~
Leith Stevens ca 1939
photographer unknown
March 30, 2017
March 25, 2017
Al Jarreau articles/mentions
Blue Rondo A La Turk (Round, Round, Round)
Black History Month ~ articles
In Memoriam
~
~
Best of Al Jarreau
CD cover detail
detail photo by Styrous®
March 24, 2017
Cal Tjader articles/mentions
March 21, 2017
45 RPMs 11: Chuck Berry ~ Maybellene
Chuck Berry ~ Maybellene
45 RPM record
photo by Styrous®
Chuck Berry died 3 days ago on March 18, 2017. This sent my memory back to the mid-fifties when I first heard his song, Maybellene. Of course, I had to dig out my 45 RPM recording of it as tribute to him.
I was still in Junior High (they call it middle school now) and i was listening to rhythm 'n blues, which originated in the 1940s, at the time. The song talked of hot rods
and unfaithful love but with a fast, driving beat unlike any other
rhythm song I'd heard before, I thought, "Wow, what is this?" I was
snagged!
photographer unknown
Berry was famous for his "Duckwalk" but it was years later that I actually saw him do it on television and was transfixed by it. I actually tried to do it but without success; could get the legs and walk part but just couldn't get the head to bob right. I tried the same thing decades later with the "Moonwalk" by Michael Jackson, also with no success. Oh, well!
Maybellene is one of the first rock-and-roll songs. It was written and recorded in 1955 by Berry, and inspired/adapted from the Western Swing fiddle tune, Ida Red, which was recorded in 1938 by Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys. Ida Red is a country western song with instrumental breaks firmly based in jazz.
In 1988 Maybellene was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame for its influence as a rock-and-roll record. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame included Maybellene in its list of the "500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll". In 1999, National Public Radio
included it in the "NPR 100", the one hundred most important American
musical works of the 20th century, chosen by NPR music editors. Maybellene is currently ranked as the 98th greatest song of all time, as well as the second best song of 1955, by Acclaimed Music. The song is ranked number 18 on the Rolling Stone list of "500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
photographer unknown
Maybellene
Recorded May 21, 1955
- Chuck Berry – vocals, guitar
- Johnnie Johnson – piano
- Willie Dixon – bass
- Jerome Green – maracas
- Jasper Thomas or Ebby Hardy – drums
Net links:
Maybellene with lyrics on YouTube
Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys ~ Ida Red on YouTube
Styrous® ~ Tuesday, March 21, 2017
~
~
March 20, 2017
20,000 Vinyl LPs 83: Eraserhead @ 40
Eraserhead vinyl LP, front cover
cover photo by Frederick Elmes
I am having a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that it was forty years ago today, on March 19, 1977, Eraserhead, the first feature length film by David Lynch was released to the world and the career of a great film maker was launched.
It seems only a few years ago that I went to the Roxy Theater a few blocks from my studio in the Mission
one night to see a film I had no knowledge of; I would often go there
not knowing what I would see and was never disappointed. Wikipedia says
the initial attendance was small but I remember the joint was packed on
opening night. They obviously knew something extraordinary and unique was in store but I didn't. I
was in for a
startling if not shocking surprise!
Eraserhead vinyl LP, back cover
cover photo by Frederick Elmes
cover concept & design
photo of album cover by Styrous®
Eraserhead is a horror film written, produced, and directed by Lynch and shot in black-and-white. The film was produced with the assistance of the American Film Institute (AFI) during the director's time studying there. Starring Jack Nance, Charlotte Stewart, Jeanne Bates, Judith Anna Roberts, Laurel Near, and Jack Fisk,
it tells the story of Henry Spencer (Nance), who is left to care for
his grossly deformed child in a desolate industrial landscape.
Throughout the film, Spencer experiences dreams or hallucinations,
featuring his child and the Lady in the Radiator (Near).
