The Mighty Accordion Band - They Said it Couldn't be Done! (1959 Capitol LP)

We Americans like to (falsely) think of the 1950s as a more bigoted "wholesome" decade, and that is certainly true when it came to the pop music of the time (think of Andy Williams, Pat Boone, etc.) However, what most people outside of the record collecting world often fail to realize is that once the curtain of the bland, "safe" music commonly sold to the average Joe and Janet back then is pulled back, one immediately sees there was an absolutely gigantic level of creative, virtually-ignored music in that decade that could even make the swingin' 1960s seem like the creations of nothing more than a spoiled, suburban teenager at an inner-city poetry slam!

Creative, virtually-ignored music runs the gamut in this album featuring twenty accordions, harp, percussion and bass performing standards like "April In Paris", Latin/exotica numbers like "Jungle Fever", and a not-so-sappy version of "La Vie En Rose." The brainchild of infamous film composer, jazz accordionist and convicted tax evader Dominic Frontiere (born 1931), The Mighty Accordion Band is both the perfect complement and contrast to my first post about accordionist Dick Contino and his wild antics. As can be plainly heard, all of the accordionists are in strict time and harmony with one another - except for the eight-bar solos, when all hell breaks loose! (And there's a lot of hell that can be broken loose on accordion, believe me...)

This album truly features accordion like I had never heard it before, or have heard anything quite like it since. I picked this album up on eBay last year intending to buy it mainly for the bizarre cover photo. When I put the record on my turntable, I was pleasantly surprised to hear an ensemble that had plenty of chops, great interpretation and delivery, and original style. Some of the songs have aged very well and still shine as much as the day they were recorded ("Scherzo"), while others positively stink of 1950s arrangements and have aged worse than Madonna ("Swanee Cha River Cha"). But in either case, that's what makes this album so worthy of inclusion on this blog, and makes it an album worth at least a quick listen. Don't believe me? Check out a few clips from YouTube to hear it for yourself!

From the liner notes on the back cover:

Scoffers, unfazed by their predictions concerning Fulton’s Folly and the Wright Brothers’ contraption, claimed it was preposterous. They said it was impossible to combine a big batch of accordions (usually considered strictly solo instruments) into a meaningful, cohesive whole, then add other instruments and get anything that resembled good music or good stereo. 

Here is the magnificent refutation: a wonderful new sound created by twenty accordions, playing the main role, plus harp, guitar, bass, bells, xylophone, drums, tympani, and other percussion instruments. Oh yes – and a boat whistle as well. Exceptionally good stereo recording provides ample room for them all. 

One thing, though. If you’re looking for a nice old-timey accordion album with “Lady of Spain” and the like, it should be pretty clear already that this isn’t it. For the quality of the big sound produced by massed accordions simply does not resemble one squeeze-box playing away all by its lonesome. Instead, it’s like a magic new kind of organ, and at the same time, uncannily like the strings, reeds, and brass of some beautifully blended, unique orchestra. For the listener, music by The Mighty Accordion Band can be summed up simply: more fun than a barrel of monkeys. 

ABOUT THE COVER: Pictured in his Empire drawing room is Mr. Joseph Kong-Young, composer of “Concerto Untouched by Human Hands” (A Thinking Ape’s Music), and advocate of Stereo at its Most Simian. If you suspect trickery you are correct: Joseph is not really a gorilla; if he were to take off that phony gorilla suit, you’d see he’s actually a very large gibbon. Among his other duties, Mr. Kong-Young is Vice President in charge of Turnover. Accordingly, he thanks you for turning this album over to find out what it was they said Couldn’t Be Done. 


-PRODUCED BY JOHN PALLADINO

The songs on this album are as follows:

1. "The Syncopated Clock"
2. "Holiday For Strings"
3. "April In Paris"
4. "Tenderly"
5. "Caravan"
6. "The Donkey Serenade"
7. "Swanee Cha River Cha"
8. "Scherzo"
9. "Boogie Woogie"
10. "La Vie En Rose"
11. "Jungle Fever"
12. "The Beer Barrel Polka"

Download (30.2 MB, 128 kbps)