MG-36041: Mal Fitch

	Label Type :	blue EmArcy type B silver rim
	Matrix Number :	SIDE-A	MG 36041A MF3    A1    I
		SIDE-B	MG 36041B MF1    A2    I

Comments

overall in near-mint condition, except a stamp on back cover.

Some of the tunes are also available on EP-1-6138.

Inside The Groove

Mal Fitch's stylish (and a bit snobbish) trio and quartet session, with his own singing while playing the piano.

Personal Impression (and brief notes)

According to the liner-notes on the back cover, Mal Fitch was a state contest winner as a violinist at the age of 11, also played trombone in an Army band in the late 1940s. Then he formed a duo with his wife Betty, who played cocktail drums while both of them sang in the Jackie Cain-Roy Kral style. In May 1955, he joined Mercury's popular vocal group the Crew Cuts as a pianist, conductor and arranger.

Anyway this album. On all tracks he plays piano while singing at the same time. He is accompanied with a bass and drums, while on some tracks Sam Taylor added. All tracks sounds slow and moody, and his unique singing style adds more moody feelings. At least tracks with Sam Taylor added sounds great and interesting (I love his moody and soulful tenor sound!), but his piano and singing is rather monotonous in my humble ears.

Strictly Personal Rating (to what extent I could enjoy this album)

6 out of 10 (8 out of 10 on the tracks with Sam Taylor)

Track Listing

Personnel

Personnel/recorded date/master numbers confirmed with the Ruppli's discography.
(“The Mercury Labels - A Discography” by Ruppli and Novitsky, Greenwood Press, 1993)

The Ruppli's book says Sam Taylor plays on all tracks, while upon actual listening I can hear his tenor sax only on A-1, A-3, B-1 and B-6. Furthermore, The Ruppli's book says Mal Fitch don't sing on B-1, while I can hear his own vocal.

A-1, A-3, B-1, B-6:
Sam “The Man” Taylor (ts), Mal Fitch (p, vo), Al Hall (b), Clifford Leeman (ds).
Recorded in New York City on July 19, 1955.

A-4, A-5, B-4, B-5:
same personnel/date/place as A-1, except omit Sam Taylor.

A-2, A-6, B-2, B-3:
same personnel as A-4.
Recorded in New York City on July 20, 1955.

Jackets

Front	Back

Labels

Side A	Side B