The Second Disc

Expanded and Remastered Music News

/ News

Tender Words: The Anita Kerr Singers, The Mike Sammes Singers Collected On él Label

By 2 Comments

Anita Kerr - Tender WordsA pair of recent releases from Cherry Red's él imprint shines a well-deserved spotlight on two famed groups of background vocalists, one from each side of the Atlantic: The Anita Kerr Singers and The Mike Sammes Singers.

As a major pioneer of The Nashville Sound alongside producer-guitarist Chet Atkins, Anita Kerr led her distinctive choir on records by Patsy Cline, Jim Reeves, Brenda Lee, Eddy Arnold, Willie Nelson and Floyd Cramer.  The Kerr Singers' distinctive harmonies were also heard behind Roy Orbison, Perry Como, Rosemary Clooney, Bobby Vinton, and too many others to mention.  Like The Sweet Inspirations or The Jordanaires, The Anita Kerr Singers also struck out on their own even as they continued to support other artists.  Some records were released under pseudonyms - RCA deputized The Anita Kerr Singers as The Living Voices on more than one occasion - and others under the group's own name.  Chet Atkins produced 1963's RCA Victor LP Tender Words, paired on a new él CD with a 1957 set recorded by Atkins with the Kerr Singers for performing rights organization SESAC.

Like much of Kerr's output, Tender Words existed at the crossroads of country and pop.  Her quartet consisting of Dottie Dillard (alto), Gil Wright (tenor), Louis Nunley (baritone and bass) and Kerr herself (soprano) reinterpreted twelve familiar hits in dreamy, soft fashion including Carole King and Gerry Goffin's "Take Good Care of My Baby" (a 1961 No. 1 for Bobby Vee), Barry Mann and Larry Kolber's "I Love How You Love Me" (a 1961 Top 5 hit for The Paris Sisters) and John D. Loudermilk's "A Rose and a Baby Ruth" (a 1956 Top 10 for George Hamilton IV).  Somewhat more left-field choices came from the worlds of folk (Tom Paxton's "My Johnny is Gone (Wild Are the Rushes)" and Broadway (Lionel Bart's oft-recorded Oliver! ballad "As Long as He Needs Me").

The Anita Kerr Singers backed Chet Atkins on his rare 1957 collection The Best Chet Yet (also known as The Amazing Chet Atkins and Chet Atkins, If You Please).  Guitarist Atkins was joined by a Nashville A-team of pianist Floyd Cramer, guitarist Jack Shook, bassist Bob Moore and drummer Buddy Harman for a set of songs penned primarily by Louis O'Connell, Jr., Wallace E. Bradley and Ray Sterling.  The Best Chet Yet was recorded for copyright society SESAC.  These recordings were only available on a loan basis for radio stations; each month, the stations would receive transcription discs to present unique material for the radio audience.  The Kerr Singers' own SESAC disc On This Holy Night has been previously released by él paired with Christmas with Chet Atkins.  This new two-for-one release adds six bonus tracks to the two albums: 1959's "Peek-a-Boo-Moon" featuring Atkins backed by the Kerr Singers, and five selections from 1962's SESAC set Sweet and Simple.  The booklet features liner notes about both artists as well as a 1972 essay from Leonard Feather.

Channel WestOver in the U.K., The Mike Sammes Singers were enjoying a profile comparable to that of The Anita Kerr Singers.  Mike Sammes (1928-2001) established his own vocal group out of the remains of his group The Coronets. With a core of Sammes, Valerie Bain, Marion Gay, Ross Gilmour and Enid Hurd, The Mike Sammes Singers featured on hundreds of British pop recordings in the 1950s and 1960s for an eclectic range of artists including Tommy Steele, Tom Jones, Frank Ifield, Peter Sellers, Alma Cogan, The Scaffold, and Engelbert Humperdinck.  They even scored their own hit in 1966 with the Dr. Zhivago theme "Somewhere My Love."  Such was their fame that when George Martin needed to add extra voices to a Beatles record - as on "I Am the Walrus" and "Good Night" - he called in the Sammes Singers.   Phil Spector did the same when he arranged "The Long and Winding Road" for a choir.  The Singers' reach was international, as well; among other projects, they notably recorded numerous projects for Disneyland Records.   The new él release Channel West brings together three albums featuring the Sammes Singers - two under their own name and one backing the orchestra of Johnny Gregory - along with one album from Gregory.

