The Simmons family occupied a unique role in the thousands of country/folk albums that were being produced to meet the folk music craze of the 1950s through the 1970s. While most of those albums were being recorded by city dwellers who happened to know about and play old-time tunes, the Simmons family was living in rural Stone County, Missouri, just as they had for generations. This gave them an edge that city folk artists (especially before the Internet) could not compete with, since the family learned truly obscure folk songs from other nearby musicians that almost no one else would be familiar with (for example, when was the last time anyone in the past four decades recorded "Lord Lovelle?")
The other aspect of the family that made them so special is that besides being a family act, they made their living by owning a music shop. Most of the country/folk music family acts were remnants of the early 1900s through the Great Depression (they certainly were not common in the 1970s!), and even those musical families of the past tended to be composed of day laborers who performed music at night and during social gatherings. In other words, music was their pastime, not their career. The Simmons family was one of just a handful of family acts who made music their career, and that is certainly reflected in the high quality of their playing and their creative arrangements on this LP.
Considering that my last post featuring mountain dulcimer was by city dweller Neal Hellman, I wanted to post this album to give listeners an understanding of how different rural artists can sound compared to the more widely-recognized city artists, even when performing the same kind of music! In my opinion, the Simmons family style of playing sounds a lot like that of Fiddlin' Powers & Family, a country musical group popular in the 1920s whose sound was characterized by a laid-back feel, but with much gusto underneath it and a high degree of overall musical skill.
The Simmons family released several albums during their time with Dancing Doll Records, but this album appears to have been their best-seller. While there are some classic folk songs on it that virtually every country music fan knows ("Ragtime Annie", "Wildwood Flower", etc.), they are still just as delightful to listen to as the more obscure tunes ("Come thy Fount", "Lord Lovelle", etc.)
Check out this clip from YouTube to hear it for yourself!
The songs on this album are as follows:
1. "The Arkansas Traveler"
2. "Bury Me Under the Weeping Willow"
3. "Green Corn"
4. "Buffalo Girls"
5. "The Carol of the Birds"
6. "Wildwood Flower"
7. "Greensleeves"
8. "Come thy Fount"
9. "Ragtime Annie"
10. "Red Wing"
11. "Down on the Banks of the Old Ohio"
12. "Turkey in the Straw"
13. "The Rosewood Casket"
14. "Un-Cloudy Day"
15. "The Eighth of January"
16. "Lord Lovelle"
17. "Pretty Mary"
18. "The World is Not My Home (I'm Just Passing Through)" Download (28.3 MB, 128 kbps)
Continuing the foray into my Record Store Day 2017 musical finds, I am presenting an underrated album by the folk musician Neal Hellman (1948-) that simultaneously is one of the best old-timey albums to listen to, yet has one of the most atrociously cartoonish album cover designs ever - which, as far as country music albums go, is truly saying something.
Unless you are a folk or country musician of a certain age, it is quite unlikely that you have known of Neal Hellman prior to reading about him here. Born in New York and having his formative years shaped during the post-war folk music revival, Hellman has worked as a country music performer, educator, author and (strangely enough) children's entertainer for almost 40 years. Starting as a music teacher/recording artist, this LP is one of his earliest releases and features some fine collaboration with other musical artists such as banjoist George Stavis and dulcimer player Michael Rugg. However, it was not until 1993 when Hellman got his "big break", after he and fellow musician Joe Weed wrote the score for Princess Furball, a 1993 kids' video that won an American Library Association Commendation. Shortly thereafter, he founded the record label Gourd Music, producing over thirty critically-acclaimed folk and country albums, and where he still works today.
This album offers a wealth of old-time tunes, including a few freshly-revived military ballads (such as "Bonnie Blue Flag" and "Graycoat Soldiers") as well as containing one of the eeriest gospel tunes I have ever heard that also happens to be one of the few recordings available featuring a musical saw as the primary instrument ("I am a Little Scholar")! Unlike dozens of other old-timey albums recorded during the 1980s, this album thankfully does not have any strange pop-synth arrangements, talkboxes or similar crap added to the background. If anything, Hellman's arrangements rival more that of a "wall of sound", somewhat reminiscent of a Phil Spector (1939-) influence had Spector decided to work with acoustic instruments instead of orchestral duplication of parts (and, you know, not murdered anyone either...)
Check out a few clips below to hear it for yourself (each link opens the Dropbox media player in a new window)!
1. "Betty Likkens"/"Cluck Old Hen"/"West Virginia Gals"
2. "Bonnie Blue Flag"
3. "Colored Aristocracy"
4. "Ducks on a Pond/Boatin' up Sandy"
5. "Graycoat Soldiers"
6. "I am a Little Scholar"
7. "Indian Nation"
8. "John Henry"
9. "Old Dog Blue"/"The Arkansas Traveler"/"The Eighth of January"
10. "On a Cold Winter's Night"
11. "The Oot-Pick Waltz"
12. "Scotland"
13. "Seven Bridges Road"
14. "Shortnin' Bread" Download (36.4 MB, 128 kbps)
Today is the first day of September, which means we North Americans are now officially in autumn! Early autumn happens to be my favorite season, when it is still warm enough to do outdoor activities yet cool enough that the worst of the mosquitoes are gone, the tourists have left and, most importantly,the bluegrass and folk music festivals begin! (At least they do here in the Twin Cities metro area, I don't know about the rest of Hicksville Minnesota...)
This EP is one of many kick-ass country music finds that I uncovered at Hymie's Vintage Records during this year's Record Store Day. While the vinyl itself has seen better days (and better styli!), it still plays loud and clear enough to display the unbelievable talent of The White Oak Mountain Boys and The Sunny Mountain Boys, both studio bands contracted to King Records in the mid-to-late 1950s. This EP happens to be a compilation or "sampler" of sorts, likely for promotional and broadcast use by King Records, which at the time was starting to wind down production of its Country & Western division.
Side A showcases the talents of banjoist Leon Jackson and the regrettably-forgotten fiddler Johnny Bryant, with all three tracks composed by Jackson. Side B showcases the talents of guitarist Jimmy Martin (1927-2005) and mandolinist Bob(by) Osborne (1931-), with all three tracks composed by the pair. Considering that Martin and Osborne went on to much greater fame than Bryant and Jackson ever did, it is curious that they were relegated to Side B on this record. Regardless of the reason why, this is a great EP that is certain to be a favorite of any bluegrass fan!
