I've got two versions of The Nutcracker here for you in the middle of the night. I recorded them at different times, cleaned them up and cut them into pieces at different times, scanned and edited the sleeves at different times, and only realized this was two releases of the same recording from different sides of the pond much later. I seem to recall they may be edited a bit differently and maybe the speed of one is a little off from the other, but they're certainly the same. I think was finally clued me in was that both records name the same female performer even though the listed groups are different. I love to find little coincidences like this, you can't plan for it, but you have to be ready when it happens. The first one I'll give you is
Denise Bryer And The Famous Theatre Company With The Hollywood Studio Orchestra-
The Nutcracker Suite (United Artists/Tale Spinners For Children UAC 11011, Mono). This one was released in the US as part of the extensive Tale Spinners For Children series by United Artists.
1. The Nutcracker, Side 1
2. The Nutcracker, Side 2
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And this second version, released in the UK, is
London Theatre Company Featuring Denise Bryer-
The Nutcracker (Beano Records Limited (England) BE.12/015, Mono, 1965). I suspect this is the original and was licensed to the US company a year or so later. I updated the listings at Discogs to tie these two records together, and I saw there were other Beano record titles that were duplicated in the Tale Spinners series. I wonder if they're also reissues? I don't have the Beano issues of any others, so I can't say for sure.
1. Nutcracker, Part 1
2. Nutcracker, Part 2
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I like how the orchestra was magically transported from London to Hollywood for the two recordings.
ReplyDelete"Beano" is a great name for a record company. There is (or used to be) a pill by the same time that you would take when you had gas.
Exactly what I thought of, but ot does sound kind of British, doesn't it?
DeleteCheck out the cover of the "John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers with Eric Clapton" album. Clapton is reading a publication called "The Beano". How British can you get?
ReplyDeleteI am not surprised. :)
DeleteHi Ernie, these are still waiting to be heard from me. I did find this though.
ReplyDeleteTale Spinners for Children
There is nothing as exciting for us as discovering something "new"..... and luckily, this thrill comes weekly. After finding that certain something special, the next best feeling is sharing it. So this week, we have something special to share with you: the Tale Spinners series.
If you enjoy audio books, then you will enjoy these (even though they are aimed at children), especially since the production quality of these albums are so much better than an audio book.
Tale Spinners for Children began in England in 1959 as a series of 30 records from the Atlas Record Label each featuring a story for children. The stories were classics and the actors/actresses reading them were usually classically-trained actors with rich and melodic voices such as Denise Bryer, Robert Hardy, Maggie Smith, Donald Pleasence or William Devlin. As lovely as it is listening to these actors, they were always supported by a full orchestra playing background music (once again, classically based) and a cast of other actors each reading the different parts.
Listening to a Tale Spinners album feels like listening to a radio show but one featuring classic novels... how wonderful is that!
After the success of the series in England, United Artists brought the Tale Spinners to the American market and pressed 69 different titles (!) including Robinson Crusoe, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, Snow White, Cinderella, The Snow Queen, Swiss Family Robinson, Peter Pan, Davy Crockett, and Don Quixote.
The Tale Spinners series continued until the early 1970s. New titles were no longer released but the series was re-issued up until the mid-1980s.
Interesting, very interesting.
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