Disc One features bandleader Johnny Gregory's 1960 LP The TV Western Themes, on which The Mike Sammes Singers accompanied him on such perennials as "Bonanza," "Wagon Train" and "Rawhide."  It's joined by Gregory's 1961 The Avengers and Other TV Themes, widening the net beyond westerns to feature tunes like "Route 66," "Perry Mason" and of course, "The Avengers."  This disc is rounded out by The Mike Sammes Singers masquerading as The Knightsbridge Chorale ("The Eton Boating Song") as well as their own "Oh My Twisted Bach" and their appearance with Michael Holliday on "San Fernando Valley."

The second disc of this slipcased set begins with a couple of tracks from The Singers' 1958 EP Something We Eight and concludes with two 1961 tracks by Tony Hatch and the Singers: "Stork Talk" and "Til Autumn Comes."  In between are two complete LPs.  1959's The Melody Moves includes familiar songs from Rodgers and Hart ("Manhattan"), Duke Ellington ("I'm Beginning to See the Light") and Vernon Duke and John LaTouche ("Taking a Chance on Love") as well as a handful of traditional tunes and even
"The Little Drummer Boy."  1962's Let's Get Away from It All features Sammes' renditions of standards ("Softly as in a Morning Sunrise," "There Will Never Be Another You," "California, Here I Come"), recent hits ("Misty") and a pair of songs from recent Broadway smash Bye Bye Birdie ("Put on a Happy Face," "Baby, Talk to Me").  The booklet included in this set includes copious notes about both Sammes and Gregory; the discs are housed in mini-LP sleeves with the covers of The TV Western Themes and Let's Get Away from It All.

Both titles are made possible through current U.K. public domain laws, and both are available now at the links below!

The Anita Kerr Singers and Chet Atkins, Tender Words/The Amazing Chet Atkins (él  ACMEM296CD, 2015) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)

  1. Take Good Care of My Baby
  2. Tragedy
  3. I Love How You Love Me
  4. As Long as He Needs Me
  5. My Johnny is Gone (Wild Are the Rushes)
  6. Young Love
  7. Joey
  8. Come Softly to Me
  9. Too Young to Go Steady
  10. Why Don't They Understand
  11. Let It Be Me
  12. A Rose and a Baby Ruth
  13. Peek-a-Boo Moon
  14. Head Over Heels
  15. August Moon
  16. Don't Tease My Heart
  17. Saw Mill River Road
  18. Fascinating Melody
  19. It's About Time
  20. I Won't Cry Anymore
  21. A Great Love
  22. Delightful Interlude
  23. I Must Be Losing My Heart
  24. The Red Leaves of Autumn
  25. When It's Cherry Blossom Time
  26. Cold Winter Nights
  27. Coming Through the Rye
  28. Night Stand Still
  29. Too Many Times
  30. Hurry Home

Tracks 1-12 from The Anita Kerr Singers, Tender Words, RCA Victor LSP 2679, 1963
Track 13 from Chet Atkins and His Guitar, RCA Camden CAL 659, 1961
Tracks 14-25 from The Best Chet Yet/The Amazing Chet Atkins, SESAC transcription, 1957
Tracks 26-30 from The Anita Kerr Singers, Sweet and Simple, SESAC N 2607/08, 1962

The Mike Sammes Singers and Johnny Gregory, Channel West (él ACMEMD292CD, 2015) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)

CD 1

  1. Gunlaw (Gunsmoke)/Maverick
  2. Cheyenne
  3. Bronco
  4. Sugarfoot
  5. The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp
  6. High Noon
  7. The Deputy
  8. Gunlaw/Laramie
  9. Wagon Train
  10. Tales of Wells Fargo
  11. Rawhide
  12. (Take Me Back to My) Boots and Saddle
  13. The Last Round-Up
  14. Shane (The Call of the Faraway Hills)
  15. Bonanza
  16. Route 66
  17. Tightrope
  18. The Roaring '20s
  19. M-Squad
  20. Ghost Squad
  21. Suco-Suco (Theme from Top Secret)
  22. Perry Mason
  23. Maigret
  24. The Avengers
  25. Echo Four-Two
  26. 77 Sunset Strip
  27. Johnny Staccato
  28. The Eton Boating Song - The Knightsbridge Chorale
  29. San Fernando Valley - Michael Holliday
  30. Oh My Twisted Bach - The Mike Sammes Singers

