Description
During the early '60s, the Johnny Mann singers were, alongside Martin Denny and The Ventures, prolific members of the Liberty records stable.
They were first assembled around the time of the 1956 television variety show, The NBC Comedy Hour, on which Johnny worked as choral director and would continue to perform on such television shows as those by George Gobel, Danny Kaye and Joey Bishop. Mann also served as musical director for such superior animation series of the day as Linus! The Lion Hearted and The Alvin and the Chipmunks Show, on which he also provided the voice of "Theodore".
The Singers recorded forty albums, earning Grammy Awards for the albums Great Band with Great Voices and Up, Up and Away. Indeed, it was Jimmy Webb's featherlight masterpiece (banned in some US States, which the composer insists is a song about balloons and nothing whatever to do with LSD) which encapsulated their sound and brought the Johnny Mann Singers their biggest hit.
Our edition comprises three mid-century concept albums, which showcase Johnny Mann's tremendous musical versatility and genius for arrangement; Night, with its controversial smoking nude packaging, and two exuberant sets which pay impressive tribute to the popular songs of the 1920s and '30s.