Click for a larger version
I happened upon this record at a thrift shop in Madison. It was in the Easy Listening (slash things-that-defy-categorization) bin. The photo of Civil War brass players on the front caught my eye. Then, I noticed the track list: “Hey Jude,” “Spinning Wheel,” “Light My Fire,” “Michelle,” “You’ve Lost that Lovin’ Feeling,” etc. Those tunes in combination with the photo and the name of the group convinced me to add the record to my stack. I don’t think I really looked at the back of the album until I got home. The back has a picture of some Union officers, and a couple of paragraphs of complete B.S. that doesn’t give much of any real information about the disc’s contents or the musicians who appear on it.
The one bit of real information — which would itself have been enough for me to buy the disc — is that one member of the group plays a contrabass saxophone. This beast of the sax family (photos here, here, and here) is pitched in E-flat, one octave below the baritone saxophone (and two octaves below the familiar alto). Here, the contra is part of an mix of instruments — trumpet, clarinet, banjo, trombone, string bass, Hammond organ, accordion, and drums that create sort of a psuedo-neo-Dixieland band. The whole record is quite strange, but most of it falls squarely into the good/funny-weird category. Here’s my favorite track from the disc, one that prominently features the massive contrabass sax:
Listen to The Burbank Philharmonic — These Boots Were Made for Walking
12 Responses to The Burbank Philharmonic
Becky
Replied on: February 13, 2010, 12:44 am
Holy Moses.
What thrift store???
Dave
Replied on: February 13, 2010, 7:51 am
Many of my gems have come from St. Vincent de Paul on Willy. They have a larger and more frequently rotating stock of vinyl than some music stores.
Helen
Replied on: February 14, 2010, 9:57 am
Hi Dave.
Thanks for this piece of strange saxophone music you provided. The contra doesn’t get traditionally get used much, so this was a real treat to hear.
Two questions if I might: 1. Is there a year of production or copyright on the album? 2. Is the name of the saxophonist listed on the album anywhere?
Thanks again for providing this really interesting piece of saxophonic history.
Regards,
Helen
Dave
Replied on: February 14, 2010, 11:05 pm
Helen,
Unfortunately, the LP cover is extremely short on real information. It doesn’t list any of the personnel, only saying that the album is “the brainchild… of the Wilder brothers” (whoever they are) and that it’s a Snuff Garrett production. There’s also no date listed, but some web searching turns up 1970 as a possibility.
And Now For Something Totally Quirky In The Realm Of Contrabass Saxophone Playing
Replied on: February 15, 2010, 12:33 pm
[…] Bassoonist, Dave Wells, happened across an old vinyl record by The Burbank Philharmonic, while in a thrift shop in Madison, Wisconsin. This recording, which Internet research indicates may have been released in 1970, appears to have been the band’s first, and perhaps last album. […]
Dad
Replied on: February 16, 2010, 6:11 pm
The absence of a circle-P copyright notice places it prior to 1972. This, plus your research, and the look of the design, makes 1970 a decent estimate. Snuff Garrett was an LA/Hollywood producer who, in addition to doing a lot of pretty straight country and pop stuff, produced a lot of LPs that were, um, interesting, at least on some level. He had a series called something like “The 50 Guitars of Tommy Garrett” [his real name] on which he overdubbed himself multiple times [probably not 50!] doing covers of current hits.
Craig
Replied on: February 18, 2010, 10:21 am
Snuff Garrett was a very well known record exec and producer during the 60’s. He produced many hit records. I would guess he put together a bunch of studio musicians (a number of whom have the contra sax) and recorded them in Burbank (home of many recording studios)… sort of a concept album of the time! The Wilder Bros have had a recording studio in West Los Angeles since the 70’s… I believe it’s still there.
Jack
Replied on: May 6, 2010, 11:43 am
The album was the brainchild of three brothers, Warner, George & Walt Wilder. All three were saxophonists who played with the old big bands, including Stan Kenton, Charlie Barnett, etc.
The brothers were wonderful musicians and producers. They produced a duo in the 50’s called Dick and Deedee, who had a hit called “The Mountain’s High”. Warner is the one who played the big mama sax on “Boots”.
Their real last name was “Weidler”. George was actually Doris Day’s first husband. We recorded the album in their studio on Santa Monica Blvd. in West Los Angeles. The idea was to do tongue-in-cheek dixieland versions of contemporary Top 40 hits of the time. The name came from the fact that Johnny Carson was always referring to “Beautiful Downtown Burbank”.
The brothers also had a Top 10 Adult Contemporary hit called “Love Means You Never Have To Say You’re Sorry”, off of the famous Erich Segal “Love Story” line. They had a terrific Letterman-style siblings group vocal sound, and called themselves The Sounds of Sunshine and came out on Ranwood Records.
Not putting my name because Google seems to pick-up every darn thing I write. I was the keyboard player on the project.
Dave
Replied on: May 21, 2010, 12:15 am
Ha! How cool to hear from someone who actually played on the record and thus has inside knowledge. Thanks for the info, Jack!
gladbeast
Replied on: September 26, 2010, 6:19 am
Wow, i finally got some dope on this fabulous record, and i think i may have the 50 guitars LP somewhere too, oh the joys of the intercloud!
D. Stewart
Replied on: November 5, 2010, 2:26 pm
This was my late father’s favorite album of all time. He listened to it over and over. @Jack — thank you for the happy times and for bringing the energy of dixieland to more people.
Efrem Violin
Replied on: February 7, 2011, 8:45 pm
If you enjoy the contra bass sax, you’ve got to hear the
“Nuclear Whales” — an all sax group, including a sopranino sax, AND a 42 pound (on wheels) contra-bass
saxaphone.
I’m sure you can find it. If you have trouble, write to me.
Efrem
PS They are a real “GAS”.