THE BEST OF - Spike Jones

YEAR: 1967

LABEL: RCA Victor

TRACK LISTING: Cocktails For Two, William Tell Overture, Chloe, My Old Flame, The Glow Worm, None But the Lonely Heart, Laura, The Man On the Flying Trapeze, You Always Hurt the One You Love, Der Fuehrer's Face, Dance of the Hours, Hawaiian War Chant

IMPRESSIONS: This has two vivid associations for me. Firstly of my grandfather Buster Mars who was the first Spike Jones connoisseur in my life. I bought this record in the mid-1970s at the Listening Booth store in the Pennsauken Mart where my grandfather and I would go almost every weekend. It was one of the RCA Victor "Pure Gold" reissues on vinyl in the 70s. I would play it on their huge record player which was the size of a bureau and an actual piece of furniture; encased in wood it also served as a storage place for all their record albums in a cabinet inside. My second association is with my friend Ed Jacoby who was also a fan of Spike Jones or any other silly music. When I was a wee kid, he had a reel-to-reel tape deck (as well as many other audio/visual equipment of the day) on which we'd make our own messed-up compilation tapes.

MY FAVOURITE TRACKS: Cocktails For Two, Chloe, My Old Flame, The Glow Worm, None But the Lonely Heart, Laura, You Always Hurt the One You Love, Der Fuehrer's Face, Dance of the Hours, Hawaiian War Chant

FACT SHEET: Carl Crayson sings vocal on "Cocktails For Two", "You Always Hurt the One You Love" and "Der Fuehrer's Face". Doodles Weaver provides "commentary" on "William Tell Overture" and "Dance of the Hours" as well as vocals on "The Man On the Flying Trapeze". Red Ingle sings vocals on "Chloe", "The Glow Worm", "Laura" and "You Always Hurt the One You Love". Paul Judson sings vocals on "My Old Flame". Paul Frees provides vocals on "My Old Flame" as Peter Lorre. Aileen Carlisle sings vocals on "The Glow Worm". Helen Grayco and Spike Jones provide vocals on "None But the Lonely Heart". Jimmy Cassidy and Dr. Horatio Q. Birdbath provide vocals on "Laura". The cover portrait of Spike Jones was painted by Jack Davis.