1959: Today at the 30th Street Studio

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by DMortensen, Jan 15, 2019.

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  1. W.B.

    W.B. The Collector's Collector

    Location:
    New York, NY, USA
    That was from early 1962, after his run with Columbia was over; it was issued on the Cinema label (for which Columbia pressed):
    [​IMG]
     
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  2. DMortensen

    DMortensen Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Seattle, WA USA
    April 30 (Thursday) 4 of 4:

    Just sneaking in on Thursday, from 11:30pm-4am Hugh Downs with Mundell Lowe and His Orchestra recorded

    Two Brothers
    The Ride Back From Boot Hill
    The Delaware Light
    The E-R-I-E Was A'Risin'
    Sweet L'il Jesus Boy


    which seems like quite a combination of titles.

    There is no producer/A&R man listed in the Schedule, but we know from Fred Plaut's pictures that it was Jim Foglesong. And since Fred was taking pictures he was undoubtedly engineer.

    Musicians employed

    Leader and Guitar:
    Mundell Lowe
    Drums:
    Ed Shaughnessy*
    Harmonica:
    Charles Leighton*
    Guitar:
    Millard Thomas
    Accordion:
    Stan Free (sic, probably Freeman?)
    Bass:
    George Duvivier

    *played for 3 hours only. All others played for full 4.5 hours.

    compiler was ag

    I haven't yet posted pictures of the album or labels, so here they are:

    [​IMG] [​IMG]


    [​IMG] [​IMG]

    The liner notes are by Fred Danzig, who was the longtime Editor (1962-1995) of Advertising Age magazine, but was a TV and entertainment reporter for UPI for many years before that and probably knew Hugh from that role. According to that obit, he was the first entertainment reporter to interview Elvis Presley during the latter's first trip to New York.

    I don't know if we've seen Millard Thomas, guitarist, at any other sessions besides these with Hugh Downs.

    From what I can find he was an African-American guitarist and worked with Harry Belafonte on a number of projects over a number of years. They combined their names into Harry Thomas for songwriting credits.

    That's it.
     
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  3. DMortensen

    DMortensen Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Seattle, WA USA
    May 1 (Friday) 1 & 2 of 3:

    From 10am-1pm, and again from 2:30-5:30pm, Glenn Gould recorded

    Bach: Partita No. 1 in B Flat Major
    Brahms: Intermezzo in A Major, Co. 118

    (The printing for both lines is a bit messed up in parts, so that is my best interpretation of what's written. Feel free to correct.)

    There is no Producer/A&R listed, but since we see Howard Scott so active during this period and with Glenn Gould in the movie "On The Record", it seems likely that it was he. Fred Plaut would likely have been the engineer, although we also see Harold Chapman in that movie.

    Glenn Gould was the only musician.

    compiler was ek.

    The song that was "recorded" in the movie was the Bach Italian Concerto, so it wasn't filmed today.
     
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  4. lukpac

    lukpac Senior Member

    Location:
    Milwaukee, WI
    Apparently Chapman was just brought in to be in the film, so it’s probably unlikely he engineered Gould at other times. Although it’s possible.
     
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  5. DMortensen

    DMortensen Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Seattle, WA USA
    May 1 (Friday) 3 of 3:

    From 7-11pm, Johnny Mathis with Ralph Burns and His Orchestra recorded (per the Schedule) the singles

    All Is Well
    While You're Young
    Cherie
    Hey Love


    A&R/Producer was Mitch Miller. Frank Laico was likely the engineer.

    Musicians employed:

    Leader:
    Ralph Burns*
    Contractor:
    Emile Charlap*
    Trumpet:
    Bernie Glow*
    Jimmy Maxwell*
    Carl Severnson (sic)*
    Irvin Markowitz*
    Trombones:
    Tommy Mitchell*
    Billy Byers*
    Bob Alexander*
    Sax:
    Ray Beckenstain*
    Edwin Caine*
    Stan Webb*
    Harold Salad*
    Al Epstein*
    Piano:
    Buddy Weed*
    Bass:
    George Duvivier*
    Guitar:
    Alan Hanlon*
    Drums:
    Don Lamond*
    Teddy Sommer*
    Accordion:
    Dominick Cortese
    Violins:
    Max Cahn
    Irving Raymond
    Gene Orloff
    Tosha Samaroff
    Leo Kruzcek
    David Montagu
    Paul Winter
    Arnold Eidus
    Viola:
    Burt Fisch
    Isador Zir
    Howard Kay
    Cello:
    Charles McCracken
    Lucien Schmidt
    Seymour Barab

    * played the full 4 hours.
    All others played only 3 hours.

    compiler was ag.

