Four Freshmen Day By Day

Day by Day consists of 15 tracks recorded in 1962 for broadcast on a public-service program sponsored by the Navy. Though these cuts aren't as polished as the album versions, most of the Four Freshmen's best-known songs are here: "Their Hearts Were Full of Spring," the title track, "Route 66," and "Lulu's Back in Town." The arrangements are loose, and the solos are a bit more sprightly than their original versions. "Once in Love with Amy," recorded with Russ Barbour doing his best Donald Duck impersonation, will strike listeners as either hilarious or abrasive.

A vintage and influential vocal group formed in the 1950s, the Four Freshmen's harmonic-drenched vocal style would set the stage for the Beach Boys and many others in the decades that followed, and to hear the quartet in full flight backed by jazz horns and arrangements is indeed something special, particularly since the Freshmen stack their vocals like a horn chart anyway. It makes for fun stuff, and it's heartbreakingly gorgeous more often than not. Highlights here include the breezy opening track, "Laura," the stone cold classic "Graduation Day," and the closer, "Goodnight Sweetheart." These guys must have eaten breakfast, lunch and dinner with the angels, because angels are what they sound like.

The Capitol Collectors Series CD has their most popular material; this concentrates on their LP tracks, offering 18 cuts that they recorded between 1954 and 1961. As is par for the course on Capitol's Spotlight series, the emphasis is on orchestrated standards.

'' 1000 Original Hits '' is the title of a compilation series published by EMI Plus (Europe). This release contains portions of this series, released in 2001, containing works performed from 1950 to 1959.

Pat Moran - The Pat Moran Quartet (1957) {2CD Set, Bethlehem 20-50022 rel 1992}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 384 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 216 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 40 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1956-57, 1992 Bethlehem Music | 20-50022
Jazz / Bop / Standards / Piano

This double-CD reissues two Bethlehem albums by pianist/vocalist Pat Moran, plus a couple of "mystery" cuts not listed on the set. The music is certainly diverse, including boppish instrumentals by Moran and her trio (bassist John Doling and drummer John Whited), features for singer Beverly Kelly, and group vocals with singing by all four of the participants. The latter is the most dated, sounding a bit like the Four Freshmen style-wise, and is certainly an acquired taste. But since Moran only recorded three albums as a leader (the other was for Audio Fidelity) and there is some excellent straight-ahead playing on this set, the two-fer is of interest to jazz collectors.