Spinning My Dad’s Vinyl Frank Vaccariello

I’m not sure the person who gathered the music for this record understood what the assignment was. This is not at all what I expected the music to sound like after seeing the name of the album and the text on the cover.
I mean, who hasn’t enjoyed that Latin sound from Guy Lombardo, Billy May, Ray Anthony, and Joe Leahy? Good thing there’s a song by Sergio Mendez here to lend the recording some credibility.
The closest comparison I can come up with is that the music on this record is light and bouncy, quite like the Latin music my dad and I like so well.
So, get ready to hear music from the most inappropriately titled record in my dad's collection, so far, in Volume 179: Viva the Latin Beat.
More information about this album, see the Discogs webpage for it. 
Credits and copyrights
Various – Viva!Label: Creative Products – SL-6650, Capitol Records – SL-6650Series: The Capitol Stereo ShowcaseFormat: Vinyl, LP, Limited EditionReleased: not sure what year but sometime in the 1970s based off the Series name.Genre: Jazz, Latin, Pop
Billy May– Spanish FleaWritten-By – Cissy Wechter, Julius Wechter
Joe Leahy–LifeWritten-By – Joe Leahy, Mike Curb
Ray Anthony– Danke SchoenWritten-By – Bert Kaempfert, Kurt Schwabach, and Milt Gabler
Guy Lombardo– A BandaWritten-By – Chico Barque De Hollanda
Guy Lombardo– A Taste Of HoneyWritten-By – Bobby Scott, Ric Marlow
Sergio Mendes– Muito A VontadeWritten-By – João Donato
Joe Leahy– ArribaWritten-By – Joe Leahy, Mike Curb
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 an album I came across while looking for a specific artist for an earlier episode. I wasn’t familiar with some of the musicians and most of the music on this record. But it represents an interesting time frame in music. Sort of between bebop and rock and roll styles seeing the most spots on the charts. There’s also one country music star here as well. 
The artists I recognized I knew were deserving of having their names big and bold on the venue’s marquee in the late 1950s. 
So get ready to hear various bands play a variety of musical styles in Volume 178: Headliners.
More information about this album, see the Discogs webpage for it. 
Credits and copyrights
Various – The Headliners, Volume 2Label: Columbia Record Club – GB-9, Columbia – GB-9Format: Vinyl, LP, Club Edition, Limited Edition, Sampler, MonoReleased: 1961Genre: Jazz, Pop, Folk, World, & CountryStyle: Country, Vocal
"Limited Edition Available to Club Members Only"
Lester Lanin And His Orchestra–This Could Be The Start Of SomethingReleased on the B-side of Blue Tango Rock released in 1961 by Epic Records.song by Steve Allen, published in 1956. Yes, the Steve Allen who created the Tonight Show.
Johnny Cash–The Big Battle (cover only says The Battle)Written by Johnny Cash and released as a single on Columbia records in 1962.
The Miles Davis Sextet (Quintet)–Drad DogWritten by Miles Davis and appeared on his 1961 Columbia record Someday My Prince Will Come.
Dinah Washington– Somewhere Along The LineComposed by Dinah Washington, with lyrics by Dinah and Walter MerrickReleased in 1961 on the Mercury label record Unforgettable.
Jerry Murad's Harmonicats– Tuxedo Junction (A #1 hit for Glenn Miller in 1940)music was written by Erskine Hawkins, Bill Johnson, and Julian Dash in 1939.
The Dave Brubeck Quartet– Slow and Easy (Lawless Mike) The Lawless MikeWritten by Dave BrubeckThis song was found on the CD re-release of the 1961 Brubeck album Time Further Out. It was not on the original vinyl LP, but made its way into this collection.
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 the second record of a two disk set that spent as much time among my own records as it did my dad’s. There was a point where neither one of us remembered whose collection it actually belonged in. Like I’ve said in the past, my dad and I had similar taste in music.
The featured artist is just as much among my favorites as he was my dad’s. I still remember sitting in the Richfield Coliseum awestruck at what I was witnessing him do on the stage. And I witnessed that performance with my dad and my mom.
When we get done with this episode you’ll know why they called him Mr. Show Business.
So get ready to hear music written over the course of four decades and then rearranged for one of the best overall stage entertainers the world ever saw in Volume 177: Sammy Record 2.
More information about this album, see the Discogs webpage for it. 
Promised link to a story on Sammy's conversion to Judaism.
Promised link to research used in above story.
Credits and copyrights
Sammy Davis, Jr. – SammyLabel: Sessions (2) – ARI-1001Format: 2 x Vinyl, LP, CompilationReleased: 1976Genre: Jazz, PopStyle: Vocal, Swing
We'll hear 7 of the 13 songs from record 2.
Chicago (Toddling Town)written by Fred Fisher and published in 1922.Sammy recorded it live several times.
Go right into next songBirth Of The Bluescomposed in 1926 by Ray Henderson, with lyrics by Buddy DeSylva and Lew BrownIt was a song he recorded in 1955 for the album Starring Sammy Davis Jr.
You're Nobody Till Somebody Loves You written by Russ Morgan, Larry Stock, and James Cavanaugh and published in 1944.He recorded a studio version of that with Count Basie for the 1965 album Our Shining Hour
The Impossible Dreamcomposed by Mitch Leigh, with lyrics written by Joe Darion. Sammy recorded a version for the 1969 album The Goin' Great.
Exoduscomposed by Ernest Gold.This track was recorded sometime around 1972, and was never released on any of his official "albums", however it was also released in 1975 on this K-Tel LP entitled "The Sounds Of Sammy Davis Jr."
I've Gotta Be Mecomposed and written by Walter Marks in 1967Sammy Davis Jr. recorded the song in 1968, as the title track of Davis’ 1968 Reprise album.
Spinning WheelWritten by David Clayton-Thomas of Blood, Sweat & Tears in 1968.This was taken from his 1970 LP Something for Everyone.
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.