    Not really having anything more to say about Johnny Mathis, I looked up Emile Charlap, since he has an unusual name and we've seen him several times.

    Here is a loving obituary of him in the AFM 802 newsletter, combined with an interview with him which gives a look into what and how a contractor does what he does.

    Do we know where Charlie's Tavern was? Probably near the 802 headquarters, which is in Theater Row, IIRC. I think I've walked past it as it's near where I stay. Yes, it's at 322 W. 48th St. bet. 8th and 9th Avenues, so Charlie's was probably in that area.
     
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  6. DMortensen

    DMortensen Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Seattle, WA USA
    May 2 and 3 (Saturday and Sunday):

    No sessions in 30th St.
     
  7. W.B.

    W.B. The Collector's Collector

    Location:
    New York, NY, USA
    Ralph Burns was one of those arranger/conductors who favored a more symmetrical string ratio (in this case, 9 violins, 3 violas and 3 celli - one of several combos that Nelson Riddle recommended for recordings in his Arranged By Nelson Riddle book - and way in contrast to the 11/4/2 ratio employed in the Mathis sessions directed by Abe/Glenn Osser).

    On 45, "All Is Well" was the flip of "Starbright." "While You're Young" was the flip of a single released way off into the future - "How To Handle A Woman" from something called Camelot. "Hey Love" was the B side of "Maria" (from West Side Story), and "Cherie" would be paired with his rendition of "The Best Of Everything" from the film of the same name (and no doubt from a future session in this year).
     
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  8. DMortensen

    DMortensen Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Seattle, WA USA
    May 4 (Monday) 1 of 3:

    From 10am-1pm, Glenn Gould, Piano, with Leonard Bernstein conducting the Columbia Symphony Orchestra (recorded in the Schedule as "Glenn Gould and orchestra") recorded

    Beethoven: Concerto No. 3 in C Minor for Piano and Orchestra, Op. 37

    Musicians employed (as listed in the Report)

    Glenn Gould, Piano
    Leonard Bernstein, Conductor (and Leader, as noted at the top of the Report)
    Orch. Mgr.: J. De Angelis

    The Regular Personnel of the Columbia Symphony

    compiler was ek

    As we know, the Columbia Symphony was made up of whichever session players were booked for a particular session, and J. De Angelis was a Contractor. This was the first of two sessions on consecutive days working on this piece.

    One would think that Howard Scott was the A&R/producer and Fred Plaut was engineer, but there is no documentation for that.

    Here is what the album front cover looked like (couldn't find the back)

    [​IMG]

    That great picture of the album cover came from the Glenn Gould Music website. There is a LOT there about Glenn Gould, and they seem to sponsor ongoing symposia about him and his work. They had one in Toronto two days ago as this is written, that sounded pretty interesting. A description is on their home page.

    Here is what the recording sounds like, as filtered through Youtube

     
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  9. DMortensen

    DMortensen Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Seattle, WA USA
    May 4 (Monday) 2 of 3:

    Both of the next two sessions are with Lester Landin and His Orchestra.

