HelloTo All -Late Fall 2008

Hey,Ya'll,
Thot I'd drop in and blog a bit, since it's been awhile.....Been reading some other blogs..most
notably Mr Jonathan Frid(remember him?)He is the shakesperean actor who landed the role of
"Barnabas" in the1966-1971 gothic tv soap opera "Dark Shadows" If you haven't seen his new
blog, I suggest you drop by and pay him a visit. He is keeping a daily journal of what he is doing,
and also has some new videos of him reciting poems,etc. His web addy is www.jonathanfrid.com
Been listening to some old radio broadcasts from the 80's and90;s of my old friend JoeMonte.
He is an early "jazz music" expert, focusing on the era from 1929 to1935, roughly. I just love
hearing some of these early electric recordings of well known, and obscure bands from that era...Ambrose and
His Orch, being a well known Brithish Big Band, and the less known bands like "King Mutt and
his Tennessee Thumpers.." lol Joe also throws in a bit of history of what was happening at the time
these recordings were made.(stories of prohibition, gangsters,etc.)
I'm sorryto say, Joe is not currently on the air, at least in this town, and I have no idea where he is,
or what he is doing now.
It seems that the internet has opened up a lot of material that was hitherto unavailable...collectors items of tv shows, tv music, movie music, and lot of other "Goodstuff.."
Things as a young collector, that were impossible to hear, see, or get hold of in the early70's.


Stuff that is on my mind right now, collectorwise......
Thinking of....
an early cartoon by TedEshbaugh/Van Bueren called "Goofy Goat" aka Goofy Goat Antics(1932)
early magenta Decca 78 of "Miss Wonderful" by Ambrose and his Orch. 1929(GB)
MAxwell St. Stomp by King Mutt and his Tennesssee Thumpers on the Champion Label (78)
Adventure in Color(first Wonderful World of Color Tv Episode from Walt Disney - Sept, 1961)

Anyway,
Cheers, and Bye Bye for Now..
I'll be blogging again soon!
Steveo

summer 2008

Hi all,
Haven't blogged for ages...many things have happened in my life..some good...some bad...
I need to contact blogger to try and reset my ads, as I think some of them are screwed up.
On the musicfront, I formerly presented some articles on "Great Arrangers"...and currently
am studying some music from one of the featured persons on my blog, the Late, Great, Buddy Baker,
ace arranger and composer for Disney...he really created "The Disney Sound" in the 60's
which isn't used anymore....it's a "lost sound"....but those ideas still eist in some of the remaining scores...many of them have been destroyed for "space"..but a few still exist...
Today I was looking at some music I had access to many years ago....and was allowed to "copy a few bars by hand" and am revisting those sketches....
It involves the big band sound used in the production of the TV Show "The Mickey Mouse Club"
from the 1950's....this big band sound was used often on the show, and was reminiscent of the Glenn
Miller/Benny Goodman, but with an original twist by Buddy...
A most compact band, being only 12 pieces.....we have a blend of brass and saxes, including the standard rhythm section. This sound was a throwback to the 40's in someways, although, as I said, it was updated
by Buddy with his own unique voicings. Looking at the opening of "We're The Mousketeers" I had copied the first 4 bars of the musical intro...a blast of a sound if you remember the tune...He scores deftly, mixing brass and saxes-the mixing of these 2 elements is a bit complicated, but I think I'm beginning to get a whiff of how it was done.Ahh, the bygone days of the Disney sound!
In other matters, I am teaching piano at a store, and am enjoying it, but I wish the help would get the schedules straight...It's a bit of a headache not knowing for sure when to come in and who's going to show up!
Been having problems with my computer, and had to re-install windows, and it took out a few "drivers"
which i had to relocate, one of which was the sound card.
Watched the masterpiece movie Psycho, the original from 1960 a couple of days ago....I do believe it's
one of the best movies ever made, even tho it's done in a tv style..it is just truly great!
Let's see, what else can I report on...I;ve been on one of my musical idols sites, Burt Bacharach, but it seems there's not much new happening....
Well, people, keep the faith, and let's get these gas prices down before it totally takes down the U.S. and its economy....

Steveo



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Newest Update

Hello all...this is the latest update from me, Steveo...A lot of changes have occured in my life since I last posted, but I'm hanging in there....
Been thinking lately of the fabulous lead guitar work on the old Beach Boys records, done by wrecking crew member(the guys who played many sessions for Phil Spector in the 60's) Billy Strange...
What a sound that was...from the smooth lead on Surfin' USA to Be True To Your School..
Billy has his own website now, and it's a gas....
What have I been thinking about musically lately? well, umm, I guess the uniqueness of certain sounds,
blocks of sounds, and orchestral blends or combinations...
From the tight harmony sounds of Girls On The Beach(Beach Boys) to perhaps the lush string voicings
in some of Burt Bacharach's arrangements.Especially on my mind right now is the rhythmic groove Burt Created when he penned the melody of Dusty Springfield's "Wishin' and Hopin'....it's so unique! The rhythms of the melody make your head jerk and groove to the words of the song.
What am I thinking of from the current musical scene? Not a whole lot...it's pretty pallid and droll to me...
I'm sure something is going to come along one day that will topple the music industry, such as Elvis and The Beatles did.I'm still waiting!!!
Well, better dash this off to ya, and I want to wish everyone a happy new year, belated, as we roar off into 2008
(we're into Feb. already! Yikes!!!)
Musically Yours,
Steveo

Sorry, I've Been Away (in my head)

Hi There,

This is ole Steveo, and I'm sorry I haven't posted in a longwhile, but I've been away...(emotionally)

Lots of things to work out, but I B doin' it....

