Recorded in March 1967, the album "The World We Knew" could well be regarded as the central part of a trilogy of LP productions, the others being "Strangers In The Night" (1966) and "My Way Of Life" (1968). All three title numbers have a common factor: they were sung by no less than Frank Sinatra. Although the melancholy "The World We Knew (Over And Over)" did not achieve the legendary success of "Strangers In The Night", Sinatra’s version entered the Top Ten on the American “easy listening” charts and was a Number 1 hit for several weeks in Argentina. Five further compositions from the original album were written by Bert Kaempfert and Herbert Rehbein: the gently swinging "I Can´t Help Remembering You", with which Dean Martin enjoyed worldwide success; "Lonesome", with its solemnly majestic melody; "Stay With The Happy People", which was influenced by gospel songs and spirituals; "Vat 96"’s simple riff theme, which is enhanced by the harsh accents of the brass and muted trumpets; and finally "Talk", whose snappy theme is presented by two trumpets and which is treated stereophonically, one might say, towards the end in that it passes from one section of the winds to the next. The remaining compositions are successful numbers of various origins: "Rain" was written as early as 1927 and has taken its place among the evergreens among other things thanks to recordings by the orchestras led by Sam Lanin and Arnold Frank for example. "Lover" was sung by Jeanette MacDonald in an imaginative musical from the early days of the “talkies”; during the Forties this number gained renewed popularity due to a recording by the trick guitarist Les Paul, while in 1952 it was a million seller for Peggy Lee. Originally one of the most popular waltzes by the Broadway composer Richard Rodgers, "Lover" takes on a completely new character in this almost aggressively swinging version by Bert Kaempfert. Interpreted by varied artists such as Tex Ritter, Bing Crosby, Gene Autry and Ray Charles, the ever popular country and western evergreen "You Are My Sunshine", written in 1940, was composed by Jimmy Davis, a professor of history and social studies who devoted himself to music in his spare time. In 1944 he became Governor of the State of Louisiana, having used his song in his election campaign – obviously with success. The two remaining compositions are connected with one of the most famous names of the swing era – Glenn Miller. The "Serenade In Blue", which is appropriately given a “bluesy” trumpet introduction by Bert Kaempfert, was premiered in 1942 in the film “Orchestra Wives” where it was performed by Glenn Miller’s orchestra and his singer Ray Eberle. "Moonlight Serenade", which Miller composed in 1939, is probably the most popular signature tune ever to have been written for an orchestra in the big band era. During his studies with the “music mathematician” Joseph Schillinger, Miller wrote the melody “just for practice”; the serenade was one of his very first recorded hits and has lost nothing of its fascination in Bert Kaempfert’s version, despite its totally different sound with the leading piano.
Tributes to composers had been popular from the dawn of the long-playing record in 1948, and artists like Ella Fitzgerald had raised the tribute to an artform. But by the mid 1960s, there was a dearth of great composers who could stand alongside Jerome Kern, the Gershwins, Harold Arlen, and their contemporaries. When Anita Kerr thought of profiling a composer, her first choice was Henry Mancini, and her RCA album "We Dig Mancini", won a Grammy, famously beating out the Beatles' "Help!" for best group recording. During the mid-to-late 1960s, Mancini was eclipsed by Lennon-McCartney and Bacharach-David. «I loved Burt Bacharach,» said Anita Kerr, «He was so original and so different, and Hal David's lyrics were wonderful.» But Lennon-McCartney and Bacharach-David tributes were plentiful, prompting Anita to look elsewhere. «I hunted for another composer,» she said. «and that was Bert Kaempfert. He was hot at that time, and his melodies were so simple and lent themselves to vocal group arrangements.» And so, "Bert Kaempfert Turns Us On!" became the third Anita Kerr album on Warner Bros. But let's backtrack. It had been two years since Anita arrived on the West Coast. She had become restless in Nashville, anxious to expand her horizons beyond the local studios. For almost ten years, either the Anita Kerr Singers or the Jordanaires had sung background on just about every hit emanating from Nashville. It was time to move on, even though she could have had a comfortable living ... perhaps to this day... in the Nashville studios.
