Search - Nelson Riddle & His Orch :: Riddle Me This

An Entertaining Hotch-Potch of Riddle Recordings

The Quiet Reviewer | San Diego, CA | 09/05/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This CD is a compilation of Nelson Riddle recordings from the mid- to late-1950s. About half the tracks are singles (including his two chart-toppers, "Lisbon Antigua" and "Brother John"), while the other half is an album of lushly orchestrated ballads. It is an entertaining hotch-potch of music, but some of the stranger items and the complete lack of information in the liner notes prevent me from giving it a full five stars.



The first 13 items were mostly released as singles (although the two items from "Oklahoma" were originally recorded for Riddle's cover album of the film score). The choice of material is bizarre, to say the least. Grieg's "In the Hall of the Mountain King"? The "Villa" Lied from "The Merry Widow"? There are also some items that indulge in kitsch exotica, which Riddle usually had the taste to stay away from: "Port Au Prince" and "Vera Cruz." In fact, a number of the tracks don't even sound like Riddle: Lionel Newman's "Theme from 'The Proud Ones'" in particular sounds like Ray Conniff snuck into the studio and took over the orchestra. It could be a Conniff for all we know, since there is virtually no recording or release information in the liner notes. (Who is the vocalist on "Never Never Land" and "The Tender Touch"? Some inquiring minds would like to know.) Many of the tracks do not seem to have come from the original master tape: on "Moonglow" in particular, you can hear background noise that suggest the track was dubbed from not-particularly clean copy of a vinyl record.



Ah, but things do get better as we move to the second half. "The Tender Touch" was Riddle in a romantic mood, with lush strings supporting a gently swinging orchestra on a set of superior ballads. It is hard to pick out exemplary tracks; and although Riddle is often tagged with the "easy listening" epithet, there's nothing the least muzak-like about this. I only wish people would play stuff like this while you're on hold.



I would advise stopping your CD player before you get to the bonus track. Whatever you might think of Yvonne DeCarlo, the song "Take It or Leave It" has no merit whatsoever--and the whole thing manages to destroy the mood that "The Tender Touch" album builds up.



If you enjoy Nelson Riddle's music, you'll enjoy this CD (especially since the only other place you can get "The Tender Touch" is on a Japanese import with an obscene price). Although the singles on the first half aren't always great, "The Tender Touch" is worth the cost of admission."