Check out these clips from YouTube to hear it for yourself!
The tracks on this EP are as follows:
1. "White Oak Mountain Breakdown"*
2. "Love, Please Come Home"*
3. "Leon's Breakdown (Buttahatchee)"*
4. "My Lonely Heart"#
5. "She's Just a Cute Thing"#
6. "You'll Never be the Same"# *Performed by The White Oak Mountain Boys [w/Leon Jackson & Johnny Bryant] #Performed by The Sunny Mountain Boys [w/Jimmy Martin & Bob Osborne]
Spanning over ten octaves in at least seven different type classifications, the human voice is the most fantastic instrument of all. It can be heard above a full orchestra with no extra amplification needed, as well as alter its tone and expressions to degrees greater than even what the largest pipe organ is capable of producing!
It can also sound worse than an orgy of beached, dying whales.
Compared to just two years ago, the average American is now familiar with the life and times of Florence Foster Jenkins (photographed in costume on the cover, 1868-1944), thanks to the biographical film released last fall starring Meryl Streep (1949-) as the fabulously unskilled "singer". Likening herself to such legendary sopranos as Luisa Tetrazzini (1871-1940) and having a more-than-passing knowledge of music thanks to receiving frequent piano lessons before suffering an arm injury, Jenkins recorded several discs for Melotone Records during the WWII era with her (reluctant) pianist and musical coach, Cosmé McMoon (born Cosmé McMunn, 1901-1980). These recordings - while being "so bad they're good" - do demonstrate that she was capable of making insightful artistic choices to the repertoire with her voice, but delivered them in an extremely distorted (dare I say warped) manner. Nevertheless, she was a huge hit among recital audiences during her life, and when asked about her thoughts on her own performances, she cheerfully replied, "People may say I can't sing, but no one can ever say I didn't sing!" She died at the age of 76 from complications resulting from advanced syphilis.
The life and times of soprano Jenny Williams and baritone Thomas Burns, in contrast, are quite difficult to discern as of this writing. The liner notes state they were two amateur vocalists living in the New York City area who recorded four tracks from Charles Gounod (1818-1893)'s opera Faust. They wanted to use the tracks for their own personal promotions (only God knows why!), but eventually agreed to let RCA Victor include the tracks in this LP. There is no other information I can find about what became of Williams or Burns, but suffice it to say, without their - ahem, unique musical contributions - to this album, they would never have received infamy.
I found this LP at a garage sale many years ago, and bought it for the ridiculous cover as well as to be able to brag to fellow collectors that I have a Florence Foster Jenkins record (her records are, extremely understandably, not that common). This LP is great for a quick laugh, and as my summer full of classical music and opera draws to an end, it is the perfect way to close this month of The Retro Echo; future posts will instead be oriented towards other musical genres and releases by artists of the past.
Check out a few clips from YouTube to hear all of these unforgettable singers for yourself!
From the liner notes on the back cover:
Few artists ever gave such unalloyed pleasure as Florence Foster Jenkins, yet this extraordinary soprano had the wisdom not to overdo a good thing. She emphatically declined to appear in New York oftener than once a year and rarely anywhere else except such favored centers as Washington and Newport. For years her annual recital at the Ritz-Carlton was a private ceremonial for the select few--her stubbornly loyal circle of clubwomen and the adventurous cognoscenti. If the latter at times displayed an unmannerly lack of restraint they were nonetheless faithful. Music critics covered the event in precisely the same reverse English with which they frequently, though perhaps less intentionally, leave a baffled public speculating as to what actually did happen the night before. Then the word began to get around. Tickets became harder to come by than for a World Series. Finally, on the evening of October 25, 1944, Madame Jenkins took the big step. Forsaking the brocade atmosphere of a fashionable hotel ballroom, she braved Carnegie Hall. There are those who claim that her death one month and a day later was the result of a broken heart--as unlikely as the story that her career was all a huge joke at the public's expense--a pretty expensive joke, incidentally, since Carnegie Hall was sold out weeks in advance and grossed something like $6,000. Moreover, the late Robert Bagar wrote in the New York World-Telegram: "She was exceedingly happy in her work. It is a pity so few artists are. And the happiness was communicated as if by magic to her hearers..." No, Madame Jenkins died full of years--76 to be exact--and, it is safe to say, with a happy heart. Neither her parents nor her husband gave any encouragement whatever to her musical ambitions, but with her divorce and the money inherited from her father, a Wilkes-Barre banker and lawyer who had served in the Pennsylvania legislature, she was free to turn her sights on New York. She broke into print in 1912 as chairman of the Euterpe Club's tableaux vivants. She was also glad to foot the bill for the annual spree of her Verdi Club. The lavishness of this entertainment may be guessed from the name under which it went--"The Ball of the Silver Skylarks." All this gave free rein to her hair for costume design, a faculty that was to prove almost as startling as her vocal flights. No Jenkins recital was accompanied by less than three changes. In "Angel of Inspiration" a very substantial and matronly apparition, all wings and tinsel and tulle, made its way through potted palms to the curve of the grand piano. Small wonder the late Helen Hokinson was an ardent Jenkins fan. Her method of ticket distribution was also unique and a model of straightforward dealing. In the hands of the scalpers those coveted pasteboards would have brought ten times the price. It is doubtful, however, if this was the reason she insisted on personal application to the genteel midtown hotel where she had rooms. Toying with the tickets as Rosina might with her fan she would inquire: "Mr. Gilkey, are you a--a newspaperman?" "No. Madame Jenkins," the applicant replied quite soberly, "a music-lover." "Very well," the diva beamed. "Two-fifty each, please. Now would you like some sherry?" Would he? Who wouldn't sit down for a friendly glass with this phenomenon in the musical life of our time? It is too bad she did not record her favorite encore, "Clavelitos", a number she invariably had to repeat. A contemporary account describes Madame Jenkins as appearing in a Spanish shawl, with a jeweled comb and, like Carmen, a red bloom in her hair. She punctuated the rhythmic cadences of the song by tossing tiny red flowers from her pretty basket to her delighted hearers. On one occasion the basket in a moment of confusion followed the little blossoms into the audience. It too, was received with spirit. Before she would do