Here’s another gem of a find from my dad’s collection. Not only is the album cover attention grabbing with five stuffed TIGERS playing various instruments. But how they’re the wrong animals according to the album title. Faulty album cover aside, this is true roots of dixieland music with a twist.

So get ready for a Sousa good time with Volume 142: Parading Bobcats.

Video Intro

Listen here or on my PodBean Podcast Episode page:

You can check out the video version here or on YouTube:

Credits and Copyrights:

See information from the Discogs.com page here

Bob Crosby And His Orchestra – Bobcats On Parade
Label: Coral – CRL 57061
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album
Released: 1957
Genre: Jazz
Style: Big Band

Washington Post March
Written by John Philip Sousa

King Cotton
Written by John Philip Sousa

Bobcats On Parade
written by George Cates and Sonny Burke

The Thunderer
Written by John Philip Sousa

High School Cadets
Written by John Philip Sousa

Semper Fidelis March
Written by John Philip Sousa

I do not own the rights to this music. ASCAP, BMI licenses provided by third-party platforms for music that is not under Public Domain.

This is the third of eight records my dad had of this orchestra leader. He was an innovator who used the voice as an instrument, not as a vocalist. The previous episode we featured Ray on is my most viewed on YouTube…by a lot! Let’s hope this one gets past the copyright police unlike the first time I featured this artist.

So get ready to hear a multi-million selling recording musical style in Volume 141: Conniff Memories.

Link to Ray Conniff Memorial website.

Video Intro

Listen here or on my PodBean Podcast Episode page:

You can check out the video version here or on YouTube:

Credits and Copyrights:

See information from the Discogs.com page here

Ray Conniff And His Orchestra & Chorus – Memories Are Made Of This
Label: Columbia – CL 1574
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Mono
Released: 1960
Genre: Jazz
Style: Big Band, Easy Listening

Memories Are Made Of This
Written by Richard Dehr, Frank Miller, Terry Gilkyson

Young Love
written by Carole Joyner, Ric Cartey

Love Letters In The Sand
Music written by J. Fred Coots

Three Coins In The Fountain
written by Sammy Cahn, Jule Styne

Unchained Melody
written by Hy Zaret, Alex North

Love Me Tender
written by Elvis Presley, Ken Darby, George Poulton, W.W. Fosdick

No Other Love
written by Oscar Hammerstein II, Richard Rodgers
Boy, we play a lot of their music on this show.

I do not own the rights to this music. ASCAP, BMI licenses provided by third-party platforms for music that is not under Public Domain.

Here’s another album in my dad’s collection that featured a group of jazz musicians recording an album before playing the same music on live TV days later. This time, the live TV show was a drama about a jazz trumpet player in the 1920s. Several of the musicians you’ll hear had speaking parts in the show as well as playing some great music.

So get ready to hear Ruby Braff as Spencer Lee playing mostly jazz standards in Volume 140: The Magic Horn.

Video Intro

Listen here or on my PodBean Podcast Episode page:

You can check out the video version here or on YouTube:

Credits and Copyrights:

See information from the Discogs.com page here

George Wein’s Dixie-Victors Featuring Ruby Braff – The Magic Horn
Label: RCA Victor – LPM-1332
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Mono
Released: 1956
Genre: Jazz, Stage & Screen
Style: Dixieland

We will hear 6 of the 9 tunes on this record.

Banjo – Danny Barker
Baritone Saxophone – Ernie Caceres
Bass – Milt Hinton
Clarinet – Bill Stegmeyer, Peanuts Hucko
Drums – Buzzy Drootin
Piano, Creative Director [Musical Director] – George Wein
Trombone – Vic Dickenson
Trumpet – Jimmy McPartland, Ruby Braff

Struttin’ With Some Barbecue
Written By – Louis Armstrong

The Magic Horn
Written By – Ben Ross

Loveless Love
Written By – W. C. Handy

A Monday Date
Written By – Carl Hines, Sid Robinc

On The Sunny Side Of The Street
Written By – Jimmy McHugh & Dorothy Fields

Dippermouth Blues
Written By – Joe Oliver, Louis Armstrong

I do not own the rights to this music. ASCAP, BMI licenses provided by third-party platforms for music that is not under Public Domain.

