Million Dollar Melodies/vibrations

Synopsis

This Vocalion reissue pairs two late-'50s albums by Ray Martin and his orchestra, Million Dollar Melodies and Vibrations, on one CD, and each features a twist. Million Dollar Melodies, dating from 1958, is in stereo and makes good use of the format, dividing the strings, piano, or trumpet from the wordless male choruses -- left and right -- in ways that must have delighted hi-fi enthusiasts at the end of the 1950s. The material consists of film themes, from "Love Is a Many Splendored Thing" to "Unchained Melody," the latter with a solo trumpet that sounds like it's in the room with you. Vibrations, by contrast, is a more interesting concept album, its 12 tracks built around musical impressions of women -- most of whom seem to bear the names of then-prominent actresses ("Marilyn," "Zsa Zsa," "Grace," etc.) -- half of them authored by Martin and the other half by a well-established composer working under the pseudonym of Vernon White. As pop instrumentals, they all work, with the "White"-authored tracks having some advantage in the area of invention; in any case, the Martin orchestra works its magic with all of it, in lush and clearly voiced arrangements; the only drawback is that Vibrations was cut in mono only, while Million Dollar Melodies was recorded in stereo, which is also why it takes precedence on the CD. The remastering by Vocalion is state-of-the-art for 2005, and this is yet another entry in the "space age pop" genre that will be welcomed by the enthusiasts for that musical genre and era. The annotation is also very thorough, the original notes augmented by a new bio on the artist and his recording history. ~ Bruce Eder