Eraserhead vinyl LP, record sleeve, front
sleeve photo by Frederick Elmes
cover concept & design
photo of album sleeve by Styrous®
Eraserhead spent several years in principal photography because of the difficulty of funding the film; donations from Fisk and his wife Sissy Spacek kept production afloat. The film was shot on several locations owned by the AFI in California, including Greystone Mansion and a set of disused stables in which Lynch lived. Additional funds were provided by Nance's wife Catherine E. Coulson,
who worked as a waitress and donated her income, and by Lynch himself,
who delivered newspapers throughout the film's principal photography. During one of the many lulls in filming, Lynch was able to produce the short film The Amputee,
taking advantage of the AFI's wish to test new film stock before
committing to bulk purchases. The short piece starred Coulson, who
continued working with Lynch as a technician on Eraserhead.
The first scene to be filmed following the long hiatus of "Eraserhead" (principal photography started May 1972, and resumed May 1974) involved the Lady in the Radiator, played by Laurel Near. Laurel sang in a trio with her two sisters, Holly and Timi, the latter was a good friend of Catherine E. Coulson (assistant camera/assistant to director).
The first scene to be filmed following the long hiatus of "Eraserhead" (principal photography started May 1972, and resumed May 1974) involved the Lady in the Radiator, played by Laurel Near. Laurel sang in a trio with her two sisters, Holly and Timi, the latter was a good friend of Catherine E. Coulson (assistant camera/assistant to director).
Near Sisters performing live;
(l-r) Laurel, Holly, and Timothy
(photo courtesy of Laurel Near/ brad d studios)
In Heaven was covered by the Pixies as part of the recording session for their Come On Pilgrim album, this version later being released on the Pixies album.
cover concept & design
Eraserhead gained popularity over several long runs as a midnight movie.
Since its release, the film has earned positive reviews. The surrealist
imagery and sexual undercurrents have been seen as key thematic
elements, and the intricate sound design as its technical highlight.
Thematic analysis of the film has also highlighted these issues and has
elaborated on Spencer's fatalism and inactivity. In 2004, the film was
preserved in the National Film Registry by the United States Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
Eraserhead vinyl LP, record sleeve, back
sleeve photo by Frederick Elmes
cover concept & design
photo of album sleeve by Styrous®
The
plot, camera work sets, music, acting, EVERYTHING about the film is
totally surreal; it is out of a nightmare! The music is frightening, at
times soothing, well, only once. Links to all below.
The physical effects used to create the deformed child have been kept secret. The projectionist who worked on the film's dailies
was blindfolded by Lynch to avoid revealing the prop's nature, and he
has refused to discuss the effects in subsequent interviews.
The prop—which Nance had nicknamed "Spike"—featured several working
parts; its neck, eyes and mouth were capable of independent operation.
Lynch has offered cryptic comments on the prop, at times stating that
"it was born nearby" or "maybe it was found". It has been speculated by John Patterson of The Guardian
that the prop may have been constructed from a skinned rabbit or a lamb
fetus. The child has been seen as a precursor to elements of other
Lynch films, such as the make-up of John Merrick in the 1980 film The Elephant Man and the sandworms of the 1984 film, Dune.
Below is the poster included with the original vinyl LP of the infant in the film Eraserhead. The child is a deformed creature whose appearance is one of the film's defining surreal elements.
Below is the poster included with the original vinyl LP of the infant in the film Eraserhead. The child is a deformed creature whose appearance is one of the film's defining surreal elements.
Eraserhead baby, poster
photo of poster by Styrous®
The Eraserhead production crew was very small, composed of Lynch; sound designer Alan Splet; cinematographer Herb Cardwell, who died during production and was replaced with Frederick Elmes; production manager and prop technician Doreen Small; and Coulson, who worked in a variety of roles.
Eraserhead poster
By Libra films - Libra films, Public Domain
After a poorly received test screening,
in which Lynch believes he had mixed the soundtrack at too high a
volume, the director cut twenty minutes of footage from the film,
bringing its length to 89 minutes.
