Fifty years ago Light Music was a regular feature on the new release lists from record companies. Many treasured 78s are now falling out of copyright, so we can all enjoy them again on CDs, sounding better than ever before.
"Pink Champagne"
A Collection of Superb Vintage Light Music
1 CURTAIN TIME (Bob Haymes)
ACQUAVIVA AND HIS ORCHESTRA
2 LOVELY DAY (Tom Wyler)
FRANK CHACKSFIELD AND HIS SINGING STRINGS
3 MUSIC FOR "RIVERS OF THE NORTH OF ENGLAND" (Lambert Williamson)
a] SERENE
b] FLOWING
4 CHIMING STRINGS (Clive Richardson)
L’ORCHESTRE DEVEREAUX Conducted by GEORGES DEVEREAUX
5 VANESSA (Bernie Wayne)
MELACHRINO STRINGS Conducted by GEORGE MELACHRINO
6 THE FILM OPENS [ELEVENTH HOUR MELODY] (King Palmer)
LONDON PROMENADE ORCHESTRA Conducted by WALTER COLLINS
7 MELODY IN MOCCASINS (Wilfred Burns)
PHILIP GREEN AND HIS ORCHESTRA
8 SEVENTH HEAVEN (Robert Farnon)
DANISH STATE RADIO ORCHESTRA Conducted by ROBERT FARNON
9 GIN-FIZZ (Bolesworth)
FRANK CHACKSFIELD AND HIS SINGING STRINGS
10 VENDETTA (Jones, Armstrong)
RAY MARTIN AND HIS ORCHESTRA
11 CROSS ROADS (Richard Telford)
REGENT CLASSIC ORCHESTRA
12 LAUGHING MARIONETTE (Walter Collins)
JACK HYLTON AND HIS ORCHESTRA
13 PULLING STRINGS (McCann, Bolesworth)
FRANK CHACKSFIELD AND HIS SINGING STRINGS
14 TINKERBELL (King Palmer)
LONDON PROMENADE ORCHESTRA Conducted by WALTER COLLINS
15 TOMBOY (Trevor Duncan)
NEW CONCERT ORCHESTRA Conducted by CEDRIC DUMONT
16 PLAYTIME (Robert Farnon)
DANISH STATE RADIO ORCHESTRA Conducted by ROBERT FARNON
17 THE FALCONS (Charles Williams)
CHARLES WILLIAMS AND HIS CONCERT ORCHESTRA
18 SPEAKEASY (Lewis Gensler)
SIDNEY TORCH AND HIS ORCHESTRA
19 DANCE OF THE HAILSTONES (Kenneth Essex)
LOUIS VOSS AND HIS ORCHESTRA
20 BUBBLE, BUBBLE, BUBBLE [PINK CHAMPAGNE] (Wright, Forrest)
HENRI RENÉ AND HIS ORCHESTRA
21 MURIELLA (Ray Martin)
RAY MARTIN AND HIS CONCERT ORCHESTRA
22 HAPPY TIME (Tom Wyler)
FRANK CHACKSFIELD AND HIS SINGING STRINGS
23 WALTZ IN SWINGTIME (Jerome Kern)
PERCY FAITH AND HIS ORCHESTRA
24 VERADERO (Bernie Wayne)
MUSIC BY CAMARATA
25 WINDY CORNER (Bruce Campbell)
DANISH STATE RADIO ORCHESTRA Conducted by ROBERT FARNON
26 BAA BAA BLACK SHEEP (Trad. arr. Peter Yorke)
BBC VARIETY ORCHESTRA Conducted by CHARLES SHADWELL
27 DANCING TAMBOURINE (Polla, arr. Morton Gould)
ROBIN HOOD DELL ORCHESTRA Conducted by MORTON GOULD
Living Era CD AJA 5470
Light Music is currently enjoying a welcome, and long-overdue revival. Once again collectors are being given the opportunity to acquire CDs of the kind of music which used to be so familiar around fifty years ago. Generations of radio listeners grew up knowing the names of the famous orchestra leaders that regularly filled their homes with pleasant sounds. Today radio ignores them, but thankfully record companies do not. Following the warm reaction to "Twilight Memories" (CD AJA 5419) in 2002, Living Era is releasing another collection of old favourites, plus hopefully a few pleasant surprises.