the repeat her already overworked accompanist had to pass among the jubilant groundlings and retrieve the prop buds and basket. The enthusiasm of the audience at this point reached a peak that beggars description. After a taxicab crash in 1943 she found she could sing "a higher F than ever before." Instead of a lawsuit against the taxicab company, she sent the driver a box of expensive cigars. Although high coloratura was Madame Jenkins' particular province, she also ventured into the quieter realm of lieder. She opened her 1934 program with "Die Mainacht" of Brahms. Under the title was this quote: "O singer, if thou canst not dream, leave this song unsung." Nobody will ever say Florence Foster Jenkins couldn't dream. For some time there has been wide demand for a reissue of this Florence Foster Jenkins album, but it was felt that an attraction should be found to couple with the soprano's recordings. If it is impossible to predict where the lightning of genius is going to strike, how much less predictable is the urge to artistic endeavor. One day with no advance warning whatever Jenny Williams and Thomas Burns walked into RCA Victor's Custom Record Department. The records they wanted to make were to be for their own use but eventually they agreed to the public issuance of the material on this disc. The English translations are their own and speak for themselves - also for the cause of opera in English. As Madame Jenkins found her way to the recording studios from the concert hall, perhaps Miss Williams and Mr. Burns, with the start they may surely expect from this disc, will one day attempt to fill, in a measure, the gap left by Madame Jenkins' departure from the musical scene. Francis Robinson Assistant Manager of the Metropolitan Opera (1952-76) and author of "Caruso: His Life in Pictures"
The tracks on this album are as follows:
1. "Adele's Laughing Song"*
2. "Biassy"*
3. "Charmant Oiseau"*
4. "The Queen of the Night's Aria"*
5. "The Bell Song"*
6. "Like A Bird"*
7. "The Musical Snuff-Box"*
8. "The Jewel Song"#
9. "Emotions Strange"#
10. "Valentine's Aria"#
11. "Final Trio"#
*Performed by Florence Foster Jenkins [w/Cosmé McMoon at the piano] #Performed by Jenny Williams & Thomas Burns
Most people will know, or at least have heard of in passing, the "big" Mozart (1756-1791) operas like The Magic Flute, The Marriage of Figaro and Don Giovanni if they are asked about them. But how many of those same people will also mention The Abduction from the Seraglio (or, in its original German, Die Entführung aus dem Serail) in the same breath? Likely very few, for this challenging and vibrant opera has always taken an ill-deserved back seat to Mozart's more publicized works.
Composed in 1782 at the bequest of Austrian emperor Joseph II (1741-1790), it was initially designed as an entertaining Turkish/Ottoman Empire comic opera. However, what sets it apart from many of his other operas is the fact that it is an unexpected work of fantastic exuberance. The characters all develop surprising emotional complexities as the opera goes on, and Mozart always considered it among his best works. The story is based on the libretto of the 1781 operetta Belmont und Constanze by Christoph Bretzner (1748-1807), but Mozart, with the help of fellow librettist Gottlieb Stephanie (1741-1800), tweaked the material to turn it into a masterpiece.
Contrary to conventional former belief among musical scholars, Joseph II did not complain to Mozart after the opera's premiere performance that he thought it had "too many notes!" What is now generally accepted is that Joseph II instead told Mozart he thought it had "an extraordinary amount of notes"; in other words, he was surprised at how well the performers sang the difficult arias (in particular, "Martern aller arten" and "O, wie will ich triumphieren"), which Mozart specifically wrote to take advantage of the talent possessed by many great singers of the era specially commissioned to premiere the opera. Regardless of the emperor's take on it, the opera was a great success among audiences and is still being performed to this day, albeit much less commonly than when it was new.
This 1954 studio album set (originally released on a double vinyl LP set, here presented in its reissued CD set from the mid-1990s) is one of the best - if not, the best - recording of The Abduction from the Seraglio. Under the baton of conductor Ferenc Fricsay (1914-1963), the album has an all-star case consisting of sopranos Maria Stader (1911-1999) and Rita Streich (1920-1987), tenors Ernst Haefliger (1919-2007) and Martin Vantin (1919-), basso Josef Greindl (1912-1993) and voice actor Walter Franck (1896-1961). They are accompanied by the RIAS Symphony Orchestra of Berlin and its chamber choir, which to this day remain a pinnacle among European classical musicians and singers.
I was first exposed to this album set in high school by a former music teacher, and have greatly enjoyed listening to it since! The only drawbacks of it is that not all the arias present in the opera were recorded on this set, and voice actors speak most of the libretto instead of the singers themselves (perhaps this was a cost-saving measure on the part of Deutsche Grammophon?) Even with these drawbacks, the album is still a very enjoyable listen! I insist that all fans of Mozart give it a listen, especially those only familiar with his "big" operas.
Check out these clips from YouTube to hear it for yourself! (Ignore the puppets in the first clip...)
The tracks on this album are as follows:
1. "Ouvertüre" 2. "Hier soll ich dich denn sehen...Aber wie soll ich in den Palast kommen?" 3. "Wer ein Liebchen hat gefunden" 4. "Solche hergelauf'ne Laffen" 5. "O wie angstlich" 6. "Versteckt euch, Herr...Singt dem grossen Bassa Lieder" 7. "Ach ich liebte, war so glücklich" 8. "Marsch! Trollt euch fort!" 9. "Durch Zärtlichkeit und Schmeicheln" 10. "Ich gehe, doch rate ich dir" 11. "Welcher Kummer herrscht in meiner Seele" 12. "Martern aller arten" 13. "Vivat Bacchus! Bacchus lebe!" 14. "So, gnädiger Herr, jetzt schnell" 15. "Das Fenster geht auf, Herr!" 16. "Bassa Selim lebe lange" 17. "Welche Wonne, welche Lust" 18. "Frisch zum Kampfe! Frisch zum Streite!" 19. "Wenn der Freude Tränen fließen" 20. "Ach! Belmonte! Ach, mein Leben!" 21. "Ich baue ganz auf deine Stärke" 22. "O, wie will ich triumphieren" 23. "Welch ein geschick!"/"Ha, du solltest für mich sterben!" 24. "Nie werd' ich deine Huld verkennen" 25. "Alleluja"* 26. "Tu virginum corona"* 27. "Exsultate, jubilate"* 28. "Fulget amica dies"* *From Exsultate, jubilate (K. 165) sung by Maria Stader Download (110.1 MB, 160 kpbs)
As mentioned in a previous post, as long as there are record collectors out there willing to digitize their finds, the artists themselves live on forever. This truth is perhaps epitomized by the magnificent French basso Pol Plançon (1851-1914), who was born before Napoleon's infamous coup d'etat and died just after the onset of WWI! Plançon is one of the earliest-born artists in my classical and operatic collection, as well as the only artist in my entire music collection of about 15,000 songs whom I can confirm has now been deceased for over 100 years.
