Live with the Mel-Tones, Vol. 1

• Artist: Mel Tormé
• Rating:
• Release Date: June 02, 1998
• Total Time: 41:46
• Type: Compilation (best of), Live
• Genre: Vocal Music

Review

By the time most adult-pop listeners began hearing them, mixed-gender vocal choruses had become reprehensible white-bread smootheners and straighteners of every glorious imperfection and interpretation a solo vocalist could conjure. Before the '50s, though, the best vocal choruses were capable of tremendous harmonies, and the Mel-Tones were counted among the best (along with the Modernaires and Six Hits and a Miss). Led by Mel Tormé, and including a young Les Baxter, the group appears on a few Tormé compilations, but isn't featured very often. The first of a two-volume set from Mr. Music, Live With the Mel-Tones, Vol. 1 includes performances from Tormé's 1948 TV show on NBC. Unfortunately, only half features the Mel-Tones, but there are many good performances; Tormé balances his effective solo versions of standards ("That Old Black Magic," "Everything Happens to Me") with a collegiate romp ("Fairmont College"), and bright, bouncy singalongs for the Mel-Tones ("It's a Most Unusual Day," "I Got the Sun in the Morning," "When the Red, Red Robin Comes Bob, Bob, Bobbin' Along"). His occasional duet partner, Janet Waldo, is laughably poor in comparison to the mighty Mel, but the rest of this disc consists of enjoyable vocal music. ~ John Bush, All Music Guide

Tracks

Track Title	Composers	Performers	Time
Fairmont College	Jack D. Elliot, Mel Tormé	Mel Tormé & the Mel-Tones	(3:43)
You're Driving Me Crazy	Walter Donaldson	Mel Tormé	(2:10)
You're the Top	Cole Porter, Porter	Mel Tormé, Janet Waldo, Mel Tormé & the Mel-Tones	(1:43)
That Old Black Magic	Johnny Mercer, Harold Arlen	Mel Tormé	(2:24)
When the Red, Red Robin Comes Bob, Bob, Bobbin' Along	Phil Woods, Harry Woods	Mel Tormé & the Mel-Tones	(1:52)
Everything Happens to Me	Matt Dennis, Tom Adair	Mel Tormé	(1:37)
It's a Most Unusual Day	Harold Adamson, Jimmy McHugh	Mel Tormé & the Mel-Tones	(2:42)
Maybe You'll Be There	Sammy Gallop, Rube Bloom	Mel Tormé	(2:09)
Geometric Blues	Dean Elliott, Mel Tormé	Mel Tormé & the Mel-Tones	(3:18)
The French Lesson	Roger Edens, Adolph Green, Betty Comden	Mel Tormé, Mel Tormé & the Mel-Tones, Barbara Eiler	(2:34)
It's Dark on Observatory Hill	Johnny Burke, Harold Spina	Mel Tormé	(1:48)
I Got the Sun in the Morning	Irving Berlin	Mel Tormé & the Mel-Tones	(2:18)
On a Slow Boat to China	Frank Loesser	Mel Tormé	(1:19)
Brahms' Lullaby	Johannes Brahms	Mel Tormé	(1:53)
You're the Cream in My Coffee	Buddy DeSylva, Lew Brown, Ray Henderson	Mel Tormé & the Mel-Tones	(1:53)
I Gotta Right to Sing the Blues	Ted Koehler, Harold Arlen	Mel Tormé	(1:30)
Mountain Greenery	Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart	Mel Tormé & the Mel-Tones, Janet Waldo, Mel Tormé	(2:35)
Here I'll Stay	Alan Jay Lerner, Kurt Weill	Mel Tormé	(1:48)
Wish I May, Wish I Might	Hugh Martin	Mel Tormé & the Mel-Tones	(2:30)

Credits

Les Baxter (?), Ralph Brewster (?), Wayne Knight (Producer), Jim Falzone (Digital Transfers), Mel Tormé (Producer), Bernie Parke (?), Janet Waldo (Performer), Virginia Maxey (?), Diz Disruhd (?), Dean Elliott (Conductor), Mel Tormé (Liner Notes), Wayne Knight (Producer)