Michael Ball winds down your weekend with the perfect mix of music. 
Music Played
12 items-
Dean Martin I Feel A Song Coming On
“The Great Hit Sounds Of Dean Martin” [New Release]
Jasmine, JASCD 691
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David Hyde Pierce & Jason Danieley I Miss The Music
“Curtains: Original Broadway Cast Recording”
Broadway Angel, 0946 3 92212 2 6
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Peggy Lee Some Cats Know
“Peggy Lee Sings Leiber & Stoller”
A & M Hip.O Select, B0004169-02
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Wilbert Harrison Kansas City
45 Rpm Single
Fury, 1023
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Karin Krog & Bengt Hallberg I Ain’t Here
Karin Krog & Bengt Hallberg: “Two Of A Kind”
Meantime Records, MR1
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The Four Freshmen Graduation Day
“The Four Freshmen: The Ep Collection”
See For Miles, SEECD 721
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Danny Kaye And Louis Armstrong When The Saints Go Marching In
Danny Kaye In Movie “The Five Pennies”
Decca, B00002017-02
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Tommy Dorsey Orchestra W. Jo Stafford Who Can I Turn To?
“Jo Stafford – For You”
Memoir, CDMOIr 513
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Frank Sinatra Heart Of Mine
“Frank Sinatra In Hollywood” [6 CD Box Set]
Reprise, 8122 78285-2
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Susannah McCorkle Longings For A Simpler Time
Susannah Mccorkle “Dream” [1987 Album]
The Jazz Alliance, TJA-10037-2
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The Coasters Charlie Brown
“This Record Is Not To Be Broadcast Vol. 2”
Fantastic Voyage, FVDD038
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Peggy Lee Is That All There Is?
“Peggy Lee Sings Leiber & Stoller” The Chronological Bing Crosby Vol 26
A & M Hip.O Select, B0004169-02
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In This Week's Show:
Part of an hour-long programme is nowhere near long enough to paint a proper portrait of an artist as complex and brilliant as Jerry Leiber but we hope we were able to give an impression of his skill with a lyric in very diverse musical situations. Some good sites on the web - including the one we have listed - will take you much further. It is to be hoped that the marvellous album “Peggy Lee Sings Leiber & Stoller”, currently rather hard to obtain, it seems, will be re-issued one day. There are a number of L & S compilations on the market, mostly of their rhythm ‘n’ blues/rock ‘n’ roll era material, though some give an impression of the breadth of their scope: (‘Pearl’s A Singer’; I, Who Have Nothing’; ‘Lorelei’) Others spotlight their remarkable success as record producers for such artists as The Drifters, Elkie Brooks & Procul Harum. And if you’re interested in following Jerry’s story further, you’ll find his autobiography “Hound Dog” illuminating.
Listening to the recording of Kander & Ebb’s “Curtains”, we’re puzzled why it never reached a major theatre in the West End – and why it isn’t better known. A musical with a good score (that includes some funny songs sending up the genre!) and an amusing book - should have secured a certain amount of fame. Surely it wasn’t because one of the songs (“What Kind Of Man Would Want A Job Like That?”) excoriated the critics?! It was, as we said, an unlucky show with the deaths of both the original book-writer, Peter Stone and Fred Ebb. -
Featured in This Week's Show: Leiber & Stoller
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Recommendations:
Jasmine’s latest batch of vintage re-releases has lots to interest us with Margaret Whiting, Teresa Brewer, Nelson Riddle and Mitch Miller awaiting our attention. One we can recommend, “The Great Hit Sounds Of Dean Martin”, is a double CD set containing no less than 58 tracks, many with his regular orchestra-leader Dick Stabile, some with Nelson Riddle and a few with Gus Levene. No surprises but it’s good to have so many of his old favourites (‘That’s Amore’, ‘Mambo Italiano’, ‘Just In Time’) in one package.
Karin Krog and Bengt Hallberg’s “Two Of A Kind” LP from 1982 has made it to CD (with two extra tracks – ‘Cabin In The Sky’ and ‘A Child Is Born’) on Meantime Records and is a delight. In addition to two Leiber & Stoller songs they give us their individual versions of old classics such as ‘My Man’, ‘Love Walked In’, ‘The Touch Of Your Lips’, ‘Tain’t Nobody’s Business’. Their nimble ‘Jeepers Creepers’ is a delight: Come to think of it, everything here is. And that includes the originals by John Surman, who produced the album. Dave Frishberg’s tribute to cornettist Beiderbecke – “Dear Bix” – has fleeting pianistic nods to the subject and is followed by “I’m Coming, Virginia”, much pacier than Bix’s recording. MR1 is the number and it may require a website search.
Vocal group fans will love See For Miles’ “The Four Freshmen – The EP Collection” 25 well-transferred classics. It came out in 2000 and again may require hunting for – but it’ll be worthwhile. The number is SEECD 721.
Broadcasts
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BBC Radio 2Sun 18 Sep 2011 21:00 BBC Radio 2