Naturally, the extreme length of time between when he was alive, performing, up to now has resulted in some pretty significant changes in not only just music itself, but the very act of singing! Listening to Plançon is a truly wondrous experience - once the listener gets over the fact that s/he is listening to someone who has been dead for over an entire century, s/he instantly becomes aware of the major differences in his vocal styling and production compared to most of today's performers. The best way to describe this difference would be to take the voice of a lyric coloratura soprano, drop it down about two octaves, and the result would probably be very much like the voice of Plançon! Whereas most of today's famous opera bassos (regardless of fach) are expected to sing with a delivery of sound resembling that of an idling diesel engine, Plançon sings with a silky smooth, graceful delivery ideal for the many French art songs and lyric operatic roles that were being composed during his life.
Born in Fumay, he began taking voice lessons as a teenager from the retired tenor Gilbert Duprez (1806-1896). He modeled his vocal styling and overall technique after the famous baritone Jean-Baptiste Faure (1830-1914), who had been an idol of sorts among Parisian operagoers of the day. In 1883, he received an invitation to sing at the Paris Opera, and was such a hit among audiences that he stayed there for the next decade. He then sang at the London Royal Opera House to full houses, and premiered at the Metropolitan Opera in 1893, spending the next 11 years shuttling between performances in the US and Europe.
He was friends with several of the most prominent opera singers of the day, including tenor Enrico Caruso (1873-1921) and soprano Emma Eames (1865-1952). He was also one of the last vocalists trained exclusively in the bel canto tradition to make recordings, which he began doing in 1902 for the Gramophone & Typewriter Company, eventually moving up to the prestigious Red Seal label of Victor Records in 1903. He stopped recording in 1908 due to his voice beginning to falter, but gave periodic voice lessons and guest concert appearances until his death (presumably of lung cancer) at the age of 63. He is considered to be one of the last lyric basses in a marvelous French tradition that extended back some 150 years in operatic history. His body is buried in Paris.
This Parlophone collection is second-to-none in its remastering of Plançon's complete Victor recordings. While he was forced to utilize the crude acoustic recording method (since recording with microphones was still about 20 years away) which only really captured the mid-range of his voice, he recordings are of high enough quality that I was able to learn one piece originally performed by Plançon for my senior voice recital. The recordings do still contain some amount of wow and blasting (particularly on high notes), but they are not as distracting as one would expect. I highly recommend that opera enthusiasts listen to this compilation to better understand the performance history of some famous French arias (such as "Nonnes qui reposez"), and aspiring opera singers would do well to listen to (though not attempt to imitate) it to get an idea of how flexible and smooth lower voices can be!
Check out these clips from YouTube to hear him for yourself!
The songs in this compilation are as follows:
1. "Allons, jeunes gens"
2. "Au bruit des lourds marteaux"
3. "Cantique de Noël"
4. "Credo"
5. "De son cœur"
6. "Devant le maison"
7. "Die bieden Grenadiere"
8. "Embarquez-vous"
9. "En chasse"
10. "Enfant chéri des dames, des grisettes"
11. "In diesen heil'gen Hallen"
12. "Je dormirai dans mon manteau royal"
13. "Jésus de Nazareth"
14. "Laß mich euch fragen"
15. "Le cor"
16. "Le filibustier"
17. "Le lac"
18. "Le lazzarone"
19. "Le soupir"
20. "Le vallon"
21. "Le veau d'or"
22. "Les rameaux"
23. "Nonnes qui reposez"
24. "O Isis und Osiris"
25. "Ô jours heureux"
26. "Pro peccatis"
27. "Schon eilet froh der Ackermann"
28. "Si tu veux, mignonne"
29. "Une puce gentille"
30. "Vallons de l'Helvétie"
31. "Vi ravviso"
32. "Voici des roses"
33. "Vous qui faites l'endormie"
34. "Alerte! Ou vous estes perdus!" (with Emma Eames & Charles Damorès)
As record collectors, it is our obligation to preserve musical history for
ourselves and future generations. Unfortunately, that dedication often doubles
our workload, because we sometimes must start piecing history together nearly a
century after the fact! The recordings and biography of Japanese operatic
coloratura soprano Sekiya Toshiko (1904-1941, photographed above) are no
different.
Toshiko was one of the most outstanding Asian singers of the early 20th Century. She was
born in Tokyo at Tsubaki Goten, Camellia Palace. She
came from a notable, upper-class family lineage; her uncle was Kabuki actor
Ichimura Uzaemon XV (1874-1945) and her maternal grandfather was Charles
Le Gendre (1830-1899), American Foreign Policy Advisor to Japan. Her father, Yunosuke Toshiko, was also Secretary of the Yusenkaisha Mail Boat Company, Japan's largest international mail courier service at the time.
As a child, she showed interest in world languages and
music. She recalled in a 1932 newspaper story that Yunosuke used to encourage
her sing at his workplace parties and social functions starting at age eight, sometimes in front of as many as 300 people! Most notably, in 1912, she
was selected to sing in front of the Empress Consort Shoken (1849-1914), who attended
the third grade Ochanomizu University Elementary School graduation ceremony,
where Toshiko attended classes. Shortly thereafter, her parents enrolled her in
music lessons with noted Japanese soprano Tamaki Miura (1884-1946) and composer
Komatsu Kosuke (1884-1966).
Her "big break" came in 1925, when Italian aviator
Francesco de Pinedo (1890-1933) landed and stayed in Japan during his transcontinental flight journey. He heard her in a performance of Madame Butterfly, and he was so impressed by her knowledge
of Italian that he paid for her to provide interpretive services during
his stay. He was a major professional reference for her operatic career in Italy,
which began in 1927 at the Teatro Reggio Emilia and culminated in 1929 at the prestigious Teatro alla Scala. As
previously mentioned, she could speak and write Italian and Japanese fluently,
but also knew Spanish and French, which allowed her to perform at the Barcelona
Olympic Theatre and in professional productions by the University of Bologna.
Talk of her astounding career caught the attention
of Japanese Victor Records (JVC), which contracted her in 1927. She recorded for the label until circa 1933 when she switched to Columbia Records,
continuing to record for them shortly before her death. She was an expert in providing
singable translations of classical vocal works into Japanese, which helped
increase Japanese listeners' understanding and meaning of Western classical
music in the pre-Internet age. Two of her self-composed songs, the solemn "Hotaru koi" and the difficult "Noibara", were released on Victor and included in this collection (YouTube samples of both can be heard below).
