The Golden Age of American Popular Music: Hits with Strings and Things - Hot 100 Instrumentals from 1956-1967 [Import]

Various Artists (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 12, 2009)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: Ace Records UK
• ASIN: B001UXJQBA
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #23,359 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. More - Kai Winding

2. Love Is Blue - Paul Mauriat

3. Washington Square - Village Stompers

4. Mexico Bob Moore

5. Our Winter Love - Bill Pursell

6. Fly Me To The Moon - Joe Harnell

7. Flying Circle - Fray Slay

8. Image - Hank Levine

9. Alley Cat - Bent Fabric

10. Beautiful Obsesion - Sir Chauncey

11. Java - Al Hirt

12. The Enchanted Sea - The Islanders

13. A Walk In The Black Forest - Horst Jankowski

14. Calcutta - Lawrence Welk

15. Moon River - Henry Mancini

16. Cast Your Fate To The Wind - Sounds Orchestral

17. A Swingin Safara - Billy Vaughn

18. Stranger On The Shore - Mr. Acker Bilk

19. Summer Set - Monty Kelly

20. Baby Elephant Walk - The Miniature Men

See all 28 tracks on this disc

Editorial Reviews

Here are the orchestral and 'easy' instrumental hits, both big and small - but mostly big - that helped define the Golden Age of Popular Music, an era spanning, roughly, 1956-1967, when the US charts were brimming with an eclectic cornucopia of sounds and styles that is unlikely to be repeated in today's age corporate, socially engineered music making. Hits With Strings And Things is an important addition to this best-selling Ace UK series.

An element of post-modern ironic in our approach makes Hits With Strings And Things extremely pleasing on the ear while avoiding the blandness that characterizes other releases of this kind. There is a surprise at every turn. Many of the tunes feature strings or horns (or a combination of both) with intrusions from the occasional twangy guitar (Flying Circle) and even a dash of marimbas (The Dis-Advantages Of You).

MOJO rated Hits With Strings And Things highly enough to award it 4-stars, describing some of the US-only hits (which the majority were) as 'pleasantly alien'.

Three of the titles, by H.B. Barnum, The Miniature Men and Frank Slay, are completely new to CD. In common with all other selections, these have been mastered from the original tapes. Compiled and annotated by Rob Finnis with an exceptionally well presented booklet contains dozens of rare ads and evocative illustrations. Extremely attractive eye-catching cover art.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Everything I expected...and more!, May 16, 2009

By 

Charles R. Husson (Honolulu, HI United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Golden Age of American Popular Music: Hits with Strings and Things - Hot 100 Instrumentals from 1956-1967 (Audio CD)

I ordered this CD based on just a handful of the songs it contained; however, upon playing it, I found that almost all of these are not only familiar, but near and dear to my heart. Growing up in the 60s, and listening to MOR radio, I became acquainted with popular music through these songs. Having so many of them available on one CD is a real treat. I was pleasantly surprised by the thick booklet and extensive, informative liner notes, not to mention the great sound - a restoration expert is listed in the credits. A great deal of care obviously went into the preparation of this package, and I can recommend it without reservation.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Phenomenal new edition graces Ace's Golden Age series, July 31, 2009

By 

Zub "Zubenelgenubi" (Forks Twp., PA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Golden Age of American Popular Music: Hits with Strings and Things - Hot 100 Instrumentals from 1956-1967 (Audio CD)

Ace Records' (of the U.K.!) Golden Age of American Popular/Rock 'n' Roll Music series remains unchallenged as the best compilation series of early rock-era American pop music! With the addition of this new family member of orchestral and pop instrumental hits, the lead over the competition grows even wider.

By the late 50's, the advent of rock and roll turned the music recording business upside down. The new music-buying generation traded in, en masse, the hand-me-down veteran performers and their label companies of the post-war era for the new kids in town - the Presleys, the Lymons, the Platters and all their wanna-bes. All was not lost by the establishment however, as the orchestral instrumental format held onto their audience, helped in part by the advent of stereo, a new technology requiring more than just a juke box or portable record player. In a nod to the considerable presence of these tracks on the top-100 charts of the era, Ace gathers up an extraordinary collection of these iconic tunes on one CD.

Many like-minded compilation CD's have come and gone during the CD era but one is very hard pressed to find a finer accomplishment than that found here. A massive 28 tracks are included, with many well-known top-10 charting tunes spanning the decade from Hugo Winterhalter's "Canadian Sunset" in 1956 to 1967's chart-topping "Love Is Blue", courtesy of Paul Mauriat. Though one may be inclined to pigeon-hole the tunes that would make up a collection such as this one, these are not merely a bunch of elevator music sound-alikes. Musical styles run the gamut from the Village Stompers' Dixielandesque "Washington Square" to Henry Mancini's "Moon River". The Bossa Nova-styled "Fly Me to the Moon", the quirky "Dis-Advantages of You", the bouncy "Java" and the ethereal "Enchanted Sea" all keep company with the epitomical "Theme from a Summer Place". While the many familiar tunes here broaden the appeal of this collection, it reaches across the table, as has all the entries in the "Golden Age" series, to the hard-nosed collector of the hard-to-find singles yet to be available on legitimate CD. Rare and new-to-CD gems come by way of Frank Slay's "Flying Circle", "Beautiful Obsession from Sir Chauncey (Ernie Freeman, actually), Monty Kelly's "Summer Set" and H. B. Barnum's one-off modest hit "Lost Love".

Beyond the incredible track selection, Ace lives up to its reputation with outstanding production efforts. Sound quality is top-notch with most of the tracks appearing in full stereo, the exceptions being 7,8,19-21 and 25. And the enjoyment doesn't end with the music here as every track on the CD gets its story told in the well-illustrated 28-page liner notes booklet.

This new installment continues the legacy of Ace's "Golden Age" series in extraordinary fashion. This title deserves a prominent place in any CD collection of the genre.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Instrumental Heaven!!!, November 12, 2010

By 

M. Jauriqui (LOS ANGELES, CA.) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Golden Age of American Popular Music: Hits with Strings and Things - Hot 100 Instrumentals from 1956-1967 (Audio CD)

You never know what to expect from these old-time music compilations. Sometimes them music has been rerecorded. usually to bad effect. But listen folks-this is the REAL DEAL. These instrumental gems all sound vibrant and alive. Of course, you get Henry Mancini's MOON RIVER, Lawrence Welk's big No. 1 hit CALCUTTA, and Bill Purcell's melancholy yet beautiful tune OUR WINTER LOVE. But this 28-track single disc set also includes some real rarities like SUMMER SAMBA by Walter Wanderly, SOUL COAXING by Raymond Lefevre, and MUSIC TO WATCH GIRLS BY from the Bob Crewe Generation. This set is jam-packed with familar and non-familar gems. Some songs I never heard before, but there were some nice surprises. A few times I found myself saying out loud, "Oh yeah, I remember that." Truly, truly worth it. A real find!