Beatle Strings (mp3s)

A Hard Day’s Night (2:53)
Penny Lane (2:42)
Yesterday (4:31)
Six Pence and You (2:38)
She Loves You (2:08)
All You Need Is Love (2:18)
I Want to Hold Your Hand (2:33)
Blues for the Guru (4:22)
Eleanor Rigby (2:20)
Tropic of Chelsea (2:28)

While we await the announcement that Apple Corps. and Apple Computer have decided to make The Beatles songbook “officially” available for your downloading pleasure, let’s take an easy listen to some interpretations, courtesy of 101 Strings.

I shouldn’t need to go into much detail about the orchestra or the series of Alshire records released in the 1960s. 101 Strings sold a ton of records, and they turn up at almost any yard sale or thrift-store bin. Essentially it’s MUZAK for the masses, or at least versions of the “now” sounds of the 60s that wouldn’t frighten Mom and Dad. Each album was based around a theme or composer and typically included an original track or two from the session arranger.

Although most of their albums are considered common, a handful do command a premium, including ASTRO SOUNDS FROM BEYOND THE YEAR 2000 (which is currently retailing for $25 at a Harvard Square record store) and this album, the original 101 Strings take on The Beatles, which is sought after by Beatles collectors.

This is not the TRIBUTE TO THE BEATLES album that 101 Strings released in 1981 and which has subsequently been ported to CD. “Eleanor Rigby,” “Yesterday,” and “Penny Lane” appear on both albums, and as I’ve not played them back to back, I’m not sure if they’re the same versions. Given the tendency of 101 Strings to recycle tracks from one album to another, it wouldn’t be surprising if they were.

Martin Kelly handles the arrangements on this album, and the Strings are backed by a prominent brass section and a rock and roll quartet, taking this out of the easy listening arena and moving it close to genuine rock and roll, especially on “Blues for the Guru,” a track penned by Kelly, who also contributed “Tropic of Chelsea” and “Six Pence and You” under the pen name of I. Disenhaus.

A High School Supergroup

Tonight's show is for all of you Dondero and high school band music fans out there. There's a lot of great albums from high school bands and orchestras, but in almost every case, these groups are limited by the talent available at the school.

Meet The Greater Bostonians. From the late '60s into the 1970s, the Bostonians were an annual tradition. The best student musicians and choraleers were assembled to create the best high school orchestra and chorus Eastern Massachusetts could muster. Their goal was to sound as good as the pros, and a lot of the time, they did, covering popular songs of the day as well as some orchestra standards.

I've got four of their albums from 1970 to 1973 and a strong feeling that this will spill over into next week's show. The fun starts tonight at 6PM Eastern on WMFO, or online via the nifty links over there on the right.

Deco Disco (mp3s)

Yes, Sir That’s My Baby (3:48)
Ballin’ the Jack (4:18)
Golden Slippers (4:30)
I’m Looking Over a Four-Leaf Clover (4:10)
Three Little Words (5:08)
Boop Boop A Hustle (3:29)
Bill Bailey (3:16)
Happy Days Are Here Again (4:03)

The recent spate of disco releases concludes (for the moment) this week with a full album share. DECO DISCO, released in 1976 by D&M Sound and produced by David Miller and Marty Wilson, is one of the earliest records to identify itself with the then-new “Disco” sound. It’s also one of the strangest.

To quote the back of the album cover, “A driving disco beat with the greatest sounds since Hollywood in the Thirties. All the “Gettin’ it-on” fun of a Busby Berkeley musical with the funky rhythm pulse of today. Wow!—It’s enough to bust the ankle straps off Joan Crawford’s shoes or knock out the whole line at the Roxy. So, like the man says… “Stop talkin’, get up and dance your … off!”

Between Joan Crawford, the Roxy, and a group of studio musicians billed as “Camp Galore,” one can draw inferences at DECO DISCO’s intended audience. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. Disco at the time was still a dance-club craze and wouldn’t break into the mainstream until a very butch John Travolta shimmied in a white linen suit in Saturday Night Fever. The Penthouse Letters-worthy illustration on the album cover is a clear attempt to broaden the record’s appeal. I’ll leave it to you to caption those two dancers’ thoughts, adding only that she looks surprised in an unpleasant way.

This album uses concept as an excuse to cover public domain standards, but the production value of the songs themselves, featuring orchestral strings, brass, banjo, sax, guitars, drums, and at least six singers, suggests that a few dimes were spent on creating it. It’s pure New York disco, heavy on the orchestra and light on the funk.

There’s even an original composition thrown into the mix, “Boop Boop A Hustle,” which was released as a single and enjoyed some minor chart success in the UK. The songwriting is credited to G. Elke and C. Wilson, who took the intriguing step of also taking credit for “Golden Slippers” and “Bill Bailey,” all of which carry DAM Music publishing credits. As both “Slippers” and “Bailey” are well-known standards, the credit is taken either for the arrangements or the additional words they added.

It’s a fun bit of fluff, although it loses steam from start to end, or maybe the novelty just starts to wear thin. Disco fans will want the whole thing. Casual disco enthusiasts should be happy with “Golden Slippers” and “Ballin’ the Jack.” That last one should be in every music collection, as if I need to encourage you to download something called “Ballin’ the Jack.”