Label / Cat. No: PYE – NSPL41005
First Released: 1971

What The Album Blurb Says…

Every now and again in show-business an exciting piece of talent comes to the surface – it happened with Tom Jones and Barbra Streisand, but it doesn’t happen often.

Stars are not made by managers or impresarios, they are made by the public – sure, managers or agents recognise a star quality and then groom it, but most stars are there because of that contact with an audience, because they are selling the goods the public wants and because that public wants them as people.

I first saw Rostal and Schaefer perform to a live audience in Johannesburg; they were closing the first half of a bill I was appearing on. From my dressing-room I heard shouts from the auditorium of ‘encore!’ and ‘more!’ – it sounded sweeter than the music they had been playing. On this night I witnessed not one but two stars being born and to watch them blossom over the past twelve months has pleased me more than I can say.

No wonder they have been booked for television shows, concerts, and asked to record sounds like you have here on their first major disc.

Although in their early twenties, they have somehow packed twenty-odd years between them in practising at the keyboard – no wonder the powers that be decided to include them in the 1970 Royal Variety Show, some entertainers work a life time for this honour – they achieved it in twelve short months.

Fly away Peter, fly away Paul and keep delighting us with your magic. It is a privilege to have this record, almost a first edition, I shall treasure it.

Most sincerely, Max Bygraves.

What I Say

I bet that Paul Schaefer rues the day he met Peter Rostal. Fine, they share interests, they work together well, and conveniently enough, they both play the piano. But in the wake of ‘Peter, Paul and Mary’, Paul was only ever going to get second billing. ‘Paul, Peter & Pianos’ just sounds wrong, even though it’s in lovely alphabetical order. I bet Paul is still kicking himself that he didn’t change his name to something with three syllables – Francisco, maybe. Anything to make him stand out head and shoulders above Peter.

Yet it wasn’t to be. I notice that in later years they became known as ‘Rostal and Schaefer’ which is infinitely more exotic than ‘Peter & Paul’, but it means that Peter still gets top billing. The swine.

Max Bygraves seems to be pretty taken with these two young men. And who wouldn’t be? Look at the pair of them with their sensible haircuts and dinner jackets. Fashionable pink shirts, and bow-ties that you just know, you just know are made of velvet. The wry smile on Paul’s face, the confident ‘trust me’ grin on Peter’s. yes, these are clearly the kind of young men that you could take home to mother. And even when they’re not in their concert finest, they clearly know how to dress to impress.

Why, just look at them in their casual fineries. Cravats, Crew-necks and Crimplene trousers. What more could a girl ask for!

But I’m being unfair. Those were wonderful clothes in 1971 and I’m judging them harshly purely because fashions have changed. This is supposed to be all about the music. Ah! The music. I have a small confession to make – I recorded this album to review ages ago – months and months, and had the file kicking around. On listening to it this week, I loved the frantic, furious opening number – only to hear my past self go back and switch the album from 45 back to 33 1/3. It didn’t seem quite so lively after that. Bum. But still and excellent opener showing these two lively guys at their best. It has a bit of an Eastern European feel, Balkan possibly…. though of course, I could be talking out of the back of my head.

The rest of side one is an odd mix. Popular standards, arranged to show off the pianists virtuosity make this album the audio equivalent of a doily – all frills and fluff, but with little obvious purpose. I mean, you could put a cake on it I suppose, but what’s the point of that? And it would leave crumbs in the grooves.

Anyway…. I digress. Despite the knockabout between the two pianists, there’s no killer punch. The version of ‘Tonight’ from ‘West Side Story’ is actually an arrangement of the quintet (For once I know what I’m talking about – I was two (count ‘em, two) of the Jets in an amateur production in 1989, so I’m completely qualified and everything….) is artfully done, but has none of the aggression that the song should have.

Maybe that’s the point though – Paul and Peter (as I shall refer to them in an effort to restore the balance) aren’t in show-business to break new territory, or to threaten the Status Quo. Though that’s a fight I’d pay to see – Rostal & Schaefer vs Rossi & Parfitt. Hmmm… I feel a celebrity tag boxing blog coming on… where was I? Oh yes, they don’t offer anything new, but why should they. Like Max says, they give the public what they want.

