Ojai Sam
Staff member
Various Artists - I/We Had A Ball (Limelight 1964)
Jazz artists frequently look to The Great White Way for material to improvise upon. This album brings together many of the fine jazzers Mercury Records had assembled for its Limelight imprint to cover the songs from "I Had A Ball". This now forgotten show ran for 199 performances led by Buddy Hackett and Richard Kiley, with Marty Allen cast improbably as a lifeguard. The premise of Hackett as a shady psychologist with a crystal ball named "Sam" seems a bit tenuous, but the songs by Jack Lawrence and Stan Freeman bounce right along. All of the artists on this deluxe gatefold album obviously had a lot of fun with the material, especially Diz and Chet who adapt their songs to their own unique vocal styles.
Jazz artists frequently look to The Great White Way for material to improvise upon. This album brings together many of the fine jazzers Mercury Records had assembled for its Limelight imprint to cover the songs from "I Had A Ball". This now forgotten show ran for 199 performances led by Buddy Hackett and Richard Kiley, with Marty Allen cast improbably as a lifeguard. The premise of Hackett as a shady psychologist with a crystal ball named "Sam" seems a bit tenuous, but the songs by Jack Lawrence and Stan Freeman bounce right along. All of the artists on this deluxe gatefold album obviously had a lot of fun with the material, especially Diz and Chet who adapt their songs to their own unique vocal styles.