While my dad had a handful of polka records, I had at least heard of the songs and musicians on them. Not this one. In fact, I’ll have to use the album cover to…uh…cover the info I usually do on each episode. The internet not only had no idea who the band leader was, but had no idea who wrote any of the music. That doesn’t matter. This music always means there’s fun to be had.

So get ready to hear music that had its origins more than a century and a half ago in Volume 139: Party Polkas.

Video Intro

Listen here or on my PodBean Podcast Episode page:

You can check out the video version here or on YouTube:

Credits and Copyrights:

See information from the Discogs.com page here

Wally Mateck & His Polka Faces – Polkas For Parties
Label: Design Records (2) – DLP 34
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Mono
Country: US
Released: 1957
Genre: Folk, World, & Country
Style: Polka

Cover photo by Ed Moore

Coalbucket Polka
Kapoosta Polka
Pretty Polly Polka
Mama Daddy Polka
Pittsburg Polka
Dapper Dan Polka
Block Party Polka
Sligo Rock Polka

I do not own the rights to this music. ASCAP, BMI licenses provided by third-party platforms for music that is not under Public Domain.

Latin jazz, especially Cuban music, was wildly popular in the 1950s and my dad’s collection has plenty of examples of that. That popularity is partly because of the artist you are about to hear. He’s really known for his mambo recordings. This style of music is just a slower tempo. But not much slower.

So, get ready to hear The King of Latin Jazz in Volume 138: Cha Cha With Tito.

Video Intro

Listen here or on my PodBean Podcast Episode page:

You can check out the video version here or on YouTube:

Credits and Copyrights:

See information from the Discogs.com page here

Tito Puente And His Orchestra – Let’s Cha Cha With Tito Puente And His Orchestra
Label: RCA Victor – LPM-1392
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Mono, Indianapolis Pressing
Released: 1957
Genre: Latin
Style: Cha-Cha, Guajira

We will hear 6 of the 12 songs from the album.

Lindo Cha-Cha
Written by Tito Puente

Let’s Cha-Cha
Written by Ray Coen

Habanero
Written by Ray Coen

Just For You
Written by Johnny Conquet

Cha-Cha Fiesta
Written by Johnny Conquet

Cubarama
Written by Tito Puente

I do not own the rights to this music. ASCAP, BMI licenses provided by third-party platforms for music that is not under Public Domain.

We pull out the second of five records my dad has from this artist. His career started in the late 1930s and spanned almost three decades where he found success and recorded over 100 songs that became hits on the pop charts. So get ready for him to meander through some older hits in Volume 137: Nat is Ramblin’.

Video Intro

Listen here or on my PodBean Podcast Episode page:

You can check out the video version here:

Credits and Copyrights:

See information from the Discogs.com page here

Nat King Cole – Ramblin’ Rose
Label: Capitol Records – T 1793
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Mono, Scranton Pressing
Released: 1962
Genre: Pop, Folk, World, & Country
Style: Easy Listening, Country

It was also available in stereo.

We’ll hear 8 of the 12 songs on this record.

Ramblin’ Rose
Written-By – Joe Sherman, Noel Sherman

Wolverton Mountain
Written-By – Claude King, Merle Kilgore

He’ll Have To Go
Written-By – Audrey Allison, Joe Allison

When You’re Smiling
Written-By – Joe Goodwin, Larry Shay, and Mark Fisher

Goodnight, Irene, Goodnight
Written-By – Huddie Ledbetter, John A. Lomax

Your Cheatin’ Heart
Written-By – Hank Williams

Skip To My Lou
Arranged By – Edith Bergdahl, Nat King Cole
Written-By – Traditional

The Good Times
Written-By – Lee Porter, Ron Miller

I do not own the rights to this music. ASCAP, BMI licenses provided by third-party platforms for music that is not under Public Domain.