Vocals in the form of Doo Wop and jazz are reissued from UK based Avid Records. Sing along!
One of the premier vocals groups, The Platters, essentially defined romantic do wop in the 50s and 60s, with lead vocalists including Tony Williams along with Herb Reed and Valerie Victoria creating velvety harmonies. Their debut album includes a remake of The Ink Spots’ “My Prayer” that is light years ahead of the original. The band sways through “In The Still Of The Night” and digs into an earthy “Heart Of Stone”. Their followup was their strongest, including the wondrous “Only You” and humorous “Great Pretender” with a hip read of “Sixteen Tons” and street corner symphony of “Goodnight Sweetheart” . Their last album includes some hits from the swing era like “A Tisket A Tasket”, a nostalgic “Remember When” and the gloriously romantic “Smoke Gets In Your Eyes”. America’s last happy msic.
Samoan born Mavis Rivers never became a household name, although she did build up an impressive catalogue throughout her long career, mixing blues with jazz. Her 1960 debut focuses on “Love” songs ranging from the obscure Ellingtonian “Like Love” to the bluesy “You Don’t Know What Love Is”. The next year she’s backed by Dick Reynolds orchestra for straight-ahead takes of “Early Autumn” and “Give Me The Simple Life”. Quite hip is her teaming with West Coasters Mel Lewis/dr, Bud Shank/as, Joe Mondragon/b, Bill Hood/bars for some hip charts by pianist Marty Paich on “Candy”, “A Sleeping Bee” and “Hurry Home”. Teamed with Nelson Riddle’s orchestra, Rivers delivers a clever album with all of the songs including numbers, in numerical order no less, such as the cute “Five O’Clock Whistle with “One Minute To One” and “It’s Twelve O’Clock” bookending the release. Easy on the ears.