In February of 1928, she was awarded the Leonardo da Vinci
Medal of Fine Arts. In May of that same year, she was also awarded a Special
Diploma by the Royal Philharmonic Academy of Bologna, becoming the first
Japanese citizen to do so. Further, she received an honorary degree from the
Conservatory of Livorno, awarded to her by none other than Pietro Mascagni
(1862-1945)! She was friends with such notable composers of the day as
Richard Strauss (1864-1949), who also gave her an extraordinary eulogy. She
starred in a talkie film in 1930 entitled Komoriuta,
but regrettably it has become lost.
She toured the US starting in 1932 at the Metropolitan Opera
to great acclaim, and sang alongside such legendary singers as Amelita
Galli-Curci (1882-1963). She married Yagyu Goro, a martial arts instructor, in
1937 but divorced him in early 1941 due to him having an extramarital affair.
Later that same year, soviet spy Richard Sorge (1895-1944) and his Japanese
accomplice Hotsumi Izaki (1901-1944) were arrested and convicted of espionage.
Toshiko, who was rumored to be Sorge's mistress and distraught over her own divorce,
committed suicide by overdosing on sleeping pills. Her suicide note, written on
the back of the sheet music for "Noibara", read "Even if [I am not yet] 38, I, Sekiya Toshiko, am as scattered as fragrant cherry blossoms and I
realize that I cannot exist forever. With sincerity, I will keep [my
family's] honor safe for eternity, year after year, for a million years. The
world will know how, in this, I demonstrated the purity of my heart,
thoughtfully done to protect the dignity of the arts of greater Japan."
She was rarely mentioned by the end of WWII, and I cannot
find any reference to her after 1951, when Japanese-Canadian mezzo-soprano Aiko
Saita (1909-1954) wrote in a newspaper article about meeting Toshiko during a performance in the early 1930s.
This is probably the best compilation of Toshiko's recordings
available to date. While it does not have her recordings on Columbia (which are
not nearly as enjoyable as her Victor recordings due to her voice beginning to
falter), it does have most of her recordings for JVC - including with the La
Scala Theatre Orchestra and the Victor Salon Orchestra, compiled from 12 records. If anyone reading this
has a copy of a Toshiko recording on JVC not included in this compilation, please let
me know so I may update this post accordingly!
Check out these clips from YouTube to hear her for yourself!
There have been many recordings made of the once-phenomenally popular Sigmund Romberg (1887-1951) & Oscar Hammerstein II (1895-1960) operetta The Desert Song. However, this is the first known album set of the work to feature some of the best opera and musical theater singers of the day, instead of relying on unnamed studio performers or forgotten members of the original cast to record the music.
In this album, soprano Frances Greer (1917-2005), tenor Jimmy Carroll (1910?-1965?) and baritone Earl Wrightson (1916-1993) - who all performed with each other in a 1949 Broadway production of the operetta - sing under the direction of famous conductor Al Goodman (1890-1972, and who later went on to be an easy-listening/Muzak figurehead). I picked this 78 set up at Hymie's Vintage Records two years ago, mostly because I wanted to hear Earl Wrightson's version of "One Alone", a song from this operetta I adore and performed at my senior voice recital. When I listened to the other records in this album, I was pleasantly surprised at how good each and every one of them was - there are no "dud" tracks in this album!
As an interesting side note about The Desert Song itself, it was debuted in 1926, adapted to a movie version in 1943 and remained fairly popular with audiences until 1987, when the New York City Opera staged a live televised production of it. After that, it faded away from the public interest and to the best of my knowledge, has not been performed anywhere since 2008. This is no doubt due to its politically-incorrect portrayal of all Muslims as bloodthirsty savages, which can easily offend modern audiences. At any rate, overlooking this otherwise fantastic operetta is truly a shame, because it has some of the best music Romberg & Hammerstein II ever composed.
Check out a few clips from the Internet Archive to hear it for yourself!
1. "Overture"
2. "The Riff Song"
3. "The French Military Marching Song"
4. "Romance"
5. "Love's Dear Yearning"
6. "The Desert Song"
7. "One Flower Grows Alone in Your Garden"
8. "One Alone"
One of the great joys of record collecting is that as long as there are collectors willing to digitize their finds and share them with the world (or at least until they get taken down by the DMCA copyright zealots!), the artists themselves live on forever - even if they died before they could be fully appreciated in their own lifetime. Such was the case with the magnificent contralto Gladys Ripley (1908-1955), and the brilliant orchestral conductor George Weldon (1908-1963). It also was the case with the the subject of my last post, the Lebanese singer/actor/conductor Mohammed El-Bakkar.
Gladys Ripley (pictured above) was one of the great British singers of her time who could hold her own against the likes of such other (regrettably short-lived) classical contralto competitors as Kathleen Ferrier (1912-1953) and Ruby Helder (1890-1938). Born in Forest Gate, Essex, she gave her first public performance at the tender age of 17, singing in Mendelssohn's hefty oratorio Elijah. After receiving well-deserved public and professional accolades, she went on to record operetta for the small Sterno Records label and was frequently brought in as a studio singer to perform classical works over British radio. She sang under the baton of such prestigious orchestral conductors as Malcolm Sargent (1895-1967) and Sir Thomas Beecham (1879-1961), which eventually allowed her to tour New Zealand in 1940 and sing for six seasons at the London Royal Opera during WWII. Her "big break", though, came in 1942 when she provided the singing voice of Mrs. Cibber in The Great Mr. Handel. After the film received high critical acclaim, she toured Australia in 1949 and the Netherlands in 1950, each time performing to standing-room-only audiences. By the end of WWII, her voice was in her prime, and she could very well have stood to become Europe's premiere contralto vocalist had she not suddenly passed away from breast cancer just a decade later. She was only 47 years old, and this 1954 rendition of Elgar's Sea Pictures is the last recording she ever made, being released posthumously one year after her death.
