Quad LP/Tape Poll Light, Enoch: Enoch Light and the Brass Menagerie [QS/CD-4/Q8/QR]

[EMB]

The first Brass Menagerie effort, PR/5036QD, first issued in stereo in 1969.

Side 1:

Blowin' In The Wind
I'm Gonna Make You Love Me
My Favorite Things
Wichita Lineman
The Fool On The Hill
I've Gotta Be Me

Side 2:

Touch Me
California Dreamin'
Both Sides Now
Happy Ever After
Put Your Head On My Shoulder
Soulful Strut (Am I The Same Girl)


ED

 

[inquadwetrust]

The Brass Menagerie hit the grounding running with this crazed covers compilation. The clue is in the title; brass is active in each speaker with a full and rich sound quality and the QS LP I'm using for this review sounds pretty discrete. 'Blowin' In The Wind' opens the record but sounds like the theme to a current affairs TV show from 1970, leaving the original tune behind almost entirely in its bombastic assault from all four corners of the room. 'Wichita Lineman' is the highlight of side one and to my ears is one of the single best arrangements Enoch ever used; Dick Hyman's arranging work here is exceptional and the performances are nuanced and tight. The french horn counter melodies that cascade from the RR and FL are so lovely; this is not just mere instrumental music by this stage. Skip directly to 'California Dreamin' for more of the same thrills - the inside cover notes reveal that Dick Hyman liked to use the phrase 'California Baroque' to describe this sound. They should have used that title for a series of LPs; its a perfect description that's rich with texture. 'Happy Ever After' is as cheeky and bright as an outtake from 'The Umbrellas Of Cherbourg' and I can almost see the song and dance number that's all groovy duck-walks and head-bobs. There is much here that whilst beautifully engineered and mixed is not essential Enoch, but as usual when all the conditions are right he takes the genre to it's apex. 'Soulful Strut (Am I The Same Girl)' is a nice closer. You won't pay too much for this record but it's totally worth it just for 'Wichita Lineman' and 'California Dreamin' but as this is Project 3, you can find those tracks elsewhere possibly a half dozen times or more. 10 for the mix, 4 for the content makes this a solid 6.

The cover is in highly questionable/objectionable taste with it's women in chains behind bars theme - does anyone know if this was changed later on?

 

[EMB]

The cover changed? Not during the life of Project 3, far as I know; can't comment on any reissues (not that I remember seeing one). Not sure what the logic was behind it, but then Mr. Light, with his third label, wasn't just progressive with sound but with the variety of his album art too, nothing like the generic but sometimes fascinating use of dots, lines and whites on all those Command albums that sold so well.

But that cover pales compared to this disco-era curio:




ED

 

[inquadwetrust]

Thanks for the info Ed - that Cher cover is incredible and you're right, it kinda eclipses Enoch's effort.

The cover changed? Not during the life of Project 3, far as I know; can't comment on any reissues (not that I remember seeing one). Not sure what the logic was behind it, but then Mr. Light, with his third label, wasn't just progressive with sound but with the variety of his album art too, nothing like the generic but sometimes fascinating use of dots, lines and whites on all those Command albums that sold so well.

But that cover pales compared to this disco-era curio:

View attachment 20374


ED