A Flower Is a Lovesome Thing
A Flower Is a Lovesome Thing | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Studio album by Vince Guaraldi | ||||
Released | October 1957 | |||
Recorded | April 16, 1957 (1957-04-16) | |||
Studio | Fantasy Recording Studios, San Francisco, California | |||
Genre | Jazz | |||
Length | 34:40 | |||
Label | Fantasy (US) Vocalion (UK) | |||
Vince Guaraldi chronology | ||||
|
Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [1] |
Five Cents Please | [2] |
The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings | [3] |
A Flower Is a Lovesome Thing is the second studio album by American jazz pianist Vince Guaraldi (credited to the Vince Guaraldi Trio), released in the US by Fantasy Records in October 1957.
Background
A Flower Is a Lovesome Thing exhibits the trio's growth from the safer jazz style played in their self-titled album Vince Guaraldi Trio. Guaraldi employed the same musicians as he did for his debut album; guitarist Eddie Duran and bassist Dean Reilly. Guaraldi began exploring his personal style on the piano with these tracks before becoming commonly recognized and as a great jazz pianist for his latin style in his following album Jazz Impressions of Black Orpheus (1962).[4]
Critical reception
DownBeat praised the album's soothing tone, noting, in part, that "Guaraldi is serenely wistful in his interpretation of Billy Strayhorn's title song, is surely relaxed in the lightly swinging 'Softly.' He delightfully colors the impressionistic 'Yesterdays.' 'Like a Rose' is accorded a treatment almost elegiac in its poetic quietude."[5]
Guaraldi historian and author Derrick Bang ranks the album as one of the pianist's "prettiest," adding that it is "gentle and lyrical, as befits a collective theme that revolves around flora and changing seasons."[2] AllMusic critic Scott Yanow said the album is one of Guaraldi's "better sets", adding that the pianist "plays...tastefully and with light swing, making this a program that is equally successful as both cool jazz and background music."[1]
Track listing
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "A Flower Is a Lovesome Thing" | Billy Strayhorn | 5:37 |
2. | "Softly, as in a Morning Sunrise" | 3:28 | |
3. | "Yesterdays" | Jerome Kern | 4:00 |
4. | "Like a Mighty Rose" (aka "Room at the Bottom"[2]) | Vince Guaraldi | 4:30 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Looking for a Boy" | 4:06 | |
2. | "Autumn Leaves" | Joseph Kosma | 4:22 |
3. | "Lonely Girl" | Bobby Troup | 3:23 |
4. | "Willow Weep for Me" | Ann Ronell | 5:14 |
Total length: | 34:40 |
Personnel
- Vince Guaraldi Trio
- Vince Guaraldi – piano
- Eddie Duran – guitar
- Dean Reilly – double bass
- Additional
- Ralph J. Gleason – liner notes
- Phil De Lancie – digital remastering (1994)
Release history
Country | Date | Label | Format | Catalogue number |
---|---|---|---|---|
United States | April 1958 | Fantasy | Mono LP | 3357 |
United Kingdom | Unknown | Vocalion | Mono LP | LAE569 |
Australia | Unknown | Vogue Productions | Mono LP | LAEA-569 |
United States | 1986 | Fantasy | Mono cassette | F-3257 |
United States | 1986 | Fantasy/Original Jazz Classics | Mono LP | OJC-235, F-3257 |
United States | 1994 | Fantasy/Original Jazz Classics | Mono CD | OJCCD-235-2, F-3257 |
Europe | 2006 | Fantasy/Original Jazz Classics | Mono CD | 00025218623520 |
External links
- A Flower Is a Lovesome Thing at Discogs (list of releases)
References
- ^ a b Yanow, Scott. "A Flower Is a Lovesome Thing". AllMusic. Retrieved February 5, 2020.
- ^ a b c Bang, Derrick. "Vince Guaraldi on LP and CD: A Flower Is a Lovesome Thing". fivecentsplease.org. Derrick Bang, Scott McGuire. Retrieved 12 May 2020.
- ^ Cook, Richard; Morton, Brian (2008). The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings (9th ed.). Penguin. p. 614. ISBN 978-0-141-03401-0.
- ^ "A Flower Is A Lovesome Thing" Archived December 4, 2011, at the Wayback Machine, Fantasy Records. Retrieved June 25, 2011.
- ^ "Album Review: Vince Guaraldi — A Flower Is a Lovesome Thing". DownBeat. June 26, 1958. pp. 27–28.
- v
- t
- e
- Modern Music from San Francisco (1956)
- Vince Guaraldi Trio (1956)
- A Flower Is a Lovesome Thing (1958)
- Jazz Impressions of Black Orpheus (1962)
- The Latin Side of Vince Guaraldi (1964)
- Jazz Impressions of A Boy Named Charlie Brown (1964)
- A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965)
- Vince Guaraldi with the San Francisco Boys Chorus (1967)
- Oh Good Grief! (1968)
- The Eclectic Vince Guaraldi (1969)
- Alma-Ville (1969)
- A Boy Named Charlie Brown: Selections from the Film Soundtrack (1970)
- A Boy Named Charlie Brown: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (2017)
- It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown: Original Soundtrack Recording (2018)
- A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving: Original Soundtrack Recording (2023)
- Jazz Impressions (1964)
- Greatest Hits (1980)
- Charlie Brown's Holiday Hits (1998)
- The Charlie Brown Suite & Other Favorites (2003)
- Oaxaca (2004)
- North Beach (2006)
- Vince Guaraldi and the Lost Cues from the Charlie Brown Television Specials (2007)
- Vince Guaraldi and the Lost Cues from the Charlie Brown Television Specials, Volume 2 (2008)
- Essential Standards (2009)
- The Definitive Vince Guaraldi (2009)
- Peanuts Portraits (2010)
- The Very Best of Vince Guaraldi (2012)
- Peanuts Greatest Hits (2015)
- The Peanuts Movie (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) (2015)
- The Complete Warner Bros.–Seven Arts Recordings (2018)
- In Person (1963)
- At Grace Cathedral (1965)
- Live on the Air (2008)
- An Afternoon with the Vince Guaraldi Quartet (2011)
- Vince Guaraldi, Bola Sete and Friends (1964)
- From All Sides (1965)
- Live at El Matador (1966)
- Jazz Casual: Paul Winter/Bola Sete and Vince Guaraldi (2001)
- The Navy Swings (2010)
- "Samba de Orpheus"/"Cast Your Fate to the Wind"
- "Zelao"/"Jitterbug Waltz"
- "Days of Wine and Roses"/"Star Song"
- "Treat Street"/"Mr. Lucky"
- "Oh, Good Grief"/"Linus and Lucy"
- "Theme to Grace"/"Adore Devote (Humbly I Adore Thee)"
- "Christmas Time Is Here"/"What Child Is This"
- "I'm a Loser"/"Favela"
- "Eleanor Rigby"/"Peppermint Patty"
- "Blowin' in the Wind"/"Monterey"
- "Linus and Lucy"/"Oh, Good Grief"
- "Christmas Time Is Here"/"Christmas Time Is Here" (alternate vocal Take 5)
- "O Tannenbaum"
- "Baseball Theme"/"Baseball Theme" (alternate take)
- Happy Anniversary, Charlie Brown (1989)
- Joe Cool's Blues (1995)
- Linus and Lucy: The Music of Vince Guaraldi (1996)
- Here's to You, Charlie Brown: 50 Great Years! (2000)
- 40 Years: A Charlie Brown Christmas (2005)
- Jazz for Peanuts (2008)
- Love Will Come: The Music of Vince Guaraldi, Volume 2 (2010)
- The Peanuts Movie (2015)