Blue Tango and Other Favorites

• Artist: Leroy Anderson & His Pops Concert Orchestra
• Rating:
• Release Date: May 20, 2003
• Total Time: 75:02
• Type: Compilation (best of)
• Genre: Easy Listening

Review

In order to begin to appreciate Leroy Anderson you need to reflect upon the fact that his big break came in 1938 when Arthur Fiedler commissioned him to write a piece for the Boston Pops Orchestra. "Jazz Pizzicato" and its sequel "Jazz Legato" attracted lots of attention and were eventually followed by "The Syncopated Clock" and "Promenade" (1945); "Serenata" and "Fiddle-Faddle" (1947); "Saraband" (1948), and "A Trumpeter's Lullaby" (1949). With the possible exception of "The Syncopated Clock," nothing Anderson wrote came anywhere near achieving the popularity of the famous "Sleigh Ride," apparently composed while doing housework on a sweltering hot day in July 1948. Between 1950 and 1958, Anderson worked for the Decca record company making albums that rivaled Fiedler's in popularity. The piece that gives this compilation its title, "Blue Tango" is a masterpiece of beauty, charm and accessibility. In addition to a healthy sense of humor, Leroy Anderson had a knack for devising pleasant, harmless, catchy melodies that have since endeared him to generations of pops concert attendees. This is wholesome hunky dory apple pie music, cheerful and middle brow; Leroy Anderson wrote veritable anthems for the Good Life, and thanks to the Living Era reissue label some of his niftiest performances are on tap once again for those in need of a refreshing if utterly unfounded sense of well-being. ~ arwulf arwulf, All Music Guide

Tracks

Track Title	Composers	Performers	Time
Sleigh Ride, for orchestra (or string orchestra)	Leroy Anderson, Mitchell Parish	Leroy Anderson	(2:49)
Promenade, for orchestra		Leroy Anderson	(2:54)
The Waltzing Cat, for orchestra	Leroy Anderson	Leroy Anderson	(2:43)
The Syncopated Clock, for orchestra	Leroy Anderson	Leroy Anderson	(2:22)
Saraband, for orchestra	Leroy Anderson	Leroy Anderson	(3:14)
Serenata, for orchestra	Leroy Anderson	Leroy Anderson	(3:25)
Work(s)~Jazz Pizzicato ... Jazz Legato		Leroy Anderson	(3:20)
Trumpeter's Lullaby, for orchestra	Leroy Anderson	Leroy Anderson	(2:52)
Plink, Plank, Plunk!, for string orchestra		Leroy Anderson	(2:26)
Horse & Buggy, for orchestra		Leroy Anderson	(3:20)
Belle of the Ball, for orchestra	Leroy Anderson	Leroy Anderson	(2:37)
Blue Tango, for orchestra	Leroy Anderson	Leroy Anderson	(2:55)
China Doll, for orchestra	Leroy Anderson	Leroy Anderson	(2:38)
The Penny Whistle Song, for orchestra		Leroy Anderson	(2:47)
Fiddle-Faddle, for string orchestra (or standard orchestra)		Leroy Anderson	(3:12)
The Phantom Regiment, for orchestra		Leroy Anderson	(3:26)
Irish Suite (6), for orchestra~The Irish Washerwoman	Leroy Anderson	Leroy Anderson	(2:39)
Irish Suite (6), for orchestra~The Minstrel Boy	Leroy Anderson	Leroy Anderson	(3:52)
Irish Suite (6), for orchestra~The Rakes Of Mallow		Leroy Anderson	(3:06)
Irish Suite (6), for orchestra~The Wearing Of The Green		Leroy Anderson	(3:07)
Irish Suite (6), for orchestra~The Last Rose Of Summer		Leroy Anderson	(3:24)
Irish Suite (6), for orchestra~The Girl I Left Behind Me		Leroy Anderson	(3:08)
A Christmas Festival, for orchestra (original version)		Leroy Anderson	(8:46)

Credits

David Lennick (Compilation), Martin Haskell (Audio Restoration), Martin Haskell (Remastering), Uncle Dave Lewis (Liner Notes), David Lennick (Transfers), Mark Ranshaw (Cover Design)