Dorothy Collins: Experiment Songs

In 1961, veteran songwriters Hy Zaret and Lou Singer produced an entertaining and educational series of LPs entitled Ballads for the Age of Science. Marketed at curious youngsters, the songs explained nature, energy, motion, outer space, and weather in a variety of musical arrangements, delivered by folksingers Tom Glazer, Dottie Evans, and the husband-wife duo of Marais and Miranda.

One volume, Experiment Songs, was sung by Raymond Scott's then-wife, Dorothy Collins. In a warm, endearing voice, Collins sang about magnets, rainbows, planetary orbits, vibration, and minerals. To our ears, this is some of the most charming singing by Dorothy Collins ever captured on disc. She is accompanied by a small orchestra led by guitarist Tony Mottola (who formerly played with Raymond's big band).

The albums have long been out of print. However, earlier this year I came to an agreement with the late Hy Zaret's son Robert to reissue the series. Working with best-available source recordings, I digitally restored all six albums, which are now available at iTunes and elsewhere. We're hoping to reissue the series on vinyl at some point.

You can hear samples and purchase tracks (or the complete album) of Experiment Songs here.

2 New Vinyl Album Reissues —Party Like It's 1959!

Good news for wax maniacs: to celebrate the 75th ANNIVERSARY of Raymond Scott's music, the Basta Audio-Visuals label (working with the RS Archives) has reissued a pair of classic Scott 1950s LPs in 180-gram 12" vinyl format. Both meticulously replicate the original artwork in every detail.

"THE UNEXPECTED" by Raymond Scott & The Secret Seven — While serving as an A&R director for Everest Records in 1958, Raymond Scott produced an album for singer Gloria Lynne. The LP's sidemen included many of the same session players on Scott's mysterious 1959 album, "THE UNEXPECTED" — performed by his all-star jazz-legend supergroup, The Secret Seven — whose identities remained confidential for decades. The secrecy extended to withholding the band member's names from the LP jacket, but as music historian Nat Hentoff wrote in the liner notes, "Jazz aficionados will instantly recognize the players." The members are now known to be Elvin Jones, "Wild" Bill Davis, Milt Hinton, Harry "Sweets" Edison, Kenny Burrell, Eddie Costa, Sam "The Man" Taylor, and "Toots" Thielemans. NOTE: Basta's vinyl pressing is the extremely rare STEREO mix — the stereo version will not be issued on CD/digital-download. • Order: here <<< • Listen to a track from this album: "Waltz Of The Diddles" by Raymond Scott & The Secret 7

"THIS TIME WITH STRINGS" by Raymond Scott & His Orchestra — Scott musically re-invents his compositions for full-orchestra and strings on this 1957 album. RS favorites like "Powerhouse," "The Toy Trumpet," and "Twilight in Turkey" are retooled for expanded setting — but that's not all. "There are many of the Quintette things in this LP," said the composer in the original liner notes. "Also things for dance band, material written for Broadway, the movie screen, and some of my recent writing. Indeed, a potpourri, given Hi-Fidelity dressing, and a certain vividness in string treatment." The album was recorded in glorious monophonic sound, which is retained on the vinyl. No artificial processing. Crank up the Hi-Fi! • Order: here <<< • Listen to a track from this album: "The Toy Trumpet" by Raymond Scott & His Orchestra

"Christmas Night" with Louis Armstrong

Christmas figured prominently in the early career of Raymond Scott (the son of immigrant Jews). He wrote his first hit, "Christmas Night In Harlem," in 1934 at age 25. During Xmas 1936, he debuted his soon-to-be world-famous band live on the Saturday Night Swing Club radio show. Two Christmases later, Paul Whiteman featured the Quintette, accompanied by PW's huge orchestra, performing Scott compositions at Carnegie Hall as part of the long-running Experiments In Modern American Music series where Whiteman had debuted Gershwin's Rhapsody In Blue in 1924.

"Christmas Night In Harlem" was recorded as an instrumental in 1939 by Scott's Quintette. With lyrics by legendary Tin Pan Alley wordsmith Mitchell Parish, who co-wrote "Stardust," "Deep Purple," and another Yuletide standard, "Sleigh Ride," the tune was covered by Perry Como, Benny Carter, Johnny Mercer, Banu Gibson, The Beau Hunks, Clarence Williams, Paul Whiteman, Maria Muldaur, and Jack Teagarden. A new CD, 100 CHRISTMAS, presents Lester Lanin's version alongside classics by Bing Crosby, Willie Nelson, and Roy Orbison.

The most celebrated of all "Harlem" covers, however, is by Louis Armstrong, framed above alongside Scott during a 1938 CBS radio broadcast. Satchmo's recording is perennially reissued on holiday collections, including WHAT A WONDERFUL CHRISTMAS.

