Padurea Spânzuratilor 1965

The Big Latin Band of Henry Mancini (1968). A great little album of Latiny tunes from Henry Mancini - played by a very hip lineup of west coast jazzmen! The rhythms have a great mix of Latin influences and Mancini magic - the kind of grooves you'd hear on his 60s soundtracks at the time, played by a lineup that includes Bud Shank and Tom Scott on reeds, Buddy Childers and Pete Candoli on trumpets, Ray Brown on acoustic bass, Max Bennett on fender bass, Larry Bunker on percussion, and Shelly Manne on drums. The vibe is nice and relaxed - a bit more upbeat than bossa, but not as all-out as other RCA Latin sessions - thanks to Mancini's nice sense of warmth and space in the arrangements…

'60s British pop trio the Ivy League consisted of members John Carter, Ken Lewis (previous members of Carter-Lewis and the Southerners), and Perry Ford. All three members were session singers who possessed high-pitched singing voices, forming the group in 1964. Although an initial single quickly disappeared from sight, their second single, "Funny How Love Can Be," turned out to be a surprise U.K. Top Ten hit. Further hits followed, including "That's Why I'm Crying" and a cover of "Tossin' And Turnin'," the latter of which hit number three on the U.K. charts. The original trio managed to only release a single full-length album, 1965's This Is the Ivy League, before both Carter and Lewis left the group a year later. With replacement members Tony Burrows and Neil Landon taking the recently departed original members' places, the Ivy League issued two more full-lengths, 1967's Sounds of the Ivy League and 1969's Tomorrow Is Another Day.

My Name Is Barbra, Two… is the second of two studio album tie-ins to Barbra Streisand's debut television special, My Name Is Barbra, which first aired on April 28, 1965. The Medley (Track 11) is the only music from the show, and the other tracks newly recorded for the album. Barbra remembers in Just For The Record: "'Second Hand Rose' became part of a tongue-in-cheek fantasy sequence which was shot at Bergdorf Goodman's…And thanks to people I loved and loved working with—Joe Layton, Dwight Hemion, Peter Matz, Robert Emmett, Tom John, and, of course, Marty—I was able to realize my dream." The album was also certified Platinum and peaked at #2 on the US charts and #6 in the UK charts.