CD 2

  1. Pick Yourself Up - The Mike Sammes Singers
  2. Somewhere Along the Way - The Mike Sammes Singers
  3. Put on a Happy Face
  4. Softly as in a Morning Sunrise
  5. Misty
  6. Spring, Spring, Spring
  7. Dreaming
  8. There Will Never Be Another You
  9. California, Here I Come
  10. Baby Talk to Me
  11. I'll Know
  12. Deep in a Dream
  13. Passing Breeze
  14. Let's Get Away from It All
  15. Taking a Chance on Love
  16. Nice to Know You Care
  17. O Can Ye Sew Cushions?
  18. It Was a Lover and His Lass
  19. Au Clair De La Silvery Moon
  20. The Little Drummer Boy
  21. Comin' Thru the Rye
  22. I Know That You Know
  23. Hi-Lili, Hi-Lo
  24. Love is Here to Stay
  25. Manhattan
  26. I'm Beginning to See the Light
  27. Stork Talk - The Mike Sammes Singers with Tony Hatch
  28. Til Autumn Comes - The Mike Sammes Singers with Tony Hatch

CD 1, Tracks 1-15 from Johnny Gregory and His Orchestra with the Mike Sammes Singers, The TV Western Themes, Fontana TFL 5110, 1960
CD 1, Tracks 16-27 from Johnny Gregory and His Orchestra, The Avengers and Other TV Themes, Wing WL 1087, 1961
CD 1, Track 28 from Top Rank single JAR 220, 1959
CD 1, Track 29 from Columbia EP SEG 8242, 1963
CD 1, Track 30 from Oriole single CB 1738, 1962
CD 2, Tracks 1-2 from Fontana EP TFE 17057, 1958
CD 2, Tracks 3-14 from Let's Get Away from It All, Fontana LP TFL 5182, 1962
CD 2, Tracks 15-26 from The Melody Moves, Fontana LP, 1959
CD 2, Tracks 27-28 from Pye single 7N 15395, 1961

Avatar photo

Joe Marchese

JOE MARCHESE (Editor) joined The Second Disc shortly after its launch in early 2010, and has since penned daily news and reviews about classic music of all genres. In 2015, Joe formed the Second Disc Records label. Celebrating the great songwriters, producers and artists who created the sound of American popular song, Second Disc Records, in conjunction with Real Gone Music, has released newly-curated collections produced by Joe from iconic artists such as Johnny Mathis, Bobby Darin, Laura Nyro, Melissa Manchester, Chet Atkins, and many others. He has contributed liner notes to reissues from a diverse array of artists, among them Nat "King" Cole, Paul Williams, Lesley Gore, Dusty Springfield, B.J. Thomas, The 5th Dimension, Burt Bacharach, The Mamas and the Papas, Carpenters, Perry Como, Rod McKuen, Doris Day, Jackie DeShannon, and Andy Williams, and has compiled releases for talents including Robert Goulet and Keith Allison of Paul Revere and the Raiders. Over the past two decades, Joe has also worked in a variety of capacities on and off Broadway as well as at some of the premier theatres in the U.S., including Lincoln Center Theater, George Street Playhouse, Paper Mill Playhouse, Long Wharf Theatre, and the York Theatre Company. He has felt privileged to work on productions alongside artists such as the late Jack Klugman, Eli Wallach, Arthur Laurents, Betty Comden and Adolph Green. In 2009, Joe began contributing theatre and music reviews to the print publication The Sondheim Review, and in 2012, he joined the staff of The Digital Bits as a regular contributor writing about film and television on DVD and Blu-ray. Joe currently resides in the suburbs of New York City.

Connect With Joe: FacebookTwitter

You Might Also Like

Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Terms and Conditions - Privacy Policy