Customer Reviews

Songs Of The South/Songs Of The Sea

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

My Grandmother has three records by the Norman Luboff Choir. Songs of the South, Songs of the Sea, Songs of the West. She has played them for me and I have had them memorized ever since I could talk. I still listen to them sometimes. The albums are kind of scratched due to old age, however I have copied them onto audiotapes so I could play them in the car. I have discovered that Songs of th Sea and Songs of the South are available on CD Format. Could you please encourage Columbia records to convert Songs of the West to CD?

OK, never heard of the Norman Luboff choir? Well, thanks to my dear old Mom, I have. When I was a kid, I listened to this choir's recording of Songs of the South. No choir or group does them better. The rendition of "Dixie" is sung as a hymn, the way it should be. No fast trumpet solos and Confederate flags here; just a heartfelt, haunting version of the song that's sure to please any Southerner. Check out the other great versions on this album, too: Kemo Kimo; Boll Weevil; Swing Low, Sweet Chariot; Un Deux Trois and a fine version of the politcally incorrect (and rightfully so) Carry Me Back to Old Virginny. Many of these renditions are slow, beautiful meldings of voices that really capture the imagination. This is a 5-star CD for anyone who touts their Southern roots.

For those who know this music from the LP days, it is enough to say that the remastering and transcription to CD are very well done. If anything, the sound is better than on the original LP releases.

For those to whom the music might be unfamiliar, a bit of description is in order.

These are rearrangements of old songs--both traditional and composed--including several well-known Stephen Foster numbers and some ancient traditional ballads and sea shanties. The Norman Luboff choir stands somewhat apart from the tradition of the great choirs of recording history, in that the arrangements are weighted very strongly toward the male voices. In many of the songs the female voices are completely absent, leaving a mens' choir. In others the female voices play a very minor role, serving only as understated accents to the overall harmonic structure. The result is a very smooth, liquid sound, even in the livelier numbers. Apart from that, the Luboff stuff is very much in the tradition of the Fred Waring chorale, the La Sierra Collegians under John T. Hamilton, and other masters of the choral art, although he makes frequent use of folk-type instruments in accompaniment, such as the harmonica. accordian and acoustic guitar--all of them presented with elegant simplicity. Luboff's harmonic structures are frequently more modern, sometimes even a little bit dissonant, without ever becoming unpleasant. Some of the chord progressions are quite unique and interesting in the context of traditional and folk music.

This release is a complete transcription of the two original LP releases of 1956 under the same titles. For those of us who owned, wore completely out, those recordings, this is a very welcome replacement. Of the various albums recorded by Luboff in that period, I liked Songs of the Sea least. Not that it is less well done. It is technically fully the equal of all the others. I just didn't like the songs as well. My favorite, I think the best work Luboff ever did, is Songs of the West. I enthusiastically concur with the other reviewers that that album MUST be re-issued. I hope the delay is in the spirit of seeking perfection in the remastering. The music deserves the very best that modern technology can offer.

In the spirit of full disclosure, I have to report that Luboff rehearsed his group on the campus of the White Memorial Hospital in East Los Angeles, where my wife was a student nurse and my sister worked in the medical records department. It was a wonderful privilege to be able to stick one's nose into the rehearsal room and watch the great musicianship of Norman Luboff as he coaxed such wonderful sounds out of his singers.

My old 33 1/3 album is wore out. All the songs are greatlistening.

I agree with the other reviewers who praised the Luboff recordings. I would love to see the Songs of the West in CD format too. These are classic versions of songs from our nation's heritage. We have to get them into digital format for future listeners. Collectables, please press the Songs of the West.

Thanks.

I had to return this product due to a glitsch on the disk. Amazon replaced it promptly and the replacement had the same problem. At this point I decided to request a refund. Nothing wrong with the music. It was definitely a manufacturing flaw since the other CD I ordered played without any problems, nor do any of my others have any problems.

I ordered this cd for nostalgic reasons because my dad had both LPs when I was a child. However, the sound quality was terrible. It sounded like it was recorded off of a muffled and scratchy old record. Very disappointing.

All of this music I find soothing and uplifting. Some of it evokes a nastalgic journey back to my youth. I love the harmonic blend of voices.

Dang, I wish the Songs of the West album would be released on CD !

BB

They're beautiful songs with not less beautiful voices, it's a great pleasure to hear them all, they're very well sung and the Choir is perfectly conducted by Mr. Luboff.
My only Wish is that Columbia Records or Collectables bring out again on CD every recording they had with Songs of the West.

Not a huge Luboff junkie here but I can't pass up anything with Thurl Ravenscroft on it....Big fan of anything he touched.