The Soft Pop Serenades of James Last and His Orchestra: Romance in the Clouds
For
some of us who grew up in the mid-1970s, the James Last sound was always
associated with the disco dance party albums he produced during that decade. It
is only now that I have finally laid hands on remasters of Mr Last’s softer
romantic productions, aside from his arrangement of classical music for a ‘pop’
audience. These have been put together very creatively by POLYGRAM/POLYDOR and
its subsidiary labels. What a surprise this has turned out to be! The James
Last orchestra sounds by turns, an ethereal romantic sound floating among the
clouds, a typically 1970s string and chorus wall to wall soundstage of love, or
a smoochy disco slow dance. I review four albums here, with perhaps a sequel to
follow at some point.
First
up, ‘JAMES LAST & HIS ORCHESTRA. Liebe Ist… (Love is…)’. Compiled from
Last’s many LPs and remastered as part of the James Last - Ein Sound Geht Um Die
Welt series. Made and released in West Germany in 1989 by
Polydor as catalogue number 841 344-2. This is one of a few rare compilations
of 100% love songs by the James Last orchestra. Better still, this one being
released in 1989, collects only his LP remastered releases from the 1970s and
1980s. Looking over the selection of tunes, you will realize this is Last’s eclectic
and romantic touch through and through. Even though one might not associate
Neil Diamond’s hit ‘Holly Holy’ as a standard romantic song that comes to mind,
Last brings out a fresh colour to the tune by employing his choir to sing
Diamond’s famous chorus line. The same art of arrangement for strings and choir
was employed for ‘Seasons in the Sun’ where the choir’s tone is aligned to
bring out the spirit of the song’s play with innocence and illicit love in its
original English lyrics… ‘Love Must be the Reason’ and the Carpenters’ hit
‘Close to You’ also get a dreamy string and choir treatment bringing these tunes
to new dimensions of aural enjoyment that are quite distinct from their
original vocal versions – indeed it is time to break out the champagne and
candlelight…Or simply sit on a patio overlooking your favourite summer garden
and watch the swans go by on a lazy sunny day… Other gems include the extremely
mushy slowed down version of ‘You Make Me Feel Brand New’, the bouncy ‘The More
I See You’, the swinging and lightly waltzing ‘Fly Me to the Moon’ with strings
in the lead, the soulful ‘Sexual Healing’, and finally the symphonic surprise
on ‘MacArthur Park’ featuring an unforgettable trumpet solo from renowned
musician Derek Watkins who has also played with Sinatra, the Beatles,
Streisand, Elton John as well as the Ted Heath and John Dankworth big bands,
and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra….Indeed Love is…to dream on!
TRACK LISTING:
|
1 |
Games That Lovers Play |
2:25 |
|
|
2 |
Seasons In The Sun |
3:59 |
|
|
3 |
You Make Me Feel Brand New |
5:27 |
|
|
4 |
Sexual Healing |
4:20 |
|
|
5 |
Holly Holy |
4:47 |
|
|
6 |
The Best of My Love |
3:51 |
|
|
7 |
Make This Night Last Forever |
2:53 |
|
|
8 |
The More I See You |
2:31 |
|
|
9 |
Elizabethan Serenade |
2:37 |
|
|
10 |
Fly Me to The Moon |
3:21 |
|
|
11 |
Love Must Be the Reason |
4:13 |
|
|
12 |
Close To You |
3:13 |
|
|
13 |
When Irish Eyes Are Smiling |
2:33 |
|
|
14 |
Let It Be |
3:30 |
|
|
15 |
Spanish Eyes |
2:58 |
|
|
16 |
MacArthur Park Soloist on Trumpet – Derek Watkins |
7:35 |
One of the tracks above actually lends itself as the title of LOVE MUST BE THE REASON, the 1972 Vinyl LP released on POLYDOR as 2371281. This has actually been faithfully remastered by POLYDOR/POLYGRAM’s subsidiary SPECTRUM records in Germany and sold worldwide in limited quantities. No wonder I had never seen it before – till now. The track list:
|
1 |
Wedding
Song (There Is Love) |
3:37 |
|
|
2 |
It's
Going To Take Some Time |
2:45 |
|
|
3 |
Love
Theme From ''The Godfather'' (Speak Softly Love) |
2:49 |
|
|
4 |
Close
To You |
3:13 |
|
|
5 |
The
Summer Knows |
2:50 |
|
|
6 |
Heart
Of Gold |
2:57 |
|
|
7 |
Without
You |
2:52 |
|
|
8 |
Face
In A Crowd |
2:54 |
|
|
9 |
The
Way Of Love |
2:28 |
|
|
10 |
I
Don't Know How To Love Him |
3:37 |
|
|
11 |
Love
Must Be The Reason |
Typically,
of productions from the 1971-2 period, hits by the CARPENTERS and CAROLE KING
and the classic love them from THE GODFATHER movie had to be featured. But
James Last softens and slows down the original somewhat to dress these familiar
pop songs in the mood of a gentle romantic evening in late summer. This album
is impressive also for the employment of a female chorus on 10 out of 11
tracks. The James Last chorus does not imitate Ray Conniff or the Geoff Love
Singers, but deliberately arranges his chorus to sing in mostly mid-register
with a female sound. I do not know what this technique is called in musicology.
But what it does is to bring out an emotional lament and poetry not found in
the original vocal versions of these songs. Take Andrew Lloyd-Webber’s ‘I Don’t
Know How to Love Him’, the Carole King/Carpenters hit ‘It’s Going to Take Some
Time’ for instance, the singers elicit a whole new dimension to these songs.
The first becomes a torchy ballad, the second a melancholic yet hopeful plea
for a second time romance. The Harry Nilsson ballad ‘Without You’ undergoes a
fresh makeover of heartbreak emotion with this choral treatment too.
Finally, we end this review on a romantic Parisian night – PARIS MON AMOUR – in which James Last serenades you with strings aplenty – with a side trip to the disco ballroom with ‘Charmaine’ from his 1978 WORLD HITS IN DISCO LP. In this set, Last absolutely stands apart from Lefevre, Caravelli, Pourcel or Mauriat by sticking to the idea of a consistently string and trumpet arrangement played softly for after dinner dancing in between the candlelit tables and the backlit Champs Elysees. All these popular French chansons define romance in a subtle wordless way as only maestro James Last can elicit from them. One closing gift by James Last: the vocal crooner’s solo on ‘If You Go Away’ – the famous Jacques Brel composition – is enough to justify owning this album alone.
June
2022
