Post by zimmerman on Oct 13, 2015 17:53:19 GMT -5
.....Frankie Carle, that is.
The longtime pianist for Horace Heidt and his Musical Knights in the '30's and leader of his own Big Band in the 1940's, by the 1950's, Carle had shifted from a bandleader to a pianist and let others do the arranging and conducting chores.
Sometime during the mid-1960's, as he entered his own personal '60's, Frankie Carle drank from the fountain of youth by allowing younger arranger-conductors to do the arrangements for his piano albums, with interesting results. Most of them stayed in the pocket of Carle's standard Easy Listening style, yet occasionally veered off into slightly more modern musical territory, yet still maintaing the classy overall demeanor of his recordings.
One of his first daring recordings into the "hip" musical pool was his four recordings for the 2-record RCA Set A Gershwin Holiday, which also included Morton Gould, Al Hirt, and The Three Suns among other artists. One of the selections, "Fascinating Rhythm" was arranged by longtime Rick Nelson favorite Jimmie Haskell, and included James Burton on guitar, also adding a very chirpy female vocal chorus. His piano style alternates between standard cocktail and the Honky-Tonk piano style:
The following year, for "Frankie Carle Plays The Big Imported Hits", Carle used aa his arranger Hank Levine, who would later arrange and conduct the first solo album for future Monkee Davy Jones on Colpix, and who previously worked with The Fleetwoods on Dolton/Liberty. Several of the selections received novel and unique arrangements, with the biggest and best surprise was one of the first Easy listening versions of the Beatles' "I Want To Hold Your Hand", replacing John and George's guitar with a solid brass section and a strong go-go beat:
The following year, Frankie released Frankie plays the Great Piano Hits, in which the 62-year old pianist is paired with arrangements by THE David Gates of Bread fame. For the most part, Gates stayed true to Carle's standard musical style, at times slightly modifiying the original arrangements, yet also including two fish-out-of water arrangements:
"Ain't Misbehavin'"
"Beat Me Daddy Eight To The Bar", the Will Bradley-Ray McKinley Big Band classic:
After this interesting musical period, Carle would return to recording top hits in his small combo format and would later return to his Big Band roots for his final albums on Dot Records. He continued to practice the piano an hour a day well into his 90's and passed away in 2001 at the ripe young age of 98 years old.