Steve Allen - Around the World (1959)

Happy New Year, everyone! Here's wishing you a happy, prosperous, and healthy 2011!

One of my New Year resolutions is to get back to posting on a regular basis - twice a week (except when I'm on vacation). I had to work a lot of overtime (paid, thankfully) last year, so I was unable to post as much as I would have liked to, but my new job is great and seems like there will be overtime just once in awhile. So, I'm hoping to have more time to dedicate to digitizing my record collection, scanning tons of old negatives, and tending to all my other interests.

So, to start off 2011, I offer you this little gem that I bought last month at my favorite little resale shop down the street (I also bought two Christmas albums, which I'll share during the next Christmas season). It was the cover art that first grabbed my attention to this album (it'll be framed and hanging in my entryway in the next few days), but I also enjoy listening to Steve Allen. I've already posted my two other Steve Allen albums, and I find them very enjoyable and relaxing. Steve takes us on a trip around the world to places such as Mexico, Spain, France, Japan, Germany, and others. So, if you're already planning your vacation for 2011 (I am), give a listen to this album for some ideas as to where you'd like to go.

Track listing for Steve Allen - Around the World:

Side 1:
1. Adios (Mexico)
2. Madre (Spain)
3. When the World Was Young (France)
4. Fight for the Land (England)
5. Danny Boy (Ireland)
6. Auf Wiedersehn (Germany)

Side 2:
1. Holiday in Brussels (Belgium)
2. Non Dimenticar (Italy)
3. Song of India (India)
4. A Midsummer Night's Dream (Japan)
5. The Peanut Vendor (Cuba)
6. U.S.A. (The United States)

Steve Allen - Plays Bossa Nova Jazz (1963)

Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season and that 2008 is the best year yet!

This album by Steve Allen is starting off a new year of musical postings. It's called "Steve Allen Plays Bossa Nova Jazz" and is really cool! I do love bossa nova, although I was very small when it became the rage and don't remember ever listening to it until I became an adult. I've also wanted to learn to dance the bossa nova, but it wasn't offered at the various dance studios where I spent seven years learning ballroom dancing in the late 1980s and early 1990s. (If anyone out there knows of a video or something that teaches how to dance the bossa nova, please let me know!) Anyway, I really dig this album and it's perfect for cocktail parties or dinner parties. I posted another Steve Allen record last year (I love saying that when "last year" was only a few days ago), but I think I like this one better. You can read about the multi-talented Mr. Allen on Space Age Pop, where there's quite a detailed bio on him.

Here's the list of the other musicians that play on this album:

Donn Trenner, Leader
Bob Enevoldsen, Tenor Sax
Laurindo Almeida, Guitar
John Setar, Flute and Alto Sax
Herb Ellis, Guitar
Jules Bertaux, Bass
Bob Neel, Drums
Frank Rosolino and Jimmy Zito, Brazilian Rhythm instruments

Track listing for Steve Allen Plays Bossa Nova Jazz:

Side 1:
1. Dream
2. St. Louis Blues
3. This Could Be the Start of Something
4. Manhattan
5. The One I Love Belongs to Somebody Else
6. Sweet Georgia Brown

Side 2:
1. Mah Mah Limbo
2. Time After Time
3. Impossible
4. Lovely to Look At
5. Imagination
6. Let's Fall in Love

Steve Allen - Monday Nights (1960)

This album has the kind of piano music I really enjoy listening to. Plus, it has two of my favorite songs, "Laura" (from one of my favorite movies of all time) and "Misty". Another plus is that it has the theme song from another of my favorite movies, "Bell, Book and Candle", which I had no idea that Steve Allen co-wrote (the song, that is). Steve Allen was a talented song writer and musician, as well as an actor and host of several TV shows (like "The Tonight Show"!). I remember he and his wife, Jayne Meadows, doing some commercials together and guest-starring together on some TV shows. Now, besides the list of songs on this album, what really drew my attention to it was the picture (gotta love those album covers!) of Steve with this absolutely awesome Plymouth! I don't know much about cars, but, for some reason, I've always liked the old Plymouth cars (like the 1956 Plymouth Fury - wow!). There's just something about them. Anyway, Plymouth was the sponsor of Steve Allen's TV show, so that's why he's photographed with the car. But, this wasn't just any old Plymouth - this was a record-playing Plymouth! I had no idea they had those - a predecessor to our CD-playing cars of today. The liner notes mention the car:

Here's an album made, frankly, to celebrate the move of the Steve Allen Show to Monday Night!!
It was also produced, of course, with the idea of providing a package of mighty pleasant music, but that goes without saying. In any event, the twelve selections in this collection add up to a typically pleasant session with the Allen piano and orchestra and that's good news any night of the week.
As his fans know by now, Steve has the Plymouth people to thank for making the move out of the Sunday TV scramble possible, and for that all TV-lovers as well as music-lovers can certainly be thankful. But whether the listener drives a Plymouth or roller-skates to work, he'll certainly agree that this pretty package of musical evergreens satisfies those who like good music for its own sake as well as those who are always saying to Steve, "We like the comedy on your show but you don't play the piano often enough!"
So whether you're listening to these recordings while relaxing in your music room, dancing by the light of your neighborhood jukebox, or driving along in your new record-playing Plymouth, lotsaluck, as Steve says, and happy listening. We guarantee it.

I bought this record in pretty bad shape - lots of clicks and pops - and I ran it through the click removal twice, but there's still a lot of clicks and pops. In my opinion, it just adds character to the record. Maybe some of you can clean it up some more. Anyway, it's still a good listen, and I hope you enjoy it. Oh - and if you're interested in learning more about those "record-playing" cars of yesteryear, check out Highway Hi-Fi.

Track listing for Steve Allen - Monday Nights:

Side 1:
1. Laura
2. Rosetta
3. You're Driving Me Crazy
4. Notre Dame Victory March
5. Impossible - written by Steve Allen
6. Houseboat - co-written by Steve Allen

Side 2:
1. Bell, Book and Candle - co-written by Steve Allen
2. Misty
3. Blossom
4. Spring in Maine - co-written by Steve Allen
5. I Want a Girl
6. And Even Then - written by Steve Allen