Customer Reviews

Zounds! What Sounds! / Music from a Surplus Store

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What do a cement mixer, a man coughing, and a woman slamming a car door and running off in high heels have in common? They're among the sounds used as INSTRUMENTATION on Dean Elliot's cartoonish jazz-meets-sound effects 1962 album "Zounds! What Sounds!".

If you already own any of these compilations, you've already heard a taste:
Cocktail Mix, Vol. 1: Bachelor's Guide To The Galaxy ("Will You Still Be Mine")
RE/SEARCH Incredibly Strange Music, Volume I ("Lonesome Road")
Ultra-Lounge Volume Three: Space Capades ("Lonesome Road" and "You're The Top").

If you're not sure whether to fork out the dough for Elliot's CD, buy these comps first, as they will not only convince you of the necessity, but also have many other tracks worth having.

The Amazon listing is for a bootleg 2-on-1 with Jack Fascinatos' "Music From a Surplus Store". I don't know about Fascinatos' music as I bought the official remastered CD of Elliot's album only, released by Basta in 2001.

Note: Amazon has no listing for the Basta release, so check with any sellers first to make sure which CD they're actually selling.

The track listing for Elliot's album is:
1. It's All Right With Me
2. Rain
3. Baubles, Bangles and Beads
4. Will You Still Be Mine
5. You Do Something To Me
6. They Didn't Believe Me
7. The Lonesome Road
8. All Of You
9. Trees
10. It's a Lonesome Old Town
11. You're The Top
12. I Didn't Know What Time It Was

It's only 33 minutes long, but as you'll be playing it non-stop for 5 weeks that doesn't really matter, does it? MUST HAVE!!!!

Well, I've enjoyed the Dean Elliott Capitol stereo reel to reel tape since 1966-67, and the record album from 1969. I don't know what the other album in this collection is, but I truly enjoy the Dean Elliott recording. (I just don't know if I'd pay these prices to get this CD. (my opinion!)

Knowing that the recording studios didn't have too many tracks to work with back then, it must have been quite a headache to synchronize the sounds with the band. Still, the sounds back up the music quite well as well as sometimes carry the melody. The only problem for a listener today is what the heck some of those sounds are. I won't go into them here, but there are some exotic sounds in the music.

Back in the sixties when this album first came out Capitol records supplied a program service to radio stations highlighting music from Capitol recording artists. The show, "Silver Platters," had Mr. Elliott on as a guest, but didn't say much more than what can be found on the back album cover. Still, it was interesting that the album would be promoted along with the likes of Nat King Cole and other Capitol stars.

If you like big band type music with the novelty of sound effects contributing very nice to the songs then the "Zounds! What Sounds" album is for you.

Happy listening.