---

Ça C’est Paris - The Golden Age of Light Music
Full track-listing below
Recorded c. 1939-62
GUILD LIGHT MUSIC GLCD5207 [77:25] 

Should you ever find yourself in a position to be on one of those quiz shows where you have to name 25 of Elvis’s Top 20 Hits, or the full forenames of the Monarchs of the Austro-Hungarian Empire - not highly likely, I admit - then you could do worse than buy this disc and mug up on songs containing the word ‘Paris’. Yes, Guild has gone slightly peculiar and programmed no fewer than 28 songs bearing the name of the French capital.
 
Thus we have Paris in the Spring, an American in, Under the roofs of, Lovers in, Rainy Nights in, Tourbillon de, Heart of and so on. In fact there’s one cheat. Hal Mooney’s La Seine sails through Paris but doesn’t specifically mention it. So that’s 27 then.
 
The composers and bands are all pretty familiar by now. The timeline is roughly 1952 to 1962 with one exception: Noack’s Lights of Paris is played by the London Concert Orchestra on a Bosworth 78 in c.1939. A bit of an anomalous choice, chronologically speaking, but the title fits and Guild is good at anomalous programming; or maybe quixotic is a better word.
 
Farnon’s suavely arranged April in Paris is splendid, whilst there’s Gershwinesque traffic noise and nifty strings in En Avril à Paris. Mademoiselle De Paris has a catchy theme and a nice piano line and is soundly dispatched by Art Wainer and the Latin Quartet Orchestra on MGM; whose Latin Quarter, one wonders? An American in Paris is played appropriately enough by David Carroll on Mercury, and wrapped up in three swinging minutes. Kostelanetz parades some cute wears on Paris Original where harpsichord and lurid baroquerie enhance the filmic element - it’s from Frank Loesser’s How To Succeed in Show Business Without Really Trying.
 
Genial fun is exuded by Hugo Winterhalter’s fast and furious faded out Paris in the Spring, complete with strange duck-like solo. The Clebanoff Strings are suitably richly melancholic in the languorous Heart of Paris. How terrific to hear Monia Liter in his c.1957 Lovers in Paris and also to hear the Gallic blandishments of the accordion in Michel Legrand’s recording of Leo Ferré’s Paris Canaille. Norrie Paramor is altogether more cosmopolitan in his approach to matters Parisian but if you can’t rely on Roger Roger for Gallic chic - via Miss Paris - who can you? He doesn’t let his listeners down. The compilation ends with a decidedly bold and brassy rendition of I Love Paris - not the most subtle I’ve ever heard - from the Monte Carlo Light Symphony Orchestra conducted by Erwin Halletz.
 
Surely, after this, a sweep of American cities, north to south and east to west, can’t be far behind? Or has Guild been there and done that?
 
Jonathan Woolf

Support us financially by purchasing this disc from

Track-listing 
Ça C’est Paris 2:24
Jean Lucien Boyer, Jacques Charles, Jose Padilla
JOS CLEBER AND HIS COSMOPOLITAN ORCHESTRA
April In Paris 2:30
Vernon Duke, arr. Robert Farnon
ROBERT FARNON AND HIS ORCHESTRA
En Avril A Paris 3:28
Charles Trénet, Walter Eiger
FRANCK POURCEL AND HIS ORCHESTRA
Tourbillon De Paris 2:14
Roger Roger
ROGER ROGER Conducting THE MODE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
La Seine 2:58
Guy Lafarge, arr. Hal Mooney
HAL MOONEY AND HIS ORCHESTRA
Mademoiselle De Paris 2:39
Paul Durand, Eric Maschwitz, Henri Contet
ART WAINER AND THE LATIN QUARTER ORCHESTRA
Sous Les Toits de Paris (Under The Roofs Of Paris) 3:48
Raoul Moretti, René Nazelles
FRANCK POURCEL AND HIS ORCHESTRA
Sous La Ciel De Paris (Under Paris Skies) (Waltz Of Paree) 2:16
Jean Brun, Hubert Giraud
CYRIL STAPLETON AND HIS ORCHESTRA
Sous Les Ponts de Paris (Under The Bridges Of Paris) 3:15
Vincent Scotto
FRANCK POURCEL AND HIS ORCHESTRA
An American In Paris 2:57
George Gershwin
DAVID CARROLL AND HIS ORCHESTRA
Paris Original (From 'How To Succeed In Show Business Without Really Trying') 2:34
Frank Loessser
ANDRE KOSTELANETZ AND HIS ORCHESTRA
Paris Promenade 2:00
William Hill Bowen
THE MELACHRINO ORCHESTRA Conducted by GEORGE MELACHRINO
Paris Stay The Same 1:54
Victor Schertzinger, arr. Jo Boyer
EDDIE BARCLAY AND HIS ORCHESTRA
Paris In The Spring 3:13
Mack Gordon, Harry Revel
HUGO WINTERHALTER AND HIS ORCHESTRA
Paris Honeymoon 2:47
Laurie Johnson
GROUP FORTY ORCHESTRA
Heart Of Paris (Coeur de Mon Coeur) 3:11
Georges Auric, Mitchell Parish
THE CLEBANOFF STRINGS AND ORCHESTRA
Midnight In Paris 2:35
Herb Magidson
ROGER ROGER AND HIS ORCHESTRA
Lovers In Paris 3:03
Al Sherman
MONIA LITER AND HIS ORCHESTRA
Paris Canaille 2:08
Leo Ferré, arr. Michel Legrand
MICHEL LEGRAND AND HIS ORCHESTRA
Rainy Night In Paris 2:23
Black
NORRIE PARAMOR AND HIS ORCHESTRA
Paris Fashions 3:10
Cecil Milner
THE HARMONIC ORCHESTRA Conducted by HANS MAY
Paris Oui Oui 2:22
David Rose
DAVID ROSE AND HIS ORCHESTRA
Miss Paris 2:17
Roger Roger
ROGER ROGER AND HIS CHAMPS ELYSEES ORCHESTRA
Poor People Of Paris (La Goulante du Pauvre Jean) 2:13
Marguerite Monnot
DAVID CARROLL AND HIS ORCHESTRA
Paris Soir 2:11
Vivian Ellis
TELECAST ENSEMBLE
Oh! Paris, Gai Séjour De Plaisir 2:36
Charles Lecocq
GRAND ORCHESTRE DE PARIS Conducted by PAUL BONNEAU
Lights Of Paris 3:03
W. Noack
LONDON CONCERT ORCHESTRA
I Love Paris (from 'Can Can') 3:47
Cole Porter
MONTE CARLO LIGHT SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA Conducted by ERWIN HALLETZ