The Pied Pipers - In A Tribute To Tommy Dorsey

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 34:56
Size: 80.0 MB
Styles: Vocal harmony group
Year: 1997/2011
Art: Front

[2:37] 1. I'm Getting Sentimental Over You
[2:39] 2. Oh! Look At Me Now
[3:45] 3. Once In A While
[3:06] 4. On The Sunny Side Of The Street
[3:11] 5. I'll Never Smile Again
[2:13] 6. Heat Wave
[3:29] 7. There Are Such Things
[2:32] 8. The One I Love (Belongs To Somebody Else)
[2:52] 9. Street Of Dreams
[2:22] 10. Marie
[2:54] 11. Taking A Chance On Love
[3:10] 12. Let's Get Away From It All

Originally consisting of eight members, the Pied Pipers had their greatest success after nearly half of the members left the group. The remaining Pipers (Billy Wilson, Chuck Lowry, Jo Stafford, and her then-husband John Huddleston) joined the Tommy Dorsey Band in 1939, backing Sinatra on many classic recordings. In 1942 the Pied Pipers broke away from Dorsey, and Huddleston joined the army, to be replaced by Hal Hopper, one of the original eight members. The group backed Johnny Mercer on several tracks during the early 40s, including "Candy" and "Blues in the Night." Their first single ("Deacon Jones"/"Pistol Packin' Mama") was released in 1943. Stafford had become quite busy with her solo career and left the group in 1944, to be replaced by June Hutton. Throughout the rest of the decade the Pied Pipers charted frequently, yet their popularity waned in the '50s. A group bearing the Pied Pipers' name still tours today. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

In A Tribute To Tommy Dorsey

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Various - Capitol Sings Coast To Coast

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 51:46
Size: 118.5 MB
Styles: Easy Listening, Vocal
Year: 1994
Art: Front

[2:45] 1. Margaret Whiting - Moonlight In Vermont
[2:24] 2. Susan Barrett - Old Cape Cod
[2:48] 3. Dakota Staton - Broadway
[2:39] 4. Jo Stafford - Autumn In New York
[2:48] 5. Dean Martin - When It's Sleepy Time Down South
[3:03] 6. Judy Garland - Carolina In The Morning
[2:39] 7. The Four Knights - Georgia On My Mind
[3:02] 8. Peggy Lee - Basin Street Blues
[2:05] 9. Dinah Shore - Mississippi Mud
[2:36] 10. Ray Anthony & His Orchestra - Chattanooga Choo Choo
[2:13] 11. Kay Starr - Indiana (Back Home Again In Indiana)
[3:38] 12. Nat King Cole - (Get Your Kicks On) Route 66
[2:00] 13. Sandler & Young - Chicago
[2:17] 14. June Christy - You Came A Long Way From St. Louis
[2:13] 15. Gordon Macrae - When It's Springtime In The Rockies
[2:50] 16. Peggy Lee - I Lost My Sugar In Salt Lake City
[2:54] 17. Johnny Mercer - San Fernando Valley
[2:21] 18. Nancy Wilson - I Left My Heart In San Francisco
[2:15] 19. Ella Fitzgerald - Hawaiian War Chant (Ta-Hu-Wa-Hu-Wai)
[2:07] 20. The Pied Pipers - Avalon

In the 1950's, Capitol Records had some of the best talent in the music industry, including Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin, both of whom were at the apex of their respective forms. At least Dean is present in this collection of songs, all of which are tied to the theme of places within the United States (continental and otherwise). Even though Frank is not represented, some of my favorite voices of the era are here, including Jo Stafford, Margaret Whiting, Nat "King" Cole, Peggy Lee, Tony Bennett and the incomparable Johnny Mercer. Unfortunately, the songs don't always match up to the talent. There are some stand-outs, such as "Moonlight in Vermont," "Old Cape Cod," "Autumn in New York" and "Georgia on My Mind." ~Sarah Bellum