And sometimes the public don’t know what they want. I went into this album thinking I was going to hate it. Pre-packaged, bland cover-versions, I thought. But if you don’t expect anything more from this album than a few nice tunes, then you won’t be disappointed. I mean, I doubt this is going to make it onto any playlist, but it’s pleasant enough. And for today (and probably only today), I’ll settle for ‘pleasant enough’.

This is someone called Jo Ann Castle playing Hejre Katy. It doesn’t get going until 1:47, but then…. blimey!

Tracks

Side 1

1. Hejre Kati (At 45 r.p.m. and switched to 33 1/3 r.p.m.)
2. Edelweiss
3. Tonight
4. Czardas
5. Yesterday
6. Malaguena

Side 2

1. Love Story
2. As Long As He Needs Me
3. Love Is Blue
4. Ritual Fire Dance
5. Clair De Lune
6. Bolero

Final score:

7 out of 10

Label / Cat. No: Sacred SAC 5061
First Released: 1972

What The Album Blurb Says…

For a number of years now Jim Roberts and Norma Zimmer have provided moments of unusual enjoyment for millions of Americans. In the world of pure entertainment, longevity is synonymous with popular response. Norma and Jim have been premier performers for many years now courtesy of us, the American people, and Lawrence Welk. Mr. Welk ultimately decides who the performers will be; we feel his choice is just right!

This is the third album by Norma and Jim. Their style of singing seems perfectly matched – it’s as comfortable as a pair of gloves. they blend beautifully singing some of the most popular gospel songs of the day – and some songs that are ageless. HIS NAME IS WONDERFUL is a favourite and is performed by mass choirs around the world. thank you Audrey Mieir, for the inspiration with which you’ve graced the world! I wonder how often BEYOND THE SUNSET has been sung, played, whistled, and used as a source of comfort since Virgil Brock first penned the lovely lyric some years ago. You will enjoy having this recording in your home.

The performances of hymns on TV by Jim and Norma have opened a door that has given many additional thousands an opportunity to hear them in person; in hymn festivals, in concerts, as solo performers in Billy Graham Crusades, and in churches everywhere.

the creative arrangements on this album are by Buryl Red. Mr. Red is gifted in many areas of music, one of which is the art of arranging. you will also hear his lovely song entitled HIS GENTLE LOOK.

KURT KAISER

What I Say

I know, I know. When I bought this album I had a tiny sliver of hope that this was going to actually be about somebody called ‘Wonderful’. You know, in the same vein as ‘A boy named Sue’. I mean, there are some unusual names about. I once knew someone called Zachariah Puddlechuck, and that would make a great name for an album – ‘His Name Is Zachariah Puddlechuck’. But no, with crushing inevitability, this turned out to be an album of Christian songs, extolling the virtue of some chap name of Jesus. Or Wonderful. I’m still not sure which.

The sleeve notes warrant a bit of a further look. Firstly, longevity is apparently synonymous with popular response, apparently. Well look at Cliff Richard for a start. He’s been around since the Pilgrim Fathers, and who wants to listen to his records? Oh yes, my Mother-in-Law. Alright then, maybe Jonathan King would be a better example. There’s a man who is pretty much universally unpopular but who won’t stop making his bloody songs.

Also, who is the Lawrence Welk character who stands head and shoulders above the American People then? Well, you can see for yourself, but seeing as this was released by London label, and I’ve managed to go 37 years without ever hearing his name even casually mentioned before, I’m prepared to stick my neck out and say that that’s going to be pretty meaningless to a lot of Brits. Apologies of course to all those people better informed and educated than I…

However, I am most concerned by the line ‘You will enjoy having this recording in your home’. Is it me, or does that sound more like a command than a recommendation. Maybe it’s the Teutonic tone of Kurt Kaiser’s comment that scare the living bewonderful out me, but I’m scared. I’m scared because I have that album in my home, and I didn’t (and don’t) enjoy it. Will Mr. Kaiser come round in the dead of night, drag me off, and leave me bound and gagged and listening to his sacred music compositions. I sincerely hope not.

The music sounds like a grown-up Elaine & Derek – a collection of sweet Christian tunes which all merge into one. I’ve always found that Christian music tends to err on the side of dull. Actually, there’s a challenge for you – are there any Christian music albums that won’t bore me to tears? A prize for anyone who can find one. Anyway, as I was saying, this album features 9 samey songs.

