Tag Archives: Johnny Mercer

Ella Fitzgerald And Count Basie: Ella And Basie!

Leave a comment

In September 1963, “Verve” label released “Ella and Basie!”, studio album by Ella Fitzgerald and Count Basie and his orchestra. It was recorded in July 1963, at “A&R Studios” in New York City, and was produced by Norman Ganz.

Personnel:

  • Ella Fitzgerald– vocals
  • The Count Basie Orchestra:
  • Count Basie– piano
  • Sonny Cohn, Al Aarons, Joe Newman, Don Rader– trumpet
  • Eric Dixon– flute, tenor saxophone
  • Frank Foster, Frank Wess– flute, alto saxophone, tenor saxophone
  • Charlie Fowlkes– baritone saxophone
  • Freddie Green– guitar
  • Benny Powell, Urbie Green, Henry Coker, Grover Mitchell– trombone
  • Flip Ricard– trombone, trumpet
  • Marshal Royal– clarinet, alto saxophone
  • Buddy Catlett– double bass
  • Sonny Payne– drums
  • Quincy Jones– arranger
  • Val Valentin – recording
  • Jay Thompson – cover photography

Track listing:

  1. Honeysuckle Rose – Andy Razaf, Fats Waller
  2. Deed I Do – Walter Hirsch, Fred Rose
  3. Into Each Life Some Rain Must Fall – Doris Fisher, Allan Roberts
  4. Them There Eyes – Maceo Pinkard, Doris Tauber, William Tracey
  5. Dream a Little Dream of Me – Fabian Andre, Gus Kahn, Wilbur Schwandt
  6. Tea for Two – Irving Caesar, Vincent Youmans
  7. Satin Doll – Duke Ellington, Johnny Mercer, Billy Strayhorn
  8. I’m Beginning to See the Light – Duke Ellington, Don George, Johnny Hodges, Harry James
  9. Shiny Stockings – Frank Foster, Ella Fitzgerald
  10. This Is My Last Affair – Haven Johnson
  11. Ain’t Misbehavin’ – Harry Brooks, Razaf, Waller
  12. On the Sunny Side of the Street – Dorothy Fields, Jimmy McHugh

Dave Van Ronk: Van Ronk

Leave a comment

In August 1971, “Polydor” label released “Van Ronk”, the tenth Dave Van Ronk album. It was recorded December 1970 – May 1971, at “Sound Exchange Studios” in New York City, and was produced by Dave Woods.

Personnel:

  • Dave Van Ronk – vocals, guitar, arrangements
  • Dave Woods – arrangements
  • Steve Katz – engineer
  • Anne Friedman – cover art
  • Joanne Grace – morale
  • John Jameson – spiritual

Track listing:

  1. Bird on the Wire – Leonard Cohen
  2. Fox’s Minstrel Show – Michael Small
  3. Port of Amsterdam – Jacques Brel, Eric Blau, Mort Shuman
  4. Fat Old John – Peter Stampfel
  5. Urge for Going – Joni Mitchell
  6. Random Canyon – Peter Stampfel
  7. I Think It’s Going to Rain Today – Randy Newman
  8. Gaslight Rag -Dave Van Ronk
  9. Honey Hair – Dave Van Ronk
  10. Legend of the Dead Soldier – Bertolt Brecht, Eric Bentley
  11. Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive – Johnny Mercer, Harold Arlen

James Brown: Cold Sweat

Leave a comment

In August 1967, “King” label released “Cold Sweat”, the twenty-first James Brown studio album. It was recorded in 1967, and was produced by James Brown.

Personnel:

  • James Brown – vocals
  • Ron Lenhoff – engineer, production supervision
  • Gene Redd – editing

Track listing:

  1. Cold Sweat, Pt. 1 – James Brown, Alfred Ellis
  2. Cold Sweat, Pt. 2 – James Brown, Alfred Ellis
  3. Fever – Eddie Cooley, John Davenport
  4. Kansas City – Jerry Leiber, Mike Stoller
  5. Stagger Lee – Harold Logan, Lloyd Price
  6. Good Rockin’ Tonight – Roy Brown
  7. Mona Lisa – Jay Livingston, Raymond Evans
  8. I Want to Be Around – Johnny Mercer, Sadie Vimmerstedt
  9. Nature Boy – Eden Ahbez
  10. Come Rain or Come Shine – Johnny Mercer, Harold Arlen
  11. I Love You Porgy – George Gershwin, DuBose Heyward
  12. Back Stabbin’ – James Brown, Gene Redd

Frank Sinatra: The World We Knew

Leave a comment

In August 1967, “Reprise” label released “The World We Knew”, album by Frank Sinatra.  It was recorded in July 1967, in Hollywood, and was produced by Jimmy Bowen and H.B. Barnum.

