MOOD MUSIC - Paul Weston & His Orchestra

YEAR: 1953

LABEL: Columbia

TRACK LISTING: When Your Lover Has Gone, My Silent Love, I'll Follow My Secret Heart, Moon Song, Yesterdays, One Night of Love, Under A Blanket of Blue, Stardust, All Alone, Then I'll Be Tired of You, What'll I Do, Among My Souvenirs

IMPRESSIONS: There is no better album to put on while mixing up some cocktails in your smoking jacket or lounging in a slinky dress on your zebra-skin sofa while candlelight glints off your diamond tiara. No seriously, I mean it. Paul Weston invented the "mood music" genre with his series of albums starting with "MUSIC FOR DREAMING" in 1945 at Capitol Records and continuing when he and his wife Jo Stafford moved over to Columbia in 1950. These albums sounds similar to the kind of thing Jackie Gleason and his orchestra were releasing; something I call "doctor's office music" or what others commonly call elevator music. Lush lush lush. And I'm referring to how the music sounds NOT the conductor's drinking proclivities. But now that I've mentioned drinks . . . let's head on over to the tiki bar and get us a couple while we listen to Paul Weston's "MOOD MUSIC"!

MY FAVOURITE TRACKS: When Your Lover Has Gone, My Silent Love, I'll Follow My Secret Heart, Moon Song, Yesterdays, Under A Blanket of Blue, Stardust, What'll I Do, Among My Souvenirs

FACT SHEET: It's a little difficult to track these things but "MOOD MUSIC" is probably Paul Weston's 13th album. Weston worked as an arranger, songwriter (he co-wrote the standard "I SHOULD CARE" among others) and orchestra leader in films and radio as well as on record. He was tapped by Johnny Mercer to work for his fledgling Capitol Records label where he "invented" the lounge music genre of easy listening entitled "mood music" with his 1945 Capitol album "MUSIC FOR DREAMING". Weston married singer Jo Stafford in 1952. Together the couple secretly recorded and released some musical comedy albums as "Jonathan and Darlene Edwards"; Jonathan was said to have two left hands and played the piano atrociously while Darlene sang even worse. The identity of the pair was rumoured to be someone very famous in the music industry but it was a while before Stafford and Weston revealed their identities.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS: I LOVE THE WINTER WEATHER - Jo Stafford

YEAR: 1955/1956

LABEL: Hanover Music Corp.

TRACK LISTING: Happy Holiday, Winter Weather, Sleigh Ride, By the Fireside, I've Got My Love To Keep Me Warm, Jingle Bells/Winter Wonderland, Toyland, 'Twas the Night Before Christmas, March of the Toys, The Christmas Song, I Wonder As I Wander, O Little Town of Bethlehem, Silent Night, Hanover Winter Song, It Happened in Sun Valley, June In January, Whiffenpoof Song, Baby It's Cold Outside, The Nearness of You, Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!, Moonlight In Vermont, Happy Holiday (Reprise)

IMPRESSIONS: There's just something about Christmas in the 1950s! One of the best voices to evoke this fifties yuletide feeling is Jo Stafford; her smooth croon is so incredibly warm when singing the slow romantic ballads designed to snuggle up in front of a ski lodge fireplace with such songs as "Moonlight In Vermont", "The Nearness of You" and "June In January". However, Stafford also excels at the up-tempo swing contained in "Winter Weather", "It Happened In Sun Valley" and "Let It Snow!". This album (or should I say "albums") makes a perfect listening companion with Dean Martin's "A WINTER ROMANCE".

MY FAVOURITE TRACKS: Winter Weather, Sleigh Ride, By the Fireside, I've Got My Love To Keep Me Warm, Jingle Bells/Winter Wonderland, The Christmas Song, I Wonder As I Wander, It Happened In Sun Valley, June In January, The Nearness of You, Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!, Moonlight In Vermont

GUEST ARTISTS: The Starlighters (vocals), The Norman Luboff Choir (vocals)

FACT SHEET: HAPPY HOLIDAYS collects two of Jo Stafford's albums: "HAPPY HOLIDAY" (1955) and "SKI TRAILS" (1956). The album features Paul Weston and His Orchestra; Paul Weston was Jo Stafford's husband.