    The first, from 2:30-5:30pm, recorded the songs

    Medley: Matinatta; Santa Lucia
    Habenera
    Oh Marie
    La Paloma
    Medley: A Media Luz; Yirdise


    A&R/Producer for both was Joe Sherman

    Musicians employed

    Leader:
    Lester Lanin
    Contractor and Bass:
    Edward Goldberg
    Violins:
    Irving Gitlin
    Ben Blumenreich
    George Koch
    Nicholas Forgione
    Julius Brand
    Louis Stone
    Manny Fiddler
    Sidney Harris
    Saxophones:
    Carl Waxman
    Robert L. Fulton
    Marty Dell
    Robert P. Marzell
    Jerome I. Pactor
    Trumpets:
    George Jaffee
    Ralph Santangelo
    Willis E. Kelly
    Trombones:
    Jerry C. Borshard
    Dominic Siniscalchi
    Haymond H. Diehl (sic)
    Piano:
    Harry A. Harris
    John F. Potoker
    Accordion:
    Harold Wax
    Guitar:
    Anthony Gottuso
    Drums:
    Frank Ippolito
    Tuba:
    William Halfacre

    compiler was ek (all that's visible in my pic is the "e").

    Since these are so many unfamiliar names, it seems like maybe this was Lanin's touring band? If we had all the names in a database we could know if we'd seen someone before, and I'm not there yet. Although Edward Goldberg did play bass...

    Lester Lanin was a Society Bandleader for almost seven decades, and his orchestra is still going today.

    Discogs didn't have any albums or singles that contained these decidedly Spanish-sounding song names; we'll see about the next session and maybe why they did two Reports instead of just one.
     
  10. W.B.

    W.B. The Collector's Collector

    Location:
    New York, NY, USA
    I.I.N.M., John Potoker was the pianist on Ray McKinley and Some of the Boys' 1948 hit "You Came A Long Way (From St. Louis)," released on RCA Victor 20-2913.
     
  11. DMortensen

    DMortensen Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Seattle, WA USA
    May 4 (Monday) 3 of 3:

    Lester Lanin and His Orchestra did the final session of today, from 7-10:30pm, where they recorded the songs

    Medley: Pigalle; Darling, Je Vous Aime Beaucoup; Alouett; Domino; La Golondrina; I Love Paris

    Medley: At Last, At Last; C'est Ci Bon; Vieni Sul Mar; Sorrento; Third Man Theme

    Medley: Volare; La Mer; Melodie D'Amour; Mademoiselle De Paris; Ciao, Ciao Bambino; Petite Waltz


    Joe Sherman was A&R/Producer.

    Musicians employed were mostly the same, except for changes as noted:

    Leader:
    Lester Lanin
    Contractor and Bass:
    Edward Goldberg
    Violins:
    Irving Gitlin
    Ben Blumenreich
    George Koch
    Nicholas Forgione
    Julius Brand
    Louis Stone
    Manny Fiddler
    Sidney Harris
    Saxophones:
    Carl Waxman
    Robert L. Fulton
    Marty Dell
    [Robert P. Marzell] deleted
    Jerome I. Pactor
    Trumpets:
    George Jaffee
    Ralph Santangelo
    Willis E. Kelly
    Albert E. Aston (added)
    Trombones:
    Jerry C. Borshard
    Dominic Siniscalchi
    Raymond H. Diehl (fixed first name)
    Piano:
    Harry A. Harris
    John F. Potoker
    Accordion:
    Harold Wax
    Guitar:
    Anthony Gottuso
    Alexander E. Caiola (added)
    John Pizzarelli (added)
    Drums:
    Frank Ippolito
    Tuba:
    William Halfacre

    compiler was indeed ek.

    So one deleted and three added.

    Lots of French and Italian songs on this session. Must have been doing an international album.
     
  12. DMortensen

    DMortensen Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Seattle, WA USA
    May 5 (Tuesday) 1 of 4:

    Glenn Gould, Piano, with Leonard Bernstein conducting the Columbia Symphony Orchestra (recorded in the Schedule today as "Glenn Gould") continued recording from 10am-1pm.
     
  13. DMortensen

    DMortensen Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Seattle, WA USA
    May 5 (Tuesday) 2 of 4:

    From 2:30-5:30pm, Lester Lanin and His Orchestra continued recording French and Italian titled songs, with Joe Sherman A&R/Producing.

    I'm tired of writing out all those titles; since there seems to be little interest in him, I won't.