Among the cut footage is a scene featuring Coulson as the infant's
midwife, another of a man torturing two women—one again played by
Coulson—with a car battery, and one of Spencer toying with a dead cat.
The script for Eraserhead was influenced by Lynch's reading as a film student of the Franz Kafka 1915 novella, The Metamorphosis and the 1836 short story by Nikolai Gogol, "The Nose". Lynch also confirmed in an interview with Metro Silicon Valley that the film "came together" when he opened up a Bible, read one verse from it, and shut it; in retrospect, Lynch could not remember if the verse was from the Old Testament or the New Testament.
The script for Eraserhead was influenced by Lynch's reading as a film student of the Franz Kafka 1915 novella, The Metamorphosis and the 1836 short story by Nikolai Gogol, "The Nose". Lynch also confirmed in an interview with Metro Silicon Valley that the film "came together" when he opened up a Bible, read one verse from it, and shut it; in retrospect, Lynch could not remember if the verse was from the Old Testament or the New Testament.
Franz Kafka (1906)
photographer unknown
By Fyodor Moller
The film has also been noted for its strong sexual themes. Opening
with an image of conception, the film then portrays Henry Spencer as a
character who is terrified of, but fascinated by, sex. The recurring
images of sperm-like creatures, including the child, are a constant
presence during the film's sex scenes; the apparent "girl next door"
appeal of the Lady in the Radiator is abandoned during her musical
number as she begins to violently smash Spencer's sperm creatures and
aggressively meets his gaze. David J. Skal, in his book The Monster Show: A Cultural History of Horror, has described the film as "depict[ing] human reproduction as a desolate freak show, an occupation fit only for the damned".
Skal also posits a different characterization of the Lady in the
Radiator, casting her as "desperately eager for an unseen audience's
approval". In his book David Lynch Decoded, Mark Allyn Stewart proposes that the Lady in the Radiator is in fact Spencer's subconscious,
a manifestation of his own urge to kill his child, who embraces him
after he does so, as if to reassure him that he has done right.
As a character, Spencer has been seen as an everyman figure, his blank expression and plain dress keeping him a simple archetype. Spencer displays a pacifistic and fatalistic
inactivity throughout the film, simply allowing events to unfold around
him without taking control. This passive behavior culminates in his
sole act of instigation at the film's climax; his apparent act of
infanticide is driven by his life of being domineered and controlled.
Spencer's inactivity has also been seen by film critics Colin Odell and
Michelle Le Blanc as a precursor to Lynch's 1983–92 comic strip The Angriest Dog in the World.
Eraserhead vinyl LP, record sleeve detail
detail photo of album sleeve by Styrous®
Lynch and sound designer Alan Splet spent a year working on the film's audio after their studio was soundproofed. The film's soundtrack features organ music by Fats Waller and includes the song, In Heaven, penned for the film by Peter Ivers.
The soundtrack to Eraserhead was released by I.R.S. Records in 1982. The two tracks included on the album feature excerpts of organ music by Fats Waller and the song, In Heaven, written for the film by Peter Ivers. The soundtrack was re-released on August 7, 2012, by Sacred Bones Records in a limited pressing of 1,500 copies. The album has been seen as presaging the dark ambient music genre, and its presentation of background noise and non-musical cues has been described by Mark Richardson of Pitchfork Media as "a sound track (two words) in the literal sense".
Eraserhead vinyl LP, side 1
photo by Styrous®
Eraserhead's
sound design has been considered one of its defining elements. Although
the film features several hallmark visuals—the deformed infant and the
sprawling industrial setting—these are matched by their accompanying
sounds, as the "incessant mewling" and "evocative aural landscape" are
paired with these respectively.