Ah, but I hear you cry, “but there are 10 songs on this album, surely”. Well, yes there are. Just as you think you can’t take any more sweetness, side two starts with ‘Sweet, Sweet Spirit’. This song has A COUNTRY TWANG. Not enough to be exciting or offensive, of course, but just enough to lift the tedium. It was at this point that I thought that this might yet have some saving grace – a sub-Carpenters kitsch that might just make this album worth something to me.

But it wasn’t to be.

All too quickly it sank back into the banal. I mean, yes, their voices are fine, the arrangements are a bit saccharine for my tastes and seem to my untrained ears to be somewhere between Andrew Lloyd Webber and Disney soundtracks. But it’s all soooooo bland.

There is however one very positive point about this album. It clocks in at just under 28 minutes. I tell you, I’ll never have that half hour back again, but I was far more in the mood after it to thank Wonderful, if only for not having made the album a double.

Tracks

Side 1

1. His Name Is Wonderful
2. Every Moment Of Every Day
3. He Lifted Me
4. When I Kneel Down To Pray
5. I Would Be Like Jesus

Side 2

1. Sweet, Sweet Spirit
2. His Gentle Look
3. Take Up Thy Cross
4. He Touched Me
5. Beyond The Sunset

Final score:

2 out of 10

Label / Cat. No: Parlophone PMC 1160
First Released: 1961

What The Album Blurb Says…

Fairly bursting with confidence and talent are Elaine and Derek Thompson, the thirteen-year-old twins from Belfast, who have been busy lately making a name for themselves with their records and television appearances.

Born on October 23, 1948, Derek is ten minutes older than Elaine – “and very proud of the fact,” says his mother. They both attend Belfast Modern School where everyone is very excited about their popularity and success: it appears that the only two calm people in the school are Elaine and Derek themselves!

“We’ve been singing since we were six years old,” says Elaine, who always takes charge of the situation, “at socials, parties and charity concerts, so I think this is why we don’t feel nervous about singing before large audiences and in recording studios. It’s Mum and Dad who suffer for us while we just get very excited. We don’t sing rock ‘n’ roll, but we enjoy listening to it – it amuses us. Gene Vincent is one of our favourite performers; we like the way he flings himself around the microphone on stage!”

At school the twins’ favourite subjects are French and algebra. They are not madly keen on sport, and all their spare time is taken up with singing. In fact they allow themselves little or no time to enjoy the hobbies and amusements that children usually like.

The twins were introduced to promoter Phil Raymond by a friend, when they were singing at a party one evening,. Raymond liked their voices and within a short time he booked them to appear at the Belfast Opera House with Gene Vincent and Emile Ford.

Recording manager Norman Newell was told about tht twins and flew to Belfast to hear them, with the result that they travelled to London and the E.M.I. studios to record their first disc for Parlophone Records – One Little Robin and Brahms’ Lullaby (45-R4783). This proved so popular that before long they returned to cut another single – Bluebird, coupled with Wooden Heart (45-R4829) – and this delightful LP of twelve children’s hymns, to the sensitive accompaniment of Michael Collins and his Orchestra.

What I Say

Hmmmm…. this album is rather like an onion. It has so many layers, and there’s something new to discover underneath, but all the layers are really the same, and it makes me cry when you cut it up, and it makes a delicious base for most savoury meals. OK, so I didn’t think out my metaphor very well before I started, but this album holds a few surprises, which aren’t at first apparent.

For example, as is my practice, I chose the album on the qualities of its cover alone. Although first released in 1961, the influence of the 50s is still clear to see, from the typeface used on their names, to the formal outfits and hairdos of the twins. Dereks frilly fronted shirt and hand-made slacks (see, always the slacks) provide a formal accompaniment to his sisters frilly, fussy party dress with faux-pearl buttons and sewn on corsage.

What I didn’t know when I picked up the album is that this is full of Children’s hymns. Twelve songs that are supposed to uplift and convince children of the glory of god. But is it really aimed for children? I have a sneaking suspicion that the market for this kind of album is the grannies of this world. I have a clear image of a grey haired granny settling down in her favourite armchair to listen to ‘those wonderful Irish children’ sing about Jesus. And it must’ve been a comfort, for in 1961 when this record was released, rock ‘n’ roll was shaking the foundations, but just so long as teenagers were singing about Jesus and not girls and cars, then there was hope for the future.

