Comments on: The connections we make

By: BatesLine

BatesLine — Thu, 09 Aug 2007 04:29:00 +0000

Stranger on shore sleepwalks through wonderland by night

It’s fair to say that the period between Elvis Presley’s arrival at Fort Chaffee, Arkansas, in 1958 and the day the Beatles touched down at Idlewild in 1964 was the zenith of instrumental pop. This is not Big Band or Western Swing from the ’30s and ‘40…

By: Winston

Winston — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 10:20:14 +0000

“The Nearness of You” by Hoagy…

By: Winston

Winston — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 10:03:15 +0000

Since I first read her story over at MaryB’s place, I’ve had this nagging of a song remembered but long forgotten. Now you’ve rekindled that curiosity. If I can’t remember what it was, I’ll probably risk incurring Roomie’s wrath by dragging out hundreds of vinyl disks next weekend and search until I find it. Seems it may be from Hoagy Carmichael. I remember a wailful sax or three. Pardon… I thought maybe keying out loud about it would bring it back…

Yeah, I know what she means too…

By: CGHill

CGHill — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 02:00:09 +0000

I think that's fair. Look at what came out during those years: Percy Faith's take on Max Steiner's A Summer Place theme, then the biggest-selling instrumental ever; both the Shadows and Jorgen Ingmann took on "Apache"; Al Caiola charted with the themes from The Magnificent Seven and Bonanza; from Nashville, Floyd Cramer's "Last Date" and Bill Pursell's "Our Winter Love"; and Lawrence Welk (possibly George Gates borrowing the boss's name) getting a #1 with "Calcutta." And this doesn't even mention Roger Williams, who hadn't faded yet, or Ferrante and Teicher, who were just getting warmed up. I've done three compilation CDs of instrumentals, and the median year seems to be 1962 — when Bent Fabric got a Grammy for "Alley Cat." (Once again: when are we going to get a Bent Fabric box set, and can we please call it Get Bent?)

By: Michael Bates

Michael Bates — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 01:44:16 +0000

You’ve just hit two of my favorite songs. Add “Sleepwalk” to the mix and you evoke an era I’m truly sorry I missed. I still get a chill when I hear those tunes.

Is it fair to say that the period between Elvis Presley’s arrival at Fort Chaffee and the Beatles’ arrival at Idlewild was the zenith of instrumental pop?