The film features several constant industrial sounds, providing
low-level background noise in every scene. This fosters a "threatening"
and "unnerving" atmosphere, which has been imitated in works such as the 1995 thriller by David Fincher, Seven, and the Coen brothers' 1991 drama Barton Fink. The constant low-level noise has been perceived by James Wierzbicki in his book Music, Sound and Filmmakers: Sonic Style in Cinema
as perhaps a product of Henry Spencer's imagination, and the soundtrack
has been described as "ruthlessly negligent of the difference between
dream and reality". The film also begins a trend within Lynch's work of relating diegetic
music to dreams, as when the Lady in the Radiator sings In Heaven
during Spencer's extended dream sequence. This is also present in
"Episode 2" of Twin Peaks, in which diegetic music carries over from a character's dream to his waking thoughts; and in 1986's Blue Velvet, in which a similar focus is given to the song, In Dreams, by Roy Orbison.
Eraserhead vinyl LP, label side 1
photo by Styrous®
During production, Lynch began experimenting with a technique of recording dialogue that had been spoken phonetically backwards and reversing the resulting audio. Although the technique was not used in the film, Lynch returned to it for "Episode 2", the third episode of his 1990 television series Twin Peaks.
Eraserhead vinyl LP, side 2
photo by Styrous®
Lynch worked with Alan Splet to design the film's sound. The pair arranged and fabricated soundproof blanketing to insulate their studio, where they spent almost a year creating and editing the film's sound effects. The soundtrack is densely layered, including as many as fifteen different sounds played simultaneously using multiple reels. Sounds were created in a variety of ways—for a scene in which a bed slowly dissolves into a pool of liquid, Lynch and Splet inserted a microphone inside a plastic bottle, floated it in a bathtub, and recorded the sound of air blown through the bottle. After being recorded, sounds were further augmented by alterations to their pitch, reverb and frequency.
Eraserhead vinyl LP, label side 2
photo by Styrous®
Net links:
Eraserhead plot
David Lynch website
David Lynch Filmography
David Lynch New York Times
David Lynch The Atlantic Magazine
The Guardian ~ Eraserhead: The True Story
David Lynch interview By Matt Diehl
Catching up with “The Lady in the Radiator”, Laurel Near!
Laurel Near interview
Eraserhead on YouTube:
Eraserhead preview
David Lynch website
David Lynch Filmography
David Lynch New York Times
David Lynch The Atlantic Magazine
The Guardian ~ Eraserhead: The True Story
David Lynch interview By Matt Diehl
Catching up with “The Lady in the Radiator”, Laurel Near!
Laurel Near interview
Eraserhead on YouTube:
Eraserhead preview
Laurel Near (Lady In The Radiator) ~ In Heaven (song)
Laurel Near ~ In Heaven live @ philaMOCA 10.03.15
Pixies ~ In Heaven
Laurel Near ~ In Heaven live @ philaMOCA 10.03.15
Pixies ~ In Heaven
In 2007, Lynch said,
March 14, 2017
March 12, 2017
20,000 Vinyl LPs 82: Al Jarreau ~ Breakin' Away & scat
Al Jarreau ~ Breakin' Away
vinyl LP, front cover
cover photo by Susan Jarreau
art design by Christine Sauers
photo of cover by Styrous®
Al Jarreau was born on this day, March 12, in 1940. He died last month on Sunday, February 12, 2017, exactly one month short of his birthday. He would have been 77 years old.
vinyl LP, back cover
back cover photo by Susan Jarreau
art design by Christine Sauers
photo of back cover by Styrous®
My favorite song from his album, Breakin' Away, is his translation of the 1959 jazz classic by Dave Brubeck, Blue Rondo à la Turk. I don't call it a cover or a rendition as the song is originally an instrumental piece of music to which Jarreau wrote lyrics.
Blue Rondo à la Turk is a jazz standard composition which appeared on the album by Brubeck, Time Out. It is written in 9
8 time, with one side theme in 4
4, and the choice of rhythm was inspired by the Turkish aksak time signatures. It was originally recorded by the Dave Brubeck Quartet with Brubeck on piano, Paul Desmond playing alto saxophone, Eugene Wright on bass, and Joe Morello doing some really cool drum work.
