A friend recently asked me to digitise a couple of cassette tapes he found in his attic; I did as asked on condition I could share the material if it was up to scratch. He readily agreed. As the results were encouraging, here it is.
Probably not to the taste of everyone in these parts but I've lately become an unapologetic lover of British swing bands. Hopefully, one or two others share my enthusiasm - Gibbons's bands were among the best. [One and all agree that the very best included Lew Stone's various orchestras. Watch this space.]
Tape 1
01 - Sweet and Lovely
02 - Keepin' out of mischief now
03 - Actions speak louder than words
04 - My Silent Love
05 - Dancing in the dark
06 - I Heard
07 - Bidin' my Time
08 - I wanna be loved
09 - The Cat and the Fiddle medley
10 - A great big bunch of you
11 - As time goes by
12 - Snuggled on your shoulder
13 - All of a sudden
14 - What a Life
15 - The old man of the mountain
16 - Blues in my heart
17 - Goopy Gear
18 - Love me tonight
19 - With love in my heart
1. Tracks 1, 3, 5: Carroll Gibbons, piano; leader; Bill (Lloyd) Shakespeare, Billy Higgs, trumpet; Don Macaffer, trombone; Howard Jacobs, alto; Laurie Payne, clarinet, alto, baritone; George Smith, tenor; Hugo Rignold, Reg Leopold, violin; Harry Jacobson, piano; Bert Thomas, banjo, guitar; Jack Evetts, bass; Rudy Starita, drums, xylophone.
2. Tracks 11, 16: as 1 but with Ben Frankel for Reg Leopold.
3. Tracks 9, 19: as 2 but with Paul Fenoulhet, trombone, arranger added.
4. Track 12: as 3 but with Harry Sherman, guitar for Bert Thomas.
5. Tracks 2, 6: as 4 but with George Melachrino, clarinet, alto for Howard Jacobs, Hugo Rignold omitted and Sid Bright for Harry Jacobson.
6. Tracks10, 14: as 5 but with Lew Davis for Don Macaffer; Laurie Payne omitted.
7. Tracks 4, 7, 8, 15, 18: as 6. but with Arthur Fenoulhet, trumpet & trombone added and Laurie Payne returning.
Discographical note: The ‘clarinet obligato’ referred to in the contemporary review of the first title applies to the issued ‘take’ of this tune and not to the one included on this record which is a completely different arrangement.
Tape 2
01 - All my Life
03 - Kiss by Kiss
03 - You're the kind of baby for me
04 - Sailin' on the Robert E Lee
05 - One hour with you
06 - What makes you so adorable
07 - I Love you
08 - After tonight, we say Goodbye
09 - I wish I knew a bigger word than love
10 - What more can I ask
11 - Brighter than the sun
12 - It's gonna be you
13 - Oceans of Time
14 - You're gonna lose your gal
15 - One morning in May
16 - May I
17 - The beat o' my heart
18 - So Help Me
19 - I saw stars
20 - For all we know
1. Tracks 1, 2: Carroll Gibbons, piano; leader; Bill (Lloyd) Shakespeare, Billy Higgs, trumpet; Don Macaffer, trombone; Howard Jacobs, alto; Laurie Payne, clarinet, alto & baritone; George Smith, tenor; Hugo Rignold, Reg Leopold, violin; Harry Jacobson, piano; Bert Thomas, banjo, guitar; Jack Evetts, bass; Rudy Starita, drums, xylophone.
2. Track 3: as 1 but with Ben Frankel for Reg Leopold.
3. Tracks 4, 5: as 2 but with Paul Fenoulhet, trombone, arranger added.
4. Track 6: as 3 but with Harry Sherman for Bert Thomas.
5. Track 7: as 4 but with George Melachrino, clarinet, alto for Howard Jacobs, Hugo Rignold omitted and Sid Bright for Harry Jacobson.
6. Track 8: as 7 but with Lew Davis for Don Macaffer and Arthur Fenoulhet, trumpet & trombone added.
9. Tracks 9-20: as 8 but with Sam Acres for Lew Davis.
Recording dates as Inlay.
