" Hawaiian Honeymoon" is a most apt title for this delightful album because it follows the wedding of Hawaiian guitar to a superb collection of popular hits, many of which are of world-wide status, and all of them have appeared in the best-selling charts somewhere in the world.
For all of those to whom the Hawaiian guitar is the most romantic sounding of instruments this album will find ready acceptance, "the sound" producing, in such an individual style and treatment, a beautiful performance for so many of these melodies today.
The stereo effect is quite startling and for the technically minded was, I am told, obtained by direct injection,the themes being played separately and remixed to provide the full stereo effect.
For the layman such as myself it sounds tremendously full and clearly two separate parts combine perfectly to give rhythmic and melodic effect, whichever the tune demands.
This is not the first LP made by The Waikiki Islanders featuring Basil Henriques, and having heard the previous releases I can confirm that this latest album is outstandingly the best so far.
Henriques' control of such a complex instrument (the pedal Hawaiian guitar) is really quite superb and while the arrangements of the various items are uncomplicated there is always great authority in the playing and, when necessary, tremendous drive in the rhythmic effect.
In Short, "Hawaiian Honeymoon" is a thoroughly enjoyable and listenable album.
Side One:
1.
My Cherie Amour (Wonder-Cosby-Moy)
2.
Gentle On My Mind (Hartford)
3.
He Ain't Heavy . . . He's My Brother (Russell-Scott)
4.
I'll Never Fall In Love Again (Bacharach-David)
5.
Girl Talk (Hefti)
6.
Albatross (Green)
Side Two:
1.
Help Yourself (Gli Occhi Miei) (Donida)
2.
Love At First Sight (Je T'aime . . . Moi Non Plus) (Gainsbourg)
3.
The Good, The Bad and The Ugly (Morricone)
4.
This Guy's In Love With You (Bacharach)
5.
Scat In The Dark (Izumi)
6.
Little Green Apples (Russell)
TWO 290 (p) 1970
Sometimes referred to as The Girl From Ipanema, this French release from Nico has no given title so people use the first track on the album or the first track listed on the front. On my wishlist for a while I picked this up for less than £20.
"Music that suggests the darkest corner of a smoky bar. . . the sweet wild mood of a Latin Escapade."
"The bossa nova had it's brief moment of hit parade glory in Britain at the beginning of the last decade in the shape of Antonio Carlos Jobim's Desafinado, but it's influence has remained constant in popular music ever since. The soft, subtle beat of Brazil's modern Samba can be heard everyday on the radio airwaves as arrangers draw upon it for colour and contrast in their scores, and it has joined and largely superceded the beguine and the bolero in this respect. It is a matter of regret that we seldom hear genuine Brazilian tunes over those same radio airwaves, but at least the bossa nova rhythm has firmly and permanently implanted itself on the map of international pop music."
" Basie Meets Bond"- here indeed is a memorable meeting - a summit meeting, if you please. COUNT BASIE - Wiliam Basie from Red Bank, New Jersey - is certainly a true giant in the world of popular music. Thousands upon thousands of pages have been devoted to the Count's contributions to the scene over the past several decades. However, in this collection, the Count and his men are even more spirited, more swinging, more youthful and more imaginative than ever before.
This is Russ Conway in happiest of moods - pub piano under his fingers. Relaxed, warm, friendly - you can sense the smile, the twinkle in those blue eyes the moment he starts to play.
The Breakthrough To The Exciting World Of Stereo Sound.
"Here they go again- one of the most remarkable phenomena to appear on the British show business scene for many, many years - the Black and White Minstrels! What makes them so remarkable - indeed unique? Well, in the first instance, it is incredible that a minstrel show should have taken this country by storm in an age when this form of entertainment was generally considered a relic of the past. It has been suggested by a few cynics that black faced minstrels are out of place in these days of more enlightened attitudes towards the coloured races - but this theory presupposes that the minstrel show is detrimental or derogatory to coloured folk, and certainly The Black and White Minstrels cannot be accused of any such approach. Anyone who is looking for political overtones in a situation such as this must, I feel, be deliberately striving to provoke trouble - and, happily, such complaints are restricted to a meagre few."
What you see is what you get, the sexy sound of the Hammond! No details on the sleeve at all.
" Hawaiian Honeymoon" is a most apt title for this delightful album because it follows the wedding of Hawaiian guitar to a superb collection of popular hits, many of which are of world-wide status, and all of them have appeared in the best-selling charts somewhere in the world.
EMI