And this album has been well loved. Unlike most of the records that I pick up which are in pristine condition, this is worn and scratched, with jumps, pops and hisses all over it. Someone has played this album over and over again. Either that, or they hated it so much they’ve used it as a dinner plate…. but I’m sticking with my doting Granny theory.

I’m also surprised at how happy they both seem to be. If you’d asked me at thirteen to stand next to my sister to have my photo taken, let alone smile, or – horror of horrors – touch her, I would have sulked and made the most unattractive of photographs. But here we have true professionals. They both look happy, relaxed, almost like they like each other. That’s not normal in a teenager, is it?

Now, I know in my review of The Kaye Family that I suggested that there was something weird about families playing together, (although I did qualify that about it being weird across the generations), but there is one clear benefit of families singing together. I’ve heard it suggested that the reason why the Beach Boys, the Proclaimers and the Bee Gees do harmony so well, is because that they have similar physical vocal structures, as well as similar accents and similar tonality to their voices. Because they’ve grown up in the same environment, their voices sound very similar, and you end up with harmony not just of notes, but also of tone. (I am of course bluffing here, but don’t tell anyone…) The same applies here – the songs sound sweet because the two voices compliment each other very well.

That’s another thing. In a world where we are so used to our child stars being brash to the point of obnoxious, precocious and schmaltzy, the gentle sweetness of these two is quite refreshing. It’s not my kind of music at all, either in subject matter or musical style, but there is something very calming and gentle about the way they sing together which is unexpectedly lovely.

Derek tends to sing the lower parts (unsurprisingly) with a fairly linear melody, while Elaine tackles the more complex melody lines. It’s a traditional arrangement, but it works here. The songs I’ve picked for the clips are all much of a much – I just chose the ones I knew – there isn’t a great amount of variety in this album, it must be said.

I wonder how annoyed Derek was though, that although he is chronologically and alphabetically first, that his name came second in the billing. That must’ve hurt, though it does say clearly on the sleeve notes that Elaine is in charge. I wonder if she made that business decision.

But who’s laughing now, eh? For while Elaine has subsided into obscurity (I say that like I know – for all I know, Elaine could be a major star under another name….) Derek, the mighty Derek of Elaine and Derek grew up to be one of England’s favourite TV stars.

Yes, this was the biggest surprise that this album yielded for me. When I started doing my ‘research’ (assuming a bit of googling can be counted as research) for this album, I discovered that this album’s Derek is none other than…..

Charlie Fairhead off of Casualty. It really is. Look…. proof and everything.

HOW FANTASTIC IS THAT.

Tracks

Side 1

1. There’s A Friend For Little Children
2. O What Can Little Hands Do
3. When Mother Of Salem
4.How Great Thou Art
5. Standing Somewhere In Life’s Shadows
6.Jesus Loves Me

Side 2

1. Gentle Jesus Meek And Mild
2. Stranger Of Galilee
3.I Am So Glad That Jesus Loves Me
4. Who Is He In Yonder Stall
5. Jesus Tender Shepherd
6.Nearer My God To Thee

Final score:

7 out of 10

Label / Cat. No: Sacred SAC 5064
First Released: 1972

What The Album Blurb Says…

SOUNDS OF FRESH WATERS are exciting new sounds from Merv and Merla Watson, two remarkable musicians, well-trained and refreshingly creative. The music from this husband-wife team is a rare find in its up-to-date lyrics and original sounds that communicates with any audience.

Merv and Merla are not like some folk singers you’ve heard. They have a different drive, an unusual commitment to their music and its message. The songs they sing are a part of them, for they have spent many long hours in composing, scoring, searching for the right words to please their audiences across their native Canada and the United States.

Merla is accomplished as a vocalist, pianist and violist. In 1962 she toured the Middle East as soloist with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation concert party entertaining U.N. troops. Merv, outstanding with the guitar and accordion, is a graduate of the University of Toronto and has taught music in the Toronto schools. Together the two originated the idea of the Schoolhouse Concerts in Toronto to stimulate interest in the performing arts as a means of Christian witnessing.

