Albums and All That, Starting with the letter S as in Sierra, Part 10

Pallbearer [00:34]
"An Offering of Grief"
Sorrow and Extinction
20 Buck Spin SPIN048 2012
Full-length debut from this heavy doomy band from Little Rock AR. Easily one of the best records of 2012.

Ray Charles & Milt Jackson [09:06]
"Soul Meeting"
Soul Meeting
Atlantic SD 1360 1962
Two great tastes that vibe great together. Featuring Ray on piano, Milt on vibes, Kenny Burrell on guitar, Percy Heath on bass, and Art Taylor on drums. This one was written by Jackson, with illuminating parts from both Milt Jackson and Kenny Burrell.

Curtis Harding [16:08]
"Freedom"
Soul Power
Burger Records BRGR600 2014
Debut outing from this Atlanta musician. Describing his sound as "slop 'n soul", this one track has a definite Arthur Lee feel.

Lou Rawls [18:49]
"A Whole Lotta Woman"
Soulin'
Capitol Records T 2566 1966
Not a whole lotta love, not a whole lotta Rosie, but a whole lotta woman.

John Coltrane with Red Garland [21:27]
"Theme for Ernie"
Soultrane
Prestige 7142 1958
One of Coltrane's showcases for his distinctive sheets of sound style. Joined here by Red Garland on piano, Paul Chambers on bass, and again Art Taylor on drums.

Les and Larry Elgart and their Orchestra [26:24]
"You're My Thrill"
Sound Ideas
Columbia CL 1123 1958
Hailing from Pompton, New Jersey, these brothers developed their "Elgart Sound" in 1952 and released over half a dozen albums before parting after this album to pursue their musical interests.

Mary Martin et al [30:02]
"The Lonely Goatherd"
The Sound of Music (Original Broadway Cast)
Columbia Masterworks KOL 5450 1959
Now that's what I call yodeling! Pre-Julie Andrews obviously. Mary Martin was perhaps best known as playing the title role in the Broadway production of Peter Pan. Not sure how I knew this, but maybe it was due to living in New York for 20 years naking Broadway trivia inescapable.

The Sinceros [33:23]
"Take Me to Your Leader"
The Sound of Sunbathing
Epic EPC 83632 1979
The sticker on the cover says that this track is their featured single, so that's what I'm going with. Power pop-y new wave-y.

Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass [37:10]
"Casino Royale"
Sounds Like... Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass
A&M LP124 1967
You know I love a good shaggy dog of a film, and Casino Royale is definitely that. Well, the Daniel Craig version is too, but I'm talking about the 1967 comedy version with David Niven as Sir James Bond.

Ravi Shankar [39:47]
"An Introduction to Indian Music"
The Sounds of India
Columbia CS 9296 1968 (originally released in 1958)
Re-released to tap into the growing interest thanks to the Beatles' interest in Indian music (specifically George Harrison). Relax!

Simon & Garfunkel [43:56]
"We've Got a Groovey Thing Goin'"
The Sounds of Silence
Columbia CS 9269 1966
Helped out here by The Wrecking Crew, including Glen Campbell and Joe South on guitar, Hal Blaine on drums, and Larry Knechtel on the Ray Charles-esque electric piano.

Scott Walker + Sunn O))) [47:22]
"Brando (Dweller on the Bluff)"
Soused
4AD CAD 3428 2014
On the surface, it's an odd pairing, but as the music that fills this album suggests, it's a perfect pairing. Sunn O)))'s Greg Anderson and Stephen O'Malley had originally reached out to Walker about contributing to their 2009 album Monoliths and Dimensions but were unable to coordinate. Walker subsequently contacted about contributing drones to fill in the silence between his lyrics while working on his epic 2012 release Bish Bosch. Evidently, Sunn O))) brought their full stage equipment to Walker's studio for recording. If you are unfamiliar, it's a wall of Ampeg, Marshall, and HiWatt speakers with Ampeg SVT and Sunn Model T heads.

Herb Alpert's Tijuana Brass [56:06]
"The Girl from Ipanema"
South of the Border
A&M SP-108 1964
South of the border, down Rio de Janiero way.

Music behind the DJ: "If I Fell" by Perry Botkin Jr and his Orchestra