by Peter Cates Russ Morgan and his Wolverine Band Everest SDBR 1095, stereo LP, recorded 1960. Russ Morgan (1904 -1969) led one of the best dance bands during the ‘40s, ‘50s and ‘60s, until his death. The above LP, however, is a bit more animated than his usual standard. Wolverines being a clue, Morgan assembled […]
by Peter Cates Emil Gilels In 1955, Russian pianist Emil Gilels (1916-985) made his debut in the United States, being one of a handful of musicians allowed to tour outside the Iron Curtain. His entourage, like other touring musicians from the Soviet Union, included several ‘friends’ who were KGB operatives prepared to shoot in case […]
by Peter Cates June Valli A June 11,1953, seven-inch RCA Victor 45 record – 47 5368 – features June Valli (1928-1993) singing Cryin’ In the Chapel, which reached #4 on the Billboard charts. Artie Glenn wrote the song for his son Darrell, who recorded it a few months before Valli and had success. Numerous other […]
by Peter Cates The Boston Pops A very good 1982 Philips cassette, Pops Around the World, features the Boston Pops under its former Music Director John Williams (1932-) playing seven Overtures – two from the U.S. and from Russia, and one each from France, Italy and Austria. The American Overtures are Leonard Bernstein’s for his […]
by Peter Cates Beethoven’s Hammerklavier Sonata In 1818, Ludwig van Beethoven composed the Hammerklavier Sonata, #29 of his 32 Sonatas for piano; it is the most technically demanding of the group, a genuine knuckle buster, and very powerful music that, like the composer’s other masterpieces, ranges through many moods. The third movement Adagio is one […]
by Peter Cates Robert P. Tristram Coffin continued Continuing the weekly series of paragraphs from Robert P. Tristram Coffin’s essay Kennebec Crystals: “Then a sharp blue wind came up out of the northwest, the mercury in the thermometers tumbled. The pines roared on into the dark, the stars snapped in the skies like sapphires. Good […]
by Peter Cates James Joyce Fifteen years ago, I binged for a couple of months on the Irish writer James Joyce (1882-1941) and read his first novel Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man and the short story collection Dubliners. The reading experience was, to put it mildly, intense. Joyce’s singular achievement was to […]
by Peter Cates Perry Mason continued (see previous article: TV Show: Perry Mason) Producer Gail Patrick Jackson saw actor William Talman (1915-1968) as the serial killer in 1953’s The Hitch Hiker, directed by Ida Lupino, and immediately knew who she wanted for the role of District Attorney Hamilton Burger on the Perry Mason TV show. […]
by Peter Cates Perry Mason Perry Mason ran for nine seasons on CBS from 1957 to 1966 and has rarely been out of syndication or inaccessible. I have been watching one or two episodes daily via Amazon prime and am now into the second season. And I plan to keep watching until all 271 episodes […]
by Peter Cates Armenuhi Manoogian (Kay Armen) Armenian American singer Armenuhi Manoogian (1915-2011), known by her stage name as Kay Armen, achieved fame during the 1940s and ‘50s with her NBC radio show, records and appearances in films and on television. Her 1950 recording of Come On A My House appeared one year before Rosemary […]