Jarreau's version is as fast and syncopated but more erratic, jerky and not as smooth as the original version by Brubeck. However, his incorporation of scat with his lyrics is astounding.
8 time, with one side theme in 4
4, and the choice of rhythm was inspired by the Turkish aksak time signatures. It was originally recorded by the Dave Brubeck Quartet with Brubeck on piano, Paul Desmond playing alto saxophone, Eugene Wright on bass, and Joe Morello doing some really cool drum work.
Jarreau's version is as fast and syncopated but more erratic, jerky and not as smooth as the original version by Brubeck. However, his incorporation of scat with his lyrics is astounding.
Al Jarreau ~ Breakin' Away
vinyl LP, record sleeve front
art design by Christine Sauers
photo by Styrous®
A little scat
The 1926 recording by Louis Armstrong of Heebie Jeebies
is often cited as the first song to employ scatting but there are
earlier examples. One early master of ragtime scat singing was Gene Greene who recorded scat choruses in his song King of the Bungaloos and several others between 1911 and 1917. Al Jolson
scatted through a few bars in the middle of his 1911 recording of That
Haunting Melody. The 1917, From Here to Shanghai, by Gene Green
featured faux-Chinese scatting, and in 1924, Scissor Grinder Joe and Some of These Days by Gene Rodemich pre-date Armstrong. Cliff "Ukulele Ike" Edwards scatted an interlude on his 1923, Old Fashioned Love, in lieu of using an instrumental soloist. Harry Barris, one of Paul Whiteman's "The Rhythm Boys", along with Bing Crosby, scatted on several songs, including Mississippi Mud, which Barris wrote in 1927. One of the early female singers to use scat was Aileen Stanley, who included it at the end of a duet with Billy Murray in their hit 1924 recording of It Had To Be You (Victor 19373).
Jelly Roll Morton credited Joe Sims of Vicksburg, Mississippi, as the creator of scat around the turn of the 20th century.
Jelly Roll Morton credited Joe Sims of Vicksburg, Mississippi, as the creator of scat around the turn of the 20th century.
Al Jarreau ~ Breakin' Away
vinyl LP, record sleeve back
art design by Christine Sauers
photo by Styrous®
However, my very most favorite scat song EVER is the incredible, How High the Moon, by the Queen of Jazz, none other than Lady Ella, Ella Fitzgerald from her 1960 live concert album, Ella in Berlin: Mack the Knife. Oh, my lord! It is an amazing feat of 7 minutes of vocal gymnastics!
Ella
starts out with a traditional jazz vocal in a fast tempo that is truly
beautiful and graceful, as only she could do, with improvisation that is
marvelous. Suddenly she breaks into scat then swoops and soars like a
humming bird at breakneck speed! It is astonishing!
The performance was on February 13, 1960, at the Deutschlandhalle in Berlin, Germany. To have been there to hear it live must have been a fantasy ride to heaven. Those lucky people!
Ella in Berlin was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame
in 1999, which is a special Grammy award established in 1973 to honor
recordings that are at least twenty-five years old, and that have
"qualitative or historical significance." And significance this album
has a-plenty. There has never been an album like this one and I doubt there ever
will.
Al Jarreau ~ Breakin' Away
vinyl LP, back cover detail
art design by Christine Sauers
detail photo by Styrous®
vinyl LP, back cover detail
art design by Christine Sauers
detail photo by Styrous®
Jarreau won the 1982 Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Performance, Male for the Breakin' Away album and the Best Jazz Vocal Performance, Male for (Round, Round, Round) Blue Rondo à la Turk.
Jarreau was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Jarreau attended Ripon College, where he also sang with a group called the Indigos. He graduated in 1962 with a Bachelor of Science in psychology. Two years later, in 1964, he earned a master's degree in vocational rehabilitation from the University of Iowa. Jarreau also worked as a rehabilitation counselor in San Francisco, and moonlighted with a jazz trio headed by George Duke. In 1967, he joined forces with acoustic guitarist Julio Martinez. The duo became the star attraction at a small Sausalito night club called Gatsby's.
