RUSS COLUMBO, PRISONER OF LOVE, ASV Living Era AJA 5234 CD comp from the UK. CD dates 1997, from the 78s era predating WW2.
The recordings on this UK CD date from (per the foldout front insert in the jewel case) April 14, 1928, "Back In Your Own Backyard," with Gus Arnheim & His Orchestra on Victor, through tracks 20-22, from August 31, 1934, with Jimmie Grier & His Orchestra, on Brunswick. All the tracks on this comp date from the electrical era (late 1925+) of direct-to-disc recording, 78s, and the source of the (mono) recordings sound that they are from 78 RPM commercial discs, though not from U.S. Victor master recordings. Sound on this comp ranges from so-so to excellent, keeping in mind that finding the cleanest recordings on these 70+ year old white pop songs is an archival labor or love due to old technology, small audience, and licensing hurdles. All of the recordings exhibit pre-magnetic tape 78 shellac disc surface noise and clarity of the music under it varies; the title song is muddy and a bit indistinct on this set, and track #20 has much the same issues. Notably absent on this comp are the 6/16/32, 8/03/32, and 11/23/32 Victor 24045-24195 singles' recordings, per Joseph Lanza's book, Russ Columbo and the Crooner Mystique
Per my Joel Whitburn well-thumbed copy of POP MEMORIES, 1890-1954 book, the "hits" are featured on this CD comp. (I state "hits" due to the trade magazine archaeological best guesstimate nature of pre-1940 records.) This CD is a very decently full sampler of all the extant commercial recordings made by Russ Columbo in balance, and a very good bang for the buck at about $10 and postage.
I picked up this set due to a) listening to Jerry Vale's 1958 Columbia tribute Lp I Remember Russ, b) noting Perry Como's 1946 "Prisoner of Love" hit is one of the titles on COMO'S GOLDEN RECORDS RCA/Victor LOP 1007/LPM 1981 vinyl Lp Golden Records, and c) following up a rock-music-is-the-devil's-music Christian book genre' fascination stumbling across a reference to 1930s crooners seducing fans into voodoo and occult (Satan!) practices in a 1934 tract, Voodooism in Music and Other Essays, by Richard Terry.
If you're looking for Lp vinyl sources for Russ Columbo's works, you might pick up his RUSS COLUMBO LOVE SONGS RCA/Victor LPM 2072 Lp from December, 1959, though it only has 12 tracks, the obvious well-known hits. RCA/Victor unfortunately didn't include compilations of Columbo's work on the RCA/Vintage Lp series (LPV 501 - LPV 578 series from June, 1964 - 1971+), which generally feature surprisingly clean, clear recordings from Victor's A&R masters' library.
Russ Columbo
Russ Columbo - Prisoner of Love
Regular price
$23.98
Prisoner of Love
By Russ Columbo
Very Good Condition
Track Listings
A Review:
Disc: 1
1. Prisoner Of Love
2. Back In Your Own Backyard
3. Glad Rag Doll
4. A Peach Of A Pair
5. I Don't Know Why
6. Guilty
7. You Call It Madness, But I Call It Love
8. Sweet And Lovely
9. Time On My Hands
10. You Try Somebody Else
11. Call Me Darling
12. Where The Blue Of The Night
13. Save The Last Dance For Me
14. All Of Me
15. Just Friends
16. You're My Everything
17. Aufwiederseh, My Dear
18. Paradise
19. Living In Dreams
20. When You're In Love
21. Too Beautiful For Words
22. I See Two Lovers
23. Goodnight, Sweetheart
Product details
|