After Anita and her husband, AI Kerr, divorced, there was no reason to stay in Nashville. With her second husband, Swiss businessman Alex Grob, and her two children, she arrived in Hollywood in August 1965. «In Nashville,» she says, «people have a tendency to categorize you. I had written some songs and I wanted to get them recorded, but I couldn't do it in Nashville. I wanted to do pop music, not simply be a background singer or arranger. I loved jazz, and deep inside I wanted to do orchestral things. I'd met Henry Mancini and his wife, and he told me that I needed to move out to California. And I wanted to become known as Anita Kerr, not just the woman with the vocal group. I wanted to follow my dream, and Los Angeles seemed to be the place.» Contractuallly, she was tied to R.C.A.'s Nashville division, and the label not only wouldn't let her out of her contract but wouldn't record her unless she was in Nashville. Lawyers eventually resolved the stalemate, leaving Anita free to record for whom she pleased. «R.C.A.'s Steve Sholes (the man who'd signed Elvis Presley to the label) told me I'd need a manager in Hollywood,» she says, «so Alex became my manager. I knew Dick Glasser, who was an A&R man for Warner Bros. He'd worked in Nashville, and I'd met him there. Alex went to see Dick, and then we went to see the president, Joe Smith, and I was on Warners. Now, I'd just won the Grammy for the Mancini album, "We Dig Mancini", and I was on the televised part of the show, so that probably helped.»
Before she could fully realize her dream, she had to master some skills she'd never had to learn in Nashville. «One of the first things I had to learn in California was to conduct an orchestra,» she said. «There is an old saying: 'The hardest thing in the world is to start an orchestra, and the next hardest, to stop it.' That sounds funny, but it's true. The first session that I had to conduct I was so affraid I told Alex that I couldn't do it. He gently walked me through the door of the studio up to the conductor's podium. He has always pushed me, and I'm so thankful for that, because many times I didn't have enough confidence.»Anita's stock had risen considerably because her initial collaboration with Rod McKuen, "The Sea", had become a surprise best-seller. "Bert Kaempfert Turns Us On! " appeared during the Fall of 1967. Kaempfert was hugely successful, but little known in the United States. True, he'd had a Number One pop hit in 1961 with "Wonderland by Night" and he'd released more than thirty albums in the United States, but most of his work was behind-the-scenes. Born Berthold Kämpfert in Hamburg, Germany, in 1923, he was conscripted into the German navy during the Second World War. He played with a military band, and, while a prisoner in Denmark, formed his own big band. After the war, his band toured Allied officers' clubs in Germany, and he returned to Hamburg just as it was becoming the center of the German music industry. During the 1950s, he was Polydor Records' lead arranger and producer, and his first orchestral recordings were released in 1958 under the name of Bob Parker und sein Orchester. In 1960, he did an arrangement of a German folk song. "Muss I Denn," that Elvis Presley recorded as "Wooden Heart." Then, in 1961, in his role as producer for Polydor, he signed the Beatles, and produced their first records. After they returned to England, their manager, Brian Epstein, asked for their release from the contract, and he gave it to them.
Throughout the early and mid 1960s, Kaempfert wrote a string of hits: "A Swingin' Safari" became a hit for bandleader Billy Vaughn and the theme of a quiz show, The Match Game; "Danke Schöen" was a career hit for Wayne Newton; "L.O.V.E." was one of Nat ‘King’ Cole's last hits; and a tune called "Moon over Naples" was adapted into English as "Spanish Eyes." And then Kaempfert wrote the score for a movie, A Man Could Get Killed. The untitled theme caught the ear of Frank Sinatra's producer, Jimmy Bowen, and, at Bowen's suggestion, English lyrics were added. As "Strangers in the Night" it became Frank Sinatra's next-to-Iast Number One hit. Kaempfert slowed down somewhat in the 1970s. Semi-retired in Majorca, he emerged only to play big band jazz concerts. His last performence was in June 1980 before a full house at London's Royal Albert Hall, and he died a few days later back in Majorca. He was a true giant of post-War pop music, but Anita was one of the few in this country to recognize his work (the only other Kaempfert tributes were by AI Hirt and Bobby Hackett). The final song on this album, "For Bert," may or may not have been about Kaempfert. The writers were Anita Kerr and Rod McKuen. Soon after the album was wrapped up, Warners took Anita and the score of "A Swingin' Safari" out to a local park, and shot the beguiling cover photo. It was fashionable at the time for women to dye graying hair, but Anita's bouffant was unapologetically silver. "Bert Kaempfert Turns Us On!" was released during the Summer of Love, so it was inevitable that her final albums for Warners would reflect the changing times. (Colin Escott, Nashville, May 2007)
Listening is making a comeback. More and more people - riddled silly by television's six-shooters and Tommy guns, emotionally wrung out by the movies' pseudo-psychological plots - are rediscovering the relaxing, enormously rewarding pleasures of an almost-lost art, listening. Here, played by the incomparable Bert Kaempfert and his orchestra, is an album designed for an predicated on the enjoyment of easy, let's-get-away-from-it-all listening. Here are songs sweet and sentimental, performed with the warm, full orchestral sound that has become Mr. Kaempfert's internationally recognized and renouned trademark. Here is music for just listening... we think you'll find it's a delightfully "new" experience.
