The Brown Orch: REVISITED
W.Don Wood | Matawan,, New Jersey USA | 11/26/2002
(4 out of 5 stars)
"4 stars here where most Brown issues get five from me! The "RARE" titles are obviously compiled by some Sony or Collectables management people who know NOTHING about Les! The
bio part of the liner notes are the same, tired old things which
all serious Brown collectors now know by heart! The collection starts with Les' original theme song Evening Star...which is NOT
the familiar tune you expect. Thank heaven LEAP FROG came along when it did! The recording remastering from old masters is uneven
and does not reflect particular age. Best of the lot: LOVE IS SO TERRIFFIC with VO by Eileen Wilson, who replaced Doris Day when Les reformed the band in 1947. The Band is tightly swinging and
sounds like it is about to explode...great writing and playing here. Most cuts are a wee-bit on the thin side and could use more "middle", or a bit of roll-off on the highs. The brass is
bright to a point of being harsh at times, mostly on loud passages. There is some GREAT Butch Stone here,as well as Betty Bonney, Jack Haskell and Ray Kellogg (Eileen Wilson's hubby)Highlight for me was COLUMBIA, THE GEM OF THE OCEAN...the last side Les cut for Columbia in 1950, before the move to Coral.It was arranged by Skippy Martin, whom you might recall scored Les' big 1949 hit I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm....
This is a welcome addition to any Les Brown collection. Buy it!
A word MUST be said here about track 6- CARIOCA: The late,
great BUDDY RICH was interim drummer for Les for 3 months
in the summer of 1949. Buddy was present when CARIOCA was cut
in Sept. of '49, and he drives the Brown band like no one
before or since! This cut is WORTH THE PRICE of the album ALONE!
Buddy was asked in an interview with DOWNBEAT magazine some
years later what his most exciting thing on records was, and without skipping a beat, said: "LES BROWN'S CARIOCA" 'Nuff said"
Track Listings (24) - Disc #1