    Musicians employed were again mostly the same, except for changes as noted:

    Leader:
    Lester Lanin
    Contractor and Bass:
    Edward Goldberg
    Violins:
    Irving Gitlin
    Ben Blumenreich
    George Koch
    Nicholas Forgione
    Julius Brand
    Louis Stone
    Manny Fiddler
    Sidney Harris
    Saxophones:
    Carl Waxman
    Robert L. Fulton
    Marty Dell
    Robert P. Marzell added again
    Jerome I. Pactor
    Trumpets:
    George Jaffee
    Ralph Santangelo
    Willis E. Kelly
    Albert E. Aston
    Trombones:
    Jerry C. Borshard
    Dominic Siniscalchi
    Raymond H. Diehl
    Piano:
    Harry A. Harris
    John F. Potoker
    Accordion:
    Harold Wax
    Guitar:
    William Henry Bauer (new)
    Charles Wayne (new)
    Danny Perri (new)
    Drums:
    Frank Ippolito
    Tuba:
    William Halfacre

    compiler was ek

    All new guitar section, full strength orchestra.
     
  14. DMortensen

    DMortensen Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Seattle, WA USA
    May 5 (Tuesday) 3 of 4:

    From 7-10pm, there was another Verve Records Transcription session.

    Maybe you guys can work your magic to figure out what that was?
     
  15. DMortensen

    DMortensen Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Seattle, WA USA

    May 5 (Tuesday) 4 of 4:


    The last session of the day, from 11:30pm-3am, was "Charlie" Mingus. Because it's so late, the time is equivalent to 2 - 3 hour sessions. Wonder if all the others like that were paid as such?

    Songs recorded were

    Revival
    Bird Calls
    Fable, Faubus, and Marcus Gaubus
    ***** Cat Blues
    Pedal Point Blues
    - N. G. ("No Good" recording?)
    Jelly Rolls

    Producer/A&R was Teo Macero. Fred Plaut was probably present for at least some of the time as engineer, since there are pictures he took of Mingus in the studio and control room.

    Musicians employed

    Leader and Bass:
    Charlie Mingus
    Saxophones:
    John Handy III
    Booker T. Ervin, Jr.
    Shafi Hadi
    Piano:
    Horace L. Parlan, Jr.
    Trombones:
    James M. Knepper
    Drums:
    Charles D nnie Richmond (sic, it's Dannie)

    compiler was ek

    Charles Mingus was a complex individual who suffered in many ways and yet created some really great music. I'll let others more qualified to discuss his complexities do so. A fuller bio is at the official Charles Mingus website, seemingly run by or in association with his widow, Sue Mingus.

    These songs were all (except the N.G. one) on the original release of Mingus Ah Um, and the N.G. one was included in the CD version.

    [​IMG] [​IMG]

    [​IMG] [​IMG]

    Clearly some of the song titles changed from the recording date to the album release.

    There are 118 versions of that record on Discogs.

    Another incredible day in 30th St.

    From Gould and Bernstein in the morning to Mingus in the evening.

    EDIT: Wow, the software on this site took out the word "P u s s y" from that song title!
     
  16. W.B.

    W.B. The Collector's Collector

    Location:
    New York, NY, USA
    And here are the Bridgeport labels for the mono:
    [​IMG] [​IMG]
    And then the Hollywood pressing (with Bert-Co label fonts):
    [​IMG] [​IMG]
     
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  17. W.B.

    W.B. The Collector's Collector

    Location:
    New York, NY, USA
    He was reputed to have a short fuse that, in concerts, led to blowups not only with band members but even audiences. Something tells me he would have really hated today's situation, the bane of many performers of our time, where audience members have smartphones, cellphones with apps, etc., etc., snapping pictures and so on, and otherwise displaying lack of proper manners, decorum and concert etiquette.
     