Original Released as LP DECCA DL- 74374 (US 1963, April 22)
Produced by Milt Gabler Engineered by Peter Klemy at Polydor Studios, Hamburg (Recorded 1962, December 17) ORIGINAL LINER NOTES:
If there's anyone who still thinks that only singers make hit records, we can clear up this misconception by mentioning just a few of Bert Kaempfert's orchestral arrangements that have scored some of the biggest smash hits in recent record history... among them, "Wonderland By Night", "Afrikaan Beat", "That Happy Feeling", "A Swingin' Safari". Each selection creates an unforgettable musical picture in the distinctive Kaempfert style. This album is your invitation to "LIVE IT UP" with Mr. Kaempfert: whether you prefer to do it by dancing or listening to the accompaniment of his lively and lovely orchestral interpretations of such irresistible new melodies as "Gentleman Jim", "Typsy Gypsy", "Don't Talk To Me", "Give and Take", "Candlelight Cafe", and many others.
Available
for the first time on CD, this album, recorded in the spring of 1970, was Bert
Kaempfert’s last production in “classical” two-track stereo before he began
using the eight-track system for his recordings. Once again he and his
orchestra made music which was truly “free and easy” in every way, and indeed
nothing compares with Kaempfert’s music: in arranging the carefully chosen
pieces for his orchestra, he always ensured that the melody remained in the foreground.
In addition to the highly popular "Sweet Caroline", a top-ten hit written by Neil
Diamond, Bert Kaempfert also looked back to that old jazz favorite "Gone With
The Wind" from 1937, and to two world-famous film melodies: "Over The Rainbow",
which was sung by Judy Garland in the 1939 film musical “The Wizard Of Oz” and
which became her signature tune for the rest of her life, and "Laura" from the
1944 crime film bearing the same name, which brought the film composer David
Raksin lasting fame. Two of the eight original compositions by the Bert
Kaempfert/Herbert Rehbein team also originate from a film: “You Can’t Win ’Em
All”, starring Tony Curtis and Charles Bronson, was an adventure film made in
1969 whose action took place in the Ottoman Empire after the First World War. With
the music to this film – the majestic "Love Theme" and the action-packed "Flight
To Mecca" that can be heard here –, Bert Kaempfert once again broke his
resolution never to write a soundtrack again, something he had sworn after the
strenuous work on the film “A Man Could Get Killed” which involved writing a
melody which was later to become a hit all over the world: "Strangers In The
Night".
Bert Kaempfert's
debut U.S. LP release is a smooth, sweetly (and lightly) exotic musical
travelog made up mostly of Portugese source material (in contrast to his later
albums, there are no Kaempfert originals here). The title track is the jewel
here, a brash big band piece without a lot of southern European flavor to it,
but so catchy that it can be heard several times without offense (which was
sort of the point of albums like this). Similarly, "Petticoats of
Portugal" could be an instrumental referring to anyplace, but it offers
some engaging trumpet work that makes it stand out. And the rest constitutes
some of the most interesting listening in Kaempfert's catalog. There is,
understandably, more emphasis on the guitar on some tracks - especially
"Sempre Que Lisboa Canta" and "Por Deus te Peço" - than is
usual on his arrangements, not that the piano and strings don't get their due
on "Fora de Portas" and "Tudo Isto é Fado," respectively. There's
also more focus on dance rhythms, as opposed to the slow, moody instrumentals
that filled up parts of Kaempfert's subsequent records, thus making this one of
the more exciting of his early albums. The familiar lush sound, including
enveloping harp arpeggios, also manifests itself, and the vivid hi-fi sound and
stereo separation made this a prime MOR selection in many bachelor's dens of
the era.
