Side 1
1. Thoroughly Modern Millie
2. The Eyes Of Love
3. Music To Turn You On
4. This Is My Song
5. Casino Royale
6. Luzianne
Side 2
1. Tiger Rag
2. Somethin' Stupid
3. Music To Watch Girls By
4. Jimmy
5. Bourbon Street Parade
Liner Notes:
The simple, and simply delightful, fact about today's pop music scene is that there are any number of ways to turn one on. There are many ways, yes, but only a small fraction of talent on the contemporary music scene possesses the means to do so. Maybe the secret is not to let musical fads and fancies slip you by, for even the most seemingly harmless of new pop music approaches may hold the seed buds of greatness. The past decade or so has revealed as much, time and time again.
Pete Fountain, as this happy and romantic album bears out, is soundly tuned in to what is surely the most sophisticated pop music generation ever. That he is established as one of the foremost clarinet players of all time has in no way limited his outlook on what tomorrow may hold. In fact, the discipline inherent in his "classical" style adds new musical values to the free flow of ideas that is the mainstay of much of today's pop music.
Turning on with Pete has many levels of musical expression. The experience can involve a reshaping of Dixie thoroughbreds like Tiger Rag, Bourbon Street Parade and Luzianne into rhythmic stylings of the 60's-or, as is the main bill of fare here, dealing with fine tunes that were al-most written yesterday.
If you think you're hearing a famous father-and-daughter act, the Great Sinatras, doing their smash recording of Somethin' Stupid, it's because there's some ingenious mimicry in the form of a "duet" by Fountain & Fountain on the humorous, yet oddly touching number.
Lest you believe that turn-on, in the Fountain musical lexicon, be of a swingin' variety, listen to the sweet stars-in-your-eyes renditions, with a soft back-beat comment, of a collection of film songs, including This Is My Song, written by the talented Charles Chaplin, The Eyes Of Love, composed by Quincy Jones and Bob Russell, Jimmy by Jay Thompson. The latter tune, by the way, is heard in Thoroughly Modern Millie, whose title song by Sammy Cahn and Jimmy Van Heusen is the snappy start of this album. Another film item, Casino Royale, is a colorful creation from those rhythm masters of the Big Beat, Burt Bacharach and Hal David. Music To Watch Girls By was composed by Sid Ramin as a commercial for a diet drink, and Fountain's saucy beat tells why the public has been sold on it.
Pete and Charles Bud Dant, who arranged and produced this LP, teamed on the album's title song, certainly a one-of-those-ditties-you-can-never-forget.
Pete Fountain covers a lot of ground here. With an enormous talent and a where-it's-at philosophy, a common ground of uncommon pop music is the happy outcome!
IRV LICHTMAN
Cash Box Magazibe
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