So, mom...your last mother's day was in 2015 just three weeks before you died.
In those nine years since, you have been dearly missed, thought of often and always toasted at family get-togethers.
I still use your recipes and even some of your kitchen tools to cook our meals. And your granddaughter still helps me make cavatelli and cassatelles. My kitchen always smells good. Almost like yours…sometimes.
Your memory is just as much a part of this record collection as dad’s. Because you were always telling me what you wanted to hear on the living room record player.
Mom…This episode is for you.
So get ready to hear a collection of Italian memories often played and definitely whistled around my house growing up with Volume 176: For Mama on Mothers Day.
More information about this album, see the Discogs webpage for it. 
Credits and copyrights
The Botticelli Family Singers – For Mama and Other Italian FavoritesLabel: Diplomat Records – D 2348Format: Vinyl, LPReleased: 1965Genre: Folk, World, & Country
We will hear 7 of the 11 songs from the album.
For Mamawritten by Charles Aznavour, Robert Gall
Funiculi Funiculawritten by Luigi Denza, Peppino Turco
O Mariean adaptation of an operatic tune called Maria Mari written by Eduardo di Capua and Vincenzo Russo.
Santa LuciaA traditional Italian song first recorded by Enrico Caruso in 1916
Stretti Stretti Vincenzo Di Chiara wrote the popular Italian song "La Spagnola", also known as "Stretti stretti, nell'estasi d'amor", in 1906. 
Torna a Surrientowritten by C. Chacón, Giambattista de Curtis, Ernesto de Curtis
Ciribiribinwritten by Alberto Pestalozza, Carlo Tiochet
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.

When you think of bebop and other improvisational jazz, your mind usually hears a trumpet or saxophone as the lead. We rarely think about that instrument with the long slide that makes some pretty funny sounds as taking on any serious solo work, because, the thinking went, there was no way to be as intricate with some of the fast solos in that type of jazz.
The trombone player you are about to hear proved them all wrong. And made a pretty good name for himself in that trumpet and sax dominated world. He is joined by three amazing big names from the era as well.
So get ready to hear the musician who brought the bone to bebop in Volume 175: JJ is Blue.
More information about this album, see the Discogs webpage for it. 
Promised link for arts.gov article. 
Credits and copyrights
J.J. Johnson – Blue TromboneLabel: Columbia – CL 1303Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, MonoReleased: 1959Genre: Jazz
We will hear 5 of the 7 songs on this album.
Hello, Young LoversWritten-By – Oscar Hammerstein II and Richard Rodgers Better known together as Rodgers & Hammerstein
What's NewWritten-By – Bob Haggart and Johnny Burke
Blue Trombone, Part 1Written-By – J.J. Johnson
Blue Trombone, Part 2Written-By – J.J. Johnson
100 ProofWritten-By – J.J. Johnson
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.

One of the box sets that goes almost ignored is on the bottom row of my dad’s collection. It has a somewhat misleading title, but it includes some of the most classic standards in music.
Once again, we have no record of the musicians, the arrangers, the conductor or conductors, just that the box set is part of a much larger series put out by a company who produced radio shows…and hocked watches.
The title definitely doesn’t prepare you for the instrumentation used to perform this classic music, but it definitely grows on you.
So, get ready to hear tunes originating from the roots of American music in Volume 174: Birth of the Blues Record 2.
More information about this album, see the Discogs webpage for it. 
Credits and copyrights
The Longines Symphonette – Birth Of The Blues - Vol. 11Label: Longines Symphonette Society – C-7-11 1Series: Our Century In Music – 11Format: 3 x Vinyl, LP Box SetCountry: CanadaReleased: 1974Genre: Blues
1974 Longines Society A Library of Memorable Hits from 1900 to the Present
We are listening to record two which is side C and D.
We will hear 6 of the 10 songs.
St. Louis Blues composed by W. C. Handy
Muskat Ramblewritten by Kid Ory
Jazz Me Bluesby Tom Delaney
Wabash Bluesarranged by Joseph E. Maddy
Blues in the Nightwritten by Harold Arlen
That's A Plentyby Lew Pollack
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.