Capitol Sings Coast To Coast

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Various - Capitol Records From The Vaults: Capitol Goes To The Movies

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 73:07
Size: 167.4 MB
Styles: Vocal, Stage & Screen, Standards
Year: 2000
Art: Front

[3:02] 1. Johnny Mercer - On The Atchison, Topeka & The Sante Fe
[3:10] 2. Jo Stafford - It Could Happen To You
[2:54] 3. Johnny Mercer - San Fernando Valle
[2:57] 4. Margaret Whiting - In Love In Vain
[2:38] 5. Paul Weston And His Orchestra - Ole Buttermilk Sky
[2:51] 6. Johnny Mercer - Baby, It's Cold Outside
[2:55] 7. The Dinning Sisters - Buttons And Bows
[3:15] 8. Jo Stafford - Blues In The Night
[2:58] 9. The Pied Pipers - The Trolley Song
[3:03] 10. Johnny Mercer - If I Had A Talking Picture Of You
[2:59] 11. Gordon Macrae - It's Magic
[2:55] 12. Mel Blanc - I Taut I Taw A Puddy Tat
[3:08] 13. Mel Tormé - Again
[2:48] 14. Bob Hope - Home Cookin'
[2:30] 15. Sammy Davis Jr. - Laura
[3:03] 16. Peggy Lee - Where Are You
[3:17] 17. Nat King Cole - Mona Lisa
[2:52] 18. Les Baxter - Ruby
[2:43] 19. Tex Ritter - High Noon (Do Not Forsake Me)
[2:59] 20. Jane Froman - I'll Walk Alone
[2:39] 21. Bob Hope - Wing-Ding Tonight
[2:51] 22. Hoagy Carmichael - When Love Goes Wrong
[2:31] 23. Tennessee Ernie Ford - River Of No Return
[3:14] 24. June Hutton - Never In A Million Years
[2:43] 25. Les Baxter - The High And The Mighty

It's a no-brainer that the Capitol From the Vaults series would dedicate a volume to their affluent association with the cinematic side of Hollywood. This is especially true since label co-founder Buddy de Sylva was previously the head of production for Paramount Pictures. As pop music artist and scholar Billy Vera points out in his liner notes essay, the label's first hit -- "Cow Cow Boogie" by Ella Mae Morse -- was featured in the all-star propaganda film Reveille With Beverly (1943). The tradition served Capitol well throughout their first decade and there are over two dozen examples -- which Vera also notes as being nowhere near complete -- on this single CD compilation. Many of these sides not only scored big at the box office, but held their own on the national pop and country & western charts as well. Included are a bevy of Top Ten hits such as "The High and the Mighty" (Les Baxter), "It Could Happen to You" (Jo Stafford), "Buttons and Bows" (Dinning Sisters), and even the animated antics of "I Taut I Taw a Puddy Tat" (Mel Blanc). This collection also features a couple of chart-toppers -- "On the Atchison, Topeka & the Santa Fe" (Johnny Mercer) as well as "Mona Lisa," the latter of which was also given an Oscar as "Best Song" in 1950 for its use in Captain Carey U.S.A. As an obvious labor of love, the audio in the Capitol From the Vaults series is unsurpassed -- rising to the occasion of such memorable pop music. ~Lindsay Planer

Capitol Records From The Vaults: Capitol Goes To The Movies

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Various - Capitol Records From The Vaults: Love Letters

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 74:15
Size: 170.0 MB
Styles: Easy Listening, Vocal
Year: 2000
Art: Front