I intend to continue with my tribute to Great Arrangers, and will shortly do Part 5 soon....

In the meantime, keep swingin' and keep singin'..and don't forget to click on my ads(it helps my pocketbook, tyvm)....

Here's a picture of yours truly in the late 70's playing an orchestral arrangement on the piano...

or was I just trying to find "middle C"...hehehe

Steveo

Tribute to Great Record Arrangers Pt. 4

Part 4 pays tribute to a great pop record arranger who contributed to so many singers and groups great record success...

My friend, the late, great Ernie Freeman...Ernie was a soft spoken, low keyed charming man, who graced all of our lives...Ernie Freeman (b 16 August 1922, Cleveland, Ohio - d 16 May 1981, Hawaii) was an American pianist and arranger.Born into a family, where his brother and sister were also musically inclined.Evelyn Freeman(choral Group Leader), and Art Freeman, (Hollywood music copyist)
He played on and arranged numerous early rock and R&B sessions in Los Angeles in the 1950s, particularly on the Specialty, Modern, and Aladdin labels/ Later in the sixties,he became the main archetect sound wise for Bobby Vee. He issued a number of instrumental records of his own, including his cover of Bill Justis' "Raunchy" in 1957, which became his biggest solo success. He also played lead on the B. Bumble and the Stingers records, apart from "Nut Rocker".
He continued a successful session career in the 1960s, joing the elite fraternity of arrangers and conductors for

The Rat Pack (Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy davis, Etc.) Scored several Rat Pack member hits, such as (Somethin' Stupid,That's Life, Strangers in the night, (Grammy award in 1967), Dean Martin (Everybody Loves Somemebody Sometime), as well as Connie Francis (Jealous Heart, Addio, mi' amore) and Petula Clark (This is my song, For love), and becoming musical director with Reprise Records. In 1970 he contributed string arrangements to Simon and Garfunkel's Bridge Over Troubled Water album, before his retirement later in the decade.Sadly,

Ernie died of a heart attack in Los Angeles on May 16, 1981.He was only 59 years old.

Tribute to Great Record Arrangers Pt. 3

Tribute to Great record arrangers features Disney composer Buddy Baker this week..

Norman "Buddy" Baker (January 4, 1918 – July 26, 2002) was a film composer who composed music for many of Walt Disney's classic films, like The Apple Dumpling Gang, The Apple Dumpling Gang Rides Again, The Shaggy D.A., and The Million Dollar Duck.Buddy started out his early life in Springfield, Mo. and got his degree in music from Southwest Baptist College.. He later came to the West Coast in the 1930's to do arranging for Radio and Big Bands. He became the Musical Director on the excellent the Bob Hope Radio show. One of his first hits as a big band arranger on record was "And Her Tears Flowed Like Wine" for the Stan Kenton Orch. Buddy decided to augment his income by becoming a professor at L.A. City college in the early 50's. Among his early students was a young movie composer, later to become world famous. His name was Jerry Goldsmith. Right around this time one of his friends, George Bruns,who had a composing gig at the Disney Studios, asked him to help out on a tv series for the "Disneyland" TV Show. It became known as "Davy Crockett and the River Pirates." He stayed on at the studio and eventually became music director for Walt Disney and chief composer for the Disneyland parks. Buddy had perfected the very original woodwind sound that became known as the hallmark for Disney TV Shows and park attractions... It is not an inaccurate statement to say that in music arranging he was a "genius". Nominated by the Academy of Motion picture Art and Sciences for his score "Napoleon and Samantha" he graced many Disney cartoons and featurettes,including the wonderful Donald in Mathmagicland, which won the oscar for best short subject cartoon in 1959. After staying at the studio for over 30 years, Buddy retured and took up teaching film scoring at USC College in Los Angeles, till his passing in the summer of 2002. He created a wealth of tv and motion picture scores that are still heard heard all over the world today..

Tribute To Record Arrangers Pt.2

Here's another great music arranger to take note of....Mr. Peter Matz...
Date of birth (location)
6 November 1928Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
Date of death (details)
9 August 2002Los Angeles, California, USA. (lung cancer)

Arranger extroidanaire, and leader of the Carol Burnett

orchestra on CBS during the tv show's tenure...a fine

musician involved with many recordings for Barbara Streisand, Noel Coward, burt Bacharach, and many others...

Orchestrated "Halleluiah, Baby" on Broadway...