大象传媒

Opening with a new recording, by Willie Nelson, of an Irving Berlin classic, Russell notes that Willie re-casts it 'as if to entertain the occupants of some dusty adobe village in the Tex-Mex country'. Following last week's feature on the 'B' sides, and underlining a Texan theme (Nelson's home state is Texas) Russell picks Stan Freberg's send-up of Mitch Miller's hit, 'The Yellow Rose Of Texas' and Marlon Brando's 'Luck Be A Lady' from the sound-track of the movie 'Guys And Dolls', both included in Acrobat's 'Hits We Missed'.

Eddie Erickson and Becky Kilgore sing the title song 'Guys & Dolls' from an album of songs from the score and next up is Steve Tyrell (a Texan) duetting with Judith Hill on 'I'll Take Romance', followed by another duet: 'The Little Things In Texas' from the movie 'State Fair' with Tom Ewell and Alice Faye. Marking the 50th anniversary of the death of bandleader Ted Weems (he made his HQ in Dallas, Texas!) we hear 'Remarkable Girl' sung by bass man Country Washburn while, courtesy of a listener, comes a curiosity by singer Gregory Page, who duets convincingly with an 80 year old Ruth Etting record. Moving from Texas to Kentucky to remember her birth, 85 years ago, we hear Rosemary Clooney's 'You're In Kentucky' and to mark the death, 80 years ago today, of 'The Father Of Country Music' Jimmie Rodgers, Russell plays his 'Blue Yodel No 9', famous for the 'unknown' trumpet obbligato which turned out to be the work of a moonlighting Louis Armstrong. Then, to celebrate Gene DiNovi's 85th birthday, we hear Peggy Lee's 'Nine Thorny Thickets' on which he plays harpsichord. Finally, there's a track from a new release of singer David Allyn and a quickie by Kay Starr - 'Down Among The Sheltering Palms'.