Information/Write-up
Musicians
Peter Appleyard: vibraharp; marimba
Side One
13-piece string ensemble (personnel uncredited)
Side Two
Guido Basso
Moe Koffman
Rob McConnell
Norm Amadio
Ed Bickert
Hank Monis
Gary Binsted
Howie Reynar
Songwriting
“Wichita Lineman” written by Jim Webb
“Midnight Sun” written by Johnny Mercer, Johnny Burke, Hampton Hawes
“Passion Eyes” written by Jimmy Bathea
“Wave” written by Antônio Carlos Jobim
“Angel Eyes” written by Matt Dennis, Earl Brent
“Spanish Pearls” written by Eddie King, Gary Garrett
“Old Dave” written by Peter Appleyard
“Mercy, Mercy, Mercy” written by Joe Zawinul
“Only for Lovers” written by Claude Léveillée
“Soulful Strut” written by Charles Record, William Sanders
“You’ve Got Your Troubles” written by Roger Cook, Roger Greenaway
“Cinderella Rockefeller” written by Roger Williams, Irwin Ames
Production
Produced by J. Lyman Potts
Recording Engineer: Mark Smith
Technical Consultant: Bill Baker
Recording Supervisor: Johnny Burt
Repertoire Consultant: Arthur Collins
Cover Notes: Helen McNamara
Liner notes
In this third Canadian Talent Library album spotlighting Peter Appleyard you will hear a musician who is as adept at playing light rock-jazz as he is performing lovely ballads. Whatever the mood, an Appleyard performance is a thoroughly polished, professional presentation.
Though other lands can claim him, Peter is one of Canada’s best known musicians. British-born, Appleyard arrived in Canada in the early 50’s via Bermuda, where he spent two years in a dance band, and the United States, where he sought out jazz musicians he had long wanted to hear in person. In England, Peter had travelled a well-known musical path. He took the big band route (among his one-time bosses were Felix Mendelssohn, Wylie Price, Jimmy McCaffer), an arduous training course that had started with his debut as a 14-year-old drummer in his home town, Cleethorpes, Lincolnshire, England.
By the mid-50’s Appleyard was an established member of Toronto’s thriving musical community. First with the Billy O’Connor group, then with Calvin Jackson’s quartet at the Park Plaza Hotel, he attracted a large following of fans who liked his musicianship and his showmanship. Appleyard’s first encounter with the New York jazz arena took place in 1958, shortly after the release of his first RCA Victor album, ‘Anything Goes’. The next six years were spent in that city (mostly at the Embers and the Roundtable) and in night spots in Chicago, Detroit, Washington, Cleveland, Philadelphia, Minneapolis and Rochester. When the night club business began to go into a decline in 1964, Peter established himself once more in Toronto. Today his vibes and his percussion instruments can be heard most often in the studios; making commercials; appearing on radio and television programs or as a member of an orchestra constituted to perform on phonograph records.
On side A, a 13-piece string ensemble forms the backdrop for the Appleyard vibraharp. The reverse side finds Peter backed up by such notable Canadian musicians as Guido Basso, Moe Koffman, Rob McConnell, Norm Amadio, Ed Bickert, Hank Monis, Gary Binsted and Howie Reynar.
The arrangements are by Johnny Burt, Rick Wilkins and Rob McConnell. ‘Old Dave’ is an Appleyard original, written for his friend of many years, Dave Wilson of London, Ontario.
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