[2:51] 1. Nat King Cole - (I Love You) For Sentimental Reasons
[2:58] 2. Margaret Whiting - Come Rain Or Come Shine
[3:06] 3. Andy Russell - Besame Mucho
[3:12] 4. Johnny Mercer - Candy
[2:32] 5. The Dinning Sisters - Love Letters
[3:01] 6. Nat King Cole - ou Call It Madness (But I Call It Love)
[2:55] 7. Johnnie Johnston - Laura
[3:10] 8. Margaret Whiting - Guilty
[3:01] 9. Jo Stafford - The Things We Did Last Summer
[2:52] 10. Andy Russell - Amor
[3:02] 11. The Pied Pipers - Mam'selle
[3:01] 12. Nat King Cole - I Miss You So
[2:57] 13. Martha Tilton - That's My Desire
[3:12] 14. Judy Garland - Old Devil Moon
[3:01] 15. Nat King Cole - What'll I Do
[3:08] 16. June Christy - Soothe Me
[2:57] 17. Andy Russell - Laughing On The Outside (Crying On The Inside)
[2:38] 18. Margaret Whiting - A Tree In The Meadow
[3:04] 19. Mel Tormé - You're Getting To Be A Habit With Me
[3:11] 20. Al Martino - Here In My Heart
[3:00] 21. Dean Martin - You Belong To Me
[3:04] 22. Bob Manning - The Nearness Of You
[2:45] 23. Helen O'Connell - Be Anything (But Be Mine)
[2:33] 24. Bob Eberly - You Are Too Beautiful
[2:52] 25. Nat King Cole - Somewhere Along The Way

This fourth installment of Capitol Records' label retrospective, Capitol From the Vaults, is hopelessly and head-over-heels devoted to love. The label presents a cornucopia of primarily post-WW II pop tunes that have become standards over time. This collection, subtitled "Love Letters," offers up 25 tracks about love: lost, found, forgotten -- and every other applicable emotion. With amour as a backdrop, this compilation contains hits from practically every pop music genre from the mid-'40 and early '50s. Among those strongly represented on this volume are soundtrack tunes from the stage and screen. These include Mel Tormé's "Your Getting to Be a Habit With Me" which was featured in two Warner Bros. films inspired by the Big Apple -- Lullaby of Broadway and 42nd Street. Another cinematic tribute to the five boroughs is also included with "What'll I Do" by Nat "King" Cole's Trio. This Irving Berlin composition was a Top 40 hit featured in the film The Big City. As with every Capitol From the Vaults installment, the focus of the package is on the songs which made the Hit Parade. 23 of the 25 tracks on Love Letters are in fact chart hits. "Candy" featuring Johnny Mercer and Jo Stafford, Margaret Whiting's "A Tree in a Meadow," and the leadoff track, "I Love You (For Sentimental Reasons)" featuring the Nat "King" Cole Trio are all certified Number One hits by Billboard magazine. The sound quality continues to deliver infinitely better quality recordings than what has previously been available -- that is if consumers could find them at all. Producer Billy Vera has once again inked some wonderfully insightful liner notes. This is a cleverly compiled addition to the Capitol From the Vaults series. ~Lindsay Planer

Capitol Records From The Vaults: Love Letters

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Various - Capitol Records From The Vaults: The Birth Of A Label

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 75:04
Size: 171.9 MB
Styles: Assorted
Year: 2000
Art: Front

