Richard Hayman was also one of the main arrangers for Arthur Fiedler and
the Boston Pops. One of the brilliant things that Fiedler did was keep his
great arrangements out of circulation so no one else could use them. I
always thought that those arrangements were what Hayman was most famous
for. It was a big part of what was great about the Boston Pops (aside from
being mostly the BSO).
I have "Havana in Hi-Fi," BTW and love it.
Best, John
On Thu, Oct 8, 2015 at 8:57 AM, Tom Fine <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Hi Dave:
>
> I got into some detail on those Mercury "Perfect Presence" and "f:35d"
> series in my presentation about the 35mm Fad at the ARSC conference in
> Rochester. To be honest, those Mercury series were me-too competitive
> reactions to the success of Command Records' "Persuasive Percussion,"
> "Provacative Percussion," etc. It's not overstating to say that those
> Command hits totally shook up the pop music business for a while, and all
> the labels came out with one version of me-too or another. The Fennell
> records were more non-similar than other Mercury pop records of that time,
> because they were produced by the classical department rather than the pop
> guys. I would also call the Mercury "pop-ish" records by Quincy Jones
> ("Around The World With Quincy Jones") and Billy Byers to be more jazz than
> "stereo showoff pop" like the rest of the me-too crowd.
>
> Here's a good summary of the Mercury PPS/f:35d series:
> http://microgroove.jp/mercury/PPS.shtml
> I have some of the titles in the list where Kohji doesn't have photos, I
> will send him scans for the website. By the way, nothing beats Kohji's
> website for all things Mercury labelography and cover imagery.
>
> Regarding Richard Hayman, he was an interesting cat. He started out making
> pure "adult pop" records and arranging things like TV music and commercial
> ad music. He got more far afield with Mercury. His album "Havana In HiFi"
> was one of the first "stereo showoff" 2-track tapes that Mercury released
> in 1956. It was recorded at Capitol NYC and holds up as a good Latin pop
> album to this day. In 1960 or so, he made an album at Fine Recording called
> "Voodoo," which included real-deal Haitian "witch doctor" drummers
> performing an allegedly real voodoo ceremony. In the late 60's, he made a
> Latin-tinged Moog record for Command, also recorded at Fine Recording. He
> made other pop records for Mercury at my father's studio. One of the old
> artifacts I dig having is the Hayman-autographed first pressing of
> "Voodoo," with the inscription - "Bob, here's to more firsts in the new
> studio." I assume he was talking about the first (and only) time a voodoo
> ceremony was performed in the Ballroom!
>
> -- Tom Fine
>
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Dave Burnham" <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Thursday, October 08, 2015 12:42 AM
>
> Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Mercury Living Pr esence Marcel Dup r é Box Set
>
>
> Hi Tom
>
> Thanks for setting me straight; I was obviously in error about the Herbert
> CD, and I've always respected Richard Hayman's work, but that doesn't
> change my impression that the "March of the Toys" would have been best left
> with Herbert's orchestration. But since you've pointed out one error, I'm
> going to re-visit it and see if I still feel the same way. My comments
> about the superior recording still stand.
>
> I was always a fan of the Mercury big band type of recordings, like"10
> trombones like two pianos"; I don't know whether these were Fine recordings
> or not but I thought they were great Hi-Fi demo recordings.
>
> db
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
> On Oct 7, 2015, at 8:30 PM, Tom Fine <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>>
>> Hi Dave:
>>
>> Fennell Conducts Victor Herbert was arranged by Richard Hayman. The
>> others (Gershwin and Porter) were arranged by Rayburn Wright. Here is an
>> interesting bio of Ray Wright written by Donald Hunsberger, who was the
>> other long-term leader of the Eastman Wind Ensemble:
>> www.idudesign.com/downloads/RayWright_Life&Time_FINAL.pdf
>>
>> The Gershwin and Porter albums were originally released as one CD. The
>> Herbert was transferred but never released. I found the DAT transfer and
>> Andy Walter did some really good nip and tuck mastering on it.
>>
>> -- Tom Fine
>>
>> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Dave Burnham" <[log in to unmask]>
>> To: <[log in to unmask]>
>> Sent: Wednesday, October 07, 2015 6:17 PM
>> Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Mercury Living Pr esence Marcel Dupr é Box Set
>>
>>
>> Well Tom, my copy should arrive in a week or so and I'm certainly hoping
>> I can echo Richard's praise when I get it. I have also recorded countless
>> pipe organs and I recognize that while I have never tried the technique
>> myself, the MLP recording method should be ideal for organ recordings. I'm
>> encouraged by the comments about the subway because any attempt to get rid
>> of subway rumble would probably rob the recording of the essential 32 foot
>> sounds. I have listened to organ recitals in churches near subways and they
>> haven't reduced my enjoyment of the concerts at all. Perhaps we are more
>> tolerant of that which we cannot change.
