Trio Shmeed

Artist: Trio Shmeed

LP: Trio Shmeed

Song: "Yodel Cha Cha"

[ listen ]

One of the best things about going through my LPs to weed out the stuff I don't want anymore is that I also always find things I had totally forgotten about or that I didn't even know I had! It's hard to imagine forgetting about something as exciting as "Yodel Cha Cha" (authentic sounds from the Swiss Alps cleverly blended with the music of aliens!), but there you have it. Singing siblings Willy, Werner, and Claire have been yodeling together since they were youngsters, when they began performing in their father's restaurant. It wasn't long before they were yodeling alongside other European superstars like Edith Piaf, Maurice Chevalier, and the Nicholas Brothers. (I've got to learn more about the Brothers Nicholas. They look amazing!) If you understand German you can read more about Trio Shmeed here, and the liner notes from the trio's 1955 self-titled American debut LP are included below. 

[ Geschwister Schmid - aka. Trio Shmeed ]

Cuarteto D'Aida

Artist: Cuarteto D'Aida

LP: An Evening at the Sans Souci

Song: "Las Mulatas del Cha Cha Cha"

[ listen ]

Song: "Cuanto Me Alegro (I'm So Glad)"

[ listen ]

Pianist Aida Diestro (December 21, 1924 — October 28, 1973) formed her quartet in Havana in 1952, and they soon became the toast of the town. The other ladies in Aida's famous quartet were Elena Burke (February 28, 1928—June 9, 2002), Moraima Secada (September 30, 1930—December 30, 1984), Haydée Portuondo (no dates found), and her younger sister Omara Portuondo, who was born on October 29, 1930 and still performs today. The LP liner notes (included below in both English and Spanish), say Aida's last name was actually Izquierdo, but they also indicate that Aida's quartet only featured three women (they've melded Moraima Secada and Haydée Portuondo into a single entity known as "Moraima Portuondo") so I say they're probably not to be trusted. This original lineup of the group remained together for eight years, during which time they recorded just one album (this one) in 1957. You can read more about the fabulous Cuban Cuarteto D'Aida on Wikipedia here.

[ pianist Aida Diestro (center) con su cuarteto. ]

[ Sñra. Aida Diestro (in black) con su cuarteto (in white). ]

Cha Cha, Anyone?

LP: Cha Cha, Anyone?

Artist: Paquitin Lara and His Latin American Orchestra

Song: "Cha Cha Me Baby"

[ listen ]

Artist: Ramon and His Orchestra

Song: "Cuidado Con La Mano"

[ listen ]

Here's a bit of cha-cha-cha from two Latin masters circa 1959—Paquitin Lara, featured on the first side of the record, and Ramon and His Orchestra, featured on side two. My sister and I learned the basic steps of the cha-cha in our dance class at Brigham Young University back in 1991, but even when observing qualified professionals we never saw anyone do the cha-cha while sitting on the floor.

Juan Perez con su Orchestra

Artist: Juan Perez con su Orchestra

LP: Cha-Cha-Cha

Song: "Sing A-La Cha-Cha"

[ listen ]

Song: "Shubert Cha-Cha"

[ listen ]

So the big news today is that the mastermind behind the 9/11 attacks is dead. I wonder if anyone's ever written a "Bin Laden Cha-Cha." Anyway, the first song here is from side A of the record, whereas "Shubert Cha-Cha" is from side B—the side with strings attached.

Jose Cubano and the Orchestra

 

Artist: Jose Cubano and the Orchestra

LP: Cha Cha Cha

Song: "Everyday Is Ladies Day"

[ listen ]

Here's a song for all the male heterosexual morons I see clogging the supermarket checkout stands at 6:30pm on Valentine's Day each year. The men all wait impatiently in the long lines, holding last-minute discounted roses and boxes of chocolates in their hands—as if Saint Valentine's widely advertised call for them to express some small token of affection for their long-suffering wives has still somehow managed to catch them completely off guard. Everyday is ladies day, assholes.

Della Reese

Artist: Della Reese

LP: Della Della Cha Cha Cha

Song: "Always True to You In My Fashion"

[ listen ]

Born to an African-American father and a Native-American (Cherokee) mother in Detroit in 1931, Deloreese Patricia Early was hired to sing with Mahalia Jackson's Gospel group when she was just 13 years old. She moved to New York City in 1953, where she recorded for Jubilee Records and was named 1957's "Most Promising Singer" by Billboard, Variety and Cashbox magazines. After a string of both major and minor hits through the 1960s, in 1970 Della Reese was the first black woman to guest-host "The Tonight Show." This led to other work in television, including a guest appearance on Match Game and a lengthy stint as Tess, the "angelic supervisor" on the hit show "Touched By An Angel" from 1994 to 2003. You can read more about the life and career of Della Reese on Wikipedia here and on her official website here. "Della Della Cha Cha Cha" was produced by a pair of cousins named Hugo & Luigi; the album was recorded in 1960 and released on RCA in 1961. I picked up this copy at an antique store in Rapid City, South Dakota last summer; it has some water damage on the cover, but I love it just the same.

  

  

 

[ Della Reese ]