Deke Sharon : Natural Woman (Collection) SSAA

A selection of standards arranged by Deke Sharon and Anne Raugh from the popular CASA songbook series. Women's arrangements - especially interesting ones - are in very short supply. That's why we're very pleased to offer this songbook. Many old standards are here, plus there are a few more challenging contemporary pieces.

Songlist: A Natural Woman, It's My Party, Leader of the Pack, Lollipop, Mister Sandman, O Canada!, One Fine Day, Sweet Dreams, The Boy from New York City, The Star Spangled Banner

Voicing: SSAA | 1013b | Songbook | $13.95 | A Cappella

The 1950's were the golden age for the close harmony girl groups with many of them enjoying top pop hits and regular TV appearances. Many of the female harmony groups of today owe much to these early pioneers and this collection of songs are some of the finest of the era. Includes number one hits from the Andrews Sister, McGuire Sisters and the Chordettes. With piano accompaniment.

Songlist: Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy, Mister Sandman, Lollipop, Sugartime, Sincerely

Billing themselves as "800 pounds of harmony," Chillicothe, Illinois' Big Four became Sweet Adelines Quartette Champs in 1953. Fine singers and entertainers, they appeared on tv with Jack Paar, Steve Allen, Arthur Godfrey and Dave Garraway of the "Today Show" to name just a few. This CD is a remastered album they recorded in 1958, plus several cuts gleaned from live shows. The Big Four are Bertha Bradley, bass, Sarah LeMaster, baritone, Inez "Junior" Thompson, lead, and Lucille Miller and Mary Waters sharing the tenor duties. There are 14 studio recordings and 7 electrifying live performances here. By the pound or by any other measure, this is Entertainment!

Songlist: Coney Island Washboard, Nevertheless, All Dressed Up With A Broken Heart, Mobile, What Happened To My Home Town, Mister Sandman, You Must Have Been A Beautiful Baby, If I Had My life To Live Over, Hello My Baby, Huggin' And A Chalkin', Pale Potomac Moon, Alexanders's Ragtime Band, It's A Sin To Tell A Lie, A Good Man Is Hard To Find, LIVE PERFORMANCES, Texas Home, Cotten Fields, Does Your Chewing Gum Lose Its Flavor, My Baby And A Ragtime Band, Lida Rose, We Must Have Been Beautiful Babies, Waiting For The Robert E. Lee

The Chordettes : Fabulous Chordettes   

The Chordettes were one of the most successful female groups of the vintage era. After their selection, in 1949, for the Arthur Godfrey talent program, they recorded a series of albums, first for Columbia, and then for Cadence. "The Fabulous Chordettes" is a selection from this later period ('54-'61), and includes their first big hit, "Mr. Sandman,", "Lollipops," "Just Between You And Me," and nine others (accompanied, but reticently). Their vocal style and arrangements, though not strictly vertical, were definitely influenced by barbershop theory. Many of the cuts are mono - the digital master was transferred from the original analog recordings.

Songlist: Lollipop, Born To Be With You, Eddie My Love, The Wedding, Mister Sandman, Teenage Goodnight, Just Between You And Me, Soft Sands, Zorro, No Other Arms, No Other Lips, Lay Down Your Arms, Never On Sunday

Anyone who appreciates fine harmony singing will find pleasure and treasure in this new budget priced collection by the Chordettes, America's top female group of the 50s. With their imaginative vocal arrangements, their pure a cappella barbershop versions of standards and their surprisingly effective teen-orientated rock'n'roll, the Chordettes' often breath-taking harmonies lines still have the power to entrance.

Songlist: Born To Be With You, Lollipop, Mister Sandman, Eddie My Love, True Love Goes On And On, Just Between You And Me, Lonely Lips, Photographs, In The Deep Blue Sea, No Wheels, Lay Down Your Arms, A Girls Work Is Never Done, Humming Bird, Lonely Boy, Tall Paul, To Know Him Is To Love Him, Baby Come A Back A, No Other Arms, No Other Lips, Love Is A Two Way Street, Teenage Goodnight

Flirtations, The : Three   

This is the third and, it turns out, final recording of the Flirtations. Through twists and turns, some tragic, some joyful the remaining two Flirts are Jon Arterton and Jimmy Rutland who are joined by the first female Flirt, Suede who adds a jazz edge to the repertoire. Rather than the rollicking "out there" presentations of the first two albums this one is beautiful, sensitive and introspective. The humor is thoughtful, rather than burlesque. The three voices complement one another marvelously well as they create a sung testimonial to the human spirit.

