On five previous occasions, I've brought you items from my collection featuring the great Thurl Ravenscroft.
This began during the 2007 "365 Days" project, when I shared many of my favorite Thurl items all at once, and was most recently updated just over two years ago, in a post you can find here (and which links back to the previous post, which itself links to the earlier posts...)
Today, three songs from two vintage 45's. The first is a record by Jerry Gray and his Orchestra, who I previously featured with Thurl on a song called "Pale Moon" a few years ago. This record is more of a novelty, and it's one that really allows Thurl to go to town, with a fake Spanish accent and some truly deep notes at the end.
The other two songs are from both sides of a 78 recorded by Thurl's quartet The Mellomen, a name which was sometimes spelled (as it is here) The Mello-Men.
Thurl is front and center on the first song, "My Love, the Blues and Me", giving him a rare chance to sing lead on a slow, sad romantic song.
The Mello-Men - My Love, the Blues and Me (MP3)
On the flip side, "I'd Give a Million Yesterdays", you'll hear, for the most part, Thurl's more typical role in the Mello-Men - singing as part of an ensemble. I have dozens of records by the group - typically backing up other singers - where the bass could be anyone, because he never steps up and sings anything by himself, or in his lower register. This one is different, though, in that Thurl gets a brief solo spot near the end of the song, which is worth the price of admission.
The Mello-Men – I’d Give a Million Yesterdays (MP3)
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