Girls & Boys on Broadway / Sweetest Swinging Sounds of [Import]

Billy May | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (December 28, 1999)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: EMI Import
• ASIN: B000006TJU
• Also Available in: Audio CD
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #100,442 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #38 in Music > Jazz > Swing Jazz > Vintage Dance Bands

Track Listings

1. Girls Against The Boys

2. My Darling My Darling

3. If I Were A Bell

4. Where Did We Go

5. Out

6. Guys And Dolls

7. Rich Butterfly

8. Heart

9. Old Fashioned Girl

10. Till There Was You

11. Girls And Boys

12. I've Never Been In Love

13. I Gotta Have You

14. No Strings

15. Sweetest Sounds

16. Love Makes The Worlsgo

17. Nobody Toold Me

18. Loads Of Love

19. Maine

20. Eager Beaver

See all 26 tracks on this disc

Editorial Reviews

Two Albums on One CD from Billy May, a Man Responsible for Some of the Most Successful and Influential Arrangements in Popular Music.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Broadway Big Band Style and without Strings, April 24, 2001

By 

Darryl Geddes (Syracuse, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Girls & Boys on Broadway / Sweetest Swinging Sounds of (Audio CD)

Billy May meets Broadway in this Big Band send-off of some of the Great White Way's classic selections. The first album on this CD twofer finds May conducting a rich brass section that raises the volume on Till There Was You and Heart. The second album, The Sweetest Swingin Sounds of 'No Strings,' is May's take on the Richard Rodgers 1962 musical "No Strings," in which Rodgers composed all tunes with only brass, reeds and percussions. On the downside, the show tunes tend to be overly arranged and May's blaring brass section seems to overwhelm most selections.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Superior arrangements & performance. Billy May at his best!, April 28, 1999

By 

W.Don Wood "Don Wood" (Matawan,, New Jersey USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Girls & Boys on Broadway / Sweetest Swinging Sounds of (Audio CD)

I purchased the 12" LP when it first appeared in the late fifties...the sound is <right there> brass that bites along with Billy's slurping sax sounds. The stereo set-up has brass right reeds left and rhythm center. Capitol knew some stuff about recording big bands...and it shows. Absolutly superp! The second album from NO STRINGS does not come off as well, but buy for GIRLS & BOYS. <orig. Capitol issue: ST 1418, the new CD is a Capitol-EMI import> The first 12 tracks are a workout for your stereo system.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars THE ONE AND ONLY BILLY MAY, October 25, 2002

By 

Giovanni (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Girls & Boys on Broadway / Sweetest Swinging Sounds of (Audio CD)

The irascible Billy May, premire arranger and conductor for so many of the greats, and on his own, is presented here with two of his albums for Capitol on one great CD. May's popularity rose for his dance albums, and that got him on board at Capitol to do some arranging and conducting. A favorite of the likes of Nat King Cole and Frank Sinatra, needless to say those guys were no fools when it came to working with the best! His trademark lazy sax music and sharp brash arrangements for brass are probably the most recognizable of the era. But Billy wasn't all about swingin'; he could write a heartwarming slow ballad chart with equal ease (but somehow always found a way to get a brass blast in there somewhere!) The lusty undertones of WHERE DID WE GO? OUT! is one of the lesser known standouts on the GIRLS AND BOYS ON BROADWAY sides, which is worth the price of this CD just for the album cover (Billy May parading as a vendor selling chestnuts to the "cast kids"!) but there are other greats here, like Billy and the orchestra's reading of Frank Loesser's masterpiece GUYS AND DOLLS and the lovely TILL THERE WAS YOU from The Music Man, a tune Billy would later arrange for the great multi-octaved singer, John Gary with a similar chart.
While the NO STRINGS sides are, as my fellow reviewer mentions, not as exciting, they are still Billy May...and that means original and inventive, if nothing else! I love what is done with the charming LOOK NO FURTHER. The mood is perfectly captured and the slightest essence of swing is there (complete with the aforementioned "brass blast" on the bridge!) and the smart version of THE MAN WHO HAS EVERYTHING is also not to be missed. MAINE and LOVE MAKES THE WORLD GO are two more of Richard Rodgers' fine songs that make the NO STRINGS sides valuable. Great "two-fer" to have in your collection!