Search - Fred Waring :: Fred Waring, Vol. 1: Collegiate Years

Not for lovers of mush!

Aaron Z. Snyder | CHESTNUT HILL, MA USA | 02/21/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The Fred Waring I grew up hearing in the late 40s and early 50s consisted of soft, sweet, sentimental, and downright mushy choral music -- the sort of stuff that people retreating from a rather scary world (red threats, nuclear war threats, Richard Nixon) might want to listen to to calm frayed nerves. To me, it was boring then and it remains boring to me. ....
Lovers of Jazz-era music (I'm nuts about it) will love this CD, as well as its sister CD, The Broadway Years (Vol. 2). These compilations from a small San Mateo, CA, company, are not for completists -- there's nothing like that available at this time -- but the selections are (a) chronological; (b) representative; (c) in many cases unavailable from other sources; and (d) wonderfully restored. Sources for the music are apparently the released shellac discs. The only noise artifacts present are a continuous shellac hiss (think of it as a very early tape hiss). The highs are all there; the lows are there, too, without the often boomy quality which poorly equalized recordings have. However, it's really the music that counts: these guys (and eventually guys and gals) are fabulous musicians: rhythmically precise, excellent ensemble work, great arrangements. Most of the songs are laced with humor, and sometimes it's even subtle! "Any Ice Today, Lady?" is the goofiest song of the lot and is really hilarious; yet, the band never stoops to the pie-in-the-face level of Spike Jones.(....)
There are two other compilations out there: "Greatest Hits", which fills in many of the gaps in the repertoire, and apparently uses the metal stampers for the 78s as transfer sources (although the results aren't significantly superior to the results on these two CDs); and "Memorial Album", which has generally inferior transfers, but fills in a few more gaps. However, The Collegiate Years and The Broadway Years provide such a good selection of Waring's best Jazz-era recordings that they should suffice for most fans of this type of music -- that is, with the exception of crazy completists like me!"

I scream--let's all scream--for more Fred Waring!

Lee Hartsfeld | Central Ohio, United States | 02/24/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Superb 1925-1928 sides by one of the very best dance orchestras of the 1920s. The sound restoration is excellent and the overall selection inspired, though I personally wish "Her Beaus Are Only Rainbows" would have found its way onto this. So it goes. With such musically magnificent numbers as the hazing-as-comedy classic "Freshie" (1925); the Spikes-Jonesesque "Bolshevik" (1926); and the superb, insane novelty "I Scream--You Scream--We All Scream for Ice Cream" (1927), no complaints are justified. Don't be misled by such titles; Waring's Pennsylvanians offered some of the 1920's most sophisticated arrangements, musicianship, and choral sounds (imagine that). The prodigiously talented singer/pianist Tom Waring (brother of Fred) is liberally featured, and a host of great soloists take their turns at the horn (well, microphone). Rich Conaty's liner notes are as helpful as can be, and the chintzy-looking package is of no consequence; it's the music that matters. A joy."