Enoch Light ~ Musical Explorations In Sound
vinyl LP front cover detail
illustration by Andy Zito
album design by Tim Bryant
detail photo of album cover by Styrous®
Today is the birthday of Enoch Henry Light who was born on August 18, 1907, in Canton, Ohio. He was an American classically trained violinist, danceband leader, recording engineer and famed as an easy listening musician long before the term was ever invented but unlike most easy listening artists, Percy Faith, Jackie Gleason, etc., his music was meant to be listened to rather than just as background or "elevator" music. There are sonic gymnastics in each performance with tempo variations as well that are used for “standards”. Musical Explorations In Sound is especially successful with this.
I have mentioned in previous articles that many albums I purchased was simply because of the album cover artwork. This album is definitely in that category. The illustration is by Andy Zito and the album design is by Tim Bryant.
Enoch Light ~ Musical Explorations In Sound
vinyl LP back cover detail
album design by Tim Bryant
detail photo of album cover by Styrous® The
front cover illustration is a perfect visual representation of the
music as Light, with his Command All Stars, performs sonic orchestral
gymnastics that are really quite wonderful.
Enoch Light ~ Musical Explorations In Sound
vinyl LP front cover
illustration by Andy Zito
album design by Tim Bryant
photo of album cover by Styrous® Just One of Those Things by Cole Porter is jazzy and bouncey with plenty of solo instruments allowed to play freely. September Song by Kurt Weill is lush and beautifully performed but not sappy. Zing! Went the Strings of My Heart Heart by James F. Hanley has the strings doing just that, ZIPPING along. The Man I Love by George Gershwin opens with a dramatic and thunderous orchestra then is picked up by a soft and dreamy oboe and vibraphone duet with the orchestra coming back with a nice dance beat. With a Song In My Heart by Rodgers and Hart with a cello and french horns goes into a lovely Fox Trot and closes side one.
Side two opens with It's Only A Paper Moon by by Harold Arlen with bongos, organ and flute featured; it is bouncey and lively. This is followed by The Hawaiian Wedding Song by Charles E. King with marimbas and, of course, steel guitar the main sound for it. Next comes Swamp Fire! It is a jazzy, fast and frenetic with bongos. Adios has a Latin flavor (surprised?) with a subtle cha-cha beat and castanets. For All We Know by J. Fred Coots, normally a slow ballad, is jazzy, syncopated and has the big band sound accompanied by bongos and organ.
Side three ushers in Autumn Leaves by Joseph Kosma
with brass, organ a great trumpet is featured; it is not the normal
slow ballad but bouncey and lively and was great fun to dance to back
then. Bye Bye Blues & Rain by Fred Hamm, brings back a cha-cha beat with tambourine, organ and flute. Tonight by Leonard Bernstein from West Side Story is anything but traditional, it is jazzy, with bongos (again) and lively. Caravan by Juan Tizol and Duke Ellington (a favorite song of mine since I was a kid) is bouncy, jazzy and moves; Martin Denny, Arthur Lyman, and Gordon Jenkins all covered it. Never On Sunday by Manos Hatzidakis is very nicely interpreted with castanets (why?), double bass, tambourine and Bouzouki (both make sense).
Side four begins with South Rampart Street Parade by Bob Haggart and Ray Bauduca traditionally a dixieland jazz standard is done with a VERY frenetic big marching band feeling; it is syncopated and jivey with lots of brass. The Sound Of Music by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II is as would be expected, slow and dreamy with lush strings but with chimes thrown in to boot. Talk To The Animals by Leslie Bricusse is a bit silly with trumpet mute, tuba and xylophone but I've never been fond of this song so I'm prejudiced and it is my least favorite on the album. Spanish Eyes (originally Moon Over Naples, go figure) by Bert Kaempfert opens with an orchestra florish and features marimba, oboe, xylophone and castanets; it is languidly fast. March Of The Space Cadets is a fast march vaguely reminiscent of Listen To the Mocking Bird; my second least favorite song on the album.
My
only disappointment with this album are the two numbers mentioned but
as I've said before, there are always a song or two on an album I'm not
crazy about.