Download The Metropole Orchestra's version of "Christmas Night In Harlem" from the CHESTERFIELD ARRANGEMENTS album here, as our holiday gift to you. And explore more of the many incarnations of Raymond Scott's earliest hit at Amazon.com or the iTunes Store.

everything old is ... still old

When the Raymond Scott boomlet emerged in the early 1990s (print media still predominated), "clever" headline writers by the dozens resorted to a pair of first-thought cliches: "Great Scott!" and "That's Not All, Folks!" Great minds don't think alike; unimaginative ones do.

Now from our friend in Tokyo, Takashi Okada, comes proof that one of these shopworn teasers had gained RS-related currency decades ago (if not earlier). This Australia-released Coral "Little Album" (in the U.S. = EP, for extended play, longer than a single, shorter than an album) hit retail shelves down under in the mid-1950s:

The quartet of recordings originated on Scott's full-length orchestral U.S.-released LP, This Time With Strings (reissued on CD earlier this year thru Basta). Okada recently purchased this little-known artifact and provided us with scans. Here's the back cover:

"Pretty Little Petticoat" was an orchestral composition by Scott which was used for several years in the early 1940s as a radio theme. It is unrelated to 1939's "Pretty Petticoat," three versions of which appear on the Raymond Scott Quintette CD Microphone Music.

Private Music

Irwin and I have previously warned about the dangers of a stunningly boring album recorded by Raymond Scott in 1957, and subsequently issued under three titles in the US. It's my duty to further caution collectors who value their time and/or ears: a fourth pressing of this dreary record was released in 1966 by the Spanish label Orlador, with the title MUSICA PARA LA INTIMIDAD. I would have guessed this means "Music For Intimacy," but according to at least one Google translator, it's "Music For Privacy." Had RS kept the recording private, the world would be a better place. Not even a sexy chica displaying her color-coordinated pants, shoes, and upholstery can make this lackluster album worth purchasing. If you see this record, run away. If you're unfortunate enough to already own a copy, under any of its titles, please smash it with a hammer into a thousand little pieces, place the debris into a Ziploc baggie, and send it to me or Irwin; we will incinerate all copies at a public bonfire in Texas on September 9th at midnight. Location TBA. Consider this a WANTED poster (click image for larger view):

Retro typography

From the back cover of the mid-1950s LP This Time With Strings (Coral), by Raymond Scott and his Orchestra, which will be reissued next year on Basta:


This Time With Strings was a mid-1950s orchestral LP by Scott, containing 11 originals, some dating from his 1937-39 Quintette (e.g., "Powerhouse," "Toy Trumpet"), others from the 1940s and '50s. The arrangements are sweet (lots of strings!). While not as adventurous as Scott's quintets and electronica, the album will have particular appeal to exotica/lounge/smooth orchestral enthusiasts. Back in the late 1980s, Jim Thirlwell (a.k.a. Foetus), recording as Steroid Maximus, turned this LP's "Powerhouse" into piledriving techno-sludge on the album Gondwanaland.

We've just finished remastering the tapes; the package is currently being designed by Piet Schreuders. This Time With Strings's anticipated street date: Spring 2008.

Caveat emptor

Raymond Scott fan Fernando saved an email I'd sent him years ago, in response to his curiosity about future reissues of vintage Scott recordings. He reminded me of this excerpt:

I don't know who owns rights to The Rock 'n Roll Symphony (a.k.a Amor) which I have never inquired about. It's my least favorite RS project. I hope it never gets reissued. I'll put a price on the head of anyone who attempts it.

Well, someone hasn't merely attempted to reissue R&RS—they've done it. Don't know whose idea it was, but a pox on their house, head, and genitals. Just for the record: no one connected with the Scott family or business interests—which includes me and anyone else whose name has been prominently connected with reviving Scott's legacy over the past 15 years—had any involvement with this turkey. All blameless.

I'm not saying that you (by which I mean YOU) won't like R&RS. I'm just saying that if YOU love Raymond Scott recordings which have been reissued on CD since 1992, then YOU won't like R&RS. It isn't "rock and roll," and it's not a "symphony." It contains no Scott compositions. It's a tepid bath of Mantovani-styled orchestral yawners. It's soulless, and its utility can be summed up in one word: landfill.

Of course, we are receptive to being convinced otherwise! Until then, R&RS is not recommended, and we'll post no purchase links. Yes, we could have ignored it rather than bring it to public attention. But it was considered worthy of ridicule.

UPDATE: Jeff Winner of RaymondScott.com dropped us a note:

I just remembered an email received years ago that read, "I recently bought a scratchy copy of Rock 'n Roll Symphony at a thrift store for 50 cents. Can you tell me how much this album might be worth?" I forwarded it to you, and you replied, "If I give you another 50 cents, would you scratch it up even more?" He came back, "But it has such a snappy cover! Are you saying the 50 cents I paid for it was too much?" And you shot back, "Original editions had a wooden dowel in the spine. Whittled down for toothpicks, they would justify the expenditure."