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Yesterday And Today

Six nostalgic hits from the Fifties and six new compositions with his own unique sound – such are the ingredients of Bert Kaempfert’s album YESTERDAY AND TODAY, recorded in November 1972 and released the following year. It was probably for this reason that MCA released this compilation in the USA under the title FABULOUS FIFTIES… AND NEW DELIGHTS.

Do you remember Blueberry Hill? It was a Top Ten hit for Glenn Miller and his singer Ray Eberle in the Forties; it was a million seller for Fats Domino and his honky-tonk piano in 1956, and Louis Armstrong – who had recorded the number in 1949 – also profited from its success. And here it is again – given a decisively modern touch by Bert Kaempfert.

Elvis Presley’s Love Me Tender was an overwhelming success: taken from the film of the same name (Presley’s very first film), this melody goes back to a song from the American Civil War, Aura Lee, written by George R. Poulton. Bert Kaempfert pays homage here to the “King of Rock ‘n’ Roll” with his entirely personal interpretation of this early rock ballad.

The guitarist Duane Eddy had a special “trade mark” in the 1950s: a twangy guitar sound with which he introduced his rock numbers – one of these was his highly successful Rebel Rouser, performed here à la Kaempfert, which happily connects 1958 with 1972. Bert Kaempfert, of course, also has his very own “trade mark” – a remarkable versatility which allows him to take a rhythm and blues number such as Night Train (a hit for James Brown in 1962) and lend it a truly modern touch without losing anything of the original thrilling beat.

If your memory functions better in the world of pop rather than rock, then two timeless melodies which have been treated with the Bert Kaempfert Sound will offer special pleasure: Who’s Sorry Now, a highly popular song in the vaudeville theatres of the 1920s, became one of Connie Francis’s greatest hits in 1958 in a modern version, and Everybody Loves Somebody. The latter song brought Frank Sinatra only moderate success at the end of the Forties but sold millions in 1964 when sung by Dean Martin, who used it as his theme melody in his television shows and made it a true classic.

But maybe you prefer works by the composing team Bert Kaempfert/Herbert Rehbein such as You Turned My World Around, which Frank Sinatra included in his repertoire, or Children Of Peace, whose basic lyrical mood is spiced with dynamic, powerful sections, or again I Remember Loving You which is based on the Cancan from Jacques Offenbach’s opera “Orpheus In The Underworld”.

No matter what your taste is, YESTERDAY AND TODAY, a collection of truly classic instrumental works, offers something for everyone.

One Lonely Night

ONE LONELY NIGHT, recorded in Hamburg in October 1968 and released at that time in America under the title WARM AND WONDERFUL, is now being released for the very first time on compact disc. Melodies chosen with great care and frequently played in their day by American radio stations are presented here in an elegant, swinging “continental style” by Bert Kaempfert and his Orchestra. The soloists are Werner Gutterer on the trumpet and Herb Geller on the flute.

The six original compositions by Bert Kaempfert and Herbert Rehbein range from dreamy, tranquil numbers such as Only In Your Arms and Our Street Of Love to the swinging Petula and the snappy, Spanish-sounding Maltese Melody, a work which also inspired Herb Alpert And His Tijuana Brass to enter the recording studio and which brought him great success. The remaining titles are all old favorites and top hits in their day.

Frequently heard in films, I May Be Wrong was originally composed for the revue entitled “John Murray Anderson’s Almanac” of 1929 and constituted the only really great success of its writers, Henry Sullivan and Harry Ruskin.

Some Of These Days, composed as early as 1910 by Shelton Brooks, gave the career of American singer and actress Sophie Tucker a tremendous boost: the song became her signature tune and gave her autobiography its title.

One Morning In May was composed in 1934 by the great American songwriter Hoagy Carmichael; it was one of his personal favorites and became famous through recordings by Tommy Dorsey and Sarah Vaughan to mention a few.

Can’t Take My Eyes Off You, from 1967, fetched the singer Frankie Valli a gold disc and also proved a great success for The Lettermen and Nancy Wilson. A gold disc was also awarded to Herb Alpert And His Tijuana Brass for his recording of This Guy’s In Love With You, composed in 1968, one of the greatest hits ever to have been written during the Sixties by what is probably America’s most successful songwriting duo, of Burt Bacharach and Hal David; it was a top-ten hit for Bacharach’s favorite performing artist Dionne Warwick.

Love That Bert Kaempfert

This album from 1968 at that time was Number 1 on Decca’s “Top Selling Album List”. Bert Kaempfert sought out well known songs for his recordings and virtually made them his own. Himself a writer of numerous hits, he always treated the original works of his composer colleagues with great respect: his arrangements left the basic melody unchanged, while his special sound lent the work new lustre.

A good example of this is offered by Duke Ellington’s classical jazz composition Caravan from 1937 with its unforgettable melody. The exotic timbre, bass guitar played over a “fuzz box” and growl effects of the trumpet, all of which relate directly to Ellington’s “jungle style”, sent this Kaempfert single (Decca DL 32241) to the top of the US hit parade in 1968.

Another classic, The Sheik Of Araby, was inspired by the silent movie “The Sheik” (1921) filmed with Rudolph Valentino, the romantic idol of the Twenties. In his recording, Bert Kaempfert lends the oldie a modern tone coloring. Axel Stordahl, Paul Weston and Sammy Cahn combined their talents for the film musical “Thrill Of Romance” (1945) and came up with the song I Should Care, which was to become a best-seller for Frank Sinatra.

Bert Kaempfert breathes new life into this old favorite, just as he did with the solemn number Again from the film “Roadhouse” (1948), which took its place in the repertory of stars such as Vic Damone, Doris Day, Mel Tormé and Tommy Dorsey, and with Billy Hill’s The Glory Of Love from 1936, which achieved new popularity in 1967 thanks to the film “Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner” with Spencer Tracy, Katharine Hepburn and Sidney Poitier.

Country music is also represented by one song which managed to get a foothold in the pop sector: Just As Much As Ever was a Top Forty hit for Bob Beckham.

Bert Kaempfert crowns this compilation with several original compositions: The First Waltz is a lively waltz which gives prominence to the brass; Manfred Moch’s trumpet is heard to great effect in the delightful My Love For You and also in Steppin’ Pretty – a work which is sure to get you swinging; Lonely Is The Name, for its part, was an enormous success for Sammy Davis, Jr.