[3:11] 1. Freddie Slack And His Orchestra - Cow Cow Boogie
[2:56] 2. Johnny Mercer - Strip Polka
[2:59] 3. Martha Tilton - I'll Remember April
[2:45] 4. Bobby Sherwood And His Orchestra - I Don't Know Why
[3:19] 5. Paul Whiteman & His Orchestra - Serenade In Blue
[2:47] 6. Tex Ritter - Jingle Jangle Jingle
[2:41] 7. Connie Haines - At Last
[3:00] 8. Ella Mae Morse - Mr. Five By Five
[3:15] 9. Billie Holiday - Trav'lin' Light
[3:00] 10. Gordon Jenkins & His Orchestra - There Will Never Be Another You
[3:07] 11. Johnny Mercer - I Lost My Sugar In Salt Lake City
[2:54] 12. Bobby Sherwood And His Orchestra - Moonlight Becomes You
[3:00] 13. Gordon Jenkins - White Christmas
[2:38] 14. Margaret Whiting - That Old Black Magic
[2:45] 15. Six Hits And A Miss - You'd Be So Nice To Come Home To
[2:59] 16. Freddie Slack - Riffette
[3:09] 17. Ray Mckinley - Big Boy
[3:15] 18. Ray Mckinley - Hard Hearted Hannah
[3:03] 19. Ella Mae Morse - Get On Board, Little Chillun
[2:49] 20. Billy Butterfield - My Ideal
[3:09] 21. Ceelle Burke & His Orchestra - From Twilight 'til Dawn
[2:53] 22. Paul Whiteman & His Orchestra - The Old Music Master
[3:21] 23. Nat King Cole Trio - All For You
[2:38] 24. The Pied Pipers - Pistol Packin' Mama
[3:19] 25. Johnny Mercer - G.I. Jive

From the Vaults is a multi-disc series commemorating the 60th anniversary of Capitol Records. Volume one, Birth of a Label, compiles 25 of the earliest sides issued by the label's collective brain trust: songwriters Buddy DeSylva, Johnny Mercer, and record shop proprietor Glenn Wallichs. Although many of these tunes quickly became pop standards, several have never been issued on CD before -- and of those that have previously entered the digital domain, most were transferred from sonically challenged vinyl. Tremendous care has been taken on the From the Vaults series to track down the best possible source materials. The extra effort pays off immeasurably. Capitol's incipient recordings were, as one might imagine, an ideal vehicle for Mercer's dynamic compositions. "Strip Polka," "Trav'lin' Light," and "G.I. Jive" are among his earliest pieces for the label and are included on this volume. However, the label quickly became recognized for the variety of sounds released under their moniker. Some of Capitol's earliest hits were taken from motion picture soundtracks. "My Ideal," "You'd Be So Nice to Come Home To," "Moonlight Becomes You," and the seasonal favorite "White Christmas" are among the baker's dozen of movie songs featured on this release. Other genres to be represented by Capitol ranged from jazz ("Trav'lin' Light") to boogie-woogie ("Cow Cow Boogie"), and even early R&B ("Riffette"). A 10-page liner notes booklet contains memorabilia, vintage photos, and other previously unpublished eye candy, as well as an essay by musician and music historian Billy Vera. Initial pressings -- limited to 10,000 -- are cleverly packaged in a digi-pack designed to replicate the 78 rpm records and sleeves of the era. With such attention to sonic as well as visual detail, Vol. One: Birth of a Label is a promising start to the series. ~Lindsay Planer

Capitol Records From The Vaults: The Birth Of A Label

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Various Artists - Capitol Records From The Vaults: Roots Of Rock 'n' Roll

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 67:09
Size: 153.7 MB
Styles: Easy Listening, Pop
Year: 2000
Art: Front

[2:26] 1. Nat King Cole Trio - Straighten Up And Fly Right
[2:58] 2. Martha Tilton - (Ah Yes) There's Good Blues Tonight
[2:51] 3. Freddie Slack - The House Of Blue Lights
[2:55] 4. Alvino Rey - Guitar Boogie
[2:42] 5. Geechie Smith & His Orchestra - Let The Good Times Roll
[2:37] 6. T-Bone Walker - Bobby Sox Blues
[2:53] 7. The Pied Pipers - Open The Door, Richard
[2:49] 8. Jo Stafford - A Sunday Kind Of Love
[2:50] 9. Jesse Price - Blue Book Boogie
[2:51] 10. Tex Williams - Smoke! Smoke! Smoke! (That Cigarette)
[2:59] 11. Nellie Lutcher - He's A Real Gone Guy
[2:27] 12. Ella Mae Morse - Down The Road A Piece
[2:42] 13. Crown Prince Waterford - Coal Black Baby
[2:13] 14. Cliffie Stone - He's A Real Gone Oakie
[3:01] 15. Marvin Johnson - Hey Lawdy Mama
[3:26] 16. Benny Goodman - The Huckle-Buck
[2:55] 17. Big Sis Andrews And Her Huckle-Busters - The Huckle-Buck
[2:12] 18. The Selah Singers - I'll Be Satisfied
[2:52] 19. The Selah Singers - He's My Rock, Sword And Shield
[2:56] 20. Lee Young - Seeing Double
[1:53] 21. Dean Martin - I Don't Care If The Sun Don't Shine
[2:34] 22. Tennessee Ernie Ford - Shot-Gun Boogie
[2:34] 23. Jimmie Dolan - Hot Rod Race
[2:04] 24. Les Paul - How High The Moon
[2:18] 25. Merrill Moore - The House Of Blue Lights