  18. lukpac

    lukpac Senior Member

    Location:
    Milwaukee, WI
    Is there another session tomorrow? If so, it's probably this:

    Pete Brown Quintet
    Pete Brown, alto sax; Reginald Ashby, piano; Wally Richardson, guitar; Bill Pemberton, bass; Clarence Stroman, drums.
    NYC, May 5 & 6, 1959
    22817-4 Cherokee Verve MGV 8365
    22818-2 Sometimes I'm Happy -
    22819-1 Blues For Leslie (Leslie's Blues) -
    22820-3 It All Depends On You -
    22821-4 Body And Soul -
    22822-3 Avalon -
    22823-1 But Not For Me -
    22824-1 Trouble In Mind -
    * Verve MGV 8365, MGVS 6133 Pete Brown - From The Heart

    Verve Records Discography: 1959

    I can't find stereo clips from the album, so it's hard to say if it sounds like it was recorded at 30th Street. Here's the record:

    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]

    Roots Vinyl Guide

    No mention of studio/engineer/etc.
     
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  19. W.B.

    W.B. The Collector's Collector

    Location:
    New York, NY, USA
    The Lanin sessions were for an album titled Dancing On The Continent, Vol. 8 (LN 3578 / BN 533). The song titles were part of individual medleys. The mono cover and label:
    [​IMG] [​IMG]

    [​IMG] [​IMG]
    There, that saves typing all the titles from this session, no? :winkgrin:

    Also, would anyone know if Lester Lanin would be of any relation to Sam Lanin? (EDIT: Apparently they were brothers - with another, Howard, yet another bandleader.)
     
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  20. DMortensen

    DMortensen Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Seattle, WA USA
    I bet it is, since there is another one tomorrow!

    Nice job!!!

    Bookmarking that site...
     
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  21. jamo spingal

    jamo spingal Forum Resident

    Location:
    Europe
    Another incredible day indeed. Two American absolute musical titans, and one Canadian. I had the great pleasure of meeting one, and would have been so privileged to have met either of the other two.
     
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  22. DMortensen

    DMortensen Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Seattle, WA USA
    I think that sharing your experience of meeting a 30th St. habitué who we revere would be entirely on-topic.
     
  23. DMortensen

    DMortensen Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Seattle, WA USA
    Damn, those labels are packed full! They must have added an additional penny of ink costs to the price of each album.
     
  24. DMortensen

    DMortensen Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Seattle, WA USA
    May 6 (Wednesday) 1 of 3:

    Lester Lanin and His Orchestra still had time to fill on their LP project, so they continued recording from 10am-1pm, with Joe Sherman again as A&R/Producer.

    Look on the labels that W.B. provided and the songs are in there.

    Musicians employed were the same ones as yesterday, with the exception of two returning members of the guitar section replacing two guys who were there yesterday. The rest must be the regular Lanin orchestra. It worked a lot of parties and still do (with different members), so that would make sense.

    Leader:
    Lester Lanin
    Contractor and Bass:
    Edward Goldberg
    Violins:
    Irving Gitlin
    Ben Blumenreich
    George Koch
    Nicholas Forgione
    Julius Brand
    Louis Stone
    Manny Fiddler
    Sidney Harris
    Saxophones:
    Carl Waxman
    Robert L. Fulton
    Marty Dell
    Robert P. Marzell
    Jerome I. Pactor
    Trumpets:
    George Jaffee
    Ralph Santangelo
    Willis E. Kelly
    Albert E. Aston
    Trombones:
    Jerry C. Borshard
    Dominic Siniscalchi
    Raymond H. Diehl
    Piano:
    Harry A. Harris
    John F. Potoker
    Accordion:
    Harold Wax
    Guitar:
    John Pizzarelli (new again)
    Anthony Gottuso (new again)
    Danny Perri
    Drums:
    Frank Ippolito
    Tuba:
    William Halfacre

    compiler this time was ag.
     
  25. DMortensen

    DMortensen Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Seattle, WA USA
    May 6 (Wednesday) 2 of 3:

    From 2:30-5:30pm, the first of two Transcription sessions took place. The only record of them that I have is in the Schedule, and this one says "CBS Marion Anderson", with no producer/A&R credit.

    To say that she was an extraordinary person would be an understatement.

    She was on RCA at this time, so one wouldn't think this was a recording session for release. Since "CBS" was in the title it could have been for a TV show, but I can't find anything quickly that is indicative.

    Fred Plaut has a few pictures in his archive of her, so they could have been from today. Or not.
     
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