Readers of this magazine will recognise many familiar orchestras on the above list, and hopefully they will be glad to be able to acquire pristine new recordings of several old favourites. But there are also some tracks which will not already be in private collections, making this a valuable addition to the catalogue of readily available Light Music.
The American conductor Nicholas Acquaviva did not make a lot of records, but he became known in the USA through his involvement with the Symphony of the Air orchestra, and as organiser and conductor of the New York ‘Pops’ Symphony Orchestra. Bob Haymes (who had a famous brother, the singer Dick Haymes) was also an American actor who appeared in around 20 films in the 1930s and 40s. He dabbled in songwriting (That’s All was his biggest success), but his exciting Curtain Time in this superb version by Acquaviva has become a minor light music classic.
The name ‘Tom Wyler’ hides the true identity of Toni Leutwiler, a Swiss violinist and conductor who was at the forefront of the light music scene in Switzerland during the 1950s. A prolific composer, two of his best-known works, Lovely Day and Happy Time, are heard on this CD; he described them as "joyful and technically demanding compositions which every violinist could not fail to appreciate had been written by a fellow violinist." Here they are performed by Frank Chacksfield and his Singing Strings, in recordings made just a year before he moved to Decca and gained international success with Limelight and Ebb Tide.
In 1950 BBC radio produced a programme called "Rivers of the North of England".Lambert Williamson was commissioned to write some incidental music, and the result was so outstanding that it became familiar for decades afterwards as the theme for a long-running monthly series "The Countryside In …". Despite its enduring popularity with light music lovers, it has never previously been available on a commercial recording. For years collectors have searched in vain for this music, and it has occasionally been featured at London meetings of the Robert Farnon Society. At last an important piece of Light Music is now readily available for enjoying at home.
Clive Richardson was the composer responsible for such gems as Melody on the Move, Holiday Spirit, Shadow Waltz and London Fantasia. He contributed regularly to London publishers’ mood music libraries, and Chiming Strings was heard often in the background of newsreels of the 1950s. Clive was a talented pianist, and was one half of the ‘Four Hands in Harmony’ act with Tony Lowry. Towards the end of his long life he became a member of the Robert Farnon Society, and he made welcome appearances at our London meetings.
When American songwriter Bernie Wayne died in April 1993, it made national news in the USA, because he composed the pop standard Blue Velvet and music for the ‘Miss America’ pageant. But he also wrote a string of catchy instrumentals that were recorded by many light orchestras in the 1950s. Two of his best are featured on this CD: Vanessa by the George Melachrino Strings (with William Hill-Bowen on Harpsichord), and Veradero with the American Salvatore (‘Tutti’) Camarata conducting a fine orchestra of British musicians, probably in London’s Kingsway Hall.
Cedric King Palmer excelled at producing numerous pieces of mood music for various publishers, but he was also highly regarded as an author of musical textbooks. The Film Opens was probably one of his most successful works, due to it being chosen as the theme for "The Eleventh Hour", a popular television series in the USA. Tinkerbell reveals the lighter side of his nature, and both works come from the Paxton library.
Wilfred Burns was also a prolific composer, and he was in demand to score many British films in the 1950s and 60s. Although it originated in the Harmonic Music Library, we have chosen the commercial recording of Melody in Moccasins by Philip Green and his Orchestra for this collection, simply because it is such a sparkling performance.