George Weldon (pictured above) was a pianist in his youth before deciding to become an orchestral conductor. He attended the London Royal College of Music, studying conducting under the tutelage of such instructors as Malcolm Sargent (who introduced him to Gladys Ripley) and Alymer Buesst (1883-1970). Having gained valuable experience conducting amateur orchestras and choirs after graduating, he served as assistant to Julius Harrison with the Hastings Municipal Orchestra from 1937 until 1939. Following the outbreak of WWII, he conducted the London Philharmonic and took charge of a season of ballet. In 1943, he was appointed Chief Conductor of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra after an open competition. He was extremely well-liked by audiences and critics, offering stylish and exciting performances of the popular repertoire, but not neglecting new music either. Weldon’s contract with the Orchestra was unexpectedly terminated in 1951, when its board of management felt that a new conductor was required. The reasons for this are likely due to false rumors being spread that he was having an affair with a married female vocalist in the Orchestra's choir, but he resigned before he could be dismissed.
Starting in 1952, he conducted several top-tier European orchestras (the London Symphony Orchestra being just one of many) and appeared as a guest conductor in North and South Africa, Turkey and Yugoslavia from 1953 until his death from lung cancer at the age of 55. There are not enough praises I can write about this record! While not as well-known as Janet Baker's rendition (considered the most famous rendition of the Sea Pictures) recorded a decade after Ripley's death, I happen to prefer this version over virtually anybody else's - even my own! Ripley's introspective delivery, perfectly-sized voice, caressing tone and crystal-clear diction make me melt into my seat every time I listen. I also consider her the last of the great British contraltos who, for nearly two centuries, were traditionally considered to be the finest in the English-speaking world. George Weldon also adds just the right blend of driving excitement and sensitive melancholy to the Orchestra, and at no time does he cause the Orchestra to overpower Ripley, or allow Ripley to overpower the Orchestra on her high notes. While his tempo on "Where Corals Lie" is a bit fast for my taste, I don't believe that it detracts from the mood or delivery of the piece, either. He also uses dynamics in a very skilled and enjoyable way on the overture to In the South that I have yet to hear any other conductor attempt. While I personally consider the Sea Pictures to be the more interesting work of the two (showing off my opera bias), I also recognize that this is one of the better renditions of the In the South overture I have ever heard. Any Elgar aficionado should make listening to this album a priority, and beginning conducting and vocal students in particular would do well to take away an idea or two from both Ripley and Weldon - even if they have both been departed from this world for over fifty years! Check out these clips from YouTube to hear it for yourself!
The tracks on this album are as follows:
1. "The Sea Slumber Song"*
2. "In Haven (Capri)"*
3. "Sabbath Morning at Sea"*
4. "Where Corals Lie"*
5. "The Swimmer"*
6. "Overture (Alassio)"
Mohammed El-Bakkar (1913-1959) was a tenor vocalist, oud player,
conductor and actor. During his relatively short life, he gained fame in his
home country of Lebanon before moving to Brooklyn, New York in 1952. There, he
performed in night clubs and at Arabic music festivals before attracting the
attention of Broadway director Joshua Logan (1908-1988), who cast him as the
singing oriental rug salesman in the first production run of the musical Fanny.
He performed the role from 1954 from 1956, and was so admired by Broadway
audiences (and fellow performers) that he was immediately signed afterwards
with the folk/exotica label Audio Fidelity Records. His albums (seven in total,
with Sultan of Bagdad being his second) coincided nicely with the calypso and
folk music craze of the 1950s, and were immediately greeted to both critical
and commercial success. He continued to record, and even appeared in the 1957
Egyptian movie version of Tarzan opposite Arabic film superstar Tahia Carioca (1915-1999) before suddenly dying of a brain hemorrhage during
a private performance. He was just 46 years old.
How exactly this album found its way to an Italian bookstore
is something I am not able to answer, but I am certainly glad I found it!
Although I don't remember it, I must have heard of or read about El-Bakkar when
I was younger, as I had a strange feeling when I first picked this record up
that it was likely by "that Arabic guy who died young." A simple
Google search confirmed my suspicion, and the flamboyant cover alone was worth the €2.50 I
paid for it. When I returned to Minnesota and put the needle in the first
track ("Ya Habibi") to hear what it sounded like, I was completely
floored by El-Bakkar's fantastic singing and memorizing oud playing!
This album is essentially Arabic-language party music, and
features none of the cheesy arrangements/sound effects that were so common in
other folk/exotica albums of the time. El-Bakkar's voice rivals that of the
purest muezzin, and his incredible agility (particularly in "Why Why
Fatima" and "Zenat El Haflat") is something unforgettably
prodigious for the ears to behold! While his oud is not particularly loud or has any solo passages on any of the tracks, it blends nicely with the rest of the ensemble and adds
a mysterious, wandering troubadour-like quality.
Check out this clip from YouTube to hear it for yourself!
As I mentioned in my last post about my trip to Italy to attend the International Music Festival of the Adriatic, while I was there, I bought two LPs at a bookstore in Trieste - this album being one of them. It's a compilation of recordings made by the incredibly skilled lyric soprano Lucrezia Bori (1887-1960) from around 1930 through 1950, featuring the arias of some of her most renowned roles during her long career.
Although not mentioned much nowadays, Bori was the leading Spanish lyric soprano of her time. She was named after her ancestor Lucrezia Borgia (1480-1519), and possessed a fine voice befit for someone of royal heritage! Her career began in 1910 at the Met, and she stayed there for a successful 22-year run before changing direction of her career towards that of fundraising for the Met. Thanks to her talent in soliciting donors, she saved the Met from declaring bankruptcy during the worst years of the Great Depression. In 1935, she was the first performer to be elected to the Met's Board of Directors. In 1936, she retired from the Met and an enormous farewell gala was put on in her honor. She continued to record and give radio performances occasionally throughout the remainder of her life before dying of a brain hemorrhage at the age of 73.
The recordings on this LP, while perhaps not featuring Bori in her prime, are nonetheless worth a listen by anyone who likes opera or wants to become more familiar with it. I particularly like her renditions of Massenet's "Obéissons, quand leur voix appelle", and her performance of Mozart's "Vedrai, carino" is enough to make me wish I could turn back time and see her in the role of Zerlina!
Unfortunately, the recording quality of this LP is not the greatest. It was pressed on relatively cheap vinyl - surprising for a classical album - and the recordings themselves sound rather "muddy". I have cleaned up the recordings and boosted the highs as much as I am able to, but I do wish RCA Victor recording techs had chosen to better record such a legendary performer as Bori in the first place, rather than thinking "good enough" will do. (If Bori had been simply "good enough", then would she have lasted for two decades at the most prestigious opera house in North America?)