The concert series met with immediate success, as did Merv and Merla, as they sang their own folk music at each concert. Recognition for the two came quickly and they began touring with their folk-gospel music, receiving acclaim for their ability. Audiences everywhere responded enthusiastically to their music that moves naturally, uninhibited by tradition or boundaries.

This album is their finest work, sounds and feelings that are jubilant, some haunting in the contemplation of God, others crystal clear in lyric, all fresh and new, a symbol of their faith.

What I Say

I don’t think I’ve ever met or known of anyone called Merla. To my 30something English ears, there’s a certain exotic ring to the name. It conjures up 1950’s mid-west diners, gingham and bitter coffee. For all I know, it could have the same connotations as ‘Doris’ or ‘Mabel’ over here, but there is a certain glamour I can’t help but imagine.

The picture of Merla in a very 1972 dress with her racy gold shoes does nothing to dim my excitement. The only thing that can do that is to listen to the album.

I know that the job of the album blurb is to sell the album to the casual record browser, but you can’t help but wonder how they can promise so much and yet deliver so little. In the case of Merv and Merla, I had considered a line by line breakdown of their claims against the reality, but I can feel a rant coming on, and would need a couple of aspirin and a good long lie-down if I went down that route.

But there are four key issues that I think do need to be addressed:-

1. The up-to-date lyrics reflect a two-millenia old system of religious beliefs. Not the most up-to-date now, is it?
2. Communicates with any audience? Surely that’s the point of an audience, or am I missing something here?
3. Merla is “accomplished as a vocalist, pianist and violist”. So why picture her on the album cover holding a guitar, an instrument which you seem to be saying she wields with all the grace of a lump-hammer?
4. Merv is a graduate of the University of Toronto is he? In what subject? Zoology? Physics? What?

One other thing that bugs me is that poor Merla is relegated into second billing, even though alphabetically her name comes first, just. Is poor Merla just another victim of the misogyny of patriarchal society, or does ‘Merv and Merla’ just sound better than ‘Merla and Merv’? You decide.

The music itself is an odd blend. The album starts with a guitar sounding like a harpsichord, which leads into liturgical-influenced melody. It seems to be tripping over itself, but never quite falls.

At times this album conjured up 1960s Leonard Cohen (that’ll be the folk element then), and at other times, it reminded me of the soundtrack from ‘Hair’ (though being Christians, I kind of doubt that Merv and Merla would be cavorting naked, covered in body paint during their “Schoolhouse Concerts”.) Some of it was quite Jewish in its influences, and it was only subsequently that I found out that Merv and Merla now reside in Israel.

There’s talk on that site of ‘Merla’s Miracle’, a book detailing how Merla defied the surgeon’s predictions after a ‘bizarre’ accident where a piano crushed her hand, and in fact did play professionally again. You will of course be pleased to know that in the cause of furthering my knowledge of the artists I present to you here, I have tracked down and purchased a copy of ‘Merla’s Miracle’, and I will of course let you know in due course what the book’s like.

The most bizarre track however is ‘The Time of The Singing Of The Birds’ in which Merv and Merla whoop, holler and tweet like a pair of demented magpies. Sadly this track jumps on my copy, meaning I can’t present it in it’s fullness. But thanks to the wonder and diversity of YouTube, I found that someone had used it to enhance some video of some birds.

So ladies and gentlemen, kick back, relax, and enjoy the freakish sound of Merv and Merla.

Tracks

Side 1

1.O Sing A New Song
2. Consider Him
3.The Time Of The Singing Of The Birds
4. Miracles
5.Hear My Prayer
6.Just Before Midnight

Side 2

1. I Will Sing
2. The Lord Is My Shepherd
3.It’s Gotta Be Great
4. In The Night
5. The Seed Of Joy
6. Grace Be To You And You

Final score:

5.75 out of 10

Label / Cat. No: Telstar STAR 2293
First Released: 1986

What The Album Blurb Says…

None, sadly. I’ve never thought about why or when the sales pitch on the back of record sleeves declined, but I doubt you’d find many from about 1983 onwards. Are we too knowing now to be swayed by hyperbole from paid critics? Is music so compartmentalised into tiny sub-divisions of genre that we can’t just buy a ‘jazz’ album or a ‘swing’ album, and have a fair chance of enjoying it?

