Search - The De Castro Sisters :: Teach Me Tonight

Teach Me Tonight
The De Castro Sisters
Teach Me Tonight
Genres: Pop, Rock, Broadway & Vocalists, Latin Music
 
  •  Track Listings (31) - Disc #1


     
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CD Details

All Artists: The De Castro Sisters
Title: Teach Me Tonight
Members Wishing: 0
Total Copies: 0
Label: Bear Family
Original Release Date: 1/1/1999
Re-Release Date: 8/17/2000
Album Type: Import
Genres: Pop, Rock, Broadway & Vocalists, Latin Music
Styles: Oldies, Vocal Pop, Traditional Vocal Pop, Latin Pop
Number of Discs: 1
SwapaCD Credits: 1
UPCs: 4000127163813, 790051638122
 

CD Reviews

From Fidel Castro Favourite In Cuba To U.S. Stardom
09/08/2007
(3 out of 5 stars)

"Three sisters - Peggy, Babette and Cherie DeCastro - went from their father's sugar plantation in Cuba, to The Montmartre Club in Havana [where they met a young Fidel Castro], to brief recording stardom in the U.S. The whole story is told in the excellent 24 pages of liner notes [replete with stunning photographs, including two with Carmen Miranda] written by Todd Everett in 1999. There is also a complete Abbott/RCA Victor Discography.



So why, you ask, only three stars? Because, in a collection of 31 songs by a group whose CDs are as rare as palms in Antarctica, they include just four of their seven charted singles. That is anathema to any completist collector. Which is what I am.



As indicated by the title, their first, and biggest, hit is here as is its flipside. In late 1954 Teach Me Tonight b/w It's Love [tracks 7 and 1] began its climb to # 2 and a 20-week stay on the charts. Nothing else would even come close.



Their next hit came in May 1955 when the novelty tune, Boom Boom Boomerang [with bass voice by Thurl Ravenscroft] peaked at # 17 Billboard Pop Top 100 b/w Let Your Love Walk In [tracks 2 and 11]. That December their version of Too Late Now, from the film Royal Wedding, only reached # 66 b/w Give Me Time [tracks 9 and 8], while a Christmas release, Snowbound For Christmas, made it to # 84 b/w Christmas Is A-Comin'. Neither side is included in this set. On all of the above Abbott recordings the Skip Martin Orchestra provided backing.



In 1956 they moved over to RCA Victor, but only one hit emerged - I'm Yours - which, with Joe Reisman's Orchestra, settled at # 74 in October b/w Don't Call Me Sweetie [tracks 18 and 21]. After being shut out in 1957, they barely made the Top 100 in 1958 when Who Are They To Say? struggled to reach # 99 in August despite the backing of hit-maker Don Costa & His Orchestra. Neither that, nor the flipside, When You Look At Me, are included in this compilation.



Nor is their last charter, Teach Me Tonight Cha Cha, an attempt to meld their biggest hit with the cha cha craze, which reached # 76 Billboard Pop Hot 100 in January 1959, b/w The Things I Tell My Pillow - both backed again by Costa.



If you only wish to sample the offerings of one of the secondary girl groups of the mid-1950s [which also includes The Shepherd Sisters and The DeJohn Sisters] then this is recommended. If, on the other hand, you're looking for some of the premier girl groups of that era, then go to The Chordettes, The Fontane Sisters, or The McGuire Sisters."
Wonderful, under-rated female vocal group harmonies
Thomas Bumbera | Maplewood, NJ USA | 10/17/2008
(5 out of 5 stars)

"Please ignore the petulant reviewer so upset that some ABC-Paramount sides by the DeCastros are not included here. Obviously, he is not aware that Bear Family has to license these things and they are not always made available to the producers. Those singles are easily available from several online dealers on Musicstack if you really want to obtain them (and they are worth obtaining). What we have here is the nearly-complete output of the DeCastros on Abbott (missing only the wonderful "Snowbound for Christmas," seek it out!) and RCA. Not all of the songs (especially on RCA) are gems, but the unique vocal blend of the sisters, and the great arrangements by Skip Martin on the Abbott sides, are wonderful and worth hearing. Kudos to Bear Family for making available the American pop, jazz, early rock and country music that our own domestic labels who own the masters have neglected completely."
Ok
J. Reppart | United States | 12/26/2008
(4 out of 5 stars)

"This was a good cd to listen to the old time music. But they could have done a better job with making it sound better.



Judy Reppart"