In 1969, Jarreau and Martinez went to Los Angeles and Jarreau appeared at Dino's, The Troubadour, and Bitter End West. He made television appearances with Johnny Carson, Mike Douglas, Merv Griffin, Dinah Shore and David Frost. He performed at The Improv between the acts of rising-star comics as Bette Midler, Jimmie Walker, and John Belushi. During this period, he became involved with the United Church of Religious Science and the Church of Scientology,
but he later dissociated from Scientology. Also, roughly at the same
time, he began writing his own lyrics, finding that his Christian
spirituality began to influence his work.
Al Jarreau ~ Breakin' Away
vinyl LP, back cover detail
art design by Christine Sauers
detail photo by Styrous®
Al Jarreau received a total of seven Grammy Awards and was also nominated for over a dozen others.
On February 8, 2017, in Los Angeles,
Jarreau cancelled his remaining 2017 tour dates. He died of respiratory
failure, at the age of 76, just two days after announcing his
retirement.
Tracklist:
Side 1:
1 - Closer To Your Love - written by Al Jarreau, Jay Graydon, Tom Canning - 3:54
2 - My Old Friend - written by John Lang (2), Richard Page, Steve George - 4:26
3 - We're In This Love Together - written by Keith Stegall, Roger Murrah - 3:44
4 - Easy - written by Al Jarreau, Jay Graydon, Tom Canning - 5:23
5 - Our Love - written by Al Jarreau, Jay Graydon, Tom Canning - 3:53
Side 2:
1 - Breakin' Away - written by Al Jarreau, Jay Graydon, Tom Canning - 4:12
2 - Roof Garden - written by Al Jarreau, Jay Graydon, Tom Canning - 6:19
3 - (Round, Round, Round) Blue Rondo à la Turk, Lyrics By Al Jarreau, Music By Dave Brubeck - 4:44
4 - Teach Me Tonight - written by Gene De Paul*, Sammy Cahn - 4:13
Al Jarreau ~ Breakin' Away
Label: Warner Bros. Records – BSK 3576
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Jacksonville Pressing
Country: US
Released: 1981
Genre: Jazz, Funk
Style: Soul
Companies, etc.
Pressed By – Capitol Records Pressing Plant, Jacksonville
Recorded At – Dawnbreaker Studios
Recorded At – Sunset Sound
Recorded At – The Pasha Music House
Overdubbed At – Garden Rake Studio
Mixed At – Garden Rake Studio
Mastered At – A&M Studios
Phonographic Copyright (p) – Warner Bros. Records Inc.
Copyright (c) – Warner Bros. Records Inc.
Published By – Aljarreau Music
Published By – Desperate Music
Published By – Garden Rake Music, Inc.
Published By – Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp.
Published By – Entente Music
Published By – Blackwood Music Inc.
Published By – Magic Castle Music, Inc.
Published By – Derry Music
Published By – MCA Music
Published By – Cahn Music Co.
Published By – Hub Music Co.