Robert Farnon hardly needs any introduction to light music admirers (and especially readers of this magazine!). He is widely regarded as one of the finest composers of the last century, and has been responsible for numerous LPs which are now finding appreciative new audiences through their reissue on CD. His famous light music compositions include Jumping Bean, Portrait of a Flirt, Journey Into Melody, Westminster Waltz and The Colditz March. This new CD features two of his works which, although lesser known, possess all the charm of his very best. Seventh Heaven conjures up images of glamorous Hollywood premieres, while Playtime was composed at the piano with his young son Paul on his knees.
It is not uncommon for composers to adopt pseudonyms, and names against tune titles on record labels often only mention surnames. From time to time researchers draw a blank when trying to identify the writers responsible for some attractive pieces, and inevitably there are some in this collection. The two remaining Frank Chacksfield numbers – Gin-Fizz and Pulling Strings – are by Bolesworth (the latter also co-composed by McCann). Chacksfield himself used many different names for his own compositions, but to assume they are his would be pure speculation. One thing is certain: they were both composed by a talented writer. Maybe a reader can tell us more about the mysterious ‘Bolesworth’? If so, we’ll share the information in a future issue.
Ray Martin was one of the leading lights behind EMI’s Columbia label successes in the mid-1950s, and he also had a distinguished career as a composer / arranger / conductor in his own right. His big hit was Marching Strings, but there were many others as well. Before he was signed by EMI, he made a few sides for Decca and Polygon, and two tracks have been selected for this CD. Vendetta is an exciting number from his own pen (he used the pseudonym ‘Chris Armstrong’), but he freely admitted to having been responsible for the tender Muriella. He seems to have only recorded one 78 for Decca, and shortly after Vendetta was issued he moved to EMI’s Columbia label with spectacular results – as can be heard on the two Vocalion collections of his singles (In the Ray Martin Manner CDLK4105 & CDLK4119).
Cross Roads is a bright and breezy number, typical of the kind of mood music that was demanded by films and television in the 1950s. It comes from the London publishers Bosworth, but little seems known about the composer Richard Telford; is this another pseudonym? (If you know the answer, please get in touch!).
It is not always appreciated today that dance bands were responsible for introducing occasional pieces of light music to their audiences. Jack Hylton played the works of Eric Coates and Edward German, but he is in lighter mood with Laughing Marionette, a novelty by Walter Collins, conductor of the London Promenade Orchestra on two tracks on this CD. In 1928 the Jack Hylton Orchestra was undertaking a successful tour of Germany, at the same time that Walter Collins was similarly engaged with his own orchestra. Legend has it that they met in Berlin in November, when this number was recorded. David Ades included this number in one of the "Legends of Light Music" programmes on BBC Radio-2, and the favourable reaction encouraged him to feature it on this new CD. The sound quality for a 1928 78 is quite amazing.
Leonard Trebilco adopted the pseudonym ‘Trevor Duncan’, to avoid a conflict of interest while he was working at the BBC. His first big success had been High Heels, but this was soon followed by a string of other catchy instrumentals, Tomboy being one of the best. This recording was made in Switzerland, under the baton of Cedric Dumont, for many years the leading light music conductor in that country. Leonard Trebilco later achieved public recognition through melodies such as The Girl From Corsica and the theme music for BBC Television’s Dr. Finlay’s Casebook. He is a very prolific composer, and there are many fine examples of his talent waiting to be rediscovered.
Charles Williams has secured his place of honour among British light music composers. His list of superb works include Devil’s Galop (the ‘Dick Barton’ theme), Girls in Grey, The Dream of Olwen, Rhythm on Rails, and literally hundreds of other pieces. He scored many British films – especially during the 1940s – and was responsible for conducting almost the entire Chappell Recorded Music Library during its formative years. Only occasionally did he submit work to other publishers, but one example is his exciting piece The Falcons, which he recorded with his own orchestra for Columbia.
