Show 16: Up, Up and Away

I’m celebrating Jimmy Webb’s birthday today by playing one of his biggest hits... over and over and over and over again. Silly idea, I know... especially as a tribute to such a great songwriter. It’s not even one of my favorite Jimmy Webb songs.

I love the story that Jimmy Webb tells about a dinner meeting with Sinatra in Vegas. They were supposed to discuss putting together an entire album of Webb songs. Jimmy had his father with him and Sinatra asked him to bring the old man along to dinner, so he wouldn’t have to spend the evening alone. So much for the album plans... Sinatra and Webb’s dad ended up chatting away about the war, Glenn Miller, and the old days, while Jimmy just sat there, left out of the conversation.

Please make sure to check out Webb’s official website here. Also, try to have a listen to his album “Ten Easy Pieces” for Webb’s own take on some of his greatest hits.


Song 1 : : Up, Up and Away
Artist : : Susumu Arima and His Misty Sounds
Album : : The Dock Of The Bay - New Created Sounds

From a pretty cool quadraphonic LP from 1972. A little bit of info can be found here. Don’t know if this is the same guy...

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Song 2 : : Up, Up and Away
Artist : : Rajput and the Sepoy Mutiny
Album : : Incredibly Strange Music Volume 1

Oi vey! A painful yet fascinating listen. It sounds like they hired the studio janitor to take over when the sitar player didn’t show up...

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Song 3 : : Up, Up and Away
Artist : : Oranj Symphonette
Album : : The Oranj Album

Now this really kicks it! Oranj Symphonette are no more but they were great. Some info on their two albums can still be found here and here. Also, make sure to check out OS member Ralph Carney’s MySpace page.

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Song 4 : : Up, Up and Away
Artist : : Basil Henriques and his Waikiki Islanders
Album : : Hawaiian Nights

Here’s an excerpt of Basil’s email to me regarding a review I wrote of his Hawaiian Nights LP:

“Aloha John...
Mahalo for the review in your web page... but I think you should know that I DO play and record Hawaiian tunes...”

And, you know what? He’s right. He does play Hawaiian tunes. Check out his website here.