>>
>> But to throw you another complement, I believe the MLP vol.3 box is a
>> flawless mastering job! I don't know if my memory is faulty and that they
>> are the same masterings as the early '90s releases but they had a thrilling
>> impact on me. My only complaint was that I got weary of the arranger on the
>> Porter, Gershwin and Herbert CDs, (I've forgotten his name). I was
>> particularly incensed that he would re-orchestrate the "March of the Toy
>> Soldiers" from "Babes in Toyland". Victor Herbert was a superb orchestrater
>> and I don't think there was any need not to use his arrangements of
>> instrumental numbers. That's just my opinion, (and I'm NOT a musician).
>> However it was very interesting to hear a Fine studio recording not using
>> the normal Fine set-up. I think he trumped most other studio recordings of
>> that kind of material mainly because of his experience with the 3 mike
>> configuration.
>>
>> db
>> Sent from my iPhone
>>
>> On Oct 7, 2015, at 5:29 PM, Tom Fine <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>>>
>>> Thanks Richard! This makes me feel good, to get a good report from
>>> someone who's actually heard and recorded a bunch of pipe organs. As you'll
>>> hear, the French organs sound very different from Aeolian-Skinners. I was
>>> amazed at the trippy sounds Dupre was able to get out of the Saint-Sulpice
>>> instrument in particular. Check out CD4 cuts 2-12 CD7 cut 7. That's in the
>>> Moog league of trippy sounds from an analog instrument.
>>>
>>> Regarding the subway, highly annoying! It was the story behind the
>>> dozens of splices in fragile acetate tapes. Oy.
>>>
>>> -- Tom Fine
>>>
>>> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Richard L. Hess" <
>>> [log in to unmask]>
>>> To: <[log in to unmask]>
>>> Sent: Wednesday, October 07, 2015 4:33 PM
>>> Subject: [ARSCLIST] Mercury Living Presence Marcel Dupré Box Set
>>>
>>>
>>> Hi, Tom,
>>>
>>> I received the Marcel Dupré Box Set a couple of days ago from Amazon.CA
>>> for a very reasonable price. I had used their low-price pre-order system
>>> and received a substantial reduction from the originally quoted price.
>>> I'm very happy.
>>>
>>> All I can say is FANTASTIC! I haven't even gotten into the Paris and
>>> Rouen recordings yet, just have spent time with the St. Thomas and Ford
>>> recordings.
>>>
>>> The fact that the St. Thomas recordings were made a year after the
>>> rebuilding of the organ by G. Donald Harrison--a project that
>>> precipitated his death--means this is a very important milestone
>>> recording of one of the great examples of Aeolian-Skinner organ building
>>> at its peak, played by one of the great organists of all time.
>>>
>>> As you have noted, a flood damaged that shortly after the recording was
>>> made and the Gilbert Adams renovations to the organ have not fared well
>>> and also, as you have noted, a MAJOR renovation is in the works,
>>> although the leading light behind that renovation, Dr. John Scott, the
>>> replacement for the late Dr. Gerre Hancock (my friend and mentor), has
>>> also died, unexpectedly at a young age.
>>>
>>> I am very impressed with the sound that the Mercury team obtained on the
>>> St. Thomas recordings, having recorded the later incarnation of that
>>> organ many times, including for a record released in the past on my own
>>> label, featuring Dr. Judith Hancock performing Mozart and Dupré. I need
>>> to check if the precise same pieces are on my recording and the MLP set.
>>> That will be a fun comparison. Judith is a superb organist.
>>>
>>> I do appreciate the Saint Saëns Organ Symphony and it is interesting to
>>> compare the new CD version to the Box Set #2 version. I will, at some
>>> point, do a careful comparison, but for now, I've just enjoyed
>>> listening. Marvellous!
>>>
>>> I also became enthralled reading the diary excerpts in the book. Totally
>>> fascinating. Your mother made quite the impression on Mme. Dupré. And
>>> yes, the subway is one of the main non-joys of recording at St. Thomas.
>>> The cost of ameliorating that is phenomenal. While in theory it could be
>>> done, the price prohibits it.
>>>
>>> Cheers,
>>>
>>> Richard
>>> --
>>> Richard L. Hess email: [log in to unmask]
>>> Aurora, Ontario, Canada 647 479 2800
>>> http://www.richardhess.com/tape/contact.htm
>>> Quality tape transfers -- even from hard-to-play tapes.
>>>
>>
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