Enoch Light ~ Musical Explorations In Sound
vinyl LP back cover
illustration by Andy Zito
album design by Tim Bryant
photo of album cover by Styrous® His album covers were generally designed with abstract, minimalist artwork that stood out boldly from other album covers. Light was so interested in the sound of his music that he included lengthy prose describing each song's sounds. In order to fit all of his descriptions on to the album sleeve, he doubled the size of the sleeve but enabled it to fold like a book, thus popularizing the gatefold packaging format. The gatefold sleeve became extremely popular in later decades, and was used on albums such as Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (link below) by the Beatles and Dark Side of the Moon (link below) by Pink Floyd.
He founded the Command record label in 1959, which gave him an outlet for his sonically adventurous records. Light happened to begin the label around the time stereo became widely available, and he exploited the new technology to its fullest, creating albums that used the full sonic spectrum of stereo. One of the most notable features of these albums were their "ping-pong stereo," which featured the music jumping from the left speaker to the right, and vice versa. During this time, Light and Command also pioneered the use of using 35mm film as a recording method instead of tape. Light remained the managing director of Command until 1965. While he was the head of the label, he recorded classical albums, big-band records, and collections of film themes. After 1965, Command was bought out by ABC Records, who in turn was quickly bought out by MCA Records. MCA made Command into a budget label, pressing the albums on poor vinyl and putting them into discount stores. By 1970, the label was no longer profitable and MCA shut it down.
Light released 25 albums over 12 years (1959–71), with two of them reaching number one on the U.S. Billboard album chart. He holds the record for having the most charting LPs without having a Top 40 single, as reported by Casey Kasem on the American Top 40 broadcast of October 14, 1978, the year Light died.
Enoch Light was among hundreds of artists whose material was destroyed in the disastrous 2008 Universal fire (link below).
Tracklist:
Side 1:
A1 - Just One Of Those Things - 2:48
A2 - September Song - 3:36
A3 - Zing Went The Strings Of My Heart - 2:28
A4 - The Man I Love - 4:11
A5 - With A Song In My Heart - 2:57
Side 2:
B1 - It's Only A Paper Moon - 2:45
B2 - The Hawaiian Wedding Song - 3:00
B3 - Swamp Fire - 2:21
B4 - Adios - 2:36
B5 - For All We Know - 2:40
Side 3:
C1 - Autumn Leaves - 2:54
C2 - Bye Bye Blues & Rain - 2:57
C3 - Tonight - 2:29
C4 - Caravan - 2:46
C5 - Never On Sunday - 2:08
Side 4:
D1 - South Rampart Street Parade - 2:53
D2 - The Sound Of Music - 4:06
D3 - Talk To The Animals - 2:34
D4 - Spanish Eyes - 2:54
D5 - March Of The Space Cadets - 3:07
Notes:
Re-Produced for Two-Fer's by Don Thorn
A1 - Just One Of Those Things - 2:48
A2 - September Song - 3:36
A3 - Zing Went The Strings Of My Heart - 2:28
A4 - The Man I Love - 4:11
A5 - With A Song In My Heart - 2:57
Side 2:
B1 - It's Only A Paper Moon - 2:45
B2 - The Hawaiian Wedding Song - 3:00
B3 - Swamp Fire - 2:21
B4 - Adios - 2:36
B5 - For All We Know - 2:40
Side 3:
C1 - Autumn Leaves - 2:54
C2 - Bye Bye Blues & Rain - 2:57
C3 - Tonight - 2:29
C4 - Caravan - 2:46
C5 - Never On Sunday - 2:08
Side 4:
D1 - South Rampart Street Parade - 2:53
D2 - The Sound Of Music - 4:06
D3 - Talk To The Animals - 2:34
D4 - Spanish Eyes - 2:54
D5 - March Of The Space Cadets - 3:07
Notes:
Re-Produced for Two-Fer's by Don Thorn
Enoch Light, Command All Stars* – Musical Explorations In Sound
Label: Command – RSSD 970-2
Format: 2 x Vinyl, LP
Country: US
Released: 1973
Genre: Jazz
Label: Command – RSSD 970-2
Format: 2 x Vinyl, LP
Country: US
Released: 1973
Genre: Jazz
Viewfinder links:
Net links:
Space Age Music Maker ~ Enoch Light
YouTube links:
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