will play 7 of the 11 songs on the album.

Honey (I Miss You)

Gentle On My Mind

Spanish Eyes

I Say A Little Prayer

The Look Of Love (From "Casino Royale")

Sound Of Silence

Goin' Out Of My Head

I do not own the rights to this music. ASCAP, BMI licenses provided by third-party platforms for music that is not under Public Domain.