Check out a few clips from YouTube to hear it for yourself!
The arias on this album are as follows:
1. "Adieu notre petite table" (Manon)
2. "Ah, fors' é lui sempre libera" (Verdi)
3. "Batti, batti, o bel masetto" (Mozart)
4. "Connais tu le pays?" (Thomas)
5. "Giunse al fin il momento"/"Deh vieni non tardar" (Mozart)
6. "Me voici dans son boudoir" (Thomas)
7. "Obéissons, quand leur voix appelle" (Massenet)
8. "Tales From The Vienna Woods" (Strauss, Jr.)
9. "Un bel di" (Puccini)
10. "Valse di Musette" (Puccini)
11. "Vedrai, carino" (Mozart)
12. "Malagueña" (Nin)
13. "Séguidilla" (De Falla)
Hello, dear readers! I know I have been away for nearly two months, and this post is as much to provide an explanation for my prolonged absence as it is to inform you that - perhaps shockingly so - I am still alive!
For those of you who don't know what has transpired during the last two months, I was selected to be one of seven vocalists to attend the International Music Festival of the Adriatic in Duino, Italy (pictured above), from June 11th through July 5th! It was an incredible an honor considering that I don't even have a music degree, and I even sang for a real live princess! Well, a princess in legal terms only since she married into the royal Thurn und Taxis family, but still a princess nonetheless.
I had a great time gallivanting around Europe and getting to know fellow musicians, most of whom were students at Luther College, but many others as well from colleges around the world (one student was from Canada, another already from Italy, and the rest of the students were from the US). I picked up several words and phrases of Italian while I was there, and I can say with total sincerity that I am now the classical vocalist and performer I have always wanted to be!
This also happens to relate to The Retro Echo itself because I happened to pick up two interesting LPs while I was over there (The Art of Lucrezia Bori and, rather strangely, Mohammed El-Bakkar's Sultan of Bagdad), both of which are unforgettable listens and will be posted shortly.
The reason why it has taken me almost another month to get back to posting here after my return to Minnesota, though, is because I picked up so many records and tapes from Record Store Day last April that I had to set aside an entire month's worth of free time to clean them and get them digitized (you're welcome). In addition to the two LPs mentioned above, I'll also be posting previously-digitally-unavailable recordings by the great folk musician Neal Hellman, EPs by Ricky Nelson, the Sunny Mountain Boys and the White Oak Mountain Boys, as well as tons of other top-notch recent finds!
Thanks for your patience, and I'll upload recordings of my performances on my YouTube channel as soon as they are made available to me from the Festival directors!
About three years ago, I was at an estate sale in St. Paul. Among the vintage fainting couches, department store china sets and an unexplained amount of farming tools, the deceased had apparently loved music because s/he had at least 20 boxes full and stacked about six feet tall of nothing but records! Most of those records were not that interesting (Christmas carols, the Andrews Sisters' Greatest Hits compilations, etc.), but I did curiously manage to find this whopper of an album set - with all four discs intact! (Anyone who owns or handles these fragile shellac time capsules knows that's a feat in and of itself!)
I had heard of Hazel Scott (1921-1981) before I went to the estate sale (hence why I picked it up in the first place), but I had not heard a recording by her until I went home and put the first record on my turntable. I was awestruck at how awesome (in terms of sheer command of the keyboard) her playing was, and how the same woman could pull off equally-entertaining driving boogie renditions of classical standards (i.e. "Toccata") yet drip with such marvelous sensitivity and grace on jazz ballads (i.e. "I Guess I'll Have To Change My Plans".)
Sadly, unlike such other well-known jazz pianists as Erroll Garner and Thelonious Monk, Hazel Scott's name was rather quickly forgotten about after her death. Part of it was due to the fact the she did not easily fit into a strictly "jazz" or "classical" designation, and another part was that at the height of her career, she decided to move to Paris and stayed there for over a decade in order to escape the clutches of McCarthyism which was grasping the record-buying public at that time. Fortunately, she is in top musical ability in this album and I consider it a prime example of her talent, although the percussion and upright bassist are not credited despite their obvious talent as well. I am happy to have brought this album into the 21st century so it can once again be appreciated for the great art that it is!
Check out a few clips from YouTube to hear it for yourself!
From the liner notes on the back cover:
Hazel Scott, one of America’s foremost pianists, was born in Trinidad in 1921. Her training in classical music was received at Julliard School of Music in New York City and her jazz technique, she says, she owes to Art Tatum and Teddy Wilson. In October 1940, she was starred at the opening of Barney Josephson’s Café Society Uptown, just off Park Avenue, and ever since that date her pianistic pyrotechnics have been acclaimed, not only throughout the United States but in Europe as well. She appeared twice in the production, “Priorities of 1942” and has played twice at the famed Carnegie Hall in New York City. Her motion picture career included the following pictures: SOMETHING TO SHOUT ABOUT, I DOOD IT, BROADWAY MELODY, THE HEAT’S ON, and RHAPSODY IN BLUE. Hazel Scott is married to the Rev. A. Clayton Powell, Jr., noted Congressman, preacher, and editor. Miss Scott offers a work of her own composing. It is highly melodic, free in form and, harmonically, shows an influence of the MacDowell-Delius school of tonal color. This is a premier performance. The combination of two approaches to piano keyboard mastery in this Signature album of classical and jazz music, played by Hazel Scott, make it an outstanding contribution to every music lover's record library. -MURIEL REGER
Being a record collector living in the Midwest means finding more records of polka tunes than rockabilly hits, more 101 Strings albums than albums of actual classical pieces, and more barbershop group discs than doo-wop/gospel groups recording during the same time period! In short, Midwesterners of the 1950s preferred listening to anything other than the music that most collectors actively seek out! Which is why this album was such a curiosity when it was released, and has remained so for the past 60 years to those collectors fortunate enough to own a copy.
This album is no regular wishy-washy barbershop fare, and the back cover liner notes (see below) also inform the potential listener of that fact if s/he wasn't able to figure it earlier by just looking at the avant-garde cover art. This album does have some barbershop standards on it ("Moonlight Bay", "That Old Gang Of Mine", etc.) but they don't comprise the entire album. In addition, the singers on this LP are no amateur small-town ensemble that most barbershop albums of the time featured and whose albums now lie rightfully unappreciated in a box by the dryer at Grandma's house - this group, composed of bass John Neher (1911-1972), baritone Ed Lindstrom (circa 1920-?), lead tenor Mac Perrin (circa 1915-?) and first tenor Gordon Goodman (1911-1960), is one of the best groups I've heard to this day, and could even give renowned groups like Instant Classic a real run for their money! This album also gives some solo time to the bass and first tenor, a rarity among vocal group albums even today.