Or was it simply that people got wise to the fact that the glowing praise plastered across the back of almost every album bore little or no relation to the contents of the disc?

Maybe my new year resolution should be to form a pressure group to advocate the reinstatement of album blurb.

Or maybe not.

What I Say

Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear. I had really wanted to enjoy this album. After all, I do have a real affection for Chas & Dave. And Christmas. I quite like Christmas too. Put them together, and you should have a winner, and yet this combination is so much less than the sum of its parts.

As far as I can make out, there are three elements that should make up this record. The Cockney musical stylings of Messrs Charles and David, the traditional brass ensemble of the Cambridge Heath Salvation Army Band, and a number of good old fashioned carols. Put them together in any combination and you’re onto a sure fire, 24-carat gold winner. Surely there can be no doubt, and yet…

This is probably best explained through the medium of the Venn diagram. Allow me, if you will…

What saddens me is that this is a missed opportunity, a fudge if you will. Chas & Dave are (despite initial impressions) talented musicians. After all, Chas was taught to play piano by Jerry Lee Lewis. They’ve been sampled by Eminem, and covered by Tori Amos on more than one occasion. These boys have the potential to compete at a world-class standard. Their ‘Cockney Rock’ or ‘Rockney’ as I believe they call it, is a distinct style which deserves its place in the English Folk-Music pantheon.

But this isn’t a ‘Rockney’ album. It’s a Salvation Army album with a bit of Dave’s Bass Guitar over the top of traditional brass band arrangements, and a bit of pub-rock drumming for good measure. Nothing more.

I suppose that Chas & Dave fans would buy the album because it’s got Chas & Dave on it, and Salvation Army fanatics (of which I’m sure there must be a few, though I wouldn’t like to imagine Salvation Army Band groupies) won’t be too alarmed by what is a fairly traditional Carol with Chas Hodges gruff vocals replacing those of the more traditional angelic choirboy. If it came to punch up, my money would be on Chas & Dave over Aled Jones any day.

This is not to say that there isn’t some value in this album. Firstly, I’m intrigued by the cartoon character cover. This isn’t the only Chas & Dave album that’s been done in cartoon style. Was this part of a mid-80s ploy to try and create a Chas & Dave animated series? Can you imagine how redundant the Simpson’s would have been had we been graced with ‘The Adventures of Chas & Dave’? It’s not too late, people. Together we can make this happen.

And there are moments of sheer oddity – Chas & Dave, the beer-swilling terrors of the East End singing medieval yuletide songs? Listen to Coventry Carol, and you’ll see what I mean – we’re only short of a couple of ‘Hey Nonny Nonnies’ and we’d be laughing. And that gives me an idea. ‘The Time Travelling Adventures of Chas & Dave’. It would be like Dr. Who, but with a pair of lovable Cockneys, solving problems through time and space with a knees-up round the old joanna. Really. Write to the BBC and demand that your license fee is used to commission this programme.

And just once or twice you can tell the boys are just itching to bash the piano keys and stomp their feet. The bass gets a bit more twitchy, Chas’ vocals start to run away with him, but we never quite achieve the breakthrough. The first part of ‘Good Christian Men Rejoice’ is pure Chas & Dave, and it works precisely because the Salvation Army keep their horns shut. When they do come in, they’re so low in the mix, I can’t help but wonder if the sound engineer on this album shared my misgivings. I was waiting for ‘The Rocking Carol’ to really see the boys let their hair down, but sadly it’s just a Carol with the refrain ‘We will rock you, rock you, rock you’ referring to the baby Jesus, rather than in a Queen way.

But my favourite part of the whole album is the very last song, ‘We Three Kings’. During the introduction, I’m pretty sure the drummer is so distracted, that he’s actually playing ‘Delilah’ by Tom Jones. Listen to it – you’ll see exactly what I mean. But it’s a shame I had to listen through 21 poor songs to find that gem.

So, a missed opportunity all round. Sad, but probably predictable. Which pretty much sums me up too!

And as an extra treat (and by way of an education to my overseas readers who probably don’t have the first clue what I’m blithering about), please find below a master-class in the Cockney style of music. Merry Christmas Everyone.

