Mel Torme - California Suite sealed vinyl record Barney Kessel Dave Pell
$
28
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Description
1984 Cayre/Bethleham BCP 6016 sealed vinyl reissue of 1957 album release. Jacket is whole/new.
Ebay Condition offered as New/Sealed. This vinyl was pressed over 20 years ago.
Additional Information about California Suite - Mel Torme
Portions of this page Copyright 1948 - 2011 Muze Inc. All rights reserved.
1. Territory, The (The Soil Was Good)
2. West Coast Is the Best Coast
3. La Jolla
4. Coney Island
5. Atlantic City Boardwalk
6. They Go to San Diego
7. San Fernando Valley
8. Got the Date on the Golden Gate
9. L.A.
10. Six O'Clock (It's Time to Leave the Set)
11. Nothing to Do (But Shed a Tear)
12. Poor Little Extra Girl
13. West Coast Is the Best Coast - (reprise)
(see label for exact track listing)
Details Contributing artists: Barney Kessel, Marty Paich, Mel Lewis, Pete Candoli Recording type: Studio Recording mode: Mono ("Vivid Sound")
Album notes
Personnel includes: Mel Torme, Loulie Jean Norman, R. Carmichael (vocals); Marty Paich (arranger, conductor); Dave Pell (tenor saxophone); Pete Candoli, Don Fagerquist (trumpet); Bob Enevoldson (trombone); Barney Kessel (guitar); Max Bennett (bass); Mel Lewis, Alvin Stoller (drums); The Bethlehem Orchestra and Chorus.
Recorded in Hollywood, California in March 1957. Includes liner notes by Mel Torme.
Recording information: Hollywood, CA (03/11/1957/03/13/1957).
Arranger: Marty Paich.
Mel Tormé's California Suite originated in 1949 and was the first blossom of his interest in composing and expanding the palette of traditional pop beyond crooning. Recorded while he was at Capitol, the original conception was a 20-minute piece recorded with the help of arrangers Billy May and Neal Hefti plus Peggy Lee on vocals. In response to support from fans and his next label, Bethlehem, Tormé expanded California Suite to a full LP eight years later. His new friend, Marty Paich, gave the arrangements an upbeat feel, splendidly evoking the go-go '50s. Though many tracks border on that cagey territory between a pep rally and a tourism commercial, the music is bright and bouncy, with Tormé gliding over the arrangements with sheer grace and even finding time to get in an occasional dig at Californian sensibilities ("That's not smog/It's just heavy dew").
Though the titles are a bit silly -- he had lately been inspired by Johnny Mercer -- Tormé saves the album with some of the best compositions of his career. He flirts with song structure (sounds inspired more by musical comedy than traditional pop) and writes clever lyrics that reveal a layer beneath the superficiality of the song titles. He also sounds in what could be the best voice of his entire career, rivaled only by Mel Tormé Sings Fred Astaire or Swings Shubert Alley.
In essence, Mel Tormé's California Suite perfectly evokes many of the qualities (positive and negative) that characterized the '50s in Southern California -- a region breathless with anticipation of a glorious future, anxious to start consuming everything an American family should, and just a bit giddy with all the splendor. ~ John Bush