When this album was released in 1967, Bert Kaempfert was already well
down the road leading to success. As bandleader-arranger-composer, he had
finally established himself world wide. For example, on the margin of one of
his own scores, composer Henry Mancini left the instructions, “With Bert
Kaempfert’s drum brush,” and Nelson Riddle wasn’t above demanding the “Bert
Kaempfert Sound” from his own musicians, when he felt it necessary. This year
saw Frank Sinatra climbing the American charts with the new Kaempfert
composition “The World We Knew (Over And Over)” and Al Martino found himself
sharing the top spots on hit lists across the world with his own, and
Kaempfert’s instrumental version of “Spanish Eyes” (“Moon Over Naples”). “Hold
Me” is an album which production proves the many faceted expertise of Bert
Kaempfert. Everybody who adores Bert Kaempfert’s typically swinging and
sometimes humorous style of interpretation will be more than satisfied with “Majoram”,
“Pussy Footin'” and “So What's New”. At the time, all these numbers were warm
favorites on US
radio. “Hold Back The Dawn”, a very melodic composition from Bert Kaempfert was
especially loved, particularly the vocal versions from Baby Washington, and
Gloria Lynne. With “Lady”, Jack Jones stole the charts and later many stars
were to include this number in their repertoires. The best dance numbers are “Love
For love”, “It's The Talk Of The Town” and “Rose Room”, unlike the masterful “Take
Seven”, composed in 7/4 time; even the musicians had to be careful not to fall
out of step during this recording. As always, well loved standards are given
fresh life without losing their authenticity.
In
this year the European and American public were able to experience the, until
now, ‘Invisible Mr Hitmaker’ on television: August 1967 saw the launching of German color
television, during the 25th annual Broadcasting Exhibition in Berlin. Amongst the crowd of international
stars was Bert Kaempfert and his Orchestra. The Gala-Show took place within the
framework of a Eurovision broadcast. During
previous years Bert Kaempfert and his Orchestra had received many invitations
to appear in front of the American public. Unfortunately this was never
possible, due to the fact that the work permits, necessary for foreigners, were
to all intents and purposes, practically impossible to attain. In addition, the
unions demanded that for every foreign musician who appeared, an American one
had to be compensated. These conditions combined to make it financially
impossible for any promoter to consider organizing a concert tour for the
numerically imposing Bert Kaempfert and his Orchestra. Despite this, it proved
possible in the end, to engage on the Jackie Gleason Show, the then most
popular show in the US.
The show was scheduled once a week, during peak viewing time and was broadcast
from ‘coast to coast.’ Bert Kaempfert took only four of his own musicians along
with him, drummer Rolf Ahrens, his bass guitarist Ladi Geissler, bass player
Karl-Heinz (Kuddel) Greve, and solo trumpeter Manfred Moch. The rest of the
team were substituted by the excellent Jackie Gleason-Big Band, as well as a
strings section and a choir. Given Bert Kaempfert’s ability and talent for
writing arrangements, the rehearsal time of only one day was more than enough
to allow this improvised ensemble to present the American public the typical
Kaempfert sound with two medleys of his most successful hits. Bert Kaempfert is
the only German composer and bandleader of entertainment music that has
achieved not only notable, but really huge success. Right up until today his
music enjoys worldwide respect and continues giving pleasure to many across the
world.
