Search - Leslie Woodgate :: Kentucky Minstrels

A Very English Choir

John Austin | Kangaroo Ground, Australia | 09/01/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Enormously popular on record and radio in their day, this all-male group can be heard and enjoyed again on this excellent CD. In number, about twice the size of the Comedy Harmonists or the King's Singers, the Kentucky Minstrels performed a repertoire of parlour ballads dating back to Victorian times and songs of their own time which sometimes had a faint aroma of the southern states of the U S A about them such as "Carry Me Back to Green Pastures" written by the group's London-born founder Harry S Pepper. In fact, the whole outfit was English, and the singing, especially from the soloists, was very plaintive and proper. The arrangements were made by Harry S Pepper's wife, Doris Arnold, the conductor was Leslie Woodgate, and the recordings sound as if they were originally made in London's Kingsway Hall. For sampling, "White Wings" is recommended, a song from 1884, not perhaps as well-remembered as most of the other songs included in this 70 minute program."