Tracks

Side 1

1. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
2. Unto Us A Child Is Born
3. While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks
4. Long Long Ago
5. Good King Wenceslas Looked Out
6. Coventry Carol
7. Wassail Song
8. O Little Town Of Bethlehem
9. Hark The Herald Angels Sing
10. Good Christian Men Rejoice

11. Silent Night

Side 2

1. O Come All Ye Faithful
2. See Amid The Winter Snow
3. Yes Jesus Loves Me
4. It Came Upon The Midnight Clear
5. The Rocking Carol
6. In The Bleak Midwinter
7. The First Noel
8. Once In Royal David City
9. Away In A Manger
10. We Three Kings

Final score:

4 out of 10

Label / Cat. No: Hallmark Records HMA 230
First Released: Sometime After 1963

What The Album Blurb Says…

Comfortable. At first glance it doesn’t seem the ideal word to sum up the sound of Miki and Griff, but listen a little closer to the kind of songs that they sing to the way in which they’re presented and you may, after all, find it a rather apt appraisal.

They’re comfortable because everything that they do vocally is easy on the ear and has a warm and friendly approach, rather like the greeting of an old and much loved friend. It’s an approach that this two-some have found success with ever since they teamed up and began delighting stage and television audiences. And in the late 1950’s they began to find recording success, notably with “Little Bitty Tear” which, despite the formidable competition offered by Burl Ives, gave the couple a solid chart hit.

This collection of songs encompasses titles that Miki and Griff fans know and love. “Vaya Con Dios” “Can’t stop loving you” “Tennessee Waltz” and “Hold back tomorrow” are the sorty of songs we expect Miki and Griff to sing and because they perform them so delightfully and with their own natural charm, listening is, well… comfortable?

What I Say

I had no idea that there was an English country movement in the late 50s. However, I should have guessed – growing up in Suffolk in the 70s, where the populace was 20 years behind the times, the proliferation of Country bands (I’m told I mustn’t call it Country & Western) should have been a giveaway.

I’d also never heard of Miki and Griff, but the album cover just oozed drew me in. The slightly older lady with pearl necklace (ooer missus) and very 50s dress sitting on a mock stile while a slightly leering gentleman in acryclic cardigan and a side parting you could use as a set square leans in in a vaguely threatening way is classic charity shop record cover. There’s even the kind of toy cat that causes nightmares in over-sensitive children lurking between the happy couple.

The music? Well, the music is incidental – I could look at these two all day, but the assessment of ‘comfortable’ is one I’d go along with. If only because all the tunes seem vaguely familiar. The title track, which opens the album, is just a distillation of every country-lite tune you’ve ever heard. The steel guitar is understated, and you can just feel the guitarist wanted to break out and wail all over it. Rockin’ Alone tells a sad story of geriatric abuse, and in what was obviously a more innocent time, Griff (and I am assuming Griff is the male in this partnership) says he knows of some teenagers who would love to have an old lady like this to look after, as if she were their own granny. These days the teens would nick her pension to spend on cider. Probably. Yes, yes, I know there are some perfectly lovely teenagers out there, before anyone starts complaining. Which is unlikely, really, seeing as nobody reads this yet. Or possibly ever….

Anyway, yes, so the tunes continue. Vaya Con Dios…. well, it probably sounded exotic in 1962. I don’t speak Spanish, so for all I know it could mean “take twice daily with food”. I don’t remember what ‘I can’t stop loving you’ was like, and ‘The Tears Break Out On Me’ is a maudlin tale, comparing crying to some kind of nasty rash. What where they thinking.

I have to admit that my mind wandered by the time I got to Side 2, mainly because it was all so samey. There were moments where you could just tell that Miki & Griff wanted to rock out a little more, let rip, scare the older generation. This is evident by the Chas & Dave style chorus in Crystal Chandeliers. But thankfully they managed to just about keep a lid on things, and their light country stylings won out.

So in short, probably what you expect from the cover. Inoffensive British take on American country music. Comfortable? Like a pair of tweed slippers. But perhaps ‘Predictable’ is a better word for it.

Tracks

Side 1

A Little Bitty Tear
Rockin’ Alone (In An Old Rocking Chair)
Vaya Con Dios
I Can’t Stop Loving You
The Tears Break Out On Me

Side 2

Tennessee Waltz
Crystal Chandelier
Hold Back Tomorrow
I Want To Stay Here
Have I Stayed Away Too Long

Final Score

6 out of 10