Live with the Mel-Tones, Vol. 1 (1998)

About this title: By the time most adult-pop listeners began hearing them, mixed-gender vocal choruses had become reprehensible white-bread smootheners and straighteners of every glorious imperfection and interpretation a solo vocalist could conjure. Before the '50s, though, the best vocal choruses were capable of tremendous harmonies, and the Mel-Tones were counted among the best (along with the Modernaires and Six Hits and a Miss). Led by Mel Tormé, and including a young Les Baxter, the group appears on a few Tormé compilations, but isn't featured very often. The first of a two-volume set from Mr. Music, ... read more

Tracks:

1. Fairmont College [Torme/Elliot]
2. You're Driving Me Crazy [Donaldson]
3. You're the Top [Porter]
4. That Old Black Magic [Arlen/Mercer]
5. When the Red, Red Robin Comes Bob, Bob, Bobbin' Along [Woods]
6. Everything Happens to Me [Adair/Dennis]
7. It's a Most Unusual Day [McHugh/Adamson]
8. Maybe You'll Be There [Bloom/Gallop]
9. Geometric Blues [Torme/Elliott]
10. The French Lesson [Comden/Edens/Green]
11. It's Dark on Observatory Hill [Burke/Spina]
12. I Got the Sun in the Morning [Berlin]
13. On a Slow Boat to China [Loesser]
14. Brahms' Lullaby [Brahms]
15. You're the Cream in My Coffee [Henderson/DeSylva]
16. I Gotta Right to Sing the Blues [Arlen/Koehler]
17. Mountain Greenery [Rodgers/Hart]
18. Here I'll Stay [Lerner/Weill]
19. Wish I May, Wish I Might [Blaine/Martin]

Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is further described below.