Sixties Instrumental Au-Go-Go: Les & Larry Elgart, and Orchestra on Vocalion

Sixties Instrumental Au-Go-Go: Les & Larry Elgart, and Orchestra

Here are some unexpected gems from 2013’s releases by Dutton Vocalion. If you’ve wanted instrumental albums that covered the hip, danceable grooves from the mid to late 1960s, you are recommended to acquire this pair! The brothers Elgart produced two sequenced LPs in the first set from 1965 and 1966 in Phase 4 like Stereo even though they weren’t signed by DECCA.  As their cover art implies, this takes the beat to the dance clubs and more – right into the living rooms with phono quality analogue vibes. Think of saxes, trumpets, percussion, drums and the occasional Latin rhythm and you’ve sized up the flavours. The Elgarts can kick up a beat anytime and transform the pop hits of their day into shakers and movers. Their playing is mostly lush and never grating on the ears – and there is always a touch of opulence in their arrangements. What you hear is the amplification of a medium sized brass orchestra sounding many times bigger because of the arrangements. Some hits from the first set include the moody intonation of ‘Meditation’ (an exceptionally slow number) and the sparklingly cherrful ‘Downtown’, ‘King of the Road’, ‘Thunder Shake’, ‘Michelle’, ‘Batman’, ‘Sloop John B’ and ‘California Dreamin’. The second set from 1967 is surprisingly a lot more laid back even though there are plenty of fast movers. It seemed the Elgarts had staged a decisive retreat to the well appointed bar and ordered a couple of Martinis and cocktails after the rounds on the dancefloor, thereafter gently winding up a memorable night out on the town…music that makes the Sixties moment. J

Les & Larry Elgart
Elgart au Go-Go & Sound of the Times (More au Go-Go) CDLK4501

Elgart au Go-Go
The original LP CS 9155 (1965) STEREO

1.Thunder Shake (Abreu)
2.Downtown (Hatch)
3.Meditation (Jobim; Mendonça; Gimbel)  [Larry Elgart (soprano sax)]
4.Come Rain or Come Shine (Arlen; Mercer)
5.King of the Road (Miller)
6.Jerkin’ Around (Abreu)   
7.St James’ Infirmary (Primrose)
8.La Bostella (Pilar) [Viens Danser la Bostella]
9.Willow Weep for Me (Ronell)
10.G’won Train (Bown)
11. I Gotta Right to Sing the Blues (Arlen; Koehler)
12.The First Man’s Theme (Neumann; Manes)

Sound of the Times (More au Go-Go)
The original LP SS 62401 (1966) STEREO

13.I’m Comin’ Home, Cindy (Lopez; Zeller arr Dick Behrke)
14.A Sign of the Times (Hatch arr Bobby Scott)
15.Spanish Flea (J & C Wechter arr Lewis Gluckin)
16.A Taste of Honey (Scott; Marlow arr Bobby Scott)
17.Michelle (Lennon; McCartney arr Bobby Scott)
18. Batman (Hefti arr Bobby Scott) theme from the TV series
19. Going to Grandma’s House (Levine; Gwangwa arr Stewart Levine)
20. Sloop John B (Wilson arr George Williams)
21.California Dreamin’ (J & M Phillips arr Stewart Levine)   
22.Nowhere Man (Lennon; McCartney arr Bobby Scott)   
23. Why Not? (Layne arr Lewis Gluckin)

Les & Larry Elgart & Their Orchestra
Girl Watchers & The Wonderful World of Today's Hits CDLK4488

Girl Watchers
The original LP CS 9433 (1967) STEREO

1.Music to Watch Girls By (Ramin; Velona)
2.Shine On, Harvest Moon (Bayes; Norworth)
3.That's Life (Kay; Gordon)
4.The Spy with a Cold Nose (Ortolani) from the film
5.Night Walk (Macero)
6.Out of Nowhere (Green; Heyman)
7.Girl Watchers (Macero)
8.Look for the Silver Lining (Kern; De Sylva)
9.Girl Talk (Hefti; Troup)
10.Miss You (C & H Tobias)
11.Let a Smile Be Your Umbrella (On a Rainy Day) (Fain; Kahal; Wheeler)

The Wonderful World of Today's Hits
The original LP CS 9580 (1967) STEREO

12.Torino (Garisto)
13. Tara's Theme (Steiner) from Gone With the Wind
14.Camelot (Loewe; Lerner) from the film
15.When I Look in Your Eyes (Bricusse) from Dr Dolittle
16.The Bobo (Lai; Cahn) from the film
17.Ode to Billie Joe (Gentry)
18.Lady (Kaempfert; Rehbein; Kusik; Singleton)
19.To Sir with Love (Black; London) from the film
20.Live for Life (Lai; Gimbel) Vivre pour Vivre from the film
21.What a Wonderful World (Weiss; Douglas)
22.Spanish Eyes (Kaempfert; Singleton; Snyder)

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