James Last - The America Album

Purchased a copy of Universal Music's latest James Last release on CD - The America Album, which for once is not a compilation album. In fact it is an unreleased album from 1969, that was produced for the American market, but only ever released as a promo record to the marketing executives in Polydor Hamburg and New York, who for some reason deemed it unsuitable for release, which is a pity as it could have been the album to launch James Last in the USA.

This CD features 11 songs, including 4 written by James Last himself, 1 by Bob Dylan - Lay Lady Lay and some other great tracks including Ballard of Easy Rider, Is That All There Is and Evie.

This release is fantastic as it shows that Universal can do good things with the James Last back catalogue. It would be fantastic if they released more original albums on CD rather than the endless compilation albums we seem to get, as I'm probably not the only James Last fan who would like to hear more of his original albums.

James Last - Voodoo Party / Well Kept Secret

Bought from HMV a remastered release of 2 of James Last's classic albums, on 1 CD - Voodoo Party & Well Kept Secret. Whilst it is great that these 2 albums have been released on CD, it is a shame that it is not James Last's record label Universal Music / Polydor that released the CD, rather a UK record company called Vocalion, who licensed the recordings from Universal.

It is a great shame that Universal Music / Polydor no longer have in James Last's catalogue of current releases any of his original albums, apart from those released in the 21st century, which is a shame as I think some of his classic albums should be released on CD, perhaps where possible as a 2 LP on 1 CD compilation, to maximise the use of the space on a CD.

I believe that the time has come for Universal and James Last to work together with the fans to release some of James Last's best albums on CD - I do not believe it is practical to release all of them on CD, as  there are over 100+ albums in James Last's back catalogue - due to the fact that James Last released in his heyday 3 or 4 albums year, but even if a few were released it would be better than the compilation albums that currently get released with the same popular songs.

My thinking is that these re-releases could include a box set of the Beach Party CD's, a best of Non Stop Dancing, on maybe 4 CD's as Volume 1 - '65 to '69, Volume 2 '70 to '74, Volume 3 '75 to '79 and Volume 4 '80 to '85. Also the his very first album Non Stop Dancing '65 should be released in full on CD.  Other releases that could make it to CD are Games That Lovers Play, James Last Live (from 1974), Western Party & Square Dance, and maybe a box set of the A GoGo albums.

James Last - Traditional English Songs Medley

This track is a medley of some traditional English songs performed by James Last and his Orchestra. Songs, in order as played, are:
I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles
Down At The Old Bull And Bush
My Old Man Said Follow The Van
Land Of Hope And Glory

This is a great James Last arrangement of these songs, recorded at The Royal Albert Hall, during James Last's UK tour in 1979. It's good to hear James Last playing music from around the world, and to my mind shows how good he is at engaging with his audience by including songs specific to a particular country at concerts in that country - another "English" song he played during this concert was the Floral Dance from Cornwall. Currently when James Last is performing in the UK at the Albert Hall, he plays Land Of Hope And Glory - a track that's not played at any other concert venue in the UK or overseas again showcasing how he tailor makes the music of the concert, to the country he is playing in.