Personnel:

  • Frank Sinatra- vocals
  • Nancy Sinatra- vocal
  • Billy Strange- vocals, guitars
  • B. Barnum- piano, arrangements
  • Ernie Freeman- piano
  • Gordon Jenkins- arrangements, conductor
  • Claus Ogerman- arrangements, orchestration

Track listing:

  1. The World We Knew (Over and Over) – Bert Kaempfert, Herbert Rehbein, Carl Sigman
  2. Somethin’ Stupid – Carson Parks
  3. This Is My Love – James Harbert
  4. Born Free – Don Black, John Barry
  5. Don’t Sleep in the Subway – Tony Hatch, Jackie Trent
  6. This Town – Lee Hazlewood
  7. This Is My Song – Charlie Chaplin
  8. You Are There – Harry Sukman, Paul Francis Webster
  9. Drinking Again – Johnny Mercer, Doris Tauber
  10. Some Enchanted Evening – Richard Rodgers, Oscar Hammerstein II

Frank Sinatra & Count Basie: It Might as Well Be Swing

Leave a comment

In August 1964, “Reprise” label released “It Might as Well Be Swing”, studio album by Frank Sinatra, accompanied by Count Basie and his orchestra. It was recorded June 9–12, 1964, Hollywood, and was produced by Sony Burke.

Personnel:

  • Frank Sinatra- vocals
  • Count Basie- piano
  • Quincy Jones- arranger, conductor
  • Al Porcino, Don Rader, Wallace Davenport, Al Aarons, George Cohn and Harry “Sweets” Edison- trumpets
  • Henry Coker, Grover Mitchell, Bill Hughes, Henderson Chambers and Kenny Shroyer – trombones
  • Frank Foster, Charles Fowlkes, Marshal Royal, Frank Wessand Eric Dixon – reeds
  • Emil Richards – vibraphone
  • George Catlett – double bass
  • Freddie Green- guitar
  • Sonny Payne- drums
  • Gerald Vinci, Israel Baker, Jacques Gasselin, Thelma Beach, Bonnie Douglas, Marshall Sosson, Erno Neufeld, Lou Raderman, Paul Shure and James Getzoff – violins
  • Virginia Majewski, Paul Robyn, Alvin Dinkin and Stan Harris –
  • violasEdgar Lustgarten and Ann Goodman – cellos
  • Lowell Frank – engineer
  • Ted Allen – cover photo

Track listing:

  1. Fly Me to the Moon – Bart Howard
  2. I Wish You Love – Léo Chauliac, Charles Trenet, Albert Beach
  3. I Believe in You – Frank Loesser
  4. More (Theme from Mondo Cane) – Riz Ortolani, Nino Oliviero, Marcello Ciorciolini, Norman Newell
  5. I Can’t Stop Loving You – Don Gibson
  6. Hello Dolly – Jerry Herman
  7. I Wanna Be Around – Johnny Mercer, Sadie Vimmerstedt
  8. The Best Is Yet to Come – Cy Coleman, Carolyn Leigh
  9. The Good Life – Sacha Distel, Jack Reardon
  10. Wives and Lovers – Burt Bacharach, Hal David

B. B. King & Eric Clapton: Riding With The King

Leave a comment

On June 13, 2000, “Duck” label released “Riding with the King”, album by Eric Clapton and B.B. King. It was recorded in 2000, and was produced by Eric Clapton and Simon Climie. The album was certified Platinum in Australia by “ARIA”, Denmark by “IFPI Denmark”, Greece by “IFPI Greece”, Italy by “FIMI”, Japan by “RIAJ”, New Zealand by “RMNZ” and 2 x Platinum in US by “RIIA”.

