Search - Various Artists :: Vintage Instrumentals, Vol. 3

Installment No. 3 Of 6 Volumes

08/16/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Please see my overview for this series in Volume 1. The mix of pop and R&R hits continue here ranging from Roger Williams' classic Autumn Leaves [# 1 Billboard Pop Top 100 in 1955] to Barry White's Love Unlimited Orchestra and their Love's Theme [# 1 Billboard Hot 100 and Adult Contemporary (AC) and # 10 R&B in 1973].



Selections considered hard to find found here are:



Cha Hua Hua by The Pets [# 34 Top 100 in 1958 and the only hit for this session group who, when they went on tour, added Richard Podolor - later Richie Allen of The Hondells]; the moody Harlem Nocturne by the New Jersey jazz/R&R group The Viscounts [17 R&B/# # 52 Hot 100 in early 1960 and which charted again in 1965 at # 39 Hot 100]; Percolator (Twist) - the only hit for Billy Joe & The Checkmates which, based on a Maxwell House coffee commercial, went to # 10 Hot 100 in 1962; the bouncy Rinky Dink by Dave "Baby" Cortez (# 9 R&B/# 10 Hot 100 in the fall of 1962); and Ridin' The Wind, the only other charter [# 63 Hot 100 in 1963] for the British group The Tornadoes who, the year before, had had a monster # 1 hit with Telstar (see Volume 1 in this series); British bandleader Reg Owen's Manhatten Spiritual [# 10 Hot 100 early in 1959); Enchanted Sea by The Islanders [# 15 Hot 100 in 1959 - for some reason we usually always see the Martin Denny version which finished lower at # 29]; and Up A Lazy River (# 43 Hot 100 in 1961) and released under that full title by Si Zentner & His Orchestra.



The remainder of the volume includes selections readily found on other compilations, but nobe better in terms of sound quality:



Look For A Star, featured in the film Circus Of Horros, which reached # 19 Hot 100 for Billy Vaughn & His Orchestra in 1960; Exodus, theme for the film of the same name, by Ferrante & Teicher (# 2 Hot 100/# 6 R&B in early 1961; Stranger On The Shore by British clarinetist Mr. Acker Bilk, a # 1 AC for 7 weeks/# 1 Hot 100 AND # 7 R&B in 1962; Gly Me To The Moon (Bossa Nova) by Joe Harnell & His Orchestra (# 4 AC/# 14 Hot 100 in early 1963); The "In" Crowd by The Ramsey Lewis Trio (# 2 R&B/# 5 Hot 100 in the summer of 1965); Mission Impossible, the theme from the hit TV series, by Lalo Schifrin (# 7 AC/# 41 Hot 100 in March 1968); the dreamy Sleep Walk by Santo & Johnny (# 1 Hot 100/# 4 R&B in late summer 1958; The Ventures' sequel to their 1960 mega-hit, Walk - Don't Run updated as Walk - Don't Run '64 (# 8 Hot 100 in August of that year); and the late 1965/early 1966 adaptation of an Alka Seltzer jingle called No Matter What Shape (Your Stomach's In) by The T-Bones (# 3 Hot 100)."