a) You Deserve Each Other
Robert Mitchum
That Man... Robert Mitchum Sings
(1967)
b) I'm Confessin'
Robert Mitchum
Capitol Demo (Tall Dark Stranger CD)
(1956, released 1997)
A couple odds and ends from Robert Mitchum. First up, him doing the country pop thing. A bizarro world Dean Martin, if you will.
Then, a demo he cut for a nixed album from Capitol, before he pivoted directions from standards to Calypso.
01-26 026
Sex Appeal
Barbara Rylska
Sex Appeal
(1965)
Found in a thrift store a couple decades ago. Couldn't resist the cover. Musically, visually... I can assume she's the Liza Minelli of the Eastern bloc.
Sunny
Squeegie
For Once In My Life I've Got To Be Me!
(c. 1960's?)
Liner notes:
"Squeegie is the lady's real name! Equally as unusual is the amazing vocal versatility she demonstrates in this, her first LP album. Ranging in style from the dynamic "rock" of "Sunny" to the tenderness in the torch rendition of "Go Away" she displays the artistic flexibility and grace which has won her the adulation and respect of live audiences wherever she has performed..."
Well, she never made another record, but one wonders what that would have sounded like... there is an ethereal element at play here which gives the album a layer of unintentional atmosphere.
The microphone sounds like it was on the other side of an auditorium, giving the whole record a cavernous echo laden sound. Throw in the percussive bass and cordovox, and this makes for a weird lounge feel that leaves you in some valium induced cross road between reality and sleep deprivation!
Intro - Tie A Yellow Ribbon Round The Old Oak Tree
The Goofers
Live in the Landmark's Nifty Nook Lounge Las Vegas
(1977)
The Goofers were comprised of five Italians, all ex-members of Louis Prima's band. Through years of going through the motions of the usual lounge shtick, they would separate themselves from other Vegas acts by playing their instruments on pogo sticks, or on trampolines, or upside down (as pictured here.)
A lot of the repertoire are lively swinging big band material, I'm sure the kind of stuff they did for Prima... as I'm sure the Italian accent put-on for this Tony Orlando cover is something they probably would have done in their Prima act as well.
01-22 022
Mah Na Cowboy
Piero Umiliani
Questo Sporco Mondo Meraviglioso
(1971)
I'm sure it's common knowledge at this point that Jim Henson took the famous "Mah Na Mah Na" song from an Italian softcore porno called "Sweeden: Heaven and Hell," right?
The original, composed by Piero Umiliani, is featured during a sauna scene featuring a dozen or so Swedish girls. I'm sure it was Umiliani's signature, comical, nasal-vocalese delivery that caught Henson's ear.
Anywho, what isn't so well known, is this follow-up track from an equally salacious Mondo film from 1971. The track is absolutely bugged out and bonkers. The original LP goes for like a thousand bucks on a good day, but you can find this single, even 30 years after its pressing for about what I paid for it.
The Jabberwocky
Crane Calder and Suzanne Bloch
Allegro AK56
(1952)
Crane Calder, Broadway choral director and choral director for children's label Allegro. Suzanne Block, lute player who specializes in Renaissance era folk music.
Wasn't sure how this would sound, is this the first musical rendition of Lewis Carroll's poems? Not sure. Also not sure if this is any good, I was excited and instantaneously underwhelmed.
