Bongos!
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Bongos were the instrument in the post-war years, after the Age of Ukulele but before guitar took over. At least in California, if you were a hip teen you worked on cars and played bongos. Bongos had a big advocate in Les Baxter, one of many orchestra leaders who worked with prolific session-percussionist Larry Bunker. (Baxter even "fires" Bunker for winning a bongo showdown with the leader in the television special "Music of the Sixties.") Another intriguing bongophile is Don Ralke, who besides his own bongo-pop LPs provided the music behind two of the most incredible albums ever: those by William Shatner and Edd "Kookie" Byrnes. Bongos are a naturally hip instrument, associated as they are with jazz and Latin. One memorable scene from "Bell, Book, and Candle" has Kim Novak complaining about the incessant bongos in her witches' and warlocks' beatnik nightclub. Bongos are used in movies to evoke the wild and the primitive. Drums convey both the controlled suspense of the chase and the fury of the attack or surprise encounter. Mimicking the left and right channels of stereophonic sound, bongos are proudly featured in many stereo-demonstration LPs on the Command and Time labels. Also there are fine moments in bongo-instruction albums. The best bongo albums are not old pop, however. Jazz, latin, African, crime, and even the rare bongo-rock album or two have greater examples. Buying: Not all strictly pop-bongo records are so great, but collect them just for the humor of it, the madness, the Beatitude. |
[Partly] Pop Bongo LPs
| Rating | |
| -» | Les Baxter (especially Skins! & Teen Drums) |
| 6 | Jack "Bongo" Burger: Let's Play Bongos; HIFI R-803 (instruction; w/booklet) |
| 7 | Jack "Bongo" Burger: The End on Bongos; HIFI R-804 (bongos/Latin jazz/exotica/Yiddish-Latin; reissued w/photo jacket) |
| -» | Jack Costanzo |
| 7 | The Cliff Davis Sextet: Discotheque A-Go-Go for the "In" Crowd; Epic LN-24173 (mod soul/twist/bongo) |
| 4 | Manolo Escobas: Bossa Nova Volume 2; Palace M-740 ("Bongo Man") |
| 3 | Irving Fields Trio: Bagels & Bongos; Decca DL-78856 |
| 7 | "Haji Baba": Crazy Bongo; Modern MLP-7025 (bongo bop/Afro-Cuban/Latin jazz/flute/bongo; probably Don Ralke w/Buddy Collette) |
| 8 | Henry Mancini: Touch of Evil ST; Varese Sarabande/Citadel CT-7016; 1980/1958 (complete version, replacing Citadel CT-6015, 1977; Challenge CHL-615, 1960; and Challenge CHL-602; 1959) |
| 4 | Hugo Montenegro: Bongos & Brass; Time S-2014 (Montenegro & Mayhem & other reissues) |
| 6 | Bob Rosengarden & Phil Kraus: Like--Bongos!; Time S-2025 |
| 7 | Don Ralke: Bongo Madness; Crown CLP-5019 (bongo bop/Afro-Cuban/Latin jazz/flute/bongo; w/Jack Burger, Buddy Collette, Don Tosti, Tom Wofford; United-Superior US-7801) |
| 6 | Don Ralke: But You've Never Heard Gershwin with Bongos; Warner Bros. WS-1360; 1960 |
| 8 | Don Ralke: The Savage & the Sensuous--Bongos; Warner Bros. WS-1398; 1960 (w/Carlos Vidal, Modesto Duran, Earl Palmer...) |
| 6 | Willie Rodriguez w/Chuck Sagle & his Orchestra: Anyone Can Play Bongos; Epic BN-583 (instruction/Latin jazz) |
| 5 | Sam Ulano's Latin Rhythms; Lane LP-139; 1956 (kit & timbales instruction) |
| 6 | Sam Ulano: Follow the Leader Bongos; Lane LP-143 (bongo instruction) |
| 6 | Albert Van Dam: The Crazy Horse Saloon of Paris; United Artists UNS-15503/UN-14503; 1966 (mod/bongo) |
| 8 | Various: Wild Stereo Drums; Capitol ST-1553 (part compilation; essential for 3 bongo cuts by Pepe Dominguin & cuts from Les Baxter & Dick Harrell LPs) |
| 8 | Uncredited: New Original TV Themes--Green Hornet--Tarzan--The Man from U.N.C.L.E.; Cameo/Wyncote SW-9173 ("Jungle Bongo") |
Pop Bongo 45s
| Rating | |
| 8 | [The Voices & Instruments of] Rod Derret: Bongo Train/The Kiwi Train; (bongo/beatnik/New Zealand; B-side live/narrated) |
| 7 | Dick Hyman w/Sam (the Man) Taylor: I'll Get By/Congo Mombo; MGM K-12404 (B-side bongo rock/R&B w/organ) |
Hyp Records is a 3-part guide:
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