Credits:
Alto Saxophone – Lon Price (tracks: A3, B4)
Arranged By [Horns] – Jerry Hey (tracks: B1, B2)
Arranged By [Rhythm] – Al Jarreau (tracks: A1 to B2, B4), Jay Graydon (tracks: A1 to B2, B4), Tom Canning (tracks: A1 to B2, B4)
Arranged By [Rhythm], Piano – Milchio Leviev* (tracks: B3)
Arranged By [Strings] – Billy Byers (tracks: B4), David Foster (tracks: A5)
Arranged By [Vocals] – Al Jarreau (tracks: B3), Jay Graydon (tracks: B3), Tom Canning (tracks: B3)
Art Direction, Design – Christine Sauers
Backing Vocals – Al Jarreau (tracks: A1, A3 to B2, B4), Bill Champlin (tracks: B2), Richard Page (tracks: A2, A5, B2), Steve George (tracks: A2, A5, B2)
Bass – Abe Laboriel* (tracks: A1 to A5, B2 to B4), Neil Steubenhaus* (tracks: B1)
Contractor – Frank De Caro*
Drums – Jeff Porcaro (tracks: B1), Steve Gadd (tracks: A1 to A5, B2 to B4)
Electric Guitar – Dean Parks (tracks: B4), Jay Graydon (tracks: A1 to B2, B4), Steve Lukather (tracks: A2, A3)
Electric Piano [Fender Rhodes] – David Foster (tracks: A2,), David Foster (tracks: A5, B1), George Duke (tracks: B2), Michael Omartian (tracks: A3), Tom Canning (tracks: A1, A4, B4)
Engineer – Joe Bogan
Engineer [Second On "breakin' Away"] – Csaba Petocz, Mikey Davis
Engineer [Second] – Debbie Thompson
Flugelhorn – Jerry Hey (tracks: A2)
Horns – Tom Scott (tracks: A1)
Mastered By – Bernie Grundman
Mixed By – Jay Graydon
Percussion – Bob Zimmitti (tracks: A4)
Photography By – Susan Jarreau
Piano – David Foster (tracks: A2), David Foster (tracks: A5, B1), Tom Canning (tracks: A1)
Producer – Jay Graydon
Producer [Associate] – Tom Canning
Programmed By – Jay Graydon (tracks: A1, A2), Michael Boddicker (tracks: A2, B3)
Recorded By [Basic Track] – Larry Brown (tracks: B1)
Recorded By [Strings] – Humberto Garcia*
Synthesizer – David Foster (tracks: A2, A5, B1), Larry Williams (tracks: A4), Michael Boddicker (tracks: A3 to B1, B3), Michael Omartian (tracks: A3), Peter Robinson (tracks: A4), Tom Canning (tracks: A1, A2, A4, B3)
Trombone – Bill Reichenbach (2) (tracks: B1, B2)
Trumpet – Chuck Findley (tracks: B1, B2), Jerry Hey (tracks: B1, B2)
Vocals [Uncredited] – Al Jarreau
Notes:
Lyrics and credits on inner sleeve.
Basic tracks recorded at Dawnbreaker Studios, San Fernando, Calif. Overdubs and mixing at Garden Rake Studios, Studio City, Calif. Strings Recorded at Sunset Sound, Hollywood, Calif. Basic track for Breakin' Away recorded at Pasha Music, Hollywood, Calif. Mastered at A&M Studios, Hollywood, Calif.
© & ℗ Warner Bros. Records Inc.
All songs published by Aljarreau Music/Desperate Music/Garden Rake Music BMI except
A2 published by Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp/Entente Music BMI
A3 published by Blackwood Music, Inc/Magic Castle Music, Inc. BMI
B3 published by Derry Music Co/Aljarreau Music BMI
B4 published by MCA Music/Cahn Music Co./Hub Music Co. ASCAP
Barcode and Other Identifiers
Barcode (Text): 0 7599-23576-1
Barcode (Scanned): 075992357616
Matrix / Runout (Etched Side One 0 Stamped, Variant 1): BSK-1-3576-JW5 0
Matrix / Runout (Etched Side Two 0 Stamped, Variant 1): BSK-2-3576-JW3 0
Matrix / Runout (Etched Side One 0 Stamped, Variant 2): BSK-1-3576-JW6 #2
Matrix / Runout (Etched Side Two 0 Stamped, Variant 2): BSK-2-3576-JW3 #3
Net links:
Al Jarreau Discography
Blue Rondo A La Turk (Round, Round, Round) lyrics
Grammy Awards
YouTube links:
Al Jarreau - Blue Rondo à la Turk
Dave Brubeck - Blue Rondo à la Turk on
Louis Armstrong ~ Heebie Jeebies 1926
Gene Greene ~ King of the Bungaloos
Al Jolson ~ That Haunting Melody
Billy Murray & Aileen Stanley ~ It Had To Be You
Ella Fitzgerald ~ How High the Moon