FS/FT: Singers Unlimited - Magic Voices (7 CD box set on MPS)

[felser]

7 CD set contains 14 albums, great condition.  $60 shipped in USA or mutually beneficial trade.  PM if interested, thanks,

[Larry Kart]

Shoot-- I already have 4 CDs of this set. Otherwise, I'd be your man.

[Teasing the Korean]

I am tempted.

[felser]

1 hour ago, Teasing the Korean said:

I am tempted.

Right up your alley, perfect music for  sipping adult beverages and chilling with Mrs. TTK.

[Teasing the Korean]

2 hours ago, felser said:

Right up your alley, perfect music for  sipping adult beverages and chilling with Mrs. TTK.

Oh, I know.  I have probably 10 of these on LP already.  Just trying to figure out if I really need them on CD.

EDIT:  Make that 11 LPs.

Edited March 15, 2023 by Teasing the Korean

[Gheorghe]

I have "In Tune" where they sing together with the Oscar Peterson trio. 

[JSngry]

Anybody who engages with the harmony of standards needs to be aware of the SU a capella records. 

[Teasing the Korean]

2 minutes ago, JSngry said:

Anybody who engages with the harmony of standards needs to be aware of the SU a capella records. 

I always felt that in Singers Unlimited, Puerling was moving away from more traditional functional jazz harmony and acknowledging vocal arrangers such as Brian Wilson.  There is marked difference between these arrangements and those of the Hi-Los.

[JSngry]

I love Brian Wilson, but he did not have the grasp of "advanced" harmony that Puerling did. 

[Teasing the Korean]

3 minutes ago, JSngry said:

I love Brian Wilson, but he did not have the grasp of "advanced" harmony that Puerling did. 

That doesn't mean Puerling wasn't influenced by Brian specifically or what was going on in rock/post-Beatles pop more generally.  Clark Burroughs appears on a Brian Wilson tribute album, so singers in Puerling's orbit were aware.

[felser]

4 minutes ago, Teasing the Korean said:

That doesn't mean Puerling wasn't influenced by Brian specifically or what was going on in rock/post-Beatles pop more generally.  Clark Burroughs appears on a Brian Wilson tribute album, so singers in Puerling's orbit were aware.

SU did a fair number of Beatles covers on these discs.  Also Joni Mitchell, Judy Collins, and others.  BTW, listed the set on Ebay yesterday, will remove it from availability here if it gets bid on there.  If someone here wants it before it is bid on there, I'll then remove the ebay listing.

[Teasing the Korean]

1 minute ago, felser said:

BTW, listed the set on Ebay yesterday, will remove it from availability here if it gets bid on there.  If someone here wants it before it is bid on there, I'll then remove the ebay listing.

Thanks for the update.  I did think about it, but with other expenses and 11 SU LPs, it felt like an extravagance.  Great way to get all of this music quickly and inexpensively, though!

Puerling must have been very aware of the Carpenters also.  This track could easily fit on one of their albums, although Bonnie, much as I love her, is a better group singer than a soloist. Incidentally, I include this track on my early 70s Jesus freak/ecology/solar energy/new beginnings compilation.

 

[JSngry]

Clark Burroughs did some/a lot of vocal arrangements for/with The Association.

So sure, both him and Puerling were aware of the younger groups. But Puerling was aware of a LOT of musical things that they were not. Musical knowledges that had nothing to do with cultural trends or other extra-musical considerations.

There is no substitute for skills, no substitute for knowledge, no substitute for knowing. The more you know, the more you can do.

Or not do. But knowing gives you the freedom to choose. 

[Teasing the Korean]

16 minutes ago, JSngry said:

But Puerling was aware of a LOT of musical things that they were not. Musical knowledges that had nothing to do with cultural trends or other extra-musical considerations.

I complete agree about the music knowledge part, but Puerling was following trends with the Singers Unlimited, which is one of the reasons I love them.  As you know, I prefer "rock" music as interpreted by aging jazz and easy listening artists. 

Edited March 17, 2023 by Teasing the Korean

[JSngry]

Easy listening, eh? 

[Teasing the Korean]

28 minutes ago, JSngry said:

Easy listening, eh? 

Over the original versions by rock "artists"?  90% of the time.  There are exceptions.

I hope this conversation is generating interest in this box set for felser!

Edited March 17, 2023 by Teasing the Korean

[JSngry]

They did some silly records, sure. Pat Williams and Boss Brass and Oscar Peterson have me every time.

But the only thing easy about the other stuff is the exterior. Inside od like you thought it was cotton candy but it's actually serrano salsa.

I can use any number of their tracks as case studies for my premise that most people really don't know what they're listening to. They know how it makes them "feel" but that's about it.

 

[Larry Kart]

4 minutes ago, JSngry said:

They did some silly records, sure. Pat Williams and Boss Brass and Oscar Peterson have me every time.

But the only thing easy about the other stuff is the exterior. Inside od like you thought it was cotton candy but it's actually serrano salsa.

I can use any number of their tracks as case studies for my premise that most people really don't know what they're listening to. They know how it makes them "feel" but that's about it.

 

There are more than a few tracks that make me curl my toes in delight and awe. "The More I See You" is one that I recall.

Wish they could have recorded Morton Feldman's "Rothko Chapel."

[Teasing the Korean]

I find that I am less interested in particular albums by Singers Unlimited than I am by particular songs they sing.  While Gene Puerling's aesthetics with the Hi-Los were very much reflective of and applicable to Great American Songbook stuff, I find that his aesthetics with Singers Unlimited are much more aligned with what I would call the 60s-70s international jet set aesthetic, which would include that songs by composers such as Jobim, Legrand, Bacharach, Webb, Hatch, Lennon/McCartney, Paul Williams, and others.  The kind of set list that would comprise an Astrud Gilberto or Claudine Longet album.  One of the reasons I was tempted to get this box set is that digitally, I can sequence my own ideal Singers Unlimited albums.  With the LPs, I have to skip around a lot.

Edited March 17, 2023 by Teasing the Korean

[JSngry]

1 hour ago, Teasing the Korean said:

...While Gene Puerling's aesthetics with the Hi-Los were very much reflective of and applicable to Great American Songbook stuff... 

Hmmm...

 

[felser]

BTW, item sold to a board member here, thanks.

[Teasing the Korean]

8 minutes ago, felser said:

BTW, item sold to a board member here, thanks.

👍

[Teasing the Korean]

1 hour ago, JSngry said:

Hmmm...

 

Agreed, reflective of and applicable to the Great American Songbook.

It is nice to hear the Hi-Los with Latin rhythms and straight eighth notes.  This track has a dark quality that reminds me of Les Baxter's Caribbean Moonlight album, in particular, his amazing version of "Poinciana."

 

Edited March 17, 2023 by Teasing the Korean

[sgcim]

By his last interview in DB, Puerling was sufficiently disgusted with pop music that he sounded like he was more than happy to be exiting the planet.

Usually, you hear an artist being interviewed having something positive to say about current music, because they want to ingratiate themselves with their audience and sell the product they were trying to sell, but GP was finished with trying to sell anything.

When I mention GP's name to musicians I play with, they have no idea who I'm talking about. Even when I post his name on a music forum, people have no idea who I'm referring to.

Well, at least he'll live on at college football halftimes, when college marching bands play that nauseating marching band arrangement of his "One More Time, Chuck Corea".

[JSngry]

1 hour ago, felser said:

BTW, item sold to a board member here, thanks.

Hope it was the member (name long since forgotten) who once stated some discomfort about them being "too white"...