Customer Reviews

The Very Best of Hugo Winterhalter and His Orchestra

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

 

 

This CD is a tour down memory lane, but 2 cuts on this CD are worth the price alone....

The full un-cut version of the immortal "Canadian Sunset" with soloist Eddie Heywood......

and.... "Land of Dreams", again with the perfectly balanced Heywood on piano.

What a treasure this one is! The best of lounge and here it all is!

Between 1949 and 1956 Hugo Winterhalter not only had 30 charted singles of his own, but you can hear the velvet tones of his renowned orchestra [and chorus] on countless hits by the likes of Eddie Fisher, Perry Como, Billy Eckstine, Sunny Gale, Merv Griffin, and Tony Martin - just to name a few.

This collection supposedly covers his "very best" while with RCA Victor, beginning with his initial hit for that label in 1950: Count Every Star [# 10]. On I Wanna Be Loved [# 11 in 1950] you hear The Fontane Sisters, Eddie Fisher on The Little Shoemaker/The Magic Tango [# 9 and 54 respectively in 1954 and billed originally as Hugo Winterhalter's Orchestra & Chorus And A Friend] and, for years after its introduction in 1950, Mr. Touchdown, U.S.A. (# 9 in October) was heard at just about EVERY football game.

And, of course, no Hugo Winterhalter collection would be complete without Canadian Sunset which made it to # 2 Billboard Pop Top 100/# 7 R&B in 1956 and stayed on the charts for an incredible 31 weeks.

There are also two informative pages of liner notes by Joseph Lanza, the author of Elevator Music: A Surreal History Of Muzak, Easy-Listening And Other Moodsong, and a discography of the contents. The only thing keeping me from assigning 5 stars was the inclusion by Taragon of the uncharted items Somewhere Along The Way, Music Box In Blue, and Swingin' Sweethearts instead of bona fide hits like Across The Wide Missouri [# 21 in 1951], Rge Magic Touch (# 24 in April 1953), and Memories Of You [# 62 in 1956].

Even so, a collection worth having.

If you are a romantic and remember the 1950s and its music, you'll love "The Very Best of Hugh Winterhalter." If has all his great songs. It brings back wonderful memories, and I play it often when I'm working on the computer. The music is easy listening, interspersed with great harmony from the singing groups/choirs.

This was a used disc, in perfect condition. It played as if it was new, no static or breaks. I like this album very much.

This cd contains the major hits of Hugo and several other songs made popular by other artists. There are some fun tunes and some beautiful
pieces. A slice of 1950s instrumental pop.

There are songs on this album I have not heard in over 50 years. Songs like "Blue Violins", "The Little Musicians" and "Music Box in Blue". The "Oldies" stations play the Number One hits but never the Number 19 and Number 22 hits which are included on this CD. The liner notes say that Winterhalter was a fan of Claude Debussy But I detect Gustav Mahler and Bela Bartok in the way he uses solo and duet instruments. Not too many musicians will feature a guitar and piccolo duet as Winterhalter does in "Latin Lady" or a celeste and pizzicato combination like in "Music Box in Blue".