Personnel:

  • B. King – co-lead vocals
  • Eric Clapton – co-lead vocals, guitar
  • Doyle Bramhall II – guitar, backing vocals
  • Andy Fairweather Low– guitar
  • Jimmie Vaughan– guitar
  • Joe Sample– piano, Wurlitzer piano
  • Tim Carmon– organ
  • Nathan East– bass
  • Steve Gadd– drums
  • Arif Mardin– string arrangements
  • Susannah Melvoin– backing vocals
  • Wendy Melvoin– backing vocals
  • Paul Waller – programming
  • Alan Douglas – engineer, mixing
  • Tom Sweeney – engineer assistant
  • Mick Guzauski– mixing
  • Robert Sebree – artwork, photography
  • Don Paulsen – artwork, photography
  • Wherefore Art?– artwork, design
  • Stephen Walker – artwork direction

Track listing:

  1. Riding With the King – John Hiatt
  2. Ten Long Years – Jules Taub, B. King
  3. Key to the Highway – Big Bill Broonzy, Charlie Segar
  4. Marry You – Doyle Bramhall II, Susannah  Melvoin, Craig Ross
  5. Three O’Clock Blues – Lowell Fulson
  6. Help the Poor – Charles Singleton
  7. I Wanna Be – Doyle Bramhall II, Charlie Sexton
  8. Worried Life Blues – Sam Hopkins, Big Maceo Merriweather
  9. Days of Old – Jules Taub, B.B. King
  10. When My Heart Beats Like a Hammer – B. King, Jules Taub
  11. Hold On, I’m Comin – Isaac Hayes, David Porter
  12. Come Rain or Come Shine – Harold Arlen, Johnny Mercer

 

Bob Dylan: Fallen Angels

Leave a comment

On May 20, 2016, “Columbia” label released “Fallen Angels”, the thirty-seventh Bob Dylan studio album. It was recorded February 2015-March 2016, at “Capitol Studios” in Los Angeles, and was produced by Jack Frost. The album features covers of twelve classic American songs.

Personnel:

  • Bob Dylan – vocals
  • Charlie Sexton – guitar
  • Donnie Herron – steel guitar, viola
  • Stu Kimball – guitar
  • Dean Parks – guitar
  • Tony Garnier – bass guitar
  • George Recile – drums
  • James Harper – horn arrangements, conducting
  • Al Schmitt – engineer, mixing
  • Steve Genewick – engineer assistant
  • Greg Calbi – mastering
  • Geoff Gans – album artwork

Track listing:

  1. Young at Heart – Johnny Richards, Carolyn Leigh
  2. Maybe You’ll Be There – Rube Bloom, Sammy Gallop
  3. Polka Dots and Moonbeams – Jimmy Van Heusen, Johnny Burke
  4. All the Way – Jimmy Van Heusen, Sammy Cahn
  5. Skylark – Hoagy Carmichael, Johnny Mercer
  6. Nevertheless – Harry Ruby, Bert Kalmar
  7. All or Nothing at All – Arthur Altman, Jack Lawrence
  8. On a Little Street in Singapore- Peter DeRose, Billy Hill
  9. It Had to Be You – Isham Jones, Gus Kahn
  10. Melancholy Mood – Walter Schumann, Vick R. Knight, Sr.
  11. That Old Black Magic – Harold Arlen, Johnny Mercer
  12. Come Rain or Come Shine – Arlen, Johnny Mercer

The Pointer Sisters: Steppin’

Leave a comment

In May 1975, “ABC/Blue Thumb” label released “Steppin’”, the third Pointer Sisters studio album. It was recorded in 1975, at “Wally Heider Studios” in San Francisco, and was produced by David Rubinson & Friends, Inc..

