HIFI Records Life Series Stereo 1963 Sealed New
"Cotton Fields," Lyman's thirteenth album, followed much the same song pattern he'd established on earlier albums, but in addition to the film scores, show tunes, popular hits, bossa novas and Hawaiian melodies, there are also titles drawn from the then-current folk revival. The album opens with the superb exotica of Ernesto Lecuona's "Jungle Drums," replete with guiro, bird calls and flowing vibraphone. Dating back to the 1930s, "Jungle Drums" was a popular melody in the space age bachelor pad canon, with dozens of covers that include versions by Sid Bass, Al Caiola, David Carroll, Xavier Cugat, Ferrante and Teicher, Marty Gold and Martin Denny's percussionist, Augie Colon. Turning to a jazzier style, Lyman's arrangement of Elmer Bernstein's film title "Walk on the Wild Side" is a tremendous slice of late night moody blues, and Meredith "The Music Man" Wilson's "I Ain't Down Yet" (from the 1964 film "The Unsinkable Molly Brown") is rendered in a march tempo. Show tunes include a contemplative take on Robert Wright and George Forrest's "This is My Beloved" (from 1953's "Kismet") and Hart and Rogers' "Little Girl Blue" (from 1935's "Jumbo"), and native melodies are heard in a bossa nova arrangement of the classic "Hawaiian War Chant" and a gently flowing take on Maddy Lam's "Singing Bamboo." Pop music hits include a winsome, flute-led version of the standard "Scarlet Ribbons," and a percussive bossa nova treatment of Chubby Checker's "Limbo Rock" featuring Lyman's vibes gliding along a Calypso-styled steel drum. The folk revival provides "Greensleeves," wonderfully realized on vibraphone, guitar and celeste, and Leadbelly's "Cotton Fields," lightened with a swinging go-go beat.
Side 1.
1. Jungle Drums 2:15
2. Greensleeves 2:15
3. Walk On The Wild Side 2:30
4. Limbo Rock 2:30
5. This Is My Beloved 2:05
6. Hawaiian War Chant (Bossa Nova) 2:15
Side 2.
1. Cotton Fields 1:45
2. Singing Bamboo 2:15
3. Brazil (Bossa Nova) 2:20
4. Little Girl Blue 2:15
5. Scarlet Ribbons 2:22
6. I Ain't Down Yet 2:45