Much of the earliest mass-market rock 'n' roll sounded like a mix of country and rhythm and blues. Consequently, most rock journalists/historians assume that rock must have evolved from both of these forms. In fact, Billy Vera, in the liner notes to this CD, asserts that rock 'n' roll "had many sources," and we are offered 25 selections, consisting primarily of hillbilly-boogie sides and the tamest possible rhythm and blues, that allegedly prove as much. They don't even come close. With the exception of one or two tracks, nothing here sounds much like rock 'n' roll or the roots of same. None of the country tracks (all pre-Elvis) sound anything like rockabilly, and none of the r&b sides rock in the manner of Johnny Otis, Paul Williams, Hal Singer, or any number of other black artists of the period covered. Have the compilers deliberately misrepresented the black popular music of this period in an attempt to play it down, historically? Probably. Why, is anybody's guess. At any rate, the listener's willingness to accept this CD as a credible rock-roots document will depend on how easily he or she can accept people like Dean Martin, Tex Williams ("Smoke! Smoke! Smoke!"), ex-Tommy-Dorsey vocalist Jo Stafford, and Mary Ford as rock pioneers. The music itself is great, and the sound restoration is superb. But the folks behind this curiosity seem to have overestimated their audience's credulity. ~ Lee Hartsfeld

Capitol Records From The Vaults: Roots Of Rock 'n' Roll

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The Pied Pipers - Capitol Collectors Series

Bitrate: 320K/s
Time: 56:30
Size: 129.4 MB
Styles: Vocal harmonies, Early pop
Year: 1992
Art: Front

[2:41] 1. Pistol Packin' Mama
[2:28] 2. Deacon Jones
[2:45] 3. Mairzy Doats
[2:58] 4. The Trolley Song
[3:05] 5. Dream
[3:00] 6. There's A Fella Waitin' In Poughkeepsie
[2:58] 7. Lily Belle
[3:13] 8. We'll Be Together Again
[2:46] 9. Personality
[2:31] 10. Aren't You Glad You're You
[2:38] 11. In The Middle Of May
[2:44] 12. In The Moon Mist
[2:54] 13. Open The Door, Richard
[3:03] 14. Mam'selle
[3:12] 15. The Freedom Train
[2:37] 16. I'm Always Chasing Rainbows
[2:49] 17. Penny
[2:53] 18. Katrina
[2:20] 19. Ok'l Baby Dok'l
[2:46] 20. My Happiness

THE PIED PIPERS CAPITOAL COLLECTION SERIES includes a 15-page booklet with liner notes by Joseph F. Laredo, track annotations by Bob Furmanek and photos. Digitally remastered by Bob Norberg (April 1991, Capitol Recording Studios). A terrific 20-track overview of this early vocal group featuring all of their best-known songs, including "The Trolley Song," "Dream, " "Open the Door, Richard, " "Mam'selle, " and "My Happiness." The remastering is top-notch, and the liner notes contain many anecdotes and a great deal of information. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

The Pied Pipers are accompanied by Paul Weston and His Orchestra.

Capitol Collectors Series

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