Although composers of light music tended to specialise in the genre, there are many instances where songwriters have also contributed the occasional piece of orchestral music that has caught the public’s attention. The American Lewis E. Gensler was responsible for several popular songs in the 1930s, perhaps the best-known being Love Is Just Around The Corner. Prohibition must have provided some useful inspiration (maybe first-hand knowledge?) because his pulsating Speakeasy seemed a natural for the Sidney Torch treatment.
Rufus Isaacs was a busy composer for various mood music publishers, using a variety of different pseudonyms. He usually chose ‘Kenneth Essex’ when writing bright, cheerful pieces, of which Dance Of The Hailstones is a prime example. Louis Voss made this fine recording for the Bosworth library, not previously available commercially.
We’re back with the songwriters – in this case Robert Wright and George Forrest, probably best-known for their adaptation of Borodin for "Kismet". Bubble, Bubble, Bubble was very popular 50 years ago; it also went under the title Pink Champagne and had a catchy vocal version. But it works extremely well as a purely instrumental number, played here by Henri René and his Orchestra (despite his French sounding name, he hails from New York).
Percy Faith was one of the leading popular orchestral conductors in the USA, although he actually hailed from Canada where a young Robert Farnon played trumpet in his CBC Orchestra. Numerous Faith LPs have been reissued on CD in recent years, but his recording output was so prolific that it is inevitable that some gems remain undiscovered. One such number is Waltz in Swingtime which Jerome Kern composed for the Astaire-Rogers 1937 film musical "Swing Time". It is best-known as a purely instrumental number, and this arrangement by Percy Faith is sparkling – to say the least. It has never before been issued in Britain, and has not made it on to CD anywhere in the world – until now. Alan Bunting assures us that it will be welcomed by keen Faith collectors.
Bruce Campbell is one of several composers who benefited from encouragement, and indeed positive help, from Robert Farnon in their early composing careers for the London publishers Chappells. Windy Corner was one of Bruce’s first pieces, and the Farnon touches are there for all to hear. The two Canadians had worked together since the mid-1940s, with Campbell assisting Robert Farnon on many broadcasts and recording projects. Bruce Campbell went on to compose a vast quantity of mood music, which was much in demand from various publishers.
Few arrangers have managed to resist the temptation to work on traditional melodies, and the 1940s British radio show "I.T.M.A." used to make a weekly feature of such numbers. Peter Yorke was just one of many leading musicians who contributed witty scores, which were played in the programme by the BBC Variety Orchestra conducted by Charles Shadwell. They made few commercial records, so we are lucky that Baa Baa Black Sheep was preserved on shellac for posterity. In the 1930s Peter Yorke had been closely associated with the full, rich orchestral sound of the Louis Levy Orchestra, and he developed this successfully with his own Concert Orchestra for numerous recordings and radio broadcasts in the post-war years. (Some of Peter Yorke’s work for Louis Levy can be heard on the Living Era CD "Music from the Movies – the 1930s" – CD AJA 5445).
This exercise in mining the rich musical seam known as ‘Light Music’ reaches a worthy conclusion with a much sought-after number by a giant of American music – Morton Gould. He arranged a 1927 novelty number called Dancing Tambourine by W.C. Polla for the symphony size Robin Hood Dell Orchestra, thereby transforming a relatively minor work into an enduring light orchestral favourite. Gould was an extremely versatile musician, who had made his name with the public through American radio in the 1930s. He seemed equally at home with classical and popular music, and was particularly supportive of American composers.
Whether you call it Light Music, Concert Music, Easy Listening or Mood Music, the kind of music featured on this CD is gaining in popularity all the time. It provides a refreshing change from the usual output of radio stations, and offers a haven of peace and tranquillity far removed from the outside world. The good news is that there is so much of it waiting to be rediscovered for the 21st Century.
David Ades
This CD has been compiled by David Ades, with audio restoration and remastering by Alan Bunting. It is available from record stores in many countries, and can also be purchased from the RFS Record Service for £8 [US $16].