The latest two releases from AVID Records give us a glimpse into the wide variety of sounds in the 50s
Best known for his work on classic Miles Davis and Cannonball Adderley albums, vibist Victor Feldman released some impressive work on his own as well. His 1955 debut has him with the British company of Jimmy Deucha-Dizzy Reece/tp, Ronnie Scott-Tubby Haryes/ts and Tommy Pollard/p, gliding cleverly through material such as Kenny Clarke’s “Sonar” and Feldman’s own “Elegy”. He then gets together with Angelenos Frank Rosolino/tb, Harold Land/ts, Stan Levey/dr, Leroy Vinnegar/b and Carl Perkins/p for some easy moods like “Squeeze Me” and “Sweet and Lovely” along with his own “Fidelius”. In 1959, Feldman gives a West Coast Cool read of Latin material with Willie Bobo and Mongo Santamaria/perc, Tony Reyes/b and Vince Guaraldi/p for a hip read of “Woody ‘N You” and a lithe “Poinciana”. Last is a ’61 bop session with Adderley’s rhythm team of Louis Hayes/dr, Sam Jones/b and guest Hank Jones/p as they swing for the fences on “For Dancers Only” and glisten on Duke Ellington’s “Come Sunday”. 50s warm breezes.
At one time, Pat Boone was THE biggest selling vocal artists in America, cashing in on bowdlerizing R&B pieces by Little Richard and Fats Domino to be made palatable for the Wonder Bread audience. These albums (which has some of the best studio guys like Howard Roberts/g, Tommy Tedesco/g, Nick Fatool/dr, Larry Bunker/dr and Jimmy Rowles/p) feature Boone in his early white buckskin shoes days. His 1956 eponymous debut includes a bunch of his hits, including white bread reads of “Tutti Frutti” and “Ain’t That A Shame” but also show why he was popular on his own merits, with impressive chops on “Take The Time”. Pat then takes on the R&B songbook of Joe Turner and Louis Jordan with Leave it to Beaver takes of “Flip Flop and Fly” and “Ain’t Nobody Here But Us Chickens”. His second “Greatest Hits” album includes a rocker “Sugar Moon” while also bringing in his Christian faith on “A Wonderful Time Up There.” The penultimate album has him taking on material by R&Ber Lloyd Price with with a white-washed “Stagger Lee” and “Personality” while dropping the famous hiccups on “That’ll Be The Day”. And, while Boone gets criticized for his clean boy-next-door image, there’s no getting around his classic interpretation of the haunting “Moody River” on the album of the same name. Why’d they leave out “Love Letters in the Sand”, recorded in ’57? Father Knows Best in album form.