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| 1. | Tuxedo Junction*
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| 2. | At the Woodchoppers' Ball*
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| 3. | Undecided
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| 4. | Leave Us Leap
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| 5. | Skyliner**
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| 6. | Begin the Beguine
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| 7. | Take the 'A' Train*
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| 8. | Carnival
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| 9. | Chattanooga Choo Choo
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| 10. | Opus 1*
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| 11. | Stompin' at the Savoy*
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| 12. | One O'Clock Jump
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| 13. | Manhattan Spiritual
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| 14. | Moonglow and Theme from 'Picnic'
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| 15. | Hot Toddy
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| 16. | Theme from 'The Man with the Golden Arm'
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| 17. | Petite Fleur
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| 18. | Dragnet
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| 19. | Peter Gunn
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| 20. | Swingin' Shepherd Blues
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| 21. | Tequila
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| 22. | Canadian Sunset
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| 23. | Theme from 'A Summer Place'
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| 24. | Mack the Knife
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Jazz
Tracks 1-12: The All-Time Big Band Hits (1959)
Tracks 13-24: Top Pop Instrumental Hits (1961)
* featuring Bert Courtley (trumpet)
** featuring Don Rendell (tenor sax)
The big band of Cyril Stapleton is heard to superb effect in this Volcalion release, which compiles two of his Decca albums from the late 1950s and early '60s. Both originally recorded for the American market and issued in the UK on Decca's Ace of Clubs subsidiary, The All-Time Big Band Hits features solos by tenor saxophonist Don Rendell and trumpeter Bert Courtley on many of the tracks. Cyril leads his band through exciting treatments of several staples of the swing era including Erskine Hawkins's Tuxedo Junction, Charlie Barnet's Skyliner, Sy Oliver's Opus 1, Basie's One O'Clock Jump and the Goodman classic Stompin' at the Savoy. From two years later is Top Pop Instrumental Hits, featuring arrangements by Ralph Dollimore and Reg Owen, the latter a founder member of the Ted Heath Orchestra. Indeed, Stapleton's band covers Manhattan Spiritual, which provided Reg's own orchestra with a big hit in 1959. The remaining tracks, with the exception of the Theme from 'A Summer Place', are a varied selection of British and American chart hits from the 1950s, all arranged and performed in the inimitable Stapleton manner. They include Swingin' Shepherd Blues, Mack the Knife, Moonglow and Theme from 'Picnic', Canadian Sunset and more.
Cyril Stapleton
Active Decade: '30s
Born: Dec 31, 1914 in Mapperley, Nottingham
Died: Feb 25, 1974
Genre: Jazz
Styles: Big Band, Dance Bands, Easy Pop, Orchestral Jazz
Cyril Stapleton was a ubiquitous figure in English pop music across three decades, initially by way of the BBC and later as an independent bandleader. Born on the last day of the year 1914 in Mapperley, Nottingham, he took to music easily and early in life, taking up the violin at age seven, and he made his first local radio appearance at age 12. He made regular appearances on the BBC as a boy, from their Birmingham studios. In his early teens -- which coincided with the tail-end of the silent movie era -- he frequently played in movie theater orchestras, playing accompaniment to silent films. He later attended Trinity College of Music in London on a scholarship, and during this time he auditioned for and won a spot in a new dance band being formed by leader Henry Hall under the auspices of the BBC. In addition to broadcasts, Stapleton played on several of Hall's recordings for EMI's Columbia label. Stapleton eventually lost the spot, however, owing to his youth, and returned to Nottingham. He then had ambitions as a bandleader himself, however, and formed his own group, which got work locally in theaters.
He subsequently toured South Africa with Jack Payne's orchestra, and played on records by Payne's group. In the second half of the '30s, Stapleton's band moved to London, and by March of 1939 they'd made their BBC debut. He still occasionally worked in other bands, including the Jack Hylton Orchestra, however, and the outbreak of the Second World War late in 1939 forced Stapleton to abandon his career -- he served in the Royal Air Force for the duration. Although he was initially an air gunner, he was eventually able to put his musical abilities to work organizing entertainment, and by the end of the war he'd become a member of the RAF Symphony Orchestra.
Stapleton continued working in his field after leaving the RAF, and in the period immediately after the war he played with the London Symphony Orchestra, the National Symphony Orchestra, and the newly founded Philharmonia Orchestra. He soon wearied of the limited repertory in the classical field, and re-formed his own band in 1947. In short order he was also back on the BBC, and one of the singers he featured in those broadcasts was Dick James, the future music publisher, immortalized by his signing of members of the Beatles as songwriters in 1962.
In 1952, Stapleton was appointed leader the BBC Show Band, the radio service's most prestigious performing unit for popular music, with its biggest audience -- in addition to featuring top homegrown talent, only the biggest visiting American singers -- including Frank Sinatra -- appeared with this orchestra. Stapleton became a ubiquitous presence in English entertainment and popular culture across the mid-'50s -- his mere selection of a song could make or break it, and like Sinatra (and, later, Elvis Presley) among singers in America, Stapleton as a bandleader was given first refusal on new tunes by profit-minded publishers. He was also able to make the leap to the big-screen by way of the widescreen feature Just for You (1955). By that time, the orchestra had become so successful that several members, including Bill McGuffie and Tommy Whittle, had started their own separate careers as bandleaders in their own right, and the band had introduced one huge star, Matt Monro, to his first national exposure.
And then, in the spring of 1957, for reasons that have never been clear, the BBC decided to disband the orchestra. Stapleton was cut loose from his longtime employers, but he never broke stride, organizing his own orchestra again and going out on the road, in addition to cutting more records and still appearing on radio. Surprisingly, even amid the rise of rock & roll, he didn't find any interruption in his work, and he tried to understand the new music. In the mid-'60s, he occasionally tried to record and sign promising rock bands that crossed his path. In 1965, he became the head of A&R (artists and repertory) at Pye Records, one of England's three major recording organizations. His audience was still there, however, and in the early '70s he resumed recording and touring with a re-formed orchestra. Stapleton passed away in early 1974, at the age of 59.
---Bruce Eder, All Music Guide |
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