This CD is rewarding, though mostly for highly specialized
listeners, in soundtracks, country, or pop. The song "High Noon,"
written for the 1952 movie of the same name, is represented by 27
separate recordings, all in different arrangements and styles, done
over a period of 49 years, including one in German and two in
Danish. Though it sounds bizarre, the collection is amazingly
varied, lively, and engaging throughout, starting with Tex Ritter's
first fully realized recording (done in England, for reasons too
complicated to explain here) and proceeding on with the pop hit
version by Frankie Laine from the same year, the looser rendition
by Eddie Fisher from four years later, and versions by country
singers ranging from Faron Young to Hank Locklin, small-group vocal
ensembles including the Diamonds and the Browns, light jazz
performers (the Three Suns) and jazz singers (Joe Williams),
R&B vocalists (Hannah Dean), star soloists (Chet Atkins, Bobby
Mizzell), and big band popsters like Ray Conniff, Hal Mooney, and
Henry Mancini (whose outsized choral version is the biggest
surprise here). Ferrante & Teicher treat the song almost like a
miniature bolero, with ever louder and more intense embellishment
by the strings, while Hank Locklin gives it a "Down in the
Boondocks" beat, and Billy Walker adds Spanish guitar adornment to
the backing; pianist Bobby Mizzell treats it like "Brahms Lullaby."
Neil Wolfe offers the only post-1960s recording (the song evidently
fell out of favor, or at least usage, in the 1970s): an
instrumental from 2001 featuring soft jazz piano and heavy rhythm
guitars. Joe Williams and Hannah Dean offer the most adventurous
versions, and their renditions make one wish that this CD had full
credits for each recording, in terms of arrangers and background
personnel (the horn and saxmen on Hal Mooney's recording also
deserved that treatment). The three foreign language versions are
entertaining -- Bruce Low's German rendition, dating from 1952, is
done in the style of European pop music of the period, complete
with cheesy organ accompaniment; and the two Danish renditions,
from Gustav Winckler in 1952 and Per Myrberg in 1966, are worlds
apart, the former done with thick orchestral accompaniment and the
latter with a guitar, Chet Atkins style, behind the singer. One was
hoping that maybe a version in Swedish by the pre-ABBA Bjorn
Ulvaeus might've turned up, but it didn't, and the 78 minute disc
closes with Tex Ritter's two U.S.-released versions from 1952. The
booklet that comes with this CD is well illustrated but short on
information, other than release dates and catalog numbers, and it
is difficult to store -- ideally there would be a small slipcase
for the package. But it is fun, the sound is excellent throughout
(only the 1952 Danish cut is less than pristine), and it's also an
education about the way that the popular music business worked 40
years ago. ~ Bruce Eder
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Disk 1
1 |
High Noon - (London Recording) |
2 |
High Noon - (1st Recording) |
3 |
High Noon |
4 |
High Noon |
5 |
High Noon |
6 |
High Noon |
7 |
High Noon |
8 |
High Noon |
9 |
High Noon |
10 |
High Noon |
11 |
High Noon |
12 |
High Noon |
13 |
High Noon |
14 |
High Noon |
15 |
High Noon |
16 |
High Noon |
17 |
High Noon |
18 |
High Noon |
19 |
High Noon |
20 |
High Noon |
21 |
High Noon |
22 |
High Noon - (Sag Warum Willst Du Von Mir Gehn) |
23 |
High Noon - (Forlad Mig Ikke-Danish) |
24 |
High Noon I Stadsgarden - (Danish) |
25 |
High Noon - (Original) |
26 |
High Noon |
27 |
High Noon (with drum overdub) - Ritter, Tex |
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