Songlist: Food Chain, Breaths, Time After Time, Sister, Fun, Fun, Fun, On Children, Do Not Turn Away, Something To Talk About, Mister Sandman, Life Is Eternal, Can't Turn Back, Think, Everything Possible, We Shall Be Free

A pair of Philadelphia boys, Al Alberts and Dave Mahoney, finding themselves in the North Atlantic in the Navy in WWII, killed time by singing together. Joining two more local boys, Rosario and Louis, they formed the Four Aces, following in the footsteps of the Ames Brothers. Their first hit was "(It's No) Sin," which was shopped to no avail to New York record companies, and finally released by Al, who started his own record company, Victoria Records, to do it. The song peaked on Billboard's charts at #4 in 1951, and the Aces were quickly signed by Decca. The group-written "Tell Me Why," "A Garden in the Rain," "Perfidia," "I'm Yours" and "Heart and Soul" were next to climb high on the charts. Appearing frequently on TV, Aces singles "La Rosita," "Just Squeeze Me," "Laughing on the Outside" and "The Gang that Sang (Heart of My Heart)" were among 8 of the group's hits in 1952. "Stranger in Paradise" went to #2 on the charts, which the Aces finally topped with the theme from the movie "Three Coins in a Fountain." Popular hits "Dream" and "So Long," followed, and "Mr. Sandman" and "Melody of Love" scored in Billboard's top five before the floodgates of Rock 'n Roll opened in 1955, and even that year the Aces had another chart-topper with "Love is a Many Splendored Thing." Here is a fabulous 3 CD box set collection of all their greatest hits.

Songlist: (It's No) Sin, Tell Me Why, A Garden In The Rain, Perfidia, You Brought Me Love, Two Little Kisses, Whose To Blame, I'm Yours, I Understand, Should I, Heart and Soul, Just Squeeze Me (But Don't Tease Me), La Rosita, Take Me In Your Arms, I'll Never Smile Again, You Fooled Me, If You Take My Heart Away, Organ Grinder's Swing, Honey In The Horn, False Love, Don't Forget Me, Laughing On The Outside (Crying On The Inside), Stranger In Paradise, The Gang That Sang, Amor, So Long, Let's Fall In Love, Three Coins In The Fountain, Wedding Bells (Are Breaking Up That Old Gang Of Mine), Dream, and more

Close harmony groups, such as the Four Freshmen and Four Aces, were quite viable commercially, before the advent of rock and roll made so many of them redundant. Such was the case with the Four Aces, who had over thirty top forty hits before 1958. Many of the songs on this "Greatest Hits" CD were from these hit singles, and include such classic compositions as "Should I" "Perfidia" and "Melody Of Love, " which had been popularized decades earlier. Showy orchestrations compliment the confident lead of Al Alberts and the harmonies of his emphatic cohorts, who had evolved into a tight and effective unit.

Songlist: Tell Me Why, Perfidia, Three Coins In The Fountain, A Garden In The Rain, You Brought Me Love, (It's No) Sin, Heart and Soul, I' m Yours, I Understand, Stranger In Paradise, The Gang That Sang "Heart Of My Heart", Should I, Love Is A Many Splendored Thing, Heart, It's A Woman's World, Melody Of Love, Mister Sandman

Brittany, Tenor, age 14; Mary, Bass, age 15; Mia, Lead, age 14 and Caitlin, Baritone, age 17 are lovely, casually dressed and very young-looking (2 of them still have braces) in a photograph on the front of the one-page liner notes of their debut CD, "Moments to Remember." On the photo on the back, they look much more mature, nicely coifed and wearing matching gowns, earrings and, oh yeah, Sweet Adelines medals around their necks. On July 22nd Sweet Adelines held their 2005 "Rising Star Quartet Contest," for groups age 25 or younger, in Greenville, South Carolina, and Sunnyvale, CA's UnderAge took the Gold! "Moments" is an impressive first CD, with 11 excellent covers, some favorites: "Whatever Happened to the Old Songs," "Mister Sandman," "This Little Piggy Went to Market," the title tune, "One Fine Day," "Java Jive," "Sentimental Journey" and the final cut, Billy Joel's "And So It Goes." We think it's a very good move on Sweet Adelines' part to encourage younger singers, and we expect great things of UnderAge!

Songlist: Whatever Happened To The Old Songs, Will It Be Me This Time, Mister Sandman, This Little Piggy Went To The Market, The Moment I Saw Those Eyes, Moments To Remember, One Fine Day, Java Jive, When I'm Sixty-Four, Sentimental Journey, And So It Goes