Another Thurl Ravenscroft Update! (MP3's)

Today, another report on my quest to collect as many recordings as possible made by the great Thurl Ravenscroft. This serves as an addition to the Thurl Ravenscroft Festival (part of the 365 days project), and a 2008 update, as well as Brian Jacob's wonderful All Things Thurl website.

Not so long ago, I actually began to wonder if maybe I'd gotten close to finding all the Thurl there was to find, when, in back to back searches - days apart - I came across two 45's, both by bandleader Paul Weston, and each containing one song featuring lead vocals by our man Thurl. First up is a version of the popular mid-'50's song "Bimbo", then a song titled "Low in the Lehigh Valley":

Paul Weston and his Orchestra - Bimbo (MP3) - Bimbo 45 Label (JPG)

Paul Weston and his Orchestra - Low in the Lehigh Valley (MP3) - Lehigh Valley 45 Label (JPG)

As the LP came into prominence early in the 1950's, a certain subset of bandleaders/composers/arrangers saw it as an opportunity to create long-form productions especially for the album market. This led to some interesting products, including two album-length cantatas in which Thurl took part. In both cases, his voice can be picked out in the various choral sections here and there, but the focus here is on the fact that, in each case, he was given a short solo section to perform.

For David Rose, he provided the voice of an old timer during a brief section on the various residents of the City by the Bay, on the album "San Francisco: My Enchanted City":

Thurl Ravenscroft - The Old-Timer (MP3)

From 1953 comes a downright peculiar album by Gordon Jenkins. Seeking to follow-up on and expand upon the success of his hugely popular "Manhattan Tower", Jenkins developed "Seven Dreams", in which we follow a man (portrayed by Thurl's partner in the vocal quarter "The Mellomen", Bill Lee), as he describes and relives the title set of dreams. For the segment involving Thurl, he's on a train, encountering a series of scenes and people, including this salesman:

Thurl Ravenscroft - The Salesman (MP3)

Incidentally, as Dr. Demento, among others, have pointed out, this same album - in fact this same dream - contains the original performance of a blues number, "Crescent City Blues", sung by Beverly Mahr (and written by Jenkins) which would later be reworked by Johnny Cash into "Folsom Prison Blues". This doesn't involve Thurl, but will probably be interesting to more than a few readers, so here is that song:

Beverly Mahr - Crescent City Blues (MP3)

Even further out of left field, here's a song I found a mentioned in a copy of a 1950's Billboard Magazine (it was listed among the "other singles received this week", I believe), but never actually expected to hear. Brian Jacobs, operator of the aforementioned "All Things Thurl" was nice enough to send me a low-fi copy of one of the songs on the single, "Dr. Geek":

Thurl Ravenscroft – Dr. Geek (MP3)

I still hope to someday hear the flip side of that one, "I'll Pay As I Go", but Brian only has a copy of the "Dr. Geek" side of the single.

Following up on my inclusion of a few tracks from Thurl's record for the blind reading of the entire book of Psalms, here is another Psalm. I'm sure this chapter is very well known to those with a greater knowledge of the Bible than I have, but for me, hearing its words was nothing short of astonishing. Here is Psalm 109:

Thurl Ravenscroft - Psalm 109 (MP3)

I've mostly steered away from Thurl's work for Disney, since much of it seems so readily available, but here's an EP telling the story of Paul Bunyan, one which I haven't come across in any subsequent release. There is a 1950's Disney short film, telling the story of Paul Bunyan, and perhaps this is similar to the contents of that animated film (which I haven't seen). This is not the same version of the Paul Bunyan story that I included in a previous Thurl entry - that one was on Globe Records:

Thurl Ravenscroft - Walt Disney’s Paul Bunyan, Part One (MP3)

Thurl Ravenscroft - Walt Disney’s Paul Bunyan, Part Two (MP3) - Paul Bunyan EP Label (JPG)

The following track is about as far out of season as possible, and Thurl only plays a cameo role, but it's worth hearing for his suitably authoritative tone, in Mario Lanza's rendition of "We Three Kings of Orient Are":

Mario Lanza - We Three Kings of Orient Are (MP3) - Mario Lanza EP Cover (JPG)

Finally, a few unusual recordings by Thurl's group, The Mellomen. While neither of these tracks feature Thurl singing solo (and indeed, he can be hard to pick out), they are interesting enough in and of themselves to make them worth sharing. First a vocal rendition of The Marseillaise:

The Mellomen - Marseillaise (MP3) - Marseillaise 45 Label (JPG)

And finally, a 78 which I presume to have been a promotional item for Buick, given that the flip side contains the same song, performed by Gordon MacRae and Gisele MacKenzie, "My Buick, My Love and I":

The Mellomen - My Buick, My Love and I (MP3) - Buick 78 Label (JPG)

I hope you've enjoyed this trip through Thurldom, and I promise to offer up more Ravenscrofty wonders, if and when I come across them.

Bob

Comments

[Mindwrecker]

Excellent! Thanks again for these. I was JUST thinking this week about an excursion into Thurl Tunes, but steered away; however, with this new material, I guess I'll have to take that Ravenscroft plunge after all. It's nice to fatten up this Thurl file with more goodies. Cheers!

[Duncan Walls]

Thanks. I was just playing an older mix CD of mine with "A Cool Glass Of Beer" on it and explaining to a friend who Tony the Tiger's voice was....i'd lost most of my Thurl in a Hard Drive crash and forgotten where i'd gotten it all. Should have figured it was the 365 Day Project. Thanks for pointing me back so I can get 'em again.

[Kip W]

I found "Seven Dreams" too compelling to pass up, three decades ago, and I give it a listen now and then. The same track that Thurl's in has another great voice, Dickie Beals, as the brat in the same coach. Sadly, the two don't interact. (The next-to-last track has a line that took on an ironic tone in the context of the late 70s: "The church! Reverend Jones will save me!")

The album also shows up in one of Harold Lloyd's 3-D nude studies, sharing space with a fetching young woman. The album seems to be getting a particularly prominent display, separated from the rest of the records and turned squarely to the camera. I'd like to ask Mr. Lloyd about that, but, alas.

[Kip W]

ps: I haven't listened to them yet, but I have two different recordings of another sound story by Jenkins, "Manhattan Tower." Neither one would seem to be the original, which dates to 1954. One has Bill Lee in the cast, the other has Robert Goulet. Jenkins's name meant something to me because of his fine work with the orchestra and arrangements for "A Little Touch of Schmilsson in the Night," which includes his sweet song, "This Is All I Ask," which has been committed to vinyl by a number of artists. Jenkins, in the Schmilsson liner notes, says that apart from Harry Nilsson, the best version was recorded by Tiny Tim. I haven't heard Sinatra's, but I have Tiny's version, and Sinatra would have to do a pretty incredible job to beat it.

[Zombek]

Weirdly enough I just found a copy of Thurl Ravenscroft Singers on Dot Records at the Salvation Army unfortunately it had a Jerry Vale record in it as well as covered with black magic marker. I suppose this will suffice instead Thank You!

[Gregm]

Thank you for this. Seriously. You have no idea.

And yes, I believe that is essentially identical to the Disney "Paul Bunyan" soundtrack. May be re-recorded for the EP, but same basic content.