Peggy Lipton Ode Records   (1968)     For me she’ll always be “Julie” from the “Mod Squad” (which was on during my formative, and heavily TV influenced, pre-teen years).   But she’s also been Mrs. Quincy Jones, Norma Jennings on “Twin Peaks” and is the mom of Rashida Jones’ (from “The Office”).   This is the first of two LPs that she made.   Each includes a composition by Laura Nyro:   Stoney End (1968), and Lu (1970) and they both made the Billboard Charts.   (As did many others with Nyro songs – Barbara Streisand, Three Dog Night, The Fifth Dimension, etc.).   It’s not as bad as most of the “golden throats” recordings by TV stars.   And the cover shot of Lipton, a former Ford model isn’t bad either.

(59 votes, average: 3.59 out of 5)

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Nina Simone (1933-2003) “Sings the Blues”   RCA Victor Records   (1967)     “Do I Move You?”, “In the Dark,” “Day and Night,” “My Man’s Gone Now,”   “I Want a Little Sugar in My Bowl,” “Backlash Blues,” (a civil rights song written by her friend the poet Langston Hughes) and “The House of the Rising Sun”   (Nina first recorded this song in 1962.   After The Animals version became a hit she re-recorded this faster version.)   Musicians here include   Eric Gale , Rudy Stevenson (guitar); Buddy Lucas (harmonica, tenor saxophone); Bob Bushnell (6-string bass); Ernie Hayes (Organ), Bernard “Pretty” Purdie (drums).     (Editors note: I saw Nina live at Carnegie Hall in 1991 or 92.   You could hear a pin drop.   The place was like a cathedral.   It was magical.)

(73 votes, average: 4.04 out of 5)

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“The Whistler and His Dog”   Golden Crest Records     This was the theme song for a 1960s local TV show in New York , Officer Joe Bolton’s Fun House.   This piece was written in 1905 by ARTHUR PRYOR (1870-1942), who was a trombonist/arranger in John Philip Sousa’s band.

(44 votes, average: 2.93 out of 5)

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Masaaki Hirao   King Records (Japan)

(50 votes, average: 3.64 out of 5)

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Monk’s Moods   The Thelonious Monk Trio   Prestige Records (Holland) Dutch cover photo.   Thelonious Monk piano, Gary Mapp or Percy Heath bass, Art Blakey or max Roach drums.     Recorded in 1953

(54 votes, average: 3.41 out of 5)

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Houston Wells and the Marksmen   “…Western Style”   Parlaphone Records (Uk)

(44 votes, average: 3.09 out of 5)

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“Sueno y Realidad”   Las Tres Guittarras   Verne Records (Argentina)

(44 votes, average: 3.77 out of 5)

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