The Conrad Salinger LP in Stereo

Very grateful thanks to blog follower StealthMan for his generous offer of this stereo version of the 1957 Verve album of Conrad Salinger arrangements.

I have had a mono copy of this rare LP on the blog for several years, but haven't heard the stereo edition until now. This is in a painstaking transfer by StealthMan with some slight remastering by yours truly.

Conrad Salinger

If you are a fan of the classic M-G-M sound, this is for you - a full LP of arrangements by the acknowledged master, led by Buddy Bregman.

More about Salinger and this record in my original post. Also see Buster's Swinging Singles for a new post of Salinger arrangements from The Barkleys of Broadway. Finally, here is a very fine tribute to this wonderful musician.

Conrad Salinger in Improved Sound

To celebrate the forthcoming first anniversary of this blog, we are revisiting some of our favorite posts, presenting them in improved sound and lossless transfers.

And this is a real favorite - the only LP made by the great Hollywood orchestrator, Conrad Salinger, who was one of the people most responsible for the sound of the MGM musical during its golden age.

The original post has more information.

Conrad Salinger

Here's the second in our series of favorite or requested 12-inch LPs.

If the name Conrad Salinger is unfamiliar to you, think of the sounds of the classic MGM musicals, and you will have a pretty good idea of what's in store for you here. Some of the most beloved numbers in those movies - the ones universally acclaimed as the high points of the American musical, such as The Trolley Song and Singin' in the Rain - were as much a credit to the orchestrational genius of Conrad Salinger as they were to the performing genius of Judy Garland and Gene Kelly, or the writing skills of Martin/Blaine and Brown/Freed.

This is the sole LP ever issued under Salinger's name, and it is in effect a tribute by Verve A&R man Buddy Bregman to Salinger and his orchestrations. The genesis of the record is detailed in a fascinating article on the Robert Farnon Society web site.

The article delves into Salinger's influences, citing various Impressionists. Well, maybe, but to me the driving force behind the sound he produced in Hollywood was the many years he spent working on Broadway. In the MGM movies, you hear an exceptional Broadway pit band playing beautifully balanced and paced orchestrations. When added to the stunning array of on-screen talent at MGM - well, let's just say I don't think we're ever going to hear or see anything like it again.

I have to say that this LP is not quite on that level, to my ears - although it it undoubtedly good, and Bregman is complimentary of his own work in the article mentioned above. But it is a rarity, and I highly recommend it to all fans of Hollywood's golden age.

By the way, Salinger died not long after that golden age ended, in 1961.

Pagan Love Song

The latest in our survey of 10-inch LPs from Hollywood films is the Esther Williams-Howard Keel romance, Pagan Love Song. This one has a score mostly by the great Harry Warren - with the exception of the title song, which is by Nacio Herb Brown. Producer Arthur Freed wrote the lyrics

IMDb claims that Betty Wand dubbed some of Williams' singing - not that her singing is all that good, IMHO. I was surprised that it was a vocal double.

The orchestrations are by Conrad Salinger, a particular favorite of many people, including me.

The file includes three bonuses - deleted versions of two songs on the LP, which I would assume are reprises, and a Howard Keel solo that doesn't appear in the film. The former are from DVD sources; the latter is an outtake on one of the CUT LPs.

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