Tuesday, March 18, 2014

Ted Heath And His Music - Big Band Blues

Title: Big Band Blues
Record Label: London
Catalog Number: LL 3125
Format: Vinyl, LP, Mono, Album
Country: U.S.A.
Year: 1960
Genre: Big Band


 


TRACKLISTING:
A-Side
A1 [4:45] St. Louis Blues
A2 [2:50] The Memphis Blues
A3 [2:25] Blues In The Night
A4 [2:30] Limehouse Blues
A5 [3:00] Basin Street Blues
A6 [2:15] Jazz Me Blues
B-Side
B1 [3:10] St James Infirmary
B2 [2:30] Tin Roof Blues
B3 [4:00] It's The Bluest Kind Of Blues My Baby Sings
B4 [3:10] Honky Tonk Train Blues
B5 [2:55] A Blues Serenade
B6 [3:00] Royal Garden Blues

Playing Time.........: 00:36:58

CREDITS:
Clarinet: Henry MacKenzie 
Piano: Stan Tracey
Soprano Saxophone: Ronnie Chamberlain
Tenor Saxophone: Bob Efford
Trombone: Don Lusher, Keith Christie
Trumpet: Eddie Blair

MATRIX NUMBERS:
A side center label: ARL.4435 LL.3125
B side center label: ARL.4436 LL.3125
A side run-out: ARL-4435-1A
B side run-out: ARL-4436-21A

LINER NOTES:
Ted Heath entered the music world 45 years ago when his father taught him the tenor horn. At seven Ted was playing in band contests and at 12 he switched to the trombone. Returning from service in World War I, Ted had a couple of lean years till his luck changed and Jack Hylton gave him a job. After this Ted worked his way through most of Britain's top bands and held the trombone chair on many record sessions with lop American stars.

In 1942 Ted became fired with the idea of having a band of his own. It all came about when he heard Glenn Miller's American Band of the AEF, then stationed in Britain. The forceful swing and full-bodied brass sound so fascinated him that he became determined to form a band which would play the kind of music he believed in.

Ted Heath and his Music were heard for the first time on a BBC broadcast in 1942, but not until the war ended could Ted really think about building up a regular orchestra. In 1945 the American trumpet player and arranger, Toots Camarata came to Britain as musical director of the film "London Town." Camarata commissioned Heath to provide the music for the film and in this way the band achieved a degree of permanence. When the film was completed Ted Heath's orchestra began touring and broadcasting regularly.

A small but fanatical following quickly sprang up; the band started coming top in the polls run by British musical papers; yet the music was still too advanced for most of the general public. But Ted refused to compromise; he preferred to wait for the public to catch up with his ideas. That they have now done so is reflected in the present-day sales of Ted Heath's records and the crowds which flock to see the band wherever it appears. And Ted Heath's music is just as popular on this side of the Atlantic as it is in Britain, as proved by the heavy demand for his records in the United States and the enormous success of his two American tours.

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