* First edited in the US under the tittle "THAT
HAPPY FEELING", with the song "Sunday in Madrid" instead of
"Afrikaan Beat"
This album was recorded in the Polydor Studio in Hamburg-Rahlstedt by sound engineer Peter Klemt in December 1961 and in March 1962. This production was first released in the United States the following August under the title "THAT HAPPY FEELING" and had climbed to Number 14 in the charts by September of that year. The LP was then released on the European market with the title "A SWINGIN’ SAFARI" in autumn of the same year. The two Kaempfert compositions "A Swingin’ Safari" and "Afrikaan Beat" soon became world hits and have since become evergreens. The success of "Take Me" is because of the Dean Martin’s vocal version of the number, and "That Happy Feeling", "Market Day" and "Happy Trumpeter" were sensational, long-running hits on American radio.At that time, the typical Kaempfert rhythm had been enhanced by a titillating sound coming from the flutes: Bert Kaempfert modeled this music on the sound produced by blowing penny whistles (brass flutes) in the same particular way as in South African Kwela music. The style of this had been influenced by American swing and was very popular among young black people in the townships. «Bert Kaempfert tried to get the piccolos to imitate the sound of penny whistles. We had real hard rehearsals. But at last we had made it and Bert was really pleased to have captured the charm of the whistles in ‘his’ piccolos» reminisced bass guitarist Ladi Geisler. The intro to "Afrikaan Beat" is also one of the most unmistakable symbols of Bert Kaempfert and his Orchestra today, with its typical ‘cracking bass’. Again Ladi Geisler recalls: «We musicians were, as always, gathered around one microphone. My amplifier was about 3 meters away, the same distance as the trombones. Bert Kaempfert advised me to go easy on the lower notes (these were to come from the double-bass) and the high notes were to be accentuated so that it would really ‘crack’. This was how the term for the Bert Kaempfert sound - ‘cracking bass’ - was born.» In the course of the years, Bert Kaempfert received a number of awards and gold LPs as a reward for the huge success of this album all over the world. But he was particularly delighted to receive a gold LP from South Africa.
Recorded in March 1967, the album "The World We Knew" could well be regarded as the central part of a trilogy of LP productions, the others being "Strangers In The Night" (1966) and "My Way Of Life" (1968). All three title numbers have a common factor: they were sung by no less than Frank Sinatra. Although the melancholy "The World We Knew (Over And Over)" did not achieve the legendary success of "Strangers In The Night", Sinatra’s version entered the Top Ten on the American “easy listening” charts and was a Number 1 hit for several weeks in Argentina. Five further compositions from the original album were written by Bert Kaempfert and Herbert Rehbein: the gently swinging "I Can´t Help Remembering You", with which Dean Martin enjoyed worldwide success; "Lonesome", with its solemnly majestic melody; "Stay With The Happy People", which was influenced by gospel songs and spirituals; "Vat 96"’s simple riff theme, which is enhanced by the harsh accents of the brass and muted trumpets; and finally "Talk", whose snappy theme is presented by two trumpets and which is treated stereophonically, one might say, towards the end in that it passes from one section of the winds to the next. The remaining compositions are successful numbers of various origins: "Rain" was written as early as 1927 and has taken its place among the evergreens among other things thanks to recordings by the orchestras led by Sam Lanin and Arnold Frank for example. "Lover" was sung by Jeanette MacDonald in an imaginative musical from the early days of the “talkies”; during the Forties this number gained renewed popularity due to a recording by the trick guitarist Les Paul, while in 1952 it was a million seller for Peggy Lee. Originally one of the most popular waltzes by the Broadway composer Richard Rodgers, "Lover" takes on a completely new character in this almost aggressively swinging version by Bert Kaempfert. Interpreted by varied artists such as Tex Ritter, Bing Crosby, Gene Autry and Ray Charles, the ever popular country and western evergreen "You Are My Sunshine", written in 1940, was composed by Jimmy Davis, a professor of history and social studies who devoted himself to music in his spare time. In 1944 he became Governor of the State of Louisiana, having used his song in his election campaign – obviously with success. The two remaining compositions are connected with one of the most famous names of the swing era – Glenn Miller. The "Serenade In Blue", which is appropriately given a “bluesy” trumpet introduction by Bert Kaempfert, was premiered in 1942 in the film “Orchestra Wives” where it was performed by Glenn Miller’s orchestra and his singer Ray Eberle. "Moonlight Serenade", which Miller composed in 1939, is probably the most popular signature tune ever to have been written for an orchestra in the big band era. During his studies with the “music mathematician” Joseph Schillinger, Miller wrote the melody “just for practice”; the serenade was one of his very first recorded hits and has lost nothing of its fascination in Bert Kaempfert’s version, despite its totally different sound with the leading piano.