This album was originally a find at Hymie's Vintage Records on my first trip to their new location on Lake Street after having irreconcilable differences with their original landlord. As a bass-baritone vocalist myself who is friends with a countertenor, I thought the cover art would look great framed in my room (which it does!) and picked it up for $5. However, when I brought it home, I accidentally left the record lying on the floor in the corner of the living room, where my father's dog got to it and scratched it to the point where it couldn't be played. I was not able to find another copy of this record until recently, when oddly enough, I found another copy of it at Hymie's Record Store Day in April of 2015. Apparently, someone had sold to them just a day earlier, and the proprietors were kind enough to let me have it for free after I confessed to them my carelessness towards my last copy!
This album also features the beautiful arrangements of James Peterson, a Minnesota-born pianist, composer and conductor who accompanied all the singers on this LP. As far as I know, no other recordings by him survive and no arrangements of his were ever published, so this album is basically the only existing testament to his musical talent.
Check out this clip from YouTube to hear it for yourself!
From the liner notes on the back cover: This is Americana! In presenting this unusual album, Epic Records pays tribute to three tremendously popular classifications of American musical entertainment. (Many of our younger friends may be unfamiliar with such terms as “Basso Profundo” and “Silver-Throated Tenor”, but they can be assured that millions of their mothers and fathers have completely forgotten all their troubles while being transported into another world by these different and highly specialized performers.) Not too many years ago, people tapped their feet to the infectious rhythms of the banjo and laughed at the very corny jokes of minstrel shows. No two such shows used the same format, but they each made a special effort to include a bass singer who literally made the ladies swoon by his utter masculinity and virility of sound (and not by singing saccharine lyrics of love). Oh, he sang of love, to be sure; but in doing so, he also sang of the sea and things rugged. Other than his role of playing the he-man, his trademark was the manner in which he sang the last phrase of his selection. He sang a slow descending scale that was an epitome of dramatic achievement. As he approached that final low note, a hush fell over the audience, the orchestra was tacit, and the only activity in the hall was the scuffling of Mister Tambo and Mister Bones betting their last dollars as to whether our hero would or would not attain his goal. To those of us who vividly remember the basso profundo, this was theatre! Here, John Neher, our basso, sings the best known of all profundo solos, “Asleep In The Deep” and the humorous “When Big Profundo Sang Low ‘C’” in the traditional style. Musicians and those who knew the difference used to chuckle at how the bassos would always talk of singing “Low C” when, actually, very few of them were able to sing that “low”, consistently. John Neher sings the “Low C”. To demonstrate his versatility and great artistry, Mr. Neher also sings the deeply moving spiritual, “Deep River”, and one of the really fine songs of its time, “Forgotten”, written in 1894 by Wulschner and Cowles. Equally popular was another type of singer-the contratenor-he of the light, velvety, effortless high notes. He, too, made the ladies swoon-but in a different way. Instead of the hardy, robust songs of his colleague, he sang the ballad. He sang of tenderness, of sorrow, and of love. With one finely spun phrase, he had the entire audience crying real tears of both sadness and joy. This was the “silver-throated” or, sometimes, the “golden-voiced” tenor. Gordon Goodman, our tenor, sings the great American ballad by Lily Strickland, “Mah Lindy Lou”. Later he sings one of the most beautiful of all Irish ballads, “Has Sorrow Thy Young Days Shaded?”. He also sings a version of the American folk song, “I Wish’t I Was A Red Rosey Bush”. (An additional note: Mr. Goodman uncovered this version himself, while on one of his many tours of the country.) As his final selection he sings the spiritual “Sometimes I Feel Like A Motherless Child”. Whereas young people under 35 may not be familiar with the former two classifications, Barbershop Quartets are still very much in existence. Almost every city has a chapter of the Society For The Preservation And Encouragement Of Barbershop Quartet Singing In America, or as it is better known, “SPEBSQA”. These highly stylized chromatic harmonies and smooth blends entertain millions whether they be at a competition of quartets, a night club, a fraternity house, an Army barracks, or just a social get-together. Messrs. Neher and Goodman join two of the finest group singers in the country, Mac Perrin and Ed Lindstrom, to form the Summit Four. This is truly an all-star quartet. Mac sings lead tenor and usually carries the melody. The prerequisite for a good lead is that he has to be solid-definite. Mac is the “solidest”. The baritone is in the middle of all the chords. His part is the most difficult, musically. Mr. Lindstrom’s intonation and taste are impeccable-and, he has a beautiful voice. This group is an “arranger’s dream”. James Peterson, who arranged these medleys, left no stones unturned. This is great Barbershop! Originally from Shelbyville, Ill., and a graduate of the University of Illinois, John Neher went to Chicago to seek his musical fortune. After a very successful stay there, where he was a regular on such shows as the National Barn Dance, Hymns of All Churches, and the Northerners, he came to New York in 1943. His tremendous range and his unusual ability to perform in any style of music have made him one of the most sought-after singers in New York. Gordon Goodman, who has appeared in almost every city in the United States, as well as being very active in radio, television and recording, commands the respect of all people in show business as few other entertainers do. Not many performers are as capable of interjecting such genuine emotion into their performances as is our Mr. Goodman. He lives the part. Hailing from Salt Lake City, Utah, Gordon is best known for his outstanding work with Fred Waring’s Pennsylvanians. James N. Peterson, a native of Minnesota, has worked in all fields of musical endeavor-as arranger, pianist par excellence, and conductor. In this album he does all three. He wrote the arrangements, accompanied the quartet, and conducted the orchestra for the solos. -NOTES BY JAMES FOGLESONG The songs on this album are as follows: 1. "Let's Harmonize" 2. "Asleep In The Deep" 3. "Mah Lindy Lou" 4. "Medley" 5. "Deep River" 6. "Has Sorrow Thy Young Days Shaded" 7. "When Big Profundo Sang Low 'C'" 8. "I Wish't I Was A Red Rosey Bush" 9. "Keep In The Middle Of The Road" 10. "Forgotten" 11. "Sometimes I Feel Like A Motherless Child" 12. "Medley" Download (46.8 MB, 160 kbps)