Personnel:

  • Anita Pointer, Ruth Pointer, Bonnie Pointer, June Pointer– vocals
  • Chris Michie – guitar
  • Wah Wah Watson– guitar
  • Tom Salisbury – piano
  • Paul Jackson– bass
  • Eugene Santini – bass
  • Gaylord Birch– drums, percussion
  • Bill Summers– percussion
  • Herbie Hancock– clavinet
  • Jim Rothermel – clavinet
  • Stevie Wonder– electric piano
  • Tom Salisbury – arrangements
  • Allyn Ferguson – arrangements
  • Fred Catero – recording
  • Jeremy Zatkin – recording
  • George Horn, Phil Brown – mastering
  • Fred Catero, David Rubinson – re-mix
  • Ken Welch, Mitzie Welch – treatment

Track listing:

  1. How Long (Betcha’ Got a Chick on the Side) – Anita Pointer, Bonnie Pointer, David Rubinson
  2. Sleeping Alone – Stevie Wonder
  3. Easy Days – Isaac Hayes, Anita Pointer, Bonnie Pointer, June Pointer
  4. Chainey Do – Willie McTell, Taj Mahal
  5. I Ain’t Got Nothin’ But the Blues – A Medley in Tribute to Duke Ellington” (I Ain’t Got Nothin’ But the Blues / Rocks in My Bed / Creole Love Song / Satin Doll / I Got It Bad (and That Ain’t Good) / Mood Indigo) – Duke Ellington, Don George/ Ellington / Ellington, Bruce Good / Ellington, Johnny Mercer, Billy Strayhorn / Ellington, Paul Francis Webster / Ellington, Irving Mills, Barney Bigard
  6. Save the Bones for Henry Jones – Danny Barker, Vernon Lee
  7. Wanting Things – Hal David, Burt Bacharach
  8. Going Down Slowly – Allen Toussaint

Nat King Cole: Where Did Everyone Go?

Leave a comment

In May 1963, “Capitol” label released “Where Did Everyone Go?” the 34th Nat King Cole album. It was recorded in August 1962, and was produced by Lee Gillette.

Personnel:

  • Nat King Cole– vocal
  • Gordon Jenkins Orchestra – instrumentation
  • Gordon Jenkins– arranger, conductor
  • Ken Veeder – photography

Track listing:

  1. Where Did Everyone Go? – Mack David, Jimmy Van Heusen
  2. Say It Isn’t So – Irving Berlin
  3. If Love Ain’t There – Johnny Burke
  4. (Ah, the Apple Trees) When the World Was Young – Philippe Gerard, Angela Vannier, Johnny Mercer
  5. Am I Blue – Harry Akst, Grant Clarke
  6. Someone to Tell It To – Sammy Cahn, Dolores Fuller, Van Heusen
  7. The End of a Love Affair – Edward Redding
  8. I Keep Going Back to Joe’s – Marvin Fisher, Jack Segal
  9. Laughing on the Outside (Crying on the Inside) – Ben Raleigh, Bernie Wayne
  10. No, I Don’t Want Her – Joe Bailey
  11. Spring Is Here – Lorenz Hart, Richard Rodgers
  12. That’s All There Is (There Isn’t Anymore) – Gordon Jenkins

Ringo Starr: Sentimental Journey

Leave a comment

Sentimental Journey

On March 27, 1970, “Apple” label released “Sentimental Journey”, the debut Ringo Starr studio album. It was recorded October 27 – December 26 1969 and January 14 –  March 6 1970, at “Abbey Road Studios”, “Trident Studios”, “Wessex Sound Studios”, “Olympic Sound Studios”, “De Lane Lea Studios” , “Morgan Sound Studios” in London, and  “A&M Studios” in Los Angeles, and was produced by George Martin.

Personnel:

  • Ringo Starr – vocals
  • George Martin Orchestra – all instruments

Track listing:

  1. Sentimental Journey – Bud Green, Les Broen, Bon Homer
  2. Night and Day – Cole Porter
  3. Whispering Grass (Don’t Tell the Trees) – Fred Fisher, Doris Fisher
  4. Bye Bye Blackbird – Mort Dixon, Ray Henderson
  5. I’m a Fool to Care – Ted daffan
  6. Stardust – Hoagy Carmichael, Mitchell Parish
  7. Blue, Turning Grey Over You – Andy Razaf, Fats Waller
  8. Love Is a Many Splendoured Thing – Sammy Fain, Paul Francis Webster
  9. Dream – Johnny Mercer
  10. You Always Hurt the One You Love – Allan Roberts, Doris Fisher
  11. Have I Told You Lately That I Love You? – Scott Wiseman
  12. Let the Rest of the World Go By – Ernest Ball, Karen Brennan